Usagi Yojimbo Saga, Vol. 2

Usagi Yojimbo [兎用心棒] #11-13

by Stan Sakai

The adventures of Stan Sakai's beloved Miyamoto Usagi hit an early peak in this new deluxe compilation! Volume Two features the rabbit ronin's first encounters with the Lord of Owls, Inspector Ishida, and more, and is highlighted by the Eisner Award-winning Grasscutter, a grand tale assembling nearly all the series' characters in a struggle over the grasscutting sword of Japanese legend, with the fate of the nation in the balance! This signed, limited edition omnibus collects Usagi Yojimbo Book 11: Seasons, Usagi Yojimbo Book 12: Grasscutter, and Usagi Yojimbo Book 13: Grey Shadows.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Adventure, Manga

616 pages, Hardcover

First published March 10, 2015

About the author

Stan Sakai (Japanese: 坂井 スタンSakai Sutan; born May 25, 1953) is an artist who became known as an Eisner Award-winning comic book originator.

Born in Kyoto, Sakai grew up in Hawaii and studied fine arts at the University of Hawaii. He later attended the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. He and his wife, Sharon, presently reside and work in Pasadena.

He began his career by lettering comic books (notably Groo the Wanderer by Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier) and became famous with the production of Usagi Yojimbo, the epic saga of Miyamoto Usagi, a samurai rabbit living in late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth-century Japan. First published in 1984, the comic continues to this day, with Sakai as the lone author and nearly-sole artist (Tom Luth serves as the main colorist on the series, and Sergio Aragonés has made two small contributions to the series: the story "Broken Ritual" is based on an idea by Aragonés, and he served as a guest inker for the black and white version of the story "Return to Adachi Plain" that is featured in the Volume 11 trade paper-back edition of Usagi Yojimbo). He also made a futuristic spin-off series Space Usagi. His favorite movie is Satomi Hakkenden (1959).

Reviews

[Dan Schwent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Usagi Yojimbo Saga Volume 2 continues the saga of Myamoto Usagi, rabbit ronin.

This volume collects numerous Usagi Yojimbo tales, from single issue ghost stories to the multi-issue epic, Grasscutter. As I've said before, it's hard to quantify why I like these stories so much. There's no sex, no gore, no foul language, and the characters are all anthropomorphic animals. However, it's still some of the best stuff going today.

Stan Sakai's minimalist style is very versatile, capable of depicting horror, war, and comedy with equal effectiveness. He achieves great levels of expressiveness with just a few strokes of the pen. His tales blend Japanese history and folklore with his own characters, making for some great stories. This volume introduces Inspector Ishida, a new character that I hope makes a lot of appearances in stories to come. Old favorites like Gen, Tomoe, Lord Noryuki, and Jei make appearances. Hell, all of them appear in Grasscutter, along with many others.

Grasscutter, the epic tale of a sword handed down by gods, is quite a tale, blending history, mythology, and action. It isn't, however, my favorite. That honor belongs to the Hairpin Murders, the tale that introduces Inspector Ishida. The ghost stories are also quite good. Hell, I'm convinced Stan Sakai could make hay with anything at this point.

Usagi Yojimbo Saga Volume 2 is a great book in a series of great books. Four out of five stars.

[Diz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This omnibus collection contains one of my favorite Usagi Yojimbo stories, Grasscutter. Grasscutter refers to one of the three Japanese Imperial Regalia, the legendary sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi. This follows the story told in The Take of the Heike, which says that the sword was lost at the Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185. In this Usagi story, there is a hunt to recover the sword by a group of conspirators who wish to overthrow the Shogun. The story combines myth, legend, and history to weave a story of intrigue and conspiracy with Usagi in the middle of it all. It's well worth picking up this volume to read that story.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

A set of fantastic stories. This collection is something of a showcase of the various types of stories Stan Sakai does with Usagi Yojimbo. Typically Sakai sticks with single issue stories of feudal Japan, sometimes dealing with politics, often involving bandits, occasionally the supernatural. The middle volume, Grasshopper, is an epic, 10 issue story about the lost sword of the Emperor. It brings back most of the reoccurring characters from the past, stealthy building off several past plotlines from previous one off stories. The last third of the book is back to one off stories. Inspector Ishida is introduced, bringing the mystery genre into Usagi Yojimbo. He's my favorite supporting cast member. Whenever he appears you know Usagi is going to be assisting the inspector with a mystery.

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Refreshing and wholesome storytelling. Highlights were the demon flute and uncle Usagi reading to kids at the orphanage
💙💙💙💙💙

[Adam M · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is sort of the best of Stan Sakai in one volume. There are some great shorter stories that fill out the world of Usagi, but then there are larger stories, like Grasscutter, which have an epic feel to them. There are some great, poignant moments in this volume, as well as smaller, sillier jokes to help balance out the whole thing. It really is a wonderful read, cover to cover.

[Kyle Dinges · Rating 5 out of 5]

Usagi Yojimbo is always excellent! Which isn't to say that it's always at it's best. Sakai's epic is consistently entertaining, but it has its peaks, like any other story.

I found some of the stories in Saga Vol. 2 to be some of those aforementioned peaks. The "Grasscutter" saga is the best of Usagi since "The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy" and I think the second-best of the series so far. Sakai has a knack for pacing, in the macro and micro sense. He does a good job of pacing individual stories and the majority of Usagi Yojimbo is made up of one or two off stories. There's a narrative through-line and recurring characters, but most of them don't span 5 or 6 issues like you often see in comics.

Because of that structure, when Sakai does choose to go for longer arcs, it makes them more impactful. Grasscutter is one of those stories. It stretches 8 issues, plus about 2 issues worth of prologue, as well. It's an incredible example of what Sakai does best. Characters and plot ideas are seeded slowly, then swell to a remarkable climax. It's a masterclass in comics.

Grasscutter is bookended in this omnibus by two other solid volumes. They are more in line with the one-shot approach that Sakai typically takes. They certainly don't reach the same heights, but are perfectly good Usagi stories.

Usagi Yojimbo deserves to be mentioned with the best comics series out there. This collection has one of my favorite sagas from the series so far, and I can't recommend it enough.

[Michael Emond · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book carries on the wonderful tales of the Samurai rabbit. Like the last book you don't need to read previous volumes to understand these stories. This book has a more epic feel to it than the last volume and we have complete stories that last hundreds of pages and intertwine characters and their individual stories. Grasscutter - a tale of a lost sword that could restore power to the Emperor - is one that will stay with me for quite a while. But I also loved the end tales with Inspector Ishida that all tied together. Stan is a wonderful storyteller in his art and words. You can feel his attention to detail of ancient Japan and you can see the love he brings to making these cartoon animals have full vibrant personalities.
My one complaint of this volume is - the heavy use of magic (I feel) takes away from the story at times. It feels so well grounded in reality, when magic comes in and plays such a big role (like Grasscutter) it took me out of the story.
I can't believe it took me so long to get into this series but I am happy I found it now. I think seeing a cartoon samurai I thought "silly comedy" but now I know it is a tale of a samurai and it just happens to be drawn with animal figures instead of human ones. Highly recommended.

[Luke Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having the Grasscutter saga, which I always see spoken about online as some of the best of Usagi, contained in only the second Saga collection is great. All the stories in this book are really enjoyable but the Grasscutter definitely has that reputation for a reason. It spans so many genres from creation myth to historical and political thriller, and none of it feels rushed or out of place.
I feel like the benefit of the Saga books is so clear when you get to read the essays spread throughout, from people in the comics industry who are fans of the series to Stan Sakai himself talking about his process it’s all so interesting.

[Baylor Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just when I began to get a little bored with one separate story after another, this book features a multi-chapter story-arc (Grasscutter) that brilliantly strings all the loose ends and characters from separate stories into a giant epic. Stan Sakai is a master.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I made the switch from the individual volumes to the phonebook collections once I found out they existed. The quality of these stories never wavers. Well-researched and very enjoyable.

[Przemysław Skoczyński · Rating 5 out of 5]

O ile przy części pierwszej tego integrala jeszcze trochę nie rozumiałem aż tak wysokich ocen, to tu muszę odszczekać. Przede wszystkim powala "Ostrze Bogów". Historia poskładana z pozornie niepowiązanych motywów tak się fantastycznie z każdą chwilą rozwija, jest tak przemyślana i świetnie rozpisana, że należy się wielki szacunek. Rzecz kompletna.

[Wouter Dhondt · Rating 5 out of 5]

The grasscutter story deserves all the accolades. The other stories are great reads as well. The best Usagi Yojimbo I’ve read at this point.

[Scotty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing stories and artwork. I'm hooked!

[James Devore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even better than the first. Gahhh it’s really good!!

[Highland G · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book felt a lot more tied to historical events and less fun in some ways. Still enjoyable and I would read again.

[Scott Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was incredible! Stan provides a tremendous depth of character and feeling through the mixed simplicity and depth of his art work with the simpler anthropomorphic animal figures and often super-detailed backgrounds and ornamental detail. And the stories! I've always loved mythology, folktale, etc. and Stan's embrace of both with Usagi creates stories that feel familiar in their most general stylings--the wandering hero, etc.--and so deliciously other and unique in their specifics as I grow more familiar with the specifically Japanese context in which these myths work. I particularly loved "Grasscutter" as epic a mythic fantasy as I've encountered in any genre and beautifully told and drawn. The development of Inspector Ishiga adds a nice twist as well, as it's the first character in these Dark Horse Usagi Yojimbo Saga collections (I've not been able to find the earlier, per-Dark Horse collections around here, unfortunately :( ), that falls in between the samurai and peasant classes to get any attention. Also, he makes a fun detective figure and puts a different twist/feel on the arcs in which he's featured.

[Andreas Sekeris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to explain why I love Usagi stories so much and especially this collection but I'll try. First of all you're grabbed by the classic nature of Japanese history, how samurais serve specific clans and that battle isn't simple and clean, but messy and confusing. The fight scenes make you tense, and are easy to follow for the eye in imagining what happened in between panels.

Then there's the reflection of day-to-day life, a Ronin trying to do the right thing by his code. Each character you meet is well realised, motivations easily understood and the interactions and plots flow from that, often in sad ways. There's also room to explore legends and bring them to life as often the legends are about certain characters conflicting. Integrating them feels natural, interesting and exciting.

This collection specifically had stories that were beautiful in themselves. Then when you found out a while later the way they connect each other, you do what I do which is feel foolish shedding a few tears on a packed train.

Awesome book, already borrowed the third from the library.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some more great adventures of the wondering samurai rabbit. The saga story of Grasscutter was about half the book but it was a good one (did have that creepy character Jei though. He really freaks me out but I think that is the point). There are also some really beautiful stories as well as funny so I am looking forward to the next Usagi Yojimbo Saga. Book 3 here I come.

[Adam Spanos · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of 3 long out of print Usagi Yojimbo books. And the originals are hard/expensive to get on the use book market. If you are new to the samurai rabbit series or you don't have the books Seasons, Grasscutter and Grey Shadows then all means consider this rating to be 5 stars. But if you already have the 3 books then the little added material isn't worth the price of book.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Containing Grasscutter and many poignant or funny little vignettes, this collected volume shows how much the comic grew from its origins.

[Ryan B · Rating 4 out of 5]

High quality storytelling across the tome
Grasscutter & Inspector Ishida
Usagi's body count remains high

[Nicholas Driscoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

I still really enjoy this series. This volume is a collection of three particular volumes and includes the hugely celebrated (I think Eisner award winning) story Grasscutter, which was Sakai's longest story yet, and explores a lot of mythology. It's a cool story, and I really enjoyed that the story included Shimonoseki and the story of the battle that happened there. Given that I lived in Shimonoseki before, and I am planning to move back soon, I love that was included.

Also the inclusion of Inspector Ishida added a lot. I don't think the Ishida stories are extremely clever as far as detective stories go, but they are tons of fun--I especially thought it was interesting hearing about the bizarre way that swords are tested. The introduction material indicated that Ishida speaks like Charlie Chan, but I didn't think that was really true.

Will Eisner writes an intro to Grasscutter and comes across as an elitist jerk, looking down his nose at manga and really most comics. Really turned me off. I didn't really like how Inazuma was ultimately treated (come on), though.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this volume too, and look forward to more.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe it is just reading a larger volume all at once, but I like this volume more than I have many of the previous ones. There are some one off adventures, but many of the plot lines continue and intersect with one another throughout this book which make it more cohesive and more enjoyable. The addition of Inspector Ishida is great, he is one of few other idealistic lawful good characters in the series, and justifies Usagi's continued involvement in what would be unrealistically connected random events.

There also seems to be less fighting and more discussion, which is probably for the best. The sword fighting duels get old, there are only so many ways to draw the swishing blades and blurred attacks. And I've always appreciated how Sakai made the one on one duels nearly instant, a single blow and it's over which is really how these battles went.

Speaking of, I can't remember the last comic I read that had a bibliography section at the end. For a children/young adult series about a samurai rabbit, it is incredibly well researched and accurate.

[Pranay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant collection of Usagi's adventure stories. Stan Sakai masterfully transports the reader to the 16th century era where the stories are set.

This volume contains the epic samurai saga of "The Grasscutter" which is brilliantly written and paced. In this story, Usagi also faces off against his nemises Jei which is indeed epic. There are other shorter stories where Usagi tries to solve the Hairpin Murders with Inspector Ishida and other murders in Tameshigiri. The end of the book contains the colour covers which are beautiful. I would have loved it for the series to be in colour however the black and white has its own charm as well.

Happy reading.

[Malcolm Fraser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark Horse do a really great job with these massive Saga collections. 650+ pages of one banger after another, in a really solid binding with a cover gallery and a handful of behind the scenes pages at the end. Solid. Really good value for money too.

I tend to think of Usagi as an endless parade of one-and-done stories. Like a long-running TV show. But this collection bucks the trend by including Grasscutter, one of the best-known long storylines. I was also taken by surprise when a character from a previous story reappeared in Grasscutter. Maybe I need to update how I think about these books...

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second volume of this amazing omnibus collection! Like volume 1, the messages in the book add something to the entire book. Will Eisner, Lynn Johnston, Max Allan Collins. One of the ultra cool other pieces is at the end of the book Stan Sakai includes story notes and I always believe these things bring a new level of richness to a book in which stands tall on it's own but taller when you get that peak behind the curtain from the creator. The characters are amazing, and the story is fun. I absolutely love the fight sequences and feel that there is a perfect balance of story, action, loyalty and love. This book almost touches 700 pages and gives some great moments in the Usagi universe!

[Dave H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely pleasant and great fun! The mix of adventure, mystery, and Japanese history and mythology is just perfect. And if you are a fan of the Star Wars movies, this is about as close as you can get to the feel of Star Wars.

This is a giant book and the whole collection is great. Usagi Yojimbo is one of the great comics, one of the few comics you should read even if you don't usually spend time with comic books.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, this one would have been four stars if it weren’t for the longer stories in it. The short ones were entertaining, but the longer ones were just amazing.

The mythology and story of Grasscutter was awesome and paired with the intertwined stories of so many all-star cast members was fantastic.

Inspector Ishida is an awesome character unlike any that has been featured thus far and the transition to detective mystery was a fun change of pace.

Overall, a top tier volume!

[Bernardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sólo por la inclusión de Grasscutter este recopilatorio se merece 4 estrellas. Pero, además de ello están los misterios del Inspector Ishida, así como la historia de la Cortesana, que también considero inigualables. Maestría narrativa en su tope máximo. ¡Y es apenas el segundo volumen!, qué alegría haber descubierto a Usagi y poder difrutarlo.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume Two of Usagi Yojimbo Saga contains a diverse set of stories. There are the wry, tongue-in-cheek stories that end with a twist and a smirk; contemplative, reverent stories about life; riddle-solving, police-detective stories; supernatural ghost-hunts; political intrigues amidst the lords and their retainers; and the blend of mythology and historical-based epic that spans the equivalent of over a half-dozen issues. And sometimes the line between these molds is blurred. The pacing of the stories throughout the entirety of the volume is so expert, the that it surprising to realize that all of it was original told in monthly installments.

Throughout the adventures, Miyamoto Usagi is the epitome of a hero. He holds himself to the highest definition of honor and rightness in his actions. He shows immense patience before resorting to force. He protects those weaker and less fortunate; he eschews the company of vulgar and mean characters. Stan Sakai draws and writes an fulfilling adventure with an aspirational main character—the perfect escape for a reader.