The Adventures of Samurai Usagi

You've got to give NECA credit for dedication. They're not the first company to make an Usagi Yojimbo action figure. They're not even the first to make multiple figures. But there's certainly nobody who's gone as hard on the releases as they have. There was the original animated figure, of course, but then they did a comic-based four pack, and are putting those molds back into the cartoon line with new paint jobs (and b/w variants, too). Usagi appeared in two episodes of the vintage cartoon: "Usagi Yojimbo" and "Uasgi Come Home." And in both of them, he wore the same standard outfit (seen on the previous NECA figure) that was true to Stan Sakai's original comic. But when he appeared in the Playmates toyline back then, he'd been given a big redesign, putting him in a little bit of samurai armor. And since tons more people knew the character from the toys than from the comics, that's become a strong visual element of the character, and is why I was more interested in this figure than in the simultaneously-released Space Usagi. The 1989 Usagi was more "samurai-ish" than "samurai": he had an armored shirt and loose panels on his thighs and upper arms, but that was it. Today's is fully clad in the total thing, with skirts and a helmet and everything. Rather than the little lamellar scales the old armor had, this is smooth and solid on the torso, then laminar everywhere else. In the box set where this mold originated, the clothes he wore under the armor were entirely black, while here the pants are black and the shirt is a blue-grey. Additionally, while the paint masks aren't identical between the two versions, in general this one is accented in yellow and the other in red. NECA defintely made sure the two figures looked different from one another, more than "just" a repaint. Because his clothes are less baggy than the 2022 Usagi's, he has more articulation. There are swivel/hinge ankles, double-hinged knees with an extra swivel at the top, swivel thighs, balljointed hips, a balljoint waist, swivel/hinge wrists, double-hinged elbows, swivel biceps, swivel/hinge shoulders, a balljointed neck, and barbell head. There's also a hole on the top of the head where either his helmet or his ears can peg in, swivelling around in whatever direction you want. The swivels in the wrists mean the armor covering his forearms and the backs of his hands breaks its line unless you never turn them, which is not great, but unavoidable in this style. The upper hinge of the elbows doesn't move very far, either, so they don't add much to the poseability. Yeah he does! The figure was sculpted by swarm of tireless enchanted bees masquerading as a humble human being Paul Harding, and that includes both heads; the one with the mouth closed appears to be the same Plain Usagi came with, while the one with the mouth open is new. All these haikus (you have been reading them, right?) are taken right from the back of the box, so we don't know if designer Travis Hastback wrote them, or they were just given to him to drop on there; either way, someone should be proud of coming up with so thematic. The figure includes three pairs of hands (closed, open, holding) and two pairs of ears (up or down), a new, seated version of Spot the tokage, a katana, an axe, a butterfly sword, and an ornate chakram, plus the sashimono banner with the symbol of his former lord, three dots in a circle, which Stan Sakai apparently based on a simplified rabbit paw print. Cute! I got the first NECA Usagi Yojimbo because it was unquestionably the best Usagi Yojimbo toy there had ever been and I'd always wanted such a thing. When the "Year of the Rabbit" four-pack was announced, I wanted the Samurai figure from it, and was disappointed I wouldn't be able to get it - so I was over the moon for this solo release! It would be interesting to see NECA go fo a full "toy homage" release, with less armor, but lacking that, getting the rabbit bodyguard in his full war gear is a ton of fun. -- 08/08/24

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