Lone Wolf and Cub, Vol. 21: Fragrance of Death [Paperback]

Kazuo Koike (Author), Goseki Kojima (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 10, 2002

Lone Wolf and Cub enlist the aid of a tailor to I prepare robes of white silk for what could be their last stand. There's something in the air, and it smells like death.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (June 10, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569715939
• ISBN-13: 978-1569715932
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #656,639 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Abe-no-Kaii continues to try and poison Lone Wolf & Cub, December 30, 2002

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lone Wolf and Cub, Vol. 21: Fragrance of Death (Paperback)

My decision this fall to start reading the manga epic Lone Wolf & Cub, one episode a night before going to bed, appears to be a masterstroke of timing since the 28th and final volume of the series was due out this week. Volume 21, "Fragrance of Death" continues the novel-within-the-novel that began with the previous volume, "A Taste of Poison." The Shogun, tired of the pathetic attempts of Retsudo Yagyu and his retainers to kill Ogami Itto allows the head of the Yagyu clan to use the services of Abe-no-Kaii, the head of the Kuchiyaku, the "official mouths" of the Shougn who taste his food for poisons. Abe-no-Kaii is a master of poisons, but by this point in the story he has failed several times to kill his prime target, Daigoro, or the boy's father. But the attempts continue in his own quest to control the power of the Shogunate in the five stories collected in this volume:

(103) "Poison Currents" is the story that will convince you once and for all that Ogami Itto really is a demon; or, at least, is beyond being a mere human. Abe-no-Kaii actually poisons himself to help set the trap that finally succeeds in rending Ogami Itto helpless. Or does it?

(104) "Flood of Fire" finds the desperate master poisoner making an attempt on the life of Retsudo Yagyu and risking everything he had done on this desperate ploy.

(105) "Fire, Water and Poison" tells of Abe-no-Kaii fleeing the wrath of the Yagyu clan, but still trying to come up with a plan to save his life by being the one to kill Ogami Itto.

(106) "Fragrance of Death" finally answers the question as to what Ogami Itto did with all the gold he has been receiving for the many assassinations he has accomplished along the Assassin's Road. But at the same time, father and son require the cutting of some habutae, the unbleached white silk funeral clothes of Japanese tradition. Along with the recovery of his gold, this can only portend that we are coming to another significant moment in this epic quest for vengeance and restored honor.

(107) "Kaii's Lullaby" tells of Abe-no-Kaii's final gambit to poision Lone Wolf and Cub, as well as the story of how he came to be the master taster for the Shogun. It is not surprising that Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima are able to invest even a wretched monster like Abe-no-Kaii with some small aspect of sympathy. Of course, this all just ups the ante for the payoff in what may well prove to be the last major skirmish before the final battle is joined.

The ebb and flow of this story has been most impressive, especially since it is not until these recent volumes that Koike and Kojima have ketp such a tight narrative focus for so long. But clearly things have changed significantly now that Ogami Itto and Daigoro have entered Edo. The only problem is, I do not think I want this story to end.