Usagi Yojimbo DojoBoard

Mixmaster: Obviously, you have lots of fans and now, what, 5 million followers on Facebook. And you've been going to conventions for decades and meeting and interacting with those fans. I'm curious, what are you a fan of? Are there any TV series or shows, artists or comic books or graphic novels that you are passionate about, or that you follow?

George Takei: When I was a kid, I was into comic books, but the pull of career and life, you know, got me away from comic books. But I was a chairman of the board of the Japanese American National Museum, which we founded, and our curator at the time recommended Stan Sakai. I knew nothing about him and his Usagi Yojimbo. It was a sensational discovery, because when I was a teenager I had seen Yojimbo, the Akira Kurosawa film. A classic movie, and I was absolutely transported by that. And here's this idea that he came up with to put a rabbit as a yojimbo, a lone vagabond warrior who comes to the aid of the oppressed. What a whimsical idea. And then to place that story into a well-researched, authentic 17th century feudal Japan. There is a smell of authenticity about the stories.

When I was a kid listening to the radio -- I'm of the radio generation -- Lone Ranger and Cisco Kid and Red Ryder were my heroes, and there is that good guy and the bad guy idea, and that idea is universal and by Stan placing Usagi Yojimbo so specifically, and so authentically in 17th century Japan -- that story becomes universal. And that's why [Usagi Yojimbo] is enjoyed in Latin America and Europe and, certainly, in Asia. He is a universal character. And I think [Sakai] is a classic contributor to this world of fandom. I am a fan of Stan Sakai.