Stan Sakai: It's a funny animal series set in 17th century feudal Japan. It follows the adventures of Miyomoto Usagi who's a masterless samurai. It's a time of turmoil. The Tokugawa Shogunate has just established control over the entire empire after generations of civil war. It's a time of change. Because the Shogunate has just established peace, the samurai as a warrior class have become obsolete. A lot of them turn to banditry. Many become bodyguards to the emerging merchant class. And many, such as Usagi, wander the shogyusha, the warrior's path. This is to develop their inner spirit as well as their samurai skills. That, in about 15 sentences, is it.

Westfield: Do you ever have any trouble with people who can't get past the fact that your comic features animals?

Sakai: Probably the first question I'm asked is why a rabbit? Once they start reading the story, though, they get over it. I've never encountered a person that has read Usagi that has said "I would never read it again because it's a funny animal series." It really doesn't matter. One of the main reasons I chose a rabbit, or a funny animal, is that I have a lot more flexibility as far as the storytelling goes. It originally started off as a series with human characters based upon the life of samurai Miyomoto Musashi and his adventures. But I wanted to introduce elements of fantasy, Japanese folklore, as well as the political side of Japanese culture at that time. By making it funny animals, it becomes more a fantasy series, though it's grounded in real life or authentic history. I get to play a lot more with monsters and things out of folklore and my own imagination. Also, Usagi is not a typical funny animal series. I've done horror stories, political dramas and adventure stories. I recently completed a story arc called Demon Mask which is a whodunnit in the Agatha Christie vein with clues to a killer's identity scattered throughout the three issues.

Westfield: Even though the book's been around for a number of years now, do you feel it's accessible to new readers?

Sakai: It's very accessible. Besides the comic book, Usagi's also collected in trade paperbacks. The thirteenth trade paperback comes out in March. There's also a Space Usagi trade paperback collection. They're all kept in print. I believe Book One is currently in its sixth or seventh printing. Grasscutter, published in August, is already scheduled for another printing. But each volume can be read independently of any of the others. I try to make these stories as accessible as possible to new readers. Japanese terms are always translated the first time they're used. Story notes, a bibliography, and more details about aspects of Japanese culture that I've talked about are included in the letters column. I give a bit of back history whenever recurring characters show up. There are not many subplots or threads that continue on for years and years. Pretty much, once a person starts into an Usagi story, he catches on fairly quickly. There's only been a few very long stories that have been serialized over a number of issues. Most stories are either self-contained or will continue over only 2 or 3 issues. The exceptions, of course, would be the novel length Dragon Bellow Conspiracy and Grasscutter.

Westfield: How much research do you do for the book?

Sakai: [Laughs] I do as much as possible. In fact, on my drawing board right now I've got about four books out; two on horses, one on the Japanese warrior culture, from 200 to 1500 AD and one on the kofun, or tomb-building period, because the story I'm working on now starts in Japanese pre-history. I've done stories on kite making, on pottery, on sword making. I've touched on the feudal judiciary system and fire fighting methods as well as traditional festivals. I do make mistakes. It's inevitable. Such as, I confused the boardgame Go with Gomoku which uses the same pieces and board but different strategies. I heard about the mistake from readers, one even from Germany [laughter] It will be corrected in the trade paperback collection. The readers are always keeping me on my toes. However, the research is secondary. Usagi is still, after all, an adventure series.