Crying Freeman Volume 1 (Crying Freeman (Dark Horse))
by Kazuo Koike, Ryoichi Ikegami
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Book Summary Information
Author: Kazuo Koike, Ryoichi IkegamiEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-03-22
ISBN: 1593074786
Number of pages: 408
Publisher: Dark Horse
Book Reviews of Crying Freeman Volume 1 (Crying Freeman (Dark Horse))
Book Review: Kazuo Koike and Ryoichi Ikegami begin the story of "Mr. Yo"
Summary: 4 Stars
Kazuo Koike has become one of my all time favorite comic book writers. Yes, I know that manga is not exactly the same thing as a comic book, but it is in the same ballpark in terms of juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence that goes all the way back to the tomb of Menna, an ancient Egyptian scribe, painted over 3,200 years ago. Of course like so many the first of Koike's works that I read was "Lone Wolf and Cub," illustrated by Goseki Kojima. From there I went to their "Samurai Executioner" and am currently waiting patiently for the next volume of their "Path of the Assassin." I have also read "Lady Snowblood," written by Koike with art by Kazuo Kamimura, so I have been exploring some of his other work with other artists. In that regard, "Crying Freeman," illustrated by Ryoichi Ikegami, is decidedly different from all of the magna written by Koike that I have read so to date.
"Crying Freeman" is the story of Yo Hinomura, an assassin of the 108 Dragons, a Chinese Mafia organization. How a Japanese potter came to be the deadliest assassin of a Chinese crime against his will is explained in Volume 1 as we learn why Freeman cries every time he kills for his masters. Most of this 404-page volume is devoted to the 17-chapter story of "Mr. Yo," but there are also the first two chapters of the second major story, "Falling Blossoms, Flowing Water" (Koike and Ikegami mostly do multi-episode stories although there are a few single chapter stories in future volumes). We begin with Emu Hino writing in her diary how today she has turned twenty-nine, is still a virgin, but suspects she will be assassinated before her next birthday because she witnessed a murder and say the killer's face clearly. The killer also told her his name, so the young artist is pretty sure he is going to kill her, but before he does she vows Mr. Yo will have to make her a woman first. That is the intriguing set up for the story and a whole lot of knife throwing and blood letting.
This book follows the original right-to-left orientation, including what is described as "an entirely new and faithful translation," and the parental advisory for explicit content is no joke because this is adult graphic fiction The modern setting of "Crying Freeman" (originally published in 1986) makes it markedly different from Koike's other work, but I also found myself thinking that Ikegami's art carries more of the load than in those other manga. I say this even though I can think of lots of sections in "Lone Wolf and Cub" and those other manga where Kojima's artwork does the same thing. But "Crying Freeman" really emphasizes the visual elements to the point that it clearly a manga that aspires to be an anime, with loads of sound effects providing a sound track to the artwork.
Even without making a comparison to Koike's more historical magna it becomes clear that "Crying Freeman" revels in the fantastic, and not just with the propensity for people to want to fight in the nude, with or without full body tattoos. I am currently working my way through Volume 3 in the series, so I can say that from my perspective Volume 1 is far and away the best in the series. The reason for this is simply that the whole premise laid out in the story of "Mr. Yo" is abandoned in the next couple of stories, taking us farther and farther away from the rationale for the title character's distinctive name. I found the setup rather interesting (amazing what you can do with acupuncture needles), so I was surprised that Koike and Ikegami would abandon it to go in a significantly different direction. The results are at least a level below Koike's best work, but that still makes it pretty interesting.
Summary of Crying Freeman Volume 1 (Crying Freeman (Dark Horse))
He is Yo Himomura, deadly assassin for the 108 Dragons, the Chinese Mafia. But to the criminal underworld who fear him, he is known as Crying Freeman, the killer who sheds tears at the fate of his victims. A young, handsome, sensitive artist, Yo has been hypnotically programmed by his Dragon masters to kill on command: he cannot resists his masters' commands to kill; his masters cannot stop his tears of remorse. Written by the legendary Kazuo Koike, creator of Lone Wolf and Cub, and illustrated by the incomparable Ryoichi Ikegami, Crying Freeman is adult manga at its most challenging: dark, violent, morally complex, erotically charged and regarded worldwide as one of the classics of adult graphic fiction. Dark Horse Manga is proud to present Crying Freeman, yet another of the jewels in the crown of manga classics, presented in its original right-to-left reading orientation.General Books
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