Usagi Yojimbo: Bunraku and Other Stories by Stan Sakai
Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo is a long-standing fan favorite. Here we find Sakai’s “bodyguard rabbit” Miyamoto Usagi (or simply just Usagi) make his way through four different stories. Beginning with the three-part “Bunraku,” Usagi finds himself in the middle of a demonic puppet drama. His fellow samurai Sasuke enrolls Usagi in the fight of freeing the town from the demonic puppet master who is stealing people’s “life-forces” in order to become immortal.
In “The Hero,” this issue’s second story, Usagi once again embraces his past role of bodyguard for Lady Mura, a famous writer, in order to protect her on a journey to her father’s home. Lady Mura’s husband is a samurai during peacetime which leaves little glory to be won, so with her successes as a writer, her husband has become jealous and hateful. As she visits her father, various bounty hunters hired by her husband come to capture her and bring her back. Usagi and Mura arrive at her father’s house only to be confronted by her husband and Lady Mura is taken back. Usagi leaves the house and stumbles upon Mura’s dead body. Back in the village, Lady Mura’s work becomes even more popular and friends come to congratulate and console her husband. Her success drives him mad and he ends up killing himself.
This issue is a special 35th-anniversary edition so the third story is actually a revisiting of the very first Usagi story “The Goblin of Adachigahara.” Usagi recalls the place of the battle which made him a “Ronin” (a masterless samurai). He encounters an inn that is plagued by a goblin. Usagi confronts the goblin and discovers it’s the traitor general who is responsible for his master’s death. The hate and corruption turned the general into a goblin that terrorizes the town. Usagi fights him and in the end, avenges his fallen master.
The final story of this collection is “The Swords of the Higashi.” Usagi, Gen the bounty hunter, and his friend Stray Dog set out to recover the stolen heirloom of the Higashi clan. When they go to turn the heirloom in for the reward, the master of the clan becomes enraged because the original heirlooms were already returned, meaning Usagi was led on a false quest. They narrowly escape with their lives and Usagi comments on the cleverness of the vendor who crafted the fake swords.
This issue is a special treat for Usagi fans. Not only do we get to revisit the Adachi Plain where this whole journey began, but we get to experience it in color. Only recently when Sakai began publishing with IDW did his work begin to appear in color. While the story is successful without color, the bright blue of Usagi’s tunic and the vibrant details add for even more fun and adventure.
Sakai’s masterful sense of timing within a narrative is shown best in his fight sequences. More often than not Sakai will use a series of quick, small panels to increase a sense of urgency and speed up time.
Following that, he either transitions using a series of three larger panels that act as a “slow-motion” element or will continue using a series of panels to culminate in one final larger panel as seen below. Sakai’s use of emotion in these panels is important to note as well. In the two examples I have chosen, although they are from different stories, the emotional arch is the same. Usagi goes from a ferocious warrior in the middle of a battle to suddenly seeming as if he will be beaten. Sakai increases the suspense by slowing the battle with the larger panels only to continue on the next page with a resurgence in our hero who will finally overcome evil.
Some of Sakai’s transitions set up the scene by giving the reader a bird’s eye view of where Usagi will go next such as in the story of “Bunraku” where Sakai gradually zooms in to where the puppet theater is.
Other transitions simply occur naturally as the conversation with the characters leads to the next scene. More often than not, Sakai will utilize a whole page for an important conversation then, as the reader continues onto the next page, it changes to the next part of the story in a seamless and flowing manner.
Sakai also uses variants on the white space within a panel to indicate a mental state. Following a flashback/dream sequence that Usagi experiences, Sakai pulls Usagi out of the panel to bring him back to reality as he continues on his journey.
In many scenes where Sakai has his characters speaking while traveling a great distance, he utilizes a continuous background within multiple panels to indicate that motion. His sequence found in “The Hero” is a prime example of Usagi and Lady Mura continuing their journey while speaking. The motion is clear and clean as they move through the panels.
The stories of Usagi Yojimbo have always been a part of my experience as a comic reader. Growing up, my dad would explain different meanings such as what a “Ronin” was or different aspects of Japanese storytelling that Sakai uses. The characters that accompany Usagi during different parts of his journey also add to the overall story. The moral ethics of the various characters are also an admirable trait that adds to the depth of the comic. It’s not uncommon for a masterless samurai to resort to thievery or the life of a bandit to support themselves, but Usagi remains faithful and honorable. The theme of the honorable character also extends to Stray Dog, a Ronin turned bounty-hunter. While Stray Dog seems like a rather gruff character at first, the reader eventually finds out that all his bounties are then donated to an orphanage which he supports and loves. In this short examination of a few of Sakai’s stories, we are introduced to the respected character of Usagi and can ultimately take away that the hero will never fail if he chooses the path that is honest, just, and true.
While this issue was a wonderful treat to read in color, the true mastery lies in Sakai’s storytelling. His sense of timing and emotional portrayal mixed with an anthropomorphic rabbit as the main character has proven to be a genius way of telling various Japanese fairytales. With over 35 years under his belt (and hopefully many more to come) Sakai lives up to his revered status as a storyteller and artist.
