Comic-Con@Home, Netflix, and Gaumont Animation gave us our very first look at Samurai Rabbit The Usagi Chronicles, a new series that would be based on Stan Sakai’s award-winning comic Usagi Yojimbo.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja fans must be familiar with the character of the legendary Miyamoto Usagi who has crossed over multiple times into the turtle’s universe. The anthropomorphic rabbit Miyamoto Usagi ( Usagi Yojimbo) who portrayed the famous great warrior started as a part of underground comics and now his descendants will take the torch forward.
The Netflix series will see Rabbit Samurai Yuichi, a descendant of Miyamoto Usagi, on his epic quest to become a true samurai. As per the Summary provided by Netflix, the story would go somewhat like this:
“The series takes place in the far future, set in a world that mixes modern high-tech images with classic Japanese references. It follows the teenage Rabbit Samurai Yuichi, descendent of the great warrior Miyamoto Usagi, on his epic quest to become a true samurai. But he isn’t alone! He leads a ragtag team of misfit heroes – including a roguish bounty hunter, a cunning ninja, an acrobatic pickpocket, and a faithful pet lizard – as he battles depth-charging moles, metal-tipped winged bats, and monsters from another dimension, all in the pursuit to become the best samurai Usagi!”
The following cast would be seen in Samurai Rabbit The Usagi Chronicles, Yuichi would be voiced by Darren Barnet, the thief Kitsune by Shelby Rabara, the bounty hunter Gen by Aleks Le, and the ninja Chizu. Sakai by Mallory Low. Sakai has taken up the role of the executive producer himself in association with Gaumont, Dark Horse Entertainment, and Atomic Monster. Ben Jones would be seen as the Supervising Producer and Khang Le as Art Director.
The series is primarily CG- animated but will also include 2D hand-drawn scenes as flashbacks, a subtle tribute to the long-standing Usagi Yojimbo comic.
Originally Sakai had been reluctant to make a series but Art Directors Khang Le’s vision of bringing the iconic look of the comic to life, by giving Neo Edo a mix of Japanese architecture and vertically inclined and vibrant building of modern Tokyo, is what sold Sakai on the series.
Sakai had the following to say about working with Netflix and Gaumont Animation during the panel:
“I approve everything,”
“And have input at every stage of the animation process, from the story to design to animatics, even to the choice of voice actors. It’s something I’m very involved in. Gaumont, Netflix and I have a great working relationship. There’s a mutual respect all around — respect for each other, respect for the property of Usagi and also respect for the Japanese culture, which is very important to me.”
Sakai won an Inkpot Award for “Lifetime Achievement in the Field of Cartooning” and has been inducted into the Eisner Award Hall of Frame, had a lot of good to say about the series Samurai Rabbit The Usagi Chronicles.
We do not doubt that this series will become a fan favorite in no time seeing that Sakai’s first Usagi Yojimbo story is still collecting Eisner Nominations.
There is no release date as of yet for the series, but we can’t wait to know what’s in store for the series in the future.
