Samurai

Produced after the first films came out, this TV series retells the same stories in the films and eventually continues with stories from the rest of the manga. Accounts says that the series achieved a popularity that eluded the films.

A typical Japanese TV production from the period. It's shot in 16mm like other Japanese drama programs of the time so the show has a "cheap" look that sometimes works well. The direction varies from episode to episode as can be expected but is of higher standards then any US show from the time. There's lots of melodrama that was never in the films and the bloodshed and nudity are nearly non-existent. The mass killing is still here although. Kinnosuke Nakamura is a reasonably good Ogami Itto but Tomisaburo Wakayama basically owns the character. And he was a better swordsman too.

I saw this on local cable years ago. It was entertaining but the films cast a long shadow over it. Watch them first then try the series.

Why did they switch Kazutaka Nishikawa (Daigoro) to a different character actor going into season 3? He was 5 yrs old going into season 3 but the new actor chosen to play Daigoro looked way older he looked about 7 yrs old & weighed 3 times heavier, as you could tell by lone wolf struggling to pick him up on to his shoulders. About busted his nut lol because Daigoro was way larger & heavier than Kazutaka Nishikawa the original Daigoro. I tried to find the reason for his replacement but i found nothing. The only thing i found was the child that played Daigoro in the movie version of lone wolf, he was sentences to life for murder in Thailand for killing a merchant.

Compares to other works of art where the story is the core.

Perfect.

Iam so glad to watch Ogami. A real samirai.Amazing fights and honour

Though the motion pictures are much better (not to mention the manga), the old TV-series is not bad also. There is nothing new for those that have already read the manga and seen the films, but still it's quite good to watch. Kinnosuke Nakamura's sword skills are of course also inferior to those of Tomisaburo Wakayama's, but is still think he's done a good role. In all dimensions it's cheaper and cheesier than films (i mean, Wakayama's eyes reek of death when he's cutting down the countless enemies - nothing like this in here). But the stories are much more in-depth than in films, and also - there's more of them :) which is definitely good. Also, the setting and the life of medieval japan is also much more explained than in the films - in that it resembles the manga.

Anyway, if you like Lone wolf & Cub and you have the spare time, it's definitely worth to watch.