Movies - Lone Wolf and Cub

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Lone Wolf and Cub (known in Japan as Kozure Ōkami 子連れ狼) is a well-known gekiga or manga created by the writer Kazuo Koike and the artist Goseki Kojima. Its story led to the creation of six films starring Tomisaburo Wakayama, four plays, television series and much more.

Lone Wolf and Cub chronicles the story of Ogami Ittō, the Shogun's executioner who uses the Dotanuki battle sword. He was disgraced by false accusations from the Yagyū clan and has been forced to take the path of the assassin. Along with his three-year-old son, Daigoro, they seek revenge on the Yagyū clan and are known as "Lone Wolf and Cub".

Story

A formidable warrior and a master of the Suio Ryu, Ogami Ittō (拝一刀), had become the Shōgun's executioner, the Kogi Kaishakunin, a position of high power used by the Tokugawa Shogunate (along with the Oniwaban and the assassins) to enforce the will of the Shogun over the daimyo or domain lords. For those samurai and lords ordered to commit seppuku, the Kogi Kaishakunin would assist with their deaths by decapitating them to relieve the pain of cutting their own stomachs.

Shortly after Ogami Ittō's wife's childbirth with Ogami Daigoro (拝大五郎 Ogami Daigorō), Ogami Ittō returned to find his wife, Asami, and their maidens brutally murdered, with only the newborn Daigoro surviving. They were ostensibly murdered by three men to avenge a lord who was executed by Ogami Ittō. However, the entire matter was designed to disgrace Ogami Ittō by placing and then revealing an ihai (funeral tablet) with the Shogun's name on it in Ōgami's family shrine (representing Ogami's wish for the Shogun's death). This would make Ogami a criminal and thus forfeit his post. The set up was planned by Ura-Yagyū, Yagyū Retsudō (柳生烈堂), leader of the Yagyū clan, in order to seize Ogami's post for the Yagyū clan.

Disgraced, Ogami Ittō and his now infant son, Daigoro, become a powerful assassin team, vowing to eventually destroy the Yagyū clan to avenge his wife and his disgrace.

On the "Road to Meifumado", the cursed journey for vengeance, Ogami Ittō and his son, Daigoro, encounter numerous and countless adventures, eventually befalling Yagyū Retsudō's children and leading up to Yagyu himself.

Before his final duel with Yagyū Retsudō, Ogami was attacked by the last of the elite ninja of the Yagyu clan, The Grass. His sword was tampered with earlier by a visit from a member of The Grass disguised as a sword polisher, causing Ogami's longtime Dotanuki sword to finally wear down and break during The Grass's final assault. He was inflicted with wounds that would ultimately be his demise against his battle with Retsudo. After eliminating each and every ninja, Ogami and his shattered Dotanuki were finally met with Retsudo and his spear. His will to end the Yagyū flowed through his soul, but his wounded and exhausted body would eventually leave Ogami to his fate. In the middle of the battle Ogami's spirit left his body after a lifetime of fatigue and bloodshed. Ogami was unable to destroy his longtime enemy and his Road to Meifumado had ended. The story finishes with Ogami's son, Daigoro, taking up Retsudo's spear and charging in fury. Retsudo opens his arms, disregarding all defense, and allows Daigoro to drive the spear into his body. Embracing Daigoro with tears Yagyu Retsudo names him, "Grandson of my heart", thus concluding the epic.

Manga

When Lone Wolf and Cub was first released in Japan in 1970, it became wildly popular (some 8 million copies were sold in Japan) for its powerful, epic samurai story and its stark and gruesome depiction of the violence during Tokugawa era Japan. The story spanned 28 volumes of manga, with over 300 pages each (totalling over 8,700 pages in all).

Lone Wolf and Cub was initially released in North America by First Comics in 1987, as a series of monthly, square-bound prestige-format black-and-white comics containing between 64 and 128 pages, with covers by Frank Miller, and later by Bill Sienkiewicz and Matt Wagner. Sales were initially strong, but fell sharply as the company went into a general decline. First Comics shut down without completing the series, publishing less than a third of the total series in 45 prestige-format issues. However, in 2000, Dark Horse Comics began to release the full series in 28 trade paperback volumes, completing the series with the 28th volume in 2002. Dark Horse reused all of Miller's covers from the First Comics edition, as well as several done by Sienkiewicz, and commissioned Wagner and Guy Davis to produce new covers for several volumes of the collections. Mike Ploog, Ray Lago and Vince Locke also contributed covers to the English translations of the series.

Dark Horse announced at the New York Comic Con that they have licensed Shin Lone Wolf & Cub, Koike Kazuo and Mori Hideki's follow-up to Lone Wolf and Cub, starring the famous child in the baby cart after the original revenge epic.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Lone Wolf and Cub ]

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Movies - Lone Wolf and Cub

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