Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro

Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro or Kuro the Coffin Bearer (棺担ぎのクロ。) is a 4-koma styled fantasy manga by Satoko Kiyuzuki. It was serialized in Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara.

Profile

Author	Satoko Kiyuzuki
Format	4-koma
Genre	Adventure, Dark Fantasy, Mystery
Publisher	Houbunsha
Magazine	Manga Time Kirara Carat
Serialization	December 9, 2004 – May 10, 2018
Volumes	7 volumes, 1 volume of extra stories, art book

Overview

Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro, (棺担ぎのクロ。〜懐中旅話〜, Hitsugi Katsugi no Kuro. ~Kaichū Tabi no Wa~, lit. "Kuro the Coffin Bearer ~Pocket Travel Tales~") is a manga by Satoko Kiyuzuki characterized by its fable-like story, soft touch, and detailed drawings. Although there are comedic elements, the content is a dark fantasy, and there are glimpses of cruel scenes (although they are only in the setting of the story, and cruel depictions are not used in the drawings, such as the expression of defects).

The story is not hesitant to talk about death and evil, and the atmosphere is very different from that of recent works in the Kirara magazines, giving it a unique presence.

Although the panel layout is in the form of a 4-koma, there is almost no punchline to them, making it effectively a story manga.

A drama CD has also been released, but the story is an original one.

The manga was on a long hiatus from the end of 2008 to March 2012. While the author's other manga continued to be serialized as usual, the reason why this manga was suspended has not been disclosed. However, there is a self-deprecating story about the long-term suspension on the back of the cover of the third volume of the book. Even after the manga resumed serialization, there have been occasional breaks in the manga, but they have not been long-term breaks lasting more than a few months.

The serialization ended with the June issue released in May 2018. After the end of the serialization, extra stories was serialized in the September and November 2018 issues of Manga Time Kirara and the January and February 2019 issues of Manga Time Kirara Forward.

Kirara Fantasia

In April 2019, the manga series joined the social game application Kirara Fantasia together with GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class, also by Satoko Kiyuzuki.

The event featured a crossover scenario between Kuro and Sen from this work and Kisaragi Yamaguchi, Miki Noda, and Tomokane from GA, as well as Archive and Kuromon, original Kirara Fantasia characters designed by Satoko Kiyuzuki.

This is the first time that an unanimated work has been entered into the game, and the first time that two works by the same author have been entered.

On October 27, 2021, Kuro in a Halloween costume entered the game.

Names in Other Languages

Language	Publisher	Name	Meaning
English	Yen Press	Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro
Japanese	Manga Time Kirara	棺担ぎのクロ。〜懐中旅話〜	Kuro the Coffin Bearer ~Pocket Travel Tales~
Chinese		棺材、旅人、怪蝙蝠
Korean	Daewon C.I.	관지기 쿠로 ~마음속 여행자 이야기~
French	Kana	Le Voyage de Kuro	Kuro's Journey

Kuro the Coffin Bearer　Pocket Travel Tales　Satoko Kiyuzuki

GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class - A work by the same author that was serialized in Manga Time Kirara Carat at about the same time. The story is completely unrelated to this work and is not a sister work, but they share some key items and keywords (the color black, glasses, etc.).

Kisaragi Yamaguchi and Kuro are similar in every way except for their hair color and clothing.

In addition, characters from this work make cameo appearances in the TV anime. The different atmosphere of this manga often surprises readers.

Kirara Fantasia - A crossover mobile game featuring manga works from Manga Time Kirara. Characters from both Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro and GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class appear in this.

Kino's Journey - A light novel by Keiichi Sigsawa. The style, worldview, and characterization are very similar to this work.