Usagi Yojimbo

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Author/Artist: Stan Sakai

Manga Review (Volumes 1-2)
Okay, so technically Usagi Yojimbo isn't a manga; it's an anthro comic drawn in English by a third-generation Japanese-American.

However, it's extremely Japanese, and uses manga pacing and stories.

Usagi Yojimbo tells the story of a ronin (master-less samurai), Usagi, in a world of anthropomorphic animals, such as rabbits, boars, and pigs. The small animals of this world are reptiles, so scenes are enlivened with 2-foot-tall apatosauruses.

These two volumes are entirely episodic. Other than a few recurring characters and a story that involves Usagi returning to his hometown, each volume contains a few stand-alone stories of Usagi's adventures.

Usagi is a stereotypical samurai protagonist: pleasant, cautious, extremely skilled with a sword, and quick to moral outrage, with a strong sense of honor. As a result, the stories are more interesting than Usagi himself.

Some stories are comedic, others are serious, and some contain elements of both. Most deal with moral conundrums in some way. They feel very much like traditional samurai stories: ruffians threatening a village, overbearing lords, etc.

I was struck by how many Japanese language elements that Sakai put into the dialogue. Remember, this isn't translated from Japanese. But the book is full of -sans and -donos. It certainly gives the book a foreign air, though I found it often unnecessary. Sakai does a fine job of getting across respect or familiarity without adding dialectical affectations.

The black-and-white art is clean and cartoony, with lots of round shapes and negative space. It's a refreshing switch from the intense lines of manga and the crowded panels of American comics.