Usagi Yojimbo, Volume 14- Demon Mask by Stan Sakai

"Demon Mask" is a collection of thirteen short stories of the Rabbit Ronin, Usagi Yojimbo, the name in itself a sort of pun, since in Japanese, "Usagi" means "bunny" or "rabbit" and a Yojimbo is a wandering swordsman.

In the first story, "The Inn on Moonshadow Hill", Usagi stops for the night in an inn that is supposedly haunted. When one of the merchants staying there questions his honor and bets him 50 Ryo against his services as a bodyguard for 5 years that he cannot go out and retrieve the stone that supposedly is causing the hauntings. But will Usagi fail and run, or face the ghosts haunting the nearby graveyard as a samurai would?

In " A Life of Mush", a young boy wants to get away from his farming life, where he only eats Mush, and become a Samurai like Usagi. But when his dissatisfaction with Usagi as a role model puts Usagi's life at risk, can he get back in time to warn Usagi and save his life?

In "Deserters" Two Neko Clan Ninja have fallen in love and are fleeing the clan to make a new life elsewhere, a normal life. But is there hope of a normal life for these two?

In "A Potter's Tale", a thief hides a valuable jewel inside a clay pot made by Usagi when he is staying at a poor Potter's house. Ne marks the pot by putting a spout in it, which the Potter and his wife see as an innovation when they find it. Soon, all their pots have spouts. But when the thief comes back to buy the spouted pot, will he be able to find the right pot amid so many others? And what will happen when his companions want the jewel?

In "The Missive", Usagi sends a message to his old master, who tells his new student a story from Usagi's past as a young student of Bushido. And Usagi seeks a vision of his future, in which he learns of a terrible great evil coming for him. Can he escape his fate?

In "The Mystery of the Demon Mask", Usagi learns of a strange bandit terrorizing a small village when he witnesses a killing of a samurai by a man in a demon mask. When he is found by the body, he is initially suspected of the crime, but the local police soon listen to Usagi's tale of the man in the demon mask. One of the Policemen, Assistant Inspector Nitta, has a grudge against all Ronin, but his superior, Inspector Kojo, seems a much more temperate man. Sadly, the inspector's first choice for someone to suceed him, his son, Tokuo, was killed, leaving Nitta as the top choice to succeed Kojo, and Kojo thinks Nitta a brute. However, Usago teams up with Kuroda, another Ronin who is on the track of the killer, to bring down the Demon Mask. But can he heal a breach between father and son?

In "Kumo", Usagi is on his way back to the Monk Sanshobo's temple. Seeking a faster route, he takes a shortcut through the mountains, but must deal with an infestation of Kumo, or Goblin Spiders. But when he teams up with a strange monk named Sasuké to fight them, will he survive the encounter?

In "Reunion", Usagi returns to the temple of which Sanshobo is the lead monk, only to find it beseiged by men wanting the gold of a merchant who had taken shelter in the temple. Usagi infiltrates their camp only to discover that the men are not really after the gold. They have been ordered to kill everyone in the temple! Usagi and Gen, another samurai sheltering at the temple, discover that there actually is no gold. The merchant was a plant to help the men steal the famous sword, Grasscutter, which is being stored at the temple until Usagi, Gen and Sanshobo can deliver it to the Atsuto Shrine. But can they keep it safe and discover who really wants it stolen?

In "Death and Taxes", Usagi stumbles across a small village having a harvest festival and One of the villaers agrees to help Usagu to a nearby town over a mountainous route while the lowland route is used by the villagers to bring in their tax money. But when the Tax Caravan is attacked and the money stolen, can Usagi and the merchant arrive safely?

In "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Festival" Usagi has his first match against a fellow student... a girl, and he loses. Can he survive the blow to his pride?

In "Netsuke" Usagi returns a piece of Netsuke to the man who carved it, and remembers a time long ago in which he was a mere bodyguard to his lord. But some duties are important, even after the giver is dead.

The book ends with a series of one-page comics. In the first, Usagi is nearly outwitted by a ninja, until the Ninja outwits himself. In the next three, Usagi meets an Origami Crane-folding assassin who mysteriously knows his name. But can he defeat the assassin who has come to kill him?

This was an amazing book. Each story is packed with adventure, intrigue and a genuine feeling of being in Japan, although it's a Japan where animals replace people, and things from myths actually exist. In spite of being written by an American author (albeit one of Japanese descent), it feels more authentically Japanese than many actual manga by Japanese authors set in the Samurai era. Though mainly told as a series of unconnected stories, each is rich with detail and provides an insight into the era, the people who lived then, or Usagi himself.

This series appeals to people who enjoy comics as a story form, people interested in Japan, Japanese history and culture, and those who enjoy comics equally as action and background. Usagi is a heroic character, a Samurai as interested in the "little people" and protecting them as he is in the movement of Lords, Daimyo or the Shogun. His interest in the various arts of Japan also give readers the chance to experience along with Usagi such things as Seaweed Harvesting, Netsuke, the making of Pottery, Paper and so on.

I love this series, and as long as Stan Sakai keeps writing it, I'll keep reading it. Check it out for yourself.