Black Cat

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I really stumbled upon a hidden gem with this Manga. It's a rare example of a good and completed story. One of the most fun stories I've read or experienced in a good while.

Enter Black Cat, A severely under-popular Shounen from the early 2000s which deserves more credit and recognition than it gets. It has all the standard Shounen tropes but to be honest, For it's time, Kentaro Yabuki really did his best. If you don't know who Kentaro Yabuki is, Then he's the Mangaka behind To-Love Ru, a very popular Ecchi series but not many know about his earlier work which was this. It ... has varying degrees of seriousness and lighthearted-ness.

The thing that I loved about this manga was that it has no unnecessary clutter or bloat, It had a simple story conveyed beautifully. Starts from point A to point B without overcomplicating the plot, I feel like this is something that should be incorporated in more recent manga.

Story : Really basic and simple premise, I was very satisfied with what I was shown. It has a simple yet beautiful story with no overarching plot, It just goes from Point A to Point B and that's it. The naming sense behind this manga is also really fantastic once you get to know the main character and his personality is in tune with the vibe of this manga. The pacing of the story is also perfect, It doesn't feel like it's going too fast or slow, It just sort of has this laid-back approach and I was really a fan of this. Plus the ending is done really well and left me fully satisfied.

Fights/Abilities : The fights are very easy to follow and the flow is really smooth. The abilities aren't unique or never done before but the way they are portrayed is very satisfying.

Art/Panelling/Dialogue: This is where this manga impeccably shines the brightest. Truly amazing art in every single page and the important thing that I'd like to point out is that reading this manga never made me feel like it's cluttered or has too much going on. The art compliments Kentaro sensei's beautiful panelling, I honestly really loved reading and swiping through ever page because it was such a breeze. The only manga which I recall where I had this same feeling was Dragon ball (A huge compliment, I know). The Dialogue and plot connects beautifully and nothing feels forced. The cherry on top is that not once in this manga, is there a single panel that left me confused as to what's happening. The action is very easy to follow and light on the eyes, It's not very dialogue heavy either. It truly is an achievement to create a manga like this.


If you just want a simple manga to pick up with no overcomplicated stuff and is super easy to read through ever for a beginner then I would 100% recommend Black Cat to you, regardless of whether you're a Shounen fan or not. I seriously cannot state how easy to read this manga is. I honestly cannot fathom how this series never got it's proper popularity much outside of Japan.

It also has a very important message to convey, You can be happy without forgetting your past, Your past is a part of you regardless of whether you like it or not, So move on and live your life to the fullest because you only get one shot at it. Such a beautiful yet bold message.

I really really enjoyed this and will give it a 9/10. It won't be an exaggeration to say that this was one of THE BEST SHOUNEN I've had the pleasure of reading. As a standalone story, it might not be that good but as a Shounen it was everything I wanted.
I hope Kentaro Sensei one day comes back with a sequel to this one.

Thank you for reading!

If you're looking for a comfort action-manga with a light worldbuilding, this is for you. Don't expect great complex storylines and plot-twists. It's a simple, honest, straightforward manga with enjoyable (yet simple) characters. Learning about Train's past is an interesting part of the journey, and it could have been developed even more (imo). Sven and Lily are archetypal side characters you could find in any decent shounen/adventure manga, and the villains, while not the most memorable, are not entirely one-dimensional and boring. The main villain of the story could have better motivations, and his obsession gets a little overwhelming towards the end of the manga, ... but nothing that spoils the experience too much.

Overall, go for it with the expectations of a typical (even stereotypical at times) action-adventure shounen manga of the time. Treat it as comfort reading, if you will. Very enjoyable, just don't question it too much and everything will be fine.

Black Cat

I saw the anime adaptation of this manga for the first time in 2008 and I liked it as one of my first anime. I watched this series again 2 years ago and was mostly disappointed, especially with the rushed ending.

The only thought that occurred to me, why not read the manga to see how the series would really end? Curiosity is the death of the cat

The manga begins quite differently than the anime in that the 2 protagonists are already a team and many events from the anime are only part of the background. How the other characters are added is practically the ... same.

The plot of Black Cat is very simple, offers practically no twists and turns, so it is linear and monotonous until the end. The problem is, the manga was "somehow" still likable up to Chapter 60-70, until then you were at least entertained by the characters, along with their everyday bizarre experiences. As soon as all the fighting against the opponents started, the manga drifted in a massively disastrous direction.

First and foremost, almost all supporting characters and opponents are empty, boring, and irrelevant, their entire existence did not help the plot any further, whether 50 chapters were used for their fights or not. In addition, there are terribly poorly written dialogues for elementary school students on the level of "We are comrades, that's why we fight against you" "We will kill you because world domination is ours" and that's how it went. Under the typical Shounen principle, Black Cat enjoys by far one of the worst possible implementations of all.

Not even the skills were really explained, which was just one of the minor issues. In the end, however, all clichés were worked off from A to Z, all fights ruined and everyone had so much plot armor that they could probably fight Superman and Darkseid with it and would even win because they believed in their comrades.

To be honest, I can't believe that the simple, personable first 60 chapters are from the same manga as what came at the end.

The drawings were mostly above average, apart from the choreography and the surroundings, there it fluctuated again and again from ok to good.


When it comes to characters, I can't really name anything worth mentioning, because there was simply nothing. Only Train and Eve had some personality, Eve probably the most. But that didn't matter later anyway.


In the end, I'm still happy that I read the manga, so I've cut off one point of my nostalgia. However, the experiences I made while reading this manga are definitely something I don't want to remember.