He is Yo Himomura, deadly assassin for the 108 Dragons, the Chinese Mafia. But to the criminal underworld who fear him, he is known as Crying Freeman, the killer who sheds tears at the fate of his victims. Young, handsome, sensitive, an artist, Yo has been hypnotically programmed by his Dragon masters to kill on command: he cannot resist his masters'commands to kill, his masters cannot stop his tears of remorse.
It was quite a surprise to discover that Kazuo Koike wrote Crying Freeman. Before reading my experience with the title barely stretched beyond its ubiquity in the manga sphere and the fairly dire anime version from days of yore. After reading I feel that touch more confident in exclaiming The Manga is [generally] Better, as is the case eight times out of ten. Obviously not confident enough to remove the parenthesis and the additional disclaimer, there's too many exceptions to the rule, but in this case it's a dead cert. This is seminal work.
Kazuo Koike, for those who don't know, is best known for writing Lone Wolf and Cub; one of the most critically lauded and beloved mangas ever. For me, this adoration is based on cold hard fact. The twenty-eight volume epic offered countless examples of Koike's writing chops and mixed an acute degree of intelligence and knowledge with a mastery of dramatic tension. Conversely, my experiences with Ryoichi Ikegami, Crying Freeman's artist, are non-existent. Regardless, this first volume speaks more than enough of Ikegami's abilities as an artist. His depiction of anatomy is outstanding, and the manga makes brilliant use of this anatomical dynamism with breathtaking effect. There's little criticism to be had when considering the prowess of both men's technical abilities and this is what makes Crying Freeman a work of seminal quality.
Story-wise, Crying Freeman deviates greatly from the staunchly historical tone of Lone Wolf and offers something more character driven and modern (in an 1980s sense, at least). There's still mythology surrounding its characters, but the story of one man forced into dark practices and his consequential guilt is its main thrust. Generally speaking the characters in Crying Freeman don't deviate massively from the standard archetypes of fiction. The virtuous maid; the insidious, cavalier bad guy; the tragic hero. Much is accounted for and it goes a way in undermining the unpredictability of the story. This is less of an issue when you're dealing with a fantastic writer such as Koike, however, and the entire book remains utterly compelling from cover to cover. The plotting is mature and complex and its artwork reflects this effortlessly. Sometimes it can feel slightly campy, with its design and style betraying the time period it was written in, but this compliments the pulpy feel of the manga rather than undermining it.
The issue of graphic content is important when considering this title. The shrink-wrapping and parental advisory sticker speaks honestly of the manga's content rather than being a bloated attempt to look cool. There are a lot of pornographic scenes and the violence is brutal and detailed, but both cases rarely feel pointlessly gratuitous. They compliment the mature themes and strengthen the distinctly adult nature of the book. This is not written for kids and the 18+ rating is particularly justified in acting as a guideline.
Dark Horse have done their usual bang-up job of presentation and translation. Print quality is excellent, the original cover art is used, it reads from right to left. Everything manga aficionados want from their books is accounted for and done well.
Conclusion
As a first volume Crying Freeman doesn't fall prey to many introductory conventions. We get a strong love story that compliments the main plot thread rather than straining to add humanity to its explicit violence. Even the violence is seeped with guilt and remorse, removing much of the numbing mindlessness of it. Characterisation perhaps doesn't push the boat out much, but as an entire package it reeks of quality and sophistication. I'd eagerly recommend this to anyone who enjoys 'adult' manga and especially to those who adored Lone Wolf and Cub. If this kind of pacing and character development is maintained, there's no question that Crying Freeman will justify its elevated position of love and respect.
