Usagi 142 - The Ice Runners

[KST]

Picked this up for me and my son on Wednesday and it made for a great read during this Thanksgiving weekend. I had read that it was going to be called The Ice Runners but I had no idea what that implied (I actually thought Usagi was going to be skiing!). The art is clean and crisp, much like the ice that's travelling 500 km. The story once again is brilliant in its simplicity, with a lot of heart, historical reference, and ravenous tokages. Reading this issue as well as the 200 anniversary issue before it, I keep thinking that there needs to be some sort of 'Usagi sampler' out there that can be published in a different format than the chronological trades. I think such a sampler should take about 10 of the finest self-contained single issue Usagi stories (eg., 141, 142, the kite maker, etc) and present them for newer readers to gain insight into Stan's creation. I know I just picked up Usagi earlier this year and there are other readers out there new to the Usagi canon as well that I've heard from.

[Stan Sakai]

Thank you. This issue was supposed to include story notes, but I was so busy that I had forgotten to write them up. Actually, 141 was also to have accompanying notes. I hope to include them in the trade collections.

Here are the notes for Ice Runners:
UY 142 story notes

This story was inspired by the ice runner of the Kaga Clan, who carried ice up to 500 kilometers in 4 days in the heat of summer for festivals or for the shogun. A 60 kilogram block of ice was wrapped in a straw mat, wrapped again in white cloth, then carried in a 40 kilogram wooden box insulated with bamboo leaves. Two teams of 4 men faced the dangers of the terrain, weather, and animal and bandit attacks, traveling as much as 127 kilometers a day. They ran alongside rivers as much as they could, splashing water on the chest to keep it cool.

Just before arriving at their destination, they would remove the ice and roll it in the dirt. The "dirty ice" would show their superiors the effort that went into completing their task. The ice was taken to the Kaga mansion, cleaned, then reverently placed in a palanquin and presented to their benefactor. By this time, the 60 kilogram (132.2 pounds) block had melted down to 600 grams (1.32 pounds).

[KST]

Thanks for posting the story notes Stan. Again, a really wonderful story. I actually was feeling very concerned for Lord Ito sitting there without a gift to present - he must have had extreme faith in the ice runners. If it had been me I would have brought something just in case and had it in front of me. I may have missed it in the story (Jeremy and I alternate reading pages aloud to each other), but were they presenting their gifts to the Shogun or to another lord or magistrate?

Looking forward to the trade containing the official ice notes to both 141 and 142.