Have you ever imagined yourself as a bunny samurai? Stan Sakai, the brilliant comic book creator, presents us someone who is just like that. Usagi Yojimbo is a Japanese manga series about anthropomorphic animals who wage wars and live as people. It is intertwined with genuine Japanese culture and history. Miyamoto Usagi is the main character of this series, who has strived to become a samurai since he was a child.
As the winner of many Eisner Awards, Stan Sakai creates a feudal Japan and tells the story of this rabbit who is anything but lazy. He carries us into a world full of adventures with a rabbit ronin samurai. There is also a fascinating back story about a real person on whom Usagi’s character is actually based. Well then, without further delay, let us dive right into the video to find out everything about Usagi Yojimbo, from the origin of the main character to its many future tales.
All about Miyamoto Usagi – the primary character of the series
Miyamoto Usagi is the main character of the American comic book series Usagi Yojimbo, which is created by the Japanese-born American comic book creator Stan Sakai. The literal translation of Usagi Yojimbo is Rabbit Bodyguard, and the series follows the story of an anthropomorphic rabbit who is on a warrior’s pilgrimage.
The setting of Usagi Yojimbo is mainly during the start of the Edo period in the history of Japan. Just to give you an overview, the Edo period in Japanese history is marked as the period between 1603 and 1867 when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate, the military government. It was officially established in Edo, which is now known as Tokyo.
Now, the comic book series has actually been published by multiple publishers. Fantagraphics was the first publisher, and they released volume one, which had 38 issues. The second publisher was Mirage Comics, and they published volume two, which had 16 issues. The third publisher where Usagi Yojimbo stayed for a pretty long time was Dark Horse Comics. They reprinted the Fantagraphics and Mirage series, as well as the third volume with over 172 issues. Finally, the fourth is IDW Publishing, which still publishes Usagi Yojimbo.
The story of Miyamoto Usagi began in the village of Mutsu where he was born as the son of the village headman. After growing up, as per custom, Usagi and two of his childhood friends, Kenichi, and Mariko, who are also anthropomorphic rabbits, were sent for training to become samurais in the prestigious Dogora school of bujutsu or arts of war. This is when Usagi’s life takes a different turn.
While they were on their way to the Dogora school of bujutsu, they saw that some of the seniors from their school were attacking an old man who appeared to be traveling alone. As it turned out, this old man wasKatsuichi, an anthropomorphic lion samurai who was a former sensei, that is, a teacher. He was against the school’s orthodox fighting styles and did not find the students worthy enough, so he left the school years ago. Now, when this group of four students attacked him, even though he was alone, he was able to defeat them in a single stroke with his sword in a way that did not seem familiar to anyone.
Usagi, Kenichi, and Mariko were observing this fight. This was when Usagi and Kenichi had a difference of opinion. After watching the Katsuichi fight, Usagi was left absolutely amazed and inspired. However, Kenichi did not find the sensei that interesting. The three friends then parted their ways when Usagi decided to abandon the idea of going to Dogora and went on to pursue Katsuichi instead. At the same time, Kenichi and Mariko followed the path that had been laid down for them.
Now when Usagi approached Katsuichi and requested him to become his sensei, he refused because he thought Usagi was also probably like one of those weak kids. But Usagi was hell-Benton pursuing him, so he decided to stand outside Katsuichi’s house throughout the day and night until the sensei would accept him. The next day when Katsuichi noticed Usagi’s determination, he changed his mind and decided to accept Usagi as his student. As it turns out, he was testing Usagi’s devotion and willpower, and clearly, he passed the test with flying colors.
Usagi’s training began when Katsuichi asked him to gather some firewood. Now, Usagi realized how strict his sensei was after spending six months with Katsuichi. Under his leadership, Usagi’s entire life became a lesson, from his regular walks with Katsuichi to his sword training. Usagi was a dedicated student, but he was sometimes a little too playful.
One time, while going through a battlefield with his sensei, Usagi chose to steal the wakizashi, which is a type of Japanese sword, from the hands of a dying samurai. However, this led to Usagi being haunted by the dead samurai. He started seeing him everywhere he went and had constant nightmares. In fact, he felt as if his sensei was transforming into that samurai at one point.
Eventually, after being consumed with guilt, Usagi went back to the battlefield to return the wakizashi to the dead samurai. Gradually, after four years had passed, Katsuichi could feel that Usagi’s training was coming to an end. He decided to take his pupil to a fencing tournament that was being held at the Dogora school. After reaching the finals, Usagi was destined to face his old friend Kenichi, who had now become the top student at Dogora school.
It was not all that surprising to see that Usagi won the tournament by defeating Kenichi. As a result, he was awarded his own daisho. Daisho basically means two swords that have a matched set of fittings. So, he received his own wakizashi and a katana, which is another type of Japanese sword. His katana is called Yagi no Eda, which means Willow Branch, and his wakizashi is called Aoyagi, which means Young Willow.
This is also the place where Usagi meets his future lord. Lord Mifune went to the tournament to find potential samurai recruits to serve under him. He was so impressed with Usagi’s talent that he hired him as a retainer.Now, before joining Mifune, Usagi visited his village. Both of his friends, Kenichi and Mariko, decided to stay in the village. Eventually, after Usagi’s father’s death, Kenichi would become the village headman and marry Mariko.
However, at present, Usagi and Mariko end up sharing a romantic moment before he leaves the village. This resulted in the birth of his son named Jotaro, but Usagi did not find out about his existence for many years. Under Mifune’s service, Usagi rose through the ranks to become the personal bodyguard for the lord and his family. But one day, something quite drastic happened. A rival lord named Hikiji wanted control over Mifune’s land, so he sent his Neko Ninjas to assassinate Lord Mifune and his family.
Although Mifune survived the assassination attempt, the ninjas were able to kill his wife and only son. Mifune was then consumed with sorrow and rage, and he decided to start a full-scale war on his rival, Lord Hikiji.There came a point when it looked like Mifune would win the battle. But he was betrayed by one of his commanders, Lord Toda, who joined forces with Lord Hikiji in the end.
As a result, Lord Mifune died when a hail of arrows fell on his remaining forces. With a heavy heart, Usagi now had to do one last service for his lord. He severed Mifune’s head from the dead body so that his lord’s head would not be displayed and dishonored on a stake. While he was making his way amidst the sea of enemy warriors, Usagi came face to face with Hikiji himself and decided to engage in a fight.
It resulted in Usagi attaining his signature arched forehead scar, which he will have for the rest of his life. Usagi then fled into the mountains to bury Mifune’s head in a place where no one would ever find it. It gave him some solace to know that he had protected the honor of his lord. Now that Miyamoto Usagi had no lord, he became a ronin, which means a masterless samurai.
Usagi then embarked on a warrior’s pilgrimage, working as a bodyguard for hire. He has met many people and made several new relationships along the way. Some of his new friends are the bold and fierce rhino bounty hunter Murakami Gennosuke, or Gen for short, the young Lord Noriyuki of the Geishu Clan and his beautiful female bodyguard, Tomoe Ame, who is an anthropomorphic cat, the clever fox thief Kitsune, the wonderfully intelligent Inspector Ishida, and the cat kunoichi female ninja named Chizu.
How was the Ronin Rabbit put together?
The brainchild of Stan Sakai in the form of Miyamoto Usagi actually has a pretty great back story to it. The main inspiration behind this character is a real ronin from the early Edo period. Sakai was inspired by the life of the legendary swordsman named Miyamoto Musashi.He was a Japanese swordsman, writer, and ronin who came to fame as a result of tales about his remarkable double-bladed swordsmanship and unbeaten record in his 61 duels.
He is actually regarded as a Kensei, which means a sword saint of Japan, and after retiring from his life as a ronin, he became an artist. He is very well known in Japan due to the books, films, and manga that have been made based on his life. As it turns out, initially, Sakai had no plans to create anthropomorphic animals for the Usagi Yojimbo series. In a conversation with Innovation and Tech Today, he shared that one day he was just casually doodling character designs for his main character and drew a rabbit with his ears tied up in a chonmage, which refers to a samurai topknot.
This idea of a rabbit samurai felt rather unique to Sakai, so he expanded on it and created the world of Usagi Yojimbo. The series perfectly depicts a kind of seriousness with the right amount of humor and dramatics required. So, while entertaining you, it also serves as a representation of Japanese history and culture.
Crossovers with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Since childhood, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been a part of our lives. The creators certainly gave us a wholesome experience when they showed Usagi as an ally of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He has had several crossovers with them in both animation and comics. Usagi made an appearance in Season 3, Episode 32, and Episode 34 of the original 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. However, they have mentioned his name wrong in these episodes. He is referred to as Usagi Yojimbo instead of Miyamoto Usagi.
In this series, he lives in feudal Japan on a parallel Earth where the dominating species are other animals, not humans. His character is voiced by Townsend Coleman. Usagi then makes an appearance in the 2003 series of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In order to help Leonardo, the leader of the group, Usagi appears in the second season. They face several enemies together, and it results in the creation of a great bond between them.
Later on, we also have them fighting as competitors in the Battle Nexus Tournament. Apart from that, he has also helped Leonardo heal and get better after he was poisoned by a dart that was shot by the Ultimate Ninja himself. Here, his character is voiced by Jason Griffith. Ultimately, Usagi also made an appearance in the fifth and last season of the 2012 series of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Here, the turtles have ended up in Usagi’s dimension, which is an alternate reality of Feudal Japan. They help Usagi in protecting a young boy named Kintaro from the wolf demon Jei. Later on, Miyamoto Usagi also helps the turtles in fighting the shape-shifting spirits and giant spiders in a haunted forest of yokai spirits. These creatures have captured Michelangelo and Raphael, and Usagi tries to rescue them by giving the spirits a carrot as a peace offering.
In the episode titled “Kagayake! Kintaro”, Usagi, the Turtles, and Kintaro continue their journey across the icy mountains, where they are attacked by Jei’s snow ninjas. The group is able to defeat the white ninjas, after which they proceed toward the Temple Palace. As it turns out, Jei was already there, and after the team arrived, he once again immediately took the turtles under his mind control. He also grabbedKintaro for the ritual, but he broke free after demonstrating his immense power. Eventually, Usagi kills Jei and tosses him down a cliff.
Netflix series Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles
The story of Miyamoto Usagi gets its first-ever solo cinematic debut with the release of Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles. The series premiered on Netflix on 28th April of this year. Doug and Candie Langdale serve as the showrunners as well as executive producers of the show. Along with Netflix Animation, the production companies also include Atomic Monster Productions, Dark Horse Entertainment, and Gaumont Animation.
The series is not about Miyamoto Usagi but about a descendant of him, and it contains ten episodes. Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles takes place in the future and follow the story of Yuichi Usagi. He is a teenage rabbit, impulsive in nature, loves adventure, and has a faithful tokage, a pet lizard named Spot. Yuichi is a samurai in training who soon embarks on a quest to defend the city of Neo Edo from the evil Kagehito and the Yoki. His character is voiced by the dashing Darren Barnet from the series Never Have I Ever.
The setting of the series is a rich alternate reality of 26th century Japan where we are introduced to a world that combines sci-fi technology with Edo period Japanese designs and obviously anthropomorphic animals. In fact, Yuichi Usagi’s fellow teammates are also all direct descendants of the original heroes of Usagi Yojimbo. These are the bold rhino bounty hunter Gen, the fun-loving fox thief Kitsune, and the serious cat ninja Chizo.
Stan Sakai has always been extremely protective of his masterpiece, even with its crossovers with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. So, naturally, it does not come as a surprise that Sakai approved of every episode, design, and even the voice actors. Throughout the making of the series, his input was always present at every stage. The creators of the show wanted to build something nostalgic which would remind the audience of seeing this character in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But at the same time, they also wanted to bring the comics to life with high-quality action. It is safe to say that they obviously succeeded in achieving their goal.
We also have a rather surprising piece of information for you. This Netflix series is actually not the first time a story has been created about a descendant of Miyamoto’s. Usagi Yojimbo got a space opera spinoff in three miniseries of three issues titled Space Usagi. In this series, the main character is a descendant of Miyamoto Usagi, and his incredible adventures take place among the stars.
Now, doesn’t that also sound worthy of an animated series? Well, we could have almost gotten that series. In fact, a pilot episode had already been produced where the Space Usagi was voiced by the veteran actor Jim Cummings. But it was too good to be true due to the low cost of animation for cartoons during that era. Anyway, at least we now have Yuichi Usagi’s story to satisfy us.
This comic book series about a rabbit bodyguard samurai has won the hearts of many over time, and it still continues to amaze us with new storylines. In Stan Lee’s words, “Usagi Yojimbo is one of the most original, innovative, well-executed comic books anywhere to be found.” Stan Sakai is clearly a genius. Well, guys, that is all for today; we hope you enjoyed watching this video as much as we enjoyed making it for you. Have a fantastic day ahead!