rhodrymavelyne

I’m surprised Descendants of Darkness/Yami no Matsuei fans haven’t been all over Black Cat. Especially if they’re into seiyuu. After playing Tsuzuki Asato, a beautiful bishounen pursued by rose wielding psycho in Yami no Matsuei, Miki Shiniichirou *was* the rose wielding psycho in Black Cat. :)

Indeed, Creed Diskenth may outstrip Muraki Kazutaka as both a psycho and in his obsession with his particular bishounen. One wonders how Creed managed to stop thinking about Train Heartnet long enough to gather the Apostles of the Stars. I’m guessing he was thinking about Train the entire time in the back of his mind. As well as the front. And the sides. :)

Perhaps Black Cat doesn’t have any many fans because the genre is different. For all its shoujo trappings and hooks, Black Cat remains a shounen anime/manga.

By the way, I have a special place in my heart for the Black Cat anime. I love the surreal settings, the pacing. Rinslet and Eve were much more capable and didn’t damsel as much. Train was absolutely beautiful, alternating between ice cold and goofy, depending on whether he was the eraser (the assassin) or the sweeper (bounty hunter sharing a life with Sven and Eve).

Yami no Matsuei/Descendants of Darkness is very shoujo. The plot is more emotional than action driven. It’s loaded with beautiful men.

Not that there aren’t a fair share of pretty male faces in Black Cat, too, but they’re mixed in with many pretty female faces and a wide variety of others.

One friend stopped watching Black Cat because it felt too noir. Another preferred the manga.

I’ve yet to find a person to share my yaoi driven enthusiasm for the Black Cat anime with. My husband enjoyed the anime, but he’s not a yaoi fan.

I’m not sure if anyone appreciates the same things in Black Cat that I do. One of those things was the obsession which the villain had with the hero. It’s unashamedly homoerotic. The villain is fixated on the hero’s beauty as well as his strength. The two overlap.

Train Heartnet isn’t quite as easy to slash, perhaps, as Tsuzuki Asato is. Having quite a few beautiful men around Tsuzuki which viewers/readers can pair him up with. This is a big part of the attraction Yami no Matsuei/Descendants of Darkness has for yaoi fans.

I really like the variety of relationships in Train’s life, though.

There’s Creed, who wants to bring out the darkest aspects in his former partner, as well as to get him back.

Train finds himself meeting Saya, who’s more of a best friend than a girlfriend. She heals his wounded soul with her frank boldness and cheer, encouraging him to enjoy being alive again.

Alas, Train gets wounded again when he loses Saya. Sven is there to heal him, bring him back to life, coax him into a new one. The two men form a bond which is a partnership, a buddyship, and a marriage all at once.

In the end, I got the feeling Train was going to be all right.

I didn’t feel the same reassurance with Tsuzuki Asato, although he’s less alone because of Hisoka. Nor did we ever learn exactly where his self loathing came from. Hints were dropped, but it seemed there was more to it. A lot more. The Yami no Matsuei/Descendants of Darkness anime only revealed so much before stopping. The manga went on a little longer, but it came to a halt.

For fans, this has been frustrating, especially with so many unanswered questions. What was the whole mystery involving Hisoka’s family, Muraki, and Tsuzuki? What was the meaning behind the title Descendants of Darkness?

I’m still waiting to find out.