What's Usagi waiting for?

shaxper · Post by **shaxper** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 20:02 -0700

I just finished reading "The Death of Lord Hikiji." WOW. Easily one of my top 5 Usagi stories of all time. But, let me get to the point.

This is the first time in a long while that we've seen Usagi discuss his pilgrimage and it's purpose. At the end, he says that he's not ready to stop his pilgrimage yet, but what is he waiting for? He's not looking for revenge against Hikiji, he feels no further obligations to Lord Mifune, and he was ready to return home and settle down as far back as "Circles," so why does he keep on going? I realize there's be no more comic if Usagi stopped, but I just don't understand the basic purpose. Now that he has Jotoro, now that he knows Katsuichi is alive, now that he has a job as a vassal waiting for him in the Geishu province and a potential future with Tomoe, why does he continue his pilgrimage?

estee · Post by **estee** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 15:02 -0700

Karma, dude.

When the gods deem it time for him to stop...he'll stop.

shaxper · Post by **shaxper** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 12:42 -0700

No one else is going to weigh in on this until the trade comes out, I suppose

Jet_Jaguar · Post by **Jet_Jaguar** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 20:56 -0700

Well, maybe there's a sort of "When you reach the top of the mountain, keep climbing" aspect to Usagi's pilgrimage.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Zen_proverbs

(I'm not sure that all of these are real Zen koans.)

estee · Post by **estee** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 8:18 -0700

A samurai once asked Zen Master Hakuin where he would go after he died.
Hakuin answered 'How am I supposed to know?'
'How do you not know? You're a Zen master!' exclaimed the samurai.
'Yes, but not a dead one,' Hakuin answered.

Okay this is a modern proverb that somebody stuck in to be funny. It's Wiki after all.

shaxper · Post by **shaxper** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 8:37 -0700

estee wrote:A samurai once asked Zen Master Hakuin where he would go after he died.
Hakuin answered 'How am I supposed to know?'
'How do you not know? You're a Zen master!' exclaimed the samurai.
'Yes, but not a dead one,' Hakuin answered.

Okay this is a modern proverb that somebody stuck in to be funny. It's Wiki after all.

Love the quote, even if it isn't authentic!

But Usagi is hardly a spiritual pilgrim these days. He wanders, protects, and seems all too happy to run in to people he knows. He doesn't strike me as the solitary adventurer who longs for the open road, anymore. He smiles biggest when in the company of Jotoro, Katsuichi, and sometimes Tomoe. He just doesn't strike me as someone who has nothing better to do than wander the open road.

Maybe he's still making up his mind about where he wants to go and how he'd like to settle. I can easily believe that. I guess I'd just like him to offer a line or two somewhere in the comic that explains this. It wouldn't bother me if it wasn't the entire premise of the series. He's wandering, and I don't know why. It makes me feel like I don't know my favorite character in comics as much as I'd like to.

estee · Post by **estee** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 13:14 -0700

I'm still waiting for him and Chizu to finally get together.

They seem to be the most compatible.

shaxper · Post by **shaxper** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 18:41 -0700

estee wrote:I'm still waiting for him and Chizu to finally get together.

They seem to be the most compatible.

Really? Moreso than Tomoe?

We need to do another poll on this. I'm still wondering if anyone out there is rooting for Kitsune, although I suspect she's looking Gen's way.

Thomas Froehling · Fri Nov 13, 2009 18:58 -0700

Yes, but Chizu is a fugitive of her former clan; so the question remains valid: what is Usagi (still) running away from?

I guess there is no single reason; Usagi can't turn to Mariko without causing trouble; he could join Lord Noriyuki to be close to Tomoe, true, but they would be seperated by the strict etiquette of that Lord's court. And I like to think that Usagi does not yearn for the comfort of a castle with all the possible intrigue going on there and the danger of growing soft (not saying Tomoe was soft! No way!!)

To settle down and lead a peaceful life... we have not seen or heard any tendency in Usagi yet. He is not going out adventuring, but he knows that there is danger out there lurking to get him. Still, he does not avoid the confrontation. Pure bravery.

Maybe Usagi sometimes thinks that he mustn't get his beloved ones involved in all the dangerous and troublesome adventures, so he rather wanders alone (Gen once called him a desaster magnet; quite fitting, I think).

And what about following Katsuichis path, becoming a teaching mountain hermit? Well, since Katsuichi is still alive, Usagi would have to find himself another mountain....

Seriously, I guess that Usagi does not see himself "good" enough to teach others.

Just my thoughts....

shaxper · Post by **shaxper** » Fri Nov 13, 2009 19:09 -0700

I think your comments are full of insight and are quite helpful to me. The only thing I would add is in response to this portion:

Thomas Froehling wrote: To settle down and lead a peaceful life... we have not seen or heard any tendency in Usagi yet.

Really, the whole reason I've been asking myself this for so long is because of the beginning of "Circles" way back in the day. Usagi outright declares "I'm returning to my village to settle down to a nice, quiet life." As far as I can tell, the only reason he chose not to finally do this was because of Mariko's request. Thus Usagi kept going, but he never seemed to indicate that his desire to settle down had waned (unless I've forgotten something).

I think a part of him does want to settle down. After all, he loves children and families and deplores violence. Maybe he just hasn't found the right place. I'd always assumed the Geishu Province would have been perfect for him, but I wasn't aware of the formal restrictions you'd suggested. Couldn't Usagi just court Tomoe from a proper distance and then marry her when the time was right? They are both of the same class, and neither seems to have parents that would have a say in the manner. Obviously, Lord Noriyuki would, but if he knew Usagi and Tomoe loved each other, I think he would allow it so long as Tomoe's current predicament was cleaned up.

What am I missing?

estee · Post by **estee** » Sat Nov 14, 2009 8:40 -0700

The trouble with a Tomoe/Usagi ship is that they are of different class. She is a noble woman, and when you look at Usagi's family history he is in essence a simple country samurai. Hardly a suitable match, even if he wasn't a Ronin.

Usagi and Chizu have much in common, their current lack of an employer, not withstanding.

Both have similar characters, rather headstrong, and both have an independent streak a mile wide.

I can see them quite clearing living in a nice hut, surrounded by fertile fields, a bunch of kids running around wild, and every now and then their Lord Noriuki comes along to ask of these two intrepid warriors for a "favour only they can do".

As for when Usagi finally settles down...only time and Stan will tell.

shaxper · Post by **shaxper** » Sat Nov 14, 2009 10:29 -0700

estee wrote:The trouble with a Tomoe/Usagi ship is that they are of different class. She is a noble woman, and when you look at Usagi's family history he is in essence a simple country samurai. Hardly a suitable match, even if he wasn't a Ronin.

I thought "Samurai" was a class in itself. Isn't any Samurai suitable for another Samurai?

Usagi and Chizu have much in common, their current lack of an employer, not withstanding.

Both have similar characters, rather headstrong, and both have an independent streak a mile wide.

How similar can they be if Chizu chose to be a ninja in the first place, though? Clearly, her values are not entirely compatible with that lifestyle (just as Usagi's are not totally compatible with that of a Samurai), but they've still adhered to their respective lifestyles in most ways, and you can't find two extremes much more opposite than a Samurai and a ninja.

estee · Post by **estee** » Sat Nov 14, 2009 12:24 -0700

There are levels to everything, there are high-born samurai from rich families and low-born from the rest of the nation and those distinctions have been mentioned several times in Usagi.

Chizu has shown many times that she is quite honourable. On several occasions she has undermined Hikiji's lusts for power (Grasscutter II is the best example), for which she now pays the price by being hunted by her own clan.

Being a ninja doesn't mean she's any less honourable or decent than Usagi. They simply served their masters in different ways. She lived in the shadows and Usagi served in the light. But they served just the same.

Ben · Post by **Ben** » Sat Nov 14, 2009 15:35 -0700

estee wrote:The trouble with a Tomoe/Usagi ship is that they are of different class. She is a noble woman, and when you look at Usagi's family history he is in essence a simple country samurai. Hardly a suitable match, even if he wasn't a Ronin.

Depending on Tomoe's reaction to the news of the wedding arranged without her knowledge, that might change...

estee · Post by **estee** » Sat Nov 14, 2009 16:27 -0700

But then we're back to the driving force of Japanese culture at that time.

And that is obligation.

Obligation to one's duty, to his or her master.

Tomoe would never violate her obligation no matter how reprehensible.

Of course, Usagi, being a Ronin, is free to do what he pleases. If he doesn't like how Tomoe is being treated, well, one can only guess what his reaction will be.