Animanga/Manga| Information
|
Animanga/Anime| Information
|
'' (ブラックキャット) is a
Manga series by
Kentaro Yabuki which was serialized in
Shonen Jump Magazine. The series has concluded in Japan at 20 volumes. It is also licensed by
VIZ Media , and the English release is planned to begin on
March 7 2006 . The Black Cat
Anime began airing in Japan during October 2005. It consists of 23 episodes and is produced by GONZO.
The story centers on a man named Train Heartnet who withdrew from an elite group of assassins called the ''Toki no Bannin'' (時の番人; the Chrono Numbers) to become a ''Sweeper'' (a bounty hunter).
is a balance between silly humor and serious moments, with an anti-hero cast using somewhat stereotypical evil plot schemes, but the gem of Black Cat is the greater emphasis on character development and interactions than resolution of greater conflict.
There is a secret organisation, Chronos, that rules one third of the world through underground control of almost every kind of business. To maintain the balance of the world, Chronos is essential, and therefore, there is the need to have people to protect Chronos. Besides all normal erasers, there are special elite assassins with
Orichalcon -made weapons called the Chrono Numbers. Chrono Numbers have their numbers engraved on their body and their weapon. There were twelve total Chrono Numbers, but when Train Heartnet, an unsurpassable shooter, decided to join Chronos in their cause, the number XIII was founded. No one that was targeted by Train Heartnet, also known as Black Cat, for bringing "bad luck", and his extremely quick movements and attacks, ever survived. The name Black Cat was the most feared among assassins.
Due to Train's childhood trauma, his only objective was "to be the best". But once, something that never happened before caused him to fail: He had to shoot a target with a child. The fraction of second that he lost thinking led him to be shot. He was later taken home and treated by Minatsuki Saya, which was a sweeper (someone who hunts criminals and gains rewards). Through his contact with Saya, Train changed drastically, a change that culminated with leaving Chronos. However, a man that admired Train in an obsessive way, Creed Diskenth, did not accept that an elite assassin was being changed that way. Creed then set out to kill Saya, while Train was not there. Train reached the scene, but he couldn't catch Creed, who escaped.
Two years later, Train is a sweeper, traveling with his partner Sven Vollfied. Their life as sweepers is about to be changed when the present is invaded by the past - Creed Diskenth, after two years of being away, returns. And he wishes to meet Train.
In the world of Black Cat, Sweeper is a profession that consists in capturing criminals and receiving rewards for it. The panphlets with information on criminals are spread throughout the world in public places like bars, where Sweepers use to hang out. Sweepers vary in their appearance and style of fight, and many times conflict among themselves upon a certain target. The criminals that sweepers have to capture are classified in levels, which range from F to SS, being F the least dangerous and SS the most dangerous. Legendary criminals who are almost bound not to be captured are considered SS, the most violent and dangerous kind of criminals. An example of this is Creed Diskence.
Chronos is the secret organization that rules one third of the world through underground business in various areas. Most of the Chronos members occupate high positions, suchs as mayors, politicans, among others. To protect Chronos, there are assassins in command of the three wise men in charge of Chronos, the highest of them being Willzark. Willzark commands a secret force of the best assassins in the world, sworn to protect Chronos, called the Chrono Numbers, which range from No. I to No. XIII (More information on the Characters Section). Lower in the hierarchy are the Chronos Erasers, which are assassins in service of Chronos. An example is Creed Diskence. Other members of Chronos play important roles in the story in the manga, such as Carl Walken, which is the mayor of a town that raised Train and asks him personally to take out a Taoshi who has been causing considerable damage in his city, Gyanza Rujike. In the Anime, the Zero Numbers send a swarm of nano-machine beasts to destroy the Chronos Headquarters while the Numbers were away on Clarken Island, killing the three wisemen. Financial support from practically all sources is cut, but Sephiria, No. I, and the remaining numbers decide to continue in Chronos, although they will have to raise it from its ashes.
The Apostles of the Stars are a revolutionary group led by Creed Diskence. Their aims are to "clean the world of filth", which is people who cannot achieve the Power of Tao. Naturally, every member of the Apostles of The Stars has a power of Taoshi origin, which are awakened through the Shinkitou, a drink only concocted by Master Taoshis, such as Shiki. Another member of the Apostles, Maro, is also from the forbidden Continent, and together with Shiki, they bear the most traditional Tao power, such as controlling and summoning bugs (Shiki), using ink marks (Shiki) and controlling gravity (Maro). Other members of the Apostles rely on more "deviant" powers, as Creed's "Imagine Blade" on the manga, which is a sword that can expand for miles depending on Creed's mental power, even though on the Anime Creed's power is just the materialization of a small invisible sword, in replacement for his old Kotetsu, broken by Train. Other Tao powers include Kyoko's "Fire", Charden's "Blood", Durham's "Shot" or Echidna's "Gate". The Apostles do not just wish to bring about a world revolution, but they seek revenge against Chronos. Creed due to his expel after killing Saya, and Shiki and Maro due to the war that happened between the Taoshi and Chronos long ago, which decimated the Taoshi from the Secret Continent.
Although Tao has been the primary source of the Apostles' power, Creed also relies on Doctor's investigations on Nanomachines to grant him eternal power and elevate him to a God.
Many decades in the past, there was a war between the Taoshi and Chronos. Chronos eventually won, even though not all Taoshi were killed. In the current Chronos, the only Number that witnessed this War was Mason, which himself became a Taoshi, granted with the Sacred Technique. However, he had kept this from everybody in Chronos, planning the Eden project for a long time (More information below). The survivors among the Taoshi that make an appearance in Black Cat are no more no less than Shiki and Maro, which upon meeting Creed grant him the power of Tao in exchange for an alliance which objective was to destroy Chronos and bring about a revolution to this planet, which would choos the Taoshi among the people, and rid everyone else.
The nanomachine investigation by Dr. Tearju Lunatique allowed her to achieve the knowledge that might allow her to create a prototype of a human that could transform and eventually become the ultimate weapon. In the manga, Creed Diskence financed the research of Dr. Tearju, hired by Torneo Ludman, to create Eve, which would be the perfect weapon for him to use, while in exchange Torneo promised to have Dr. Tearju research nanomachines in the areas that were of Creed's interest, such as the legendary immortality nanomachines. Eventually, Dr. Tearju realized she couldn't do that and quit, for the world's safety, but due to blackmail from her former assistant, one of the Apostles, Doctor, or Dr. Kanzaki, she passed him the nanomachine research documents, which allowed Doctor to perfect them in order to make Creed a God. Worth noting is that in the Anime, Dr. Tearju didn't pass the documents on to Doctor, which stole them instead. In the anime, he also used them to produce the Eden machine that would work when combined with Eve.
The Zero Numbers are the Chrono Numbers gathered by Mason to aid him in the Eden project, which he planned since Eve was created by Dr. Tearju. The Eden project consisted of bringing "World Peace", which would actually consist of turning every single person on the Earth into creatures without mind of their own, only capable of obeying the Zero Numbers. The Zero numbers were also implanted with nanomachines that allowed them to be immortal within Eden's energy field, created by Doctor. For Eden to work, however, it was needed that Eve entered it, in order to combine with the program inside Eden, Adam, to put into motion the giant creature, which was Eden combined with Eve. Mason had gathered people from Chronos, from the Apostles of The Stars, in order to aid him when the time to retrieve Eve came. That is because Eve needed to be raised well in order to be "perfected", and since the day she met Sven and considered him the ideal "father", Mason decided it would be of best interest to the Zero Numbers that Sven and Train raised Eve, and they would retrieve her, like happened in the story.
| |
"1px solid" style="border-collapse: collapse" cellspacing="2px" cellpadding="2px" width="100%"
|
