Dark Cat Review

story 7/10

Dark Cat was just... weird. I can’t really think of any other way to put it, because it’s the best word to describe it. I am sitting here wondering who came up with this plot in the first place, because it seems kind of random. We have the concept that evil invades people’s spirits through their dark feelings (and positive ones too, sometimes). And for the sake of the Dark Cat OVA (and many other older horror series, for that matter), the evil manifests itself in gore-like appendages, taking over the human body and turning them into something unrecognizable and disgusting. Now, had it stopped here, it would have just been a generic series, and I would have given the story score a 6. But, it does manage to throw in some more unusual aspects – namely, the concept of Dark Cats. These are once humans, I’d imagine, who have the ability to morph into cats. The two main Cat characters are Hyoi and Ryoi Kagezaki, brothers who search out evil and destroy it. But not all Dark Cats (unless I understood the story wrong) are good, as the evil Jukokubo eats the hearts of souls who have become evil, and claims to have taught Hyoi everything he knows. I can only assume that he is also a Dark Cat, then, though he doesn’t actually morph into one at any point.

Anyways, Hyoi and Ryoi are hot on the trail of a new evil that is manifesting in a local high school, so they go undercover to find out who is the affected person. Twists are involved, and the person may not be who you think it is by any means. In general, the story was unique in some aspects, but seemed very random in general. Who thought up the idea of morphing cat people searching out evil to destroy it? It’s like they used a Mad Libs session to pick the major characters and plot points, or something just as silly.

One other failing problem of the OVA is that there are too many main characters, who get an equal amount of air time. It would have been nice to have a clear handle on who were the main individuals involved, so your attention isn’t scattered between three totally separate storylines that make up the whole.

A decent yet generic story, with some very unusual elements thrown in, earn the score of 7 in my book.

animation 6.5/10

The animation style is fairly generic and forgettable as far as older series go. The only semi impressive factors were Hyoi and Ryoi’s character designs, which definitely had a cat-like appearance to them. The morphing scenes were decent, and the backgrounds and scenery used were detailed. The most disgusting element was definitely the "evil" manifesting into the gory appendages, which looked quite a bit like intestines pouring out of the body (complete with pus filled pouches everywhere). Really gross and all, but I couldn’t help but wonder if they could have been any more creative with the whole "morphing into a monster" thing. Colors used tended to be dark, with no CG or unusual special effects used.

sound 7.5/10

A lot of the music was INCREDIBLY cheesy. I’m talking full blown 80s synthy jean-jacket wearing music, that you’d expect to hear while watching the Breakfast Club or any teen 80s movie. But for some reason, it managed to fit the tone of the series anyways. Light piano music was also used for touching moments, which was very appropriate for the scenes.

Voice actors used fit everyone involved.

characters 6/10

I felt like the character development and interaction was the low point of the OVA for sure. As previously mentioned, it was never easy to tell exactly who were the main characters. We have Hiroki, who is loved by Takako (in a very one sided fashion). Then we have Ryoi and Hyoi, in their quest to find the evil. Since all of these characters have pretty much equal air time, it’s always difficult to become involved in the plot. Also, basically zero character development happens. The one positive point is that we do feel badly for Takako, who loves Hiroki but can’t get his attention no matter what she does. Another negative is that there is no back story for Ryoi and Hyoi, so we have no idea how they came to be Dark Cats, why they are Dark Cats, how their power works, or what they were before hand (were they humans?). All in all, too loose on the roles, not enough development, no explanations, and nothing that makes you feel empathy for the characters.

overall 6.5/10

While Dark Cat is not inherently bad, it definitely isn’t great either. With a story that is slightly better than generic, plenty of gore (if that’s your thing), hilarious music and character flaws, it isn’t something that I’d probably watch again. If you enjoy old series with horror, though, or rarities, you may enjoy this.