I did promised that
I will look for another manga to share. So, here it is(: Before I start posting
my chapter thoughts on Kurogane, I'd like
to give an initial thoughts or a first look on this manga.
If you'd like to
know if you should read further, here're some quick knowledge: Weekly Shounen
JUMP series, sports genre, kendo, weak MC with a special ability and aims to be
strong.
I started reading Kurogane ever since its very first scanlation
came out. This is my first engagement to the sports genre that I was never fond
of. Yeah I've seen a couple of Slam Dunk
episodes but that's it. Now Kurogane has
made me open to trying out the genre that Area
no Kishi and Kuroko no Basuke came
to my watch list.
Anyway, going to the
plot, as I have mentioned Kurogane Hiroto has a weak body but he has an
unbelievably amazing eyesight. When he passed by this Sakura Tree that was
mentioned in legends, he was suddenly attacked by a ghost which he was able to
dodge successfully. The ghost, Sayuri, said that she will teach him kendo,
Sakura Sword Style. Now Kurogane joins their school's (weak) Kendo club and now
aims to be strong. That's it. Yeah typical plot. I don't care. It's good.
Story-wise, Kurogane might have caught me because of the
good combination of sports and comedy. I'm not really interested in kendo but
despite that, Kurogane doesn't really go
into so much kendo geekiness right now. Well, you'll probably get to know kendo
as you read the manga and you might even like it. The strategies and moves are being explained so you
won't really get lost when reading. The pacing is pretty good. It's not going
fast and not really slow either. The typical style of the arcs? They'd practice
then compete in some kind of tournament or match. Every match comes in 1 to 2
chapters. Every major team opponent gets their brief overview just like their
practice match with Hakurei as well as in the newcomer's battle with Jourai.
As for the
characters, I wouldn't say that Kurogane is the most interesting MC out there
but the secondary characters really makes up for my lack of interest on
Kurogane. First, there's the strong and serious Hazakura Shidou who went to
Ouka despite his great talent in kendo. He could be considered the strongest of
the newcomers. He has an injury in his left arm and only battles with his
right. I actually see him as the bishounen :3 of this manga. He gets a couple
of serious comedy out of the blue whenever he's with Kurogane and Aoharu. AND
the next interesting secondary character is Ebana Aoharu who actually reminds
me of Okumura Rin from Ao no Exorcist.
He's strong in fist fights and seriously lacks the strategy and technique when
it comes to kendo BUT we'll definitely see a lot of improvements in him. I'm
sure of it. Also I mainly like him because he keeps the energy up in the manga.
He's so lively that he actually makes Shidou get some serious comedy :3
Art-wise, I wouldn't
say it's outstanding rather it's a pretty decent art. This is my first time
reading a sports manga and I guess I could say that it turned out a little bit
better than I was expecting it to be. I thought that reading some sports manga
would be boring because you won’t see the actual action but I guess I was stand
corrected. Also, character designs are pretty good. Each character have their
distinct looks which makes readers easily know each of them.
Overall, Kurogane is a recommended manga for those who'd
want some sports manga to read. It won't be difficult to catch up for those who
haven't started reading this since it's currently on 30chapters. It'll go on a
1yr anniversary by September and I'm thinking that this will probably go on for
another year(: I sure do hope I'm right there. Anyway, I plan on covering this
manga starting probably on the next chapter which will most likely come out in
a few days.
