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| LONE WOLF AND CUB VOL. 26: STRUGGLE IN THE DARK |
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"One could believe the old adage about the grass being greener on the other side. But, if you're referring to the "other side" of the Sanzu, the river between life and death, chances are it will be white, the color of a samurai's death robes. And a lot of that "grass" was probably dispatched by the hand of Itto Ogami. The Yagyu "grass," spies planted for years in local citizenry, has been on the move, gathering in Edo for a final battle. The ronin Itto Ogami has walked a path of demons with Daigoro at his side, on a quest of vengeance and death that has shaken the very foundations of the samurai caste and the shögunate. No one has been able to stop him, not even the crafty, Abeno Kaii and it looks like he's about see his final day, but he won't go out without a battle of wits! Only three more volumes until the long-awaited conclusion of Lone Wolf and Cub. And when it's over, you'll only want to read it again."
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 REVIEW THIS BOOK |
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| USER REVIEWS |
by jdp
Abe the poisoner meets his end.
Abe is undoubtedly a villain, with none of the honor or dignity of the series other antagonists, and thus he appears to lack any qualities that would soften our hatred of him. But it is precisely the fact that Abe is not a samurai, is not an honorable man, that makes us feel sorry for him when he dies. The series is filled with noble samurai who bravely cut their bellies and die for what modern minds would consider the most minor of perceived slights. Abe, meanwhile, behaves the way most ordinary people likely would: he fights his coming death, literally and figuratively, kicking and screaming almost to his last breath. The result is more horrific than most of the series’ other deaths are (and that’s saying something), and despite knowing what kind of man he is, knowing that he deserves death, you can’t help but feel sorry for him. It’s just one more example of what Kazuo Koike does so well throughout this series: presenting characters and situations in such a way that it evokes different, even contradictory emotions from us as we read, making for a more complex, and thus satisfying, experience.
tags:
action
classics
manga
samurai
by DaveH
When these were originally released (partially) by First Comics in the late 1980's, they were released in comic book format. I loved them, and always hoped the rest would come out in an English language edition.
When Dark Horse released the entire 28 volumes in a manga size (but reversed to standard format) about 10 years later, I was in heaven.
The art and drawing in this long series (>7,000 pages) chronicles the epic adventures of a ex-samurai ronin assasin and his son as they travel the road of Meifumando to hell and damnation.
At times glorius, at times brutal, always true to the artists vision of the time and place. This is a no-brainer for anyone who loves classic samurai movies such as "The Seven Samurai", etc.
At the same time, fairly explicit (lots of violence, some sex) and not for the squemish.
Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima have created a masterpiece of grandeur, unsurpassed in the comicbook genre.
Not for the faint of heart, but very rewarding.
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