Usagi Yojimbo: Senso #1 Review: What Happened Here?

“Usagi Yojimbo” is Stan Sakai’s pride and joy. It is the series that skyrocketed his career. To celebrate its 30th anniversary Stan Sakai has written “Usagi Yojimbo: Senso,” which is said to be the last “Usagi Yojimbo” comic. With the release of the first issue it seems like Sakai is trying to go out with something too big for him to handle.

Twenty years into the future, Usagi Yojimbo is now a general for Lord Noriyuki and the Geishu clan. The comic starts with the final battle between Noriyuki and Lord Hikiji.

That’s the entire first issue. It’s one giant 24-page battle that gets interrupted by a spaceship at the last three pages. This issue is akin to the first 10-15 minutes of a movie that starts with a giant battle and breaks in the action for characters to exposit. The exposition is just who these characters are and for each side to bash each other. This style may work well in an action movie, but in a comic it feels like we’re getting gypped of our money.

Stan Sakai is a very talented writer who has written stories that can be contained in one issue. Here it seems like he wanted an “Usagi Yojimbo” movie but never got the funds to do so. That what the first issue feel like.

The art has some of Sakai’s charm though some is missing. The characters all look and move like fans are used to and they all still have that look that screams “cute fluffy animals that can murder you with one sword swipe.” What’s missing is the cartoony humor in them. In every ‘Usagi Yojimbo” story when a person dies a cartoony spirit with Xs on their eyes appear. That’s gone here. Sakai may be going for a more serious route, but serious is not his forte.

“Usagi Yojimbo: Senso #1” seems confused and a bit too big for what it wants to be. It tries to be a big Hollywood blockbuster in comic form but it come across as trying too hard.