Shounen Kurogane by IKEZAWA Haruto

[Jammin]

A friend of mine moved to Japan and became a teacher there. He learned Kendo so he could teach it to students and when he was back in the states I did a little with him. So I do have some small amount of experience with it (and I still have a pair of shinai's in my umbrella stand hilariously). It's pretty dry stuff, though extremely fun to do, and nothing like the actual armed sparring like I've done in combat martial artist training (Kali/Eskrima mainly).

My impression was that Kendo's similarity to true swordsmanship is about the same as boxing's similarity to hand to hand combat.

It's about excelling at a certain art within restrictive rules. Not about being deadly with a sword. Which is why I always felt Kurogane would have been better off making up it's own sport. Sort of like and extreme freestyle offshoot or something. Because the exaggerated elements detracted from the purest Kendo elements but Kendo elements by themselves lacked the drama to make the fights captivating. It was an unfortunate catch 22.

I thought maybe it could do what Bamboo Blade did and appeal through the slice of life side of things, or perhaps do more with the supernatural side, but I think the reality of the situation was that it was just a tough concept to work with.

 

[Drmke]

I really enjoyed chapter 36. It's considerably better than the last like 20 chapters combined.

 

[FrostyMouse]

It certainly added more dimension to characters, something that was lacking from almost every character in the series.

 

[Viredae]

Actually, Kurogane has about 44 chapters already released, plus it's not the last series in the rankings at the moment (that honor goes to Pajama no Kanojo). so I'm hoping it has a bit more longevity involved.

Though considering that Jump's Future Cup has started, there is a possibility that they cancel TWO series instead of one, so Kurogane's not out of the water yet.

oh, and just as a bit of news, I'm waiting for chapter 38 to drop onto this site any day now.

 

[Reith]

Congratulations for the First Year of Serialization of Kurogane!

Here's the Color Page from Shonen Jump #46, celebrating the anniversary.

Spoiler

 

[FrostyMouse]

There was a 2ch poster that claims to work for Shueisha and listed some future things as proof that s/he was real. One of the posted things was this:

The info was provided by Negative Syndicate.

Series that going to end:
Kurogane (the final chapter going to release in Next!), Takamagahara

So, if the poster was real, Kurogane's on the way out.

 

[rajin]

KUROGANE 57 RAW http://raw.senmanga.com/Kurogane/57/1

 

[Reith]

Oh boy, this scene was so... AWESOME

Chapter 67 Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[0Xellos]

There was a 2ch poster that claims to work for Shueisha and listed some future things as proof that s/he was real. One of the posted things was this:

The info was provided by Negative Syndicate.

So, if the poster was real, Kurogane's on the way out.

I'd find it believable, Kurogane's doing quite bad in the rankings... I heard the kendo presented in it deviates far from reality, so it's not particularly liked in Japan.

 

[FrostyMouse]

I'd find it believable, Kurogane's doing quite bad in the rankings... I heard the kendo presented in it deviates far from reality, so it's not particularly liked in Japan.

Xellos, but that was back in October. Since then, even though Kurogane's had relatively poor rankings and insignificant volume sales, it's survived. I had actually given up on Kurogane because I figured it might be cancelled and people had stopped scanning it, but recently people have begun to scan it again, so perhaps I'll pick it back up.

 

[cearon]

Xellos, but that was back in October. Since then, even though Kurogane's had relatively poor rankings and insignificant volume sales, it's survived. I had actually given up on Kurogane because I figured it might be cancelled and people had stopped scanning it, but recently people have begun to scan it again, so perhaps I'll pick it back up.

it has been cancelled apperently.

http://mangahelpers.com/forum/showthread.php/78903-Weekly-Shonen-Jump-2012-2013-Discussion-and-TOC-Talk-Part-4?p=3263280#post3263280