Cat's Eye (manga)

Cat's Eye (キャッツ♥アイ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tsukasa Hojo. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1981 to 1985, with its chapters collected in 18 volumes. 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 of the same name originally broadcast in 1983 to 1984 on Nippon Television, with a second season in 1985. It has also received three live-action adaptations; a TV film in 1988, a theatrical film in 1997, and a French TV series in 2024. A crossover original net animation (ONA) with Lupin III produced by TMS Entertainment, titled Lupin the 3rd vs. Cat's Eye, premiered on Amazon Prime Video in 2023. A new ONA adaptation produced by Liden Films premiered on Disney+ and Hulu in 2025.

Cat's Eye is one of Weekly Shōnen Jump's best-selling manga series of all time, with over 20 million copies sold.

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 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.

Characters

• Hitomi Kisugi (来生 瞳)
• Hitomi is the second daughter of Michael Heinz and the primary operative of the Cat's Eye team, earning her the distinct title of the Cat's Eye. A highly skilled athlete, she excels in horseback riding, safe cracking, and acrobatics, effortlessly performing complex maneuvers. Her agility allows her to escape restraints with ease, and she demonstrates proficiency in martial arts. Charming, clever, and compassionate, Hitomi is also adept at disguise and fluent in multiple languages.
• Rui Kisugi (来生 泪)
• Rui is Hitomi's elegant and sophisticated older sister, serving as the leader and strategist of the Cat's Eye team. With striking beauty and sharp intellect, she excels in planning operations and adapting to unpredictable situations. A highly skilled athlete, she is proficient in car racing, hang gliding, parachuting, helicopter piloting, martial arts, and scuba diving. Adept at disguise and fluent in multiple languages, including English, French, and German, she can also read lips. As the only sister with clear memories of their parents, Rui assumes a protective, maternal role toward Hitomi and their younger sister.
• Ai Kisugi (来生 愛)
• Ai, the youngest of the trio, possesses a tomboyish personality and exceptional intelligence, specializing in mechanics, computer programming, and engineering. She designs various gadgets to assist her sisters' heists. Though less physically adept than them, she skillfully operates getaway vehicles, including helicopters, gyrocopters, and motorcycles, compensating with agility. A typical high school student, she often daydreams about romance and owns a tabby kitten named Tiger.
• Toshio Utsumi (内海 俊夫)
• Toshio is Hitomi's high school sweetheart and a detective at Tokyo's Inunaki ("Crying Dog") District Police Station. Determined to capture Cat's Eye before marrying Hitomi, he has already proposed to her. Though clumsy and occasionally gullible, his persistence earns his supervisors' respect. Preferring hand-to-hand combat over firearms, he frequently clashes with his chief. His attraction to beautiful women, particularly blondes, often provokes Hitomi's jealousy.
• Boss (課長)
• Toshio's unnamed Section Chief heads the Detective Division at Inunaki Precinct. Known only by his title, he frequently clashes with Toshio over the Cat's Eye case, routinely reprimanding him for his investigative methods.
• Mitsuko Asatani (浅谷 光子)
• Asatani is a special investigator from Tokyo Police Headquarters assigned to the Cat's Eye case. A skilled markswoman who won the All-Japan Air Pistol Championships, she holds a fourth-degree black belt in karate and second-degree in judo, making her physically comparable to Hitomi. Though highly intelligent and perceptive—being the first to suspect Hitomi's identity—she fails to gather conclusive evidence. Her poor eyesight requires constant use of prescription glasses. The manga reveals her unspoken affection for Toshio, which irritates Hitomi.
• Michael Heinz (ミケール・ハインツ)
• Michael Heinz was an artistic prodigy in 1930s Germany who began assembling his renowned collection by age ten, including paintings, sculptures, and handcrafted musical instruments. Fleeing Nazi persecution, he settled in Japan and married, fathering three daughters. After disappearing in the United States, his dispersed collection became targeted by thieves called "Cat's Eye"—actually his grown daughters Rui, Hitomi, and Ai, who sought clues to his whereabouts. Their search ultimately reveals Heinz was betrayed by his twin brother Cranaff (クラナッフ), who assumed his identity. This discovery leads the sisters to abandon their Cat's Eye operations.
• Sadatsugu Nagaishi (永石 定嗣)
• Nagaishi is a trusted family friend who assists the Kisugi sisters with their heists, supplying information and specialized equipment beyond what Ai can provide. Though his background remains mysterious, his military expertise suggests possible armed forces experience.
• Kazumi (和美)
• Kazumi, a classmate of Ai's, accidentally photographs Hitomi during a moon photography session. Recognizing a resemblance to Cat's Eye, she investigates further and shares her suspicions with Asatani. Kazumi then stays overnight at the Kisugi home under false pretenses to gather evidence. The sisters cleverly maintain their alibi by making Hitomi appear present during Cat's Eye's next operation.
• Masato Kamiya (神谷 真人)
• A gentlemen thief who operates as a freelance journalist during the day. He is known as "The Mouse" and considers himself a rival to Cat's Eye. He is well aware of the Kisugi sisters' double life as Cat's Eye, but does not reveal their identities as it could also reveal his crimes as well.

Media

Reception

The Cat's Eye manga has had over 20 million copies in circulation.[39]

Allen Moody of THEM Anime Reviews gave the anime adaptation a rating of 3 out of 5 stars. He praised the story and how the heists were set up, comparing it to the Mission: Impossible TV series, however he noted that it gets very repetitive as the series progresses. He also handed out praise for the three main female leads and their character development, but criticized the poor treatment of the main male lead, Toshio. He also criticized the ending for not being as satisfying as the manga's, but over noted that "most of all, the oceans of guilt, and flashes of passion, that lurk just below the surface of the Hitomi/Toshio relationship, and very occasionally pop into view, are fascinating."[1]

Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network handed out a B rating for season one, and a C− rating for season two. She praised the first season for its animation, voice acting, character development, and story, but criticized the plot for being too repetitive and the soundtrack for being too grating after a while. For season two, she called it "campy fun", and praised the increased role for Ai, the voice acting, as well as the catchy ending theme. However, she criticized the plot for being too repetitive like the first season, the lack of progression in Toshio and Hitomi's relationship, reusing animation clips in most episodes, and an uncomfortable episode about the Holocaust.[40][41]

See also

• "Cat's Eye" (song)

External links