Usagi Yojimbo

Publisher
Dark Horse
Writer
Stan Sakai
Artist
Stan Sakai
Country of origin
America
Length
20+
Year
1984

Usagi Yojimbo volume 1

By otaku_kei
4th Jan 05

Akira Kurosawa’s films the Lone Wolf and Cub manga, Bugs Bunny – all in their own way have influenced Stan Sakai’s long-running Ameri-manga. This story follows Miyamoto Usagi, a ronin samurai who wanders Japan looking for work as a bodyguard, but often being forced by his honour to risk his neck for no reward other than fulfilling his own morality ad keeping to the code of bushido. But this is not the Japan that you know – humanity is in the minority here, with most of the samurai’s, officials, thieves and brigands being populated by rabbits, cats, dogs, pandas and even the occasional rhino.

This series recently hit its 20th anniversary, and is still going strong a success that can only really be based upon the fantastic accessibility of the central character. He has the everyman qualities that make for a great central character, as the moral situations he finds himself will be identifiable to all; we can empathise with his strife and troubles as well as rejoice along with him for his successes. That makes for an engaging center to this epic spanning story.

This introductory volume actually reads much like the early volumes of Lone Wolf and Cub with stand-alone stories that merely attempt to build up a sense of who this character is and what type of world he lives in. But whilst these may be little more than individual tales they are well written and scripted which makes for a compelling start to the series. The art style also needs too be brought up at this point. Many people may be put off picking up this series simply by a look at it, possibly due to that fact that it follows none of the usual conventions of manga stylistics, coming across much more as traditional American designs. It would be a shame if fans of samurai epics overlooked this title simply due to the art, as it is a fitting design to the story.

Usagi Yojimbo is an enjoyable read that really does look good and read well, and for all of those who are just interested in what has made this tale so successful over 20 years it is a perfect introduction. This series is fun, light-hearted entertainment but is also not afraid to tackle more subtle and darker topics. I really enjoyed this and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys epic samurai tales, as well as those who are trying to escape the usual manga diet of big eyes, big breasts and lecherous guys!

7.5/10

-- otaku_kei 4th Jan 05