Crying Freeman
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| Crying Freeman | |
|---|---|
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| Cryingフリーマン (Crying Freeman) |
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| Genre | Seinen |
| Manga | |
| Authored by | Kazuo Koike & Ryoichi Ikegami |
| Publisher |  Shogakukan
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| Serialized in | Weekly Big Comic Spirits |
| Original run | 1986 – 1988 |
| No. of volumes | 7 |
| OVA | |
| Directed by | Daisuke Nishio Johei Matsuura Nobutaka Nishizawa Shigeyasu Yamauchi Takaaki Yamashita |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Released | September 1988 |
Crying Freeman (Cryingフリーマン?) is a manga and an anime (OVA) about an assassin who cries 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 time 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 cries after each and every killing.
[edit] Plot Summary
Yō Hinomura (火野村窯), 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 (日野絵霧), 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 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 (龍太陽), and Emu is renamed Hǔ Qīng-Lán (虎清蘭) (Tiger Orchid), 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 (白牙扇) (Ivory Fan), the granddaughter of the leaders of the 108 Dragons, and challenges from the outside from other underground organizations.
[edit] Main Characters
Members of the 108 Dragons:
Yō Hinomura/Crying Freeman/Lóng Tài-Yáng (voiced by Toshio Furukawa/Steve Bulen/Raul Aldana) - the protagonist of the story
. Emu Hino/Hǔ Qīng-Lán (voiced by Chiharu Kataishi/Edie Mirman//Belinda Martinez) - his female partner
. Hǔ Fēng-Líng (虎風鈴) (voiced by Nobuyo Tsuda/Catherine Battistone/Rocío Garcel) - also known as Grandmother Tiger, one of the former heads of the 108 Dragons
. Bái-Yá Shàn (白牙扇) (voiced by Dump Matsumoto/Barbara Goodson/Patricia Acevedo) - Hǔ Fēng-Líng's granddaughter who challenges Freeman for leadership
. Huáng Dé-Yuán (黄徳源) (voiced by Ryusei Nakao/the late Jeff Winkless/Ricardo Mendoza) - A member of 108 Dragons and assistant to Freeman on his missions
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[edit] 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.
