曾经是顶级职业杀手的托雷(近藤隆配音),因为心爱的女人水无月沙耶(丰口惠美配音)之死金盆洗手。如今,他只是一个默默无闻的赏金猎手,但他“不详的黑猫”的名号在黑道中依然被口口相传。在搭档史恩(藤原启治配音)和同伴兼对手林斯雷科(野上尤加奈配音)的帮助下,托雷的隐退生活过得平淡而充实。一次行动中,托雷救下了生化人伊芙(福圆美里配音),伊芙凭借超强战斗力和治疗能力成为了托雷的得力助手。 爱人的死让托雷明白,与其对仇恨念念不忘,认真平安的度过余生才是真确的选择。托雷不愿复仇,但敌人却不放过他。接连的几起事件使得托雷最大的敌人库利德(三木真一郎配音)浮出水面,一群被称为使徒的敌人让朋友们的性命也受到了威胁。此时,托雷只得重新拿起武器,为了不再失去所爱的人而战斗。Kuroneko, directed by Kaneto Shindo, is a very complicated dark love story. Unlike many other films with similar background setting, we cannot see justice over evil at the end, and the conflict between samurais and ghosts are left unsolved. There is no right answer in the film, at least the director didn’t give that intention. I think one reason why Shindo designed the story like that was directly related to his Japanese philosophy and the difference in thinking from western culture. His purpose was not to simply discuss karma or good and evil, but more about “losing — losing one’s soul, life, honor, or humanity”. Most of Shindo’s works focused on the lowest class of society, as he said, “I would like to see problems as they are faced by working people, who are the protagonists in my films. I am interested in the way they overcome their difficulties; at least, I like to evoke the hope of overcoming, some prospect for the future.” It can also be reflected on his design of the two women occupy by a low animal as cat in Kuroneko. I have to say that Shindo is really a good screenwriter, that is why Kuroneko has such a well-knit plot. It is very compact and pacy to attract people to keep watching. The film is full of oriental aesthetics, the thick fog and wind in bamboo is so poetic, and both the use of light and stage performance are very delicate and beautiful. Especially Yone’s dancing as some sort of ritual and her fade in or fade out in the darkness make the atmosphere extraordinarily mysterious.