Kuro is a Somato manga series that tended to focus on various mysteries while also highlighting the idea that “dark” doesn’t necessarily mean “evil.” (It’s something you could consider a trend in recent Yen Press releases.) The omnibus compiles all three volumes into one, allowing someone to get all the reveals at once. It’s also great at really highlighting how amazing Kuro, the black “cat” who is the young heroine Coco’s constant companion, does always feel like the focal point and star even when a chapter of the manga might otherwise be more about the young girl. Which, I mean, does seem appropriate since this is named after the entity and a world where similar monstrous beings are always lurking about.
Editor’s Note: There will be very minimal spoilers for the Kuro Complete Edition manga omnibus below.
Coco lives all alone in the mayor’s mansion in a small town, with only her pet black “cat” Kuro to keep her company. She makes her way and earns money by tending special white flowers from the garden that can be used to draw warding lines to keep monsters off the roads and away from the village. However, while Kuro was once a black cat that ran off from the house when she was a child, he’s clearly something different now. There are also references to an incident that Coco doesn’t remember. Also, where are her parents? There’s a big mystery to it all, and it’s told through following her as she interacts with her pet and folks in town who take the time to meet with her like the doctor, her friends Milque and Maria, and her tutor.
While there are a lot of mysteries Somato gradually lets build up throughout Kuro Complete Edition, the one thing the mangaka doesn’t shy away from in the manga is establishing right away that Kuro the black cat is really a black-cat shaped entity that doesn’t seem dissimilar from the monsters that lurk in the forests and threaten humans. I mean, the series starts with Coco even thinking how she doesn’t think the Kuro with her now is the one who ran away, but tries to reason with herself that it must be since the cat did come back.
That introduction also sets the example for how Kuro inevitably will be the star early on. Coco remarks about how she can’t see the black cat’s eyes. It’s when she’s thinking that maybe this isn’t her pet, since all we really see is the ever-present, open mouth filled with sharp teeth and no eyes. But when she remarks on that, we do see two eyes appear. She mentions that they must have been shut. Except while she hugs Kuro, we see a third eye open on the entity’s forehead. (It ends up becoming a great running gag.)
I also loved when Kuro Complete Edition manga chapters highlighted how the black, monstrous being still retains cat behaviors. It likes paper bags! It enjoys playing in cat tunnels. It will chase balls Coco throws! It still engages in the classic cat pouncing behavior where the pupils get so wide before it pounces on a toy. It enjoys being brushed. It still purrs, in a way. Seeing those mannerisms recreated while we also read the Somato story that’s occasionally eerie, unnerving, and mysterious really accentuates how special it can be.
It also means parts that are more about what’s going on with Coco can somehow still feel highlighted and accentuated by the presence of Kuro and that pet stealing the show. The flashbacks to happier times helps show the difference between Kuro and “Kuro.” It sets the being apart from the more dangerous, monstrous ones. It sort of hints at how what Coco experienced isn’t exactly natural. Meanwhile, it also gets us thinking about what is going on with the monsters around town and questioning more about their existence.
Kuro Complete Edition really is another lovely manga about a being that isn’t quite right, only with a small black cat as the subject. And because the feline is this scene-stealing star, it lets us enjoy the mystery of it all and the more thrilling elements without the same question of malice that sometimes comes from ones like The Summer Hikaru Died.
The Kuro Complete Edition manga omnibus is available via Yen Press in English.
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