On peut commencerUsagi Yojimbojust about anywhere, and it's a rare property for a forty-year-old series.Stan Sakai has been writing, drawing and writing alone since 1984, the adventures of a ronin rabbit in documented period Japan. Most of the stories areautonomes et courts— a few chapters, a beginning, an end — which allows you to open almost any volume without missing anything. The difficulty is therefore not the entry point but thelabyrinth of successive editors.
Four decades of publication by several different houses, with numbering that restarts with each change: this is the only real obstacle to purchasing this series, and it clearly discourages more readers than its length - although considerable - does.
This article describes the work, proposes several points of entry, explains in detail the problem of successive editions, and gives the simple rule which allows us to find our way definitively.
What the series is about
A ronin rabbit wanders through Japan from the Edo period, without a master, living on escort and guarding missions. He meets peasants, merchants, civil servants, bandits, and regularly finds himself caught up in affairs that did not concern him.
The characters are anthropomorphic animals, but the world is not: the professions, hierarchies, techniques and conflicts are those of historical Japan, worked with an unusual documentary seriousness.
This contrast – animals drawn simply in a precise historical setting – is the central device. He makes the whole thing accessible without ever making it childish.
The violence is real and has consequences.This is not a series for very young readers despite its appearances, and this is probably the most common misunderstanding about it.
Les portes d'entrée
N'importe quel volume ancien
Most stories last one to three chapters and are self-contained. Opening a collection at random works better here than on almost any other long series.
This is the way many readers have entered, and there is nothing unreasonable about it.
The beginning, if we want progression
The first volumes establish the character's past and some recurring figures. It's not essential, but it enriches later stories.
A long bow, to test density
The series alternates short stories and more developed arcs. An arc shows what the author is capable of when given space.
What not to do
Look for “best volume” before you start. On a work of such uniform quality, this research wastes more time than it saves.
The real obstacle: four successive publishers
This is where the difficulty lies, and it has nothing to do with the content.
The series has been published by several houses over forty years, each change being accompanied by a new numbering starting from one. A booklet bearing the number 1 can therefore belong to four very distant times.
The collections follow the same logic: each publisher has produced their own collection, with divisions that do not necessarily coincide.« Volume 3 » does not designate anything without knowing which collection it is.
There are also more recent presentations which take the whole thing in a continuous order, which simplifies considerably - provided you know that they exist and do not mix them with the old ones.
The rule that rules everything
It is identical to that which applies to all long works collected in installments, and it deserves to be stated once again because it applies particularly well here.
Think in stories, not in volume numbers.Each collection indicates which stories it contains. It is this list, and it alone, which allows you to know whether a proposed volume completes your collection or doubles it.
On this specific series, the rule is even more comfortable than elsewhere: since the stories are autonomous, a partial overlap between two volumes is not dramatic. We reread a story, it doesn't matter.
What would be embarrassing, on the other hand, is to believe that we have the entirety of a period when a story is missing.Verification protects against the illusion of completeness, not a duplicate.
Which makes this series exceptionally easy to get into.Unlike most long works, getting into the middle costs nothing. The stories are self-contained, context is provided each time, and there is no long-term plot that requires you to have read the preceding.
This explains why it is so often recommended to readers who are not familiar with the medium: you can start with a single volume and stop there without frustration.
A complete author, again
Like several figures in this segment, he writes, draws and letters the entirety of his work, over four decades.
This produces the same effects as elsewhere: total graphic continuity, no break in style, and an evolution of the line that can be followed volume after volume without any foreign hand intervening.
Hand lettering plays a special role here. The stories include many Japanese terms – professions, titles, objects – and their integration into the drawing rather than their superposition makes their presence natural rather than educational.
A notable difference with self-published authors in the segment: he did not publish himself. He worked with successive publishers, which explains both the longevity of the series and the disorder of its numbering.
La documentation historique
This is the trait that most distinguishes this series from what appears to be similar to it, and it is rarely highlighted.
The stories are based on real documentary work: artisanal techniques, administrative organization, customs, weaponry, agriculture. Several volumes devote entire pages to showing how something is made, without it serving the plot.
This bias has a cost – these passages slow down – and a considerable benefit: the world acquires a consistency that animal drawing could have removed.We believe in this Japan because we see people working there.
It’s also what gives the series its rewatch value. The stories are simple, their resolutions often predictable; what we reread are the details of the world.
What can discourage
L'apparence trompeuse
Simply drawn animals make it seem like a children's series. The violence and the themes treated belie this impression from the first volumes.
The mess of editions
Four publishers, as many numberings and collections of collections. This is the first obstacle faced by anyone who wants to buy.
Un volume considérable
Forty years of publication produces an intimidating mass, although there is no requirement to cover it in full.
Une formule répétée
Many stories follow a similar structure: the character arrives, a local problem reveals itself, he intervenes. Read in a row, they look the same.
Comment étaler la lecture
It’s a series that doesn’t tolerate sequencing well and rewards spacing, unlike most long works.
The structure of the short stories is close from one episode to the next, so reading five volumes in a row brings out the formula and weakens each story. Read a few weeks apart, the same stories retain their effect intact.
This suggests a particular use: keeping this series aslecture d'intervalle, between two more demanding works. A volume requires no effort to redo, since it assumes nothing.
This is also what makes it a series that you can abandon and pick up years later without rereading anything — a property that very few long stories offer.
What forty years of continuity produce
A property of this work only appears in hindsight, and it deserves to be pointed out to anyone considering making a lasting commitment to it.
The character is getting older. Not at the pace of the real world, but it changes: its relationships evolve, figures appear then disappear, some for good. A series that would have frozen its protagonist in an eternal present would not have produced this effect.
The design also evolves, and in a visible way. The first volumes present a stiffer line and simpler compositions; the most recent ones show a mastery of cutting and movement that forty years of daily practice have built.
This gives the chronological reading an interest that the autonomy of the stories could make us forget. We don't follow a plot:we follow someone who learns his trade over four decades, which is a rare spectacle and one that no short work can offer.
This is probably the best reason to end up reading the whole thing, after jumping into it randomly.
Collection side
Two particularities distinguish this series on the second-hand market, and they work in opposite directions.
The first fascicles are rare.Published in the mid-1980s by a small organization, before the series was established, they had cautious print runs. This is the sought-after segment.
Everything else is abundant.Forty years of publication by established publishers produce a mass of booklets and collections which circulate constantly, at modest prices.
Added to this is an identification difficulty specific to this series: between four different numberings, a seller can describe “Usagi Yojimbo #1” in good faith without knowing which one he is talking about.The year and the publisher are essential here, more than any other series in this segment.
What to record
Three fields, the first of which is specific to the disorder described above.
The publisher and the year.This pair identifies the period, which the number alone never does. This is the decisive field in this series, and the one that we most readily omit.
The stories contained, for the collections.Since the collections partially overlap depending on the publishers, this is the only way to know what we really have — and especially what is missing.
The format.Booklet, publisher's collection, or recent full presentation. These three objects have the same title and do not contain the same thing.
An inventory that includes these three fields answers the question that forty years of publication by four houses always end up asking: what period is this from, and what have I not yet read?
Frequently asked questions
Yes, and this is the main practical quality of this series. Most stories are one to three chapters long, provide their own context, and conclude. Opening a collection at random works better here than with almost any other long work.
No, and this is the most common misunderstanding about it. The simply drawn anthropomorphic animals make us believe in a children's story, even though the violence is real and has lasting consequences. The contrast between appearance and content is deliberate.
Because the series has changed publishers several times over forty years, with each change accompanied by a reboot. A booklet bearing the number 1 can therefore belong to four very distant times - hence the need to always ask for the year and the house.
This is not necessary for any single story. The order only brings the progression of a few recurring characters and the evolution of the line, which follows volume after volume. Many readers enter in the middle and then move back up, without this causing a problem.
Space it out, unlike most long works. The structure of the short stories is similar from one episode to the next, so reading several volumes in a row brings out the formula. Spaced a few weeks apart, the same stories retain their effect — making it excellent interval reading.
Four publishers, four numbers, one title
The year and the house identify a booklet; the number alone is never enough.