Comments on: Finished Lone Wolf and Cub

By: roach

roach — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 00:42:34 +0000

SPOILER AHEAD>>>>>>>>>>>
ending of lw&c

i don’t know how to even start talking about this since it is fresh in my mind. What if..big what if.. Itto and retsudo were actually related, somehow through ittos wife….. Somehow this was all part of retsudos plan. Plan for what? i don’t know. you know how he planted the grass, maybe that was part of the plan in the first place, use daigoro, his heir, when all else fails to infiltrate the post of kaishakunin… who knows… any thoughts on that…

By: mikexstudios

mikexstudios — Fri, 27 May 2005 20:47:15 +0000

Interesting point Doogs, but if you look at how Retsudo acts at the end, it seems like he leaves Daigoro alive. Of course, there is a possibility that Retsudo kills him, Retsudo would kill Daigoro not out of hate, but of sympathy or duty.

By: Doogs

Doogs — Fri, 27 May 2005 13:19:16 +0000

I think both Retsudo and Daigoro died. Why? In him mind, Daigoro was a samurai and he treated him thusly at the end. Their conflict had destroyed their clans and their families, and the only thing left was to destroy each other.

Someone mentioned a soft side to Retsudo, and I can see where that came in. But I think it came in by allowing Daigoro to kill him, to complete his quest as a samurai, but at the same time Retsudo completed his task.

To do otherwise would have tarnished their names and their families, but also the sacrifices made by their clans and families (not only during this struggle, but since the beginning of their clans/families).

By: mikexstudios

mikexstudios — Sat, 09 Apr 2005 21:24:23 +0000

Oh wow, I didn’t know LW&C wasn’t translated yet into French. I actually think you’re the lucky one since you get to read each volume slowly and that you still have many left to read! I’m thinking about going back to re-read many volumes sometime. LW&C is amazing.

Thanks for the comment and enjoy the rest of Lone Wolf and Cub!

By: romualdina

romualdina — Sat, 09 Apr 2005 18:47:07 +0000

How lucky you are ! I am French and I want to read Lone Wolf & Cub in French only and only 7 volumes have been published so far. Each month a new one is out, - I can’t wait. The eighth volume is out next week.
Maybe it’s me who’s lucky for I still have many to read.

By: mikexstudios

mikexstudios — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 21:26:04 +0000

** EVEN MORE SPOILERS **
I don’t think Retsudo adopted Daigoro at all. I think he died at the end. Even if he didn’t, Daigoro would never live with Retsudo. He’s too trained to submit to Retsudo.

For the last line, I think because Retsudo is a person too, he has that soft side that sees Daigoro as a brave and likeable kid. I suppose you are right in that Retsudo treats Daigoro as a grandson. That was why he let Daigoro win–perhaps so he can avenge his father’s death and finally end all of the bloodshed.

I don’t think you can measure winning or losing in Bushido by life and death. You have to measure it through honor. Ogami won the duel.. (more on this later)

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 28 Mar 2005 04:48:05 +0000

**MORE SPOILERS**
I personally think that Retsudo adopted Daigoro. Retsudo’s goal all along is to rebuild the Yagyu from the destruction that Itto left behind. Since he’s the last one alive, that’s pretty much impossible, but he could acheive some small degree of success by raising Daigoro as his own child. Given the last line of the book, that sort of makes sense.

In that way, Itto also would have won if you think that he was trying to reinstate his family so that Daigoro could be his heir. But it also seems that Itto was just out for revenge. He’s a hard character to read. Also, I’m not sure how the adoption idea would fit in with bushido.

I think that Itto ultimately lost, because then the series as a whole makes more sense. The pattern throughout is that no matter how strong the force of honor and courage (or the bushi in general) the forces of careerism, selfishness, and deceit will always win by sheer numbers. Itto is the last vestige of the old way of commitment to a cause.

By: mikexstudios

mikexstudios — Sun, 27 Mar 2005 04:45:42 +0000

** SPOILER ALERT **
Don’t read this unless you’ve read LW&C:

I’m pretty sure Retsudo dies and Daigoro remains alive. Retsudo is a Bushi so he let Daigoro kill him since Retsudo’s mission was pretty much accomplished (or failed depending on how you look at it).

My internal debate is: Did Ogami win the duel at the end? You could say that he did, but then he didn’t. Therefore, was Ogami’s goal accomplished in the end?

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 27 Mar 2005 03:03:09 +0000

Yeah! I want to know if Daigoro gets killed, and what happens to Retsudo.

By: mikexstudios

mikexstudios — Sat, 26 Mar 2005 23:21:33 +0000

Exactly! I’m still analyzing the ending. There are so many ways of interpreting it.

By: Dave

Dave — Sat, 26 Mar 2005 05:23:38 +0000

I finished it on Wednesday.

Yeah. I wanted to post something on my blog about it, but I couldn’t think of anything worthy to say. It’s just that good.

Koike and Kojima are to Mangaka as Ogami Itto is to Samurai. That series is truly one-of-a-kind.