Black Cat, Volume 04

Black Cat [ブラックキャット] #4

by Kentaro Yabuki

Crossing paths with bounty hunter Train is seriously bad luck for criminals!

Train Heartnet, also known as "Black Cat," was an infamous assassin for a secret organization called Chronos...until he abandoned that cold-blooded existence to live on his own terms as an easygoing bounty hunter. But is Train's past as far behind him as he thinks?

Persuaded by the promise of a gourmet dinner, Train accepts coy cat burglar Rinslet’s invitation to be her date at the birthday bash of a prominent socialite. But Train may have bitten off more than he can chew because among the guests at the party is a murderer who believes that killing is a fine art!

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Action, Comics, Comics Manga, Shonen

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 24, 2003

About the author

Also known as 矢吹 健太朗.
He is a Japanese manga artist. His mentor was Takeshi Obata, the illustrator of Death Note, Hikaru no Go and Bakuman.
Yabuki is best known for his series Black Cat which ran from 2000 to 2004 in Weekly Shōnen Jump and later adapted into an anime. Since 2004, he has only been working as illustrator to works written by other authors. Most notably on the series To Love-Ru alongside his former assistant Saki Hasemi.

Reviews

[Rena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely adore Eve. She is so sweet and deadly. I have had such high hopes for this series. Do not get me wrong, I enjoy it, but it is not quite up to my expectations. I feel like things will improve as the time for battle draws closer. Plus there is a good amount of characters that have not been introduced. They are quite spectacular, and I hope that they are presented in an equally wonderful way. Creed seems to be about ready to unleash his plans. I am preparing for the fight that is to come.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this one through in one sitting which I think may be the preferred way to read Manga - The action really flowed. I enjoyed the characters with unusual powers. This one has a genetically ressurrected tyrannosaurus rex - FUN!

[Francine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every time I pick up a volume of Black Cat, I am blown away by how much I enjoy it. I love the art and the paneling and the characters.

Eve's insecurities in this volume are so cute and understandable. And then suddenly there's a dinosaur. What the heck even. Cool?

[Marco Esteves · Rating 4 out of 5]

amazing

[Rachel (Sfogs) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Dinosaur and an assassin?! Can this book get any better? ...Angel wings, ah so it can. ;-)

[I'mogén · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume worked with imagery so much so that I could just SEE it in my head playing out as an anime. It's fascinating how well this story is executwd, because steryotypically, I feel like a manga doesn't have enough time or space to really flesh out the plot, but this is one of those exceptions, especially as I find that the illustrations really help to deliver the story too.
It has a perfect balance of action, fast-paced story telling, yet not weakening the plot and allowing us time to get to know our characters.
I do slightly see that generic "defeat bad guy, new one comes along" story line but its done in a subtle way that has purpose to the overall story or at least to manipulate the growth of characters.
I particularly loved learning about Sven's backstory in this, as he can be quite an elusive character that often take a back seat to Train's spot light.
The humour in this volume was great and again I find it awesome how we can have such a balance of serious story telling and hilarious scenes!
The little random snippets we get after each chapter is really helpful, especially if it provides information on the reasons as to how/why something on the crazier side has happened.
That cliff hanger wasn't super alluring but is sure enough to get me excited for the next volume!

Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy! >(^_^)<
Gén

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume is so much fun! Rinslet tricks Train into being her 'date' for a party she's crashing. See, this rich woman is rumoured to have a rare object she's going to be showing off to all her rich friends, and Rinslet really wants to steal it. So Train goes along with the heist (because it means a free meal) as it gets increasingly more bizarre- mind-reading assassins, massive crowds, and... a wild animal? It's so damned silly but also so very entertaining.

There's also a two-chapter backstory on Sven, which is nice to see. He's been pretty bland so far, but it's good that now four volumes in we're finally getting something to make the reader engage with him emotionally (other than his fatherly love for Eve).

Oh and Eve gets to do lots of cool shit because she really wants to go to the party. What little kid doesn't want to go to all the cool adult parties?

[evofox · Rating 5 out of 5]

okay this was probably my favourite volume so far. this volume was mainly a mini arc which will probably run into the next volume as well as a two chapter focus on a main characters backstory. on top of this we had a few kind of cool battle scenes with the central main characters, a look into how they train to get stronger and a weaker character getting a newfound control over their abilities. do like the reoccuring character and how the more that she appears the more she seems to change her character slightly to help make her story arcs even more interesting. overall a really good story arc which had some nice character development and cool action scenes. would definitely reccomend this series to most people due to the unique action scenes and fun plot

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hefty backstory fills us in like coke over ice cream. We’re floatin, baby :) I like the approach. Everything’s shrouded in mystery, and to an extent it still is, a lot of our character’s motivations for doing what they do in the world they are in is finally revealed. My memory of the anime is a lot like Sora at the start of Kingdom Hearts 2. I’m fairly certain a lot of this wasn’t in there. And if it was, then they took some discretion in how they handled these characters. That or it’s been wayyy too long.

[Kyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

The central story takes a sidestep into another job that doesn't give a lot of meaningful character development, either Eve's resolutions seeming fairly typical for the genre. the action is kept to a minimum, and still seems rather silly in the long-run - how could you feel so confident shooting at a T-Rex? Weakest volume this far.

[Nanang Stiawan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chapter ini makin yakin Sven adalah terinspirasi dari Kakashi setelah melihat flashbacknya.

Eve juga pengembangannya bagus bgt. Udah bisa bikin sayap. Next mungkin bikin paha dan french fries >~<

Makin menarik

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

And then the angelic princess flew! Though the dinosaur bit was awesome too. To think that Train has a new admirer who also believes that Train is holding to naivete. Things are starting to heat up now!

[Sedna Dragon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the ones that came before but enjoyable all the same.

[Galion Public Library Teens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review by K.M. : "Funny, fun, and action filled."

[Jessamine · Rating 5 out of 5]

i just really love this series lol

[em · Rating 3 out of 5]

so they really just fought a dinosaur named flora huh,,

[Raroshnaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once you start reading , there is no way you can stop, the thrill is to much stronger than that

[Shin Donghae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kehadiran Flora memang sedikit aneh, namun hubungan antar karakter utama mulai terjalin dengan baik.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume has a good balance of serious backstory and silly shenanigans. The fight scenes are pretty exciting too!

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny read

[nidah05 (SleepDreamWrite) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good volume.

[Ace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Train left underground organization Chronos to live his life on his own terms - two years later, he's working with his partner Sven as a sweeper. The action scenes are well-choreographed, the art is good, and the plot is easy to follow and (mostly) believable. I love stories about assassins, and I like how Train's past with Saya is only hinted it; the readers are given enough info to keep them wondering -- a few tidbits here, a little more there. It's great suspense!

Eve is given a chance to shine in this volume, and she rises to the occasion (literally ahaha). Though a bit cliche, it was nice to see a non-sexualized female character actually DO something other than getting kidnapped and needing to be saved. Yay! Unfortunately, the other females in the series are still pretty 2-D (such as Rinslet, whose job during the t-rex incident is to "watch Eve").

That aside, the plot is interesting and there's a good mix of action scenes and dialogue - not too much of one or the other. Train has shown a darker side of his personality; I like the juxtaposition of this darkness and his childishness. It's much more effective this way than it was in earlier volumes.

[kuristina- tabreez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rinslet Walker tempts Train to a fancy dinner with her, only to blackmail him by giving him the choice of getting in on a new scheme of hers, or else he's left with the check! Train always eats like an endless pit, so he can't afford all that fancy food, and he is ultimately forced into Rinslet's plans. Her scheme is to sneak into a party to steal a precious treasure, but to do that, she needs to be in disguise as the wife of a wealthy businessman, and Train is the perfect date! But come to find out, there's something in it for Train too... a new challenge and a new bounty on another unwanted guest, Lugart Won!


I wasn't able to read this in one sitting, and I really regret that. It seemed to me that this one would have had a really good flow to it, *sighs*. Ahh, but I really liked it. This made me really, really like Eve, Train, Sven, and Rins a lot more. :3 They are quite different, yet just the same in the manga versus the anime. Hmm. Strange. I just wish my passion for the anime would stop getting in the way of the manga. *Sigh*.

[Yvensong · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of Sven's background and how he obtained the "vision eye" is revealed in this volume, bringing more depth to his character. Train "Black Cat" Heartnet has scenes in the volume that shows his softer side and his colder, assassin-nature. Eve shows off new powers and falls into self-doubt. I'm really enjoying all the levels and differences given to each of our primary characters, making for a very well-rounded story/adventure.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The team draws closer and gets to know each other a little better with some seriously awesome challenges (She can't see you if you don't move!!). Really enjoy getting to know these people and I'm invested in them succeeding. However I'm pretty sure I need to let go of the frustration about them always being in the hole financially. Seems like they have similar business ethics to the Cowboy Bebop crew.

[Dilan Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one made me think that Rinslet had something for Train.I can really see her getting attached to him and the T-rex was no surpise thanks to the ending of volume 3.

Eve is starting to become a little jealous of Train and wants to better him probably to become Svens partner.That's why she developed those wings to show that she's getting stronger.

[clara[iloveaaron:] · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorites.
Even though it's not very realistic, I love how Kentaro wrote it. 5 stars!!

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all time favorite manga series. Not my first, but second or third at the least.

~~

Re-read for fun; still one of my favorite manga series.

[The Third Place A Teen Library]

F YAB bc v.4

[Lola · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was awesome.I like the way Eve became a angel^_^.