Print Review: Kurohime volumes 1-3

Review KurohimeWritten by WarpshadowRating good

Not every shonen adventure manga needs a man in the lead role. A girl with guns and a skintight costume will always work as a substitute.

Among guns lingerers there is a rare breed that use magic bullets called witch gunslingers. The greatest among them was Kurohime who vanished ten years ago when she challenged the gods. Zero is a young man who greatly admired Kurohime and honed his skills to serve justice. One day he saves a young girl named Himeko. However the pair later runs into a threat he can not handle. He does impress Himeko though and her newfound feelings for him suppresses the curse placed on her and allows her to regain her old powers and adult form as Kurohime.

Kurohime is an examplee of what I call the bound demon storyline which is a staple of Japanese storytelling originating from the Journey West. That story starts out with a pair of characters, one ultra powerful but unruly character (goku) and one character that holds the keys to the first character’s power (sanzo). The main distinction in this story is that this manga has a woman playing the part of the demon or Goku. There is a fair amount of fan service, usually centering around Kurohime although fortunately not in her younger form. Overall I found this manga to be a decent but not exceptional shonen action series which lacks an anime show to go along with it.