A Taste of Revenge: Crying Freeman by Kazuo Koike, Ryoichi Ikegami (Illustrator)

A Taste of Revenge: Crying Freemanby Anonymous

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September 09, 2000: Manga is now one of the most popular imports from Japan, and Ryoichi Ikegami's drawing style has become one of the most recognizable and popular of the so-called first-wave that Viz translated in the mid-nineties. The sex and violence are perhaps already a cliche, at least for the neophytes, who flock to the artform for cheap thrills, titillation, and barely disguised misogyny, all of which are provided in spades here. The protagonist, an unwilling but consummate assassin who weeps after each killing, is a laughable pastiche of Bond, Garvin(as in Willie), and Flint; an amalgam of invulnerabilities and skill that serves to defuse any and all dramatic suspense that the series may actually possess, which wasn't much to begin with, until now, the absolute debacle. 'A Taste of Revenge' manages to sink even deeper into the mediocre quagmire of predictability that seems to be Kazuo Koike's trademark writing-style, which though buttressed charmingly by Ikegami's deft pencil-work cannot mask a distinctive lack of understanding for genuine human feeling. Not a total waste, if the denigration of women, gratuitous sexual intercourse, and ineffective villainy are your favorite ingredients for action-adventure. There are better manga out there; and yes, some even with terrific sex scenes which propel the plot, and do not disregard character motivation.