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Post by lobsterjohnson on Oct 27, 2016 10:03:00 GMT -5
What did everyone think of last week's issue?
I thought it was excellent and very sad. The ending really packed an emotional punch.
The art was better than ever. I really liked the detail in the trees.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Oct 27, 2016 17:51:07 GMT -5
I still need to grab this from my LCS. Hope to be able to chime in soon!
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Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 6, 2016 20:44:09 GMT -5
Read this this evening, and posted a short review in the new comics thread... I have to put this one up there with A Mother's Love in the emotional resonance department.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,867
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Post by shaxper on Nov 17, 2016 14:02:47 GMT -5
Sorry it took me so long to get to this, lobsterjohnson. It's been a long time since Usagi made me cry, but man did this issue do it. It's so full of love and kindness, almost from beginning to end, that the twist ending I mostly (but not entirely) saw coming just drives it all home with a gentle sledgehammer. I also enjoyed seeing signs that Usagi's moral code is still evolving. A few years back, he would have taken down those brigands without a second thought, but now he strikes with his weapons still sheathed and goes so far as to determine that they are just desperate, and not truly bad. That's a level of empathy that seems new for him. After all, weren't most of the brigands he fought motivated by some level of desperation in the wake of the Shogunate's rise to power and the loss of employment for most Samurai? And you can begin to see Usagi's sense of class dissipating as he finds he has so much in common with these peasants, including their duties, loyalties, sense of honor, and even the people they love. When Stan cuts from Usagi thinking of Jotoro with "Except tell him that I, and not Kenichi, am his real father" to the old woman saying "Ichiro is a new father," it sounds like an echo of Usagi's thoughts so much that Usagi seems genuinely surprised, as if thinking for a moment that she had heard and repeated them. And, as usual, some of Stan's most powerful moments come when he captures solitude, peace, and the passing of time. Darn powerful issue. Stan not only still has it, he's still improving at his craft three decades in. |
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Post by lobsterjohnson on Nov 17, 2016 22:03:27 GMT -5
Sorry it took me so long to get to this, lobsterjohnson . It's been a long time since Usagi made me cry, but man did this issue do it. It's so full of love and kindness, almost from beginning to end, that the twist ending I mostly (but not entirely) saw coming just drives it all home with a gentle sledgehammer. I also enjoyed seeing signs that Usagi's moral code is still evolving. A few years back, he would have taken down those brigands without a second thought, but now he strikes with his weapons still sheathed and goes so far as to determine that they are just desperate, and not truly bad. That's a level of empathy that seems new for him. After all, weren't most of the brigands he fought motivated by some level of desperation in the wake of the Shogunate's rise to power and the loss of employment for most Samurai? And you can begin to see Usagi's sense of class dissipating as he finds he has so much in common with these peasants, including their duties, loyalties, sense of honor, and even the people they love. When Stan cuts from Usagi thinking of Jotoro with "Except tell him that I, and not Kenichi, am his real father" to the old woman saying "Ichiro is a new father," it sounds like an echo of Usagi's thoughts so much that Usagi seems genuinely surprised, as if thinking for a moment that she had heard and repeated them. And, as usual, some of Stan's most powerful moments come when he captures solitude, peace, and the passing of time. Darn powerful issue. Stan not only still has it, he's still improving at his craft three decades in. Those are some interesting points about Usagi's evolving morality. I hadn't really thought about that. I didn't used to get too upset about fiction, but nowadays it can really hit me hard. This was a sad one. |
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Post by usagiguy on Nov 21, 2016 23:44:48 GMT -5
Sorry it took me so long to get to this, lobsterjohnson . It's been a long time since Usagi made me cry, but man did this issue do it. It's so full of love and kindness, almost from beginning to end, that the twist ending I mostly (but not entirely) saw coming just drives it all home with a gentle sledgehammer. I also enjoyed seeing signs that Usagi's moral code is still evolving. A few years back, he would have taken down those brigands without a second thought, but now he strikes with his weapons still sheathed and goes so far as to determine that they are just desperate, and not truly bad. That's a level of empathy that seems new for him. After all, weren't most of the brigands he fought motivated by some level of desperation in the wake of the Shogunate's rise to power and the loss of employment for most Samurai? And you can begin to see Usagi's sense of class dissipating as he finds he has so much in common with these peasants, including their duties, loyalties, sense of honor, and even the people they love. When Stan cuts from Usagi thinking of Jotoro with "Except tell him that I, and not Kenichi, am his real father" to the old woman saying "Ichiro is a new father," it sounds like an echo of Usagi's thoughts so much that Usagi seems genuinely surprised, as if thinking for a moment that she had heard and repeated them. And, as usual, some of Stan's most powerful moments come when he captures solitude, peace, and the passing of time. Darn powerful issue. Stan not only still has it, he's still improving at his craft three decades in. Those are some interesting points about Usagi's evolving morality. I hadn't really thought about that. I didn't used to get too upset about fiction, but nowadays it can really hit me hard. This was a sad one. Good point about Usagi's evolving moral code. He did not kill the bandits in The River Rising a few issues ago either, but recruited them to help save the village. |
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Post by lobsterjohnson on Mar 5, 2018 18:45:00 GMT -5
I was digging through some back issues today, and couldn't remember if I'd read this one or somehow missed it, so I reread it. Man, that ending...
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Post by thwhtguardian on May 7, 2018 21:25:38 GMT -5
 Published: October, 2016 Summary: While Usagi continues his wandering ways he encounters a son and his elderly mother under siege by bandits, but when he offers to escort them to their destination he learns a lesson in devotion. Interesting Notes: Jotaro is mentioned for the first time in a long while. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on May 7, 2018 21:33:01 GMT -5
Wow.
No I mean it, this is the kind of story that really makes me love Stan's work. It's a simple tale, Usagi escorts a pair of peasants after saving them from bandits but the ending was really moving. I've never heard of the practice of Ubasute, but that kind of cultural education is what makes this book so special, and the nobility with which the mother embraces that practice, and the reaction from Usagi, he called her "mother" was just perfect.
This was hands down the best story in this book, and probably up there as one of the best of the whole series.
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