Kurokami
Black God

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

Seeing as there's no review of the completed manga and other reviews are all quite old... here's my (spoiler-free) review of this underrated manga.

I would categorize this manga as:
- Action: a bunch of battle scenes;
- Drama: serious tone and not much comedy;
- Mystery: much of the story has the characters investigating and trying to find information to solve the mysteries surrounding mototsumitama;
- Supernatural: story revolves around supernatural beings and the mysteries surrounding them and their powers.

Also of note is that this manga trends more towards being dark than light-hearted. It's no horror manga that just kills all the characters left and right, but there is ... no convenient revive mechanic for characters that die, no nakama power to save the day, no random power-up.

Story: 10/10
The story starts off giving the vibe of a battle manga early on, but it is much more than that. The characters quickly begin looking for information to carry out their initial plans. From there they begin their journey and meet more characters and slowly uncover the mysteries surrounding these supernatural beings.

It feels as though the series wanted to run for 20-25 volumes (at the end, the pace picks up very fast and many things are revealed in a short amount of time compared to the rest of the series), so it feels slightly rushed, but it is done so well and gracefully that I couldn't bother to remove a point here. There is no convenient plot point added anywhere, and everything fits the story and seems to have been well planned out from the start. Particularly, I liked that there are many details explained in the later volumes which have essentially no impact on the story, but are nice things to know and make the world seem more real and well planned.


Art: 9/10
The art is great, and the characters are all very distinct (except some twins, but hey, twins I guess) and the art style is very unique itself (perhaps because it is done in Korea?). Some of the battle scenes are harder to follow (I like to stare at panels to play the scene in my head, imagining exactly what movements they are doing, and sometimes it was hard here).


Characters: 9/10
Characters are all believable. This story has characters in their early to mid 20s (they finished college and are working), so the character development is slow (as you'd expect after you reach that age I guess, you change a lot less, and slower), but present none the less. More so than character development, you learn to know the characters more over time and change your impressions of them (don't really want to spoil anything, so let's leave it at that).

The villains have real motives, particularly towards the end. It sometimes has you wondering if the villains are actually right in what they are trying to do... The very last villains are also quite true to their character and they were very interesting to me.


Enjoyment: 9/10
Very enjoyable series overall with a satisfying ending, especially when compared to a lot of manga who typically seem to go downhill after a few volumes. The story culminates in intense points in volumes 7-10 and 16-19, with a quieter pace for the rest, but it was good the whole way through. I also really enjoyed the flashback volume(s) toward the end of the series which explains a lot of what was left unexplained.

THIS ONE HAS SPOILERS, MY FRIEND.

The manga goes well until the last chapters. I think Kuroko should have stayed with Keita, for everything they went through together it seemed fair, although Akane was a childhood friend, but it is a bit of a cliché for the protagonist to stay with your childhood friend.

As for the characters, everyone develops well and they are very important for the continuation of the story, but we miss some of them, like Nam, she is very strong i think she could have helped even more. This is not really a bad point, knowing that there are extra chapters at the ... end of each volume, giving depth to the characters.

As for art, it is very beautiful, I really admire the South Korean style, it reminds me a lot of The Breaker, which I had a lot of fun reading.

The fights are very good, but the essence of the story is that of a shounen, so the course of the fights is quite predictable, this can be a problem for some people; I particularly like some clichés. Some struggles are necessary to cliche the development of the story, >obviously<.

The development of the main characters is very good, Keita has a very strong personality and irritates the reader sometimes, but we end up having a lot of appreciation for him, when he overcomes the trauma with his mother it is a great advance in the story. Kuroko has a very painful past with her family being killed by her own beloved brother, who kills not only her mother, but her entire clan. The kuroko in its essence has almost the same story as Keita that revolves around revenge and mystery.

From the general point of view, the Manga starts and ends well, disregarding some points I mentioned.

If you want a good story with mystery, fights, action, martial arts and a little romance, this manga is for you.

Black God is a Seinen, Supernatural, Action that is about the usual ‘fateful encounter’ starting point, with awesome art & action. Even though this is technically a Manhwa/Manwha, the Japanese characters & setting basically makes this a regular Manga.

Keita Ibuki is a normal guy who undergoes an unexpected life-changing experience, when he gets caught in the crossfire of higher beings that call themselves ‘Mototsumitama’. Now there’s a girl named Kuro, who he must stick with, due to various circumstances. The beginning of this hectic story really throws the reader into the thick of it, bombarding you with information regarding the complex plot (doppel-liners, terra, mototsumitama, ... etc.) and some intense action. Even with it all explained by the end of the 1st volume, it’s obvious that there are a number of plot holes that need to be filled (e.g. coexistence balance). It’s also a problem that the story lacks any real focus, as it just teeters between; Keita’s daily life, fights between mototsumitama and the dealing behind the scenes. Though after some surprising developments, the situation soon changes and the story soon finds some real direction.

This manhwa has a plethora of characters, with the ones largely involved in the story being somewhat cliché but realistic. Keita is a regular guy with an unappealing attitude, though he can be quite funny & dependable. Kuro is a weird girl, with a cute & dim-witted personality but has a troubled past. It’s interesting the way these two form a deep relationship as ‘mototsumitama & partner’ and the others that appear are also intriguing in their own way.

What’s truly amazing about this manhwa is the awesome artwork. The characters look first-class & have nice round features, the backgrounds are immensely detailed and the action is impressive & intense. Although the artwork would have been perfect if the action sequences weren’t so incomprehensible in the beginning.

Overall Black God felt like a Role Playing Game because the protagonist was thrust into a situation he had no control of and just did what he could to reach the end of his quest, with his companion. It didn’t help that the Keita could be such a d**k, on the other hand he and other the characters’ actions were portrayed somewhat realistically. The premise of the story regarding doppel-liners and such is one of the most interesting I’ve come across in a while; nonetheless it is also quite flawed and fairly confusing so far.

Note: May edit if necessary. ^_^