ひとりの夜もそばにいようぜ　君と僕の歌を歌う

wooo!

sooooo... in one week i finished all of Black Cat anime and manga too! huhuhuhu... Sorry to all the fans who actually waited to patiently each week for them... Kinda unfair that now the anime and manga is done, u can just download the whole thing and finish it off within days.

So here's the lowdown of it... and what i thought about both the anime and manga :)


WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

So it's about this rutheless killer, Train (aka BLACK CAT aka Number XIII):



the best assasin gunman ever who works for this secret organization Chronos, who one day met this girl, Saya:



and was tranformed into this:



carefree stray-cat-like guy, through the power of love..... (NOT!)

So he pairs up with these two:



Sven and Eve (a biomachine) and they travel around as SWEEPERS... basically bounty hunters who capture criminals without killing them.

And of course, there wouldn't be a story if there wasn't a bad guy, CREED



who has this rather, yucky yaoi-ish obsession with Train, and an evil ambition to be god to rule this earth under his cruel reign forever.

WHAT ABOUT IT?

Actually, I was introduced to this Black Cat manga awhile ago... Maybe like 2 years ago cause Mandy said that i would probably like it if i liked Kenshin. I did read some but I didn't really get too far... in fact just the first few chapters.
Then the other day, I decided to check out the Anime instead. Cause well, it's much easier to watch 26 episodes than to read 185 chapters!!!

And i must say, I REALLY enjoyed the Anime!! In fact, this is like one of those rare series I thought the Anime was done REALLY REALLY well!

The animation was superb. The visuals were incredibly stunning.


DAMN! Train was really really well animated!! The scenes where he is in his assasin mode was very well drawn to convey the intensity in his eyes and the heat of the fight.

ANDDDD most of all, one of the biggest points (besides the superb visuals) was the use of associating MUSIC with imageries. Damn well done!

here's a video that captures alot of the essence of the elements that was really superbly done in this anime... please watch!





Through this amazingly well done use of music and imageries, the whole Saya and Train relationship, was very very well presented in the Anime, much better than the manga.


the first time Train meets Saya...

All the scenes with Saya and Train (especially the rooftop scenes) were very well done. An air of misty dream, as if an etheral meeting of a lonely soul who finds a sparkle of freedom in a carefree soul. Very well done.

And the use of Saya singing the song Konoyo no Uta when they first meet and using that song whenever they see each other on the rooftop at night underneath the moonlight as well as the use of BOTH the song and fireworks was incredibly well done (you just have to watch it!!)



So damn well done that it drives a bullet through your heart everytime you hear that song in subsequent episodes after Episode 7.


THE MANGA/THE ANIME - TRAIN AND SAYA

Well i watched the Anime first and I loved it but, truth be told, i read the manga only because I REALLY wanted more of Train's and Saya's relationship!!! There was just tooooooo little too short in the anime! Not to say taht the anime cut out ALOT of stuff haha... But lets jsut say their relationship was abruptly terminated before it could bloom into something even more beautiful.

And i suppose i read the manga because i really wanted to see more scenes of them together.

However, as i said, the parts in the anime that showed Train and Saya's moments together were so well made that it really captured a much more beautiful essense between them than the manga did. Although, the manga did have more scenes of the both of them (sorta), and they actually knew each other for like 3 months in the manga as oppose to a few days in the anime. But i still felt that the scenes with Train and Saya were just so well done in the Anime that captured it so well already...

Train and Saya Scenes.

I was actually gonna think that the Anime was better than the manga, halfway through reading it...

However, i was REALLY VERY satisfied with the way Saya's role in Train's life was made much more significant in the manga (towards the ending chapters), that i felt the anime neglected.

In the anime, basically, Saya changed Train's life by causing him to allow himself to embrace the nature in him for a carefree life than to continue to work as an assasin for the Chronos. They brought her up a couple of times by making her the catalyst also to Train's anger and rage towards Creed.

The manga, in the middle, i suppose was not as strong in delivering this message (Well, taking into account the manga is WAYYY longer than the anime). Since the EVENT of SAYA in the anime was so well done, there was just no way for the manga to have had the same impact for THAT EVENT . In that way, the manga was also weaker. Weaker in showing Train's and Saya's past together.

HOWEVER, the manga totally kicked ass when it came to Saya's role during the final battle with between Train and Creed. Not only was it Saya's strength and guidance that helped Train defeat Creed, but i really loved it when Train says to Creed, "Saya lives on in me."

That was just really really really great to see her role in his life and to know that she will always be a part of Train, even if she's physically there or not...

Awesome!

wuahahaha...

dats my 2 cents :)

DAMN BUT THEY COULD HAVE BEEN SUCH A CUTE COUPLE YOOOO!!!!

THESE ARE SPOILERS. DON'T READ TILL YOU'VE WATCHED THE ANIME/MANGA. OR IF YOU DON'T PLAN TO WATCH IT ANYWAY!

well i put this here cause i have to say it. i was really really sad Saya died. I mean what the hell... The thought that Train will always be alone, you know. I mean, he has Sven and Eve, but they're not what Saya was to him. I'm not sure even if Saya lived if they would have been together or not, probably not soon, cause Saya and him has a wandering spirit and they wouldn't have been tied down to anyone, not even to each other...

Having said that, it was really really sweet that last scene where Saya died for her to confess to Train that she was planning on moving and that she had met alot of people and gone to alot of places in her life, but he was the only one she considered a friend. That was totally sweet and awesome BUT HELLLLLLL she dies right after that!! WTF!!!

So in a sense, i really hate it cause... even if Train has Even and Sven, we all know inside his heart, there will always be a part of him that perhaps, he would only reveal to Saya, and Saya's GONE YOU KNOW GONE!!!!!

It was very comforting to know that Train believes that Saya lives on in him and I think that's the best thought we can hold onto, is that even though they can never be together in this lifetime, all that she has said to him, done for him and done to him, will be part of her legacy in him, and through that, she does live on in him... That as long as he is free, that will always be that part that Saya has imparted to him that would remain in him....

Sigh... still sad though, when he says that "my role is done" in the end....... I hope he doesn't think that Saya has left him!!!!