Reviews for Usagi Yojimbo, Book 4: The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy

The average rating for Usagi Yojimbo, Book 4: The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-04-14 00:00:00 Mr Alcock This is my favorite volume of Usagi Yojimbo so far. In a stark contrast to the previous volume, "The Dragon Bellows Conspiracy" is all one story, that draws on elements of everything that has come before it. Gennosuke (the rhinoceros ronin) is naturally tracking down the blind criminal swordspig Zato-ino, who by now has a gigantic bounty on his head. The young lord Noriyuki has tasked Tomoe with investigating one of his neighbors, Lord Tamakuro, whom he believes is engaged in some sort of underhanded plot. While enjoying Tamakuro's hospitality, Tomoe sneaks through the fortress and uncovers more than even Noriyuki suspected. In the act, she surprises a Neko clan ninja, and she kills him in the ensuing fight. But the sound alerts the Tamakuro guards, and she fights her way through a horde of enemies to escape...or nearly, as she is caught when her horse is cut out from under her. As she is led back to Tamakuro as a prisoner, Miyamoto Usagi sees them on the road, and he commences to follow them and investigate. Sakai has done a wonderful job in these issues (#13 - 18 of the "Usagi Yojimbo" comic) of creating a complicated story that links and ties up a number of stories that came before it. We have the return of the Neko clan, we have the confrontation between Gen and Ino (which in retrospect seems inevitable), we have Lord Noriyuki and Tomoe, Lord Hijiki and the hints of the plot against the shogun. It's very well-done, and the artwork - particularly several VERY dramatic shots of action in the rain - is greatly polished and improved over previous volumes.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-04-02 00:00:00 Tash Fjdisl My favorite volume out of the ones I have read so far. Love this one the best because it's the first volume we get a full story throughout the book and it's the longest of the first four as well. I also liked this one a lot for the samurai and ninja comparisons. They didn't really like each other, but they have similar moral codes. So it was fun seeing the Neko Ninja team up with Usagi and his gang. We get more of a story with the Blind Swordspig, Zato-Ino and his pet Spot too. Which is more of a conclusion of the characters fates as well. Another strong point and probably the strongest in this book is Tomoe Ame character. We read about her before and how he must protect the last member of a her clan, but this time around we see she is a really strong and independent character. She doesn't always need others to do her work. Really interested to read more Usagi and meet more characters. Very excited to hear they're making a omnibus of the second series and really excited there bring Usagi back for a mini-series comic.