Rating: 
Summary: Badly dated thriller given a commendable DVD release.
Review: Oh, I am crying, all right -- in regret that I ever watched a few episodes of this five-part OVA thriller series. It has a pretty interesting story: an artist is brainwashed into an assassin by a cult, who cries for his victims. One such victim melts his heart and of course, they have sex (mainly because she wants to "lose her virginity" before she dies). Later, both decide to join the Mafia group. Unfortunately, nothing else about it is particularly recommendable.
At best, CRYING FREEMAN is mainly material for undemanding fans of hardcore sex and violence, both of which are very graphic and explicit. There are nary sympathetic characters to be had, and while there is nothing wrong with doing an anti-hero story or violence and sex in animation, recent productions have proven that both elements can be used to tell a story. The problem with CRYING FREEMAN's story is that it is revoltingly UNINTERESTING -- a confusing, mean-spirited, laughably ridiculous excuse to throw in both elements just for the sake of them BEING there... part of the reason why many titles of this type formed the dreaded cliche that Anime is nothing but sex and violence. Even more astounding is why the folks who torment the anti-hero would suddenly appear kindly and elderly in the next episodes, and why both characters would want to join the Mafia who had basically ruined their lives.
The animation is very stiff and poor for the most part, with few moments of fluid action. The background music is cheesy, dated, 80's synth style fare; I'm willing to admit when there is good music played by electronic instruments, but this isn't one of them. I found it especially nauseating during the pre-sex scene. As far as the voice acting goes, well, I really can't judge the Japanese track all that well since I don't understand the language. The English dubbing, done by Carl Mecak in the early 90's, is mostly faithful to the translation, although it takes occasional liberties. The cast (which includes Steve Bulen, Michael McConnohie, Barbara Goodson, and others who eventually went on to become popular voice actors in Anime) is fairly competent. The problem, however, is that most of the voices are miscast and don't really do justice to their characters. In particular, the two leads are not particularly convincing and sound more monotone. Mecak's dubs are often despised by many hardcore fans. I personally have nothing against his work; it is my belief that dubs are capable of being good. Even so, I wouldn't say CRYING FREEMAN has the worst dub around, but it's nothing great either. (I heard there was a UK dub with badly faked accents.)
This title was a success in America. Although I can understand why, there's no way I can consider CRYING FREEMAN an example of great Anime. Especially when there is more to this genre than the very graphic depictions of sex and violence that dominate this title. These two characteristics, unfortunately, were partially responsible for the cliche that Anime is nothing but a fest of gore, nudity, and breasts. Unless you're the kind who likes this sort of stuff, then check out CRYING FREEMAN. If not, look for something more satisfactory.
For ADVs sake, though, I do have to commend them for their treatment of this curious title. The transfer is bright and clear, and there are none of the title overlays which hampered the original video releases. Even better for purists, the Japanese language track is included (should you care anyway). There isn't much in the way of extras, but at least ADV knows how to treat old titles with care.
Rating: 
Summary: Move over M.D. Geist...
Review: ....there's a new Worst Anime Ever in town. I never thought I'd say this, but an anime has come along that is actually worse than M.D. Geist. Those screams you're hearing are probably your own.Crying Freeman is about a gentle artist who is turned into a merciless killer against his will. He fights to get his life back, as well as fighting for the clan who "adopted" him. The top assassin in the trade, he will always cry after killing, hence the codename: Crying Freeman. And that's about a much a synopsis as you need for this TOTAL turkey. It borrows some elements from the manga, but takes only the worst of them, and animates (and I use this term VERY loosely) them on the screen.
Wait; did I say this was animated? I guess, in a way it is, but that is if you count those children's tapes that were so low-budget they would take still pictures and move parts of those pictures around to simulate movement as "animation". This is *beyond* yick. It looks like they scanned pictures from the manga (that's -one- way to get the art style faithful...who needs artists?), scribbled them with marker, and had the guy wiggle the page beneath the camera lens just to make it look remotely like it's animated. ("The page is moving, right? Therefore it's animation!")
As if this treatment wasn't enough, they chopped out everything in the story that made you sympathetic towards Freeman. You honestly couldn't give two swats of a guinea pig's tail (yes, I know they don't have tails!) for any character in this series. Well, they didn't take out ALL the content...there's still sex and violence, but the sex is anything but erotic and the violence was anything but graphic. Doesn't that sound -wrong- to you? It does to me too... That I watched six episodes full of this dreck amazes me to this day. Maybe I did it for love of the manga, and I could not accept this hideous abomination of his work as being anywhere near authentic. If you really, really want to see this video series...have a lobotomy. It will soften the blow. Or better yet, wise up and go buy the manga series instead. The manga is a gripping, disturbing, sad, and ultimately compelling tale that it definitely worth trying out. The video series...is simply disturbing and sad, but not in the same way the manga is. I know now the real reason Freeman always cries...because he's trapped in such a truly awful "anime" series. I am a saint for giving this thing one star.
Rating: 
Summary: DVD 2 and 3: More Action Less Character Development
Review: Crying Freeman - A Taste of Revenge (Vol 2)
A Taste of Revenge takes up from where Portrait of a Killer left off. After embracing the new incarnations as Ron Tayan and Fu Ching-Ran, both Freeman and Emu Hino mature into their new function at the helm of the 108 Dragons family. In this two episode DVD we quickly move away from character development and segue into a new set of villains in The Horn of Africa - a group personally invested in the eradication of the 108 Dragons. The Horn of Africa send an envoy to the 108 Dragons heavily guarded ship with a valise full of money. The gang remising in their duty to thoroughly search this impostor suffer the consequences. The courier quickly eliminates all of the Ten Planets who function as a human shield - making Freeman's life more precious as many have been sacrificed to save him. This killing spree exposes the vulnerability of 108 Dragons - of which Freeman is bound to develop A Taste for Revenge. Once again, the question of excess violence rears its ugly head. There are copious sex scenes as well as the violence that should factor in the viewer's choice to stay with the series. I personally did not enjoy this DVD as much as the first one - of which there was more character development and plot. Crying Freeman is unique in its style and cross-cultural representations - yet again. In this volume we see crass representations of Africa as cesspool of violence. Then again, there is no place in the Crying Freeman series that is not a cesspool of violence. I say enjoy it for the freshness and uniqueness it brings to Anime.
Crying Freeman - Abduction in Chinatown (Vol 3)
Abduction in Chinatown is perhaps the most powerful in terms of stereotypes but not in story and plot. In the first of the episodes, Abduction in Chinatown Freeman meets Nina. Nina is a little freak that has fantasized over Freeman from the first moment she saw him. The plot thickens when Freeman levels the rival gang with Nina at the helm. The second installment in the series, The Russian Connection, brings to presence yet another set of stereotypes - the brutal Russian mob. The whole series up to this DVD is somewhat characterized by deterioration in terms of storyline but an improvement in animation. The scenes become more vivid while the characters more cliché... The most interesting bit of the animation is the loyalty to its manga roots. There are distinctive, clear lines on each character - but the characters themselves remain void - almost tepid. As I segue from here to the much-anticipated live action feature, I begin to feel a sense of trepidation and excitement - but mostly ambivalence. Making the jump from Anime to live action can be tricky. What with all the special effects moviemakers have at their disposal, the live action version promises to redeem this series that showed so much promise from the outset.
Miguel Llora
Rating: 
Summary: 2nd CRYING FREEMAN anime offers two separate stories
Review: CRYING FREEMAN 2: SHADES OF DEATH, Pt. 1 (1989) is the first sequel to CRYING FREEMAN: PORTRAIT OF A KILLER (1988), which offered a near-perfect animated adaptation of the first volume of the celebrated manga (comic book) about a Japanese sculptor-turned-Chinese assassin for the 108 Dragons. This edition offers a far less perfect but almost scene-for-scene adaptation of the two stories contained in the first half of the "Shades of Death" cycle of the graphic novel series (written by Kazuo Koike and drawn by Ryoichi Ikegami). The first story, "The Tiger Orchid," tells of Beya-san (Bakah Sin in the manga), the greatly oversized, immature granddaughter of the leaders of the 108, Father Dragon and Mother Tiger, and her bid to oust Crying Freeman as their successor by conspiring with someone high up in the organization. The second story, "The Wind and the Crane," spotlights a lone black female assassin, Kitche, and her attempt to kill Freeman by identifying and exploiting a perceived weakness in him. She slips past his security by posing as a white, blonde female golfer and manages to reach the 108's floating submarine HQ where she tries to carry out her plan. As in the first volume, the animation strives to capture the rich, dramatic qualities of the manga artwork while expanding the action scenes to meet audience expectations. There's a slight drop-off in quality, however, from the first to second volumes and the overall mood is just not as well established. Another chief problem is that the two stories, though unconnected, follow one right after the other. Such a pairing makes sense in print, but deprives the anime of a single narrative arc. Still, overall, it's a pretty spectacular example of crime-themed anime and manga adaptation and, it must be said, delivers the requisite amounts of violence and bloodshed, along with ample nudity, expected by fans of this series. There are some excellent fight scenes between Freeman and his varied attackers and some playful and tender moments between Freeman and his wife, Fu Ching Lan (the new name given to Emu from the first volume).
Rating:
Summary: Truly a Work of Art
Review: Crying Freeman is a true work of art ahead of its time. Viewing this great anime is candy for the anime lover's eye. Kazuo Koike and Ryoichi Ikegami wrote the magna that turned into a smash hit. The plot is revolves around an assassin from the Chinese Mafia. Originally, an acclaimed pottery designer, Yoh Hinamura is drawn into a crime ring when he finds film that contains photographs of a murder. Brainwashed to be a killer he murders people and after every person, he kills, he weeps. When a woman by the name of Emu Hino (age 29 and a virgin) witnesses a murder. They briefly and awkwardly talk for a moment before Yoh flees. Afterward she fears for her life.
When the Chinese Mafia, a drug and arms dealing business, expands into Japan police and a Japanese gang with a following of 26,000 members team up to stop the Mafia. In the first episode "Portrait of a Killer" Freeman, setting the plot into motion, assassinates the leader of the Japan gang. At that crime, by chance Freeman runs past Yoh. Their eyes never meet but she knows it was him.
When Freeman goes to assassinate Emu, she tells him that she knows she will be killed. Her final request is that she does not die a virgin. (Over protective late father kept her from experiencing love). She tells that she is a virgin to Yoh and he states that he is also a virgin. They have sex, revealing Yoh's intricate dragon tattoos. Both experiencing love for the first time, they start to car for each other and speeding up the process, she is shot in a scuffle immediately after they have sex. He rushes her to the hospital. Knowing that she will never be safe, he takes her in.
This anime is not for children or young teens for that matter. Crying Freeman has a mix of mild language with a large amount of upper nudity and several sexual orientations. All of this is heavily coated with pools of blood. This is a graphic anime but as stated earlier, this is geared toward a mature audience. Recap: Beautiful anime that pushed the boundaries of acceptable anime when released in 1986. Till this day, Crying Freeman is still a crowd please. I loved it. If you are looking an anime with class but still contains a sexual and action packed adventure then you have found the right anime. Five Stars!
Rating:
Summary: Truly a Work of Art
Review: Crying Freeman is a true work of art ahead of its time. Viewing this great anime is candy for the anime lover's eye. Kazuo Koike and Ryoichi Ikegami wrote the magna that turned into a smash hit. The plot is revolves around an assassin from the Chinese Mafia. Originally, an acclaimed pottery designer, Yoh Hinamura is drawn into a crime ring when he finds film that contains photographs of a murder. Brainwashed to be a killer he murders people and after every person, he kills, he weeps. When a woman by the name of Emu Hino (age 29 and a virgin) witnesses a murder. They briefly and awkwardly talk for a moment before Yoh flees. Afterward she fears for her life.
When the Chinese Mafia, a drug and arms dealing business, expands into Japan police and a Japanese gang with a following of 26,000 members team up to stop the Mafia. In the first episode "Portrait of a Killer" Freeman, setting the plot into motion, assassinates the leader of the Japan gang. At that crime, by chance Freeman runs past Yoh. Their eyes never meet but she knows it was him.
When Freeman goes to assassinate Emu, she tells him that she knows she will be killed. Her final request is that she does not die a virgin. (Over protective late father kept her from experiencing love). She tells that she is a virgin to Yoh and he states that he is also a virgin. They have sex, revealing Yoh's intricate dragon tattoos. Both experiencing love for the first time, they start to car for each other and speeding up the process, she is shot in a scuffle immediately after they have sex. He rushes her to the hospital. Knowing that she will never be safe, he takes her in.
This anime is not for children or young teens for that matter. Crying Freeman has a mix of mild language with a large amount of upper nudity and several sexual orientations. All of this is heavily coated with pools of blood. This is a graphic anime but as stated earlier, this is geared toward a mature audience. Recap: Beautiful anime that pushed the boundaries of acceptable anime when released in 1986. Till this day, Crying Freeman is still a crowd please. I loved it. If you are looking an anime with class but still contains a sexual and action packed adventure then you have found the right anime. Five Stars!
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: Crying Freeman is one of the best animes ever made! A MUST for any anime lover!
Rating: 
Summary: Superb anime version of solid crime-themed Japanese manga
Review: CRYING FREEMAN: PORTRAIT OF A KILLER (1988) is the first of six Japanese anime volumes based on the manga (comic book) by Kazuo Koike and Ryoichi Ikegami about a handsome young sculptor who is forcibly recruited by the 108 Dragons, an ancient organization of Chinese assassins. We see him trained as an assassin and programmed to kill on their orders. His uncontrolled stream of tears after each killing and his yearning to be free give him the name, Crying Freeman. Things get complicated when Freeman is forced to undertake the elimination of a witness to one of his killings. She is a beautiful, lonely, single Japanese woman and, like Freeman, an accomplished artist. They recognize each other as soul mates and he risks his life'and hers'to convince the organization of her value to him. This 52-minute animated production is almost a perfect adaptation of the manga story and stands out as the best of the CRYING FREEMAN animated series. The dramatic mood and visual elegance of the black-and-white drawings are surprisingly well-captured by the anime, despite the bright colors and lighting. Daisuke Nishio, the anime director, knows how to pace a scene and establish the proper sense of time and place. It helps that Ikegami's drawings and his sense of cutting and composition are so astutely cinematic in the first place. The Crying Freeman manga is notable for its high doses of nudity, near-pornographic sex and extremely bloody violence. The anime doesn't stint on these elements either, although it takes great pains to stay within R-rated limits. However, the sheer beauty of their presentation here may win over otherwise hesitant viewers, while fully satisfying the already jaded fans of more hard-edged anime. The "Crying Freeman" manga has also been adapted, considerably less faithfully, into two live-action films, CRYING FREEMAN (France, 1995), directed by Christophe Gans (BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF) and starring Mark Dacascos, and KILLER'S ROMANCE (Hong Kong, 1990), starring Simon Yam and Joey Wang.
Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars From Me
Review: I have all the volumes and love each one although the last two aren't as good as the first. The episodes start repeating themselves after a while. In the first, Freeman's origin of how he is turned into an assassin against his will is revealed and he cries each time he kills somebody as a release to his true self. He is sent to kill a woman but she doesn't want to die a virgin so she asks that he have sex with her before he kills her. Being the nice guy that he is, he agrees. He says he's also a virgin. I think he was lying. This guy has sex with pretty much every woman he meets in this series. He didn't start having sex until he met this woman in the first episode? I don't believe it. Anyway, he falls in love with her and marries her. The rest of the episodes go something like this: somebody or some group wants to kill Freeman and take over the 108 Dragons and Freeman stops them. That's pretty much it. Oh yea, plenty of killing, nudity and sex is thrown in. Some lovable characters are thrown in and some die sadly but it's all good. For me, the only let down is Freeman never becomes free. At the end of the series he is still a killer. I was expecting a breakthrough. His soul is obviously being tortured since he cries after he kills. I would have liked to see him break away from that life. But oh well. I still love it. It's a classic
Rating:
Summary: Die Hard Fan
Review: I have the 5 video series of Crying freeman and have been waiting a long time for the series to make its way to DVD. I must say I am a bit dissappointed that they did not release the series on fewer dvds but it is about money. As for the person who commented on the animation on this dvd. It looks like it does on vhs which is what most fans that are buying the series expect. There is a change in the animation style but things do return to the original style. I mean considering when this series was created it is very good but it's no Ninja Scroll or Cowboy Bebop.
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