Black Cat (manga)

Black Cat
20th and final tankōbon volume cover
Genre
Manga
Written byKentaro Yabuki
Published byShueisha
English publisher
ImprintJump Comics
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Jump
English magazine
DemographicShōnen
Original runJuly 11, 2000 – June 14, 2004
Volumes20 (List of volumes)
Anime television series
Directed byShin Itagaki
Produced by
  • Masaya Shinozaki
  • Naoki Watanabe
  • Taito Okiura
  • Takashi Takano
  • Tetsuo Daitoku
Written byShūichi Kōyama
Music byTaku Iwasaki
StudioGonzo
Licensed by
Original networkTBS
English network
Original run October 6, 2005 – March 30, 2006
Episodes23 + 1 (List of episodes)
Light novel
Written byTomohito Ōsaki
Illustrated byKentaro Yabuki
Published byShueisha
ImprintJUMP j BOOKS
DemographicMale
Original runMarch 10, 2003 – October 24, 2005
Volumes3

Black Cat (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kentaro Yabuki. It was originally serialized in publisher Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from July 2000 to June 2004, with the chapters later collected into twenty tankōbon (bound volumes) by Shueisha. The story centers on a man named Train Heartnet who withdrew from an elite group of assassins called the Chronos Numbers to become a bounty hunter.

The series was adapted into a twenty-four episode anime television series by studio Gonzo, which originally aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) from October 2005 to March 2006. The manga was licensed for English-language publication in North America by Viz Media and in Australasia by Madman Entertainment. Funimation Entertainment licensed the anime for an English dub and North American broadcast on their own Funimation Channel, with Madman releasing it in Australasia and MVM Films in the United Kingdom.

In Japan, the Black Cat manga sold over 12 million copies, while in North America several volumes have been featured in weekly top ten lists of best-selling manga. The anime has also been popular in both Japan and North America. Manga and anime critics had praise for Black Cat's action, differing views on the artwork and characters, and mainly negative comments for its plot which has been criticized for having typical elements of shōnen manga (targeted at boys).

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference hogset was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Black Cat". Funimation. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "The Official Website for Black Cat". Viz Media. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2017.