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Kurotora (黒虎)
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Breed
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Kai Ken
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Affiliation
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First appearance
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GNG vol 4, episode 9; GDW ep 10
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Last appearance
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No information
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Status
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Alive
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Family or owners
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Voiced by
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Ryōichi Tanaka (GNG),
Tadashi Miyazawa (GDW) |
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Meaning of Name
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Black Tiger
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Place of Birth
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Yamanashi Prefecture
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Age
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4-5 years old (GNG),
17-18 years old (GDW), 18 years old (GDW:O); 19 years old (G:TLW) |
Kurotora, also known as a Hellhound of Kai and The Death of Snakes, is the youngest one of the Kai Brothers.
In Ginga Densetsu Weed, he is the only living Kai Brother.
Appearance
Kurotora is a Kai dog with dark fur and black stripes. He has blue eyes unlike his brothers, although they are sometimes depicted as yellow.
His right eye is missing. Since Ginga Densetsu Weed, he had a slight re-design and got different face markings than his brothers. In the GNG anime, he was completely dark blue-gray, while in the manga he has a paler underbelly.
Personality
Kurotora is aggressive, violent and short-tempered. While all three brothers are known of their quick temper, Kurotora is the most impatient and easily provoked, attacking easily with small reasons.
His impulsiveness sometimes makes him recklessly attack much stronger enemies. He'd rather die than run away - and he taught this way of thinking to his nephews. Apparently, it's Akatora who first told him about this way of thinking, but Kurotora didn't listen to the part about how running is okay in extreme situations.
Like his brothers, Kurotora respects Ben deeply and would give his life for him. Kurotora would have died if Ben wasn't there to rescue him.
Kurotora feels hate towards snakes due to his past experience with one as a puppy and eagerly challenged Hyakkiga due to his serpent-like armor. He is not afraid of snakes but they simply seem to make him aggressive.
In Ginga Densetsu Weed, Kurotora is still highly aggressive but old - and he hates to be reminded of it. He is very proud of his nephews and sons and greatly cares about them, though he can be a bit harsh with them at the times. He mourns deeply when his nephews die.
Kurotora understands well when Shigure wants to avenge the deaths of his brothers and eagerly encourages him to have revenge.
He sometimes gets into small quarrels with Akame as the Kishu is notably more rational and Kurotora doesn't always agree with his way of thinking. The other Ouu veterans sometimes need to calm Kurotora down as well as he is very annoyed when he isn't allowed to fight.
Kurotora seems to realize his own nature and once mentioned that he isn't as goodhearted as Gin or Akame as he rather beats up the enemy in anger.
Ginga Nagareboshi Gin
Manga
Kurotora is the youngest of the Kai Brothers and showed up early in the manga with his brothers.
Kurotora and his brothers were abandoned as puppies and they were almost eaten by a snake, but the puppies ate the snake instead. Later, a marten attacked them and grabbed Kurotora by the head (that was how he lost his eye). Ben then came to the rescue. He came to check on the young Kais often.
Years later, Ben's platoon comes to the area and finds the brothers hunting a boar. After an argument and a realization that Ben was the dog who saved them in their puppyhood, they joined Ben gladly and swore to protect him with their lives.
Kurotora in the manga
Kurotora always moves with his brothers and sadly his older brother Akatora dies in the battle against Akakabuto. Kurotora survives the final battle along with his other brother Chutora. They stay in Ouu mountains with many of their comrades.
When the mysterious wolves kidnap Cross and her puppies, Kurotora and others go to search for her and have to face wolf warriors one at the time in order to reach her. Kurotora defeats Hyakkiga, a wolf whose armor reminded him of a snake and thus angered him.
Later, he works as a bait in order to let Gin and others get into the core of the Palace. He is challenged by Raiga whose strange technique confuses him and gets him beaten. He is rescued by Moss, the Mutsu Generals and Hakurou.
Later, the wolf lord Reima tells them that their true enemy is an evil wolf lord Gaia. It also turns out that Kurotora is the Ran warrior, meaning that he is a descendant of an original Canine Warrior of Sirius and the true user of Ran-Daryushin Battouga. They swim to Hokkaido to face Gaia's Empire. Kurotora has an evil Ran Warrior counterpart but doesn't face him in battle as the fight is stopped by Juga. He tries to attack the wolf but fails.
After Juga and the evil Battouga users have been defeated, they face Gaia. Kurotora wants to kill the wolf and catches him, but Gaia rips off his own ear in order to get off. Then, the emperor wounds Kurotora badly. He survives the battle and returns to Ouu along with his brother Chuutora.
Anime
Kurotora in GNG anime
When the Kai Brothers were puppies, barely a month old, they were abandoned in the mountains by their owner.
Not long after, they were assaulted by a giant snake who wanted to feed on them. However, together, they managed to kill and eat the snake. To survive in the wilderness, they kept fighting all the enemies they could, cooperating, making them incredibly strong.
However, the rogue dog (a weasel in the manga) attacked them and managed to bite out Kurotora's eye, but before the dog could kill him, Ben came out of nowhere and rescued them. Kurotora is the youngest and lost his eye in the aforementioned fight against the rogue dog. In the last episode, Akatora, his brother, gets killed by Akakabuto.
Ginga Densetsu Weed
Manga
Kurotora in GDW manga
Kurotora is the only surviving Kai brother from the old Kai territory.
He had two brothers, Akatora and Chutora, but both has been claimed by death. Kurotora has three sons: Harutora, Kagetora and Nobutora. When he first hears about Weed, he is together with his sons and nephews Shigure, Shōji, Dodo and Buru, whom he took care of after their father, Chutora, died. Kurotora decides to go and defend the fortress Gajou together with his nephews. He orders his sons to stay with Kagetora and find Weed.
As Kurotora arrives at the fortress, the enemy Genba is approaching. Just before the fight, the Kishu, Akame arrives and pulls Kurotora out over a cliff and into a river (to spare him from the battle). Kurotora’s pride is hurt and he is angry. But those feelings are soon replaced with sorrow as he later finds the dead bodies of three of his four nephews who didn’t survive the battle. He now swears that he will do all he can to kill the one responsible for his nephews' deaths. His revenge came when first Genba and later on Hougen are both killed. In the Hokkaido Arc, Kurotora serves as a back-up for Gin's group against Victor.
Anime
One of Gin's commanders. Does not have a major role. He joins Gin once again along with Ben and Cross, when his son Kagetora and Ben's son Ken visited them in Kofu. Three of his four nephews die in the anime. He helped fight in the last battle together with Akame and took down one of the last protectors of Gajou.
Ginga Densetsu Weed: Orion
Kurotora appears as a minor character in this series. He spends most of the time locked in the shed with the other Ou dogs after the volcano erupted, leaving them all unconscious. Once freed, he follows everyone to the final fight with Kurohabaki Masamune.
Ginga: The Last Wars
Kurotora appears alongside Gin at the beginning of the first chapter. Telling Gin not to worry about his loss of eye-sight. He also summons some of the soldiers of Ohu to assist Weed in investigating the strange scent in the air.
Kurotora assists the dogs in fighting the bears, despite Gin's orders not to engage with them. As a result, Kurotora is injured with the rest of the dogs, but not fatally. As he continues to fight, a mysterious Doberman appears and orders the older dogs to surrender themselves to Monsoon. Kurotora is quickly angered by the Doberman and rushes to attack him, but is thrown off by Monsoon's kin.
Bob tries to explain further that Monsoon carries only a grudge for the older dogs, as they killed his father. Monsoon himself arrives and looks over the dogs, mistaking Ken for his father, Ben. He also demands to see John as he has had nightmares about him killing his family. Kurotora tells Bob that John has long been dead, to which Monsoon seems very relieved. Looking around, the bear sees Musashi and instantly attacks him. Kurotora rushes in angrily and is slashed by Monsoon, leaving him critically injured.
Kurotora remains injured on the floor whilst his comrades are mercilessly massacred around him, but upon the arrival of the remaining Koga dogs, he passes out. The Koga Elder points out to his worried comrades that Kurotora is still breathing, and is only unconscious.
Shortly after their defeat, Monsoon has built a makeshift dungeon similar to Gajou using rocks and boulders. Kurotora is still alive but feels his time is coming to an end. He says that Tesshin shall be their new leader before he seemingly falls lifeless. The other dogs begin to mourn another veteran when they notice he is still breathing. The Koga Elder, who survived his wounds, states he just fell asleep, causing the others to sigh in relief.
After a few days, Mole arrives with his children and dogs an escape route, helping the injured dogs to freedom. They are taken to a patch of grass away from the bears where they can rest. Kurotora is fast asleep when Orion and his brothers arrive.
Shortly after, the dogs are resting in the grass during a storm. Kurotora is still very weak and unable to stand, but manages to sit up slightly when he sees Sunny and Maru coming. They tell him that Jerome made it safely to them and they're there to help, and if they were to die they would be reunited with their mother and three siblings. Kurotora flies into a rage, calling them fools for wanting to throw their lives away so suddenly.
Quotes
"With that big of a mouth, I'm sure your asshole is just as wide! Make sure you tighten it up so you don't leak shit everywhere!" -Kurotora preparing to fight Genba. Ginga Densetsu Weed, episode 13
"Let it be 100 or 200! I, Kurotora, will defeat you all!"
- Kurotora fighting Moss' soldiers. Ginga Nagareboshi Gin, volume 4
"When the blood of the Kai hound boils, no one will calm it down!"
- Kurotora explaining the nature of Kai dogs. Ginga Nagareboshi Gin, volume 14
"I am the Kai Ken, Kurotora! Tell my name to the deads in Hell!"
- Kurotora attack against Shūga's subordinates. Ginga Nagareboshi Gin, volume 15
"Shōji.. Only yesterday you have carried me.. Why do I have to carry you now.."
- Kurotora while carrying his nephew's body. Ginga Denetsu Weed, volume 13
"Dammit, I can't die here!"
- Kurotora condemning himself after being badly injured by Monsoon. Ginga: The Last Wars, volume 3
Trivia
- The Three Kai-brothers' names actually come from the colors or Kai-ken coats, which are black (Kurotora), red (Akatora), and brown (Chutora).
- Similar to John, Kurotora's eye colour changes frequently, sometimes being yellow and sometimes light blue.
Photo Gallery
See more pictures in Kurotora (Photo Gallery)