{"id":447269,"date":"2022-05-14T16:08:26","date_gmt":"2022-05-14T13:08:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/stan-sakai-gets-his-wish-with-samurai-rabbit-the-usagi-chronicles\/"},"modified":"2022-05-14T16:08:26","modified_gmt":"2022-05-14T13:08:26","slug":"stan-sakai-gets-his-wish-with-samurai-rabbit-the-usagi-chronicles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/stan-sakai-gets-his-wish-with-samurai-rabbit-the-usagi-chronicles\/","title":{"rendered":"#Stan Sakai Gets His Wish with &#8216;Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a36e992c71dc\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a36e992c71dc\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/stan-sakai-gets-his-wish-with-samurai-rabbit-the-usagi-chronicles\/#%E2%80%9CStan_Sakai_Gets_His_Wish_with_%E2%80%98Samurai_Rabbit_The_Usagi_Chronicles%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Stan Sakai Gets His Wish with &#8216;Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles&#8217;&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1>&#8220;Stan Sakai Gets His Wish with &#8216;Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles'&#8221;<\/h1>\n<pre><code>     &lt;span class=\"mx-1\"&gt;We chat with the cartoonist and the creative team tasked with adapting the legendary comic book <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a>, \u2018Usagi Yojimbo.\u2019&lt;\/span&gt;\n&lt;\/p&gt;&lt;div id=\"\"&gt;\n\n\n\n                &lt;figure class=\"sf-entry-featured-<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a> \"&gt;\n            &lt;img width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Samurai-Rabbit-The-Usage-Chronicles-Stan-Sakai.jpg\" class=\"articlethumb wp-post-image\" alt=\"Samurai Rabbit The Usage Chronicles Stan Sakai\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Samurai-Rabbit-The-Usage-Chronicles-Stan-Sakai.jpg 800w, https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Samurai-Rabbit-The-Usage-Chronicles-Stan-Sakai-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"\/&gt;                                    &lt;p&gt;\n                    &lt;span class=\"sf-entry-flag sf-entry-flag-creditline\"&gt;Netflix&lt;\/span&gt;\n\n                        &lt;\/figure&gt;\n\n    &lt;!-- START BYLINE --&gt;\n    &lt;div class=\"row align-items-center justify-content-center my-4 text-center medium dark-gray\"&gt;\n        By\u00a0Brad Gullickson\u00a0\u00b7 Published on May 14th, 2022 \n        &lt;\/div&gt;\n    &lt;!-- END BYLINE --&gt;\n\n    &lt;em&gt;Welcome to &lt;strong&gt;Saturday Morning Cartoons&lt;\/strong&gt;, our ongoing column where we continue the animation-centric ritual of yesteryear. We may no longer schedule our lives around small screen programming, but that doesn\u2019t mean we should forget the necessary sanctuary of Saturday \u2018toons. In this entry, we chat with the Samurai Rabbit creative team about bringing Stan Sakai\u2019s legendary comic book universe to television.&lt;\/em&gt;\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<hr\/>\n<p>Love makes you stupid. After years \u2013 no, decades of begging, pleading, and praying, we finally have an animated series based on <strong>Stan Sakai<\/strong>\u2018s <strong><em>Usagi Yojimbo<\/em><\/strong> comic book. However, it doesn\u2019t look or behave like we imagined it would. The creative adaptation stirs anxiety and confusion in longtime fans, but if they take a moment to breathe and release their preconceived notions, they will discover a show bursting with imagination and infatuation for the source material.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Samurai Rabbit<\/em><\/strong>: <strong><em>The Usagi Chronicles<\/em><\/strong> jumps into the comic book\u2019s future. Showrunners <strong>Candie Langdale<\/strong> and <strong>Doug Langdale<\/strong>\u00a0navigate the Usagi legacy into an all-ages arena with fewer corpses than Miyamoto Usagi\u2019s feudal Japan but not totally absent of corpses either. The Netflix show follows the lone ronin\u2019s distant ancestor, Yuichi (<strong>Darren Barnet<\/strong>), struggling to honor his family history. Where Miyamoto was wise, kind, and resilient, Yuichi is ignorant, brash, and foolhardy. He rushes into danger with confidence but no experience. The first ten episodes deliver a hard, necessary lesson in mindfulness.<\/p>\n<p>Miyamoto Usagi first <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>eared in the <em>Albedo Anthropomorphics<\/em> anthology in 1984 before finding a temporary home and solo title with Fantagraphics. The character resided for a good long time at Dark Horse Comics before landing at his current home with IDW Publishing. Of course, you probably first encountered Usagi through his frequent guest appearances on the <em>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles<\/em> cartoons. He frequently crossed swords with Leonardo and was forever immortalized in plastic as a Playmates action figure.<\/p>\n<p><em>Space Usagi<\/em>, another far-flung future animated version, nearly made it to the small screen back in the early nineties. Unfortunately, the ratings failure of <em>Bucky O<\/em>\u2018<em>Hare\u00a0and the Toad Wars<\/em>\u00a0nixed the possibility. Comic book fans have impatiently waited for the character to receive proper cartoon acceptance ever since. It took longer than most would have liked, including Stan Sakai, but Miyamoto\u2019s world is finally streaming on Netflix.<\/p>\n<p>Art director <strong>Khang Le<\/strong>\u00a0helped translate the characters and concepts from the page to the screen. He was tasked with placing a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"Science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">science<\/a> fiction veil atop feudal Japan while inserting a recognizable modern animation aesthetic into Stan Sakai\u2019s style. The result is something askew but not totally unfamiliar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTaking the focus away from my Miyamoto Usagi,\u201d says Stan Sakai, \u201cand onto the descendent, I thought was a great move. I was a bit hesitant, but it was Khang\u2019s designs that actually convinced me, \u2018Oh, this is going to work.\u2019 That first drawing he did of Neo Edo, I said, \u2018Oh my gosh, this is great. It\u2019s going to look fantastic.\u2019 And what Doug and Candie did with my character is just genius.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Everything Le needed to rework <em>Usagi Yojimbo<\/em> into <em>Samurai Rabbit<\/em> was in the comics and in Sakai\u2019s favorite samurai films. He read and watched as much as he could. Le then smashed those designs into a contemporary reality. The juxtaposition birthed the cartoon\u2019s entire vibe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have a very traditional element,\u201d explains Le, \u201cfrom feudal Japan alongside something that\u2019s very modern. For example, skyscrapers, vending machines, which are extremely popular in Japan, especially if you\u2019re walking around Tokyo. Every couple of steps, you can find a vending machine. We have a lot of signage, but it\u2019s a good balance with the kind of architecture that you usually see in samurai films. We have this complete universe for Yuichi Usagi, and that\u2019s kind of like a mirror of what we are doing now too. Stan is Miyamoto, we are Yuichi.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The filmmakers have a lot to live up to, and that comes with anxiety. As Yuichi is to Miyamoto, Doug and Candie Langdale are in awe of Stan Sakai. They were thrilled to get the assignment, ushering Sakai\u2019s universe to television, but they were also nervous about messing it up.<\/p>\n<p>Yuichi actually offered them a freedom that would not have come with Miyamoto. The teenage wannabe samurai is an entirely new creation, and they could make him and his world bend to their will. Their story could also reflect their unease, leaning into Yuichi\u2019s desperate desire to honor his ancestor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur Usagi is almost the opposite of a conspiracy theorist,\u201d says Doug Langdale. \u201cHe\u2019s coming into this new place and finding out that no one\u2019s belief about history matches his belief. Yuichi turns out to be right and proves [his ancestor\u2019s nobility] to everyone, but he\u2019s coming into this place as the lone voice saying, \u2018No, history isn\u2019t what you think it is. This guy you see as a villain was a great hero.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Early in <em>Samurai Rabbit<\/em>, when Yuichi arrives in Neo Edo, he discovers that most folks believe Miyamoto Usagi to be a great betrayer. Their textbooks taught them that Miyamoto turned against the government and slaughtered the shogun in cold blood. The possibility crashes Yuichi\u2019s idolization, sending the young hero into crisis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYuichi is very much like a young Miyamoto Usagi,\u201d says Sakai. \u201cHe\u2019s impulsive, like all people that age; they know it all, they can do it all, but then he finds that his confidence is not where it should be. His abilities are not true to what he thinks. That\u2019s a big revelation to him, \u2018Hey, at first, I didn\u2019t think I needed a sensei. Now I want a sensei, and I want the best.\u2019 And he does find one. He changes throughout the entire series; you can see his development. I think it\u2019s wonderful. This is a very character-driven show. The artwork is fantastic, but the focus is on the characters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Doug and Candie Langdale vividly remember approaching Sakai regarding the historical tarnish <em>Samurai Rabbit<\/em> places on Miyamoto Usagi. They understood it was a big ask, but they also knew Sakai was pretty <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a> when it came to mucking about with this particular timeline. Again, their setting permitted them to run wild a bit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was a fun day,\u201d says Candie Langdale, \u201cvery humbly going to Stan, \u2018Excuse me, sir. May we please do a thing? Can we sully your character for a little bit?\u2019 He was very generous with us. But there is this separation. These are not Stan\u2019s characters; they\u2019re descendants. So he gave us leeway. He\u2019s protective of his property, but he\u2019s not overprotective. We kept Miyamoto safe, but here, we can have fun with him too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Samurai Rabbit<\/em> represents Stan Sakai\u2019s largest creative partnership. He was thrilled by the experience and deeply appreciated the showrunners coming to him with numerous alterations and suggestions. And we\u2019re not just talking about tweaking character design; we\u2019re talking about every tiny, little element found on the screen. Stan Sakai got his word in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is my biggest collaboration ever,\u201d says Sakai. \u201cWe had a whole team of writers, artists, designers. I was getting approval notices for everything like broccoli or rocks; I had to approve things like that. Other things were these huge flying ships, and my first thought, \u2018Oh my gosh, I love it. I would love to have a toy of that or a playset. I would love to go beyond just the animated series and do toys and comic books and everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the nearly forty years since <em>Usagi Yojimbo<\/em>\u2018s creation, very few folks have dabbled in Stan Sakai\u2019s world. Almost every issue featuring his character was drawn by him, written by him, and lettered by him. You would think that with such an intense hold on the character, Stan Sakai would not be interested in seeing others play with Miyamoto Usagi. That\u2019s simply not true, and his joyous experience on <em>Samurai Rabbit<\/em> might have uncorked something.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve always enjoyed seeing other artists\u2019 interpretations of my Usagi,\u201d says Sakai. \u201cIn fact, at one time, I proposed a series called <em>Usagi Yojimbo<\/em>: <em>Kagemusha<\/em>, <em>Shadow Warriors<\/em>, in which other creators would write and draw Usagi stories, maybe an anthology series, five or six issues. That\u2019s something I still would love to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hearing Stan Sakai sound rejuvenated after this project is incredible. He acts like a young creator with a new shiny object in front of an audience, not like an icon who regularly publishes a monthly comic that\u2019s magically never stale or repetitive. <em>Samurai Rabbit<\/em> could be the next phase in his already momentous career, pulling even more fans into his universe.<\/p>\n<p>The ten episodes currently streaming on Netflix are only the beginning. The next ten Samurai Rabbit episodes are almost done and on their way. Be like Stan; get hyped.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><em>Samurai Rabbit<\/em>: <em>The Usagi Chronicles<\/em> is <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/title\/81038163\">now streaming<\/a> on Netflix. If you\u2019d like to hear our conversation with the creative force driving the series, jump to <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.comicbookcouplescounseling.com\/podcast\">the Comic Book Couples Counseling podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n<pre><code>    Related Topics: Saturday Morning Cartoons\n    &lt;!-- AUTHOR BOX --&gt;\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<div class=\"gray-bg p-4 border small mb-5\">\n<div class=\"row align-items-center text-md-center\">\n<div class=\"col-md-2\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/brad.jpg\" class=\"circle img-fluid\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\"\/>\n        <\/div>\n<div class=\"col-md\">\n            Brad Gullickson is a Weekly Columnist for Film School Rejects and Senior Curator for One Perfect Shot. When not rambling about movies here, he&#8217;s rambling about comics as the co-host of Comic Book Couples Counseling. Hunt him down on Twitter: <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Mouthdork\">@MouthDork<\/a>. (He\/Him)        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<pre><code>    &lt;!-- START RECOMMENDED READING 1 --&gt;\n                                &lt;section class=\"recommended py-5\"&gt;\n            &lt;h3&gt;Recommended Reading&lt;\/h3&gt;\n\n\n        &lt;\/section&gt;\n            &lt;!-- END RECOMMENDED READING --&gt;\n\n\n\n\n&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"&gt;&lt;\/script&gt;\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social Media category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/stan-sakai-gets-his-wish-with-samurai-rabbit-the-usagi-chronicles\/#utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=stan-sakai-gets-his-wish-with-samurai-rabbit-the-usagi-chronicles\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Stan Sakai Gets His Wish with &#8216;Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles&#8217;&#8221; &lt;span class=&#8221;mx-1&#8243;&gt;We chat with the cartoonist and the creative team tasked with adapting the legendary comic book series, \u2018Usagi Yojimbo.\u2019&lt;\/span&gt; &lt;\/p&gt;&lt;div id=&#8221;&#8221;&gt; &lt;figure class=&#8221;sf-entry-featured-media &#8220;&gt; &lt;img width=&#8221;800&#8243; height=&#8221;450&#8243; src=&#8221;https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Samurai-Rabbit-The-Usage-Chronicles-Stan-Sakai.jpg&#8221; class=&#8221;articlethumb wp-post-image&#8221; alt=&#8221;Samurai Rabbit The Usage Chronicles Stan Sakai&#8221; srcset=&#8221;https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Samurai-Rabbit-The-Usage-Chronicles-Stan-Sakai.jpg 800w, https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Samurai-Rabbit-The-Usage-Chronicles-Stan-Sakai-768&#215;432.jpg 768w&#8221; sizes=&#8221;(max-width: 800px)&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":447270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Samurai-Rabbit-The-Usage-Chronicles-Stan-Sakai.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-447269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}