Path of the Assassin

[strobe_z]

[UnluckyLukeGR]

According to the Dark Horse website, seven have been released so far.

I haven't read any of Kazuo Koike's series, though, and I'm thinking of
starting one. Which do you recommend? Sorry to sort of take the thread off-topic.

[strobe_z]

Yeah, I saw Dark Horse's website, but it's not always the most reliable I don't think. It's been a looooong time since I got v.5 (the last one I bought), so I thought for sure it'd be more than v7...

Regardless, if you're thinking about reading and Koike's series, I'd say start with Lone Wolf and Cub. It's probably the best of them all. I haven't really got into Path of the Assassin yet, but I'd say that it's a better idea to read LW&C before Samurai Executioner. Samurai Executioner is very good, but quite a bit different than LW&C. It's quite stoic and takes a bit of understanding of the time period and culture to really appreciate...

I also found the violence a bit much to take sometimes because, unlike LW&C, a lot of the violence stems from actual executions (and sword testing). It's one thing to see the violence of a bunch of samurai fighting... quite different to witness the execution of an unarmed man (or woman).

You have to be prepared for the violence (and sex) if you're going to read it though. Not for the faint of heart.

[UnluckyLukeGR]

Well, also, 7 is the latest volume in stock in places like Amazon, B&N, and Rightstuf, so I'm pretty sure 8 hasn't been released yet.

Thanks for the recommendation. Ugh...so many series I have to try out.

[cmoon]

[Angelcake]

If you ever really get into Kazuo Koike's work, there's some things you'll have to remember.


1. There is ALOT of sex in his manga. A good chunk of it nonconsensual.

2.In some of his manga, such as Wounded Man or Fangs of Justice, the sex and violence can seem downright mysogynistic (i.e. the heroine falls in love with her rapist). This doesn't neccessarily reflect the man himself (he's mentored dozens of female creators, and treated them with respect). It reflects the time period and audience it was made for.

3. Some of his work contains some dodgy historical facts, and sometimes contain some downright painful stereotypes of foreigners. His Mad Bull 34 contains some of the worst American stereotypes you can think of (happy blonde hookers, violent policeman, etc.).


Now, I don't want to scare anyone off here. Koike's works are some of the highest quality publications in comics. However, his works do reflect the times they were created in, and they can reflect the ugly parts of vintage Japanese pop culture.

Understanding these flaws is one of the best ways to truly apprecciate the manga art form.

[strobe_z]

I'm a huge fan of the Kazuo Koike/Goseki Kojima team, but I'm more lukewarm on his non-historical fiction. Sanctuary and Crying Freeman didn't really interest me all that much to be honest. They were quite over the top.

However, from what I understand, Koike and Kojima did a lot of research to accurately portray the period in which they set their historical fiction (like LW&C). Yes there's a lot of violence, and yes there's a lot of sex... but to me at least it's more believeable given the time period the story is set in.

As far as Samurai Executioner goes, I quite liked it, but you really have to get in the right mindset for it. For one thing, it's an earlier work than Lone Wolf & Cub, so Koike's storytelling isn't quite as refined. The other thing is that because it doesn't really have an over-arching plot line (at least not a real strong one) the chapters are even more episodic in nature. Whereas in LW&C the world stays the same and Itto and Daigoro travel through it... in SE, Aesemon is the centre and the world comes to him.

[cmoon]

*nods* Lady Snowblood actually turned me off. If someone needs a copy of volume 1 & 2, speak up.