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, a television series starring Kinnosuke Yorozuya, and much more.

Lone Wolf and Cub chronicles the story of Ogami Itt?, the Shogun's executioner who uses the Dotanuki battle sword. He was disgraced by false accusations from the Yagyu 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 Yagy? clan and are known as "Lone Wolf and Cub".

Plot summary

A formidable warrior and a master of the sui?-ry?, Ogami Itt? (? ??), had become the Sh?gun'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 daimy? 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. As it was unthinkable for a person of lesser rank to act as Kaishakunin for a noble, the Kogi Kaishakunin was entitled and empowered to wear the crest of the Shogunate, in effect acting in place of the Shogun.

Shortly after Ogami Itt?'s wife's childbirth with Ogami Daigor? (? ???), Ogami Itt? returned to find his wife Azami and all of their household brutally murdered, with only the newborn Daigor? surviving. They were ostensibly murdered by three former retainers of an abolished clan to avenge their lord who had been executed by Ogami Itt?. However, the entire matter was designed to disgrace Ogami Itt? by placing and then revealing an ihai (funeral tablet) with the shogun's crest on it in Itt?'s family shrine (representing Ogami's wish for the shogun's death). This would make Itt? a criminal and thus forfeit his post. The set up was planned by Ura-Yagy? (Shadow Yagyu) Yagy? Retsud? (?? ??), leader of the Yagy? clan, in order to seize Ogami's post for the Yagy? clan.

Akihiro Tomikawa as Daigoro in Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril.

On meifumad? ("The Road to Hell"), the cursed journey for vengeance, Ogami Itt? and his son, Daigor?, encounter numerous adventures, encountering (and slaying) all of Yagy? Retsud?'s children and eventually facing Retsud? himself. The first duel between Ogami Itt? and Yagy? Retsud? ran 178 panels -- one of the longest single fight-scenes ever published in comics.

Before his final duel with Yagy? Retsud?, Itt? was attacked by the last of the elite ninja of the Yagy? clan, the "Grass". His sword was tampered with earlier by a visit from a member of the Grass disguised as a sword polisher, causing Itt?'s longtime d?tanuki 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 Retsud?. After eliminating each and every ninja, Itt? and his shattered d?tanuki were finally met with Retsud? and his spear. His will to end the Yagy? flowed through his soul, but his wounded and exhausted body would eventually leave Itt? to his fate. In the middle of the battle Itt?'s spirit left his body after a lifetime of fatigue and bloodshed. Itt? was unable to destroy his longtime enemy and his walking of meifumad? had ended. The story finishes with Itt?'s son, Daigor?, taking up Retsudo's spear and charging in fury. Retsud? opens his arms, disregarding all defense, and allows Daigor? to drive the spear into his body. Embracing Daigor? with tears, Yagy? Retsud? names him, "Grandson of my heart", closing the cycle of vengeance and hatred between the clans, and 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 (totaling 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 in 1991 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 smaller-sized 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.

In 2002, a "reimagined" version of the story, Lone Wolf 2100 was created by writer Mike Kennedy and artist Francisco Ruiz Velasco with Koike's indirect involvement. The story, a post-apocalyptic take on the tale featured a few differences, such as a female cub and the setting, which ranged across the whole world. The story of Daisy Ogami, daughter of a renowned scientist; and Itto, her father's bodyguard and subsequent protector as they attempted to escape from the Cygnat Owari Corporation's schemes was not received as well as the original stories.

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

Manga titles

Films

A total of seven Lone Wolf and Cub films starring Tomisaburo Wakayama as Ogami Itt? have been produced based on the manga. They are also known as the Sword of Vengeance series, based on the English language title of the first film, and later as the Baby Cart series, because young Daigoro travels in a baby carriage pushed by his father. The first three films, directed by Kenji Misumi, were released in 1972 and produced by Shintaro Katsu, Tomisaburo Wakayama's brother, and the star of the 26 part Zatoichi film series. Shogun Assassin (1980) was released as an English language compilation for the American audience, edited mainly from the second film, with 11 minutes of footage from the first. Also, the third film, Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades was re-released on DVD in the US under the name Shogun Assassin 2: Lightning Swords of Death http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068817/releaseinfo#akas. The next three films were produced by Wakayama himself and directed by Buichi Saito, Kenji Misumi and Yoshiyuki Kuroda, released in 1972, 1973, and 1974 respectively.

The films are renowned for the incredible amount of onscreen stylized violence. In fact, after the second film, each movie would climax with Ogami slaughtering an entire army single-handedly.

The films closely resemble the comics. Entire panels of the manga are recreated in perfect detail throughout the film series.

In addition to the six original films plus the seventh in 1980, Shogun Assassin, various television movies have been aired in connection with the television series as pilots, compilations or originals. These include several starring Kinnosuke Yorozuya (Nakamura) (see section Television series) but more notably the 1979 film Lone Wolf With Child: An Assassin on the Road to Hell better known as Baby Cart In Purgatory where Hideki Takahashi plays Ogami Itt? and Tomisaburo Wakayama as Retsudo Yagyu! In 1992 the story was once more made into a film, Lone Wolf and Cub: Final Conflict also known as Handful of Sand or A Child's Hand Reaches Up (Kozure ?kami: Sono ch?saki te ni, literally In That Little Hand), directed by Akira Inoue and starring Tamura Masakazu.

Kills

In the film White Heaven in Hell, Ogami Itto killed 150 people on screen, the highest body count for a single character in a single film in cinema history.^[1]

Television series

Two full-fledged television series based on the manga have been broadcast to date. The first, Lone Wolf and Cub (Kozure ?kami) was produced in a typical jidaigeki format and broadcast in three 26-episode seasons from 1973 to 1976, each episode 45 minutes long. Kinnosuke (Nakamura) Yorozuya played Ogami Itt?, he later reprised the role in a miniseries in the mid-1980s and several related television movies. Yorozuya's portrayal of ?gami in the series, and the series as a whole, is said to be more faithful to the manga than the Wakayama films. Considering the length and number of episodes this can only be expected. The series was shown in the United States on Nippon TV as The Fugitive Samurai in the original Japanese with English subtitles and released for the Toronto, Canada market by CFMT-TV (now OMNI 1) in the original Japanese with English subtitles as The Iron Samurai. It has also been aired in Germany dubbed in German. It has also been aired in Italy dubbed in Italian, as well.

The 26 episodes of the first season were released on DVD in Japan on December 20 2006, apparently without subtitles. Additionally the first twelve episodes of TV-series has been released on DVD in Germany known as Kozure Okami. Audio is in Japanese and German. In the US, Media Blasters released the original TV series on DVD on April 29 2008 under its Tokyo Shock Label. The release contained the original Japanese with subtitles only.

The latest television series, also titled Lone Wolf and Cub (Kozure ?kami), was aired from 2002 to 2004 in Japan. It had Kinya Kitaoji assume the role of Ogami Itt?. This series is not available on DVD.

See also: List of Lone Wolf and Cub episodes

Influence

Because of its immense popularity in Japan and its cult status in the West, both the manga series and subsequent film adaptations have had a lasting impact on popular culture both in Japan and elsewhere.

Lone Wolf and Cub and Kazuo Koike's style have heavily influenced other manga by creating a romanticization of the r?nin, or masterless samurai, the lone wanderer who follows his own code. Similar titles in spirit include Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack and later Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin.

Lone Wolf and Cub has also influenced American comics, most notably Frank Miller in his Sin City and Ronin series^[2]. Novelist Max Allan Collins acknowledged the influence of Lone Wolf and Cub on his graphic novel Road to Perdition in an interview to the BBC, declaring that "Road To Perdition is 'an unabashed homage' to Lone Wolf And Cub"^[3].

There are also various references to Lone Wolf and Cub in popular culture:

• The video game Final Fantasy X features a Samurai character named Yojimbo, who can be hired to attack the player's enemies. One of his attacks is performed by a sidekick (in this case a dog), which goes by the name "Daigoro".
• The comic Usagi Yojimbo also has references to Lone Wolf and Cub in a pair of characters known as "Lone Goat and Kid."
• The album Liquid Swords by rapper GZA contains several samples from Shogun Assassin, including Daigoro's monologue, flute of the fallen tiger, and the choice between ball and sword.
• The song "Danger! Danger!" by UK punk band Sonic Boom Six contains a sample from Shogun Assassin, from Daigaro's voiceover as Lone Wolf and Cub enter the town.
• At the conclusion of the 22nd episode of Samurai Champloo, both Ogami Itt? and Daigoro appear when a meteor hits the ground. Daigoro is shown saying, "Look, a mushroom!" referring to the cloud of debris left from the impact.
• In Episode 24 of Samurai Champloo, while the character Fuu is asking around for Kasumi Seizou, the woman who tells her is seen taking care of Daigoro. It is unknown where Ogami Itt? is during this, or whether his character is still alive by this time.
• Lone Wolf and Cub served as the inspiration for Dark Horse Comics' futuristic retelling, Lone Wolf 2100, written by Mike Kennedy, with art by Francisco Ruiz Velazco.
• In episode XIX of Cartoon Network's Samurai Jack Season 2, Lone Wolf and Cub appear in a flashback of Jack's past. It is implied that witnessing Ogami Itt? fight off four basket headed thugs helped to inspire Jack's development as a samurai.
• Volume 2 of the film Kill Bill includes a scene in which two characters watch Shogun Assassin on TV, and Volume 1 climaxes in an elaborate battle scene reminiscent of the Lone Wolf and Cub films.
• Marvels recent solo Cable series of Comics has a strong resemblance to the story

Video game

In 1987, video game manufacturer Nichibutsu released a Japan-only beat-em-up based on the series named Kozure Ookami. Players guide Ogami Itto through an army of assassins while carrying his infant son on his back. A baby cart powerup enables Ookami to mow down enemies with blasts of fire. The game is considered a rarity by the Video Arcade Preservation Society as there are no known instances of the game being owned. Although it is available in ROM form for MAME.

References

External links

• Dark Horse Comics: ''Lone Wolf and Cub'' manga
• Frank Miller Lone Wolf and Cub Covers
• About the manga series, covers of the manga
• "The Shogun Assassin Movies", about the films
• Website of 2002 TV series (Japanese)
• Website of 2003 TV series (Japanese)

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