| Crying Freeman | |||
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| クライング フリーマン | |||
| Demographic | Seinen | ||
| Genre | Adventure, Drama | ||
| Manga | |||
| Author | Kazuo Koike (story) Ryoichi Ikegami (art) |
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| Publisher |  Shogakukan |
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| Serialized in | Weekly Big Comic Spirits | ||
| Original run | 1986 – 1988 | ||
| Volumes | 7 | ||
| OVA | |||
| Director | Daisuke Nishio Johei Matsuura Nobutaka Nishizawa Shigeyasu Yamauchi Takaaki Yamashita |
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| Studio | Toei Animation | ||
| Episodes | 6 | ||
| Released | September 1988 | ||
| Live action movies | |||
Crying Freeman (クライング フリーマン?) is a manga by Kazuo Koike & Ryoichi Ikegami about an assassin who sheds tears after he kills his targets. The Crying Freeman manga series is renowned for its artwork and gratuitous graphic violence and eroticism. Crying Freeman devotes its pages to a study of the titular assassin, a Japanese man retained by the Chinese mafia (called the "108 Dragons") and covered in a vast and complex dragon tattoo. A quiet but complicated killer, Freeman sheds tears after each and every killing. In 1988, the story was adapted into an anime OVA by Toei Animation. From 2006 to 2007, the manga was republished by Dark Horse Comics into five volumes.
Plot summary
Yō Hinomura, a Japanese potter, comes into the possession of some film showing an assassination by an agent of the "108 Dragons", a powerful Chinese mafia. When he refuses to turn the film over to them, they kidnap him. Hypnotized, he is trained as an assassin for them and his body is tattooed with dragons. He is given the codename "Crying Freeman," because he cries after a kill and longs to be free. One of his killings is witnessed by Emu Hino, a lonely and beautiful Japanese artist. Knowing he must kill her, she paints his portrait and waits for him to come. When he does so, she tells him that she is tired of being alone and wishes to end her life. She asks for a favor before he kills her - to have sex with her, so that she will not die as a virgin. He grants her wish, but finds he cannot kill her and they fall in love. The killing she witnessed was of a yakuza boss, however, so the yakuza want to find her so that they can find the killer. One of the yakuza attempts to enter Emu's home and force her to disclose the name of the killer, critically injuring her. Freeman takes her to the hospital and tells her to meet him at Hinomura Kiln, where he intends to part with her. Instead, she accompanies him back to the 108 Dragons, where he tattoos her with tigers and they marry. The heads of the 108 Dragons decide to name Freeman as their heir. He is given the Chinese name Lóng Tài-Yáng, and Emu is renamed Hǔ Qīng-Lán, as both pass the tests given to them. It's not as easy as that, however, as they must contend with challenges on the inside for leadership from Bái-Yá Shàn, the granddaughter of the leaders of the 108 Dragons, and challenges from the outside from other underground organizations.
Main characters
Members of the 108 Dragons:
- Yō Hinomura (火野村 窯 Hinomura Yō?)/Crying Freeman/Lóng Tài-Yáng (龍太陽 "Dragon Sun")
- Voiced by: Toshio Furukawa (Japanese), Steve Bulen (English)
- The protagonist of the story. Yo was the son of a famous potter and a rising pottery star himself. During a visit to America to showcase his new works, a photographer hid secret pictures of the 108 dragons in his works. Yo found it and was asked by the Dragons to hand the pictures back, but instead he turned it in to the police. As retribution, Grandfather Dragon put him under hypnosis to make him the perfect assassin, as he was considered the perfect candidate to rule the 108 Dragons. He was then trained by Grandmother Tiger in assassination techniques and martial arts. After his training was over, the 108 Dragons tattooed a giant dragon covering his body. Because he cries in remorse for his victims after he snaps out of his trance (it seems later to just become habit due to the fact that he willingly takes on missions) he earned the name Crying Freeman. As the Crying Freeman, Yo possesses incredible agility and strength, and is considered the strongest man in the world. Each of his senses have been honed and sharpened and he is able to adapt to any situation. He rarely uses guns; instead, he prefers daggers, which he can wield with both his hands and feet. In addition to being the strongest man in the world, Lóng Tài-Yáng is also one of the most handsome men in the world, and no woman has been able to resist his charms, which he takes full advantage of. Crying Freeman is able to destroy entire organizations single-handedly by wounding lower members and following them back to their superiors.
- Emu Hino (日野 絵霧 Hino Emu?)/Hǔ Qīng-Lán (虎清蘭 "Tiger Pure-Orchid")
- Voiced by: Chiharu Kataishi (Japanese), Edie Mirman (English)
- A young office lady whose father had passed away, Emu Hino was once a rich girl whose wealth dissappeared with her father. All that was left to her was an old mansion. One day, she witnessed Crying Freeman chasing and killing a chinese crime boss, after which she asked his name, to which he only replied "Yo". When she saw his tears after the murder, she was intrigued and immediately fell in love with him. Soon, she became witness to another murder of an important yakuza boss by Freeman, which caused both the police and the yakuza to tail her. She returned home to only to find that Yo was waiting for her. Emu then requested that Yo take her virginity before killing her, to which he complied. Later, Yo couldn't bring himself to kill her and the two eventually escaped to Hong Kong. At first, Grandmother Tiger didn't approve of her, as she thought Emu was weak, but Emu's strong will and resolved earned her the respect of the 108 Dragons. Emu was given the name Hǔ Qīng-Lán by Grandfather Dragon and she was wed to Lóng Tài-Yáng. She had a giant Tiger tattooed on her back, and two cubs on her torso for the children that she and Yo couldn't have. In the middle of the series, Emu gained possession of the legendary cursed sword Muramasa from an assassin attempting to kill Freeman. She then went to Kowloon to master swordsmanship. During this period the Muramasa recognised her as its true owner. As one of the leaders of the 108 Dragons, Emu is more resourceful and clever than even her husband. She is as fearless as he is in the face of any opposition. The first true owner of the Muramasa, she is quite dangerous as a sword master. Emu is (probably) one of the most beautiful women in the world, as Yo tells her that she's the most beautiful woman he's ever seen.
- Hǔ Fēng-Líng (虎風鈴)
- Voiced by: Nobuyo Tsuda (Japanese), Catherine Battistone (English)
- Also known as Grandmother Tiger, one of the former heads of the 108 Dragons. She took on the task of training Crying Freeman, honing him into the best assassin in the world, as well as the strongest man alive. Like Emu Hino, she has a Tiger tatooed on her body, which siginifies her position in the 108 Dragons. She has adopted Freeman as a son, and adopted Emu as a mother-in-law. While skeptical of Emu at first, she came to recognize her strength. Grandmother Tiger had broken a rule of the 108 Dragons in the past: the 108 Dragons survives on individual talent, and not on heritage or legacies; therefore, children are strictly prohibited for the more important members of the organization. However, Grandmother Tiger longed for a child, and bore a son, who she kept secret from Grandfather Dragon. Grandmother Tiger came to regret her decision later as her son became a cold-blooded killer.
- Bái-Yá Shàn (白牙扇 "White-Ivory-Fan")
- Voiced by: Dump Matsumoto (Japanese), Barbara Goodson (English)
- Hǔ Fēng-Líng's granddaughter who challenges Freeman for leadership. She attempts a Coup de tat immediately after Lóng Tài-Yáng's and Hǔ Qīng-Lán's wedding. She was defeated by Freeman, and from then on became his faithful and devoted 'little sister', acting as a personal maid and bodyguard for her older brother and his wife. A giant woman in both aspects of height and weight, Bái-Yá Shàn is practically invulnerable to most attacks, as she has been seen to survive from multiple machine gun rounds. She often goes into missions naked, which is quite nauseating for her opponents. Her weapons of choice are two giant daggers, which for normal people are more like Falchions, but she likes to keep an automatic rifle handy.
- Huáng Dé-Yuán (黄徳源) or KO
- Voiced by: Ryusei Nakao (Japanese), Jeff Winkless (English)
- A member of 108 Dragons and assistant to Freeman on his missions. After Freeman took over leadership of the 108 Dragons, Huáng Dé-Yuán became his right hand man. He died fighting an assassin sent to kill Freeman from a gang that Freeman had virtually destroyed in one day.
Other Organizations:
- Bugnug (Dark Eyes)
- The secret leader of the Askari, a terrorist organization, Bugnug is an exotic african beauty specializing in african throwing blades. The Askari once tried to assassinate Freeman, killing all of the 108 Dragon's leaders except for The two Dragons and the two Tigers. When Freeman came to africa and killed the Askari's leaders in revenge, Bugnug launched a suprise attack on him. However, Freeman seduced her in the middle of the fight and later helped her defeat a Coup de tat in her organization. Since then, the Askari have been a valuable ally to the 108 Dragons, and Bugnug occasionally assists Freeman on assassination missions.
Live action films
There are two live-action films from Hong Kong, both made in 1990, based on Crying Freeman: Dragon from Russia (紅場飛龍) directed by Clarence Fok Yiu-leung and Killer's Romance (浪漫殺手自由人) directed by Phillip Ko. In 1995, French director Christophe Gans directed another live version, Crying Freeman, starring Mark Dacascos as Freeman.
