死神坊ちゃんと黒メイド

SHINIGAMI BOCCHAN TO KURO MAID

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
16
RELEASE
July 11, 2023
CHAPTERS
240

DESCRIPTION

When the duke was a young boy, a witch made it so that any living thing he touched died. Unable to cope with such a cursed child, his family sent him away to live in an old mansion. Now a young man, his only companions are an elderly butler and his childhood friend, a buxom, blonde maid named Alice. Despite the fact that touching the duke means instant death, Alice is constantly teasing him, getting close and flirting mercilessly. But even though Alice loves to make the duke blush, her affection for him is the real deal. Can the two figure out a way to break the witch’s spell?

(Source: Seven Seas Entertainment)

Note: The chapter count includes 15 extra chapters.

CAST

Alice Lendrott
Bocchan
Cuff
Viola
Dulles
Zain
Rob
Walter
Sade
Keto
Amelia
Sharon Lendrott
Teto
Zachou
Bocchan no Haha
Viktor
Nico
Noroi Majo
Cauldron
Nazo no Shoujo
Free
Ichi
Philip
Liz
Cauldron

CHAPTERS

RELATED TO SHINIGAMI BOCCHAN TO KURO MAID

Cover Art for Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid

ANIME ComedyShinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid

Cover Art for Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid 2nd Season

ANIME ComedyShinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid 2nd Season

Cover Art for Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid 3rd Season

ANIME ComedyShinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid 3rd Season

REVIEWS

Zazzy
80/100
A dark, yet funny and touching romantic story
Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid ( The Duke of Death and His Black Maid ) is the first title for its author, Koharu Inoue-sensei, showing a great talent in writing an unconventional romance story. The tale revolves around around the main character, simply called Bocchan, or Duke, cursed by a witch for apparently unknow reasons, and Alice, the duke maid, that loves wearing black clothes. The curse that the duke has receveid is indeed a terrible one, anything that he touches simply dies, even if there are clothes in between the duke and the other party. Because of this the noble duke was isolated in a villa deep in the forest by his family, living only with his loyal mature butler, Rob, passing his days in the agony caused by his solitude. One day, a young maid, Alice, comes to the villa to serve the duke, and it’s soon revelad that Alice is the daughter of the head maid of the main family and a childhood friend of the duke, with a particular feature: she’s deeply in love with the young noble. The duke doesn’t remember her, and guided by the fear for its curse tries to drive away Alice from him, but the willpower of the young maid, fueled by the love for her dear duke prevents her from going away, making the young lord quickly reminiscing about her and falling madly in love with the young maid. This is the premise that works as starting point for the story of Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid, a story about a love that even such a strong curse can’t stop, about witches and their relationship with the human world, a story about a noble family that refuses, but still love the cursed firstborn, a story about much more too. All of this sounds like a sad and tragic story...but it’s in fact not! Sure, serious and touching moments aren’t lacking, but Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid is ultimately a comic manga, with a nice humor that will make you grin and sometimes wholeheartly laugh. The pretty perverseness of Alice in sexually teasing the “poor” duke, that can’t touch her, makes use of the tragic premise to create funny situations that will make feel simpathy for the young and loving duke, that can’t make his love bloom in a more...”carnal” way. The duke and Alice aren’t the only characters in the story, other than Rob the butler others will make their ingress in the story: Viola, the young sister of duke, that adores Alice and is crazy in love with Rob, Zain and Caph two witches that learn about the duke circumstances and become friends with him and Alice; there are other very interesting characters that comes into play, but that comes later when the story starts to deeply develop. The art Koharu Inoue-sensei simply works, making cute characters like Viola appear very charming too, Caph design is very sexy, but the star is the main character, Alice. The author manages to make her cute, charming and sexy at the same time, giving her some “thicc features” too, resulting together with, her black clothing, in a charming character. The art for the scenarios and background is fine, nothing worth of big praises, but still solid enough. So, would i recommend Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid? As the time of writing we are at chapter 138, and considering that each chapter is composed of 10 or 11 pages my answer is definitely yes. If you are in the mood for some funny, and touching at the right moments romantic story, with some surprisingly narrative twist and nice world building then The Duke of Death and His Black Maid is an easy read.
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ZenTea
90/100
A story about isolation, love and moving forward
As of writing this review, I have just now finished the long and beautiful journey that was this manga. I'm writing this to get out my thoughts on this series, as well as, hopefully, get you all to give it a shot and read it. That being said, let's begin.

Description

The manga I'm talking about is Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid, which is mostly known in english speaking countries as The Duke of Death and His Black Maid. It is the first and only manga of the artist, Inoue, but, thanks to the wide success the manga received, it managed to get not only one, but a whole two season of anime adaptations.

The story is about a young, noble boy, which we will call Duke for the time being, that has been suffering by a terrible curse cast upon him at a young age, getting him separated from his family and locked in a mansion deep in the woods. The curse is one that resembles King Midas' though, instead of turning things to gold, it kills them. The Duke is therefore unable to touch any living creature, not even flowers are safe from his curse.

Thankfully, he is not alone. Close to him in the mansion are his butler Rob, an old man with a bad eyesight but a big heart, and his maid Alice, a flirty girl that never misses an opportunity to get close to his Duke, most times startling him. The two of them are destined to never touch eachother, yet they helplessly fall in love with one another and so they choose to find a way to dispel the Duke's curse.

The art-style used by Inoue throughot this manga is a rather weird yet fascinating one. I can best describe it as dark chibis, with round faces and short bodies, yet somehow realistic and, at times, poetic.

The characters are really well thought up, and can be distinguished in comedic-relief characters, such as Rob, and thought-provoking characters, which I cannot name in this. Both the groups do their job well, allowing for some breaks between the dark part of the story.

There are 223 actual chapters, excluding extras, omakes and .5 chapters. Each one of them is arohnd 20 pages long, making for an experience that will last a long time.

Thoughts

First of all, I must say that I absolutely loved this manga. It accompanied me throughout a whole year before I finished it, and not a single time did I regret starting it.

I always looked forward to a new chapter, and I actually got kinda sad when a chapter named like the series itself, indicating the manga was ending, came out.

The more the story progressed, the more I understood each character's motivations, even coming to like many antagonists.

It was truly a journey that I cannot recommend hard enough, and I definitely cannot give it anything below a 9 out of 10.
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