Shounen Kurogane by IKEZAWA Haruto

[Negative Syndicate]

Spoiler

Ah, it looks sweet. Seems like he found a new friend in... uh... that other school's counter expert XD I wonder what they're talking about.

And I hope with this we'll get to see more of the "supernatural" side, that last attack was pretty cool even though I'm not sure it was really anything supernatural..

There aren't any supernatural on the last attack.

 

[FrostyMouse]

Interesting chapter 33 raws, but as Negative said, there was no supernatural business, just cheesiness.

 

[Darjaille]

Well, I guess the fact that he was burning didn't happen really... /takes things literally

 

[leiatte]

I thought it was cool, lol. I liked them though, they were great looking chapters.

 

[kidopitz27]

33 to 34 raws are out but the only site available is jcafe

 

[brebaz]

33 to 34 raws are out but the only site available is jcafe

They are available here RAWs up to 34

 

[Wololo]

What a surprise, the german actually makes sense. The mangaka actually went through the trouble to get a proper translation.

 

[Reith]

Kurogane Chapter 35 Japanese RAW -> HERE

 

[FrostyMouse]

We finally got an English scan of chapter 32 today. Hopefully we'll get later scans soon...

 

[Reith]

Chapter 34 in english by U-Prod Edited Mangas

I'm glad that U-Prod take Kurogane from Pinoymanga. They continue to translate this series and the quality is way better.

 

[vampire killer]

What happen with the translation?

 

[Jammin]

What happen with the translation?

Probably because of how low it's ranking.

With Nura and Magicano gone, in weekly shounen jump Kurogane seems like the front runner to get the axe next sadly. At this point it seems to me like it's not even a matter of "if" anymore as much as it is "when".

 

[vampire killer]

Too bad. I just stardet reading it and for now it`s really good, But it dosen`t have good selles and the ranking are bad.

 

[FrostyMouse]

Chapter 35 was actually decent, but Kurogane's probably getting the axe soon, so...

 

[Darjaille]

With the new trend of having the final wrap up chapter in NEXT! or something, we might not even expect when it goes... anyone reading raws can guess whether it's nearing its end?

 

[raDar]

I won't really call it a trend, it's just that JUMP gives that treatment to those cancelled series which were once popular or at least have been a fan fave (even just for a moment) in the past and had a decent stay in the magazine. If ever Kurogane gets cancelled soon, I don't think it will have a special ending chapter since it still hasn't even exceeded a year of serialization.

I'm also curious to what's happening right now in the latest chapters. Though I don't think there will be another round of cancellation in the next weeks.

 

[Jammin]

I hope the NEXT thing becomes standard for cancellations, perhaps even expanded. Every series out there that gets cancelled is probably somebody out there's favorite so, if only for that reason, I think all series should be given the chance to tie up loose ends and say goodbye.

-----------------------------------------

On a slightly different note; I want to mention that if/when Kurogane does get cancelled I think it could turn out to be something of a blessing in disguise. The reason I say this is that I feel more than anything else it was Kurogane's premise that held it down. The sports kendo elements were pretty dry and repetitive. The supernatural element was pretty marginalized; with Sayuri being relegated to a trainer/talking head role. Sports Kendo and Supernatural Swordsmanship never really felt like they meshed the way the author hoped they would.

However, all the underlying content seemed very strong (Ebana aside). So I'll be very much looking forward to what Ikezawa Haruto does next; because I think there is definitely a lot of untapped talent there and I'd like to see what he can do when he has a little more to work with.

 

[Zeromcd]

I think one of the biggest issues about Kurogane is that it doesn't represent actual Kendo despite being a sports series... about Kendo.

Here is a fantastic review from Baka-Updates by a person named Saphsin who actually practices in the art of Kendo.

2nd thing that's a huge issue with this manga is that it does not represent real kendo. Some parts of the manga explain kendo concepts quite well (like the captain's Joudan and Shidou's one handed kendo techniques) but much of it is false. I am a kendoka myself so I'll give you some examples drawn from my experience.

First off, how Kurogane's team switched positions so that Kurogane becomes the sacrifice general in the practice match. That would never happen in real life for something that is only a practice match. In fact, it would be considered cowardly. Practice matches are used to gauge each team member's abilities so each position is given with respect to each individual's talent.

Spoiler

In one of the 1st year matches in which Shidou defeats his opponent, he knocks his opponent's shinai away. Actually, he breaks in half. That would never happen in real life and disarming your opponent is not even part of kendo.

Some of the "techniques" are just ridiculous and have no place or purpose in real Kendo. Such as knocking out your opponent so he falls down with a spin technique. Kurogane's samidare, which is basically telling your opponent "look here, I'm going with a strike that's definitely going for a tsuki, the hardest area to hit in kendo." Oogami's method of running around and executing continuous attacks is more like old-style Kumdo then Kendo. Kendo is about reading your opponent's movements, looking for an opening, and making the perfect one strike. Kendo exhausts a lot of stamina; that method would just burn you out before overtime. There was also one instance in which one of the participants used a street fighting stance to mess up his opponent's ability to read his rhythm; that's just insulting sword arts.

I don't mind the supernatural twist that Kurogane's phenomenal eyesight brings to the story, but I dislike how the author made eyesight a standard that measures a kendoka's ability. Increased kinetic vision does not exist in real life and as long as you wear sport-glasses or contacts to actually see for those with poor eyesight, it's completely fine in kendo.

This is a spoiler for those who aren't updated with Kurogane's raws, but this is a big mistake the author made in terms of kendo competitions.

Spoiler

In one of the arcs, a team specializing in Nito Ryu, two sword style, showed up in the competition. However Nito Ryu is prohibited in elementary, middle, and high school competitions in Japan. It's only allowed from college and up. Also, they make it look like using Nito Ryu is a big advantage but it isn't really. It's just another style, and using 2 swords rather than one is very difficult to be good at.

But to make it worse, the team uses two shinai "both with the same size." There is no existing style that utilizes two katana, because it's just not practical. Nito Ryu is a technique developed from swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi. But that technique involves one Katana (long curved sword) in one hand and one Wakizashi (short curved sword) in another. So Nito Ryu in Kendo is always with one regular sized shinai and one really short shinai.

Not to mention, that guy with two shinai's stance was all wrong.

 

[raDar]

Are Japanese kids as unfamiliar to real kendo as us non-Japanese? If so, then I don't think it is much of a factor since we don't really care what really happens in real life kendo. And those changes are just part of the author's addition of tension in a not that exciting sports. Otherwise, it's a huge factor especially if you're a sports player yourself.

 

[FrostyMouse]

Are Japanese kids as unfamiliar to real kendo as us non-Japanese? If so, then I don't think it is much of a factor since we don't really care what really happens in real life kendo. And those changes are just part of the author's addition of tension in a not that exciting sports. Otherwise, it's a huge factor especially if you're a sports player yourself.

Every school has a kendo club, but whether or not a lot of kids know how it works, i don't know.

With supernatural mangas, there are always differences from the real sport, so it's not a huge problem, but it is interesting. I mean, do you really want to see people standing and then making one strike? Kurogane at least had more happen in a match to add more excitement/drama/anything to kendo, which isn't a very interesting spectator sport.