History Manga / Crows

''Crows'' is a Japanese high school delinquent manga series by Hiroshi Takahashi, which ran in ''[[Magazine/ShonenChampion Monthly Shonen Champion]]'' from 1990 to 1998. The story begins when Harumichi Bōya transfers into the second year at Suzuran High School. Suzuran is notorious for its delinquent students who are nicknamed 'Crows' because of their dark uniforms and inauspicious nature. Quickly enough Bōya meets a group centered around Hiromi Kirishima who are trying to challenge the school boss Hideto Bandō. From there the story follows the exploits of Suzuran students and the teen-aged delinquents of various surrounding schools and gangs.

* DelinquentHair: More characters than not. Pompadours, regents, crew cuts, punch perms, Mohawks, buzzcuts, and top knots galore. More hair dye and gel than you can shake a stick at.

* ThePowerofFamily: The five boys that make up the "Umehoshi Family", while in different groups, all work together towards protecting Toarushi. This is especially important when groups like THE Manji Seven come over to raze your town. One could argue that if the Umehoshi Family didn't exist, Hana's era would not be as powerful as it was.

* TrainingFromHell: Hana, of all people, though half by accident and half by choice. He grew up in a mountainous region where every walk to and from school was miles and miles of hiking amidst vipers, and even in the comfort of the city he goes out of his way for lengthy runs and intense plyometrics and calisthenics. Where most characters get by on their natural size and ferocity, Hana is so strong ''because'' he works at it, making him tougher than most. Even other characters in his league or stronger lack his sheer physical endurance. Amachi must do this as well but it's not shown, since he constantly improves to the point that he is in the same league as Hana and Guriko in his third year.

* TheDreaded: There are characters who are regarded as monsters or legends due mostly to their strenght in both Crows and Worst series.

* EvenEvilHaslovedOnes: There are a few examples of bad guys who is shown to truly cherishes their friends and family

** Hana and Bouya contrast quite a bit as well. A lot of Bouya's arcs involve him getting taken out only for him to come back pissed and beat down his foes, while with Hana that almost never happens and the most he gets taken out is by a cold. Bouya wanted nothing to do with delinquent culture and wanted to be friends, Hana is similar but also different in how he views delinquent culture. Hana views it more as being a fireman, and likes putting out the fires, while Bouya needs motivation to get involved in most of the squabbles he gets into. Bouya was mostly a lone wolf, not going out of his way to show he cared a lot about his loved ones, trying to keep it on the down low. An example being when he did things like stay up all night waiting to see if Bulldog was okay after getting hit by a truck. Hana, however, is very open with his love for his friends and even if people who aren't his friends. Examples being going to a classmate's mom's funeral and openly weeping with them, winning said classmate over to his side even though that wasn't Hana's intention. Bouya never trains and seems to stay at the same power throughout the story, is a relatively heavy smoker, and while he uses headbutts a lot he doesn't have a signature move. Hana trains constantly and his power is constantly growing throughout the series, never smokes, and has a signature move in the form of his uppercut. Most of all, one of Bouya's main traits is his his pursuit of women and love of lewd movies, smacking Mako when he misunderstood Mako's "exciting videos" as pornography. Hana, meanwhile, saw a small hint of lewdness and had a head rush so bad he was dazed for at least a day.

*** The Third Moonlight Brother, Mitsumasa and previous known bosses King Joe and Bitou Tatsuya contrast each other possibly the most. Mitsumasa does not remotely have the same hero worship of his brother Tatsuya did, and Joe is as far as we know an only child. Technically, Tatsuya is a legacy as his older brother attended and was the boss, until he was murdered. Mitsumasa is also a legacy in terms of being a leader in Housen, but he is the first Moonlight Brother to be the boss OF Housen. Joe had neither of these luxuries, and had to claw his way up to the top of Housen by tooth, nail, and frying pan. In fact, when Mitsumasa was given the position of boss of Housen and was having trouble commanding respect, Tora reminded Mitsumasa that Mitsumasa doesn't nearly have it as hard as King Joe. Especially since King Joe had NO ONE, but Mitsumasa had his brothers and some willing followers. Tatsuya had it the easiest of the three, he spent a little while pretending to be the underling of Machida but HE was top dog. Joe's match with Kousei, head of TFOA at the time, was a quiet affair and no one really knows who won. Tatsuya beating Ryuushin was legendary in his era, especially since Tatsuya was younger than a more unrestrained Ryuushin. Mitsumasa never had such a clash with the TFOA head during his time as boss. Tatsuya was cunning from the start, lying in wait and striking when it was best to, but was using the war with Suzuran as a way to work out his feelings towards his brother. When Joe finally has a war with Suzuran in his final year, Joe uses it as a chance to teach Mitsumasa about leadership and actually wins his match for Housen in a deciding match. In all of the history of Housen vs Suzuran, Joe is the first man on record to accomplish this. Mitsumasa finally gets to fight Suzuran (in the form of Hana) in his final year but this was a clash of friendly rivals, not fierce enemies like Joe and Suzuran or Tatsuya and Suzuran. Tatsuya was said by Bouya to be fast on his feet but doesn't have a lot of power, while Joe was known for being a big beefcake of a man. Mitsumasa seems to be a mix of the two, stated to have a great talent for fighting and was shown to hit hard when he did.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Even in the violent and vicious world of Crows, there are some lines you just don't cross. Lesser sins include ganging up on an opponent, ambushing someone in their personal life, bringing pipes, bats or wooden swords to a fist fight, and beating someone after they're down. Truly unforgivable transgressions include using a real blade in a fight, cold blooded murder, pushing drugs, rape, attacking or harassing women or grade schoolers, and attacking friends and family of an enemy who are not actually involved in the delinquent lifestyle, such as parents or a graduated older sibling. Villains who pull stunts like that are usually real scumbags who won't be redeemed.

* DrugsAreBad: One of the few things almost every major faction or kingpin of Crows and Worst can agree on is a distaste or outright hatred of drugs. Using drugs will get you banned from most groups, and pushing them is practically suicide in most turfs.

* TrainingFromHell: Hana, of all people, though half by accident and half by choice. He grew up in a mountainous region where every walk to and from school was miles and miles of hiking amidst vipers, and even in the comfort of the city he goes out of his way for lengthy runs and intense plyometrics and calisthenics. Where most characters get by on their natural size and ferocity, Hana is so strong ''because'' he works at it, making him tougher than most. Even other characters in his league or stronger lack his sheer physical endurance.

The Third Moonlight Brother, Mitsumasa and previous known bosses King Joe and Bitou Tatsuya contrast each other possibly the most. Mitsumasa does not remotely have the same hero worship of his brother Tatsuya did, and Joe is as far as we know an only child. Technically, Tatsuya is a legacy as his older brother attended and was the boss, until he was murdered. Mitsumasa is also a legacy in terms of being a leader in Housen, but he is the first Moonlight Brother to be the boss OF Housen. Joe had neither of these luxuries, and had to claw his way up to the top of Housen by tooth, nail, and frying pan. In fact, when Mitsumasa was given the position of boss of Housen and was having trouble commanding respect, Tora reminded Mitsumasa that Mitsumasa doesn't nearly have it as hard as King Joe. Especially since King Joe had NO ONE, but Mitsumasa had his brothers and some willing followers. Tatsuya had it the easiest of the three, he spent a little while pretending to be the underling of Machida but HE was top dog. Joe's match with Kousei, head of TFOA at the time, was a quiet affair and no one really knows who won. Tatsuya beating Ryuushin was legendary in his era, especially since Tatsuya was younger than a more unrestrained Ryuushin. Mitsumasa never had such a clash with the TFOA head during his time as boss. Tatsuya was cunning from the start, lying in wait and striking when it was best to, but was using the war with Suzuran as a way to work out his feelings towards his brother. When Joe finally has a war with Suzuran in his final year, Joe uses it as a chance to teach Mitsumasa about leadership and actually wins his match for Housen in a deciding match. In all of the history of Housen vs Suzuran, Joe is the first man on record to accomplish this. Mitsumasa finally gets to fight Suzuran (in the form of Hana) in his final year but this was a clash of friendly rivals, not fierce enemies like Joe and Suzuran or Tatsuya and Suzuran. Tatsuya was said by Bouya to be fast on his feet but doesn't have a lot of power, while Joe was known for being a big beefcake of a man. Mitsumasa seems to be a mix of the two, stated to have a great talent for fighting and was shown to hit hard when he did.

The Third Moonlight Brother, Mitsumasa and previous known bosses King Joe and Bitou Tatsuya contrast each other possibly the most. Mitsumasa does not remotely have the same hero worship of his brother Tatsuya did, and Joe is as far as we know an only child. Technically, Tatsuya is a legacy as his older brother attended and was the boss, until he was murdered. Mitsumasa is also a legacy in terms of being a leader in Housen, but he is the first Moonlight Brother to be the boss OF Housen. Joe had neither of these luxuries, and had to claw his way up to the top of Housen by tooth, nail, and frying pan. In fact, when Mitsumasa was given the position of boss of Housen and was having trouble commanding respect, Tora reminded Mitsumasa that Mitsumasa doesn't nearly have it as hard as King Joe. Especially since King Joe had NO ONE, but Mitsumasa had his brothers and some willing followers. Tatsuya had it the easiest of the three, he spent a little while pretending to be the underling of Machida but HE was top dog. Joe's match with Kousei, head of TFOA at the time, was a quiet affair and no one really knows who won. Tatsuya beating Ryuushin was legendary in his era, especially since Tatsuya was younger than a more unrestrained Ryuushin. Mitsumasa never had such a clash with the TFOA head during his time as boss. Tatsuya was cunning from the start, lying in wait and striking when it was best to, but was using the war with Suzuran as a way to work out his feelings towards his brother. When Joe finally has a war with Suzuran in his final year, Joe uses it as a chance to teach Mitsumasa about leadership and actually wins his match for Housen in a deciding match. In all of the history of Housen vs Suzuran, Joe is the first man on record to accomplish this. Mitsumasa finally gets to fight Suzuran (in the form of Hana) in his final year but this was a clash of friendly rivals, not fierce enemies like Joe and Suzuran or Tatsuya and Suzuran. Tatsuya was said by Bouya to be fast on his feet but doesn't have a lot of power, while Joe was known for being a big beefcake of a man.

The Third Moonlight Brother, Mitsumasa to previous known bosses King Joe and Bitou Tatsuya.

*** The Moonlight Brothers to The Bitou Brothers. The Bitou Brothers debuted as a two brother unit, mourning their oldest brother Makio who would have graduated by their debut if he wasn't murdered. The Moonlight Brothers have all of their brothers and seemed to have been born one after the other, with almost all of them attending Housen at the same time. While the older brothers of The Moonlight Brothers are noted to be strong individuals, they were never truly considered legendary compared to Makio Bitou. Also unlike Makio, they were leaders but never became Boss of Housen, the oldest being an underling of King Joe's until he graduated. The second oldest Moonlight Brother never got to be boss either, with the third brother Mitsumasa becoming new boss.

* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: While many characters in WORST are contrasting characters, one that truly sticks out is Amachi vs Bulldog and The Amachi Army to The Kurotaki Alliance. Amachi took over the turfs that were once Kurotaki Alliance turf and his personality is a contrast in every way to Bulldog's. Bulldog was defined by his goofy personality and his ability to unite people under him on charisma and strength. Amachi, even when his development kicks in, is a stoic and quiet individual who unites people with much more darker means save for his true companions and even then they started off on bad terms. Bulldog may smack some of his men around but it is more comedic and because they're being silly, but Amachi goes out of his way to abuse people who failed him. One of Bulldog's defining fights ended with him not pressing further after beating his foe, Amachi went out of his way to break his opponent's arm. While Bulldog treated his second-in-command with nothing but respect and the second-in-command was more of a straight man to him, Amachi met his future second-in-command and beat him to a pulp and the relationship is more of a no respect relationship with Amachi never directly praising his second-in-command. Bulldog's group was not very proactive in conquering schools, usually defending themselves from others such as Parko or the Ishii brothers, many of the people who joined Bulldog joined willingly and were happy once they did it. Amachi beat down leaders of schools and put in his own figureheads to make the schools totally subservient to him. The Kurotaki Alliance, at least in Bulldog's generation, ends on a high note with a bright new head and a new lease on life. The Amachi Army's ending is never stated to advance beyond the small crew it became once it was beaten by The Hana-gumi.

''Crows'' is a Japanese high school delinquent manga series by Hiroshi Takahashi. The story begins when Harumichi Bōya transfers into the second year at Suzuran High School. Suzuran is notorious for its delinquent students who are nicknamed 'Crows' because of their dark uniforms and inauspicious nature. Quickly enough Bōya meets a group centered around Hiromi Kirishima who are trying to challenge the school boss Hideto Bandō. From there the story follows the exploits of Suzuran students and the teen-aged delinquents of various surrounding schools and gangs.

* BaldOfAwesome: Hana, King Joe, Tessou, and Bulldog all have many actions and kicks ass while not having a single line of hair in their head. They do grew hair eventually, however.

** A silhouette of Genji's fight with Rindaman appears in WORST chapter 89, after Sajima, the freshmen winner of Hana's senior year retell his comrades of watching during his elementary school. It is alsow followed by other Silhouettes of Suzuran's leaders or great figures, namedrop by Sajima, whom are Genji, Bouya, Serizawa, and Katsuragi.

* RealityEnsues: Bouya's fight with Ryushin and Bitou Tatsuya proves that being UnskilledButStrong isn't always a great way to win a fight, so he resorts to CombatPragmatist.
** Some fights and gang wars result in hospitalization, crippling or even death, not to mention arrests and occasionally stepping on the toes of serious underworld forces like Yakuza and hitmen. The idyllic delinquent lifestyle is all fun and games until the shit hits the fan.

* RealityEnsues:
** Genji's father prevents him from saving Ken from being executed by his boss because of disobeying an order (killing Genji). Despite having great strength and armed with a Katana, he would've been no match for Yakuzas.
** Genji and Serizawa's final duel isn't accompanied by a lot of impressive moves and instead just them trying to tear each other apart since they both have spent the energy in the MobWar before.

* AFatherToHisMen: Certain characters like Bulldog, Butcher and Hana are followed not just because they're strong, but because they're true leaders. Many would-be leaders learn the hard way that they have their men's fear, not their respect. Somewhat subverted with Amachi, whose followers understand that he is not going to show that he cares for them, but seems to follow him regardless with the implication being the power of hate unites them.

* CombatPragmatist: Weapons, ambushes, ganging up- a lot of dirty fighting goes down in ''Crows''. Even some of the strongest fighters and most noble characters are not above pulling the old LookBehindYou or a DynamicEntry at an enemy from their blindside. It becomes a bit of a plot point in WORST for characters to use weapons of some kind (usually pipes or a variant of) to even the score against multiple opponents. One infamous and comedic example in Crows is King Joe using a frying pan to beat up six of his peers.

* ShellShockedVeteran: Played for laughs. Nearly everyone who has ever run afoul of TheDreaded Guriko is permanently traumatized. Common reactions include stress disorders, nightmares, and hyperbolic memories of him as a literal monster. Some of his foes (or perhaps more appropriately ''victims'') break into a cold sweat or pass out at the mere mention of his name, while others permanently retire from delinquency altogether.

* AFatherToHisMen: Certain characters like Bulldog, Butcher and Hana are followed not just because they're strong, but because they're true leaders. Many would-be leaders learn the hard way that they have their men's fear, not their respect.
* AnimeHair: Not in a very exaggerated tone, but most of them come across as having messy, heavily spiked, or even stylish hairdo.

* CombatPragmatist: Weapons, ambushes, ganging up- a lot of dirty fighting goes down in ''Crows''. Even some of the strongest fighters and most noble characters are not above pulling the old LookBehindYou or a DynamicEntry at an enemy from their blindside.

* RetiredBadass: Most of the characters becomes this after graduating high school or dropping out, moving on to normal jobs and honest lives. A few do move onto the more serious underworld of Yakuza, or become professional fighters. Some stick around in some capacity such as Katsuragi from Crows being able to give Hiromi or others exposition or Zetton in the latter half of Worst.

** When Zetton graduates in WORST, he will show up from time to time to talk to Hana or his friends. Somewhat subverted on the badass part, as Zetton is struggling to get into college to become a teacher and seems to becoming dented iron. One particularly notable instance being attempting to do a jump off a bridge he did in Crows and breaking his foot rather than landing and being fine like in Crows.

* MadeOfIron: One of the most common traits among characters from both series. Bouya probably stands out the most, as he isn't particularly big or muscular compared to the other toughest characters, but can take any number of punches, kicks, suplexes, pipes and even falls without losing the will to fight, let alone consciousness.
* MusclesAreMeaningful: Anyone who's anyone in Crows and Worst has some serious muscle, but the truly titanic, like Tatsuo, Daizen and King Joe, or the ones who train and work out, such as Hana and Tesshou, tend to be among the strongest characters. Even Bulldog and Bouya struggle against foes who are walls of muscle.

* RetiredBadass: Most of the characters becomes this after graduating high school or dropping out, moving on to normal jobs and honest lives. A few do move onto the more serious underworld of Yakuza, or become professional fighters.

* TheRival: Hana has Mitsumasa and Amachi, while Bouya has Rindaman.

** Hanaki Guriko. Much like the Rindaman, never participate in any of the conflicts (unless provoked), and is regarded as the strongest guy in all of Toarushi. The mention of his name is enough to give fear and uneasiness especially for those who have felt his wrath before. He's arguably even more feared than Rindaman, as unlike the stoic and distant Megumi, Guriko has a very short fuse and ''will'' hunt you down if you cross him, accidentally or no. Rindaman was like a bear in a cave, but Guriko is a walking landmine.

* AFatherToHisMen: Certain characters like Bulldog, Butcher amd Hana are followed not just because they're strong, but because they're true leaders. Many would-be leaders learn the hard way that they have their men's fear, not their respect.

** Hanaki Guriko. Much like the Rindaman, never participate in any of the conflicts (unless provoked), and is regarded as the strongest guy in all of Toarushi. The mention of his name is enough to give fear and uneasiness especially for those who have felt his wrath before. He's arguably even more feared than Rindaman, as unlike the stoic and distant Rindaman, Megumi has a very short fuse and ''will'' hunt you down if you cross him, accidentally or no. Rindaman was like a bear in a cave, but Guriko is a walking landmine.