Usagi Yojimbo DojoBoard

I ran across this message posted on the The Superhero Hype! Boards

Aztec wrote:Peter Laird, in the most recent issue of TMNT, advocated Usagi fans to write to 4Kids about creating a spin-off show. Personally I think an Usagi spin-off would be an awesome idea. It would certainly have a built in audience; all TMNT fans would watch it. An TMNT/Usagi hour would rock!

I just thought that sounded really cool of Peter Laird to suggest Usagi fans contact 4Kids cocerning a Usagi Yojimbo animated series.

Any chance one of the Dojo members who is a Usagi / TMNT fan being able to transcribe or scan Peter Laird's actual statement from the comic?

Abayo.....

Well... paradoxically, I don't like too much the idea of an Usagi animated series.

I can't imagine it being broadcast early on morning, between Dora the Explorer and Totally Spies, just like any stupid Saturday morning cartoon. I find it inappropriate.

(God, every time I see Totally Spies on TV, I'm ashamed of being French. 'cause it's French, didn't you know ?)

I'll have to shoot down Pete's suggestion. Personally I would not want to see an Usagi cartoon series done in the same vein as the TMNT series, even the newer one. It's cool having Usagi on as a guest appearance for fun and all, and I bet it really helps getting new readers on board, but to see Usagi reduced to a children's cartoon...no way. If it can't be done right, then it shouldn't be done at all. By "right" I mean Stan would have to have full creative control over each and every episode...it would not be geared towards children only, but set up for a more mature audience (even though UY is a general audience book, it has a mature tone, as do many contemporary comics these days, even those geared for a wide audience). In other words, it would need to be exactly like the comic, but in animated form. In the comics industry, mature comics are mainstream. In the world of kid's cartoons, it's all about drawing the kids to the tube, toy-and cereal tie-ins, and most of all, money. Today's kids cartoons are geared for tots, bottom line. I'm thinking more along the lines of an anime series. Maybe something more in alignment with some of the Adult Swim stuff on cartoon network, or better yet, an OAV series on DVD. Studio Ghibli could do the animation, and.... hey.... didn't we discuss this before?

I was just commenting on the posted message concerning Peter Laird's advocacy in the most recent issue of TMNT.

It has been a loooong time since I watched a cartoon series on any type of regular basis, with the infrequent episodes of The Simpsons, King of the Hill, and Family Guy being the only real exceptions.

I did make a point of trying to catch the Usagi appearences on the New TMNT show, but I missed the Tourist episodes. A series of animated features would be nice alternative to a ongoing TV series.

Abayo....

I'd love to see it as a cartoon. Even though ideally, I'd like something as close to the comic as possible, which I don't see a company like 4Kids doing. They have their hands full enough with pronoucing Gen's name right. But let me be honest. If one was done, watered-down or not, I'd be watching it to death. I have every Turtles ep with Usagi in it except the Mikey X-mas episode, and I watch them all the time.

What about a Space Usagi series? One was pretty close, wasn't it? And it would be freer to make its own mythology than a regular Usagi series.

A series of animated features would be nice alternative to a ongoing TV series.

That's a great idea. Or a miniseries.

I agree with both sides of the arguement here but my kids LOVE Usagi and Gen from the "Big Brawl" episodes and now are interested in Daddy's books. With all the "mature" junk being printed by the big two I will actually let them eventually read the Usagi comics. Not only is it very entertaining but factually very interesting. At least they can learn something. I kind of lean toward getting as many new readers as possible to help support the book and Stan's fantastic stories. If it hadn't been for the TMNT eps then my kids might not have gotten hooked. How many other little kids out there actually know who Gen and Usagi are? These shows would help and we adults can enjoy the awesome stories in the comics and then pass them on to a new generation.

Yeah, Battle Nexus and a Real World were very cool ! and some more episodes with Usagi as guest would be enjoyable.

Fort its own serie, i would more see Usagi in OAV (short serie) and of course we won't see that but i would have really liked to see it in a Dark Crystal like puppet movie...

there were this topic about Usagi in anime and CGI film :
http://usagiyojimbo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1961

Usagi in animation? For sure. But done in an adult manga style that's mostly suitable for a 15 or 18 rating here in the UK (or R in the US). Unlike TMNT, it's hard to get away from death in Usagi, no matter how you'd try to sanitise it. So you can't go that route, even though the new TMNT cartoon is a lot more adult than the old one.

I'd like to see some serious, highly professional full-length Usagi animated features done, but not an afterschool kids cartoon. Usagi hits levels of both maturity and innocence that are off the radar for that kind of audience. Plus, an animated version of Usagi should pay just as careful attention to visuals, scenery, and space usage as Stan does. I wouldn't expect that level of art from 4kids.

All the same, it is awesome that Laird is pushing for this.

1) I'd love to watch UY show.
2) I'm not sure if I want to watch it done in a "new TMNT" way, tho'.

Mayhem, why do you wish an " adult manga style" ? I don't really understand. Usagi is indeed better suited for a mature audience, but it doesn't mean that the design should be changed, does it ?

There's a problem with TMNT, too : an Usagi cartoon shouldn't supersede the comic books. Remember how the 1987 TMNT series, with its light-hearted and quite childish tone, superseded the original comics.

I should rephrase that really... I meant done in the style like how adult manga is handled, not actually change the art TO manga

The problem is that still in many peoples' eyes, cartoons/animation = for children, which is why even as recently as South Park, people were shocked that oh my god, there's cartoons out there not suitable for children outcry.

So my point was to make the animation sophicated enough in its style and content that is mature to stand on its own and carry the Usagi story without having to fend off the above opinion. Much anime that makes it to the West (especially Studio Ghibli) today is starting to be understood as being for all ages, in the same way that Pixar have tried angling their product (though the styles of both are of course completely different, I wouldn't want Usagi done in the Pixar way!).

Of course there's also plenty of adult only manga as well. It's just my opinion that a Usagi animation would benefit more from following what needs to be done to get it made and "authentic", as opposed to making concessions for a possible lower age rating. If that means a higher age rating, then so be it. More for the possible violence than anything else, the storylines are mature enough on their own that younger viewers could still appreciate them.

I agree with this. I like the reference to Studio Ghibli... You could also think of more "excentric", darker looks and styles of animation, like Ralph Bakshi's Wizards, René Laloux's The fantastic planet (La planète sauvage, en français).

I'd like to see how it would fit with Usagi's universe, really !

Akira "broke" anime to the mass market in the West (although I had been watching a few series prior to this, and I bet most people watched Battle of the Planets without realising then it was anime) but it has taken quite a while for that impetus to be carried further. Studio Ghibli do seem to be one of the more successful makers to gain success in the West.

Mayhem wrote:Akira "broke" anime to the mass market in the West (although I had been watching a few series prior to this, and I bet most people watched Battle of the Planets without realising then it was anime)

To be fair, Voltron, Robotech, Tranzor Z, and Thundercats (not anime, but done with a heavy anime influece) were also prepping the young generation for the later coming of anime. Though the young viewers had no idea that they were being exposed to a new style of animation, they were more open to it when it finally broke into the American market as a result of watching these shows.