Investigating Inspector Ishida
This is the tenth collective volume of adventures of long-eared Ronin. We have a lot of brilliant content here, for example Inspector Ishida returns in two stories. The first focuses on a double murder in the inn. I was interested in this criminal story, in fact, until the very end I was not sure who murdered. The Hell Painting , on the other hand , the second story focusing on Inspector Ishida, looks even better. Because we have supernatural threads, and the title painting makes an amazing impression. It immediately reminded me of Hieronymus Bosch’s hell. However, thanks to the literary retrospective procedure, the murderer is not another one-dimensional criminal.
Anyway, apart from Ishida, Kitsune and Chizu return, and this heralds a whole lot of trouble, especially since women enter each other’s parade, and thus we can expect many funny scenes. The situation is different in the Los Angeles of the Old People . This is perhaps the most moving story in this collection, and at the same time sheds some light on Japanese customs.
What can I say, as always, the story is at an outstanding level. I especially appreciate the accumulation of elements related to the culture of the Land of the Rising Sun (in this collection we will learn, among others, the secrets of making soy sauce!). I love the trivia in this series!
Kitsune vs Kashira
Another advantage of the entire series is the fascinating, colorful and unusual galaxy of characters. Apart from the old characters, the discussed volume features several episodic ones. Among other things, we have as many as two demonic individuals. Both in terms of appearance and character, they immediately arouse aversion. A samurai named Te cuts the hand of any losing opponent, and the envoy of Portugal has the face of Mephistopheles himself. This is not the end of interesting facts, because there is also a new, intriguing demon – kappa.
Perfect workshop
I liked Stan’s line from the very beginning, because he cares about the smallest details. The binding looks brilliant, as in the previous volumes. Nevertheless, in this part I especially liked the fight scenes, specifically the duels. You can clearly see who has an advantage over whom at the moment and until the very end I was curious how the fight would end. In addition, it is worth mentioning that this volume includes some very nice additions. In addition to Stan’s notes and the covers of individual notebooks, there is also a comic about the author’s interview with Usagi, and a funny story about a skunk.
Can Usagi’s adventures ever get bored?
The next volume of Usagi delighted me in every way. The graphic design, as always, presents a high level. In terms of the plot or characters, I have no objections. It is even a bit boring that I can only be delighted again and I am not able to point out any disadvantages of this volume. It is true that I was hoping that I would be able to present my first tenner in my life, but unfortunately I missed, first of all, Gen, and secondly, the history of the Circles ( Usagi Yojimbo. Beginning, volume 2 ). There are many surprising stories in volume eight, for example the heart-touching Fate of the Elders , the thrilling One-armed Swordsman or the instructive story about the makers of soy sauce. Usagi Yojimbo for me it’s the best comic book series I’ve ever read, and volume eight only proves that Stan Sakai is in great shape.
