5 out of 5

Okay, you’ve caught me: I’m allowing for the Sakai factor here.  Which is to say that the honesty and earnestness of the creator makes some elements of this story which might, with other properties, feel a bit cheese, come across as heart-warming or, thanks to the character’s 30 years of history under the purview of that one man, simply fun from a nostalgia perspective.

Senso – ‘war’ – is a future Usagi tale, and maybe sorta’ the last one… although with a wink, we’re reminded it’s all just a story.  Twenty years after our ‘present’ day ongoing chronology, our lead rabbit has now joined up with the Geishu Clan to fight against the forever evil and noxious Lord Hikiji.  And in the midst of the battle, a giant ship crashes to the ground. releasing War of the Worlds type tripods which start decimating everything in their wake.  The focus of the battle now changes.

Right away, what’s wonderfully exciting about Senso is how dense and energetic the panels here, this particular type of frenetic, non-stop action a reminder of the early Usagi tales.  The difference, though, is in how much Sakai has grown as a story-teller, such that page by page is an amazing lesson in both flourish and restraint.  You can also tell he’s having fun with the book, as the style feels a bit looser than usual, but not without sacrificing Stan’s consistent sense of characterization.  Where the book gets a bit indulgent is in how many ‘cameos’ it tosses in; this is sort of an elseworlds style trick where we show off to the fans by tossing in their favorite minor characters.  Stan gets a pass, though, because it ain’t like Usagi has a litany of elseworlds titles, and again, we’re drawing on years of story history from which some of these guest stars haven’t appeared in quite some time.

There are also some fun dodges in the story structure.  Once we see the tripods, we’re expecting an eventual success selected from the handful of solutions these story types usually take, but as usual with Usagi, Stan takes the well-earned “world” of the book and blends it with a fitting mentality for the era, then kicks it just slightly off center until you get the hilariously awesome plan executed by our rabbit and his supporting crew.

So in other words, we have a fully accessible tale for new readers that’s also a ton of fun for old readers, and gives Sakai a chance to shine across amazing gatefold covers and sprawling action sequences.  It’s equal parts daring – no holds barred – and a goofy good time in the purposeful spirit of classic pulps and continues to show why this character has endured with a growing fanbase for several decades.