Usagi Yojimbo (part three)

Alright, let's finish off the Samurabbit commission with the third story, "The Confession."


This one doesn't screw around before getting into the action. The first panel has Usagi being passed on the road by a wounded samurai tangled in the reigns of his own horse as it tears ahead in wild panic.

Usagi cuts the screaming pincushion free as the horse passes him, and tries to do what he can for the man's wounds. There's not a lot that he can do though; "three arrows in the chest" is a little beyond the realm of impromptu first aid. He tells the wounded guy not to try to speak, but he insists that he must, and that Usagi must listen.

It turns out that this series isn't quite as episodic as I thought. Or, at least, if it is, then "Lone Rabbit and Child" and "The Confession" are essentially a two parter.

Looks like Hikiji's black ops snek might have missed a spot after all. And, if that letter makes it to the shogun, this could be the end of Hikiji's whole career. Also, Hikiji's underlings sure do seem to have crises of conscience pretty frequently, don't they? Being a supervillain would be so much easier if everyone wasn't so obsessed with honour around these parts. Granted, in both cases the crises of conscience only became observable *after* Hikiji threw them under the bus, so maybe it's not so surprising actually.

It seems like Usagi is happening to just chance his way into the plot an awful lot. Which is kind of disappointing, since he already has personal motive to be pursuing leads proactively, so the story shouldn't have to do this. Ah well.

Usagi is naturally eager to deliver the confession to the shogun, and promises the wounded samurai that he will do so. Just as he's taking the missive though, armed figures emerge from the woods. It's the nyanja clan again! Looks like Hebi is the one who hired them after Hikiji lost patience with the previous guy, and their new job is to tie up loose ends.

Well, so much for wounded messenger guy. Not that I was expecting him to live anyway, but still, there was a small chance. Even that little dinofrog that got too close to the scene wasn't spared. Good thing rabbits can change directions mid-hop, or Usagi would have bitten it too. He flees into the woods, confession still in hand, and tries to elude them. Unfortunately, the ninja vs. samurai debate is pretty one sided when it comes to stealth, besides which it seems like the entire Shinekonobi Clan is out in force this time. He kills a few, but there are just too many, and they're too good at tracking him.

Eventually, he takes a dart to the upper arm, which bleeds heavily.

Now that he's slowed down, the ninjas back away to a safe distance and switch back to their bows, and he's too hobbled to evade another massed archer attack.

...

These kitties consistently seem to be the most dangerous thing Usagi faces. Or at least, the thing that his fighting style is least suited against. This mook swarm is doing better against him than any of the previous mook swarms. Hanzo in the last chapter did better against him than any of the previous named duelists. Etc. Definitely communicates that the shinyabis are a cut above the average mercenaries, even if most of them still aren't quite in Usagi's league.

Makes sense that hiring them would be the villain's last resort. They can't be cheap.

...

Just in the nick of time, another cat - this one much more kindly disposed toward Usagi - arrives on horseback. The horse doesn't last long, but Tomoe does.

I guess this really is just a part two to the previous chapter, because we're already cashing in on the "Tomoe looking for Usagi to thank him on behalf of her master and also to ride him harder than her horse" ticket. I thought the author was saving her for later, but nope!

With the element of surprise on her side, Tomoe is able to deal enough damage and cause enough of a distraction for Usagi to finish cutting himself free. Most of the ninjas are down, and the remainder forced to retreat. Tomoe did lose her horse though, so wherever they go now it's going to take them a while, especially with Usagi having lost this much blood. For now, Usagi just thanks her, and she assures him that with the debt she owes him there's really no need to mention it.

You may have chosen the wrong line of work, Tomoe.​

On the topic of that attempted assassination, he shows her the letter from the late Daimyo Nerai. She's thrilled to have confirmation of Hikiji's culpability (or at least, of one of his major lieutenants' culpability), and says that their best bet is probably to bring the letter to Noriyuki so that he can present it to the shogun. He's still in Edo, and the shogun will be much likelier to take this letter seriously if its being brought to him by a major lord rather than a ronin and a runaway bodyguard.

The good thing about this being right after the last episode is that Hikiji is still low on disposable income and fresh out of goons at least in this region, so even horseless and with one of them badly injured they're able to limp back to Edo unmolested. I guess it would be kind of boring to have two "fight our way to the capital" stories back-to-back, so this is a good choice from a metafictional perspective as well as making the most sense in-universe.

...

On an unrelated note, I didn't realize until reading this that Edo and Tokyo were the same city. I'd assumed the capital got moved in the Meiji period, but no, they just changed the name. I kind of feel dumb tbh.

...

Anyway, this missive could serve as a major counterattack. Daimyo Hikiji has always managed to either do his dirty business covertly, or find a casus belli that made him look like the good guy. Even if his late underling's testimony might not be conclusive enough to bring the wrath of the Tokugawas down on him, it will at least do a ton of damage to his reputation and make it harder for him to get away with things in the future. For Noriyuki, this is very desirable, since it's probably only a matter of time before Hikiji comes up with some other whacky scheme to get the Geishus' land and damaging him politically will make that a lot harder. Once again, Usagi has made himself invaluable to the Geishu clan; he's really got a strong, wealthy ally now.

Looks like that stray dog that was tailing them in the last episode has been made a permanent fixture of the Geishu household. Cute.~

So, the next day, Usagi and Tomoe accompany the freshly minted Daimyo Noriyuki to the shogun's castle. Usagi has never been to it before, so this is his first time seeing the place from the inside.

Hmm. Depending on how close to the actual historical context of Miyamoto Musashi the author is hewing, the shogun at this time would probably be Tokugawa Hidetada (or at least an ersatz version of him). If he's going to appear in person, I wonder what animal he'll be? Maybe a monkey, for the national symbolism?

Looks like we won't be finding out in this episode, though. The shogun is indisposed right now, so they're going to have to work through his secretary.

What a friendly guy. :/

Noriyuki apologizes, and Okii gives him an artificial smile and tells him that he'll chalk this up to Noriyuki's youth and forget it happened. I'm...not sure if what Noriuki did really constitutes that level of insult even by bakufu bureaucrat standards, but if Okii feels like being a dick there's nobody who outranks him in the room right now to tell him not to. Noriyuki thanks him for being so forgiving, and then explains the situation, including his ordeal on the road to Edo and the circumstances leading up to the missive being recovered. He then presents the letter to Okii, and...oh. This isn't good.

Yeah, this guy is corrupt.

More dangerously, he's corrupt in Hikiji's favor.

So, Hikiji has bribed or blackmailed the shogun's major-domo. He's been assimilating more and more lands into his own domain, using whatever means he can get away with. He's got contacts among the criminal elements and ninjas as well as the legitimate samurai forces of his and his underlings' lands. It seems pretty damned likely that he's plotting a coup. Heck, if he's turned Okii then you could make the case that he's already engaging in one.

For context: Once again, I don't know how close to the historical Miyamoto Musashi's era the author's furry version of Japan is sticking. If he's staying close to it though, then the chaotic Sengoku era is still within living memory, and we're only on the second or third Tokugawa shogun (dynasty founder Ieyasu only held the office for a couple of years before yielding it to his son). Japan has only been unified for a couple decades or so, and there are several other powerful clans who could have subdued it and taken the shogunate if the Tokugawas hadn't done it first. In these conditions, a well-executed coup stands a decent chance of success.

Anyway, Noriyuki and his escorts leave the castle as an ominous rain begins to fall. Once they're out of sight, black ops snek Hebi enters Okii's office. It appears that these two don't like each other very much, but they're managing to get shit done for their master despite this.

Okii specifically not wanting to address Hebi by his proper title is interesting. Hinting at some sort of ignoble origins for our reptile friend? A former criminal (or worse, a merchant!) who Hikiji raised up despite his peers' misgivings? A foreigner who took on a Japanese name? Maybe I'm reading too much into this, idk.

Anyway, Hebi takes the confession, and in return gives Okii a fake confession. Similar substance, but obviously forged. Also, my "is Hebi supposed to have hands" question is answered by him apparently bringing a servant around to do all the picking up and carrying things for him. I guess his non-anthro counterpart would be handicapped? Thumbless, or armless, or something? I discounted that possibility before because picking up and delivering things seems like a big part of Hebi's job, but apparently he makes it work without the comic needing to be coy about it. I'll call Hebi disabled representation and call it a day, then. Anyway, Okii asks if he should try to guide the shogun toward the conclusion that Noriyuki is trying to trick him, but Hebi says that that wouldn't be a great idea in this situation.

What's up with Hebi's lips? Is he wearing some weird kind of lipstick, or did the artist just decide that a snake's lips would be made up of giant slablike scales if it had them?​

Smart. Make it look like some unknown third party tried to murder Geishu Noriyuki, and that they then tried to frame Hikiji after they failed. This may end up making Usagi and/or Tomoe look like the saboteur(s), since they're the ones who got the letter to Noriyuki, but I don't think Noriyuki would believe that. So, I doubt this will turn the Geishus against Usagi, but it might make Usagi a wanted man.

I guess the best outcome is that Okii really does just completely drop the investigation without bothering to name any suspects, and count on the shogun getting distracted by enough other stuff to never think to ask him about it again.

Well, two weeks later nothing bad has happened regarding Usagi and Tomoe's reputations, so that means nothing is probably going to. Usagi would like to see the results of the inquiry, but he also wants to get out there and keep ronin-ing, and this has been a long enough wait already. So, he takes another financial reward from the Geishus, and goes on a horseride with Tomoe for a bit before leaving.

In the panel before this one, they talk about how this would be a good opportunity to have that sparring session they discussed previously. It seems like they're deciding to do it, but it doesn't actually show it. Additional proof that "swordfight" really just means "sex."

End chapter.


That was kind of a weird one. I'm pretty sure that this was never meant to be its own episode; just material from the previous one that the author couldn't fit in with its pacing. Notably, I'm pretty sure that the epilogue of "Lone Rabbit and Child" is supposed to have happened after "The Confession." Hebi reporting that he's made sure Hikiji won't be implicated seems like it could easily be referring to the events of "The Confession." And frankly, I'm not sure if Hebi could have made it back and forth between Edo and wherever Hikiji lives (implied to be up north somewhere) quickly enough for any other order of events to make sense unless he has magic or something.

Anyway, this chapter doesn't stand on its own at all, but judging it as just extra material for "Lone Rabbit and Child" it's a good addition. Does a little more groundwork setting up a probably future romance between Usagi and Tomoe, introduces the reader to the fever dream of Edo politics, and - perhaps most importantly - it puts its money where its mouth is in establishing Hikiji as a worthy foe despite his failure here. He's actually smart. Even if this coverup plot was all Hebi's baby, the fact that Hikiji knows how to delegate is itself a show of intellect (in fact, it's the most important kind of intelligence for a leader, villainous or otherwise). The fact that he seems to have a mutually respectful good working relationship with his most competent henchmen is also something I wish we saw more often in antagonists.

Heh, that's become a common refrain for me, isn't it? A convincingly dangerous baddy always wins a story some extra points from me.

Overall, Usagi Yojimbo seems like a very good comic. It doesn't do anything groundbreaking, narratively speaking, but it executes its classic samurai epic conventions with near-perfect refinement. I still feel like the character of Usagi himself is a little hard to get into, but that's more because of how foreign he is to modern readers than anything else. And, despite his strange mindset and ideals, he still manages to get the reader's investment. Or at least, enough of it to serve as an engaging vehicle for us to explore this over-the-top rendition of the world of feudal Japan.

I'm curious about whether the explicitly fantastical elements ever come back to the forefront. The man transforming into an ogre isn't really that much further removed from reality than the following arc's portrayal of feudal skullduggery (in real life, ninjas wouldn't ambush you en masse on a bridge. They'd get into the kitchen at your inn and poison your food), but it's a very different *kind* of fantastical. So yeah, I'm definitely curious about that.

In any case, this is definitely a comic I'd be happy to continue. As a review, or just in general.