Usagi Yojimbo Volume 18: Travels with Jotaro [Paperback]

Stan Sakai (Author, Artist)

Book Description

Series: Usagi Yojimbo | Publication Date: June 22, 2004

This multi-award winning series continues the adventures as "Uncle" Usagi struggles with keeping a secret from Jotaro that everyone else seems to know. Not only do their travels bring the perils of the Neko Ninja (in hot pursuit of Chizu, ex-leader of their clan and friend to Usagi), they also have a close encounter with a new and deadly organization--the Koroshi League of Assassins. The beautiful thief Kitsune is up to her old tricks, and Usagi relates a story from his youth about a goblin swordmaster. Finally, an evil artist targets Jotaro with a possessed ink set in the three-part "Sumi-E" story, which features the return of Sasuke the Demon Queller!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–Usagi, the rabbit bodyguard, is traveling with his son, although Jotaro does not know that Usagi is his father. Their adventures range from the fairly straightforward defeat of two ninja assassins to fighting powerful creatures conjured by a cursed sumi (calligraphy writing) set. Several incidents involve people from Usagi's past. Although readers new to the series can enjoy this book, it will have an extra thrill for those who recognize Kitsune, Chizu, and Sasuke. Sakai is a master storyteller, and his black-and-white, pen-and-ink artwork shows the same skill as his storytelling. Cultural notes and a gallery of covers from the original comics are included. Teens are bound to enjoy traveling with Usagi.–Susan Salpini, TASIS–The American School in England
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 8-12. This eighteenth Usagi graphic novel collection follows the continuing journeys of the rabbit samurai across feudal Japan. This time Usagi's exuberant young nephew, Jotaro, is along for the adventure. As they travel, they meet old friends, including Kitsune the thief and Sasuke the Demon Queller, and they come up against new foes such as Boss Hayashi and the evil artist Katsushige. Sakai delivers plenty of martial arts action and solid storytelling. His tone is more relaxed than is usual in the over-the-top manga novels, and his well-researched backdrop of feudal Japan makes the story seem more like a fable than a traditional comic book. Packed with action and humor, the entertaining tale is wrapped in detailed art that allows characters to be cute yet believably human--despite their bunny ears. Tina Coleman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (June 22, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593072201
• ISBN-13: 978-1593072209
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #544,676 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars stan sakai cntinue to please, August 11, 2005

By 

Asgari Stephens "stevo" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Usagi Yojimbo Volume 18: Travels with Jotaro (Paperback)

Stan Sakai continues to make this a must read. Usagi is a common passion of my daughter and me.The stories are simply written and beautifully illustrated and consistent with what had gone on before. Again they present japanese lives and myths from teh 18th century in a very human way.The books continue to be a excellent read even when re read many months later. I have the complete series of 19 books and enjoyed going back and reading them again after this book. I have pre ordered the next one due in nov.

5.0 out of 5 stars Uncle Usagi!, February 22, 2010

By 

romevi (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Usagi Yojimbo Volume 18: Travels with Jotaro (Paperback)

Leaving the temple at Kitanoji, Usagi Yojimbo and his "nephew" Jotaro travel in the hopes of strengthening their relationship, as well as having Jotaro learn more about becoming a warrior in ways that Katsuichi-sensei cannot teach.
They meet some Usagi's old friends, and Jotaro learns much about the world after leaving the seclusion of his (and Usagi's) sensei.

But in typical Sakai fashion, we aren't treated with light, happy-go-lucky stories. Jotaro immediately comes to experience the evil permeating the realms of the outside world; but with his head hard and his honorable (and also hard-headed) "uncle," he learns fast about the rough life ahead for those destined to become samurai.

Great storytelling, beautiful illustrations, and deep characters--all the product of another great Sakai meisterstueck.

5.0 out of 5 stars Jotaro brings the story to a new level (with new stakes), August 11, 2009

By 

shaxper (Lakewood, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Usagi Yojimbo Volume 18: Travels with Jotaro (Paperback)

Usagi Yojimbo is the kind of quality work that transcends time, genres, demographics, and even age groups. It crafts a delicate and beautiful balance between honor and savagery, cute innocence and dark brutality, simple heart-warming stories and multi-part epics that shape a dense continuity. Whether or not you've ever been a fan of feudal Japanese culture, furry anthro characters, or independent, non-superhero comics, Usagi Yojimbo is a comic that can't help but impress even the harshest critic.

Anyone who's ever watched a child and tried to imagine how they perceive the world knows that such an experience can be endearing as well as horrifying. Such is the case in Travels with Jotaro (vol. 18). Here, Usagi is finally reunited and traveling with his son (who believes Usagi is his uncle) through the familiar anthropomorphic landscape we've enjoyed through 17 volumes of this series. And yet, with Jotoro along for the ride, constantly asking questions and perceiving the strangers and vendors in a way that Usagi normally wouldn't, this anthropomorphic feudal Japan and the adventures it brings seem to become wondrous and new again ("You never told me you knew a ninja!").

The flipside, of course, is witnessing its horrors and brutality with Jotaro present. Desperate men that were never a challenge for Usagi before seem horrifying when thrusting a sword at a child. Jotaro therefore raises the stakes in Usagi's world, polarizing Sakai's legendary balance of darkness and innocence into greater extremes. And, if Usagi had already begun re-evaluating his belief in the warrior code and the feudal samurai lifestyle in the previous volume, this one seems to solidify his transformation into a 17th century samurai with 21st century values:

Jotaro: What's the good of being an expert swordsman if you don't fight?
Usagi: You become an expert swordsman so that you don't have to fight.

If the stand alone stories that tackle this new dichotomy of darkness and innocence weren't enough, the volume also contains Sakai's first full length young Usagi story, "Usagi and The Tengu," and concludes with a three part adventure that brings back Sasuke: the Demon Queller, in a strange and fascinating quest to stop a twisted antagonist with a magic drawing tablet that can create any monster that he draws. Jotaro's innocence contrasted against Sasuke's darkness with Usagi caught uncomfortably in between makes for great drama, all while tackling a fantastic series of supernatural adversaries.

This is a fantastic Usagi volume, containing an amazing balance of cute innocence and dark horror, all framed by the adventures of a loving father searching for the strength to tell his son how they are related. Dramatic storytelling at its finest; clearly one of Sakai's best efforts to date.