[Meeting…] Shiro and Kuro (Black and White)

We begin the third season of the Getting to Know... section with two homeless and illiterate children who live in a troubled neighborhood full of yakuzas and street gangs. Contrary to what it may seem, they move in these circumstances like a fish in water and in fact are not only respected and feared, but they usually get into some altercations, such as robberies or beatings, as long as they consider it necessary.

These children are called Shiro (White) and Kuro (Black) and they star Tekkon Kinkreet, a manga created by Taoiyou Matsumoto in 1993.

Such for that

It is never explained how long these characters have been together, nor how they ended up living as vagabonds, we don't even know exactly if they are blood brothers. But the important thing is that They have been together and have been watching over their city for longer than it seems., which has earned them the nickname “the cats.”

Kuro (Black): Kuro is thoughtful and quiet but he is also violent and very territorial. He considers the neighborhood his own and does not tolerate changes or gangsters trying to do whatever they want with it. Despite his young age, he is extremely realistic. He usually has a negative or pessimistic vision and does not seem to have illusions or faith in anything, he has a somewhat nihilistic attitude and only shows affection towards Shiro, whom he considers he must protect from any danger.

Shiro (White): Childish, innocent and sometimes irritating. He gets depressed when it's night and usually talks about himself in the third person. Shiro is the smaller of the two. He loves to draw and make up songs about anything, he would love to be able to go to school like the rest of the children and perhaps that is why he keeps repeating that he has already learned to count (up to 10). Shiro has a huge collection of strange hats and watches from the robberies they have committed and dreams of leaving the neighborhood and living near the sea.

Shiro is a dreamer and believes that God has punished him and Kuro, but that if they are together they will both be safe. On many occasions, Shiro has bad feelings or even pain when Kuro does something bad or is in danger.

They both live in an abandoned car full of objects (probably most of them from Shiro) that is half hidden in one of the streets of their neighborhood. It seems that everyone in the city knows them., especially small gangs, the police and the yakuza. The other children in the neighborhood also know of their existence and idolize and fear them in equal measure.

Nothing is known about his parents and the only person who seems to have any kind of relationship with them (because they call him grandfather) is an old man who wanders around the city and tries to advise them not to get into trouble. Grandpa always tries to calm down or help the boys. Shiro always listens to him, but Kuro usually doesn't pay much attention to him, which makes the wise old man fear for the boy's future. Despite Grandpa's good intentions, the kids usually don't understand the advice he gives them.

The Treasure Quarter

The neighborhood where these two boys live is a place where gangs and yakuza do whatever they want while the police only worry that things don't get any worse. Times of change are coming to the area and new yakuzas seek to do business and completely change the atmosphere of the city, thus modifying the usual “tranquility” of the area.

This situation causes Kuro and Shiro to monitor the yakuza (despite the fact that their grandfather has always told them not to approach them) and even threaten or confront them to make it clear that they are not willing to give up their neighborhood.

The ability of these children to move around their city, jump from one building to another or use any item they have at hand to hurt their rivals (generally adults) is so high that only newbies are stupid enough to underestimate them, and then end up beaten to death.

The police are aware of the criminal actions of these children (which range from petty theft to earn money to beating whomever they deem necessary) but take pity on them as much as possible. The local gangs treat them in a friendly manner and even play with them (at least with Shiro) and the veteran yakuza know how dangerous they are and do not usually look for problems with them, although sometimes that is somewhat impossible.

The main concern of these children is not their future, but their present, since one of the priorities of the new gangsters in the city is to eliminate them to avoid problems.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The duo formed by Shiro and Kuro is endearing and they represent good and evil in their own way and how necessary a balance between the two is in order to survive in today's world.

Shiro knows how to bring out the best in Kuro and prevents his inner violence from controlling him. Kuro cares about Shiro at all times (he even takes care of dressing him) and that leads him to protect him and reduce his bad actions, because he knows that this makes him sad.

If you want to know the adventures of these characters you just have to read Tekkon Kinkreet, which has been published in Spain and also in other Western countries. The story is not very long (in total about 600 pages) and It was adapted into an animated film in 2006., where despite simplifying the plot and reducing the violence, the story of the manga is explained quite faithfully.