Lone Wolf and Cub, Vol. 4: The Bell Warden

子連れ狼 [Kozure Ookami] #4

by Kazuo Koike, Goseki Kojima (Artist)

Dark Horse continues its presentation of the entirety of Japan's Lone Wolf and Cub, one of the unquestioned landmarks of graphic fiction, packaged in the digest format preferred by creator Goseki Kojima. The fourth volume of this ambitious monthly program collects four classic Lone Wolf tales, including one never before seen in America, where little Daigoro searches for his lost father while amazing a well-known samurai with his warrior's eyes and cool demeanor. Also, the Lone Wolf takes on the sons of the war-bell warden, legions of organized crime bosses, and a mysterious tattooed lady with a dark story and impeccable killing skills. It's bloody and romantic...and among the best the comics medium has to offer.

Genres: Manga, Comics, Graphic Novels, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Japan, Historical

319 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Kazuo Koike (小池一夫, Koike Kazuo) was a prolific Japanese manga writer, novelist and entrepreneur.

Early in Koike's career, he studied under Golgo 13 creator Takao Saito and served as a writer on the series.

Koike, along with artist Goseki Kojima, made the manga Kozure Okami (Lone Wolf and Cub), and Koike also contributed to the scripts for the 1970s film adaptations of the series, which starred famous Japanese actor Tomisaburo Wakayama. Koike and Kojima became known as the "Golden Duo" because of the success of Lone Wolf and Cub.

Another series written by Koike, Crying Freeman, which was illustrated by Ryoichi Ikegami, was adapted into a 1995 live-action film by French director Christophe Gans.

Kazuo Koike started the Gekika Sonjuku, a college course meant to teach people how to be mangaka.

In addition to his more violent, action-oriented manga, Koike, an avid golfer, has also written golf manga.

Reviews

[Algernon (Darth Anyan) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fourth collection of Lone Wolf and Cub continues in the same vein as the ones that precede it. This one in particular can be read as a stand-alone as it does little to advance the main story of the former shogun executioner turned hired assassin, focusing instead on four episodes that flesh out the cultural and social tapestry of medieval Japan. Ogami Ito, aka Lone Wolf, and his son Daigoro, continue to roam the back roads of the country, meeting challenges both to their martial skills and to their inner sense of honor.

The Bell Warden takes place very close to Edo, the imperial capital. The subject is the succession to the very prestigious and very profitable post of Bell Warden for the city.



The huge bronze bells installed around Edo serve as both time keepers and alarm devices, tended traditionally by a highly skilled and respectable samurai. He can also collect high taxes for the maintenance of bells. The current holder of the post hires Lone Wolf to test his three sons as potential heirs to the prestigious position. The duels take place at a lonely mill outside of town, giving Ogami a chance to demonstrate his skills against three different fighting styles with unusual weapons.

Unfaithful Retainers continue the trend of examining social structures, looking at newly empowered servants in the big daimyo households, who organize into criminal gangs and have no respect for the bushido code of the samurai class. The narrative is non-linear, starting with three apparently random assassinations by Ogami, followed by meeting two children about to commit suicide in a forest clearing.



Without giving away major plot points, I would remark that this rather long episode would make an excellent script for a traditional samurai movie. It delivers both in action sequences and in emotional intensity.

Parting Frost holds a special place in the overarching main plot, as I believe it is the first episode to focus almost exclusively on the small boy Daigoro, looking at how the path of blood his father follows reflects in the eyes of his child.



When Ogami Itto fails to return after one of his contracts, Daigoro must leave his hiding place, driven out by hunger and worries. Alone on the road, he nevertheless shows both good instincts and determination, surviving where many grown men would have probably perished.

Performer is a fine conclusion of the present collection, following the tragic life of a circus girl with a talent for swordsmanship. When her beauty leads her across the path of a brutal rapist in the employ of a powerful lord, the young girl chooses her own assassin's path, seeking revenge. To distract enemies from her beauty, she covers her body in demonic tattoos. Ogami Itto is hired to get rid of her, but will he chose to obey his paymaster or his own moral compass?



All in all, this was a worthy addition to the epic of Lone Wolf and his Cub. I may have given it a lower rating, but only because I was more impressed with the previous episodes, and not because of a faltering in the script or in the artwork. Needless to say, I plan to continue with the series.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 – 3.5 stars

Volume 4 of _Lone Wolf & Cub_ is still obviously chock full of action and bloodshed as Ogami continues cutting a swath through Tokugawa-era Japan on his path of vengeance. The main story arc doesn’t get a significant push forward here, hence the slightly lower rating from previous volumes, though we do get a lot of details on Tokugawa-era Japan and more than a few interesting things in the stories Koike & Kajima choose to tell. To wit:

“The Bell Warden”: Apparently the position of Bell Warden of the watch towers of Edo was incredibly important and prestigious. The holder of the title was effectively above the law (something that seems to have been common for many positions of authority in the era) and pretty much had a license to print money given their sole ownership of the bell tax levied against the citizens. The current Bell Warden is getting on in years and what better way to guarantee the strength and honour of his true heir than to send each of his sons against the greatest assassin in the land and see which one survives? I know, not the obvious course of action, but hey it makes for an interesting story especially given that each of the sons have a unique weapon and fighting style which might actually give Lone Wolf a run for his money.

“Unfaithful Retainers”: Rising household costs and the need to maintain lavish lifestyles (not to mention to maintain residences in both their own Han and Edo) have caused many Daimyo to choose to hire temporary servants in place of the customary clan-servants whose tenure is for life. This may have cut back on expenses, but it also meant that those servants no longer had the strong ties of family and honour to their lords and the bosses in control of the worker pool had cornered a new and necessary market, essentially creating a ready pool of thugs and henchmen from which to draw. One such leader killed a lone samurai noble simply because he was in his way and he knew he was beyond the reach of the law. The samurai’s remaining children are unable to exact vengeance to regain the honour of their house, but Ogami has a cunning plan to draw out the culprit in the hopes of helping them take their own vengeance and restore the balance of honour.

“Parting Frost”: An intriguing story in that it’s told completely from the point of view of young Daigoro as he goes in search of his missing father. Along the way he comes across a lone samurai who is amazed at the composure and ‘readiness for death’ he sees in the boy’s eyes – something even most hardened warriors do not possess. He decides to test the boy’s mettle and ends up facing off against the even deadlier father of the young cub.

“Performer”: Perhaps the best tale of the bunch. A female street performer adept with the short sword is on a path of vengeance after she is dishonoured and abused merely for not being a member of the noble class. In addition to her deadly touch with the blade she has a unique and effective means of putting her foes off-balance. As Ogami knows only too well the path of vengeance is one whose ripple effect is felt far beyond the aims of the one pursuing it. Indeed, Ogami is counting on this in his own quest, but the young woman becomes caught between her ultimate goal and the deadly sword of Lone Wolf as a result of hers. Nice tale that looks at some of the complexities inherent in a society based on honour where blood-feud is a valid course of action.

All in all a good volume, though not the best of the bunch.

[Jefi Sevilay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kısacık bir manga için yazılacak ne çok şey var!

Çan Bekçisi içinde sadece 4 bölüm barındırsa da çok hoşuma gitti. Tarihsel arkaplanı mükemmel ötesi. Mangada geçen silahların anlatıldığı son bölüm açıkçası benim atladığım/önemsemediğim ama aslında hikayenin içinde ne kadar önemli bir öğe olduğunu gösterdi. Bunları çok başarılı buldum.

23. Bölüm "Oyuncu"daki kadının dövmeleri beni benden aldı. Hem 16. yy'da dövme yaptırmak nedir? Ben 21. yy'da dişçiye gitmeye korkuyorum :) Bir de o nasıl bir çizim ustalığıdır arkadaş. Resmen siyah-beyaz manga ve çizgiromana bakışımı değiştirdiler. Sadece aksiyonun bol olduğu sahneler biraz karanlık ve karışık. Onun haricinde ifadeler mükemmel.

An itibariyle 4 kitabı bitirdim ancak aklıma takılan komik bir soru var. Ogami Itto bildiğiniz üzere suikastçi bir ronin. İnsanlar da parayla hizmetlerini satın alıyorlar. Ogami Itto görevin zorluğuna göre bir ücret belirlemiyor yalnız ilginç bir şekilde müşteriler öldüreceği her hedef için hep 500 ryo teklif ediliyor. Acaba bu yazılı olmayan bir kural mı? Bazı hedefler de epey zorlu. Ogami'nin de hiç itiraz ettiğini duymadım.

Bir de Ogami bu paraları ne yapıyor? Sonuçta ne çek gibi bir durum söz konusu (ki yazılı senetler bildiğim kadarıyla geçer bir akçe) ne de farklı bir metot gösteriliyor. Hatta 3 hedefin olduğu bir görevde ortası delikli paraları iğneyle birleştiriyorlar ve ortaya hem ağır hem ebatlı bir deste jeton gibi para çıkıyor. Merak ediyorum ileride bu konuya hiç değinilecek mi.

Ve acıların çocuğu Daigoro. Hikaye başladığında kaç yaşında olduğunu hiçbir yerde bulamadım ama bence 2, en fazla 3 yaşında olmalı. O nasıl bir tatlılıktır? Korka korka Ogami'ye de kızmıyor değilim. Tam da Daigoro yaşlarında bir oğlum var. Tamam Daigoro'cuğumun gözleri boşluğa bakıyor olabilir ama bir çocuk bu kadar da yalnız bırakılmaz ki :) Biz oğlan kafasını duvara çarpmasın diye kırk takla atıyoruz, Daigoro 3-4 gün aç susuz yaşıyor. Biz kapıyı kendi başına açınca panik oluyoruz Daigoro'cuk tarla yangınından kendini çamura bulayarak kurtuluyor. Böyle babalık, neyse..

Yalnız Kurt ve Yavrusu mutlaka okunması gereken bir manga. Net.

Herkese keyifli okumalar!

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 5 out of 5]

They're not that scary tattoos.

[Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This year features the release of the 24th James Bond movie. There are also numerous zombie films, games and comics slated for this year as well. Sherlock Holmes came from over 50 short stories and 4 novels, yet his plane still inspires TV shows and movies well beyond the Doyle works. At this point in the reading of Love Wolf and Cub, there have been around 18 stories with quite a few remaining. What do all of these have in common?

The ability to meld the featured characters into a commentary of the world around them.

What makes franchises (and what are long running comics but graphic franchises? ) so powerful is the ability to take a well defined character and use them to create a discourse on the world around them. In volume 4, we leave the character defining by the wayside to let what we already know of him provide the subtext for his actions. As zombies have stood in for numerous ideals that devoured the old world, Lone Wolf and Cub now assassinate their old world to bring about a new one.

I have no knowledge of how the series was written or if there was/is a longer narrative at play (frankly, I hope there isn't), nor if the comics were released in sets like these Dark Horse reprints, but it is difficult to ignore the theme of change that plays through this set of stories. From the opening piece where an entire station is eradicated to the closer containing the dangers of altering your path/station, all the reader sees is a new world emerging from the blood spoiled by Ogami's blade.

Still powerful. Still beautiful. I must savor these comics ... and so should you.

[Ill D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well modulating it’s incessant repetitions, Lone Wolf and Cub takes a more creative approach to its ferocious violence infused story-telling. From hitman related job, to further adventuring, the flaws of previous offerings have been tempered with a keener eye to details and its uproarious brutality. Thoroughly saturated in the Japanese broth of which its born, Koike and Co. have brought glory, respect, and a fresh take on Nippon’s famed warrior culture.

[Václav · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4,3 of 5 for this samurai delight)
I love this series. I love how it's action-packed, adventurous and bit mystical sometimes and along that is the effort to capture the historical feeling, conditions of that late period of japan's samurai class era. Of course, there is "artistic license" on everything a Lone Wolf and Cub is not a history book. But as far as the story allows it's usually pretty close (for a romantic/idolized depiction).
Every book has (at least one) strong story. Even there are pretty good ones (for example one with Gōmune), but above them, all is Daigoro's story. It is fresh wind and it's nice and soothing (and heartwarming, too).
With this book, I realized one thing, one strain on this otherwise great series which was there before but I didn't pay attention. But once I realized it I couldn't un-see it. It's fighting. Or more precisely moves and sword/weapon strokes. Some of them would hardly cause a depicted wound or hit the enemy. Of course, there is always the benefit of the doubt and if you try hard enough you can find a plausible explanation, but you'll be deceiving yourself. many of them are subtle and you'll miss them with the flow, but there are those like the one which grabbed my attention to this subject, where Ogami Itto clearly must make the cutting stroke by the back of his dōtanuki. So you can't learn on swordfight choreography here, because there is a lot of "artistic licence" in depicting it. It's not a fatal flaw (it took me four books to realize that), but it's a smudge on otherwise great comics which is hard to un-seen when you spot it.

[Ευθυμία Δεσποτάκη · Rating 4 out of 5]

Είναι παράξενο να μην χορταίνεις κάτι κι όμως να μην το θεωρείς και τέλειο. Σε κάνει να νιώθεις πιο άνθρωπος, ή κάτι τέτοιο.

[Stephen Richter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fine collection from the ground breaking Magna series. Author Kazuo Koihe keep the simple premise going with fine twists and turns. Goseki Kojima black and white art fits the themes of the series.

[R.J. Huneke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterpiece, the tragedy that plays out in this one stings, like fire.

[Jedi JC Daquis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Itto Ogami may walk the Meifumado, killed a Buddha and attained mu. He may be more of a demon than human, but he is not invincible. Here, the lone wolf has encountered warriors who can hurt him. This volume may indicate that the antagonists and assassination targets are becoming stronger.

Daigoro has his own share of awesomeness here. Before, he was just trapped in a cave and survived it. Here he walked on his own, searching for his father who hasn't returned yet. This has been a refreshing take on the story which has been almost always centered on Ogami Itto himself.

Lone Wolf has 28 volumes so I have 24 to go. It could have gone to 100 volumes and I won't complain either. It is a must-read, a japanese manga classic.

[Büşra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daigoro acıların çocuğu seni seviyom :)

[J.G. Keely · Rating 4 out of 5]

The role of comic books in America is in transition, and so comics hold a tenuous and unusual position in the American psyche. To some degree, they are still considered dirty and cheap, still artistically bankrupt, and there are good reasons for this. For a long time, the industry had its hands tied by the 'Comics Code', a punitive ratings system. One can realize the effects the code had by imagining what movies would be like if the government stated that all films released must attain a 'G' rating.

Imagine a G-rated Star Wars, a G-rated Godfather, a G-rated Blazing Saddles, and you may begin to understand the impossibility of trying to write quality comics under the code, which held sway over comics for thirty years. To give you an example of just how punitive the code was, at one point author Marv Wolfman was not allowed to be credited with his real last name because under the code, it was too scary.

It wasn't until the early eighties that publishers began to break away from the code, first under the daring pen of Steve Gerber, who lost his career in comics over it, and then under Alan Moore, who was made a household name for helping break the grip of the code. But comics are still fighting a bad reputation, as evidenced by the fact that the term 'graphic novel' has been coined solely so people who consider themselves sophisticated don't have to condescend to read 'comics'.

But this struggle for recognition as an art form has played out very differently around the world. In Europe, the revolution took place in the mid sixties, so that today, an individual can get a government grant to work in the field of comics, so that, instead of trying to please the narrow requirements of a multimedia conglomerate bent on cannibalizing old stories (like Marvel and DC), they can freely bring to life their meticulous, experimental visions, pointing towards a future for comics, instead of a well-thumbed past.

And it's this level of experimental artistry that I have come to expect from comics, since my experience with them has been primarily from foreign authors. Even the early books I read from the big publishers were mostly the result of their hiring British and Irish authors. After this experience, I explored the Franco-Belgian and Italian traditions, much to my edification.

But oddly enough, I had never read any Japanese manga. Here I was, searching the back shelves fruitlessly for English translations of rare European comics when every bookstore has a thickly-stocked manga section. It's partially a sense of stubborn iconoclasm I can't seem to shake, but there are other reasons I have remained wary.

Like anyone my age, I'm familiar with 'anime'--animated cartoons from Japan. In fact, I got into them fairly early, around '94, before we had the word 'anime' to describe them. So it's odd that I never became a committed japanophile like so many of my peers.

Most of the anime I've seen is just repetitive escapism, but there have been a few works, here and there, that impressed me. But then, that's true for any medium: most books are sub par, as are most movies and comics, and we hold out for the rare good one.

But there are some larger complications to get around. Firstly, America has an Animation Age Ghetto to match its Comics Age Ghetto, meaning that when companies bring in animation from Japan (or Europe), they are looking for something to sell to kids, and aren't very picky about the quality of the writing or acting.

But, even when this isn't the case, and we've got entities like Cartoon Network who are deliberately trying to bring in adult animation fare, we aren't getting the most conceptual and experimental stuff from Japan, because translating such a work is no enviable task. The wordplay, allusions, cultural content, and literary traditions are just not in the reference pool for Americans. Hence, the average American can only appreciate a story which is simple enough to translate clearly.

Even with European comics it's less challenging, because we are culturally and linguistically closer to France than we are to Japan. Unless you're willing to go in there and learn the language, culture, and history, the most complex and involved works will remain remote. Eventually, when you get a large academic community committed to the works of the culture, you can start producing expert, informed translations, but it's only recently that we've begun to look seriously at our own comics, much less those of Japan.

But there are still those stories that translate well, even across such boundaries, such as the film work of Akira Kurosawa, which I loved as a child, long before my occasional studies of Japan. But then, Kurosawa is, in many ways, reflecting our own culture back at us: he takes American film and story techniques--most notably Westerns and Shakespeare--and adapts them to his culture.

Even though the content and language are different, the film techniques and literary tropes are recognizable. But then, that should also be true for comics and animation, both of which were explored and refined in America three-quarters of a century ago. In both Disney's Fantasia and McCay's Little Nemo, we have visions of great experimental artistry in both animation and comics.

Unfortunately, the great conservative backlash of the nationalistic fifties put an end to that. The intense controls put onto films and books hurt these fledgling forms, who had few defenders in the arts and academia to keep fighting for authorial rights.

So, our comics and animation were sent out, all over the world, inspiring both Europe and Asia, where Carl Barks is still a household name. Without the same cultural controls and juvenile expectations, they thrived. And they have provided great inspiration for American authors and artist throughout the years, from the Spaghetti Westerns to Valerian and the abortive European 'Dune', which birthed Alien, Blade Runner, and Star Wars, the cultural exchange of ideas continued, though other media.

So it is far past time for me to crack open some of the great Asian works, daunting as their unfettered length might be (no thirty page issue limits, here), and see for myself how the visions of Osamu Tezuka--the innovative father of both manga and anime--have played out. After all, Tezuka based his stories off the works of Disney and Carl Barks, so in many ways, manga and anime are prodigal children, finally returning.

We should thank the Japanese and the Europeans for keeping the artistic vision alive and thriving for those long decades when we, blinded by fear and nationalism, had forgotten them. And now, they deliver them back to us, fully-formed, and I can only hope that some American artists will be able to help us get back on track, moving forward to a bright, innovative future for comics and animation.

Though perhaps I should have started with Tezuka, the appeal of the traveling ronin story was a great draw for me. As epitomized in the Kurosawa/Mifune films (Yojimbo, Sanjuro, and Seven Samurai), and also in the Zatoichi films, such stories, while straightforward in concept, allow for many variations of theme and many explorations of characters and cultural elements.

Lone Wolf & Cub takes the form of a series of vignettes: small, self-contained stories. Each one has its own theme and tone, each shows the complete arc of an idea; but, like a poetic cycle, these stories are greater as a whole than they are alone. We return again and again to concepts, and each time, a new layer is added, a new side of the story is explored.

Gradually, these small stories build up into a much larger arc. They are not related by a continuous plot, but by continuous thematic explorations. I often find such collections of short stories are much more effective in creating intriguing settings and characters than a protracted plot full of exposition. The author is free to move through time and place, exploring character and world elements as they come up, and is not forced to create tenuous, convenient connections to string the plot together. The characters and themes anchor the story more deeply than a simple sequence of events.

The art takes its cue from traditional sumi-e ink and wash painting, with the swift, decisive strokes which were so equated with sword strokes that it was said you could read a man’s fencing style in his art and calligraphy. The marriage of this style with Western sequential art is seamless, and it’s hardly surprising that the stylized forms displayed here have proven so inspirational in the visual arts.

Some of the story comes off as cliché, but it’s always difficult to say with an original work how much of that is because other artists have copied the style in the meantime. We have the amusingly esoteric discussions of styles, attacks, and schools which grew up as Japanese society formalized and striated, turning death-dealing into an academic exercise for the literate. But that’s part of the charm for adherents of samurai and wuxia.

We also have the inevitable ‘passing stroke’ which dramatically ends every battle, which might seem repetitive to a Western eye, until we recognize that every Western fight ends with a haymaker. The scenarios which play out prior to this final blow are widely varied, action-packed, and fully realized in the onrush of dark, ever-moving lines.

Many of the plots are likewise variations on a theme, presenting us briefly with a complicated bit of feudal shogunate politics which necessitate our protagonist’s intervention. Though he is an impossibly strong, invincible warrior, sometimes to the detriment of tension, his methods of solving these problems are often surprisingly insightful and subtle, showing a deep and shrewd intelligence behind his mighty sword arm.

The stories are unapologetically violent, which includes graphic sexual violence. However, the sexual violence is not pornographic: it does not linger upon carefully detailed forms, but is used to tell a realistic, if sometimes unsettling story. Nor does the book get drawn down into taking itself too seriously, as so many of its imitators have. Violence is only one part of the human story, portrayed in equal footing with love, honor, sorrow, hope, and humor. It is the nature of the story that physical conflict often takes the forefront, but never to the exclusion of other human desires.

My Suggested Reading In Comics

[Jesus Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lobo Solitario 4
La historia del Tsujigenshichi de la Campana, esta interesante ver como enfrenta los 3 estilos de pelea de los candidatos, pero como que es un método muy malo para elegir sucesor.
La de los Orisuke pandilleros, esta bueno, buenas peleas, buen final.
El de el niño y el fuego en el pastizal, como dice el espadachin que lo ve, increíble, pero en fin, y por que acabar en pelea.
La historia de Oyuki, la artista tatuada, triste historia, victimizada múltiples veces.
4 star

[C. Varn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continued excellence

While these stories do not advance the primary back story much and only have hints of the Buddhist spirituality in the prior volumes, this is fully realized manga storytelling.

[Recep · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[B. P. Rinehart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second go 'round with this series. I already gave a basic overview of the series and its legacy in my review of the first volume, so I will talk specifically of this volume. I've not read the whole series, but it is apparent that in this stage, Kazuo Koike was focused on world-building more than the main-plot of Lone Wolf & Cub. This book is definitely on the side of the former. That said it is excellent world-building. This takes you in to the world of Japan as the institutional-rot of the Edo Bakufu (Shougun's court) sets-in. The book takes you in and teaches you about the world of Tokugawa/Edo Japan and as well as the world of this series. The star of this book was the amazing artist Goseki Kojima, whose art was so in-tune with the story. I will try to stick to reading volumes that cover the main story, but I will love to read this series again. My only complaint is that the translation by Dana Lewis was not the best, it was too artificially "'merican" and took me out the story sometimes with the more ludicrous moments.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it's funny that in the last book review I was commenting on how little was explained in these books, and in this volume there was a lot more explaining! Good thing, too, because it was integral to my enjoyment and understanding of the stories. I do like this manga series, but I'm not sure I'll ever REALLY like it because of all the permeating darkness. Although it's a relief when Ogami Itto arrives on the scene, I'm never sure that I will be content with the outcome. I suppose that's pretty gritty and real, but it also just leads me to reflections on the darkness of the world, over and over. That tends to mute my enjoyment of most things.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome! I really enjoyed the last tale of the woman who grew up in a town full of street vendors. She becomes well trained with the sword and starts using it to make money. Goes up the ranks but is ultimately tricked. She shares the same spirit of vengeance as Lone Wolf and Cub, but she falls prey to sakki, or the palpable desire to kill... aka blood lust. Our master assassin shows her what for!

[Rick Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Bell Warden" is Vol. 4 of the epic Lone Wolf & Cub and contains four stories:

"The Bell Warden" is the tale of Ogami Ittō being hired by a samurai who holds the prestigious and profitable post as the Bell Warden for a town. The job is to test his potential successors for the role. The Lone Wolf awaits as three formidable samurai with wildly different fighting styles come to challenge him to a duel at a lonely windmill one at a time. The story moves at a brisk pace and the Kojima's artwork renders the fights in brutal fashion.

"Unfaithful Retainers" explores the decaying samurai class during the Edo period. Wealthy households retain the services of less honorable warriors not bound by the practices of bushido. The narrative is a bit choppy in this one, largely to the non-linear structure, but does a good job exploring the politics of the period while delivering an emotional tale of revenge.

"Parting Frost" depicts the impact the Assassin's Road has on young Daigorō. It's the strongest story of the bunch, largely due to the necessary character work it cultivates.

"Performer" tells the story of a female swordsman who is tattooed with demonic figures to intimidate her opponents. As she embarks herself down the Assassin's Road on a personal quest for vengeance, she finds herself in opposition to Ogami Ittō. The moral conundrum Ogami finds himself in is compelling character drama. It's a little melodramatic, but overall presents a solid end to the volume.

All the stories are fantastic and continue the impressive run by Koike and Kojima.

[Rolando Marono · Rating 5 out of 5]

Si bien el primer capítulo es muy bueno, el segundo baja un poco de calidad para darnos más de lo mismo. Pero antes de que termine el tomo, los maestros Koike y Gojima revientan nuevamente la forma de contar una historia y nos deleitan completamente.
Si bien el primer capítulo es muy interesante y el segundo un poco repetitivo o parecido a lo que ya vimos; al llegar al tercer capítulo todo cambia. Finalmente se cumple lo que había estado pensando, que nos iban a regalar una historia protagonizada por Daigoro. Y que historia. Construcción del personaje en su estado más puro, además de una historia emotiva y enternecedora. El maestro Gojima ilustra a un Daigoro tan tierno que esta historia duele y alegra al mismo tiempo. No pude más que recordar la frasesota del primer volumen, el padre conoce el corazón de su hijo y el hijo conoce el corazón del padre.
Y por si fuera poco, la última historia del tomo nos da otra fase de Ogami. Lo vemos sentir empatía por otro asesino, y nuevas preguntas lo atormentan sobre su propia misión. En serio que esta serie no deja de ser un deleite visual para los sentidos. Cuatro tomos perfectos con una narración a un nivel muy superior de cualquier manga actual.
Si lees un manga en tu vida, que sea Lone Wolf and Cub.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bunch more stories - I actually read this as part of volume 2 of the omnibus - but a group talked about the stories. So I'm going to go through those and not try to guess what was really in this book.

Parting Frost - Lone Wolf doesn't come back and Cub has to go look. This was great. And showed how awesome Cub is. And then there was a stupid combat, but at least it was short.

Performer - This was told in a confusing manner. It actually made a lot more sense with an immediate re-read. With some story-relevant nudity. Cub shows off his affinity for dogs. A tragic but expected and reasonable ending.

Trail Markers - kind of a place holder. A little bit more origin story which was nice. And then another pointless combat.

Executioner's Hill - lot's of talking and then some pointless combat. The talking did seem to add more flavor of the world though

Black Wind - Lone Wolf and Cub plant rice. And avoid killing. Just an awesome bit.

Decapitator Asaemon - apparently some sort of crossover with some other book - felt kind of throwaway

This all felt like the weaker half of the omnibus. Still good especially the art. 3.5 of 5.

[Tiago Germano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neste volume, Itto Ogami é contratado pelo guardião de um sino a fim de testar seus três filhos, candidatos à sucessão do cargo. O conflito entre cada um deles e o Samurai é também um duelo de técnicas: Ogami, mestre no estilo suiō-ryū, com sua espada e os três com armas como a Inji-uchi Tsubute (um projétil de ferro forjado), a Manrikisa (uma corrente com um peso na extremidade) e o Sajinrai (um compartimento com pó de estricnina). Novamente, uma das melhores histórias envolve Daigoro, que mostra o Shishougan sua valentia em meio a um incêndio. As formas femininas, que como veremos adiante são bastante exploradas por Goseki Kojima, se insinuam na história que fecha o volume, sobre uma guerreira que tatua seu corpo a fim de aplicar um truque de mistificação em seus oponentes.

[Petergiaquinta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still without the baby cart, Daigoru and Ogami Itto must seek alternative means of transportation, and thus Volume 4 find them both on foot and in a boat, and at one point Daigoru even gets an enjoyable ride in a palanquin, as he delivers a message from his father to the bell warden of Edo.

Despite its title, much of the content from the fourth Lone Wolf and Cub movie Baby Cart in Perilcan be found in this fourth volume, including Daigoru surviving the burning rice field ("Parting Frost") and the episode with the beautiful tattooed assassin O-yuki from the Gomune community ("Performer").

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, I really liked all the stories here. I'm just starting to have concerns that we're going to keep seeing new versions of the same concept: The Lone Wolf is supposed to kill someone and either we feel bad about it or we feel threatened by the tough new villain. Then the Lone Wolf kills that person. Or the Cub survives another challenge despite looking like a little kid.

What I would like to see is the resolution of the scattered hints that the Cub was the true emperor of Japan.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

More one-off stories following the journeys of a Tokugawa era assassin and his son. The most interesting moments in this volume showed the effect of the assassin's life on Daigoro. The most memorable story is Performer which is a striking tattoo-filled tale of vengeance as well as a reflection on parenthood.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Look at this masculine man who is manly and stoic. He has a son who is just a toddler but who somehow can survive a wildfire by cleverly covering himself in mud and grass. Blood is spilled while there is a clear good and bad guy. Woman fights with her titties out and has them tattooed as a trauma response to being raped by a guy who she then seeks to kill. Weird and not that good.

[Jason Holtzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another good volume with exceptional art and a lot of historic information and understanding. Unlike some of the previous volumes, there are multiple longer entries here and a number of interesting stories. The final two were very compelling, and Performer, despite having an abundance of focus on multiple NSFW aspects that usually turns me away, was a well-crafted read.

[Esma T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ben bu mangalara bayıldım ama çok hızlı bitiyorlar. :D
Seri aynı tempoda ilerliyor, her olayda Japon kültürü ile ilgili yeni bilgi ediniyoruz ama yazarlar bunu öylesine güzel yapıyor ki hiç sıkılmıyorsunuz. Bu tarz kitaplar, mangalar daha çok olsa keşke.

[Michael Sclafani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not increasingly different than the ones before it, but the historical detail was a little more interesting, making the stories more appealing. The bell warden, and the economic issues surrounding the samurai’s staff were both fascinating.