Thread #153268926
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previously: >>153255039
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it's time to relax.
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just love the full ink used to make the scene darker.
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it's actually a root, usagi.
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>>153269211
they make a very funny duo, and kiyoko is just the cherry on top
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>fat crime bosses: 3
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>FLOO!: 28
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that kitsune-smitten anon must be happy.
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by the way, it's around this volume that I notice the artstyle changed again, but I can't quite put my finger where.
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>>153269511
>>153269516
Usagi probably gets a boner when people steal from him now
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>jizo statues: 229
>>153257368
duly noted and counted, thanks.
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>jizo statues: 230
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one of the hardest lines ever
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>jizo statues: 231
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to be fair, being the result of very recent volcanic and tectonic activity, I imagine japan does have some very interesting rocks.
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>>153269754
https://youtu.be/MgyAWij3SLk?si=7zUmdhvfMxJxQWV6
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>At the Edge of the World: Don Rodriguez's Theme
https://youtu.be/QrxfKXJMu4s
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>>153269354
>>153269311
I also think Chizu is playing it up because she likes Usagi holding her back. If she wanted Kitsune dead she'd just throw a shuriken.
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obligatory
https://youtu.be/jcwoBVUqlW0
https://youtu.be/w2A_NISUX-w
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>>153270045
>>153270040
It's really frustrating how strong he actually is
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my head cannon is Rodriguez is just a swindler pretending to be a special diplomat, but got a little carried away.
>>153270055
iberian genes, son!
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>jizo statues: 232
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now that I think about it, the koroshi do have a bigger presence than I usually remember them having. they're not neko ninja, but they're not at mogura level either.
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>>153269522
Almost correct, my dear Murder! The art style has slightly changed in Senso, which was released directly before the first story in this thread and after a long period of Stan not drawing Usagi. Changes which carried over include Chizu's slimmer face. Probably because in Senso she has been drawn near Tomoe for the first time ever and they looked too similar, so Sakai has updated the design a bit. But the main change, which gives you that weird feel?
The lines are thinner. Just slightly, but your brain notices even if you don't.
WHY are they thinner? I think it's a combination of a long break, new ink and/or pen, and years of stress subtly showing up in Stan's art.
Anyway, want me to post a short comic made by some upstart named Stanley Sakai, age 19, after this storytime is done?
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>want me to post a short comic made by some upstart named Stanley Sakai, age 19, after this storytime is done?
well I couldn't possibly say no to that.
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just look at this pompous bastard
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that is it for today, thanks for reading!
unfortunately this sunday I probably won't be able to post like usual. I have a social engagement I can't really miss without losing face, and I don't know if I can get home to dump at a reasonable time. if I do, I'll post Yokai. if I don't, I'd be glad if someone could step up to do it. my sincere apologies.
now, for something different, courtesy of deviant anon...
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>>153269516
I could justify Kitsune's bullshit in previous stories to some degree but this one broke me. It's not even that it's a low moral bar, but that she's almost suicidally stupid.
>Chizu almost kills her but Usagi deescalates the situation
>instead of recognizing she's out of her depth she immediately tries to blackmail the dangerous merchant
>he makes the obvious choice to kill her
>Usagi and Chizu bail her out of that situation
>immediately steals from Chizu, who threatened she'd kill her for less and has shown she can track her
>somehow STILL doesn't realize she's out of her depth she immediately plans to blackmail a presumably dangerous lord
I'm pretty sure Kitsune working at the brothel was actually the good ending.I don't know enough about how social class intersected with prostitute class but given that she's actually a fairly skilled performer she might be able to become an oiran like Lady Maple
>>153269978
Many are saying this
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Thanks, Murderanon
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>>153269779
This is a GENIUS scam for feudal japan. Get a random rock, don't let anyone see it but constantly talk up how great this rock is and make other people covet it for honor and prestige.
These people would have loved NFTs.
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>>153270416
Here's something about Edo-period prostitution.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLRzw-PQs_Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5hUQlm_-nY
Hope you get a clue what sorta life Kitsune could have lived.
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>>153270571
>This is a GENIUS scam for feudal japan. Get a random rock, don't let anyone see it but constantly talk up how great this rock is and make other people covet it for honor and prestige.
Hey they're still doing that shit with grasscutter.
>You have a sword and other regalia that directly prove you're connected to the gods?!
>Yes.
>Can I see it?
>No.
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>>153269900
Or just cack her while she and Usagi were initially talking. Instead she repeatedly threatens her (almost like she was trying to convince herself) and chases her around with a sword. She doesn't try to leverage Kiyoko as a hostage.
Chizu is a sweetheart and isn't cut out for the rough stuff. Kitsune knows, maybe Kiyoko too.
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>>153270067
Meanwhile, at Philip III court:
"We have a new report from the Jesuit Chapter in Nippon, my king."
"..."
"Lord Odo is a coward."
"Prepare an envoy to the Nippon King about this cowardice..."
"Yes, my king..."
"Ah... Write how Quark was right again."
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>>153270329
Hey Murder, I hope you don't mind if I bump this post from yesterday? >>153257368 I think it got missed and I'm all about pedantic counting, but by Monday I'll probably have forgotten all about it.
Also, thanks for posting!
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>>153270416
>there's a timeline where Usagi is friends with the finest prostitute in all the lands, the ethereal beauty Kitsune
>Maple is a thief, constantly on the run with her infant son who is secretly the heir to a lord
This could make for a great RPG adventure.
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>>153270815
Oh shit wait, I'm retarded. I'm the one who can't read. >>153269586 My bad and thanks, Murderbro!
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>>153269122
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOV6H4NcGEs
Go ninja Go ninja Go!
Go ninja Go ninja Go!
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>>153269146
I hope this helps a certain anon relax.
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>>153271548
If nothing else I'm happy to have left some mark on the threads
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>>153271548
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>>153270494
>>153270467
>>153270329
CRISIS AVERTED.
Now back to our regular programming.
It is the year 1972. In Chronicle, a fanzine for comic book readers and artists, a 19 years old Stanley Sakai publishes his newest work. His very own comic for everyone to see.
It's a glorious mess.
[also censored, because this is a buddhist website]
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>>153272027
I give you what is possibly the first published work of Stan Sakai from 54 years ago.
I give you... Dante!
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>>153272047
Be amazed by the plot!
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>>153272063
>that face
Stan is never beating the furry allegations.
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>>153272080
Marvel at the action scenes and the very tell-don't-show take on presenting the ongoing events!
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Book 30
418 Usagis (13606 total)
756 Panels (28575 total)
6 Neko Ninja (1190 total)
No Komori (199 total)
No Mogura (37 total)
No Ninjas of the Dark Light (4 total)
>>153268958
The single worst story. Kitsune's point of no return.
>>153269205
>six neko
>>153269228
>six bodies
Finally some consistency, arigato Sakai-sama
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>>153272100
You may say I am harsh, and I am. But Sakai has made incredible progress over the years and his first comics being messy only make his later work look even better.
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>>153272141
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>>153272150
Go for it, we're at part two, which came out in 1973. Also
>John Byrne
>Chuck Dixon
Holy fuck!
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>>153272192
Lmao. Anyway...
Welcome at part 2.
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>>153272262
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>>153272279
The plot thickens!
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>>153272293
Don't you love arrows telling you the reading order?
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>>153272315
We're almost there, sit tight.
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>>153272326
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>>153272342
The final fight begins!
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>>153272357
>defeated by rocks
Some things never change.
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>>153272383
And that's the end of this story! While Dante kept occasionally appearing in the Chronicle fanzine, Sakai never did anything more with that character.
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>>153272405
... apart from this 3 pages long epilogue/backstory, that is.
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>>153269754
Oh god not this one.
>>153269870
A FUCKING ROCK
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>>153272445
Sooo... imteresting character, yay or nay?
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>>153272471
>Whenever Dante is not in the room with them, other characters should ask "Where is Dante?"
And that's really it for Stan Sakai's Dante. The first known comic by the beloved author of Usagi Yojimbo.
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>>153272509
Happy to hear your family emergency was resolved and thanks for sharing some really obscure Stan lore. But-
>A FUCKING ROCK
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>>153270160
>I think it's a combination of a long break, new ink and/or pen, and years of stress subtly showing up in Stan's art.
This is just a guess, but a qualified one: in one of the interviews, letter pages or art books, Stan mentioned that his favored nib pen was no longer made. This was years and years ago in comic production terms; my guess is that when he came back from his hiatus he realized his pen was turbofucked and had to get used to a new one. (That sort of thing often happens; you don't really notice how shit your equipment is in the thick of it, but when you put it aside for a while and come back to it, you realize it's a shambles.) That's why the lineart is less uneven in weight from here on in: his new pen has a stiffer nib, or maybe he's even using a marker pen of some type.
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>>153270329
I'll storytime Yokai this Sunday.
>mfw A FUCKING ROCK
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>>153272556
We're still a ways away from The Hidden.
>a fucking ROCK
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>>153272047
>>153272063
This plot reads like a 90s boomer shooter.
>>153272157
Sewer count +1
>>153272471
>further endowed
Oh my
>Analitical mind
OH MY!
>>153272509
Thanks DeviantArt Anon, it was a painful read, but it's always interesting to see where great people come from.
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>>153272561
Like THE SECOND KNOWN OLDEST COMIC by Stan Sakai! From 1975, also published in Chronicle.
I give you: THE MAN.
This one is only 5 pages long, but get ready, it's gonna get MESSY really fast.
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>>153272606
I promise this is the last thing for today! Tomorrow we will have something short, relatively new and actually good!
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>>153272621
Why do I get Anakin and the Sand People flashbacks?
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>>153272606
>a future of eroded ROCKS
Good. GOOD.https://litter.catbox.moe/rg336az6ki4lo9yz.mp4
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>>153272635
Oh. Oooh nooo...
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>>153270302
It's interesting he still sees Nilson Groundthumper as happening in a real world of northern Europe, despite the fact that it's a much more openly fantastical comic. I wonder if in the same way Usagi's setting evolved from a slightly more fantastical chanbara Japan into pretty much historical fiction, Stan would nowadays have Nilson and Hermy in a more realistic depiction of 17th century Denmark or something.
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>>153272645
Uhhh... So what have we learned?
Truly, the man is the worst monster of them all.
>>153272640
I have only respect for a man with a grudge against a very specific type of inanimate objects.
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>>153270905
It's this. The c. 1600 rapier is such an unbelievable longboi that it fucks the katana user without the rapierist even needing much ability.
That being said, the duel between Usagi and Rodriguez clearly isn't representative of this, what he's actually got is something more like a stage-combat sabre.
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>>153272027
>Clyde Caldwell
Kek, that's crazy. For those of you who don't know, he went on to become one of the Big Four classic artists of TSR during the '80s, specifically the guy drawing the cheesiest cake in all D&D.
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>>153267042
>>153267975
You know who does have a scanner though?
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>>153272872
This year will be remembered as the one filled with fanart of a record number of characters and deepest, oldest Sakai lore.
>>153272810
>>153272409
Before the internet, fanzines were THE place for finding talent. Next to conventions, that is.
Here, a little gift for any interested comic book historian:
https://www.kenmeyerjr.com/ink-stains.html
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>>153270620
>>153272688
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>>153272640
Correct me if I'm wrong, Enma, but all these rocks look like Chinese Scholar's Stones, not the quite different Japanese suiseki rocks.
(TL;DR on the difference is that the Chinese liked "weird rocks that look all fucked up with holes and such" and the Japanese preferred "rocks that look like little bonsai mountains and cliffs")
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>>153273099
No, you're spot on. There are in fact different autists in different parts of Asia obsessed over different kinds of rocks. ROCKS. Pic related
>me and my elephant on the right shaking our damn heads at >a fucking rock
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>>153270621
chizu has had it maybe the worst of the more main characters in terms of often looking pretty different from appearance to appearance
like the part with her talking to saru and her boyfriend her cheeks were like concave that whole issue very weird look
also I get it's kinda there to show how rough off she is on the run but i don't like how plainly ugly she looks at times
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>>153273255
>also I get it's kinda there to show how rough off she is on the run but i don't like how plainly ugly she looks at times
It really isn't, we noticed it this time- her design gets changed to be like this before she's on the run. It's probably entirely because Tomoe was used shortly before that story, making it too obvious to Stan both of them looked the same
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>>153269516
Epilogue courtesy of a drawfriend in a previous storytime to ease the pain
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>>153270905
>>153272731
not really a history or martial combat guy but from what i understand real life melee combat in ages past and really now length is pretty much the be-all-end-all
the longer your weapon (that you can still readily heft without wearing out) the better your chances are of reaching your opponent before he you
also the motion of stabbing is simply physically more cost effective than swinging or chopping motions
armor can complicate this some but there's a reason the spear was used much much more than the sword in combat in years past
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>>153270062
this is a cool moment as it's sensible technique like this would throw rodriguez off as he presumably didn't fight any that bothered to use the sidearm, and also usagi is very adept with dual wielding as it seems to be the unique aspect of katsuichi's type of sword fighting
>>153270787
he did it a lot more early on
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>>153272027
oh, this is interesting
>>153272141
even then, his lettering is alright for being his first comic ever
>>153272509
this was awesome, thanks for posting! it wasn't so bad, I dig it.
>>153272520
actually beautiful. I'd send a bad of thugs or two over these ones
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>>153270905
Also rapiers are basically designed for dueling in giving maxinum amount of reach while also being hard to judge said reach as an opponent do to it being held horizontally to the eyeline.
>>153273783
I mean even with the hidden blade he was now fighting with a handicap so I also don't really think you can blame him for the second loss.
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>>153269920
>>153273616
I think a lone European braggart coercing his way like this is highly anachronistic for the time period. It's not like he can telegraph his capital and have them send gunboats to intimimate the primitives.
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>>153269805
>Kagemaru's log
>Day 512 of the 3-day special mission to eliminate Chizu
>6 more loyal ninja sent out, 0 returned
>Ratio of loyal to disloyal ninja in my ranks continues to worsen
>Still unsure why this is happening
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>>153274056
In terms of how hard it is to gloss over. Bacteria knowledge? You can just kinda imagine the character talking about mold and not mentioning bacteria, and the story works fine. Takoyaki? They could just be eating a different snack. But a foreigner getting to wander Tokugawa isolation-era Japan and boss others around is just too big a thing to gloss over, it just openly doesn't work with the general time period of the setting- it's as if a caveman was around.
With that said, >>153273983 is probably right, the lack of gunpowder and firearms is probably a bigger anachronism still.
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>>153273208
>>153273843
Oh, so NOW you want to talk about eyes, huh?
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>>153272233
>this small historical anachronism has me seething
My friend you're right where you're supposed to be.
>>153270715
>Sorry that's a typo. It should read "The koroshi never. Fail."
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>>153269311
Fire the Chizu cannon!
>>153269350
Ninja Finger!
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>>153273911
>>153273977
>>153274056
>>153274131
ACKSHULLY the total isolationism 'sakoku' policy wasn't issued until 1639 with the total expulsion of the Portuguese and a serious 'we're not joking this time fuck off Amakusa' crackdown on Christianity. And ACKSHULLY ackshully, much like bushidō, 'sakoku' is a more recent term retconned into history.None of this makes Rodriguez or this contrived scenario of On-Demand Access Seppuku any less fantastical, of courseSorry for over-namefagging ITT I just hate rocks so goddamn much
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>>153274814
I'm not complaining about the lack of the country being closed and not open, I'm saying this is bascially a cartoon version of the 19th century where Europe rocketed so far ahead of other countries that a blowhard could threaten powerful men in those other countries and they'd have to take him seriously just in case he wasn't actually full of shit.
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>>153274814
>>153274131
Imagine if the lord just send a letter back along the lines of "Hey your representative is trying to get my retainers to all commit suicide so he can watch. What's up with that? Please respond at your earliest convenience."Meanwhile a samurai in France is demanding to sleep with a peasant on her wedding night.
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>>153271138
>>153271189
Karma and FEUDAL JAPAN recognizes Kitsune's game. Same reason the snitch has several layers of plot armor.
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>>153272955
>https://www.kenmeyerjr.com/ink-stains.html
fucking awesome, thanks!
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>>153269333
I feel Kiyoko tends to emulate Kitsune a lot when they are side by side. Nearly every interaction with Kiyoko Usagi has, when Kitsune is elsewhere, seems to be more calm and reasonable for a kid instead of having the "crazy eye" feel.
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>>153269228
>>153269236
I swear she's already had this conversation with Usagi. Is this just something Stan put in there for newcomers?
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>>153269501
>>153269511
Wait a minute, I thought kissing was a universal thing...
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I mean, rodriguez-san wasn't threatening to bomb out lord Odo, he was threatening to call him a bitch in front of the shogun for losing a bet and not making good on it. He didn't have any power but face, Lord Odo simply shouldn't have made a bet to give him anything he wants on conclusion of what should be a friendly duel
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>>153269003
https://youtu.be/2P5qbcRAXVk?si=41WheJ1GJWGmr9yB
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>>153274964
But he's not engaging in gunboat diplomacy, he's invoking the authority of the shogun and trying (successfully) to shame Lord Odo by using Feudal Japan's own messed up rules of social etiquette. If we replaced Rodriguez with a native Japanese, someone who has a personal vendetta against the Odo clan, it would be only slightly less ridiculous.
>I defeated all your samurai, Lord Odo. I demand you grant me my boon.
>Very well, Ryouto, name your price.
>I want the tea master Nobu to commit hari-kiri! Otherwise I will let it be known that Lord Odo cannot keep his word!
>>153274870
S-stay back!
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>>153269311
(I'm having trouble following the storytime this year and it shames me to only be able to repost edits from last year.)
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I'm gonna come out and say it, rocks are COOL. they're full of MINERALS and CRYSTALS which are also COOL.
>>153273911
I'm telling you, he's full of shit but lord Odo is just too dumb to realize it.
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>>153269669
>>153269675
ok, that's clearly cheating
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>>153275195
Again, this is right after the three-year hiatus. I don't remember off the top of my head exactly when was the last time before this that Cheese appeared in the comic, but it was definitely before A Town Called Hell, so this is her first showing in, what, eight years? Ten?
Reading at this clip of a volume a day compresses what was often a long-ass production schedule. The way I remember it, back before the hiatus the trades lagged terribly behind the single issues and the hiatus really just allowed them to catch up by publishing one a year. I could be wrong about that though because again, it was fuckin' ages ago.
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>>153275195
>I swear she's already had this conversation with Usagi.
Yes. Chizu "Big Kashira" did. But this isVenom Kashira
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>>153273795
I had to do it, it's not the same without the funny floating skull
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>>153269754
>>153269766
>>153269775
this is some Hyouge Mono type of shit
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>>153275465
>I'm telling you, he's full of shit but lord Odo is just too dumb to realize it.
I definitely think a minor thread of the story is that Odo is kind of an unconfident bumpkin who's insecure in his own status. He hired Nobu in the first place so he wouldn't look retarded at court, which by Nobu's implication neither Mifune nor the Geishus would have had an issue with, and in the same way he doesn't have any confidence in his own standing with the shogun even if the shit he refused was obviously retarded. That's why he's susceptible to these dumbass arguments and gets crudely manipulated by Rodriguez (arguably it's also why he was stupid enough to offer whatever the winner of the duel wanted as a reward).
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>>153275502
Thanks, I'll try to come up with something new when I get some free time.