From the back cover:
Luffy narrowly escapes being executed by his old nemeses Lady Alvira and Buggy the Clown, but now he has the Navy hot on his trail. Leading the hunt is the relentless Captain Smoker, a man who has never let a pirate escape from his jurisdiction!

Review:
There’s no other way to describe this volume than “ridiculously fun.” Where else will your heroes battle an opponent who can turn into smoke, encounter a lonely whale and give him a reason to hope, and drink themselves into a stupor in a town full of bounty hunters?

While I have to cringe at some of the idiocy the boys get up to—like picking a fight with said whale or destroying a valuable navigation tool—there is still plenty of cool stuff to make up for it. The method of navigating the Grand Line, for example, is pretty sweet. Strong magnetic fields make an ordinary compass useless, and instead, a ship must pick one of seven paths and then travel from island to island along that path, logging each island’s magnetic field somehow (a process which can take days or hours) before moving on to the next one. All paths ultimately converge and the final island is the mythical Raftel, which has only been visited by the king of pirates (and thus may be the location of the One Piece). I’m sure the science here is a bit dodgy, but it’s fun nonetheless and provides a handy excuse for encountering lots of kooky people along the way.

Although One Piece seems to shun the power-ups that other shounen series employ, Zolo did recently buy a couple of spiffy new swords. The scene in which he finally tries them out, against a hundred bounty hunters, is rather awesome, as well. It feels like we haven’t really seen him fight in a long time, since he was so injured during the Arlong Park stuff. His prowess convinces the villagers that the wanted poster must be mistaken, that he must be the captain worth 30 million berries, so they decide to focus their efforts on him while a bloated Luffy snores away unheeded.

So, yes, nothing incredibly deep here but that didn’t prevent me from being thoroughly entertained.

From the back cover:
After almost drowning at the hands of “Sawtooth” Arlong, captain of the nasty Fish-Man pirates, Luffy bounces back with a few tricks up his sleeve. The fate of Coco Village, if not the rest of the East Blue, rests on the outcome of their final battle!

Review:
After a fight involving lots of chomping and a completely silly move known as “shark darts,” Arlong Park is destroyed and the villagers rejoice. Nobody seems too concerned that they don’t recover Arlong’s body, which I suspect they will regret later. Luffy is kind of awesome in this fight, in that he takes special care to destroy the room in which Nami was made to draw charts for the fish-men, and declares from atop the pile of rubble that used to be Arlong Park, “Nami! You’re one of us now!” I swear, I actually got a bit teary. Shounen manga is so wonderfully uncomplicated.

A corrupt naval official wants to take credit for defeating Arlong, but when he is prevented from doing so, he takes his revenge by issuing a world-wide all points bulletin for Luffy. As our heroes set out for the Grand Line, they stop over in Roguetown, where Luffy is recognized by some past foes as well as the naval presence and is about to be executed upon the very spot where the last king of the pirates met the same fate. Meanwhile, Zolo acquires some new swords with the help of a knowledgeable young woman (in a chapter that is oddly fascinating), Sanji buys a big fish, and Shanks finds out (courtesy of Luffy’s wanted poster) that the boy he met long ago really did become a pirate.

Some very interesting things are afoot! I’m glad to see Shanks again, and the naval captain at Roguetown also seems to be a pretty decent guy. I’m kind of bored by the return of Buggy and Alvira, but it brings up an interesting point. Their meeting and cooperative efforts were documented in a series of splash pages, which Oda-sensei likes to use to tell stories about minor characters. Does that mean these stories are canon? If so, based on the splash pages going on currently, another foe may reappear at some point after escaping the clutches of a Vice Admiral whose ship has Triumph the Insult Comic Dog for a figurehead.

Arr! Belay reading on if ye not wish to be spoiled.

From the back cover:
Luffy’s navigator, Nami, has been working all along for “Saw-Tooth” Arlong to steal enough treasure and buy back her village. In return, the pirate has handed over her fortune to the Navy! Now Luffy and his crew prepare to risk their lives for Nami’s sake against their most ruthless opponent yet.

Review:
It seems that for each volume in which the plot advances, we get one like this, which is almost entirely fighting. Answering Nami’s tearful plea for help (see note at end of review), Luffy and friends square off against Arlong and his crew. Predictably, Arlong just so happens to have three powerful minions, which means that Zolo, Sanji, and Usopp must each face off with their opponent before the real fight—between Luffy and Arlong, of course—can begin.

For the most part, the fights follow the typical shounen routine. The good guy takes a beating that would kill a normal man, rallies, and eventually defeats his opponent. All moves have a name and these names are shouted as the moves are executed. The one exception is Usopp’s battle. His first instinct is to avoid conflict, but when he thinks about the comrades who are depending on him, he manages to fight in his own way, which is less face-to-face and more about sneak attacks. I thought this was a nice way to keep him in character while allowing him to contribute something to the battle.

Although the fights still manage to be fairly entertaining, despite going exactly as one would expect, my favorite scene occurs at the end. Nami can no longer stand being away from the battle that is being fought on her behalf, so she arrives and challenges Arlong. He forces her to decide whether she’ll return to his crew, in return for him sparing the lives of the villagers, or whether she wishes to align herself with Luffy’s crew, who is looking miserably beaten by this point. She chooses to believe in Luffy, which is a big turning point for her. I appreciate that even in a volume full of brawling, Oda-sensei still manages to work in moments like this.

Note: Have I been pronouncing Luffy’s name incorrectly? I’ve been thinking that it rhymes with Buffy, but in one of the storyboard presentation pages we see the rough outline of Nami’s tearful plea again, and the katakana she uses for Luffy’s name could be romanized as “roofy.”

From the back cover:
Train’s mortal enemy Creed summons his followers, the Apostles of the Stars, and sets his grand scheme in motion. Creed plans to launch a global revolution by attacking a summit between world leaders and the executives of Chronos. But if the police and secret service can’t stop Creed, does Train have any hope of taking him down?!

Review:
This volume, despite its status as the fifth in the series, is full of exposition for what I can only assume will be a fairly involved story arc. Creed gathers his forces—including a few characters that haven’t been seen previously—and carries out a deadly attack on a world summit, ensuring the whole world sees his group as enemies. Chronos mobilizes its “Numbers,” commanded by a young woman, and wants to hire Train on to help them to go after Creed.

So far, Chronos seems to be forgiving Train’s treachery because he is useful to them, and this is twice now its emissaries have approached him as a sweeper rather than as an assassin. I personally find plotlines of the “temporary alliance” variety to be a lot of fun—like the fabulous Kyoto arc in Rurouni Kenshin—and will be interested to see whether there comes a time when Chronos turns against Train again.

Meanwhile, while this is going on, an imposter is posing as the Black Cat and, though Train is personally okay with this, he ends up having to step in and protect the fellow when another gunslinger decides to challenge him. This is kind of a lightweight subplot, but it was just the right length to be amusing and not tiresome. I also really liked the way the rival gunslinger, Stamper, is drawn. He’s one of the more facially realistic manga characters to appear in the series so far.

There was something that bothered me, though. In early volumes, Train is seen dispatching his enemies with little regret. Now, though, he tells Lugart, “And if I can spare the life of my enemy, I’ll do that too… even if the bounty is offered dead or alive.” I wonder whether someone objected and wanted him to fit more easily into the mold of “the hero that doesn’t kill” or something. I don’t own the volumes to compare, but this certainly doesn’t seem to’ve been his philosophy from the beginning!

From the back cover:
Persuaded by the promise of a gourmet dinner, Train accepts coy cat burglar Rinslet’s invitation to be her date at the birthday bash of a prominent socialite. But Train may have bitten off more than he can chew because among the guests at the party is a murderer who believes that killing is a fine art!

Review:
After a couple of simple yet effective chapters that fill in part of Sven’s past as an employee of the International Bureau of Investigations as well as the origin of his right eye, we get into what could’ve been a supremely silly story. A wealthy woman named Madame Freesia, who has amassed her fortune by dealing in exotic pets, is holding a birthday gala and Rinslet has managed to wrangle an invitation. Madame Freesia is notorious for showing off newly acquired “treasures” at these parties, and Rinslet is eager to get her hands on the newest one. To support her cover story, she needs Train to pose as her husband and promises that he’ll see something that interests him, as well.

This “something” turns out to be Lugart Won, a notorious assassin who prefers the purity of hand-to-hand combat. Although untrained in this area, Train’s cat-like reflexes make him a worthy opponent for Lugart and they have quite a fun brawl out in the corridor until Madame Freesia’s latest “treasure” causes a stampede. Why? Because it is a dinosaur, of course.

The inclusion of a dinosaur in the story could’ve been ridiculously stupid but it actually turns out to be rather fun. I was inexplicably delighted that it heralds its entrance by tossing a battered car into the ballroom, for example. It also gives Eve the opportunity to protect people with the abilities she’s been given while also preserving the life of the artificially-created dinosaur, with whom she feels kinship because of their origins. She can’t quite manage it on her own, but she’s been practicing (inspired by seeing Train do the same earlier in the volume) and shows impressive control of her abilities.

This volume also provides a clue as to the setting of this story. In volume three, there was a sign for Charing Cross and here, we’re informed the party takes place in Loire Province, which is in France. So it would seem we’re looking at a European setting. However, Saya Minatsuki, whose name is unquestionably Japanese, doesn’t seem to know the name of the “far east country” from which her kimonos hail and one of Creed’s minions is described as coming from “Jipangu,” so I am all confused. Is this an alternate world or is it Europe?

Still, that’s a pretty minor quibble. I can’t complain much about a series that’s able to include a dinosaur and not have it be too dumb for words.

From the back cover:
Train Heartnet, also known as “Black Cat,” was an infamous assassin for a secret organization called Chronos… until he abandoned that cold-blooded existence to live life on his own terms as an easygoing bounty hunter. But is Train’s past as far behind him as he thinks?

Train receives a desperate plea for help from Karl, the mayor of Rubeck City and one of Chronos’s top brass, because a serial murderer with mysterious powers is terrorizing Karl’s town. Eve offers herself as bait to lure the killer out, but will she be caught in a deadly trap?!

Review:
Ugh, what a garish cover. That red background is actually supposed to be bricks, but you can’t tell from the image. At least the contents are more pleasant.

After nabbing a pair of jewel thieves—and experiencing a few flashbacks involving Saya, the woman who convinced him to give up the assassin’s life and become a sweeper instead—Train is contacted by his former boss from Chronos who needs help getting rid of a serial killer who’s terrorizing the town of which he is the mayor. The bounty will be enough to cover Train and Sven’s debts, so they eagerly accept.

It turns out that, through a bunch of silliness involving drinking a forbidden elixir that brings out one’s potential Taoist powers, an escaped convict boxer has achieved invincible strength thanks to Creed’s band of revolutionary minions. Because this is shonen manga, battle between Train and the boxer ensues. It’s not bad, but more interesting is the subsequent fight between a Chronos assassin and Creed’s people. I’m always a sucker for unusual fighting powers, which Creed’s folks definitely possess, and I also like how I ended up unexpectedly rooting for the Chronos guy. Hooray for shades of grey!

Also cool? Eve is sticking around and has ambitions of sweeperhood and we see Sven’s eye-related power for the first time. The latter causes me to make another mental tick mark in the tally of series involving eye exchanges. They’re surprisingly popular.

Black Cat is the story of Train Heartnet, who used to work as an assassin for a powerful organization called Chronos. After an encounter with a female bounty hunter (a.k.a. sweeper) named Saya (whom we only glimpse near the end of volume two), his outlook changed and he gave up that life. Now it’s two years later and Train has become a sweeper himself, collecting bounties on criminals with his partner, Sven. Train’s motto is “more money, more danger… more fun!” and his pursuit of the latter two usually means the duo doesn’t get much of the former.

Though the idea of the “protagonist who used to be a killer but has now become more kind” is not new to shounen manga, it’s employed a little differently in Black Cat. While many such heroes have made it their pledge never to kill again, Train has no problem with offing the criminal element, though he’s scrupulous about not harming innocents. This allows for the potential of a deadly showdown with his former partner, Creed, who was responsible for Saya’s death and upon whom Train has sworn to exact revenge.

After going after a few minor targets, Train and Sven are approached with a proposition by Rinslet, a notorious female thief. She’s been hired to steal some research data from a criminal bigwig, and wants Train and Sven to help make her job easier by capturing the bigwig first. They get the reward; she gets the loot; everybody’s happy. Of course, things don’t exactly go as planned, since the bigwig invokes Creed’s name and makes Train go rather nuts. Ultimately, Train and Creed confront each other, inflicting enough wounds to prove they are well matched as opponents but living to fight another day.

These first two volumes skillfully introduce Train’s past, his current circumstances, and the lingering threat of Creed and his band of revolutionaries (who seek to overthrow Chronos and want Train to join them) without inundating the reader with information. One of the best things about this series is the nebulous notion of “pacing,” which to me means that when I read it, it feels like I am watching a television show, with a variety of perspectives and camera angles and a natural flow to scenes and conversations. The story is also structured similarly, with the introduction of a villain who then retreats into the background for a bit while the protagonists get on with the daily grind of their occupation, calling, and/or duty.

My favorite aspect of the series, however, is the strength of the partnership between Train and Sven. It’s clear that these two trust each other professionally, but it goes deeper than that, as exemplified by Train’s reaction when Sven gets wounded during an attempt to apprehend a target. Their relationship actually reminds me some of Ban and Ginji in GetBackers, with the energetic but extremely powerful guy using the nickname –chan to refer to his more cerebral partner who possesses some sort of eye-related power (though this is only a hint so far in Sven’s case). That’s a pretty superficial comparison, but the overall affectionate feel is pretty similar.

Thankfully, the similarities between Black Cat and GetBackers do not extend to the art. Yabuki’s illustrations are clean and easy on the eyes, with a minimum of screentone and quite a lot of speed lines. Even without looking at the cover, one could probably tell that this series ran in Shonen Jump. Speaking of the cover, that’s the one area where Yabuki’s art becomes unattractive. Rinslet in particular looks much, much better in the interior art. One artistic element that does puzzle me is Train’s coat. What exactly are those brown things?! They look like miniature life boats but I have a sneaking suspicion they’re meant to be cat nipples.

Bizarre sartorial choices aside, what it all boils down to is that Black Cat is a lot of fun. The well structured story and the camaraderie between the leads elevates it beyond typical shounen fare and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how the rest of it plays out.

This review was originally published at Comics Should Be Good.