Crying Freeman/Koike manga that isn't the critic approved Lone Wolf & Cub

Does anyone else around this place right now unironically enjoy this? I'm reading the manga and liking it even after the point where it gets really silly and many say it "goes bad". I think it was silly in a fun willfully campy way to begin with (I mean, did people really take Freeman crying through his mask seriously?) It's not as charmingly badass as Mad Bull 34 but I'm out of scanlations for that and this is the next best thing.

Also, just started watching the western-adapted movie and I get why people like it cuz it's so accurate. They even adapted the awesomely goofy "Koike explanation" scene where the protag rambles about pottery at the airport.

Best girl.

Yeah she's great

Also it's kinda hilarious how they went out of their way to portray a morbidly obese woman and a 99 year old woman in a "fanservicey" way in this manga

They say Koike planned to portrait 108 dragons as bad guys at first but after the series gained popularity, one of real chinese mafia contacted him and told they were also a fan of the series. So he changed the plan and depicted dragons as good guy.

I haven't read Crying Freeman in years, but I think about this page every once in a while.

I saw the OVA and thought it was utter garbage. Generally a poor man’s Golgo 13.

I think both Golgo and Freeman are good from what I've seen/read. Well, the manga for Freeman. The OVA series left out some good scenes and most of the art and animation is cheap, but I'd say the 'money shot' moments can be pretty cool. There's just a lot of Koike & Ikegami charm to separate it from something like Golgo and make it its own beast despite both being about an inhumanely skilled assassin who constantly gets laid.

Maybe the over the top nature will click better if you experience the same story with the manga art? I dunno.
Would love to know if this is actually true or a rumor.

Her seiyuu then.

Well actually I wouldn't say cheapness is that big of a problem as much as the colors. I think they're way too drab and muddy in a way that feels boring.

from Japanese wikipedia
"物語が中盤の頃、小池は百八竜にホテルの一室に呼び出された。「なかなかおもしろい」と評され、高級時計をプレゼントされるなど、その対談は友好的雰囲気のうちに終わったが、さすがにそれでは今後、百八竜を悪の組織として描くわけにはいかず、中盤以降の予定がすっかり狂ってしまったと小池は述懐している"
The source above is Koike's life story book. He named 108 dragons as imaginary mafia but there was real one named 108 dragons in Hong Kong. And one day the member invited him for a dinner and presented him a watch.

Will it ever be fully translated?
And yeah, occasionally I read some ludicrous old stuff, finished Riki-Oh couple months ago and oh boy, what a ridiculous read was that, literally 12 volumes filled with idiotism and jewish propaganda. I believe it's also drawn by the same artist as Crying Freeman by the way.

Actually, skimming through it episode 2 looks way better.

It was great while it was about the cute brave characters and become pants on head so random once it got about their criminal organization. 2d perfect logic hardly works if the story is about large groups of characters. Damn cheesy nonsense.

Lone wolf was 9/10 an would be 10/10 but they overdid certain kid scenes.

That's a great story and gives new context to the protag's change of heart. But I wouldn't say it was all THAT nonsensical as-is, especially given the manga's silliness; initially he didn't like killing people, but eventually he became numb to it and the prospect of being a super-powerful assassin that gets laid all day and is treated like a god overrode it. The whole 'falling in love and losing his virginity' part was just the final push.
It absolutely isn't, that's just a style that was popular around the time.

I know nothing about Riki-oh and its author as I only read like one volume a decade ago during my 'manime' phase, but think the thing people miss about Koike's really goofy works is that it's intentionally goofy and if you're laughing at the silliness you're laughing with it, not at it. Hell Lone Wolf & Cub can get goofy at times too but people because Frank Miller praised it in an extremely pretentious way so now everyone has to see it as high art with a deep message and not a cool samurai manga.

It's all about nude fighting. A handsome Asian guy doing kung-fu going commando is awesome.

>2d perfect logic hardly works if the story is about large groups of characters.
What?

I really don't get the "volume/episode 1 story is great, then it gets too random and silly" logic as I don't think it worked as a dead serious "so deep and mature" manga the way Dark Horse presented it at ANY point. It always had a humorous air to it and that's why it's legitimately enjoyable (pic related). It's like a mix of over the top silliness, coolness and beauty that's hard to find in anything that's not a Koike x Ikegami collaboration.

I like Mad Bull more but it's a pretty different beast just because of the characters and the vastly different tone created by the Ikegami art in Freeman.

It's that standard definition tape source. Makes anything look junky and shit.

Mad Bull is just goofy and badass but then Ikegami's art, the straight-faced protagonist and the way the story is presented Crying Freeman has an extra dimension where it's all utterly ridiculous but also has an epic grandiose beauty to it.

I wish I Ueo Boy got translated already as it seems pretty similar.

I stopped reading Riki-Oh three volumes from the end. Can't remember why. I've never seen the movie.
It made me want to have a tattoo of a swastica on the back of my hand but that will probably never happen for a multitude of reasons.

I know very little about old media recordings so I dunno if there's anything specific about the film on the first OVA but I've seen other old rips in VHS or Laser Disc and they didn't have the same problem, and as I said looking at eps 2 and 3 they look way better. I suspect the art direction just improved... but maybe it's a technical thing I'm missing due to being a pleb about this stuff? I mean ep 3 also looks cleaner.

It's those Manga Entertainment DVD's boy. They no good.

I watched Mad Bull recently and it looked better but... I dunno, maybe it was a rip from the Discotek version and made the image quality better? I just got the torrent off Bakabt.

That's exactly it, I don't think Mad Bull 34 was on DVD at all until Discotek.

Sanctuary, greatoo mangoo

The western movie is a gem. A real work of art, but it's sad to know that the actors mocked the director's intents till the end, when they saw the finished product and realized that the man had been trying to achieve something beautiful and unforgettable despite their scorn and contempt for his passionate approach of a 'japanese comic'.

Actors have milk for brains, few of them ever understand the director's intentions.

So they did like it in the end? That's pretty cool.

Honestly I get it, aside from the westernization the movie is REALLY close to a manga that's very silly and I can see people who take their jobs very seriously not being into such a Koike-like movie. Hell even most western anime/manga fans hate Koike outside of Lone Wolf.

People see Lone Wolf as a "fluke" but all I get from stuff like Crying Freeman and Mad Bull 34 is "yep, this is exactly the kind of shit a legendary author would make when just wanting to screw around and have fun". They're ridiculous but very creative and fun and well thought out in their vulgarity.

I also read the more serious Color of Rage and liked that too. I think professional critics just exaggerate its flaws (like "bwah why is this extremely positive and respectfully portrayed black protagonist from a 1973 Japanese comic not 100% woke by modern America standards???") cuz it's Koike.

Also where can I read about the actors' reaction? The wiki article for the film is minuscule.

>I stopped reading Riki-Oh three volumes from the end
You didn't miss much.
>will probably never happen
It's a symbol of prosperity and good fortune you goddamn pussy, just spread this knowledge and clear all misunderstandings don't forget to throw roman salutes meanwhile

I've never had a tattoo and getting one on my hand sounds painfull.

>he doesn't karate chop this guy's eye out
I guess I can't ask for TOO much after they included the pottery monologue

>using the dead guy as a shield
God damn this detail is more accurate than the OVA

Yeah 3 volumes in and this is still a great time once it becomes 'wacky assassin adventures'

...

Busterbeam's youtube channel is actually pretty good.

Riki-Oh is great, the same artist is doing TOUGH.