Jan 10, 2023
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.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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