19 May, 2002
Lone Wolf and Cub, Vol. 2: The Gateless Barrier (1995, 302 pp)
Lone Wolf and Cub, Vol. 3: The Flute of the Fallen Tiger
(1995, 311 pp)
Kazuo Koike (Writer)
Goseki Kojima (Artist)
Trans. Dana Lewis
The adventures of wandering samurai-assassin Ogami Itto continue in these two volumes, comprising issues 10-19 of the long-running Japanese comic, originally published in the 1970s. (Go here for my comments on Vol. 1, and general introduction to this series.)
The stories in these two volumes are more varied than those in the first volume. While most of them still follow the mission-infiltrate-kill formula, the missions themselves are more varied, taking Ogami and his son through many different sections of Edo-period Japanese society, from prisons and houses of prostitution to provincial castles to religious orders. The portrait of medieval Japan which Koike and Kojima seem to be putting together piece by piece is fascinating. I think that manga might be the perfect medium for such a portrait. In order to convey the same setting information (architecture, clothing styles, hair styles, heraldry, and so forth) given by the drawings, a text-only work would have to make numerous diversions from the plot and characters. The episodic nature of the comic allows the authors to place their characters in a wide range of interesting situations without continuously dwelling on the tedium of travel.
Furthermore, while most of the episodes are assassination stories, they don't all focus on the assassination aspect. This was a worry I had when I finished the first volume, that the formula would become tiresome. However, by spending the majority of the story on what Ogami does before and after the killing he's hired to do, the authors keep me interested. For example, Episode 15 focusses entirely on the contest of wits and skill between Ogami and his target's bodyguards. The actual assassination doesn't occur until the very last panel of the episode. Over the course of these two volumes, we learn more about the way Ogami views his life, and we learn more of his history. His ultimate goal is to revenge himself upon the clan which framed him for treason, and killed his entire family, except for his infant son.
When I reviewed Vol. 1, I complained that I couldn't find a good example of the artwork. Fortunately, Amazon has some samples of the art from Vol. 2 and Vol. 3: