"the gateless barrier" by Jasper Bodenstaff (Nederland) on Apr 2, 2009

Het tweede deel van de serie is in mijn opinie de beste van de hele serie. Itto krijgt een onmogelijke opdracht: Het vermoorden van een levende Boeddha. als blijkt dat zelfs hij dit niet kan volgt een verhaal over de diepere betekenis van het "samurai" zijn.

In de serie van Lone wolf is dit voor mij het deel wat de serie belichaamd. Een zekere aanrader voor iedereen die de serie wenst te proberen!

"Lone Wolf and Cub: The Gateless Barrier" by DarkoDonnie (Nederland) on Sep 3, 2004

This is the second installment in the Lone Wolf and Cub series. In this manga the adventures of Ogami Itto and Daigoro (Lone Wolf and Cub) continue and we get to know some more about our tragic and mysterious heroes.

The Gateless Barrier is a collection of five short stories. Like all the volumes in this series, the stories in the manga stand alone. That meanse they could be read separetely. In this second volume we see Daigoro growing in size and mentality, he becomes a bit wiser and cunning like his dad Ogami. The Gateless Barrier also shows the path Ogami has chosen and the way he handles extreme situations. Some assassination jobs are extremely difficult and Ogami must be cunning and smart to do the job properly.

I think The Gateless Barrier story stands out from the other ones in this volume. Lone Wolf is charged with assassinating a religious leader, but to do the job he has to reach a higher level of meditating. As a reward Ogami sees his future more clearly and betters his skills with a sword.

Anyway I think the story gets better and better. Ogami and Daigoro keep growing on me, because they are such great characters and the bond between them is amazing. The art also gets better with each volume. And like I said in another review, the Lone Wolf and Cub series are amazing because of their historical accurancy and links to the past. This is a highly recommended series and the best manga I have read.