Comics / Manga

Kurozakuro: Volume 6

By Leroy Douresseaux
September 10, 2011 - 13:49

Kurozakuro Volume 6 cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”

Gentle, passive high school student Mikito Sakurai was the punching bag for the delinquents on campus.  His life changed after he swallowed a mysterious orb and met Zakuro, a mysterious boy he sees in a strange dream world.  Zakuro promised Mikito that he would become stronger, but Mikito developed strange, new, and even dangerous powers, and became a man-eating ogre.

In Kurozakuro, Vol. 6, Mikito battles two “Higher Beings,” the ones who create ogres.  His biggest showdown is with Akebi, a mysterious Higher Being who has a set of Zakuro’s horns, and Mikito learns that Zakuro is more powerful than he imagined.  Meanwhile, Hunter Headquarters plots to take advantage of the chaos.

THE LOWDOWN:  Like Naruto, Kurozakuro focuses on a special teen boy welcomed into a world of strange beings and super powers.  He must chase a destiny that may lead to greatness, but could also lead to doom, all the while navigating the conspiracies and complex relationships of this new world (among the Hunters, the ogres, and the Higher Beings).

This is sort of like Harry Potter, but also seems like a re-imagining or advancement of Steve Ditko’s early comics focusing on The Creeper.  Still, Kurozakuro is its own good thing, as creator Yoshinori Natsume spins one chapter after another full of intriguing characters harboring dark secrets and darker motivations.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Readers looking for dark fantasy will find a good manga in Kurozakuro.

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Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12