Lone Wolf and Cub is a well-known gekiga or manga originally created by the writer Kazuo Koike and the artist Goseki Kojima. Originally serialized in 1970, Lone Wolf and Cub chronicles the story of Ogami Itto, the Shogun's executioner, who 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 Yagyu clan and are known as "Lone Wolf and Cub."
When Lone Wolf and Cub was first released in Japan, 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 of the Tokugawa era in Japan. The story spanned 28 volumes of manga, with over 300 pages each (totalling over 9,000 pages in all). Its story led to the creation of six movies, four plays, a television series and much more.
A formidable warrior, Ogami Itto had become the Shogun'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 daimyo or feudal lords. For those samurai and lords forbidden to commit seppuku, the Kogi Kaishakunin would assist with their deaths.
During Ogami Itto's wife's childbirth with Daigoro, Ogami Itto returned to find his wife and their maidens brutally murdered, with only the newborn Daigoro surviving. They were ostensibly murdered by three men to avenge a lord who was executed by Ogami Itto. However, the entire matter was designed to disgrace Ogami Itto by questioning his allegiance to the Shogun. It was planned out by Ura-Yagyu, leader of the Yagyu clan, who wished to frame Ogami Itto and seize the position of power for the Yagyu clan.
Disgraced, Ogami Itto and his now infant son, Daigoro, become a powerful assassin team, vowing to eventually destroy the Yagyu clan to avenge his wife and his disgrace.
Lone Wolf and Cub also heavily influenced other manga by creating a romanticization of the "ronin," 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 is also similar in spirit to many U.S westerns, like those directed by Sergio Leone. Lone Wolf and Cub has also influenced American comics, most notably Frank Miller in his Sin City and Ronin series, but homages to Lone Wolf and Cub have been found in Usagi Yojimbo and Samurai Jack.
Lone Wolf and Cub is also important because it gives the reader a deep insight into the bushido tradition of Japan, which is deeply ingrained in Japanese culture and religion even today.
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