Centuria (manga)

Centuria (Japanese: ケントゥリア, Hepburn: Kenturia) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tohru Kuramori. It has been serialized in Shueisha's Shōnen Jump+ app and website since April 2024, with its chapters collected in a single tankōbon volume as of July 2024.

Centuria
First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Diana (left) and Julian (right)
ケントゥリア (Kenturia)
Genre	Dark fantasy
Manga
Written by	Tohru Kuramori
Published by	Shueisha
Imprint	Jump Comics+
Magazine	Shōnen Jump+
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	April 8, 2024 – present
Volumes	1

Plot

Julian is a young boy who, after killing the blacksmith he was sold to by his mother, flees as a stowaway in a slave ship. Whereupon found, he is made a slave, but integrated into what turns out to be a tight community of slaves who look out for each other, especially pregnant Mira, who agrees to share her food with him and takes him under her wing. After trouble aboard the ship, the slaves are slaughtered by the indebted captain, but this accidentally calls forward an eldritch sea entity who, for the blood of the 100 killed slaves, including Mira, gifts Julian with their combined strength and their 100 lives. Now empowered and indebted to the 100 slaves killed protecting him and Mira's newborn daughter, Diana, he sets off to a new country to raise her.

Characters

Main Characters

Julian (ユリアン, Yurian)

Julian is a former slave who has chosen to use his freedom to raise and bring about a happy life to his adoptive sister Diana, the daughter of a slave named Mira who he had previously formed a bond with.

Diana (ディアナ)

Diana is the infant daughter of Mira and the adoptive sister of Julian, who is bound to bring the downfall of the king, according to prophecy.

Angvall (アンヴァル, Anvaru)

Angvall, also known as the Unrivaled Cloaked Knight (比類 なき たてがみ, Hirui Naki Tategami), is a Commander Knight of her country, as well as the caretaker of Titi, Julian and Diana.

Titi (ティティ)

Titi is a young girl, who was orphaned during the Western War and was taken in and raised by Angvall.

The Village

Joseph (ジョゼ, Joze)

Joseph is a humble worker and family man in the village, who becomes good friends with Julian.

Marie (マリー, Marī)

Marie is Joseph's wife and mother of their child, as well as Diana's wet nurse.

Joseph's father

Joseph's father is a somewhat senile man, who is still a keen and skilled hunter and a great shot with a bow.

Ravenna (ラベンナ, Raben'na)

Ravenna is the village doctor who claims to also be able to ward off curses.

The 100 Slaves

Mira (ミラ, Mira)

Mira was a pregnant slave, and later Diana's mother, who grew very close to Julian and taught him about what it means to be human.

Hillars (ヒラルス, Hirarusu)

Hillars was the oldest among the slaves, who treated Julian with kindness and was among the first to stand up for him on the ship.

The Kingdom

The King

The King, also hailed as the Supreme Lord (至 高き 君, Ito Takaki Kimi), is the benevolent ruler of the country, whom Angvall looks up to.

Elstri (エルストリ, Erusutori)

Elstri is a prophetess and the close aide to the king who serves him from the shadows, being renowned for her accurate divinations, who foretold that a great calamity will be brought upon the kingdom by Diana in the future.

Arkos (アルコス, Arukosu)

Arkos is the king's egotistical and nihilistic son, who serves as the sole defender of the Western border, as he has similar marking powers like Julian, from an unknown origin.

Arkos' aide

Arkos' aide is the usually indifferent maid, who accompanies Arkos everywhere and tells him the king's orders.

Guillaume (ギヨーム, Giyōmu)

Guillaume, also touted as Ironclad Guillaume (塊 の ギヨーム, Tekkai no Giyōmu), is a mace-wielding Commander Knight, who accompanied Elstri to the village to investigate Angvall's report.

Monsters

Octopus Monster (タコ の 妖怪, Tako no Kaibutsu)

The Octopus Monster is a monster that dwells in the Alode Zone. Her presence is summoned above the surface whenever human sacrifices are made to the ocean, and in exchange for receiving her own sacrifice, she will grant one person a single wish, and Julian receives the lives and powers of the 100 slaves by the monster granting his wish.

Demonic Beast (魔獣, Majū)

The Demonic Beast is a forest-dwelling monster that usually has the appearance of a giant, multiple dog-headed monster with humanoid appendages and no eyes, who is capable of human speech and thinking, as well as shape-shifting into a smaller, battle-oriented humanoid tree-like form.

Publication

Centuria is written and illustrated by Tohru Kuramori. It began serialization in Shueisha's Shōnen Jump+ app and website on April 8, 2024. Shueisha has compiled its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was released on July 4, 2024. As of July 4, 2024, a single volume has been released.

The series is simultaneously published in English on Shueisha's Manga Plus platform.

Volumes

No.	Japanese release date	Japanese ISBN
1	July 4, 2024	978-4-08-884102-1
2	October 4, 2024	978-4-08-884225-7

Reception

Vanessa Piña of Screen Rant highlighted the significant influence of Berserk on Centuria, particularly praising its art and monster designs. She noted that while Centuria's art isn't on the same level as Berserk, both series share a visually dark and impactful style. The intense and bold imagery, especially in the depiction of monsters, is reminiscent of the nightmarish designs found in Berserk, which was heavily influenced by the horror genre.

The manga was nominated for the 2024 Next Manga Awards in the Best Web Manga category and ranked seventh out of 69 nominees.

External links

• Centuria official manga website at Shōnen Jump+ (in Japanese)
• Centuria on Manga Plus
• Centuria at Anime News Network's encyclopedia