At this year's San Diego Comic-Con@Home, Netflix offered viewers a look at its upcoming animated project Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles, a spinoff of the long-running comic series Usagi Yojimbo.
On the panel were showrunners Doug and Candie Langdale, who broke down the story of Samurai Rabbit. The series takes place 1,000 years in the future and follows the story of Yuichi Usagi, a descendant of Usagi Yojimbo's protagonist Miyamoto Usagi. Yuichi dreams of becoming a great swordsman like his ancestor, but his brash and impulsive actions cause him to accidentally release a wave of yokai onto the city of Neo Edo. Yuichi assembles an unlikely team to clean up his mess and protect the city.
The premise is far from the feudal Japanese setting of the comics and the tone of Samurai Rabbit is aimed at a younger audience, drawing more from the fast-paced action of Hong Kong martial arts movies than the contemplative introspection of Akira Kurosawa films. However, series creator and nine-time Eisner Award-winner Stan Sakai was able to give his stamp of approval to the show.
"I approve everything," Sakai said. "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 [Studios, the co-producer], 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."
Also on hand for the panel were some of the voice actors: Shelby Rabara, who plays Kitsune, a fox street performer and thief; Aleks Le, who plays Gen, a rhino bounty hunter; and Mallory Low, who plays Chizu, a cat ninja. Darren Barnet, who voices Usagi, made a "surprise" appearance at the end of the panel as well. The cast members discussed their familiarity with Usagi Yojimbo, what they liked about voicing their characters and their reactions to the concept art on display.
Lead director Ben Jones and art director Khang Le were also there to discuss the look of Samurai Rabbit. The city of Neo Edo is described as "a bustling, visually arresting city of the future" that still has nods to its Feudel-era roots. As Jones described, "We wanted to keep a combination of the original style of 17th Century Japan, but with a more colorful, lighter touch."
"We sort of draw inspiration from everywhere," Le added. "Not just existing worlds from the comic, of course, but also from reality as well, such as modern Tokyo." Concept art of Neo Edo highlighted the skyscraping pagodas and life-sized sculptures of the city. Sakai commented that that drawing in particular was what sold him on the series.
Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles will stream on Netflix. It doesn't yet have a release date.
Source: YouTube
