Black Torch

Black Torch

Seventeen-year-old Jirou Azuma lives with his grandfather, the last of a shinobi clan, and can speak with animals, a gift he uses to protect strays rather than people. Rescuing a black cat named Ragou costs Jirou his life, but the cat turns out to be a mononoke, a spirit that saves him by handing over its own power. That trade pulls Jirou into Black Torch, a government unit that hunts the mononoke still at war with humanity, and Ragou stays bound to him as a partner he didn't ask for.