4 out of 5

Not only did we get a three-parter, but Sakai reveals an over-arching villain connection between recent issues!  The slow burn world-building of Usagi is, of course, one of its great appeals – forever accessible but rewarding in the longterm as well – but it’s admittedly always a joy when Stan gives himself room to work out a story, as well as a pleasant justification of the feeling that his post-Senso writing has felt a bit more streamlined.

We pick up en media res, with Usagi helping Ishida track down a Robin Hood-esque thief in town.  He escapes, but finds that his recent take embroils him in some conspiratorial gang dealings in town.  Ishida and Usagi begrudgingly accept the thief’s help in sweating out the conspiracy, with deft touches of humor as our moral duo squabble over arresting the thief as well.  Plenty of derring-do, double crosses, and last-minute saves occur, done up via Sakai’s delightful-as-usual choreography, and the building mystery of Who’s Pulling The Strings well justifies the three issue tale.

In Sakai’s more recent “quick” style, the extended length of the story may have necessitated a couple of minorly distracting art tics: non-speaking characters seem statted in in long dialogue passages, and there was a a weird habit of having women in the passing bustle react favorably to seeing Usagi in a way that kept making me think it was going to be a plot point. Maybe I’ve just gotten used to the rabbit ronin in more isolated settings and these two quirks have always been apparent, but either way, it was enough of a distraction from the story for the star docking.