Reviews for Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 4: Bell Warden

The average rating for Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 4: Bell Warden based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-03-19 00:00:00 Kwan Chan 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.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-09-23 00:00:00 Richard Branch 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.