Images courtesy of www.mangareader.net

I loved everything about this series. Kazuo Koike is one of Japan’s great manga story tellers, and part of the appeal for me is his obsession for details and accurate knowledge of the country’s history. Before getting into the series I had little knowledge of Japanese society during the 1600’s with its customs, proper etiquette and unique rules. What attracted me the most was the art, the simplicity of the black and white contrast and the efficiency of its inked line that tell you so much that little text is needed. Another key driver to my appeal to the series was the people, and Koike’s work on them is magnificent. In one of my favorite episode, Daigoro is separated from his father, and is confronted by a samurai. Daigoro picks up a stick and takes up a battle pose, and the samurai, meeting his eyes, flinches in shock and fear, realizing how many battles and how much blood this 3 year old child has already seen. The drawings are simply brilliant, and are a major part in giving this action-adventure story an entirely original concept, and the way Daigoro grows up is central to some of the most memorable moments in the whole series.

Images courtesy of www.mangareader.net

Spoiler ahead—skip this paragraph if you do not want to know the ending of the series. Toward the end of their journeys, Itto’s sword is secretly damaged by a supposed sword-polisher who is really an elite ninja of the Yagyu clan. When attacked by the last of the Yagyu ninja, the sword breaks due to Yagyu tampering, and Itto receives wounds that are ultimately fatal. Deadlocked with Retsudo, Itto’s spirit leaves his body after a lifetime of fatigue and bloodshed, unable to destroy his longtime enemy and ending his path of meifumado. The story finishes with Daigoro taking up Retsudo’s broken spear and charging in fury. Retsudo (Lord of the Yagyu clan) opens his arms, disregarding all possible defense, and allows Daigoro to drive the spear into his body. Embracing Daigoro with tears, Yagyu Retsudo names him “Grandson of my heart”, closing the cycle of vengeance and hatred between the clans and concluding the epic saga.

Images courtesy of www.mangareader.net

You can get away with reading most of Lone Wolf and Cub in any order. Most of the stories are self-contained episodes, though the attempts of the Yagyu clan to kill him are a regularly recurring strand. The one exception is the last handful of volumes, where they take well over 1,000 pages building to the superb climax. These issues need to be read in the proper order to get the full impact from the epic finale.

Dark Horse announced that the New Lone Wolf and Cub will be uncut and in authentic right-to-left reading format with a sale date of June 4th 2014. Since the announcement the manga comic world is in a standstill waiting for this moment to happen.

– Christophe Chanel