Review of Black Cat: Volume 3

Introduction

All these Gonzo action dramas are beginning to blur into one. That`s one of the drawbacks of having to review so many of them. Maybe they should just have one big mash-up to see what would happen. A large-breasted, vampire assassin with a dark past, pilots a mecha in battle against a dark conspiracy of corporations/secret societies/religious authorities who are busy creating genetically engineered cyborg, zombie, mecha controlling, green-brained freak vampires. And there is a cute kid with puppy dog eyes as a sidekick. Of course, you don`t have to worry about overdosing on Gonzo; you can just pick one series that appeals to you and stick with that. For the record, Black Cat is the one about the assassin turned bounty hunter.

What happens when the world of the sweeper and the world of the eraser collide? It`s not as you would expect, a sanitation accident in a stationery shop. In this case, a Sweeper is slang for a Bounty Hunter, while Eraser is a euphemism for an assassin. When one is paid to kill, and the other paid to bring back alive, then it isn`t a profitable venture to go after the same target, but this is exactly what happens in Black Cat. The sweeper in question is Sven Vollfied, a hard on his luck bounty hunter who despite going after all the big cases, has a hard time keeping his stomach filled, partly due to a strong chivalrous streak that keeps him on the lookout for any damsel in distress. But he has a curious ace in the hole, a vision eye that he normally keeps hidden, but allows him to see five minutes into the future, albeit at great physical cost. The eraser is Train Heartnet, a ruthless assassin who works for the mysterious Chronos Foundation. He survived the murder of his family to take bloody revenge, something that caught the eye of his employers, and until recently he has been a cold-blooded killer on their payroll. Now he`s quit Chronos and joined forces with Sven as well as Eve, the bioweapon he was initially ordered to destroy, to go into business together as a sweeper team.

As we learn in these four episodes presented on Volume 3 of Black Cat - Cat and Mouse, Train`s past occupation won`t let him go so easily.

9. The Charming Cat
When he was an IBI agent, Sven apprehended a nasty piece of work named Gyanza. Gyanza is loose again, preying on vulnerable girls, and it`s down to the sweepers to catch him and gather the hefty reward. The problem is that Gyanza is in touch with the Taoists, who are supplying him with the Shinkitou that turns him into a rampaging, invulnerable monster. When Train rescues a young girl named Kyoko, little does he know that he`ll wind up raking up his past. Creed Diskenth, fellow disgraced Chronos number is still alive, and he issues an invitation to Train.

10. The Cat Unleashed
Train is stunned to learn that Creed is still alive, and he goes off to Sangeles City for vengeance. Sven isn`t about to let his friend walk off that easily, and he and Eve soon follow. Creed has big plans. A continental summit is taking place in Sangeles, and he intends to gatecrash with his allies, collectively known as the Apostles of the Stars, with nothing less than global domination in mind. These Taoists have developed some unearthly powers and are laying waste to all in their path. Creed is looking to recruit Train to their numbers. Train is looking to kill Creed.

11. The False Cat
Chronos is worried about Creed and the Apostles of the Stars, and assign Jenos Hazard to deal with them. The Apostles on the other hand have a disagreement over Creed`s single-minded obsession with Train. Train and the others meanwhile are finding money hard to come by, especially when someone is trading on Train`s reputation as a bounty hunter to steal all their potential targets. Woodney doesn`t know what he is letting himself in for, masquerading as Train, especially when he runs into Eve. Then Durham, the Apostles gunman comes into town looking for The Black Cat.

12. The Fighting Cat
Chronos Numbers V, VII, and XI are the group`s toughest weapon, collectively known as Cerberus. Jenos is part of them, and together they look to deal with Creed once and for all. Train has a nightmare about Saya, and disappears off into the night, looking for vengeance once more. Sven, Rinslett and Eve go after him, and they are all heading for one of those earth-shaking, aeon defining confrontations. Will Creed manage to turn Train to the dark side of the Force?

Video

Either Black Cat`s 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer is finally getting better, as I hardly noticed the vertical banding prevalent in earlier volumes on this disc, or I`m just getting used to it. Either way, it`s typical Gonzo, all bright and hazy, mixing 2D and CG elements, and with plenty of action.

The animation itself is up to Gonzo`s usual dynamic standards, but I found the character designs a little too basic and unmemorable. The more sedate moments in the animation also fell short of the action sequences.

Audio

You have a choice of DD 2.0 Japanese and DD 5.1 English with optional translated subtitles or signs. There is a nice bit of separation in the stereo track, indeed there is little to separate it from the 5.1 track, which is very front-focused. The dialogue is clear in both versions, and the English dub is one of the good ones. The theme tune has grown on me, and is well worth a (legal) download.

Features

Just the bare minimum here, with trailers for Berserk and Gun Sword, as well as the textless credit sequences. No English language credits.

Conclusion

Well, Black Cat Volume 3 will entertain you, and keep your backside glued to a seat for 90 minutes, which is pretty much a glowing endorsement. I wouldn`t expect anything deep or meaningful, any groundbreaking animation, or feel threatened by a smidgen of originality. In that respect volume 3 is just like volumes 1 & 2, safe, middle of the road, action anime.

The trouble with Gonzo animation is that while the anime are stunningly presented, with strong character designs, and brilliant action sequences, there is a stock story that Gonzo falls back on again and again. It`s usually a delight when they do something different, like Basilisk, Saikano, Speedgrapher and Samurai 7, but too often you see a protagonist with a dark past, part of a group fighting powerful forces of darkness, with conspiracies and cabals going on in the background, and with some sort of monster menace being created. The first time I saw this story was in Kiddy Grade, and I fell in love with that show, mostly for its interesting characterisation, and space opera setting. I also enjoyed the quirky humour and CG excellence of Burst Angel, which combined a futuristic setting with a spaghetti western style. But of late, Gonzo has been dipping into the trough a little too often, and Trinity Blood suffers from some weak characterisations, and although it is still early days with just one volume of Witchblade, it seems little more than a remake of Burst Angel. Black Cat is the weakest of the crop, with few of the strengths and plenty of the weaknesses of its ilk.

No doubt there is a great deal of familiarity breeding contempt in my opinion, but strong characterisation isn`t something readily apparent in Black Cat. It wasn`t helped by the six month jump in narrative in the previous volume, that turned Train from a moody, dark-hearted assassin with a conscience, into a happy-go-lucky japester in these later episodes (It`s one of those anime where the characters all turn super-deformed for any comedy moments, which jars with the overall tone of the show). Rinslett Walker, who made such an impression in the early episodes, really only shows up in the occasional cameo on this disc, and it seems that she has fallen in love with Jenos when she hasn`t been on screen. Sven, who is supposed to be the balance of a Train Sven double act, really only appears to be supporting him, there to whinge and complain about him, then chase after him when he does something stupid, although he does get to use his vision eye again in this volume. I had almost forgotten that he had a superpower.

Speaking of superpowers, Creed returns with his band of villains all bent on world supremacy, and it turns out that these Taoists all have magic abilities; we have fire-breathing Kyoko who falls in love with Train, Charden, a man who fights with his own prehensile blood, Echidna, a movie star who can walk through holes in the space-time continuum, Leon, a boy who can control the air, and Maro, a man so fat he generates his own gravity, reminding me of a host of `Yo mamma is so fat` punchlines in the process. Black Cat reminds me of Trinity Blood, in that they both throw wet soggy toilet paper wads of ideas at the wall in the hope that they stick. The difference is that while they do stick more often than not in Trinity Blood, in Black Cat they just slide squelchily down the wall to make a mess on the floor.

Black Cat is a misfire of an anime that recycles a story that Gonzo should be able to get right in their sleep by now. It`s got the action, the comedy, and the typical Gonzo eye-candy that makes it a breeze to watch if you put your brain in neutral, and I can easily recommend it as disposable popcorn fare to while away ninety minutes. That`s if you rent it. I doubt that it would hold pride of place in too many collections though.