[BOOK REVIEW] Black Cat: Dear Friend Volume 13 by Kentaro Yabuki

Title:  Black Cat:  Dear Friend Volume 13


Author:  Kentaro Yabuki


Genre: Action / Adventure / Comedy / Crime


Year Published: 2008


Year Read: 2014


Series: Black Cat #13


Publisher: VIZ Media


Source:  Library


Content Rating:  Ages 14+ (Gory Violence)


Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

After reading the twelfth volume of “Black Cat,” I just had to pick up the thirteenth volume called “Black Cat Volume 13: Dear Friend” and find out just how Creed manage to kill Train’s friend Saya and how Train started hating Creed for this vicious act.  Now, I finally find out the history between Saya, Creed and Train in the volume that revealed everything about Train’s past!

After the events in the previous volume, Train, Eve and Sven decided once and for all that Creed must be defeated before he hurts anymore people.  It was then that Sven urged Train to explain about why he left the Chronos Numbers and why he hates Creed so much.  Train then explains to Sven and Eve that he was good friends with a woman named Saya Minatsuki and that she was the one that convinced Train that he should follow his own path and leaves the Chronos numbers behind.  Unfortunately, the Chronos numbers start to notice Train’s strange behavior and they ended up confining him for ten days due to his reckless behavior being a danger to Chronos.  Meanwhile, Creed who has also noticed the change in Train’s nature, found out that Saya had something to do with the change and he decides to kill Saya!

This volume was awesome as it really explained about Train’s past history with Saya and how his relationship with Saya had ended in tragedy.  Kentaro Yabuki did a brilliant job at portraying Train’s feelings towards Saya and the scene where he realized that Creed had killed her was a truly shocking and depressing scene as it was nice seeing Train make friends with someone outside of Chronos, only to lose her in a matter of seconds.  It was also interesting and frightening in seeing Creed’s infatuation with Train, even though we still do not have a clear explanation about why Creed is so obsessed with Train in the first place.  I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat when I saw the scene where Creed was chasing Saya through the streets, determined to kill her as it made his character even more frightening than ever before!  Kentaro Yabuki’s artwork is as usual, dazzling to look at as the characters’ facial expressions during any kind of situation really came to life and I also loved the way that the characters’ hair styles reflect their emotions during each scene such as sticking out whenever they are shocked or angry.

For those of you who do not like bloody violence, this volume does contain some violence, especially regarding Saya’s death.  The fact alone that Saya was stalked by Creed in the middle of the night might disturb some people who also fear about being stalked by a stranger in the middle of the night.

Overall, “Black Cat: Volume 13: Dear Friend” is a fantastic volume that really explains Train’s back story and his history with Saya that fans of the “Black Cat” series will enjoy for many years!