Fathers, Sons & The Lies at the Heart of the World

Mushuku Mono

One of Kenji Misumi's grimmest pictures is at its core a story about sons and lost fathers, whose absence only makes their dominance over their sons' lives more complete.
Both protagonists define themselves mainly through what they take for the fate of their fathers, transforming themselves into mirrors of their own images of what their fathers were like. As it is making their fathers' images the hearts of their worlds; becoming a lie.
Naturally, after finding that they have turned themselves into lies, one of them has to die, the other to kill his father and learn that this is exactly what his father expects of him.
Surprisingly there is hope for him: He throws away his sword.