Usagi Yojimbo Volume 16: The Shrouded Moon

It seems that with Sakai's epic masterpieces of Grasscutter and Grasscutter II, he may have to wait a bit before getting the big ball rolling again. But that is not the case. How do you follow a gargantuan of a plot such as Grasscutter? Why, fall back on some older sub-plots and put some new life in them, of course. Here we see the return of the trickster fox who is notorious for using thievery to get by in life. With her run-in with Usagi and Gen, a plot of mystery, history and suspense inundates these pages with a great, fascinating read. In no way should you think that Sakai's had his charm with Grasscutter; Usagi returns strong as ever with some older sub-plots, as well as a few new ones. A great addition to an already great series.

Usagi Yojimbo is the kind of quality work that transcends time, genres, demographics, and even age groups. It crafts a delicate and beautiful balance between honor and savagery, cute innocence and dark brutality, simple heart-warming stories and multi-part epics that shape a dense continuity. Whether or not you've ever been a fan of feudal Japanese culture, furry anthro characters, or independent, non-superhero comics, Usagi Yojimbo is a comic that can't help but impress even the harshest critic. That being said, The Shrouded Moon (vol. 16) qualifies as one of creator Stan Sakai's few weaker installments. The volume begins with the two part "Showdown," which, inspired by Kurasawa's Yojimbo, is probably the most entertaining team-up between Usagi and Gen to date. After that, though, nothing of particular interest seems to happen. We see Chizu's inevitable fall from favor with her clan, get a decent filler story that foretells the imminent return of Jei (though not in this volume), and spend the rest of the volume (more than 70 pages) on Kitsune, a secondary character in Usagi's world that I have never personally liked, as Usagi and Gen must rescue her from trouble that she has willingly wandered into yet again. As a follow up to this, we get Kitsune's origin story which, while moving, feels a bit generic and fails to attain the level of emotional depth we've seen in so many other back stories throughout this series. I'm not sure if Kitsune has any hardcore fans out there, but if she does, then they might appreciate these stories more than I did. All in all, the volume begins strong but ultimately spends too much time on a character that doesn't seem to earn such treatment. As I've said in previous reviews, there is no such thing as a bad Usagi installment, but this one isn't particularly indispensable either.

A 'must' for all long-eared samurai fans! Very good stories, especially story about Kitsune roots. And art, of course, is Sakai's norm: very, very good!

Shrouded Moon is another wonderful collection of Usagi tales. There are several tales that stand alone well and Stan Sakai shows that he is picking up several of the threads that were laid aside temporarily to wrap up the Grasscutter saga.***MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD***Chizu meets with Lord Hebi to "discuss" some of her recent failures and Kagemaru attempts to use this opportunity to assert control over the Neko Ninja. Who will the Ninja follow?Inazuma reappears with the innocent that accompanied Jei before Usagi killed him Grasscutter I. And it seems Inazuma is similarly fixated on Usagi.Most of the rest of the book concerns the adventure Usagi and Gen become caught up in when they encounter Kitsune again.On the whole, while this volume would be a decent introduction to the characters, anyone seriously interested would be better off starting at the beginning or reading volume 6: Circles to get to know the characters. For any devoted fan, well, you'll probably buy it no matter what I say. And you won't be disappointed.