Cats -- An Ongoing Project


[Copyrighted by Curtis H. Hoffmann, Nov. 12, 1995. May not be reprinted without permission from the author. You know the gig.]

Cats is an ongoing project, intended to cover the fascination manga artists have with referring to women as cats in some form. The idea stems from the same root as bird in England, and chick in America. That is simply, talking about someone by using slang. In this case, the Japanese phrase "koneko-chan", or "kitten", was once used to describe a girl that acted "soft and cuddly" like a kitten.

My intention here, though, is to display the logos used by various cat organizations. As I get my hands on more logos, I will add them here. So far, I know of four groups -- Cats Eye, Hunter Cats, Gun Cmith Cats, and Kuro Neko. If anyone can point me to other groups or companies -- in manga -- that use the word "cat" in their name, I'd appreciate it. The deciding factor in adding the logo to this page is whether there IS such a logo in the associated manga. Thanks.





[Cats Eye Logo] Most manga fans are already familiar with Cats Eye, from Tsukasa Hojo, creator of City Hunter. Cats Eye are three sisters, working as cat burglars to recover the artworks that once belonged to their father. NOTE: The Cats Eye logo artwork changes from chapter to chapter. The design here is from a later manga.


[Hunter Cats Logo] Hunter Cats are three girls, working as kind of "investigators for hire." One is super-strong, the other is super-fast, and the third is a super-computer. From Aro Hiroshi, creator of Yuu and Mi and Futaba-kun Change.


[Gun Smith Cats Logo] Gun Smith Cats is the name of Rally Vincent's gun shop. I have yet to see Rally handing out name cards, so the title artwork from the books is the closest we have to a business logo. From Ken-nichi Sonoda.


[Kuro Neko Logo] Kuro Neko, or Black Cat, is the name of the secret society of were-cats in the Geobreeders manga. I have asked Akihiro Ito whether this hush-hush group has their own business cards, and I'm currently awaiting his reply. NOTE: There is a package delivery service in Japan named Kuro Neko. In a pinch, I could use their logo, too...


[C.A.T.S. Logo] Civilian Anti Terrorism System. This is actually a rather dumb version of Pineapple Army, with a girl as the main commando. Marginal artwork and story by Kohhei Nishino. I have seen two volumes for this series.






Now, in an attempt to address the issue of business logos in manga, I will add the following two from Dragon Ball. It will probably be impossible to create a complete list of logos, so the criteria for including a logo here will be: Famous; Interesting design; or a design from an interesting manga that needs to be promoted more.






[Capsule Corp. Logo] Capsule Corporation, from Dragon Ball. This company specializes in putting big objects into small, easy to carry "Hoi Poi" capsules. "Hoi" is the sound you make when you throw something, and "Poi" is the sound of something being thrown away. NOTE: The logo design for Capsule Corp. has changed a lot over the years. The design here is from the later manga.


[Red Ribbon Logo] Red Ribbon, from Dragon Ball. This evil organization once tried to become the criminal empire of the world. Its members all wore some kind of red ribbon or scarf as part of their uniform.


[Schaft Logo] Schaft Enterprises, from Patlabor. Schaft is the company that makes military labors, and is responsible for setting the Black Griffon against the police force to demonstrate the advantages of buying Schaft technology.





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