Manga like Kurogane

Dororo

Also known as Dororo.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Adventure , Drama , Fantasy

A samurai lord has bartered away his newborn son's organs to forty-eight demons in exchange for dominance on the battlefield. Yet, the abandoned infant survives thanks to a medicine man who equips him with primitive prosthetics - lethal ones with which the wronged son will use to hunt down the multitude of demons to reclaim his body one piece at a time, before confronting his father. On his journeys the young hero encounters an orphan who claims to be the greatest thief in Japan.

Like an unforgettable road movie, Dororo reaches deeper than its swashbuckling surface and offers a thoughtful allegory of becoming what one is, for nobody is born whole



Tags: Demons , Youkai , Swordplay , Samurai , Coming of Age , War , Anti-Hero , Rural , Male Protagonist , Historical , Shounen , Meta , Crossdressing , Ghost , Female Protagonist , Gender Bending , Disability , Curses

Akame

Status: Finished
Genres: Adventure

In medieval Japan, the feudal lord Nobuhira reigns as an authentic tyrant over his domain, carrying out all kinds of abuses on the peasants. He kills some for fun, to test the effectiveness of his sword blade and to generate a climate of terror that drives other farmers into blind obedience. These, increasingly reduced to starvation, are forced to pay higher and higher taxes in rice, extorted from them through coercive methods, the kidnapping of women or the taking of hostages but all their attempts to revolt are suffocated in blood in the bud. One day, however, a crippled monk makes his appearance in those lands, who attributes those nefarious events to the curse of the venerable akame, who are actually very normal rabbits, the main food of the local population. The rabbits thus become the object of the veneration of the peasants, who invoke their protection, which however is not frowned upon by the feudal lord.



Tags: Revenge , Tragedy , Male Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Time Skip , Philosophy , Dystopian , Gore , Religion , Seinen , Historical , Cult , Martial Arts

Shinsengumi

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama

In Kyoto, in the late 1800s, the son of a local book-binder, Kyujuro Fukakusa sees his father murdered before his eyes and vows revenge. In his quest for justice, he answers the recruitment call of the Shinsengumi (or "The new squad") a newly-formed special brigade of samurai loyal to the shogun. There he meets fellow recruit and proficient swordsmen, the enigmatic Daisuke Kamakiri.

Despite the gap in their fighting skill levels, the two forma close bond, but can it survive the age of upheaval that is descending on "The Wolves of Mibu?"



Tags: Historical , Shounen , Samurai , Primarily Male Cast

Mushishi

Also known as Mushishi.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Fantasy , Mystery , Slice of Life , Supernatural

Some live in the deep darkness behind your eyelids. Some eat silence. Some thoughtlessly kill. Some simply drive men mad. They are known as mushi—creatures that came into being shortly after life emerged from the primordial ooze. They still exist parallel to our own lives and can only be seen by a select few. As a mushishi, Ginko is one of the few who are aware of their existence, and this young man with a sardonic smile roams from place to place with the knowledge and skill to aid those unwittingly affected by mushi.



Note: Won the Excellence Prize for Manga at the 7th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2003 and the Kodansha Manga Award for General Manga in 2006.

Tags: Travel , Episodic , Environmental , Youkai , Seinen , Rural , Mythology , Eco-Horror , Iyashikei , Philosophy , Male Protagonist , Tragedy , Urban Fantasy , Historical , Work , Demons