Second volume in the series gives us first longer story arc - origin story for the Usagi. We follow him as a kid aiming to become a renown samurai warrior. While on his way to the famous Dogora sword fighting school he will come across Katsuichi, mysterious warrior challenged by the very Dogora students. Witnessing the ease with which Katsuichi defeats the gang, Usagi decides that Katsuichi is a master he wants to learn from. What follows is what in my opinion are the best parts taken from many martial arts movies, of young student learning the art of war and life from a reclusive and wise warrior.

Art wise nothing much is changed from the volume one. What catches the eye are more panoramic shots and more truly cinematic views - entry pages, for example, showing Usagi confronting a samurai from his past are truly fantastic.

Highly recommended to fans of adventure stories. ( )

Ah getting back into this series! The majority of the book was Usagi reminiscing about when he started training as a samurai, being the king's guard and the reason why he killed the other king's guard two years later. The side stories were great as well especially the Zylla. Wonderful graphics and looking forward to the next one in the series! ( )

I saw that I gave Vol. 1 three stars, and it's been too long for me to remember why. Maybe I just wasn't immediately grabbing the storyline, or maybe it's that Vol. 2 really is a bit better. Regardless, I really liked this collection, and as I read I was reminded one more time that I need to get this for my nephews. ( )

I think this is where the Usagi books hit their stride, with an origin story told inside the now-familiar meta story of Usagi and Gen drinking together at an inn and quibbling over who pays the bill. ( )

It builds well off the first by getting into the backstory of the characters. I as happy to see Gen return, now knowing that while non-linear 'Usagi' will have a running narrative (with short stories in-between). This one also explains a lot of the relationships only briefly mentioned in Book 1. Good stuff.