Crow

Crow

Crow (クロウ, Kurou) is an ongoing manga and anime series written and illustrated by Eiji Niizuma. It is a fantasy battle manga and very popular, usually ranking highly in the Jump ratings. Crow ended in Chapter 140 of Bakuman.

Protagonist

The main protagonist of the series, Crow, appears to have a pet crow on his shoulder and his blade is a very large crow's feather. He has a black and white striped wristband on his left arm. He has crow gloves on both hands and sharp talons. He wears headgear with goggles on it. His hair is red/black and his eyes are red. The white zipper on his shirt is also a feather. He also has some unknown supernatural power. Crow may also be a normal boy as shown in a manuscript it shows a boy looking at a crow in a cage and the page behind it shows Crow.

Other Characters

Crows opponent

• A character whom Crow fought in the 24th issue of Jump. This character bears slight resemblance to Rem from Death Note.
• Three other characters are seen during the popularity poll.
• A young girl, wearing goggles, and eating a lollipop. Most likely the heroine or sidekick.
• A person in a suit of armor.
• A woman dressed darkly, with white hair. Most likely the series antagonist. She has cat features as a page shows Crow chasing her.
• Crow Lady is a character mentioned in chapter 76. She is voiced by Natara Kanra.
• A person in a striped shirt, apparently captured.

Three other characters

Crow on the right, along with Detective Trap

Serialization

Originally when Eiji got serialized, it was for his manga Yellow Hit but when editor Yujiro came to collect the first chapter, Eiji submitted Crow in its place because he felt more interested in that series.

The Textless Chapter

The chapter that appeared in the 24th issue of Shonen Jump, with no text and Eiji told the story through pictures. He redid this chapter immediately after seeing chapter 8 of PCP when Mashiro Moritaka changed his drawing style. According Mashiro he did this to show Mashiro, even if it meant slipping in the ratings a little.

Crossover with +Natural

The series protagonist made a crossover in another series +Natural, for which Eiji draws the art.

Sky Prison Arc

In the most recent chapter the manga says "The climax of the Sky Prison Arc". It appears that Crow was captured as it says "Breaking out of the Island Prison."

Final Battle Arc

The series' characters all gather together to fight a final opponent. This manages to hold Crow at the top of the manga rankings for twenty-one consecutive weeks.

Gallery

Crow's cameo in +Natural.

A Crow chapter.

Crow's textless chapter.

Crow's original design.

Eiji Crow action figure.

Crow and the girl with goggles.

More Crow toys.

Cover of a merchandise notebook from Bakuman.

Inside of the merchandise notebook from Bakuman.

Trivia

• Eiji came up with the design for Crow while he was in elementary school. The character back then was less human looking and the clothes were very different, but some elements remain: goggles, hairstyle.
• Eiji holds Crow feathers often and has them around his desk.
• Crow came 2nd in the first and second Manga popularity poll with 1435 votes and 1354 votes respectively.
• Crow could be based on Cooro from the manga +Anima. They both have crow-like features and goggles on their heads, as well as very similar names. The series in which Cooro appears, +Anima, also resembles +Natural in the style of its title.
• There is a book from Bakuman merchandise that has Crow on the cover and apparently there is a hint of the main character's name in the cover which is Musashi Karasu. Musashi is the name of a legendary samurai thought to be the stongest ever and Karasu (カラス) means "crow". The book is in tankobon format but it's just a notebook.