Writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima first introduced the manga for Lone Wolf and Cub in 1970. It sold eight million copies in Japan and was renowned for its story of adventure and brutality during the Edo period. The tale led to six films starring the legendary Tomisaburo Wakayama as disgraced ronin Ogami Ittō, a television series on NTV starring Yorozuya Kinnosuke, and four plays.
Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance is the first of the six films based on the manga. Infused with themes of revenge, honour, and fatherhood, this is a violent adventure story complete with mandatory blood-spurting action and loads of excellent swordplay. Its title in Japanese is Kozure Ōkami: Kowokashi udekashi tsukamatsuru, which translates directly to the more telling title of Wolf with Child in Tow: Child and Expertise for Rent.
Wakayama’s Ittō is an executioner or Kogi Kaishakunin serving under the reign of the shogun. He is responsible for taking the lives of anyone that the shogun wishes, including children, and assisting samurai in committing seppuku (ritual suicide). He also enforces the will of the shogun over the daimyo (territorial lords) and dishes out punishment. As the Kogi Kaishakunin, Ittō is in a position of great power. Yagyū Retsudō (Tokio Oki), the head of the Yagyu clan, conspires to take the position from Ittō.
The Yagyu clan attempts to set up Ittō by killing his wife, Azami (Reiko Kasahara), and framing him for treason. Ittō vows revenge and goes after Retsudō and the Yagyu clan, swearing to live as a demon with his son, Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa), for the rest of his days. He becomes a wandering assassin and ultimately takes a job to take out a gang of henchmen terrorizing a small hot springs village.
Much like Lady Snowblood, Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance features a character possessed by the spirit of retribution. As Ittō travels the countryside with Daigoro in a wooden baby carriage, he is fundamentally soulless. His lone function is to kill. While there are signs of life in his eyes, Ittō predominantly exists as a vessel for vengeance.
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