Usagi Yojimbo DojoBoard

"Tamago" is a great story, much fun! Really liked Usagi's attempt to talk to Jotaro about Mariko and Kenichi. That was well handled. When the time comes, I don't think Usagi will tell Jotaro the truth. It would only cause more complications and grief for the whole family. And Kenichi is the only father Jotaro has ever known. Liked the kid's anger at the charcoal gatherers, they were funny. He DOES have his father's impulsiveness! Priest Tamago's quotations about Zen were a nice touch, very authentic-feeling. Liked the bandit they captured, too. You can't really hate the guy, he's just doing what many ex-samurai did to survive. The priest's decency and the merchant's anger are a good contrast. I'm not giving ANYTHING else away, but the ending was a bit of a surprise for me. I had a suspicion that maybe things weren't as they seemed...Oh, and great cover, both front and back, Usagi looking very intense and official, purifying his blade. Can't wait for the next issue, Young Usagi vs. the Tengu of the western Mountain!

*****SPOILER WARNING**********


This particular issue came out last week, but if you haven't read it you might want to do so before reading on.

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That old guy at the end, the head of Koroshi, the League of Assassins, was originally supposed to be played by that mysterious old priest at the beginning of The Lord of Owls. In the original story, he would try to recruit Usagi to be one of his killers. However, the story has changed and I decided to create a new character for the League's leader.

I'll find another use for that old priest someday.

BTW, those Zen quotes are authentic, being lifted from a couple of sources. They seemed appropriate.

I was surprised by issue 64. I was looking forward for #65 and #66 (the preview at DarkHorse looks awesome!) and I didn't pay much attention to issue 64, but when I read it, I was gladly surprised for the quality of the story, specially the ending. It was great! Could we expect a larger story arc from it, like a conspiration or something?

I had some questions in mind:

*************SPOILER ALERT!!******************
(don't read this message if you haven't read #64 yet!)






Who tried to kill Usagi in Demon Mask? The little star points out to the 14th book but I did not see any Koroshi agents in that book. Am I missing anything? Or maybe I got the thing all wrong? Will we see anytime soon anything else about koroshi or this story arc? I really enjoy these kind of stories which have an open ending like Tamago...

ziritrion wrote: *************SPOILER ALERT!!******************
(don't read this message if you haven't read #64 yet!)






Who tried to kill Usagi in Demon Mask? The little star points out to the 14th book but I did not see any Koroshi agents in that book. Am I missing anything? Or maybe I got the thing all wrong? Will we see anytime soon anything else about koroshi or this story arc? I really enjoy these kind of stories which have an open ending like Tamago...

I believe they were referring to the asassin that gave Usagi the paper crane at the inn. It's one of the last stories in Demon Mask and I believe it's called Tsuru, which is the japanese word for crane.

Yup, you're right, it was on Tsuru... I read that one on the Dark Horse webpage first, and I really didn't think it belonged to the UY story-line at all... So I didn't even think of it . Oh well, thanks for the info .

I am not sure if I like Tamago or not. I do really like the way Stan made him authentic to the Buddhist tradition. Not only did the quotes come out authentic, but so was his persona! Excellent job Stan!

4NT wrote:I am not sure if I like Tamago or not. I do really like the way Stan made him authentic to the Buddhist tradition. Not only did the quotes come out authentic, but so was his persona! Excellent job Stan!

That is why I like Asian art (stories and culture) so much: They are never flat and one-dimension like the many things which we have. All people in these stories always have a bad and a good side. There is seldom a "hero"; they all struggle through life and make their decisions and mistakes.

When I came out of Batman, I thought "hey, cool effects. Could have been a great movie if Battie hadn't played like Terminator."

When I came out of Hidden Tiger, Crouching Dragon, I thought "Whow". That film moved me.

CTHD was indeed an awesome flick.

Another foreign movie that I consider one of the best most recents was out of France.... Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le Pacte de Lupes -?). If you haven't seen it, check out out. Great martial arts action and a cool play on one of my most favorite legends.

If you enjoyed "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (and any kind of martial arts movie with some sort of backround story on it) and you also happen to like Jet Li ("Romeo must die", "Kiss of the Dragon", "The One", "Lethal Weapon 4", etc.), then you should watch "Hero", an upcoming Chinese movie which is the favourite for winning the Oscar to the best foreign film. I'm looking forward to see it as soon as it's avaiable on theaters here in Spain...

P.S.: By the way, this should be post #999 !! Who will be the 1000th poster? Is there any prize or anything? Oh well, if anyody was to answer this question then it would become the 1000th post...

Crouching Tiger is still one of my favorites! I have not seen Brotherhood of the Wolf, but I have not heard anything other than it was an awesome film. I will have to check it out.

To Digulla's comment, I too enjoy Asian art and stories for exacly the same reasons. The depth alone keeps me running back for more!

ziritrion wrote:P.S.: By the way, this should be post #999 !! Who will be the 1000th poster? Is there any prize or anything? Oh well, if anyody was to answer this question then it would become the 1000th post...

Well, something strange is going on... Post #1000 (ie. the post with the ID 1000) is by me: http://usagiyojimbo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1000#1000

But the counting seems to start with the ID 8, so 4NT is the actual winner: http://usagiyojimbo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1008#1008

Congratulations 4NT, you can be proud!

Woo Hoo!

I'd like to think my mom and dad for .... uh just because, and Stan for uh.. making such a cool comic....


Pretty neat I guess in some sort of cool semi-significant way.


Thanks Digulla!

If you liked "Crouching tiger"...check out "Iron Monkey". It's a chinese version of "Zorro". The fight scenes are amazing!

Robert Wetherelt wrote:check out "Iron Monkey". It's a chinese version of "Zorro". The fight scenes are amazing!

Iron Monkey is a great fun film. It has a lot of wire stunts, though--if you're not into that sort of thing. But stay clear of Iron Monkey 2.

Robert Wetherelt wrote:check out "Iron Monkey". It's a chinese version of "Zorro". The fight scenes are amazing!

Compared to Crouching Tiger this film was unwatchable. Very unhappy.