Kurogane (黒鉄), also known as Black Steel, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kei Toume.

Kurogane tells the tale of "Hitokiri Jintetsu", a boy just in his teens who has become renowned for his swordsmanship and his proficiency in killing, despite his young age.

After getting revenge on his father's murderer, Jintetsu is forced to constantly flee from bounty hunters who wish to collect the price on his head.

A ronin named Genkichi finds him in his final moments, and he tells the man that he is ready to die so he should hurry up and finish him off.

Along the way he meets a particularly determined young girl named Makoto, who wants to avenge the destruction of her family, and subsequently ends up becoming a makeshift companion.

He also earns the nickname of "Jintetsu of Steel" for his metallic face, which many assume is a mask despite it actually being an irremovable part of his body since his revival.

[16][17] In North America, Del Rey Manga announced the English language release of the first series in October 2005.

[35] Writing for Anime News Network (ANN), in his review of the second and third volume, Carlo Santos called the manga not only an action-packed historical romp, but also a historical drama full of emotions, which shows the reaction of people when tragedy and trouble occur, and wrote: "to the genre, Kurogane turns out to be a thoughtful action series—not the deepest by any means, but definitely with enough substance to it".

[36] In the third volume he gave a "B+" grade to the art, adding: "Toume's sketchy but vibrant art adds another dimension to the series, creating a historical Japan that evokes Koike and Kojima's classics but not quite as stodgy" and stating: "In a way, Kurogane is the anti-Basilisk, a historical series that focuses not on outrageous ninja battles but on down-to-earth, human problems".