The Real Yojimbo

Usagi · Post by **Usagi** » Tue Mar 30, 2004 20:23 -0700

Well today, I found out "None" of my Friends know who Usagi Yojimbo, was- We were talking about Some Yojimbo Char off Final Fantacy- And I was like "Usagi Yojimbo is a whole lot better cuz he's a Bunny with a sword"- And they were looking at me like im a Mute- and I was about to have a noise Bleed!- ^^ Then I pulled out one of my Mangas' and show'd them who he was, -Now that they know who is is- They Understand the real Yojimbo.........

I hope

takematsu · Post by **takematsu** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 15:49 -0700

They Understand the real Yojimbo

Mifune Toshiro, of course

Actually, a mailing list I subscribe to has been discussing Kurosawa movies and their influence on later films, and someone points out that there is an American detective novel written in the 1920's-30's that has almost exactly the plot of Yojimbo, so maybe Kurosawa was doing a little borrowing of his own....

mhirtes · Post by **mhirtes** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 16:49 -0700

takematsu wrote:
They Understand the real Yojimbo
Mifune Toshiro, of course

Actually, a mailing list I subscribe to has been discussing Kurosawa movies and their influence on later films, and someone points out that there is an American detective novel written in the 1920's-30's that has almost exactly the plot of Yojimbo, so maybe Kurosawa was doing a little borrowing of his own....

Not to mention Bruce Willis' "Last Man Standing", which was a not-too-well-done American adaption of a classic samurai film.

Still, a movie that has Christopher Walken with a Tommy-gun does have some merit. <g>

Usagi · Post by **Usagi** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 17:36 -0700

LoL Well I was being scarcastic about Usagi Yijimbo being the real Yojimbo-

Ohh there were some Heavy borrorwing the those films from Usagi?- Ohhh,. Kinda like Kimba and Simba lol

feihong · Post by **feihong** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 21:10 -0700

Well, the Yojimbo plot is pretty similar to Dashiell Hammet's "Red Harvest," but the Yojimbo character is quite different from Hammet's Continental Op. Kurosawa claims to have thought up the idea one day out of thin air, but then, he did read American crime fiction, so it wouldn't be too surprising if he had read "Red Harvest" and registered it subconsciously. Yojimbo has inspired a ton of remakes; before "Last Man Standing" there was the most blatant steal, master filmmaker Sergio Leone's "A Fistfull of Dollars," which is a carbon copy of Kurosawa's film. Apparently Leone watched "Yojimbo" with his wife and stood up in excitement afterwards and told her, "I could make that movie!" Voila.

Gen seems inspired by the Yojimbo character: his unshaven look, his scratching and generally poor hygiene, the way his noble nature keeps appearing under his down-and-out veneer--all things Gen shares with Kurosawa's yojimbo. There's even a two-part Usagi-and-Gen story called "Showdown" in the "Shrouded Moon" collection that appears to be based on Yojimbo--Gen and Usagi play two warring gangs against one another.

I kind of wonder...Stan says that he is very influenced by films, and he often references the Kurosawa and especially the Inagaki films, but I wonder what other films have inspired him? I was thinking especially of the large amount of horror and monster images that have appeared in Usagi's adventures over the years. I wonder if any of these supernatural stories have been inspired by the vivid films of horror directors like Nobuo Nakagawa or Shiro Toyoda? Or the Tokaido Road Monster films? I remember one Usagi story that featured the umbrella monster, and I instantly thought of the Tokaido Road Monster films. There's also a story in which a ghostly woman enlists Usagi to get revenge when her husband murdered her, which reminded me very much of the Ghost of Yotsuya films (of course, this could be just as readily be inspired by the kabuki play rather than the films).

Usagi · Post by **Usagi** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 22:43 -0700

Hmm......Now thats something I never really botherd to pay attention too at all. Well In my opinion, Insparation can come from anything, Such as Usagi and Disney and Mayazaki inspier me, I mean my storys arnt plazerized by them, dear god no, but like maybe around history or culture wise.- But also that can get some people into truble, like Kimba and Simba

Shugoyasha Jubei · Tue Apr 06, 2004 12:36 -0700

You mean gen the golden hearted? Lol

Usagi · Post by **Usagi** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 13:03 -0700

^^* I dont know whatthat means......

Bluntman · Post by **Bluntman** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 18:53 -0700

I thought it was well known that Kurosawa was a huge fan of detective novels and brought those ideals to Samurai flicks... if that helps anyone's thoughts and speculations.