Stan Sakai’s legendary, long-running comic “Usagi Yojimbo” is set to receive its first full adaptation in the form of a CGI animated series, Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles, produced by Gaumont Animation and released by Netflix.
Unlike the comic, which follows the adventures of the rabbit samurai Miyamoto Usagi in Feudal Japan, the cartoon will star his descendant Yuichi, a rabbit living in a far future “that mixes modern high-tech images with classic Japanese references.” According to the press release, Yuichi “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!”
Sakai will be on hand as executive producer for the series, which will be shepherded by showrunners Candie and Doug Landale (Maya and the Three, The Book of Life). “It is wonderful to expand the Usagi universe by collaborating with so many talented people,” he was quoted as saying. “I am working with an awesome team and I’m looking forward to finally seeing an ‘Usagi’ series on the screen!” Also involved in the production are former series publisher Dark Horse Entertainment, James Wan (Aquaman)’s production company Atomic Monster, and Mumbai-based animation studio 88 Pictures (Trollhunters, 3Below: Tales of Arcadia).
The premise is reminiscent of the spin-off comic “Space Usagi,” which followed another descendant of Miyamoto Usagi, Miyamoto Usagi II, in a futuristic setting that resembled Feudal Japan. An animated series of that book was developed in the ’90s, but cancelled after the failure of the similarly themed Bucky O’Hare and the Toad Wars. An animated Miyamoto appeared elsewhere in the 1987, 2003, and 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. Gaumont began developing the new project in 2018.
No premiere date for the series has yet been announced.
