Summary: Noriyuki is showing off a Muramasa blade which will be his gift to the Shogun. Tomoe thinks she senses a spy above them, but decides she is mistaken, thanks to cleverness on the part of the Neko Ninja. He manages to steal the blade, but is discovered and kills a guard.

While he has the blade, things have not gone according to plan. The guards are on alert looking for him, and Tomoe's spear wounded his leg. He disguises himself as a peasant woodcutter.

Tomoe passes Usagi on the way to alert the border guards, informing him of the situation.

Usagi meets a peasant woodcutter and is suspicious of his injured leg. The peasant claims it is an axe wound, but it looks like a spear wound to Usagi. His suspicion grows when the peasant sneaks away in the middle of the night, in the opposite direction he claimed to be headed. Usagi decides to turn around as well, and follow the mysterious woodcutter.

Usagi runs into the woodcutter in town and invites him to a meal. They are joined by two more woodcutters, a husband and wife Usagi thinks look familiar. Usagi's woodcutter friend does not seem to know his trade.

Leaving the inn, the thief swims across the river, where Usagi is waiting. The thief sheds his disguise and reveals himself to be Shingen, leader of the Neko ninja, on a task for Lord Hikiji to discredit the Geishu Clan. They battle and Shingen uses smoke to escape. He thinks he has gotten away, but learns the hard way that the sword has been replaced with a stick.

The real blade is in the firewood of the two real woodcutters, who come across it accidentally, and give it to Tomoe, fearful they will be blamed. From what they tell her, Tomoe deduces the story.

Thoughts: Our introduction to Shingen is one of the best sequences yet, as he reacts quickly to being stabbed, staying still and wiping blood. A perfect demonstration of his strength of mind and discipline.

The previous issue foreshadowed this story some as Usagi was approaching the Geishu province and thinking about Tomoe and Noriyuki. They appeared frequently in the Albedo days, but we have not seen them since Usagi got his own series. Their return is welcome as there seemed to be some unresolved romantic inclinations between Usagi and Tomoe. (Though I may just be imagining things) They will not get resolved here as the two only briefly meet. But you see the longing to meet again in Usagi's eyes in the final panel.

The battle between Usagi and Shingen is yet another well-told dramatic engagement. The large panel of Shingen first leaping at Usagi is awesome. Does anybody know the weapons Shingen was fighting with? Sticks with retractable blades.

As a nitpick, after Shingen first sneaks off for the night, we see an example of where text detracts some. Usagi's thought balloons lay out Shingen's odd behavior and have him opine that something is fishy. Whereas the silent final panel on the previous page perfectly conveyed that Usagi understood what was going on with the look on his face. An extra panel of Usagi thinking it through just makes him seem dumb.

Shingen asks Usagi why he gets involved. I have mentioned this as a curiosity of mine and have tried to note Usagi's motives for getting into the trouble he gets into. Here, Usagi explains why: "I'm just a busybody."

Muramasa is a famous Japanese swordsmith, believed mad, just as Tomoe points out. His swords are legendary and show up frequently in Japanese fiction. According to wikipedia, it is Muramasa blades which carry the belief that they must draw blood if they leave their scabbard, which has become a popular trope in samurai fiction. (I am always reminded of Paul the Samurai, from The Tick, who is covered in band-aids because he keeps drawing his sword and having to cut himself.)

Shingen seems a common name in both Japanese history and fiction, so I am uncertain if there is any particular inspiration for this Shingen.

Grade: A-

When I read the Usagi books for the first time waaaay back in the day, I remembered Shingen sticking around for far longer than he actually did. I loved his exit, but it's such a shame it happened so quickly.

If I recall correctly, Shingen was the favorite character of Todd, the webmaster of the original Dojoboard forum, and I can totally see why.




Oh, absolutely! There's only one Stan, but a part of me has always fantasized about him training protégés and having each take on a spin-off title in the Usagi universe: one for Sasuke the Demon Queller, one for Inspector Ishida, one for Gen and Stray Dog, etc etc.

But why mess with a great thing, right? There's never been a subpar story set in Usagi's universe to date, so why spoil that track record?

Interesting. How come?

For me, I return to the stretch between Seasons (Book 11) and Fathers and Sons (Book 19) the most. And I intend to make more regular visits to Space Usagi in the future.