jmoravec's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
roxanamalinachirila's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyable, with interesting short stories and plots - but they feel a bit disjointed due to its episodic nature, and sometimes it's hard to tell exactly what's going on. At other times, the author tells us very little about the premise of that particular story.
"Ogami had lived true to his assassin's road and thus an innocent girl had died." - who was she? Why did she die? The main character, Ogami, rarely does any mistake that's visible to the reader. How then did his assassin's path lead to her death?...
Enjoyable, but at times frustrating.
"Ogami had lived true to his assassin's road and thus an innocent girl had died." - who was she? Why did she die? The main character, Ogami, rarely does any mistake that's visible to the reader. How then did his assassin's path lead to her death?...
Enjoyable, but at times frustrating.
roxanamalinachirila's review against another edition
5.0
"Lone Wolf and Cub" has grown on me since I started reading it. I'm in no rush to hurry on through the stories, but I read a volume or two every now and again, and yesterday I woke up to warm, rainy weather thinking "Today is the perfect day to go out somewhere and read some stories about the samurai assassin and his kid."
So, well, five stars to the series for making itself memorable and capturing my imagination in a slow and unassuming manner.
First of all, I love the art by Goseki Kojima. I love how sometimes there's this huge, vague, beautiful landscape, more suggested than photographically drawn - and somewhere, tiny, yet capturing one's attention, you have the assassin and his son walking towards the next town, towards the next contract.
In this volume, you have a story or two forwarding the main plot, but the rest are mostly episodic, as was the case with previous volumes. I particularly like the stories about the son wandering off on his own, quiet and determined - he's a very curious character, innocent, but having seen too much, honorable, but not entirely aware of all the things going on in the world. It makes me wonder what will happen to him in the end.
So, well, five stars to the series for making itself memorable and capturing my imagination in a slow and unassuming manner.
First of all, I love the art by Goseki Kojima. I love how sometimes there's this huge, vague, beautiful landscape, more suggested than photographically drawn - and somewhere, tiny, yet capturing one's attention, you have the assassin and his son walking towards the next town, towards the next contract.
In this volume, you have a story or two forwarding the main plot, but the rest are mostly episodic, as was the case with previous volumes. I particularly like the stories about the son wandering off on his own, quiet and determined - he's a very curious character, innocent, but having seen too much, honorable, but not entirely aware of all the things going on in the world. It makes me wonder what will happen to him in the end.
roxanamalinachirila's review against another edition
5.0
It's been over a year since I read the 9th "Lone Wolf and Cub" omnibus volume. It feels like less. Kazuo Koike, the writer, died since then.
It's been nearly four years since I read the first volume and I knew fairly early on that this would be a great story. What I didn't expect was for reading it to become nearly a ritual, that I'd need to read it on warm days when I'm relaxed, and can focus, and I'm out having coffee somewhere. Because it's good and I don't want anything to distract me from it, and I want it to last.
The 10th volume forwards the main story. It very nearly brings *the* end, but a lowly scoundrel decides to try to kill both the protagonist and the antagonist to forward his own goals, thus distracting them from their vow to kill each other in order to serve the greater good and counter the scoundrel's unwitting damage.
It's a beautiful volume, and it's as epic as this series always has been.
It's been nearly four years since I read the first volume and I knew fairly early on that this would be a great story. What I didn't expect was for reading it to become nearly a ritual, that I'd need to read it on warm days when I'm relaxed, and can focus, and I'm out having coffee somewhere. Because it's good and I don't want anything to distract me from it, and I want it to last.
The 10th volume forwards the main story. It very nearly brings *the* end, but a lowly scoundrel decides to try to kill both the protagonist and the antagonist to forward his own goals, thus distracting them from their vow to kill each other in order to serve the greater good and counter the scoundrel's unwitting damage.
It's a beautiful volume, and it's as epic as this series always has been.
jmoravec's review against another edition
4.0
Fantastic manga! I don't read a lot of comics or manga anymore, but I really enjoyed this one. You can see how much influence this manga had on films, tv (Mandalorian for a modern example), other comics, etc and why it did so.
The actual individual stories are... fine? I guess. But what is really great is the setting and the art. You really feel transported to the Edo period or at least a jidaigeki representation of the period. Normally I speed through comics, but this one I slowed down a bit to really appreciate each panel, especially if it was establishing the setting for the story, as a good number of pages don't have words. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the actual printed volume here, as the pages that had panels cross both sections could be hard to get the fully picture due to the bend of the spine.
The actual individual stories are... fine? I guess. But what is really great is the setting and the art. You really feel transported to the Edo period or at least a jidaigeki representation of the period. Normally I speed through comics, but this one I slowed down a bit to really appreciate each panel, especially if it was establishing the setting for the story, as a good number of pages don't have words. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the actual printed volume here, as the pages that had panels cross both sections could be hard to get the fully picture due to the bend of the spine.
brizreading's review against another edition
3.0
Pretty grim stuff. It felt like the love child of Toshiro Mifune and Bill Watterson; the enormous, beautiful vistas, the staccato pacing of the panels, felt like Calvin's vast internal world. The plotting was basically any Mifune-as-disgraced-wandering-samurai black and white film. I wasn't sure about the Zen; yo, I be all about the austerity of Zen, but I can't really reconcile it with chopping people's heads off.
jsjammersmith's review
5.0
With any graphic novel there is at least one important question, what is it adding to the medium. If it adds nothing and simply tells a story then the reader is able to Move on quickly to the next read. Lone Wolf and Cub doesn’t do this. Instead the books demand the reader to slow down and appreciate the medium as Koike not only establishes the characters, but also the landscapes, the weather, the culture, the history, the politics, and the visual language for the reader.
Every page of this book is an incredible effort to play with the medium, to push it further and establish the creative landscape of Koike’s Japan. Ogami Itto and Daigoro are not just unique characters, they are real people inhabiting a highly developed world. It is impossible to not be drawn into their struggles and adventures because every page, every frame of this comics series is, simply put, beautiful. It’s a chance to just be in another world completely.
Whether it’s the panels presenting the weather, peasant cottages, rice patties, mountains, or even people sitting and talking the reader is left completely absorbed by this universe, and held by the conviction that Koike is showing them a real Japan and Samurai legacy.
I never feel tired of reading this book, and even when I know Ogami Itto is going to win a battle no matter what, I still hold my breath and wonder how he’s going to do it. This series is what makes comics great.
Every page of this book is an incredible effort to play with the medium, to push it further and establish the creative landscape of Koike’s Japan. Ogami Itto and Daigoro are not just unique characters, they are real people inhabiting a highly developed world. It is impossible to not be drawn into their struggles and adventures because every page, every frame of this comics series is, simply put, beautiful. It’s a chance to just be in another world completely.
Whether it’s the panels presenting the weather, peasant cottages, rice patties, mountains, or even people sitting and talking the reader is left completely absorbed by this universe, and held by the conviction that Koike is showing them a real Japan and Samurai legacy.
I never feel tired of reading this book, and even when I know Ogami Itto is going to win a battle no matter what, I still hold my breath and wonder how he’s going to do it. This series is what makes comics great.
nigellicus's review
5.0
Lone Wolf And Cub isn't a simple tale of a guy setting out to savagely kill lots of people because of sad back-story stuff. Ogami itto is bound by notions of honour and loyalty and proprietary behaviour, so when he decides to carve his way through Japanese society he does it as part of a rigid and tortuous spiritual journey, a state of being that makes him a living incarnation of death, and he's taken his son along for the ride, adding to the mounting sense of epic tragedy. The duels he fights in particular with other samurai are expressions of martial styles, spiritual philosophy and exquisite manners. It all seems ridiculous, and obscenely wasteful of human life and potential, but it is utterly riveting.
More...