Kurosagi (manga)

Kurosagi (クロサギ, lit., The Black Swindler) is a Japanese manga written by Takeshi Natsuhara and illustrated by Kuromaru. The series is about a boy named Kurosaki who swindles only other professional swindlers known as shirosagi (シロサギ). It won the 2008 Shogakukan Manga Award for seinen/general manga along with Tetsuji Sekiya's Bambino!.[1]

The Black Swindler
Volume 1 Cover
クロサギ
(Kurosagi)
Manga
Written byTakeshi Natsuhara
Illustrated byKuromaru
Published byShogakukan
MagazineWeekly Young Sunday
Big Comic Spirits
DemographicSeinen
Original runNovember 2003July 2008
Volumes20
Manga
Shin Kurosagi
Written byTakeshi Natsuhara
Illustrated byKuromaru
Published byShogakukan
MagazineBig Comic Spirits
DemographicSeinen
Original runSeptember 2008March 2013
Volumes18
Manga
Shin Kurosagi Kanketsu-hen
Written byTakeshi Natsuhara
Illustrated byKuromaru
Published byShogakukan
MagazineBig Comic Spirits
DemographicSeinen
Original runAugust 27, 2012July 29, 2013
Volumes4
Television drama
Directed byYasuharu Ishii
Shunichi Hirano
Atsushi Takei
Written byTakeshi Natsuhara
Original networkTBS
Original run April 14, 2006 June 23, 2006
Episodes11

The series was adapted as an 11-episode TV drama that was aired on TBS from 14 April 2006 to 23 June 2006. On March 8, 2008, Kurosagi with Tomohisa Yamashita starring as the Black Swindler once again, was released.

Plot

Six years ago, Kurosaki's family was destroyed when a "shirosagi" (a "white swindler", who focuses on defrauding others) swindled Kurosaki's father of their family's life savings. As a result, his father killed Kurosaki's mother and sister before committing suicide. Since then, Kurosaki has devoted himself to becoming a "kurosagi" ("black swindler"), who swindles other swindlers, as a means of revenge.

As a "kurosagi," Kurosaki's acts have helped innocent victims of swindling schemes get their money back. However, he is frequently met with opposition by a stubborn grad student, who seeks to become a prosecutor.

Characters

  • Kurosaki (黒崎)
A 21-year-old famed swindler known as the Kurosagi (or Black Swindler) because he only targets professional swindlers, conning them out of their own money, leaving them in ruins, and then using that money to pay back their victims.
  • Tsurara Yoshikawa (吉川氷柱, Yoshikawa Tsurara)
Tsurara Yoshikawa is a law student who disapproves of Kurosagi's swindling ways but falls in love with him. She lives in Kurosaki's apartment as a tenant. Her dream is to be a prosecutor. When she accidentally discovers Kurosaki's job as a "kurosagi", he kicks her out of the apartment in order to protect her from the repercussions of his actions rather than facing the other option of silencing her.
  • Toshio Katsuragi (桂木敏夫, Katsuragi Toshio)
Known as the "Fixer", Katsuragi is an information broker who supplies Kurosaki with information for a cut of the profit Kurosaki makes and supports Kurosaki with acts such as buying defunct companies and being the mastermind behind many of Kurosaki's schemes. Though he is somewhat of a father-figure to Kurosaki, he is a nefarious character as he employs other swindlers aside from Kurosaki. He uses his snack bar as his formal base.
  • Masaru Kashina (神志名将, Kashina Masaru)
Appearing in the film adaptation of the series, Masaru Kashina is the newly appointed assistant inspector of the East Tokyo Department, in charge of intellectual crimes. Self-righteous and dedicated to returning law and order to Tokyo, he becomes obsessed with apprehending Kurosaki after learning of the Black Swindler and his methods of operation. Because his paternal uncle was a swindler, Kashina was adopted by his mother's relatives and had faked his death when he was two years old in order to create a new identity in order to pursue the swindlers he despises.

Cast

Notes

  1. 小学館漫画賞:歴代受賞者 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2008-01-22.
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