Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles

Samurai Rabbit Goes Back to the Future

Stan Sakai’s beloved comic-book saga comes to animated life in a new show by Gaumont and Netflix. By Jennifer Wolfe

April is going to be a big month for fans of Usagi Yojimbo, the acclaimed 35-yearold comic-book series from award-winning creator Stan Sakai. That’s when Netflix and Gaumont’s new action-comedy, CG-animated adaptation Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles premieres worldwide.

Taking place far in the future, the 10-episode series is set in a world that mixes sci-fi tech with magic and classic Japanese Edo-period culture. Samurai Rabbit follows the teenage Yuichi, descendent of the great early 17th century warrior Miyamoto Usagi, on his epic quest to become a true samurai. Along with his faithful pet lizard, Spot, the brash Yuichi (voiced by Darren Barnet) assembles a ragtag team of misfit heroes — including a roguish rhino bounty hunter named Gen (Aleks Le), a cunning ninja cat named Chizu (Mallory Low) and the acrobatic fox pickpocket Kitsune (Shelby Rabara) — as he battles depthcharging moles, metal-tipped winged bats and monsters from another dimension, all in the pursuit to become the best samurai usagi.

Samurai Rabbit is produced in partnership with Sakai, who also serves as executive producer, along with Gaumont, Dark Horse Entertainment and Atomic Monster. The series is written by executive producers Candie and Doug Langdale (Maya and the Three, The Book of Life, The Adventures of Puss in Boots, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness), with the visuals overseen by art director Khang Le (Big Hero 6: The Series, Little Big Awesome) and supervising producer Ben Jones (Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teen Titans, The Iron Giant). The animation is provided by Mumbai-based 88 Pictures (Trollhunters, 3Below: Tales of Arcadia, Fast & Furious: Spy Racers).

Living Legend

Sakai, who worked with Stan Lee for 25 years lettering the Spider-Man Sunday newspaper strips, is most famous for his original creation Usagi Yojimbo, an epic graphic novel saga that began in 1984 and now spans more than 34 volumes. The legendary creator, writer and illustrator has been honored with a number of awards for Usagi, among them six Eisner Awards, two Harvey Awards (including one for Best Cartoonist), the Japanese American National Museum’s Cultural Ambassador Award, a Parent’s Choice Award and an American Library Association Award.

“I have been doing Usagi since 1984, so it’s been more than 37 years,” says Sakai, explaining how protective he is about the property, which he fully owns. “I’d be very selective in bringing it to animation, other forms of media — but the experience has been great, and the show looks fantastic. The samurai culture in a future setting works just wonderfully. It’s just beautiful. The city looks like huge castles, and you have vehicles, but it has a lot of the feudal Japan feel to it.”

Initially skeptical about bringing Usagi into the future, Sakai was struck by Gaumont’s pitch and the