Who
ate the Flying Chair?, tiddles, my
ratings, me, Graffiti,
Manga, Computer Games,
deep stuff,
word of the week, other stuff,
downloads, links.
Lone Wolf and Cub
(Stan Sakai did a wee 'tribute' to this in an early Usagi Yojimbo strip.)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
rating : 5
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Some manga are enjoyable. Some hit you hard and really touch you deep. Some manga are made to be read again and again.
When you re-read some manga, you notice stuff that you never noticed before. the story as a whole makes more sense, and you start to realise how it all works.
Some manga has beautiful artwork. Every panel is a work of art, and unlike the production-line work done by large corporations like Marvel and DC, manga tends to be done by one artist. Possibly 2. Which makes it all the more amazing. Also, it means that more emotion and feeling goes into the artwork.
The story is historically realistic and reasonably sensible, but it never gets clogged down with technical details. Each chapter can be read and enjoyed on its own, but they all play a part in some larger story.
You seriously start to care about the characters, because despite all their ruthlessness, and seeming immortality, they do show real humanity.
And yet, they possess qualities which you can look up to.
Qualities which you strive to also possess.
The manga may take a little bit of reading to get into. There is some real dialogue going on in those bubbles, which often advance the plot, and which you need to take time to read and ponder. It may be too much for some younger folk, or Computer Arts students who just want to look at the pictures. (Take no offense. I am merely playing the part of a jester. /*And, to further the joke, the first Computer Arts student who reads this and then e-mails me saying he wants to claim a prize, will be given the choice of claiming the aforementioned prize if they still desire it after learning what it is.*/)
But most important is the fact that the story is good.
Well written, believable, romantic, frightening, funny, gruesome... whatever it may be at any point...
The story is good. And enjoyable to read.
After all, you buy manga as entertainment - something to enjoy. And 'Lone Wolf and Cub' certainly fulfills that role.
Incidentally, you may be interested in the Lone Wolf and Cub Glossary if you're on this page. It's basically an amalgamation of the glossaries at the end of each volume. More something to print out or refer to than something to read through, but it's up to you...
3x3 Eyes
Animerica Extra
Banana Fish
Baoh
buying manga
Cartoon Network
Dark Horse
Dragonball
Dragonball Z
Inu-Yasha
Kia Asamiya
Lone Wolf and Cub
Lone Wolf and Cub Glossary (unready)
Maison Ikkoku
Pulp
Ranma ½
Rumiko Takahashi
Super Manga Blast
Usagi Yojimbo
Viz
What's Michael?
And if you think that my reviews are shit (perhaps because they are) and want to have a go yourself, just write a review up in Microsoft Word and e-mail it to me. It should be up on the site within a week.