Friends watch their company grow while foes are slowly whittled away. Losses for both the Chronos Numbers and the Apostles of the Star can only be good news for the hunted Black Cat. But as one slowly slips from power, the other quickly rises in their wake. And when the largest bounty ever offered lands on the head of Creed Diskenth, Sven will use any distraction to keep Train's vengeance from awakening anew; to keep the hunted from becoming the hunter once more...
Episodes Comprise
13 – The Love Cat
14 – The Kitty Cat
15 – The Distant Cat
16 – The Cat and the Lizard
Creed who? You'd be forgiven for thinking the threat of Mr Diskenth had been forgotten about in this volume (for a while, anyway), as matters of romance, regression and lost pets take precedence. But while Creed may be keeping a low profile, his colleagues aren't…
Audio:
Audio comes in Japanese 2.0 and English 5.1 versions – I listened to the Japanese track for this review. There’s a decent amount of direction used, particularly noticeable during the action scenes, while dialogue and effects are nice & clear. There were no obvious problems.
Video:
Video is presented in its original 1.78:1 aspect, enhanced for anamorphic playback. Presentation has always been one of GONZO’s strong points, and this series is no exception, with fluid animation and detailed backgrounds combining to produce a show which really does look good. Even the low-light scenes – of which there are plenty – manage to look good, with some nice use of lighting that highlights the scenes nicely. There were no obvious problems with the transfer.
Packaging:
No packaging was provided with our review copy.
Menu:
The main menu is a simple grey screen, with an image Rinslet on the left-hand-side and the various options listed down the right-hand side – Play All, Select Episode, Setup and Extras. There are no transition animations, so it’s all quick and easy to use.
Extras:
You get creditless versions of the opening and closing sequences. That’s all, folks.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review will contain spoilers)
There's discord in the ranks of Creed's organisation - some of his members don't see the point in following his instructions, which really isn't the behaviour one expects of an Apostle, and Creed's retribution is swift. That's taken by others that they're just tools for Creed to use, nothing more - and in the case of Kyoko, the prospect of being used as a tool to fight Train really doesn't appeal. Prompted to do what she feels is right by her partner Charden, she opts to leave the Apostles behind and follow the course of true love - but the Apostles don't let their members leave quite so easily. Before they catch her, though, Kyoko gets the chance to show her feelings to Train.
Later, a bullet laced with nano-machines sees Train become a kid again, to the delight of the girls who now have a little brother to tease; the prospect of losing their authority causes Chronos to try and take more of a role in events, with only limited success; and the biggest bounty in history is placed on Creed's head…
It took me to volume four, but I think I've finally figured out what Black Cat is really all about – and it's not the pending confrontation between Train and Creed, as spectacular as that should hopefully be once it happens. It's all about Train putting his life as a Chronos Number – a bred killer – to one side, and learning to live like a normal human, all as a result of the influence that Saya had on him before she was killed. Once you realise that (and in hindsight all the "family" gags that get sent in Sven's direction are a pretty big hint to it), the series makes a lot more sense. It's always been enjoyable – it just seemed a bit disjointed or uncertain of what it was doing if you approached it from the idea that the Train v Creed issue was going to be the central theme.
Another big hint that Creed isn't the real story is his almost complete absence from this volume – he appears in three short scenes, and that's his total contribution. But while he's on the sidelines, his Apostles are far more in the mix, first with Kyoko and Charden and their realisation that Creed's creed really isn't for them, then with the attempts of other Apostles to deal with Train themselves. I love Kyoko's character – she's a complete headcase and brightens up any scene she appears in, but there are also some interesting parallels between her and Train. As Saya was to Train, the voice that made him see reason, so Train has inadvertently been to Kyoko.
Trains also becoming a happier person as the series goes on, and becoming more determined to make sure that, while in his world there are some problems that only a gun can solve, he's not going to use one to kill again. That's where Chronos comes into the picture – the organisation that maintains control through fear and death, and that Train no longer believes in. They're shown here as having both good sides and bad, members with morals and members who will kill on a whim – an interesting example of shades of grey, but one that almost seem irrelevant to the story other than to back up the occasional point.
This is only a minor problem, though – overall, I enjoyed watching this volume, with its good mix of the serious and the fun and a decent range of storylines for the gang to get involved in. Finally getting a handle on what the series is trying to do only makes it more enjoyable.
In summary:
Despite the occasional failing, Black Cat continues to be an enjoyable & generally light-hearted series. There's not as much straight action in these episodes, with the focus being more on the comic & slice-of-life side of things, but there are enough appearance by the Apostles and problems for Train to solve that there's little chance of boredom setting in. If you've enjoyed the previous volumes, this won't disappoint.
Toshiba 37X3030DB 37" widescreen HDTV; Sony PS3 Blu-ray player (via HDMI, upscaled to 1080p); Acoustic Solutions DS-222 5.1 speaker system.
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