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Hino Horror #6
Black Cat
Cats-eye-view of humankind's evils, as he moves from one tormented household to an early collection of short stories.
208 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2004
153 people want to read
About the author
Hideshi Hino
72 books190 followersHideshi Hino (日野日出志 Hino Hideshi, born April 19, 1946) is a Japanese manga artist who specializes in horror stories. His comics include Hell Baby, Hino Horrors, and Panorama of Hell. He also wrote and directed two of the Guinea Pig horror movies which were based on his manga: Flower of Flesh and Blood, which he also starred in, and Mermaid in a Manhole.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 7, 2008
Of the six Hino Horror titles I have read to date, Black Cat is my very favourite. It’s unsurprisingly about a Black Cat who lives in a drainpipe on a rubbish tip with his three kitten brothers. Their mother hasn’t returned and is unlikely to. So, one day our little black hero goes off in search of a decent meal or a friendly human that will give him a home. He’s a lovely Black Cat, too – smooth black fur and a gorgeous outlook on life. It’s such a shame that black cats are considered unlucky creatures in Japan.
The book is laid out in three episodes that illustrate Black Cat’s study of the human race.
Part One: The Ventriloquist
This is basically the story of the ventriloquist dummy dominating its master. We’ve all seen this sort of narrative before, it has resonance through fairy-tales with ‘the goose that lays the golden egg’ as well as popular culture in the Chucky films and Magic starring Anthony Hopkins. It’s Pinnochio gone bad, with the puppet softly transforming into a real boy as the success of the duo starts to dominate the puppet’s psyche and spells the end for his drunken clown partner.
Part Two, The Black Dog
This is a story about a boy who loses his dad and takes revenge on the school bullies by setting his black dog on them. He pushes the dead bodies of the bullies into a nearby hole and the hole starts to fill up. His life takes a turn for the worst when his mum remarries this awful bloke who pays for the wife as if she were a cheap trinket in a corner shop. Will the new dad stand in the way of the boy and his black dog? Who is the real master in this house?
Part Three, The Unhappy Couple
In this childish and vicious episode, a nasty old couple argue all the time. There is indeed a fine line between love and hate. But the fact that these old gets stay together says something deeper about the human puzzle.
All three tales are about survival in the face of cruel domination, regular themes in Hino’s work, illustrating man’s blatant disregard for the feelings and wishes of his fellow man. As long as I get mine, who gives a shit about you and yours.
Hideshi Hino, Black Cat and Religious Speculation
I wonder where Religion comes into Hino’s mentality, or if not something as strictly regimented as religion then spirituality at least. Does Hino believe we are just an assemblage of atoms and molecules that are in this transitory phase of human existence to return to fertiliser after our demise or is there a hidden non-corpse-bound spiritual realm that Hino has yet to fully explore in his works? And if so would it be bound by the same humanistic silhouettes and desperate purges of the world of his books.
Hino is a star of Japanese manga not because he is so brutal with his characters and his graphic depictions of violence among men but because of narrators like Black Cat who clearly enjoy and are enthralled by the vagaries of human existence. With all six books so far, Hino is really asking who are we, the human race? Why are WE so special?
The book is laid out in three episodes that illustrate Black Cat’s study of the human race.
Part One: The Ventriloquist
This is basically the story of the ventriloquist dummy dominating its master. We’ve all seen this sort of narrative before, it has resonance through fairy-tales with ‘the goose that lays the golden egg’ as well as popular culture in the Chucky films and Magic starring Anthony Hopkins. It’s Pinnochio gone bad, with the puppet softly transforming into a real boy as the success of the duo starts to dominate the puppet’s psyche and spells the end for his drunken clown partner.
Part Two, The Black Dog
This is a story about a boy who loses his dad and takes revenge on the school bullies by setting his black dog on them. He pushes the dead bodies of the bullies into a nearby hole and the hole starts to fill up. His life takes a turn for the worst when his mum remarries this awful bloke who pays for the wife as if she were a cheap trinket in a corner shop. Will the new dad stand in the way of the boy and his black dog? Who is the real master in this house?
Part Three, The Unhappy Couple
In this childish and vicious episode, a nasty old couple argue all the time. There is indeed a fine line between love and hate. But the fact that these old gets stay together says something deeper about the human puzzle.
All three tales are about survival in the face of cruel domination, regular themes in Hino’s work, illustrating man’s blatant disregard for the feelings and wishes of his fellow man. As long as I get mine, who gives a shit about you and yours.
Hideshi Hino, Black Cat and Religious Speculation
I wonder where Religion comes into Hino’s mentality, or if not something as strictly regimented as religion then spirituality at least. Does Hino believe we are just an assemblage of atoms and molecules that are in this transitory phase of human existence to return to fertiliser after our demise or is there a hidden non-corpse-bound spiritual realm that Hino has yet to fully explore in his works? And if so would it be bound by the same humanistic silhouettes and desperate purges of the world of his books.
Hino is a star of Japanese manga not because he is so brutal with his characters and his graphic depictions of violence among men but because of narrators like Black Cat who clearly enjoy and are enthralled by the vagaries of human existence. With all six books so far, Hino is really asking who are we, the human race? Why are WE so special?
January 2, 2023
2,5/5 or 5/10
With this book the reader follows a cat silently observing the destiny of three individuals. It plays on the superstitious blief that black cats bring bad luck as the story of every person the cat meets ends tragically. But was it really the cat's fault or are we alone to blame for what becomes of us?
Surprisingly this contains the least amount of animal cruelty I've seen in a Hideshi Manga yet and is overall quite mild compared to what I've read by him. It's not that gory or disgusting but still very sinister. Despite that the story offers everything that one enjoys about Hideshis works from the overexaggeration to the recognisable artstyle.
With this book the reader follows a cat silently observing the destiny of three individuals. It plays on the superstitious blief that black cats bring bad luck as the story of every person the cat meets ends tragically. But was it really the cat's fault or are we alone to blame for what becomes of us?
Surprisingly this contains the least amount of animal cruelty I've seen in a Hideshi Manga yet and is overall quite mild compared to what I've read by him. It's not that gory or disgusting but still very sinister. Despite that the story offers everything that one enjoys about Hideshis works from the overexaggeration to the recognisable artstyle.
August 20, 2024
Probablement mon œuvre préférée de Hideshi Hino jusqu'à maintenant.
J'ai adorer les différentes histoires, vécues à travers l'œil d'un chat noir, c'était vraiment très sympa.
Les histoires sont toutes bien différentes, ce qui permet d'avoir une lecture plus variée!
J'ai adorer les différentes histoires, vécues à travers l'œil d'un chat noir, c'était vraiment très sympa.
Les histoires sont toutes bien différentes, ce qui permet d'avoir une lecture plus variée!
July 3, 2023
Quelle couverture! Elle est très parlante sur le genre de récits qui nous attendent. Comme c'est souvent le cas en horreur, l'usage du noir et du blanc des mangas est parfait pour amplifier les contrastes du récit. C'est l'été et, au Japon, on dit que c'est le bon moment pour les histoires d'horreur car les frissons qu'ils donnent rafraichissent...
De la même manière que le grand écrivain Sôseki le fait, on explore, à travers les yeux d'un chat, les travers et la misère de l'humanité. Ce n'est pas une adaptation du roman "Je suis un chat", mais plutôt un ton similaire: celui d'un chat curieux et un peu hautain qui observent l'humain. Pas le meilleur de l'humain, surtout le pire, on s'en doute.
Le prologue nous présente donc ce chat.
Puis "Le ventriloque" explore la vie pathétique d'un clown triste.
"Un étrange mangaka" se penche sur l'extrême fascination que devient l'écriture quand on se laisse submerger.
"Le garçon et le chien noir" est la plus horrifiante du lot, avec cette vengeance incontrôlable d'un enfant délaissé. Même le chat est déstabilisé par les scènes qu'il observe.
"Pépé et mémé" raconte l'amour-haine d'un couple vieillissant.
Le mangaka maîtrise vraiment bien l'art de la chute, il sait faire une vraie histoire courte efficace. Ses traits sont appuyés, les yeux montrent déjà toute l'horreur à venir... Et l'humain apparaît beaucoup plus effrayant que le chat noir, malgré toutes les superstitions qui lui sont attaché...
Merci à Dimedia pour l'exemplaire.
De la même manière que le grand écrivain Sôseki le fait, on explore, à travers les yeux d'un chat, les travers et la misère de l'humanité. Ce n'est pas une adaptation du roman "Je suis un chat", mais plutôt un ton similaire: celui d'un chat curieux et un peu hautain qui observent l'humain. Pas le meilleur de l'humain, surtout le pire, on s'en doute.
Le prologue nous présente donc ce chat.
Puis "Le ventriloque" explore la vie pathétique d'un clown triste.
"Un étrange mangaka" se penche sur l'extrême fascination que devient l'écriture quand on se laisse submerger.
"Le garçon et le chien noir" est la plus horrifiante du lot, avec cette vengeance incontrôlable d'un enfant délaissé. Même le chat est déstabilisé par les scènes qu'il observe.
"Pépé et mémé" raconte l'amour-haine d'un couple vieillissant.
Le mangaka maîtrise vraiment bien l'art de la chute, il sait faire une vraie histoire courte efficace. Ses traits sont appuyés, les yeux montrent déjà toute l'horreur à venir... Et l'humain apparaît beaucoup plus effrayant que le chat noir, malgré toutes les superstitions qui lui sont attaché...
Merci à Dimedia pour l'exemplaire.
October 1, 2016
Ok little book, though nothing too amazing.
To begin, the perspective the story is told from is that of the black cat. I thought from the description it would be a literal first person perspective (ie; through the cat's irises), but it's just a cat narrating over events you see in typical comic fashion.
There are three stories, and I wouldn't say any of them pack too much punch, though there is bad stuff happening within them (certainly not a kid appropriate book). First story deals with a down on his luck drunk circus ticket taker. The second about a boy living alone who confides in a deadly dog as his companion. The third about a bickering elderly couple. Only the middle story really gave me even slight heeby jeebees. The first was more psychological than outright horror. The final one is the worst of the lot, just more about the human condition. To add, the art style works, but there's no breathtaking displays, just really more of a consistency to the art.
Overall, I would say I'm disappointed with this as my first October read for this year.
To begin, the perspective the story is told from is that of the black cat. I thought from the description it would be a literal first person perspective (ie; through the cat's irises), but it's just a cat narrating over events you see in typical comic fashion.
There are three stories, and I wouldn't say any of them pack too much punch, though there is bad stuff happening within them (certainly not a kid appropriate book). First story deals with a down on his luck drunk circus ticket taker. The second about a boy living alone who confides in a deadly dog as his companion. The third about a bickering elderly couple. Only the middle story really gave me even slight heeby jeebees. The first was more psychological than outright horror. The final one is the worst of the lot, just more about the human condition. To add, the art style works, but there's no breathtaking displays, just really more of a consistency to the art.
Overall, I would say I'm disappointed with this as my first October read for this year.
December 5, 2023
L'autore prende ispirazione da il romanzo "io sono un gatto" di Soseki, che narra alcune particolari avventure degli umani dal punto di vista di un gatto nero.
Il micio si sposterà di casa in casa, da storie inquietanti e storie forti.
Un dubbio lo affligge: "Gli esseri umani... cosa sono veramente?"
Riflessivo, con storie particolari a tratti cupe e quasi grottesche, non è il solito "horror" ma una storia da un significato molto più profondo di ciò che può sembrare.
E poi detto tra noi... IL PROTAGONISTA È UN MICIO CARINISSIMO!
LEGGETELO PLS
Il micio si sposterà di casa in casa, da storie inquietanti e storie forti.
Un dubbio lo affligge: "Gli esseri umani... cosa sono veramente?"
Riflessivo, con storie particolari a tratti cupe e quasi grottesche, non è il solito "horror" ma una storia da un significato molto più profondo di ciò che può sembrare.
E poi detto tra noi... IL PROTAGONISTA È UN MICIO CARINISSIMO!
LEGGETELO PLS
August 10, 2024
Each of the short stories is an account of the horrors the black cat witnesses. The black cat is avoided by most people because of superstition, but The ventriloquist and the unhappy couple keep him as a pet, and name him Blackie (which I thought was kinda cute).
Hideshi Hino is a genius. I loved this book. I'll admit that the reason I picked it up is because I am a cat lover, and I've always wanted a black cat, but I'm so happy I did. It was eerie and interesting.
Hideshi Hino is a genius. I loved this book. I'll admit that the reason I picked it up is because I am a cat lover, and I've always wanted a black cat, but I'm so happy I did. It was eerie and interesting.
October 2, 2012
This is Hino's suavest narrator. A black cat, left behind when families adopt his adorable white and calico brothers, sets out to study human beings He finds several grotesque examples, the most striking among them a violent and profane elderly couple whose antipathy extends beyond the grave. At the end the black cat ponders "Human beings. What are they really?" For a Hino manga, there is a surprising absence of maggots and rotting corpses.
July 21, 2023
Une superbe surprise que cette lecture! Étant une adepte des magas d'horreur et ayant eu plaisir à lire Junji Itô, Hideshi Hino m'a transporté, emporté dans son univers.
Noireau, un chat noir sauvage, part à la découverte du monde des humains après qu'ils aient enlevé tous ces frères et sœurs. Il va alors découvrir toute la cruauté et la bizarrerie des personnes qu'il va croiser...
Noireau, un chat noir sauvage, part à la découverte du monde des humains après qu'ils aient enlevé tous ces frères et sœurs. Il va alors découvrir toute la cruauté et la bizarrerie des personnes qu'il va croiser...
April 26, 2017
FALSE
July 22, 2024
Mignon, mais caveat lector: un chien, et peut-être un de plus, meurt.
November 14, 2013
Human...I will never understand them...meowww
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews