Kozure Ookami

Mar 11, 2009

Archaeon

Recommended

There are many anime and manga that can rightly be considered classics for one reason or another. Of these, only a few can surpass this status and truly be considered masterpieces in the purest form (and when I say a few, I mean exactly that). Supreme amongst these titles is a manga that is considered the single most influential piece of literature (and I do not use that word lightly), to come from Japan during the 20th Century.

That manga is Lone Wolf and Cub.

The creation of writer Koike Kazuo and artist Kojima Goseki, the story tells of Ogami Itto, the Kogi Kaishakunin (Shogun's Executioner), during ... the time of the Tokugawa Shogunate. He returns home shortly after the birth of his son, Daigoro, to find his wife and retainers brutally murdered, and himself suddenly named as a traitor who is expected to commit seppuku. Instead, he gives his 1 year old son, the only survivor of the attack, the choice between a ball and a sword. Should his son choose the ball, then he will be sent to his mother's side. Should he choose the sword however, then he will join his father on the road of blood and vengeance, of slaughter and heartless cruelty.

Thus begins the legend of Lone Wolf and Cub.

To say that the story is breathtaking would be an understatement. There are very few words that can truly convey the depth of the individual tales, or the depth of one's emotions as you join Ogami and Daigoro on the road to meifumado (the buddhist hell). This is a work that will evoke almost every emotion you'd care to name, from righteous fury to heartwrenching sorrow, from earnest hope to blind hatred. The complexity and detail of the plot reveal a level of sophistication that many have tried to copy over the decades since its release, but none have managed to better. The episodic format of the series allows the reader a greater degree of accesibility to the story, whilst losing nothing in terms of character development. If anything, the format actually enhances the various roles, with a number of characters being far more "real" in just one appearance than many lead characters in other stories.

The artwork of Kojima Goseki is nothing short of exquisite. The style adopted throughout the series has a certain gritty realism to it, whilst retaining an expressionist form reminiscent of traditional Japanese art. Kojima's simple, yet evocative, style allows for a greater degree of expression than can normally be found in manga, with the characters themselves retaining a feeling a reality. The quality of the artwork, together with Koike's gripping storyline, allows for a suspension of disbelief that is difficult to match by any other series.

The characters are wonderful in their uniqueness, style and personality. Ogami is a truly complex and many layered character. An assasin with a strong sense of nobility, a "demon" who is a loving father and husband, a symbol of hope for some, terror incarnate to many. Daigoro, on the other hand, is how one would expect a child to be, innocent, playful, and with very few cares in the world. One of the most wonderful things about the series is the how it addresses the bond between father and son, and in many stories Ogami bets his life on the strength of this bond. In a very real sense, he is trusting his 3 year old child to "watch his back", and this leads to some truly astounding development between the two, especially at the end of the series, with it's truly awe-inspiring climax.

There are many other characters who appear throughout the series, however the majority will only appear in one story or another. However, this does not impact on their level of realism, as many of the characters with only one appearance possess an enormous amount of depth from the start.

In the case of Lone Wolf and Cub, enjoyment is purely a specualtive term. The level of realism in the series is breathtaking, and the various action sequences will often leave you speechless, with the most exhilerating being the 178 panel sequence (you'll know it when you read it) - possibly the longest fight ever portrayed in manga. The scope of the series is of epic proportions, with each panel searing white-hot across one's mind, and unlike many other long running series, this never gets old or stale. I first read this back in 1989, and 20 years later I still get chills whenever I pick it up again. This is a series that you will find yourself re-reading for years to come.

This masterwork of the storyteller's art has had incredible and lasting influence both inside and outside of Japan. As well as spawning 7 movies and various TV movies, the series has also been adapted into two TV series and four plays. In terms manga and anime, one need look no further than Rurouni Kenshin, Hokuto no Ken, Black Jack, Vampire Hunter D, Mushishi, etc. In addition to this, the influence on Western media has been just as great. Comics and novels such as Sin City, Cable, The Road, Ronin, Road to Perdition and Waylander all pay homage to the series, with additional references being found everywhere from Final Fantasy and Samurai Jack, to Usagi Yojimbo and Kill Bill.

Lone Wolf and Cub is a work that has truly crossed the boundary between popular media and true literature. The style, pace, artwork and characterization throughout the series are the benchmarks by which many mangaka set their standards. The global popularity and influence of the series crosses the boundaries of age and gender, with many fans of the series being uninterested in other manga and anime.

Lone Wolf and Cub is, by any measure, a true masterpiece. Even now, as I close off this review, I still feel I haven't done it justice.

Yes, it IS that good.

Open

Gift

Mar 10, 2008

Casual_Toast

Recommended

Preliminary (Unknown/142 chp)

Lone Wolf & Cub is more than my favorite manga, it's one of my favorite literary productions of any kind. The brutality and horrendous violence presented here manages to deliver some of the most poignant, meaningful stories I've ever encountered. Many of the quick vignettes just make you think or are entertainingly witty, but some (primarly those focusing on young Diagoro) can be down right tear jerking. Watching these small stories come together to weave the arching narrative is beautiful to behold.

I intend to be reading this title for years to come, and have it impacting my life for long after that. Most the time ...

Open

Gift

Jan 3, 2019

snappytomdory

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (19/142 chp)

I have tried to like this manga, I have tried to force myself to keep going because I know it's a classic. A part of me is even disappointed in myself for dropping this series but I have to be honest with myself, nothing can please everyone.

I respect this manga. I respect the art, it's fantastic. I respect the themes, not everything is as simple as good and bad. I respect the amount of research that was done to create an authentic feudal japan setting.

My biggest issue with this series is the episodic format. I understand this is a completely subjective thing and from ...

Open

Gift

Jan 9, 2010

IT0

Recommended

Lone Wolf and Cub was my introduction into manga. It was my first and to this day remains my favorite. It showed up one day at my local comic book store in 1987 and the first 10 issues the covers where done by Frank Miller.Well that first publishing only had one chapter per book as opposed to the 4 or five per a Japanese volume and it only lasted 43 chapters. Those 43 chapters were so good I dropped 90% of the American comics I had been reading and went on the hunt for more Manga, it was the start of my love for ...

Open

Gift

Aug 23, 2016

EthanO11

Recommended

One of the few masterpieces out there, a very poignant reflection of the harsh realities of revenge and the lengths people go through in order to achieve it. I really thought the art was wonderful and each chapter was as gracefully written as the next. I also thought the fight scenes were superb, the frames were so well tied in with each-other it was very easy to visualize.

The story was a simple enough one but beautifully told, and the characters were incredibly complex, it was such a thrilling manga!

Irregardless of what I say, this will go down as one of the best pieces of ...

Open

Gift

Oct 12, 2017

Chinaz

Recommended

Preliminary (9/142 chp)

Lone Wolf and Cub - A Family Murderer

Every comic book reader has his "sin". That classic CB (comic book) that is acclaimed, indispensable and for some reason you ended up never reading it.

I have some of these sins, but perhaps the greatest of them is never to have read Lone Wolf and Cub, a true landmark in manga history and considered one of the best comic books ever, an influencer of legends like Frank Miller, and responsible for the arrival of the expansion of manga in the West.

The problem is that since then, Lone Wolf and Cub didn't have any republishing and the manga ... ran out quickly, becoming a collector's item. The version I read contains luxury finish, offset paper and cover with "ears". A new chance for comic book collectors may say.

First, it is important to keep in mind that this manga was originally published in Japan between 1970 and 1976, accurately depicting the Shogunate Era when samurai existed on the hills, and corresponded to the period from 1603 to 1868. This is because some may strange to the characteristic art of the manga of the time, accustomed to more recent publications that bring the theme, such as "Blade of the Immortal", or even the famous shonen manga, "Rurouni Kenshin". Unlike these two, Lone Wolf and Cub is extremely more grounded in realism, with a raw, dynamic beauty and that portrays with as much of verisimilitude as possible the Edo Period to which the plot corresponds.

Kazuo Koike's script and the art of Goseki Kojima bring the story of Itto Ogami, a mercenary known as Lone Wolf, who travels through Feudal Japan offering his services with his sword, while carrying his son - the little Daigoro - in a baby carriage. This concept, by itself, is already one of the highlights of the manga. It is impossible to not see all the beauty of the scenes where Itto and Daigoro walk towards the sunset, father, and son walking along a bloody path called by the Itto - the meifumadou. That is, "the errant way of the world of the dead."

During much of the manga we are introduced to this path traveled by Itto and Daigoro, while the ronin performs his missions and always let us know that even though he is a mercenary who kills for money, he is even more honored than practically all the other samurai who they cross their path in the course of the plot. This narrative, despite having chapters that bear little relation between them, and only try to show random "missions" of Itto, begin to make us interested in the past of this character and question what would have made someone so honored to travel through world by offering his sword in exchange for money while supposedly putting his own unborn child at risk.

It is only in the last chapter of the first volume that we are lightly presented to Itto's past and we understand part of what made him decide to become a wandering ronin. The interesting thing is that even bringing the character's past, the chapter still leaves some questions open, keeping the reader's curiosity about the volumes that will come next. At the same time that we understand the reason for the current life of Itto, we still don't know exactly what happened to arrive at the point where the chapter begins.

To conclude, what I can say of Lone Wolf and Cub is that reading this manga made me extremely happy. Not only by finally being able to lay hands on what is considered by many to be the ultimate work of manga or not because I've always been curious about this manga but by something much simpler: that indescribable feeling of when we perceive that we are before a pleasant, perfect reading, that immerses us in the pages and transports us to a completely new world. And nothing beats that feeling.

Story: 10 | Art: 10 | Character: 10 | Enjoyment: 9
Score: 10/10

Personal Note: I have never learned so much in a single volume, honestly time makes the reader appreciate better readings in life.

Open

Gift

Apr 2, 2024

darkpixelftw

Recommended

TL:DR
Initially episodic and a little repetitive at the start but then gets really, really good half way through.

Story: 7/10
The manga is inseparable from the era it was written in: a spate of terrorist attacks, rampant political corruption and student protests. This manga makes a point to emphasise that Itto is one of the last ‘true samurai' (multiple people are moved to tear by this), how the rest of society has forgotten bushido, the lords are corrupt or have forgotten their duty, etcetera and I don't think it's a big leap to suggest the manga is the author's reaction to the world around them.

The first 70% ... of the manga are episodic, unconnected stories with little relevance to the overarching plot except a few that builds on Itto's backstory or the machinations of his nemesis. However, they do build up the characters and some of Itto and Daigorou's backstory. They also cover the pair's philosophy and show us how our protagonists react to the world. They are not bad, individually interesting but they're fairly repetitive and feel a little aimless.

This is not aided by the fact that the majority of fight in the early manga are entirely uninteresting. They are extremely short (not usually more than a page or two), not very visually interesting and there is hardly ever a single moment where the reader believes that Itto could lose a fight. And if he does lose? Well, it was actually on purpose you see. Yeah, the fights are not that interesting to begin with.

Then we get to the latter 30% of the manga, and it goes from decent to absolutely amazing. When the author gets serious with the overarching plot, I couldn't put the manga down it was so intense. I was flying through the volumes, I simply had to see what was next. I wish we got here sooner but reading this manga was worth it for this.

Character: 7/10
Itto is less a real personality and instead the idealised personification of bushido. He is not exactly complex, he simply does whatever the most ‘samurai’ thing it is possible to do in the situation. As a modern westerner, it is interesting to see how one was supposed to live the complicated Bushido way of life.

Daigorou is the least realistic depiction of a child I can think of. Actual child soldiers are more child-like than this. I think it fits the themes of the manga but the way he behaves is almost distractingly unbelievable.

Retsudo is quite similar to Itto but I actually found him more interesting though I won't spoil it.

The one-off characters in the episodic episodes are more hit or miss. Sometimes they'll be interesting but they re-use the same archetypes a lot.

Art
Absolutely phenomenal for the most part, the character design, the facial expressions, nearly everything.

Overall: 8/10
Good but sort of dissapointing considering it's reputation. If it had gotten to the real meat of the story sooner instead of all the episodic fluff then I think this could easily be a 9. However, I do recommend this manga for the real story in the latter half of the manga, it's spectacular. I'm not saying that the episodic stuff is bad, I enjoyed my time with the first half of the manga but the final arc is just so good that it makes the rest look kind of dull.

Open

Gift

Jan 20, 2022

CrystalMountain

Recommended

Kozure Ookami, is an all time classic and it has the right to be one.At first I was like ''okay ,I can see why it's a classic,but I'm not impressed'' and assumed that it would be a 5/10.After a little while ,I started liking it more so I thought ''ok maybe a 6'',around the half of the series I said ''okay,in the end I like this manga 7/10'' and then the final arc came and truly I lost my sh*t with how amazing and masterfully it was done.

The story is kinda slow in the beginning,but it's still a pretty chill read.At some point in the ...

Open

Gift

Jan 10, 2023

Alex_94

Recommended

Different from most mangas that people are used to, that are more modern, Lone Wolf and Cub doesn't tel an overarching narrative, at first, it starts out with the protagonist, Ogami Ittou, taking different jobs as a sword for hire in each chapter, while also caring for his 4 years old son Daigoro, his has a set of rules, five hundred ryo, money at the time, and requiring knowing the context behind the killing. After halfway through the manga it starts having an overarching narrative about Ittou past that I don't want to spoil, but it takes a awhile to get there so be warned ... if you are used to the overarching plots of modern manga.

Writing:

As said before, in each chapter the protagonist takes a killing job to perform, but they're never as straight forward as you might think, he doesn't jus go and kill a guy random guy with his sword, chapter over, it's always more compplicated than that, there's always some complication to the job, a man needs to be killed, but he's inside a jail and there's no way to get to him, a noble woman needs to be erased, but she not only jas an escort, but she's inside one of three carriages and Ittou doesn't know which.

That's why people hire Ogami Ittou, the lone wolf, the best sword for hire in all of feudal Japan, he is not only good with swords, but good with his brains, he has to come up with elaborate plans to achieve his objectives, and that's part of the fun in the manga, the smart writing, if you like intelligent and resourceful protagonist going up against impossible odds there's defitenely something here for you.

Also the manga is set in feudal Japan, and there's a lot of information about japanese history in here, it doesnt give you a history lesson but there's enough here for you to have an idea of how Japan worked back then and instigate you to research and learn more online.

One important note, if you are looking for some emotional and sentimental story you will come out disappointted, this is a very mascuilne manga made by and for men, being released on Japan on the 1970's, so don't expect the emotional elements that you see in modern western entertainment or even in modern manga, there isn't really much if any.

Also another important note, Ittou treats his son like a men, not like a child, this could be a problem to some people, he doesn't bother patronizing his son, instead respects his intelligence, in return Daigoro grows throughout the story having entire chapters dedicated to him and making him become a real men throughout the manga.

So if you are looking for a masculine story with masculine characters made by masculine men for masculine men with masculine themes like endurance, responsability, strenght there's a lot here for you, especially if you're tired of modern western entertainment.

Art:

art style is very subjective, initially I didn't care for the art style of the manga, but grew to like it, aprtially because it did improve over time, eventually having chapters that were trippy even, with elements that borderlined on supernatural with one chapter where Ittou fights Buda himself, but not literally, just figuratively, trying to prove that coul beat god itself, there's quite abit of philosophy on this manga, still, the visuals are nice and can be very expressive, but my knowledge is limited about art and it's subjective like I mentioned, so tour experience may vary.

Conclusion:

If you're interested in a collection of smart stories, that culminate in a bloody arc lead by a masculine samurai single father that installs masculine values on his son while trying to face events of the past and all of that in a feudal Japan setting, I think there's a lot for you here.

Open

Gift

Feb 23, 2024

NapoTheGuy

Recommended

La siguiente reseña está en Español e Inglés (traducida con el apoyo de DeepL)
La versión leída es la traducción al español por Riki_Oh

Español

La historia se desarrolla durante el Japón feudal, de señores y samurais, no se brinda una fecha específica, más podemos suponer que sucede entre 1700 - 1800 dada la posición de Itto (Kogi Kaishakunin) o la evolución en la presencia de elementos característicos del intercambio cultural europeo (las armas de fuego), aunque otros prominentes aspectos como el clan Yagyu tuvieron su relevancia durante 1500 - 1600, por ende, recalcando lo evidente, es ficción que utiliza elementos históricos para dotar de “realismo” a su ...

Open

Gift

Kozure Ookami
Lone Wolf & Cub
Edit

What would you like to edit?

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Resources

Write a Review
Reviews

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Kozure OokamiLone Wolf & Cub Edit What would you like to edit? SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Resources

Write a Review Reviews

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Kozure Ookami
Lone Wolf & Cub
Edit

What would you like to edit?

Write a Review
Reviews