Manga-ka: Kentaro Yabuki
Publisher: Viz
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: January 2009

Synopsis:
“Train and Eve are drawn into a bizarre illusory world controlled solely by the Doctor’s warped imagination. Train finds himself confronting doppelgangers of Kyoko and Saya. When the two women that should love him the most try to kill him, Train is left in a terrible predicament!”

The race is still on to make their way to Creed, battling through countless faceless henchmen and more than one of Creed’s upper-level Tao warriors. This volume brings a long awaited confrontation between the lead characters and the evil Tao doctor whose fascination with nano-technology makes the young Eve his next target.

Yay for more Eve (because she’s an awesome female character)! But yikes if it wasn’t teetering a little on the disturbing side for a moment there. The Tao doctor’s “Warp Zone”, a realm created from his imagination and the memories of those trapped within, has Train pitted against female comrades past and present as he desperately tries to find Eve before the Doctor does. Unfortunately Eve faces some shadows from her own past as well, and finds herself in the clutches of the enemy, strapped to a table and ready for dissection!

There are several old faces returning in this volume as the series begins to wind its way to the inevitable final showdowns. Some characters I’d even forgotten about all together until they popped back up for another round here in the eighteenth book, which both excited me and at the sametime reminded me just how little I cared for some of the characters early on when the story began tossing in so many at once. Train and Eve are finally reunited with Sven, bringing the lead trio back together after several volumes apart, and as usual they bring a humourous chemistry back to the story that I missed, especially in this current string of constant battles.

This book leaves plently for readers to look forward to in the next book, with a fight against Creed on the go, several secondary characters on the ropes fighting to escape (personally I hope Kevin and River are okay!), and Train, Eve and Sven on their way to the top of the tower for the showdown that the entire arc has been leading us towards. Fantastic artwork and a very likeable cast continue to make Black Cat a trip worth taking and one that manages to pull off lots of consecutive fight scenes in a way that keeps you caring.

Review written January 27, 2008 by Lissa Pattillo.
Book purchased in-store from Chapters

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About the Author: Lissa Pattillo

Lissa Pattillo is the owner and editor of Kuriousity.ca. Residing in Halifax, Nova Scotia she takes great joy in collecting all manners of manga genres, regretting that there's never enough time in the day to review or share them all. Along with reviews, Lissa is responsible for all the news postings to the website and works full time as a web and graphic designer.