Review: Kurogane

Kurogane, vol. 1
by Kei Toume
Publisher: Del Rey
Rating: T (13+)
Price: $10.95

Come for the story, stay for the art. Kurogane is a samurai manga with a meandering storyline and plenty of swordfighting, but what I really enjoyed most about this book was Toume’s drawings.

The story is pretty conventional: It’s the tale of a young samurai bent on avenging his father’s murder, with various clashes with other samurai along the way. But it starts with the main character, Jintetsu, being torn to pieces by a pack of dogs as revenge for his deeds as an assassin.

Luckily (or not, depending on your point of view), an eccentric inventor, Genkichi, comes on the scene. He stitches Jintetsu’s body back together, but the result leaves much to be desired: The reanimated samurai, part man, part steel, has no voice, only one eye, and huge scar across his face. With help from Genkichi, he regains his former skill and sets off on his quest of revenge.

Although the plot is interesting, the action is hard to follow at times. This is particularly true during the fight scenes, when the panel erupts into crazy patterns that make it hard to see exactly who’s doing what to whom.

What makes this book is the art, which is detailed but not slick. Toume’s line is alive with energy, shifting from thick to thin in a way that suggests a real ink pen wielded by a practiced hand. The figures are dynamic, the backgrounds full of detail. The clutter in Genkichi’s dwelling, for instance, ranges from a girl’s head on a ladder to a droll little device for cracking eggs. While Jintetsu’s face is a simplistic cartoon, all the other characters are rendered with strong, individual features and intricately patterned garments.

Del Rey has done their usual good job with this book. The cover is a bit muddy in spots, but that’s due to the artist’s choice of colors, not the print quality. Sound effects are translated, and translator’s notes at the end shed light on some words and cultural aspects. Although there is a lengthy explanation of honorifics at the beginning of the book (pretty standard for Del Rey), few are used in the text, which is a curious omission.