Three things I love: “Lone Wolf and Cub,” “In the Air Tonight” and weird YouTube mashups. Imagine my surprise when I found a combination of all three!
What is “Lone Wolf and Cub?”
Glad you asked!
“Lone Wolf and Cub” is a manga (basically, a Japanese comic book, but so much more than that) by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima. It was first published in 1970.
It’s the story of Ogami Ittō, once the shogun’s executioner. False accusations by the Yagyū clan force Ogami out of the position. He now roams the countryside as an assassin for hire. Ogami travels with his three-year-old son Daigorō and the most lethal baby cart ever conceived.
Like every samurai epic, there’s some revenge in there too.
Ogami and Daigorō are known as Lone Wolf and Cub.
The manga got a six-part movie series that ran from 1972 to 1972. There’s also “Shogun Assassin,” a compilation of footage from the first two films. The 30th-anniversary Blu-ray is a hoot because it’s got an interview with Afro Samurai himself, Samuel L. Jackson.
(Check out this clip if y’all don’t know the fury that is Afro Samurai.)
Dark Horse Comics reprinted the entire manga series here in the States between 2000 and 2002.
“In the Air Tonight”
This is a seminal song by former Genesis drummer Phil Collins. It gained popularity in the pilot episode of the also seminal work “Miami Vice.”
The good one in the eighties, not the half-baked crapfest remade in 2006 with the f-ed up remake of this song. Still don’t forgive Michael Mann for that. I mean, he was there for the TV show! Did he not remember what made it — oh never mind.
“In the Air Tonight” is best known for its slow build to a drum hit that makes people stop and air drum. And a silly urban legend about Collins making this a revenge ode to some guy who supposedly saw Collins’s friend drown.
But whatever.
The Reese’s Cup of samurai mashups
As you saw from my mashup of “Underworld” with my “Shadowdance” saga theme song, I’m a fan of the mashup.
SyncFu put the two things together and made an intriguing little short. I’m not sure about some of the random inserts of Ogami and son walking in front of the sun, but hey! Who am I to judge?
Watch the video below.
