Usagi Yojimbo (vol. 35): Homecoming
Usagi came back to his hometown for a short visit in his very first volume. Then he came back again in vol. 6 with the intention of staying, and we all know how that turned out. After that… huh. It really has been a while since Usagi has visited his hometown. So you really can’t accuse creator Stan Sakai of being eager to repeat himself when it’s been a couple decades since we’ve seen this setup in action. Better still when he uses it to give the title character a hard decision to make between doing what’s honorable and what’s right.
Before we get to that story, we get a two-parter about tatami mats. Explaining how they’re made and their significance to Japanese culture is something that Sakai has been doing for many goods over the course of this series and tatami are just the latest recipient of such treatment. Still, they’re background material for a story that sees Usagi teaming up with some samurai and ex-neko ninja Chizu to deliver them to the samurai’s master. There are some individuals who’d rather not see those mats delivered and their efforts provide most of the action in this story, in addition to setting up a future plot point for Chizu. It’s a “comfort food” story by this title’s standards, though the satisfyingly tense epilogue does send it out on a high note.
The next story, “Mon,” lets us know about the dangers Usagi faces while wearing the crest of his old Lord Mifune in his home province. Said province has been under the control of Lord Hikiji for a while now and his men are always on the lookout for Mifune loyalists. If you’re thinking that some of Hikiji’s samurai are going to try and take the rabbit ronin out to try and cash in on the bounty for loyalists, then you’d be right. This is another straightforward story that gets some mileage out of showing how far the morals of a struggling innkeeper will stretch when he’s faced with an easy way out of his money problems.
Elements from these first two stories come together in “The Return” as Usagi finally makes it back to his home village in a far less dignified manner than he had planned. Upon regaining consciousness after four days, he’s greeted with the sight of his childhood sweetheart Mariko, her husband and his youthful rival Kenichi, and their nutty maid Yayoi. The reunion is cut short, however, after the village is attacked by bandits.
Except they’re not bandits, they’re samurai and their leader is Kato, a former retainer of Lord Mifune who is now serving Lord Hikiji. Usagi met him in the first story and while he questioned the samurai’s loyalty upon learning who he now serves, the samurai assures him that this has been part of his plan. While Hikiji is too crafty to be attacked directly, Kato and his comrades figure to weaken the Shadow Lord politically by killing an emissary of the shogun as he passes through the village. Hikiji will be shamed because the village is part of his land. As for the villagers, they’ll just be executed for failing to prevent this assassination.
Usagi is initially shocked by this plan. Then… he quickly comes around to it. He is still loyal to Lord Mifune after all these years and this represents his best shot at taking out Hikiji. So he smacks Yayoi when she steps out of line, advises Kato on the village’s defenses, and intimidates Mariko and Kenichi into submission when they cause trouble. Usagi may be getting his revenge on Hikiji after all these years, but is it really worth all this?
If you’re just started reading “Usagi” with the volumes released by IDW, then there’s a lot of drama to be mined from that setup. Longtime readers of the series will see exactly what’s going on here, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The quick thinking displayed by the rabbit ronin here is exactly what the situation needed and his conviction is quite convincing. It also helps that Sakai trusts his readers enough to know what’s going on.
From there, the rest of the story plays out as you’d expect, give or take a reversal or surprise appearance or two. It’s good stuff, and enough to make you glad that Sakai had Usagi take this trip home after a couple decades. The story, and volume, wrap up in a way that suggests it might not be as long before he returns again. That’s nice and all, but for now it’s enough to have another worthwhile volume of “Usagi” to read.