Cat's Eye (manga)

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Cat's Eye


caption = Cover of the first volume of the original Japanese release of the manga series
ja_name = キャッツ アイ
ja_name_trans = Kyattsu Ai
genre = Action, Drama, CrimeInfobox animanga/Manga
title =
author = Tsukasa Hojo
publisher = flagicon|Japan Shueisha
publisher_other = flagicon|Italy Star Comics
flagicon|France Tonkam
flagicon|Malaysia Comics House
magazine = Shōnen Jump
first = 1981
last = 1985
volumes = 18
demographic = ShōnenInfobox animanga/Anime
director = Yoshio Takeuchi
Kenji Kodama
writer =
studio = Tokyo Movie Shinsha
licensor = ImaginAsian Entertainment
network = flagicon|Japan NTV
network_other = flagicon|France France 3
flagicon|Germany RTL II
flagicon|Italy Italia 1
flagicon|Philippines GMA 7
flagicon|China BTV-10
flagicon|USA Imaginasian
first = April 11, 1983
last = July 8, 1985
episodes = 73
episode_list =

nihongo|"Cat's Eye"|キャッツ アイ|Kyattsu Ai is a Japanese manga by Tsukasa Hojo. The manga was made into an anime series which was originally broadcast in 1983. "Cat's Eye" has also aired in a number of countries outside Japan, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Philippines and China. On April 16, 2007, ImaginAsian announced that they would broadcast the first season of Cat's Eye on ImaginAsian TV, and would thereafter give the series its first North American home video release.cite web|url=http://animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-04-16/broadcast-and-dvd-release-of-orguss-nobody's-boy-remi-and-cat's-eye-coming-from-imaginasian|title=Broadcast and DVD Release of Orguss, Nobody's Boy Remi and Cat's Eye coming from ImaginAsian|date=2007-04-16|publisher=Anime News Network|accessdate=2007-08-05] The show began broadcasting in June of that year, with the first DVD released later that September.

Plot

The protagonists of the series are the three Kisugi sisters — Rui (来生泪), Hitomi (来生瞳) and Ai (来生愛) — who run a café called "Cat's Eye". The sisters lead a double life as a trio of highly skilled art thieves, leaving cards with the name "Cat's Eye" at the scene of their crimes. They steal works of art (mostly paintings) that belonged to their long-missing father, Michael Heinz (ミケール・ハインツ, who was a famous art collector during the Nazi regime), in the hopes of him contacting them.

Toshio Utsumi (内海俊夫), the young clumsy police officer investigating the Cat's Eye case is the fiancé of Hitomi and a frequent visitor of the café. He swears to capture and bring down the Cat's Eye Gang, but is completely clueless about the sisters' true identities. Hitomi regularly informs the police in advance about her next job, and then uses Toshio's research about the security surrounding it to help plan the job.

At the end of the series, Heinz leaves a note for his daughters stating he cannot reveal himself yet because the mafia may kill him, but he may appear in five years' time. Hitomi admits to Toshio that she is part of Cat's Eye and flees before he can arrest her. He vows to track her down, but upon finding her later he discovers she has had an accident and has lost her memory. Toshio spends time with her and her memories come back. Finally, Toshio "arrests" Hitomi with a wedding ring.

The Cat's Eye cafe also appears in Hojo's later works, City Hunter and Angel Heart. However, the three series do not share the same continuity.

Media

Manga

All manga were released by Shueisha except for the kanzenban, which were released by Tokuma Shoten.
* "Jump Comics
*# April 1982, ISBN 4088514513
*# August 1982, ISBN 4088514521
*# November 1982, ISBN 408851453X
*# March 1983, ISBN 4088514548
*# June 1983, ISBN 4088514556
*# August 1983, ISBN 4088514564
*# October 1983, ISBN 4088514572
*# January 1984, ISBN 4088514580
*# April 1984, ISBN 4088514599
*# July 1984, ISBN 4088514602
*# October 1984, ISBN 4088514610
*# January 1985, ISBN 4088514629
*# February 1985, ISBN 4088514637
*# March 1985, ISBN 4088514645
*# April 1985, ISBN 4088514653
*# May 1985, ISBN 4088514661
*# June 1985, ISBN 408851467X
*# July 1985, ISBN 4088514688
* Aizōban
*# January 1994, ISBN 408782621X
*# February 1994, ISBN 4087826228
*# March 1994, ISBN 4087826236
*# April 1994, ISBN 4087826244
*# May 1994, ISBN 4087826252
*# June 1994, ISBN 4087826260
*# July 1994, ISBN 4087826279
*# August 1994, ISBN 4087826287
*# September 1994, ISBN 4087826295
*# October 1994, ISBN 4087826309
* Bunkoban
*# November 1995, ISBN 4086171511
*# November 1995, ISBN 408617152X
*# January 1996, ISBN 4086171538
*# January 1996, ISBN 4086171546
*# February 1996, ISBN 4086171554
*# February 1996, ISBN 4086171562
*# March 1996, ISBN 4086171570
*# March 1996, ISBN 4086171589
*# April 1996, ISBN 4086171597
*# April 1996, ISBN 4086171600
* Kanzenban
*# 2005-10-15, ISBN 4197803176
*# 2005-10-15, ISBN 4197803184
*# 2005-11-15, ISBN 4197803222
*# 2005-11-15, ISBN 4197803230
*# 2005-12-15, ISBN 4197803249
*# 2006-01-14, ISBN 4197803265
*# 2006-02-15, ISBN 4197803281
*# 2006-03-15, ISBN 4197803303
*# 2006-03-15, ISBN 4197803311
*# 2006-04-15, ISBN 4197803338
*# 2006-04-15, ISBN 4197803346
*# 2006-05-15, ISBN 4197803389
*# 2006-05-15, ISBN 4197803397
*# 2006-06-15, ISBN 4197803427
*# 2006-06-15, ISBN 4197803435

Other books

*"Cat's Eye" novel
**Written by Hideo Takayashiki
**December 1996, ISBN 4-08-703055-5
*nihongo|"Parrot: Blessed Person—Tsukasa Hōjō Short Story Collection"|Parrot 幸福の人—北条司短編集|Parotto: Kōfuku no Hito—Hōjō Tsukasa Tanpenshū
**Written by Tsukasa Hōjō
**Digital Work by Futoshi Nagata
**2000-03-22, ISBN 4088570405

Anime

Cat's Eye first aired 36 episodes in 1983. In 1985 thirty-seven new episodes of Cat's Eye were aired.

The first anime series was released on DVD in North America beginning in September 2007. As of August 2008, it is currently unavailable. However, ImaginAsian Entertainment still holds the license and is working to someday rerelease the series in the future [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2008-05-13/statement-from-imaginasian-entertainment-on-tms-classics-dvd-titles]

Opening Theme:
#1: "Cat's Eye" by Anri (eps 1-36)
#2: "Derringer" by Mariko Tone (eps 36-73)

Ending Theme:
#1: "Dancing with the sunshine" by Anri (eps 1-36)
#2: "Hot Stuff" by Sherry Savage (eps 37-73)

Live action Movies

A TV movie Cat's Eye (1988 film) was made in 1988, including Mie from Pink Lady (band) as Rui.

A live-action movie Cat's Eye (1997 film) directed by Kaizo Hayashi was released in 1997 starring Yuki Uchida as Ai and Norika Fujiwara as Rui.The storyline basically follows the anime, though the outfits now resemble the black vinyl Catwoman costume from Batman Returns. This film is not currently available in the United States, though it may be purchased through some Asian DVD retailers.

References

External links

*
* [http://www.tmsanimeclassics.com/catseye.htm Official TMS Anime Classics "Cat's Eye" anime web site]
*