Sakai uses lots of stories from Japanese samurai cinema, esp from the Miyamoto Trilogy, Zatoichi movies and more. Great way to share those stories in a new medium.
Indeed! There's so much woven in as reference and homage, and yet it never interferes with the unique and individualistic storytelling. Lord Mifune is so much more than just a name borrowed from a famous actor, for example. Lovely stuff.
For those watching FTLOC for the first time when he states he is not very skilled and is inefficient at making videos at the 3:02 mark he is talking absolute rubbish! He is highly skilled and incredibly efficient at making videos and has made another cracking one here for your viewing pleasure…apparently he needs a random Welsh guy to step in and big him up from time to time! 😉
Haha, everyone would benefit from having a Welsh hype man! Thank you for the kind words, but if you could only see unedited footage and the number of failed attempts behind the videos...😁
😄This Welsh man makes a valid observation. FTLOC just has its bar set higher than most. But what’s this talk about removing failed attempts? If there is a technology for that I should start using it too😅
I love hearing you talking about usagi y. I was excites to hear that the deluxe editions are getting a reprint more than a year ago. Then the pandemic hits and no copy of them arrived in europa. I wonder if you know anything about a new deluxe reprint?
Thank you so much! From what i know, they only reprinted Book 1 of the Limited edition , and that too only 600 copies. All the volumes were limited to 1500 copies, but 1 had only had 900 printed, so they 'topped it up'. But I could be wrong and they decided to reprint all often? Maybe non-limited, without the plate and signature etc? I'll have to check up.
Thank you for such an explicit analysis. Great video as usual. Impeccable transition between face view chat and top view book review. I came to realise that i read these issues only in b&w. Need to hunt for the singles ;)
Thank you so very much for those kind words and I'm so glad you enjoyed the video! I think although i love the black and white linework, i really enjoyed reading these colour stories. The slightly faded look (maybe it's the paper) is very pleasant!
A town called Hell is one of my favorite. I was lucky to find a random Fantagraphic trade close to 20 years ago. Missed out on the hardcover saga books though, boo. Usagi is one of my favorite series.
I mentioned A Town From Hell in my How to Start/ 3 Ways to Read Usagi video. Such a classic story, so well done! The Saga softcovers are terrific value for money, if still in print!
@@ftloc I have the old trades of Fantagraphics, the hardcover. The small trades of Darkhorse. Then I have 1 and 9 in the hard cover. Then 5 through 8 in the softcover saga. They are good, but this series wouldn't mind spending more for the best. Haven't watched your other one yet. Just kind of bouncing around your channel. Thanks again!
Here’s a question…did you ever hear of the Usagi Yojimbo computer game that came out waaaaaaaaay back for the Commodore 64? It actually seems pretty well done and comic accurate, especially considering the serious limitations of the system.
I have never read a single issue of Usagi. Having watched your video I feel a bit silly for avoiding this series. There is something about the graphics that made me think this is for children. It might also be the fact that I am quite beginner in manga. I used to dislike it but seems age has brought wider perspective on many things. It is quite silly to dislike a complete genre or style by default. Black & white version looked more like my thing. This being a Classic it might even be available in finnish🤔Great video, your extra effort is very much worth it💪🏻
Thanks so much for the kind words! And yes, I have also seen that people not familiar with the series' history can often 'mistake' this for a young-readers series. Not that I have any objections to all-ages comics, they contain some of my favourite comics storytelling, but UY is just at the border of all ages and 'grown up' reading, I would say. There's a lot of complexity woven into the simple, clear presentation, and the ease of reading it and always knowing what is going on may strike some as 'basic' but I just find 'excellent storytelling'. Also, although it draws heavily from Japanese influences - not just manga but films, history, anthropology - Usagi Yojimbo is an American comic. In many ways it resembles the TV show Avatar the Last Airbender - deeply influenced by manga/anime but an American production with a crafty blend of Eastern and Western social and storytelling values. Also both suffer from the superficial assumption that they are for young kids, but those who dive into them find them rich, mature and complex while still being accessible crowd pleasers! 😁
@@ftloc Wow. This only underlines how clueless I am about this series😅I’m also fan of many comics suitable for children - like Asterix or Philemon. However UY reminded me so much of Bamse that I automatically placed it into ONLY for children category. Bamse is a popular swedish comic series that I read a lot as a kid but there is very little value in it for adults. To my eye Bamse is very close in style to UY - if you forgive me the fact that I’ve only taken few fast glances at UY. I am really interested in the whole samurai era and the fascinating social rules and honor codes. I had no idea that UY is written taking those real life things into account.
Thank you for another video. Looking forward to more content when you get the chance. Usagi appeared in Critters published by Fantagraphics. Another series, featured in Critters, was Nuft & the Last Dragons by Freddie Milton. Fantagraphics has recently released some collected editions of Nuft. Have you picked these up? Would love to see an overview video on them. Thanks.
Thank you; so glad you enjoyed the video! I think I remember Nuft from some of the Critters issues, but I was not aware of the new collection. I'm going to go take a look and refresh my memory, thanks!
