Naruto, Kurokami Recommendations
Kurokami is good because, despite it plainly stealing from Naruto in the more recent chapters, it brings some new into the mix and executes everything else very, very well. I suppose the main appeal is that, rather than it having a male lead, it has a female lead do the fighting and a male support her from the sidelines. And, like with any top notch action manga, the artwork is lovely, as well as being clear during the many lengthy but fairly epic battles.
Aside from the obvious artwork and female lead plus points, the blend of comedy and drama is what makes me rate
Kurokami highly. The writer knows how to time the events so that the story is never too depressing or light-hearted. With his ability, he manages to have Akane run out of the shower naked after a dog one minute and then move onto a back-story involving an Orochimaru-esque (though far more graphic' with live, naked subjects being worked on) 'experiment' scene the next. It's reminiscent of how, back in the Naruto good days, when there was a good blend of NarutoxSasuke/Jiraiya humour one minute and intense drama the next.
The Naruto links do run pretty deep; a little too deep, perhaps. First of all, Kuro is the last of her clan; her once nice (to her), elite brother wiping out the rest of her clan, mother and all. Even though Kuro is NOTHING like the ever depressive and angsty Sasuke of Naruto fame - her being simple-minded, running around without underwear and eating 24/7 - it's hard to not see the similarities between Itachi and Reishin. And, like I mentioned before, there's an Orochimaru type character from Kuro's clan who experimented/killed lots for his own amusement; the end result being him exiled and escaping from death.
...In short, I guess what I'm trying to say is that Kurokami will have a lot of appeal to Naruto fans and the like; the lack of an orange ninja, the cleavage shots and Keita being so much of an arsehole that he's great to watch be a dick to everyone and get away with it (like Haseo from .hack//G.U.) all adding to its appeal.
Bleach? Naruto? Nah; the Koreans know how's it's done. Screw the Japanese!
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