Usagi Yojimbo #9: "Bounty Hunter II"

Alright, sounds like scumbag rhino is about to make his second appearance. I can't imagine Usagi letting him get away with shenanigans twice in a row, or even once in a row if he's able to catch up to him again afterward, so this encounter is likely to be a lot more hostile.

Or the title could be a trick, and Usagi's about to meet a different bounty hunter. Probably not, but it's possible.


The episode opens with Usagi leaning back in his tavern chair, having just enjoyed a large and well-prepared meal. Looks like he's had a successful mission or two in the recent past, if he's treating himself like this. It's pretty much a mirror of the first "Bounty Hunter" opening, which had Usagi sitting in a similar-looking tavern being morose and antsy about his finances while pecking at a cheap dinner. Anyway, he asks the tanuki running the place for his bill, only to be told that "his acquaintance" has already had it put on his own tab. Oh boy. I guess that answers my question lol. When Usagi asks who the hell this alleged "acquaintance" of his is, Gennosuke hears his cue.

I love how we don't even need to see him yet for this scene to explain itself perfectly well, heh.

Scumbag rhino Gennosuke ignores Usagi going for his katana as he saunters up to the table and pretends to be his friend even more obnoxiously than last time. This guy can't not push his luck, can he?

Usagi, ignoring the innkeeper's protests, draws his sword and makes to cut Genno in half, only to be surprised when the bounty hunter sits down across from him and says he has a business proposal. This fucking guy oh my god. Usagi doesn't want to listen, but Genno tells him that suuuurely it wouldn't hurt just to listen, riiiiiight? Usagi pauses, blade half-out, and tells Genno to make it quick.

Damnit Usagi, you deserve whatever happens next.

Genno waits for Usagi to sit down, and then tells the innkeeper (who is still ruefully cleaning up the broken bottles he dropped when Usagi started going for the sword) to bring them two bottles of sake, on tab. Lol, of course. Adding even more to the deja vu, Genno tells Usagi that he's after another gang of thieves with a valuable religious hostage in their possession. This time it isn't a priest though, but a sacred icon stolen from a major temple. Genno plans to storm the bandits' hideout; he just needs Usagi to stand back and cover the entrance behind him, with less proactive involvement than last time.

Usagi says that sure, he'll do it. Usagi why. He does, however, demand that Genno split the reward with him 50/50; he's not settling for flat fees this time.

Looks like Genno is either desperate, or he already has another plot to screw Usagi over in mind. Possibly both.

On the other hand, it's also interesting to me that Usagi - despite being in less immediate need of work than last time - isn't making a big deal out of his yojimbo honor like he did before. He has no trouble at all admitting (albeit not directly) that he's a flexible mercenary now rather than a strict bodyguarding specialist, and there's no sign of him judging Genno's own specialty (just Genno as an individual for specific things he's done, and even then Usagi takes much less convincing than he did previously). This could be because his bad financial situation made Usagi insecure about what his status really was, so he kind of overacted the part of the honorable nobleman samurai last time. Or, it could be that it's been a year or two since then, and Usagi has matured a little and climbed down off his high horse.

...

Actually, without any clearer timeline being explicit aside from this story coming some time after the first "Bounty Hunter," I think I'd say that "Lone Rabbit and Child" comes smack in between them. In the first bounty hunter episode, Usagi had just recently failed his liege, hadn't been a ronin long enough to earn much money, and was generally in a bad place emotionally as well as materially. Since then, he's made up for that failure by protecting the Geishu heir and causing trouble for Hikiji, made plenty of
money, and scored some cat ass to take his mind off of whatsername the bunny girl who he left behind when he fled his home region in shame.

That, in addition to him just plain being older and more experienced, would explain a lot of the differences.

...

On their way through the woods to wherever the bandits are camped out, Genno and Usagi discuss the plan. Genno will create a diversion and bring as many bandits as possible out of position, and try to keep them confused in the woods. Meanwhile, Usagi can dash in and grab the stolen relic while only having to deal with a couple of them, and then they can both slip away and meet up back in town. Usagi points out that this is the opposite of what Genno told him he had in mind, and Genno just sulkily replies that that was before Usagi demanded a fifty percent cut. Hmm. Well, that is a good point, if you ignore the preceding context. Reluctantly, Usagi allows himself to be convinced.

They reach the cabin that the baddies are living in. Usagi watches, waiting for Genno to do his thing, while musing to himself that perhaps Genno isn't the worst after all; he's trusting Usagi to grab the relic, which means giving him control over the reward, after all.

Then, suddenly, a hard underipe fruit falls directly on Usagi's head, making him gasp in pain and knocking the whatchamacallit that had been creeping up next to him unconscious with an even louder gasp of pain. The bandits look up from the dice game they'd been playing, grab their weapons, and start approaching.

So, with a nasty bump on his head, Usagi is forced to throw stealth to the wind and charge out at the brigands. They swarm around him, forcing him to fight at least half of the gang. And, while he's doing that, Genno does the job Usagi was supposed to do.

Uh-huh.

Cut to later. Surprisingly, Genno actually is back at the same inn that he told Usagi to meet him at. I was sure he was just going to vanish with the relic, but nope, he's here. I guess checking out of the inn and being gone before Usagi got back might have been too much of a longshot. On the other hand, that might not actually help Genno too much, because Usagi bursts in the door looking and sounding like this:

Lol he still has the bump.​

Genno plays dumb when Usagi tells him what happened, simply claiming that since Usagi somehow aggro'd the enemy Genno was forced to make a split second decision to switch jobs. Usagi, sword already in hand, isn't accepting this.

Erm...how is Gennosuke supposed to have thrown the green persimmon through the foliage to hit the hiding Usagi from directly above? Did he actually pick the persimmon, sneak all the way back around the clearing, and climb the tree without Usagi noticing? I'm finding this difficult to accept.

Also, what if Usagi and the animal that randomly happened to be next to him didn't cry out so loudly when hit? What if the fruit had hit just slightly harder and knocked Usagi out instead of just giving him a bump?

I feel like the author didn't think this part through very well. Or, at least, changed his mind about some key details between drawing the scene and describing it in retrospect, without going back to change it.

Well. Anyway.

Usagi tells Gennosuke that he needs to give him a good reason not to take his head off right this second. Genno acts offended that Usagi would accuse him of such treachery, and asks if that's really any way to treat a longtime friend and business partner.

Flash forward a week. Somehow, Genno and Usagi are both still alive and in possession of all their limbs. Hilariously, Usagi has a band-aid on his head where the persimmon hit him, but absolutely no marks or bandages left from the mob of bandits he had to swordfight his way through. As a named character, Gennosuke can penetrate Usagi's plot armor, I guess. Anyway, they're both at the inn still, and the reward has arrived. Split fifty-fifty, each of them will be walking away with...fifty ryo.

I think the joke of "this is just like last time" is just overplaying itself at this point. :/

Anyway, Usagi takes his money and storms wordlessly out without another word to Genno, even as the latter bids him goodbye and tells him he looks forward to maintaining this good working relationship of theirs. Once Usagi's out of sight, Gennosuke is approached by the tanuki with his final meal at this establishment.

Let me guess, Usagi did the same thing that Genno did last time.

Heh. Predictable, but still satisfying. Making the reversal complete.

As Gennosuke roars in indignant, disbelieving rage at having underestimated Mister-Too-Honorable-For-His-Own-Good, Usagi listens from across the street and laughs.

That's "Bounty Hunter II."


A mostly satisfying sequel to the first one, albeit with flaws that bring it up slightly short of the original.

It feels like the nitty-gritty of the story needed another pass. How did the thing with the fruit actually work? What convinced Usagi to wait with him for the money instead of just killing Gennosuke like it looked like he was about to? Honestly, Usagi being willing to work with him again at all after last time was already a stretch, especially given that the reversal of the previous story's details has Usagi rather than Gennosuke in the more comfortable position at the outset.

On the other hand, I do like the insight into Usagi's character and change over time that I at least think the story is hinting at. And, if nothing else, Genno's reaction at the end when his player realized he can't just "it's what my character would do!" with his rogue indefinitely without the paladin having enough.


A bit of a short post, but the story after this one, "Samurai," looks to be an extremely meaty one in both length and density, and I think I'd better start it fresh in my next Usagi post. So, that's all for today.