Cat's Eye is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo. It was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1981 to 1985, and collected into 18 tankōbon by Shueisha. The story follows the adventures of the three [|Kisugi sisters — Hitomi, Rui and Ai], who are formidable art thieves trying to collect all the works belonging to their missing father. The manga was made into a televised anime series originally broadcast in 1983 to 1984 on Nippon TV, with a second season ending in 1985. It has also received two live-action adaptations; a TV movie in 1988 and a theatrical film in 1997. Cat's Eye is one of Weekly Shōnen Jumps best-selling manga seriesof all time, with over 18 million copies sold. The anime has also aired in a number of countries outside Japan, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Philippines, and China. In 2007, ImaginAsian broadcast the first season of the first anime on ImaginAsian TV, and then gave the first half of the series its first North American home video release. Right Stuf Inc. announced that they licensed the entire series in 2013 and will release it on DVD under their Nozomi label. The entire anime series was released in North American on two DVDs in July and November 2014. In April 2019, it was announced that the Right Stuf license has expired. A remake manga of the series drawn by Shingo Asai, also titled Cat's Eye, began publication in the debut issue of Tokuma Shoten's Monthly Comic Zenon anthology, which was published on October 25, 2010. It was serialized until January 25, 2014, which comprises eight tankōbon volumes.
Plot
Hitomi Kisugi, along with her older sister Rui and her younger sister Ai, run a café called "Cat's Eye" in Tokyo. The sisters lead a double life as a trio of highly skilled art thieves, stealing works of art which primarily belonged to their long-missing father, Michael Heinz, who was a famous art collector during the Nazi regime. Hitomi's fiancé is Toshio Utsumi, a clumsy young police officer who is investigating the Cat's Eye case. Despite being a frequent visitor to the café he is unaware of the double life of the girls. Hitomi regularly informs the police in advance about her next job using a signature "Cat's Eye" calling card, and then uses Toshio's research about the security surrounding the target to help plan the job. At the end of the series, Heinz leaves a note for his daughters stating that he cannot reveal himself yet because the mafia may kill him, but he may appear in five years' time. However, the "Heinz" turns out to be the sisters' treacherous uncle Cranaff, who betrayed Michael years earlier. After losing a final bet to the Cat's Eye, Cranaff decides to atone for his sin by setting fire to the museum, killing himself. Hitomi eventually admits to Toshio that she is part of Cat's Eye and flees before he can arrest her. Toshio vows to track her down, attempting to "arrest" Hitomi at the airport with a wedding ring. He resigns from the police force and travels to America to find Hitomi, but finds that she has lost her memory due to viral meningitis. Toshio spends time with her until her memories come back, and the two rekindle their relationship.
In contrast to Angel Heart , both Cat's Eye and City Hunter series are set in same universe. The titular City Hunter character, Ryo Saeba, is acquaintanced with them. He also has rivalry with them because he was helping police capture Cat's Eye. Despite their rivalry, they have great teamwork fighting against criminals. The sisters come to Ryo's rescue in City Hunter the Movie: ShinjukuPrivate Eyes when Ryo has trouble defeating his enemy.
Media
Manga
's Cat's Eye was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1981 to 1985, with the chapters collected into 18 tankōbon by Shueisha. It was later re-released as 10 aizōban in 1994, 10 bunkoban in 1996, and 15 kanzenban between 2005–2006. The kanzenban release was published by Tokuma Shoten, instead of Shueisha. The manga was also released domestically in several foreign countries, such as Italy by Star Comics, in France by Tonkam, and in Malaysia by Comics House.
Cat's Eye was adapted into an anime series by Tokyo Movie Shinsha and directed by Yoshio Takeuchi. 36 episodes were broadcast between July 11, 1983 until March 26, 1984. A second series was later produced that ran for 37 episodes from October 8, 1984 until July 8, 1985.
Film
On 27 August 1997 the live-action movie adaption Cat's Eye was released. The film is directed by Kaizo Hayashi and starring Yuki Uchida and Norika Fujiwara. A behind-the-scenes video was created for the movie, called Cat's Eye Secret. In 2019, the Kisugi sisters appeared in the animated filmCity Hunter the Movie: Shinjuku Private Eyes as a crossover. Chika Sakamoto and Keiko Toda reprised their respective roles from the 80s anime series as Ai and Hitomi, with Toda also voicing Rui due to the 2018 death of Toshiko Fujita.
