previously: >>152971077
https://youtu.be/egn3jQUc_zE
Was just looking for the next thread hahaFucking go time
it's kami all the way down.
>>152983096thank you for kami-ing.
>>152983109>Well Good Morning to you too, asshole.
>>152983109Damn. She needs some body work.
around 1st century AD.
Earliest I've been for one of these And oh boy I hope you folks are ready for some JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY AND HISTORT LESSONS
>>152983153>>152983146>We gonna get this motherfucker, DRUNK & dead in a ditch!
>>152983159>Why was Ameterasu angry? >Don't worry about it.
>>152983159I can hear it in my head already.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM0tXY3wcAo
god this page, I fucking love this page. only in this comic would the author trust his audience to follow this information dump. https://youtu.be/gHi53yewcZs
>>152983146>>152983153>Lord Hebis great great ^X grandfather.
it's a more lighthearted scene than presented here: The fan was so far away that Yoichi rode out thirty or forty feet,but from there it still looked a good hundred yards off.It was the eighteenth of the second month,the hour of the cock—very late in the day—and a strong north wind was blowing.High waves were breaking on the beach.The drifting boat tossed up and down,the fan kept fluttering on its pole.The sea was dark with Heike boatsgathered to watch, while on the shorethe Genji gazed out, bridle to bridle.Both sides seemed in a festive mood.With one hand Yoichi covered his eyesand silently prayed the following prayer:“Hail Hachiman, Great Bodhisattva,and you, gods of my home province,Nikkou Gongen of Utsunomiya,Yuzen Daimyjin of Nasu,I beg of you, guide my arrowto hit the center of that fan!For should the arrow miss its mark,I shall break my bow and die,nor ever again face any man.If you wish me to return,let this arrow of mine strike home!”Once more he opened his eyes.The wind had dropped just a little;the fan looked easier to hit.He took out his humming arrow,put it to the string, and let fly.Small as he was, it was still long—twelve full handbreadths and three fingers—Nasu no Yoichi’s arrow hits the fan.and he drew a strong man’s bow.The arrow’s song rang out afar.Unerringly, it struck the fanan inch above the pivot pinand flew straight on into the sea.The fan shot up into the air,fluttered there a moment or two,then, buffeted by the spring wind,dropped to the water with a splash.The waning sunset’s slanting rayslit the red fan, with its sun disk,adrift on the white-foaming waves,bobbing high and low. The Heike,out at sea, in admirationpounded the gunwales of their boats,while on shore the delighted Genjibeat on their quivers a sharp tattoo.
>>152983204>>152983197>Kusanagihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2zcVYfqdTg&pp=ygUMRXNha2Ega29mIDk4
>>152983060oh hey, this is the arc everyone keeps talking about. I hope it's as good as the dragon bellows one.
>>152983217Welp, time to rewatch Kwaidan again.
notice yoshitsune's armor by the way. that is proper oyoroi, though I wouldn't be wearing that aboard a ship.
>>152983263watch the anime too. or at least the songs: https://youtu.be/sxKc6SrC0Nw
>>152983121I always liked that Susano-O looks like Katsuichi, except he's also a rabbit.
>>152983353>>152983350>>152983346This is pretty fucked up.
https://youtu.be/AqFFuhBjqjg
>>152983375Alas! The spring winds of transiencein one brief instant swept awaythe beauty of this lovely blossom;the billows of a heartless fateswallowed His Sovereign Majesty.
>1605 the only date we have for the entire series.
>>152983109Nice rack tho
>>152983350>>152983353Poor fellow. Barely even knew what his life was about and even saw his death coming. What a short unhappy life that must have been.
>>152983350HE'S EIGHT! HE'S A KID! THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!
>>152983265Benkei, aka OG Doom slayer.
>>152983437>>152983420that's pre-feudal japan, baby!
>>152983133>the horse livesThis is how you know it's mythology.>>152983189And now we're into history.
>>152983109When you see your wife without makeup.
>>152983374Yoshitsune l's face looks a bit like Usagi's too, especially when he dons his helmet.
>>152983353PRE-FEUDAL JAPAAAAAAAN!!!
>>152983093You get a kami, and you get a kami, and you get a kami....
>>152983464>feudal japan sucks>but pre-feudal japan sucks just as much, if not moreMaybe japan just sucks in general
>>152983077>born>hide>pass onthese gods kinda suck
>>152983535you are beginning to understand.
>>152983546Holy shit it's yamato deadlock Look at that cone head
>>152983427How'd that one dude get dual impaled up there?
>>152983535>Pre-Feudal Japan sucks>Feudal Japan sucks>Post-Feudal Japan sucksThere does seem to be a trend.
>>152983552Fun fact: These crabs do exist.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heikegani
>>152983265>This triumph will prove my loyalty to him!Doing the ol' dramatic irony, eh, Stan.
>>152983601it's not jut the greeks who liked a proper doomed hero story, after all.
>>152983522So Funny Animal Hidetada's taking over, Yeah?
>>152983559>Unknown Armies.jpg
>FLOO!: 3
>>152983563>Gets fucking mind controlled>>152983566>Still makes demandsKinda based. Dumb. But based.
I can't get over how creative this whole set up is, mixing up real legend into something believable for the story.
>>152983489I thought of that too, he's clearly a cat when we see him without his helmet but here >>152983289 he looks exactly like Usagi.
MEIFUMADOU directly mentioned!
>>152983394>the giant fish gag againI'll admit, I never grow tired of it.
>>152983455Arnold would be proud of that one liner.
>FLOO!: 4
>>152983692Literally me every year we get to this part. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5yInB-X0EA
>>152983085>A spear handed down by the gods.
>>152983574Maybe Meiji or Bubble Economy Japan won't be so bad when we reach there!
>>152983800He's such a damn himbo.
>>152983816I looked at the tip. Goddamn.
>>152983099I guess Orpheus wasn't the first to go into the underworld to get back their loved one.
>>152983839Ah, good and old Feudal Japan.
>>152983854Eta mentioned.
>>152983117>Susano-o the badass snot kami!
>>152983479>Gen: The only thing you're innocent is, Jack & Shit. And Jack left town.
>>152983871>oh no, my best friend’s in danger!>…maybe I can make some money off itAnd this is why we love gen
>>152983914and this is why we love kitsuné too!
>>152983908>They all turn their backs towards the tall grass>>152983913Oh wow an enemy ambush? Who could have seen that coming!
>>152983957https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPmzRa-sXQs
>>152983657Inazuma is ridiculously talented (probably the single best swordsman in the series in terms of raw talent), but she is just as unlucky.
https://youtu.be/_zrMykBnidMfluu!?
>>152983627A body like that deserves to be worshiped, not mistreated.
>>152983871TEMU USAGI! NOOOOOOO!
>>152983113Even kami are powerless against rock!
>>152984074https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oXeIQ6rJ8Q
>>152984035Makes me wonder how things would’ve played out had she not had a massive bounty on her head
>>152984035And to think her husband threw it away because he was jealous.
>>152983375yeah, even pre-feudal japan was pretty shitty
>>152983077It is time
>>152983146The sheer amount of sniffing in the first two panels.>Me when I smell a bitter IPA.
>>152983159Wait, why was he cutting off the tails too? Dressing the kill?
>>152983433>Jitte status: DECEIVED
>>152983099The Gate to Yomi is in Izumo, which is one province over from Geishu's northern neighbor.
the witch lady is the perfect example of how to make a mysterious character.
>>152984255no clue either >>152984241me when I smell some cerveza crystal
>>152984074I though his name was Justa Farmer?
>>152983627Inazuma's Thunder Tits!
>>152983686DAMN YOU, JEI
>>152984281>FUCKING CROW FEATHERS!!
>>152983204Technically though he got saved more by the fact that the sword controls the wind rather than the grass being cut...
>>152984036A moment of silence for Nousagi Nojimbro.
>>152984370Oh shit he’s not dead! Way too much of a badass to go out like that
>>152984357>GUH! MY GOOD LEG!
>>152983630Yes, that page (and the date of this adventure) pretty much establishes 100% that Ieyasu is the present shogun. However, it causes a great deal of oddness with the Usagi chronology since that implies that the Battle of Adachigahara (which occurred when the shogun's peace was new) was less than two years ago at this moment in the storyline. Which isn't impossible, but it implies that we've seen Usagi's entire wandering life, pretty much from the very moment he became a ronin.
>>152984367Prepare to meet Enma...IN HELL.
>>152984401I think the best way to deal with the chronology is to play loose with it.
>>152984376Damn, is the gang all here?
>>152983861The orpheus legend is probably older, though it's hard to say
>>152984450https://youtu.be/sxMSsQPFW3c?si=IN5N9-TzqqAS49Uu
>>152984410Holy Fuck. Talk about a short walk off a long pier.
>>152984469>Jei: Your soul, Rhino!!>Gen:......How Much ya got?
>>152984463>>152984506Jei bested them with the old Stab-Their-Arm trick
>>15298450962 mon
>>152984534>Oral with Inazuma
>>152984558>Gen: DAMN YOU, LOCH NESS MONSTER! YOU CHEAP FUCK.
>>152983125>Daughter, eh?
>>152984576Who'd you think would give the best blow job?>Kitsune >Chizu>Tomoe>Mariko>Inazuma
>>152983546Fun fact: her appearance here is chronologically *after* Space Usagi. She was a Spusagi character first, then Stan imported her into this storyline.
GRASSCUTTER: Blade of the Godshttps://files.catbox.moe/4hetpr.mp3(forgot to post it sooner)
>usagi will soon meet someone from china...I don't remember this.
>>152984433Goddamn what a headshot.
>>152983077Certified Feudal Classic
>>152983640>Tetas Grande vs. Cornudo: official power ranking match
this was grasscutter part one, hope those reading for the first time enjoyed it! personally it's some of my favorite stories.
Thanks for another storytime, Murder.>>152984293Here you go man!tfw I check last years MEGA and notice someone already made this meme.
>>152983559I love this story in general, but this plan just seems so damn weak to me every time. How are a bunch of peasants even going to find out about the sword, and how are they going to clamor for the emperor's return with any meaningful effect? Even "it's a magic sword and the emperor can use it to personally go apeshit on the Tokugawa" would make more sense.
Thanks murder
>>152984558Here's something for you!
>>152983113Man back in the day going from Persona 3 to 4 this shit blew my mind, how two cultures on the other ends of the world could come up with such a similar story, I was hopping Atlus would do something with the idea. Imagine my disapointment.
>>152983672These bandits are collapsing left and right, they've got the FLOO
>>152984795it could be worded better, as in the sword will serve as a political symbol to overthrow tokugawa would make more sense.
>>152984639>KitsuneDistracts you with theatrics and visual tricks around your dick while she picks your pockets.>Chizucurrent: tries out the western techniques she has studied, out of curiositypost exile: desperately sucks you for sustenance>TomoeLooks at you confused, blushes like a beat and can't do anything for the rest of the night>MarikoGives it a lick and a kiss but doesn't dare to do anything else>InazumaTakes it to the hilt, masterfully sucks you dry and then scoffs at you for being a quick shot
>>152984818get out of here, carurosu-san
>>152984732>...I don't remember this.I wonder if it's the "Usagi meets Wong Fei-Hung" story he mentioned on the letters some threads ago, and if so, why he never actually made that story
>>152984074damn, I hope this doesn't turn into a feudal moment
>>152984673Here's how I imagine Jeinazuma's voice.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ3AC9yrHvs
>>152984795The big flaw is, the Emperor HAD all three treasures when he lost and aunty took him for a dip. I guess the idea is the Conspiracy would reveal itself and Funny Animal Hidetada (or more likely, Ieyasu) would he staring doen the barrel of one hell of a civil war between team Emps and Team Shogun. With at least one Lord in his corner who will betray the fuck out of him because that's just how Japanese réalpolitik seems to play out.
>>152983790>Look! Something I don't understand! I'd better go meddle with it.
>>152984679>Black BladeGetting Last Blade 2 vibes
>>152983069>>152983077We're finally here. It always feel like it comes too soon or too long in the storytime.
>>152984847>Chizu is just Asagi from the Taimanin series in terms of sex
Book 12202 Usagis (5162 total)1236 Panels (10460 total)2 Neko (637 total)No Komori (134 total)No Mogura (34 total)>>152984977You'll get a kick out of this
Not a lot to count this time around since it's one long arc focused on the same cast of characters>+1 Pig
>>152983535>Maybe japan just sucks in generalIt's gonna get a lot worse before it gets better
>>152985021>>152985021
>>152983394So, is this two years after Usagi became a Ronin? Is that why the meddleman meme is 1603?
>>152985110When does it get better?
>>152984410CHEESEBURGEEEEEEEEEEER
>>152985198I have been summoned once again!
>>152983284>high priest>has a navy of 200 warshipsSo whats up with this? Did 12th century Japan have powerful warrior-priests like with European bishops?
>>152983125>It is I, the Old Footfag!
>>152985214Google Heian warrior monks.Also, remember what we talked about in last thread? Emperor himself was a king and a high priest of all of Japan, until 1185 at least.
>>152984128>has a fresh reward he explciitly didn't have a chance to spend yet>immediately decides to loot his unconscious friend
>>152985222kek!
>>152983535>>152983506>>152984176I mean before the Genpei War it mustve been alright, they were more like the Eastern Roman empire.Genpei War is really the start of feudal Japan
>>152984021>Noriyuki is such a death magnet that his presence saved that horse
>>152984795This is centuries after the sword was lost. I think the idea is it's developed a basic messianic belief- everyone knows the one in display is fake and the Gods took the real one away, so if someone appeared with the real one, they'd get to argue "we are truly blessed by the Gods and are the real divine leaders", and with that while they wouldn't convince everyone they'd convince enough peasants to lead a revolt. Think if in the 15th century someone appeared with Excalibur in the UK
>>152983594I know paredolia is a powerful force but it's sort of wild how strongly that looks like a man's face and they live in the body of water famous for a LOT of men dying. I'm not saying they're ghosts but I'm definitely saying I wouldn't want to eat one.
>>152984639>blow jobWrong, look at the page again: >>152984534It would take a pretty cunning linguist to get her to make those faces, if you know what I mean
>>152983563Ever get so mad you turn into the poster of The Shining?
>>152983839Fishing bros...
>>152984657>WHERE IS THE BODY?Would you look at that, Usagi's finally learned a thing!
>>152983433>Jei just kills a major lord and gets away with itWe never even see a bounty on his head, why is that?
>>152985394The most likely reason why they are that way is due to human aided evolutionary force.Turns out, feudal fishermen feel like you, so they would cast those crabs back down, while others would get eaten/minced into mulch for the fields.Give it enough time and you got a whole species of crab with human faces on their backs.
>>152983862Who's that in the last panel ?
>>152985499Usagi's stunt double.
>>152984288This is such an interesting moment. It's the first time we ever seen Jei express ANYTHING like remorse and it's not even commented on. >>152984511>>152984516And then we have this, he loses the battle because he's concerned for the life of his closest thing to a ward. I find it fascinating that he's given these humanizing moments right near his (non) death. I wonder how much Stand had decided on his backstory at this point given what we learn about him later
>>152985189Post WWII Japan was a lot better, though it still sucks in many ways.
>>152983414>>152983421I can't believe nobody mentioned it but Jei and Keiko are pretty much just Sheshomoru and his little girl. Bet Stan was mainlining the shit out of the Inuyasha manga when it was coming out
>>152983594
>>152985213>fractions are against the shogun's peaceThis gets me every time, but then again, considering they're conspiring against the shogun, I guess it makes sense that they have no real respect for the shgoun's laws>>152985440I mean, who's going to report it? The only survivors of his massacres are him and Keiko
>>152985156>As Oboro lays dead for the 2nd time this week>"At least the Neko weren't some mewling wenches like you lot!!">Asagi & Sakura are shown getting Orc picked. Again.
>>152985499>>152985506
>>152983566Bitches leave!https://youtu.be/27i9LoNJshA?si=EpLbSyuhYMgdYJsz
>>152985440Its easy to avoid the authorities when you kill everyone you meet and just hang out in the forest like a fucking murderhobo.No one knows who the fuck he is outside of some people who know better than to even try.
>>152984428>Ikeda just biffed an armed man in the head while unarmedDo you guys have any idea how hard that is? Ikeda must be insanely hard.
>>152985601You still wondering why he is my favorite?
>>152985397Ah, my mistake. >TFW you'll never have Inazuma make those faces with your pussy eating.>She'll never kinda sort of smile at you in acknowledgement of your ability despite her hardened heart
>>152984033What is this, All-Star Usagi Yojimbo ?
>>152985601He's been working the land for years. He's probably busted rocks harder than that jackasses head.
>>152985553big kek. I love that bit.
>>152983744yo, enmmanon cameo
>>152985648The Whole gang is here!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeKE0NHUtUw
>>152983364Jesus, did the light blew the back of his head?
>>152983844I mean, if you randomly wandered across a sword in a stone in an English forest (if there are any left I guess) would you immediately think it was actually The Sword in the Stone? Or just an elaborate prank?
>>152983871>"You Idiots! You got the stunt double!"
>>152984546Honestly, I get that he spent a ton of this storyline setting up Jei's return but in retrospect he really should have just left things here. A perfect sendoff for the character and he never does anything remotely like as interesting again.
>>152985187I honestly don't know why I chose that number when I made it. >>152985214remember private military was in vogue, if a temple wanted to protect their lands they would employ their own warriors. there is also a whole thing going on with temples accruing taxes and lands to themselves the same way private estates (shoen) would do, but I can't say with any certainty. but what I think is happening there, is that the high priest was originally a noble or something before becoming a monk, and would still have his lands, wealth and warrior network. he answered the call for aid from the heike faction but jumped ship (pun intended) when they began to lose. >>152985189when they invent the smart heated toilet.
>>152984369poor bunny was probably being mistaken for meddler all the time
>>152983373>The Tenth emperor, Sujin, had made a copy of Kusanagi-no-tsurugi, and it is that replica that is at the temple of Atsuta near Nagoya.Fun fact, Atsuta shrine got bombed by Americans during WW2 and the original replica was destroyed, modern day replica is the second replica of the original sword.
>>152985774Pretty much my exact feelings. I'd rather someone end on a high note than be forever jerked around because Stan got a boner for killing off just about every other villain with potential so we're left with indirect threats of Hebi and Hikiji
>>152985743If a bunch of crabs pulled it out of a welsh lake, a given thought would cross my mind.
>>152984825Right, agreed. Using it as a banner to rally dissatisfied daimyo under would make a lot more sense, especially since they've already got that conspiracy going.>>152984933Yeah, that's the other thing, it clearly didn't help him last time.
>>152984367>>152984370Ikeda survived as a peasant all these years, that alone makes him more resilient than the rest.
>>152983350sad
>>152985704Probably just cracked it open when he fell backwards, though he was almost certainly dead as soon as he got the full DIVINE BLAST from the mirror.
>>152985638That's not what makes it difficult, what makes it difficult is the sword the other guy is holding.
>>152985743The Stone-Sword was broken in Arthur's fight against Pellinore, so if it was whole, I would not.
>>152984033Jesus I haven't read this arc in close to a decade. Stan is bringing EVERYONE into it
>>152984116And this is why you get the Mikkiri Counter as soon as you can
>>152983800It seems like it would be pretty easy to figure out if it's the real Grasscutter or not. Does swinging it around cause the wind to change direction, yes or no?
>>152985682Fuck, meant to comment >>152985631
>>152983627Prime breeding material
>>152984367
>>152984795My interpretation is similar to Murderanon's and the other replies. When the /co/8 are talking about the peasants rising up I feel like they're writing their own history prematurely to ex-post-facto justify their rebellion against the shogunate. "The people were just SOOO MOVED by the appearance of Grasscutter that they clamored endlessly for the restoration of the emperor. We just ABSOLUTELY HAD TO topple the shogunate and return power to the emperor (with us as his permanent council, of course)!">>152985214>Did 12th century Japan have powerful warrior-priests like with European bishops?They did. The warrior monks mentioned by anon >>152985232 here began, institutionally, along the same path as the samurai class: they were retainers hired exclusively to live on and defend the land rights of the larger temple complexes. >>152985779>there is also a whole thing going on with temples accruing taxes and lands to themselves the same way private estates (shoen) would do, but I can't say with any certainty.So the sources that I've read do not make a distinction between private estates and temple lands, they are both considered 'shoen.' Any large estate that's not explicitly public land controlled by and parceled out by the court in Heian but belongs to some private group, whether its a family or a church, is 'shoen.' And you're right, the temples would be revenue from their lands to hire on their own retainers in order to prevent rivals or brigands from looting their property.Sources: “Some Reflections on Japanese Religion and Its Relationship to the Imperial System.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies.http://www.jstor.org/stable/30234016"The Vicissitudes of a Medieval Japanese Warrior.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Societyhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/25188678>>152983744>>152985660H-he's literally me!Also WEW we're already past 400 posts. Yeah this storytime might need a follow-up discussion thread.
>>152983568It's actually Keiko that rearranges the bodies.>>152983744Shame she didn't know Gen well enough to tell that the real one would have offered to tell her about a shortcut.>>152983891>The more we delve into the supernatural the more true to history the rest becomes.>>152983996We could have gotten Thunderbolt Fantasy Usagi collecting powerful swords so that nobody can abuse their power.>>152984288As they say, there's always an eviler fish.It seems the evil gods Jei serves are not as powerful as the mythological ones.
>>152985084Usagi's never gonna recover from this ratio
>>152983546>>152983563>>152983566Man, she has some downright Clint Eastwood face at times.......... Still would.
>>152983627this is like the most female nudity in the entire run, yes?
>>152983099Damn girl, couldn't wait a couple minutes before eating?
>>152983657you were too tricky for your own good inazuma
>>152984679Is this really the end of Inazuma? Its such a weak ending to her character
>>152983117>be Kami>do literally anything>a shitload of new Kami are born
>>152984511Huh, so jei does care about keiko beyond just letting her tag along. Now that I think about it though, does this ever come up again? Pretty sure this is the only time we see him give this much of a shit about her, let alone at all
>>152983146>>152983153Odysseus wouldnbe proud. Seriously, the amount of overlap between mythologies around the world is insane.
>>152986208Yeah. I do think Inazuma overall is kind of the biggest flaw in Stan's storytelling through this entire comic.Re-reading, I do think the idea is we're meant to take her as basically straight up dying, or as good as, here >>152983657, so we should take it as a tragic death and be done with it; she only seems to "survive" in being possessed by Jei's evil, and they keep otherwise reiterating that she's going to die, that she's dead already, etc. She's in effect a walking corpse, I think, and this could've worked better and been conveyed better.Issue is simply that Jei-Inazuma doesn't get to do much of anything otherwise. This setup could've still worked, but then you keep reading and it feels it's getting to some story about this new setup, and instead you just get Inazuma fighting Jei for control in their rare appearances here or there, and when we finally get to focus on them it's immediately Jei losing control and getting a new body and Inazuma dying for good. It feels like a plotline Stan just chose to abort instead of doing anything to good conclusion. It means Inazuma gets a really strong introduction, an intentionally useless and tragic death which doesn't feel final enough because she immediately gets a new status quo where she just seems possessed and you imagine her fighting it off and going back to normal, and then that status quo is wasted within a story or so. Really wonder if anything happened behind the scenes, if Stan intended for some other story that he decided not to do to give priority to something else.
>>152986304The greeks got around down to IndiaIn the bronze age middle eastern kingdoms imported ore from Britain.
>>152983394As mentioned in an earlier storytime, this kind of ritualized procession was not actually codified until 1615. Lord Fish Sticks might just be ballin but the shogunate did not legally require him to ball, per se.>>152984732SWORD OF DOOM MENTIONED!>Jei was not inspired by the anti-hero played by Tatsuya NakadaiThat's because it's THE LORD OF OWLS that was inspired by Rynnosuke!>>152984869Wong Fei-Hong was indeed about 200 years out from Usagi's lifetime. Them meeting would be patently ridiculous unless it was one of Usagi's descendants, a dream sequence, or something equally contrived. Now I'm only guessing here, but I suspect when Stan first mentioned a Wong Fei-Hong x Usagi story in that letter from the Fantagraphics era, he may have gotten some inaccurate information or just didn't do the research himself to realize that the two lived in completely separate eras. This seems an easy fact to check up on these days but back in the late 80s early 90s you would have had to actually track down a book on Chinese history of the 1800s to know. It really makes you appreciate how much easier we have it these days.And speaking of Japanese-Chinese history, check out this picture from the Shanghai City museum: a copy of the treaty ending the first Sino-Japanese War. I felt this was worth sharing in the storytime because of the mons
>>152984362Its why a ton of anime and games give the sword long ranged AOE air slashes and adapt the story to be more him cutting the entire field down in one swing. Well that plus just choosing the wind direction is not necessarily the flashiest power. That said while it seems like a niche effect I have to imagine always having the wind to your back in a fight would actually be pretty useful. Expend less energy to advance while making your oppenent expend more and throw off the aim of any enemy archers.
>>152983166>Yamato-Sake, son of the Emperor Keiko, Descendant of Amaterasu, slayer of the Kumaso Villains, subduer of the Kami of the Mountains, pacifier of the Kami of the RiversDo they have to say that every time? Have they learned nothing from Tikki Tikki Tembo?
>>152986476Having the wind and sun at your back was basically a guarantee for victory in battle.Like having the heavens at your side.
>>152986165The 9 panels pages have really turned against him over time. When he's part of the action he maybe gets four of them, but there's often clashing swords without him. Dragon Bellows wasn't so bad but I think all us oldfags saw the writing on the wall with Grasscutter.
>>152986478You gotta read out all of your titles to make the best impression.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khg2BAZJ10A
>>152986304Personally the one that always amazes me is the tale of the rabbit on the moon, it makes sense for asian countries to have similar folktales since they were in contact with each other, but the fact that both aztecs and japanese have a story that plays so similar you would think there was an exchange between the two when there was none is incredible
Thread's already getting close to bump and this is a heady story with a good chunk of characters to add to the art (even if ignoring ones like Izanami and Izanagi, Susano-o, Yamato-Sake, some of the ones in the war bit, we still have at least two of the conspirators, the witch, her familiar, and Jei-Inazuma) and to be honest I want to play vidya today so I'll probably just do a massive update with a bunch of characters next Monday or sot.guy what's been drawing characters every day
>>152986571Still the sickest promo of all time
>>152984469He called him a rhino! Rare explicit mention of animal-people.
>>152985524Does the timeline match up?Also; no.Whatshername is Sheshomoru's "morality pet", who softens his heart by being a constant reminder of something other than killing and seeking domination. Jei doesn't seem changed by Keiko at all. He gets angry if someone tries to mess with her, but most people don't care much about her and just think she's weird for being around while Jei is.
>>152986657>tfw no weird murderhobo friend adventures with Jei
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>>152986657Good edit, saved!Also here's some that I saved from last year but forgot to post last time.
>>152986721
>>152986301She's never in actual danger again which is again a waste of a character. There were all sorts of ways I imagine her going but they just sort ofDo nothing. As far as it ever being mentioned again? during his origin story we have the rampage where he kills everyone at the temple except the girl he sold his soul to save so I suppose no matter what, if any individual reminds him of that specific person he wont touch them. But that role is now permanently filled so I guess all the kiddies he meets gets to die because that role is taken now
>>152984206lol never noticed he ate the snail
>>152986721I have this drawing of Usagi as the Dude
>>152986737Also here's a cool fanart I saved since we're in this part of the story.
>>152986743Other anon a couple threads ago seemed right to me in noticing that the ruleset seems to be moreso that anyone with understanding is evil; if you're able to judge Jei's actions, find them evil or scary, then you're deemed evil. Keiko seems to just be blankly shellshocked and unaware of what's happening; Kitanamono seemed to be half beast and not fully cognizant of thought; and Yukichi was naïve and didn't understand what was going on.This doesn't match his first story, where Usagi wasn't really doing much, but eh. The actual ruleset of course is just "what looks coolest and most cruel for any individual story"
>>152986677It's not a 1 to 1 but there is some overlap and we know Stan has incredibly eclectic tastes referencing his comics and manga contemporaries in his work. That being said hardass/sweet little girl is an EXTREMELY common trope so who knows
>>152986406>Really wonder if anything happened behind the scenes, if Stan intended for some other story that he decided not to do to give priority to something else.I mean... at the very least, Inazuma as a character was created as a stand-in for Tomoe whom he originally meant to have possessed by Jei, but he couldn't bear to do it in the end.
>>152984847>Kitsune does tricks with her tounge>When she sucks Gen's dick, they play a game. >If she makes him cum in 15 minutes. She gets his wallet. She doesn't, she's paying for lodging. >Somehow, Usagi ends up broke, either way.
>>152986788Correct; it's a play on the meanings of the word "innocent".
>mfw the sun's still up and we're almost at the bump limitIf A) we hit 500, B) we're on page 8 and C) there's still activity, I'll make a discussion thread and we'll see how that goes.>>152986606Thanks for contributing your artwork almost every day. With your contributions and everyone else's, we're nearly already passing up the all time record of Usagi fanart from /co/ set in 2023 (roughly 50 then, we're at 44 right now).>>152974168And thanks to you as well for the same.>>152977293And to you for sharing the missing Letters To Stan. >>152983318>>152983322It's not the Sengoku period but this is as good as we'll get from Stan in Ultra Instinct mode drawing a Japanese war epic.
>>152984342love the bottom middle panel
>>152986447>Now I'm only guessing here, but I suspect when Stan first mentioned a Wong Fei-Hong x Usagi story in that letter from the Fantagraphics era, he may have gotten some inaccurate information or just didn't do the research himself to realize that the two lived in completely separate eras. This seems an easy fact to check up on these days but back in the late 80s early 90s you would have had to actually track down a book on Chinese history of the 1800s to know. It really makes you appreciate how much easier we have it these days.I do think it's likely he just wasn't aware of the timeline discrepancy, yes. With that said, it can easily be worked around- after all Usagi is not Musashi, he could easily meet Wong... Xuetulei or something. Around the same time Usagi is happening, you still had the Shaolin temple and everything.I think odds are as the comic is tightening down on its setting (with Grasscutter explicitly tying it to real Japanese legend and historical events as opposed to a more loose setting where it's clearly Japan but specific names are changed), he just realised having Usagi leave the country, adventure, and come back, was a bit too unlikely for the setting, especially if he didn't want Usagi to spend years in this trip.
>>152986820I'd forgotten that, but yeah, that tracks in my reading now of what the intent of her introduction was- have her come in and quickly become a liked character, so it'd sting when she dies a worthless death and gets possessed by Jei, just like how he wanted it to sting when Ame would've been. It's the fact that it then leads nowhere that lets the storyline down and makes me wonder why it led nowhere and why Stan returned to a "normal" Jei so quickly.
>>152984441this dude's so weirdlike when you see a distinct character design in a game but it's used for a background npc or someone with little to interact with to the point where you can tell the devs had more ideas for them but ran out of timekinda
>>152985774SameLike it's a given that jei kinda has to be around as essentially the big bad guy that actually shows up and does stuff and is recurring so he's a shoe in to stick aroundBut this is prime "character dies for real" moment. You really can't top getting stabbed with the japanese excailbur. Unless you do something like Usagi Sanshobo and Sasuke triple tag teaming his demon form or something, idk.
>>152983353>>152983839>Dead Children: 7 + (Ninja village)>>152984434Oldest I know is the Mesopotamians had a version of the goddess Ishtar descending into the underworld to find her lost lover.
>>152986997You're making me realise that a lot of the variant covers for Kaito 84 seem to have Jei. Is part of the plot in Kaito going to be Jei still being around, immortal? We see him in Senso too, after all. Could easily imagine him as some ancient evil in Space Usagi too
>>152983189RIP mythological horse.
>>152987025Pretty sure the plot of the book is Kaito stealing Jei's spear head though I might be wrong
>>152985214war "ships" might be over-selling them a little. One or two craft you can reasonably consider ships, maybe, and the rest more like big rafts or canoes.
>>152987066Could be it's Jei's, could be it's the spear Izanagi and Izanami used. Or maybe they're using the same spear so it's both.
>>152984627huh, i forgot about these guys sticking together to keep trying to reinstate the empscan't remember if that comes up again
>>152987066These are dots I had not connected, thank you anon.
>>152987019Shouldn't it be 7 confirmed + 1 ninja village and 1 fishing village?
>>152984639I think chizu or kitsune would be best, tomoe would be clueless, mariko maybe, inazuma i think wouldn't do it
>>152985084Usagi 5k: in the fifth millennium, rabbitkind knows only meddling.
>>152987219Your right. Ninja village was counted vaguely as they referrence multiple times there was children there but none were shown on panel. I was just counting as one for fishing village as we only had one confirmed child with Jiro. Though looking back there is at least one other child visible in the scene of the earthquake crying in the rubble, and there is a liklihood there were more. So really it should be 8 confirmed + (Ninja & Fishing village).
>>152986743Ah, I suspected much. There really are a lot of things they could’ve done with the duo that don’t manifest that i’m only now catching on a second read. Really is a shame, Jei could’ve used it, would’ve added more to his character and made him more interesting beyond being an antagonistic force. Same goes for keiko too since she’s kinda just “there”>>152986788Huh, another thing I missed. This series really is one you don’t just read once
>>152986606Have fun
>>152986811With the IDW soft-reboot she isn't so sweet anymore...which frankly gives her more personality
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>>152987450all glory to sock man
>>152986587It's not that crazy when the moon just straight-up has a rabbit imprint on it. If anything, it's weird that it's not way more common.
>>152987476Inazuma being created just to be a jei slave probably did her no benefitmade her have to be shown off as cool right away but also forces her story to come pretty quick
>>152987268Patience, we'll get to Space Usagi in time.
>>152987476Keiko being created for the role makes sense but I'd never considered that. I guess that makes Senso make more sense, rather than it just being a silly gag it's a silly gag about intended plots
>>152987464damn, that looks slick.>4-leaf cloverUsagi 4channer confirmed?!?!?!?
>>152983375>>152983420>>152983437>>152983506Welcome to feudal life and the price of nobilityWilliam the Conqueror says hello
>>152987476>the Geishu province (present-day Hiroshima)Huh! Confirmation point-blank.
>>152983383>and thats just one example of how bad things can get when you live in Japan!
>>152983438>Ah nuts!
>>152983522Gotta wonder if the panda being such a blind shogun supporter is that good.
Welcome back to the death rattle tally! Here are the new screams found in today's storytime:>Gluk!: 3>Haok!: 1>Gyuk!: 1>Orgh!: 1>Hyak!: 1>Hyuk!: 1>Yeee!: 1>Gwaah!: 1>Eyaugh!: 1See attachment for total cry so far. As always, if you have any questions about the count, feel free to ask.
>>152984795The sword is the symbol of the gods themselves, it's return right at the moment the new shogunate is weakest would signal the god's displeasure with the shogun's existance.
>>152984255>>152983140So in some versions of the story, Susano transforms the girl into a comb and he waits by the vats of rice wine with the comb. The clear liquid reflects her 'true' appearance as a beautiful princess and this causes Orochi to greedily drink the wine until he becomes drunk and passes out. In other versions such as the one I'm linking, Susano merely places a beautiful comb in the girl's hair as he uses her as live bait. He puts her on an altar and lights bonfires around her so the smoke and heat will deter Orochi from eating her, and the serpent then becomes thirsty so he once again drinks the vats of wine until he drunkenly passes out. In either case, the wording of the text isn't just that Susano decapitates Orochi, but that he hacks the serpent to pieces (I guess to make sure he's extra dead) and the swing in his tail section catches on something.Source: https://ia801604.us.archive.org/16/items/TheHeikeMonogatari/HeikeMonogatari.pdf
>>152985214Heian warrior monksThere's a reason why Nobunaga was called the demon king and mostly justified in it
>>152983265>BenkeiOne of the ultimate bros of history and mythology
>>152987450Long live Sock-Man
>>152984441Obligatory reminder that mounted archery was the original samurai skill and this guy has it in spades.>>152986931I appreciate that a nameless samurai with a goofy face just happens to be the real deal and we never see him again. Those sorts of things help give a sense of a larger world outside the main characters.
>>152983433Gen got in trouble
>>152984639Inazuma. Like everything she does its faster than what the eye can see and instantly leathal.
>>152983265Yoshitsune looks like Usagi but as different animal (He's also on the cover). I wonder if he's his ancestor and at one point married a rabbit woman?
>>152988848She's a pro at handling the "sword" the best "swordsman" of the series.
>>152983244She never actually answered the question...
>>152988915She does a few pages later
>>152983217Hoo boy, this is probably the most educationally dense these threads have been so far. It's a bit overwhelming trying to keep track of it all.
>>152988855He did have a Son with Shizuka Gozen. But, it's unlikely Usagi is related to that Son.
>>152983309Always some betrayal in Fuedal Japan.
>>152986158Jei would work just as well as Monk did in containing the sword slut through sheer autism>>152986406I kinda agree. I do like her concept as well as her ending, and also just wish stan did more with her. she should've been reoccurring on the same frequency as gen or stray dog and have more character buildup, like she's just so heartbroken she keeps getting into fights or she tries to protect young girls like she was, just something that makes her death and possession feel impactful. to go full fanfic mode here, maybe have her and stray dog become nemesis until she learns what he is doing on the orphanage and promises to help, leading to a romance that is cut short by jei and have him hunting jeizuma down, recieving help from her brother. I dunno, also always felt her and stray dog had more potential>>152984869>>152986447maybe it still exists as a draft in stan's office.>>152986737this is a classic. >>152987476thanks a bunch dude. >the horde of tomoe fans would hunt me down like a dogyeah all 12 of us!>>152988095it also lends credence to stan always keeping track of where each character is. is it too late to try to make that usagi world map idea we had?
Storytime 12 thread continues! Get in here meddlers: >>152989255
>>152983318>>152983322>>152983331>The Heike this entire chapterhttps://youtu.be/X2acP06791I?si=8jvZ-gbTiLVED0kA
>>152983839Shouldn't have lived in Japan if you didn't want to die over the power struggles of Lords and samurai.
