American Money - The Seatbelts

Black Cat

Author: Kentaro Yabuki
Volumes: 20
Publisher: Viz Media

Brief Summary:
Train Heartnet, the Black Cat, used to be a merciless assassin, one of the numbers working for Chronos, a corporation which pretty much rules the world. When his only friend, Saya, was murdered by his crazy partner, Train left the organization and became a sweeper, preferring life as an independent stray cat to that of a pet. He teamed up with Sven and roams around helping people, and waiting for a chance to revenge Saya's death. This revenge becomes even more important since his former partner has gone even more insane and now has an evil plot to take over the world using the powers of Tao.

Review:
Well, I was hoping to finish my reread of this series before the New Year, but I failed by a half hour. At least I'm ringing the new year in with a good read. On my first read through the series, I was completely enraptured and could barely step away from my computer to do anything else. This time, it wasn't quite that good, knowing all the spoilers, but it is still a great series.

Black Cat balances humor and seriously dark concepts in a way that reminds me heavily of Fullmetal Alchemist. Plus, the bounty hunter aspect adds some Cowboy Bebop flair (that's where today's song came from btws...it's the bounty hunter tv show theme). Seriously, if you like either one of those series, you should probably give the lesser known Black Cat a go. While not, perhaps, as good as those two (which are among the best manga/anime ever), Black Cat is a stellar seinen comic.

I really love Train. He is, for one thing, a total bishy. And, for another, he's a badass. I don't usually find being able to wield a gun especially attractive, but that level of skill is incredibly impressive. Sven, too, is awesome. He has all of those crazy inventions, which are his real talent, even though he does have another.

Perhaps my favorite character, though, is Eve. Her transformation ability is awesome. Even more than that, though, she is a total genius. And she loves to read. She advocates the use of libraries because you can have access to ALL the books without spending money. Clever girl.

Also, the art in this series is soooo pretty. I just love it. This manga should be more popular than it is. For those that have seen the anime, I would still recommend reading the series, as there is much more to it.

Rating: 4/5