Lone Wolf and Cub TV series addicting
R. Lew | Antelope, CA | 03/01/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I am a martial arts movie fanatic and found myself intrigued and unable to stop watching the series. The beginning episodes were similar to the movies, but then the stories started coming into their own. I like the stories and it is not as blood thirsty as the movie series, but still enjoyable. A must for martial arts movie aficionados."
A Story of Vengeance ... but also of Father and Son
Anthony Scheinman | Forest Hills, NY USA | 03/31/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Even though my first experience of the LONE WOLF AND CUB story was by seeing the American-dubbed SHOGUN ASSASSIN, the story fascinated me. Later on, I learned of the broadcast-TV series (called on that particular NIPPON TV station THE FUGITIVE SAMURAI) and then the actual manga ... and I was forever hooked!
I particularly love this particular two-DVD set (containing the three-part conclusion to the first season) because it contains one of the best episodes of the entire series, DAIGORO'S SONG. This episode, the second part of the first season finale, focuses entirely on little Daigoro after he has been separated from his father after a fight with their arch-enemy Yagyu Retsudo and his men and his search to find his father again. I'm glad that Daigoro becomes the main character for a while; while he never says very much throughout his tenure as Daigoro, Katzutaka Nishikawa (who played Daigoro for the first two seasons) has such an expressive face and captures the character so well (far better than Takumi Satô, who took over the part in the third and final season) he easily rivals Akihiro Tomikawa (who played Daigoro in the Wayakama Tomisaburo LONE WOLF films). DAIGORO'S SONG also has the particularly beautiful and haunting song sung by a children's chorus (which I don't believe could be equalled if ever translated into English lyrics)."