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USAGI YOJIMBO LETTERS COLUMN
Send comments to: Usagi Yojimbo ~ Letters Column c/o Dark Horse Comics
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STORY NOTES The use of a kagemusha was not unheard of in feudal Japan. The most famous double was used by Takeda Shingen (1521-‘73), one of the three major lords during the “time of warring states.” On his deathbed, Takeda had recommended that his death be kept a secret for three years. The clan kept up the deception for two years, by employing an impersonator and by a series of brilliant Shingen-like military campaigns by Takeda’s son and brother. The 1980 Akira Kurosawa film Kagemusha was inspired by this impersonator. Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu had formed an alliance against the Takeda clan. A condemned criminal is found to have an astonishing resemblance to Shingen and is hired as an impersonator when the great lord is shot by a sniper and dies. The ex-thief must not only deceive the enemy, but also his own armies, family, and wives. After he is thrown from his horse, the “lord” is examined for injuries and it is discovered that he does not have the familiar scars. The secret is out, and there is no more need for pretense. The imposter is dismissed, and Shingen’s son, Katsuyori, becomes leader of the clan. He orders an attack against Oda and Tokugawa that ends in disaster. The thief is drawn to the battlefield where he picks up a fallen banner, advances upon the enemy, and is shot. He sees the clan flag floating upon the river, tries to reach it, and dies. |
Dear Stan:
“Fathers and Sons” may not have paired Jotaro with the one youngster whom I want him most to meet (Genta of “The Silk Fair,” or “Genta the Samurai,” to be precise), but it did do the next best thing: It introduced him to Gorogoro, The son of the Lone Goat assassin. While the Kid’s not very talkative, his expressions and body language made him easily understood, and it was great to see the two boys meet and deal with the pressing problem of the wounded Lone Goat.
It was especially smart to give us a Lone Goat who’s not much use at the moment. While his skill in defending himself against the reward-seekers remained unmatched, he had his limits, and he fell before a well-placed arrow. This meant that while the strengths of the “Fathers” were well represented in him, and in Usagi, who battled the nasty Neneki (for what it’s worth, Neneki put me in mind of Gollum: I know a little about your taste in detective fiction, Stan, but I don’t know if you have an opinion on Tolkien. If you do, are you with my old French teacher, who thought that all hobbits should be exterminated, or with C.S. Lewis, who revered Lord of the Rings?), it was the “Sons” who really made the first chapter of the sequence a winner. Jotaro and Gorogoro played off each other well: both knew what they could do under the circumstances, and both knew when they had reached their limits. While I think Jotaro is a little abler than Gorogoro, the Kid’s single-parent upbringing has made him a sharper student warrior than anyone under Katsuichi’s tutelage.
Notwithstanding the writing, Stan’s visuals were even better. Perhaps given the silence of Gorogoro, it was natural that so much of the action should unfold without dialogue, and these quiet moments were among the best parts of the story.
First-class scripting, powerhouse illustrating...who could ask for anything more?
Well, I could - when I don’t read new comics I read old ones, and I found several examples of Tom Luth’s coloring inside (gasp!) A comic book, in Eclipse’s Crossfire. What I saw in them I liked as much as what I see from Tom on Usagi’s covers, and I hope that someday, somewhere, he’ll go inside again. [Charles, you obviously haven’t been checking out Sergio Aragonés’ Groo which is painstakingly colored inside, and out, by Tom! Not to Mention lettered by Stan! - Diana] Until then, I was more than content with the colors he employed in the scene of the two sons defying the world. If you can’t get him inside something at Dark Horse, please keep him on the cover as long as possible.
Looking at the back cover photograph, I can only conclude that Stan Sakai is very fortunate to have a wife as beautiful as Sharon, as we readers are very fortunate that Stan produces a comic book such as Usagi Yojimbo. The National Cartoonists Society certainly picked a worthy recipient for their Comic Book Division award.
Charles J. Sperling
37-15 Parsons Blvd. #4C
Flushing, NY 11354
P.S. The five male characters I’d like to see again: Stray Dog, Gen, Genta the Samurai, Lord Noriyuki, and Kenichi. The five female characters I’d like to see again: Tomoe Ame, Chizu, Kitsuné, Mariko, and Inazuma.
I’m a fan of both Lord of the Rings and C.S. Lewis. Reading The Hobbit and LOTR was an annual habit for quite a while. Sharon tells me that I would not go out with her until she had read those books (though I don’t believe her).
The next story arc will be called “Glimpses of Death” and will feature many of Usagi’s supporting characters in short stories. I’ve been taking a poll on the website’s discussion board, and Tomoe and Inspector Ishida seem to be favorites. I’ll keep your list in mind as I’m thinking up more stories.
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Usagi Yojimbo, including all prominent characters featured in the stories and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of Stan Sakai and Usagi Studios. Usagi Yojimbo is a registered trademark of Stan Sakai. Names, characters, places, and incidents featured in this publication either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events, institutions, or locales, without satiric content, is coincidental.