THE FOLLOWING REVIEW IS ONE OF AN ADULT
NATURE. PARENTAL DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
PREFACE
Yo
Hinomura had just completed his first successful pottery exhibition
in New York City when he finds a roll of film inside one of his clay
vessels, that when developed, depict a murder. A powerful Chinese
mafia group calling itself The 108 Dragons is responsible for the
killing, and fearing the artist will expose the photos to police,
the leader kidnaps him. Once subdued, needles are forced into
Hinomura’s skull as posthypnotic commands are planted in his
subconscious that impel him to work as an assassin for the syndicate
against his will. His codename becomes Crying Freeman because he
wishes to be free of his fate and because he inevitably sheds tears
after his every kill.
Emu Hino is a painter who inadvertently witnesses Crying Freeman
assassinate someone. The two become enchanted with each other and
Crying Freeman violates The 108 Dragons’ discretionary imperative
to take her as a lover. Realizing the value of the woman to him and
concerned with keeping their top assassin happy, the syndicate
allows her into their organization. The two entwine their lives, and
together, face the cold and brutal realities of his profession.
MANGA VISION TEST
ARTWORK:
The artist strives to be realistic. Some characters look their
ethnicity and the settings are very detailed. The book is full of
nudity, and most of the pose shots are of nudes. There are two full
pages devoted to Crying Freeman posing in his underwear, showing off
the enormous dragon tattoos that cover his chest and back, down to
his legs. Another shows Crying Freeman shirtless, flexing his chest
muscles for Hino. Other assorted poses are of him in martial arts
stances or else attacking with a knife or a gun.
SOUND EFFECTS: The sound effects are only in English, and loud
things like gunshots and stampedes have text that go across
different panels. They do not interfere with the art, but enhance
it.
EDITS: Full frontal male nudity is blacked out and full frontal
female nudity is downplayed somewhat by not being as detailed as it
can be. Oral sex scenes are depicted in a similar manner in that a
man’s organ is not drawn, but outlined when a hand is depicted
grasping the area where it is supposed to be.
EXTRAS: The chapters are begun with artwork that take up a full page
and foreshadows what will happen there.
BOOK REPORT
STORY:
This is a highly erotic love story and engrossing crime thriller.
Koike’s main characters and passions for one another are
completely convincing. He is excellent at making them do evil
without obliterating their humanity, so a reader can remain
sympathetic to them throughout.
TRANSLATION: There are no inappropriate accents or jargon for the
sake of an American audience included anywhere, so my guess is that
this translation is very literal.
CHARACTERS: Yo Hinomura/Crying Freeman – He is a young man without
his own will since he was brainwashed by The 108 Dragons. He accepts
his fate quietly, and does an excellent job of killing for them time
and time again. The only time he finds happiness as an assassin is
after he meets and falls in love with Emu Hino.
Emu Hino – She is a twenty nine year old woman who never knew a
man’s love until she lost her virginity to Crying Freeman. Not
blind to who he is and what he does, she loves him deeply despite
the fact that he is a murderer. She embraces her new life with him
without a modicum of regret.
FAN SERVICE: Forget the panty shots, this manga goes beyond the
concept to show you what is under them time and time again. Also,
gun and knife aficionados will note that actual name brand weaponry
was pictured in this book. Crying Freeman utilized a Smith and
Wesson gun and a Shaw knife during some of his assassination
attempts. A mobster rival had a Pietro Beretta gun as his
weapon.
FOOTNOTES:
The
concept of free will being subjugated brings up questions of
culpability in the main character. Hinomura’s autonomy is subdued
to the point that all that is left of his former self is his
artistic ability and a scrap of conscience that often manifests
itself in the form of tears following a murder. The strongest
instance of his conscience flaring up occurred just after he first
made love to Hino and found he was unable to kill her like he was
supposed to. Though a de facto slave of The 108 Dragons, his refusal
to do this was the first time he was ever able to go against their
authority. It took all of his power to do so, and one is left to
wonder why Crying Freeman was able to muster the willpower for that
but not to free himself from the syndicate.
When first abducted and forced to undergo a lengthy training
process in the art of assassination, going home was all Hinomura
could think about. After four years have passed and he is still with
his clan, he no longer privately complains about his fate, so it can
be interpreted that perhaps a part of him has become so accustomed
to his life that he no longer wishes to leave. Even so, if a
parallel is made between what was done to him and other forms of
severe brain damage, one is left to ponder how much he can be held
responsible for his own actions.
Emu Hino, on the other hand, has free will. She has no excuses to
fall back on when she elects to join up with Crying Freeman and his
criminal organization, knowing who they are and what they do. Having
learned of his secret identity early, she neglects to notify it to
the police because she has already fallen in love with him on sight.
Though herself not a murderer, she does not deter Crying Freeman
from doing the jobs he needs to do. Her love for her man is so
strong that it eclipses any moral considerations for his behavior,
and she seals herself away from the rest of the world with him to
create a private life for herself and her new family.
The new family she chooses to be with is the Chinese mafia. They
refer to themselves as such, and share many interesting family
dynamics in this manga. Members are privy to each other’s darkest
secrets and do not betray one another, as family often would not,
though for obviously different reasons. Though Crying Freeman is
very much under their control, after being pleased with his work and
potential, he is not overtly treated as a slave anymore. The
leaders, Rushichiryu and his wife Fuh Fung Ling, become sympathetic
to Crying Freeman’s desire for a mate and allow him be with Hino.
They even act as parents to Crying Freeman in the sense that they
gave him his identity, and teach him everything he needs to know to
survive in his new life. Their goal is to groom him to take over the
organization after they are gone.
This adult oriented manga is a good choice for people who are
looking for something that is Shakespearean in depth and scope. The
love shared by Hinomura and Hino is its strongest and most memorable
aspect, along with the artwork. Though full of naked images, they do
not seem gratuitous, but serve to make the story that much more
powerful and worthy of reading.
OTHER OFFICIAL STORY ADAPTATIONS
There is an anime out based on Crying Freeman that sticks pretty
closely to the manga storyline. A live action film with the same
name has also been released and that version has taken many
liberties from the text.
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