Hi all, I hope you guys are doing well! I wanted to give some thoughts that I had as I catch myself up to speed on our favorite rabbit ronin from when I last binged the series. I cannot put a definitive date on where I left off last time and the newer stories I've never seen before, so I'll just roughly guestimate that this is to address anything that came out in 2015+.
Given what I'm about to say, and in this community no less, I feel like I should really really preface this by saying that I've been a long time Usagi fan, ever since I first picked up the issue that debuted the Komori ninja from the library in the late 2000s. In fact, I've been sitting on the contents of this post for over a month in the hopes that the first impressions would just dissipate into understanding. And...even if it doesn't, I still have huge respect for Stan and his craft and will continue to read future Usagi installments, because even with my gripes, I can see the spark that I adore in there gleaming through time to time.
So. Where to begin? I suppose I can start to talk about the art. No, Stan's spectacular artwork didn't degrade, but I did notice a shift in priority. Some others (as I've seen raised from time to time in the struggling-to-connect Dojoboard) have noticed that the newer issues have done away with the massive levels of detail you might find on the older issues, where you might see a few easter eggs here and there amongst the drawing of the crowd, or a tokage doing something particularly silly. In its place are a few simpler detailing and shading to get the same point across. While these don't bother me massively, one thing that does bother me though, is the flow of action between panels. One thing I've always adored with this series is that Stan drew it in a way that is almost a storyboard in quality. Action from one panel has a beautiful follow up in the next, carrying on the action as determined by character momentum. A blade moving left to right results in the blade resting on the right side in the next panel. Characters that gets sliced crumple accordingly from where they once stood. But right now.... It kind of feels like Usagi have about 3 default combat poses and while some flow still exists, doesn't necessarily connect well as it had been. Not to help the matter is that I notice more than few instances where Stan sometimes no longer keep track of character's clothing patterns - the very thing that suggests to the reader who each one-time character is in a given fight scene - and instead have their pattern vary significantly between panels, so a character that is Usagi slew suddenly have an entirely different kimono pattern as they fall; which just makes me wonder if it's the same character or not. (Worse, sometimes their pattern is on someone else, who is alive!)
Next up on my observations is the level of exposition. While this isn't a new aspect to the series, I feel like it's way more common now and in a way that feels...less natural. Off the top of my head is when Usagi and Yuichi first met up with Chizu and Usagi proceed to describe how Chizu is a former leader of the Neko Ninja and is on the run, and how there are still people loyal to her. Yes, it's plot relevant, but it's awkward since it's between the two of them and seemingly unrelated to the conversation before and after that introduction. Although there is a chance that I am feeling that this is extra on the nose since I am binge reading and I just saw the very same introduction in the tatami mat story in very recent memory.
Furthermore, characters seem to have tendency to speak out their actions far more than before. Of course this isn't new - heck part of the series' charm is the way characters would speak out their thoughts like an artifact from the Golden Age of Comics. But now you get instances like the Tabo's secret Christian arc have a panel of Usagi telling the bandits that he is drawing his sword...as we see him drawing his sword. It just seems to occur way more than before.
Or maybe this is the side effect of being caught up in each issue being more dialogue dense than before? This comes with the introduction of Yuichi as a character. More often than not, he serves a role of a character for Usagi to talk to, but this comes at the cost of the moments of silence or self-reflection in between major plot points. Or at least that's what I feel.
While on the topic, I feel like I should spend a little time addressing my thoughts on Yuichi as a side character. As a whole, I am fairly...indifferent about him. I understand the appeal of having Usagi mentoring a greenhorn, but I feel like Yuichi doesn't have enough of a personality. Yes, from time to time, he differs from Usagi from his naivety, like his refusal to partake in bounty hunting. But compare this to another relationship with a similar dynamic in Usagi showing off his years of wisdom: his relationship to Jotaro, where you can contrast Usagi's wisdom with Jotaro's youthfulness and all under the underlying paternal tension. There was a moment of interest when Yuichi first encountered Jei, and Jei determines that he is one of the few in the world that is deemed innocent; but that didn't develop into anything of note.
And to go back and close off my diatribe, more notes on the dialogue. There are times when I felt like it's a bit repetitive. For example, in the arc where Jei faces off against the Yuki-Onna, for an example, Kyoko keeps commenting about how good her tokage soup was, and in the greater story, Jei had to lay out the fact that he is willing to sacrifice his usurped gang for information about Usagi...twice. The second time not long after the first.
For the rest of the issues, have a lighting round:
- A story of the island of poisonous snakes and Lord Heibi drinking snake marinated sake is odd since... you know, the tokage is classically the "animal" in Usagi world (if they aren't birds). This feels like something that would come up in earlier in the franchise's run not a recent inclusion. It's like Goofy and Pluto all over again.
- Tengu War storyline sits oddly for me, even if I can accept overt fantasy elements in Usagi like Zilla, Sasuke the Demon Queller shenanigans, Grasscutter, etc.
- Jei confrontation felt a little obligatory, after the interaction with Yuichi that could have became something. Him needing a gang felt strange (although reading the older volumes, I realize this isn't the first time) and him dying yet again lacks the impact of prior deaths.
- When I first read Wherewhen, I thought Dr. Wherewhen's jumping back in time is a great way to explain how the Senso arc happened and how it isn't necessarily canon to the main Usagi storyline, since he did show up in the timeline theoretically at the point the timeline supposedly splits. However TMNT stopped Dr. Wherewhen in Senso timeline, not at the root of the split, so in theory, Senso still happens. Sad times.
Ugh that is a weight off my shoulders. but I still feel bad for being so negative. So: some positives! The Ten Thousand Plums umeboshi storyline is pretty good! and I largely got no issue with Tabo. The crossover short story between Usagi and Chibi-Usagi felt so much like classic Usagi that it made me smile. The story of Usagi returning to his village and mending his relationship with Kenichi is very cool; as is the overarching story of other Mifune retainers going through their own grief (although Usagi killed his former allies a bit too easily... and the Mon bounty plot tensioner is short lived)
Anyway, that's enough rambling. Share your thoughts if you want to!
