#130.5 It ain't easy being a samurai | Musashi First Impressions

[00:00:00] Welcome to Shonen Flop Chibi, First Impressions mini episode where we talk about the first chapter of the series. We'll be covering in depth next week with our guest Mercury Falcon, aka John Falco. That's right. Not Fox, not Wolf. It's John Falco. I'm Jordan and with me today as usual is my lovely co-host David. Say hi, David. Hi, David. Oh, cheers for covering this week, David. Well, I thought about saying it in like an epic samurai way, but I might get canceled because it could have been probably offensive. But we're

[00:00:30] covering Musashi, not the one you're probably thinking of because most people probably haven't actually ever heard of the series before. True. That's right. This is called Musashi. It is... With no bunny in it. No, that's Usagi Yojimbo, David. Oh, is it? Oh, I thought that's the bunny guy's name. Okay. It shows what I narrate. I don't remember. That might be his name, but the manga is called Usagi Yojimbo. I mean, he's probably, he's probably inspired by the real life guy, Musashi. But this is Musashi and it was written by

[00:01:01] Hiroshi Motomiya and it ran from January 4th, 1972 to June 20th, 1972. Yeah, we're back in the 70s, David. Hell yeah. Back in this classic manga era. I love this era. When you could show boobs. Yeah. And where... This is the main takeaway from this era.

[00:01:21] Characters didn't have to look at all realistic and that's okay. But this had two volumes and in its complicated number of chapters. Yeah. Mal is just like, ah, who really knows? Because like back in the day, they like broke up chapters super weirdly. So like chapter one is either 50 to 102 pages, depending on how it's considered chapter one.

[00:01:43] Okay. So it's like, cause when I read it's complicated, I was like, do we not have all the chapters? It sounds more like we have everything. We just don't know how to break it up. Yeah. So we read a prologue essentially. We read chapter zero. Yeah. We gave up trying to figure out chapter one. I was like, Jordan, do you want to read the prologue and chapter one or just the prologue? And I was like, so chapter one was between 50 to 100 pages or the prologue is 22 pages. And we went with just the prologue to make it easier for ourselves.

[00:02:09] God, every time I see it, like a chapter zero, I think about how, um, Rob Liefeld once said that, uh, you should start a series in media rest of chapter one. And then you just release a chapter zero later to explain everything. Yeah, that sounds about right. Uh, but yeah, let's get into the first chapter plot summary. A samurai takes a piss before choosing to go down a random fork in the road. He's wandering, David, like some kind of wandering samurai.

[00:02:38] What is this? Some sort of wandering samurai? Meanwhile, the village he's going towards, there's another samurai who's like really mad because a kid named Benzo is calling him out and he's fully prepared to kill him. Popcorn dish. Yeah. Over on a hill somewhere, two kids watch samurai duel each other in a fight that leads to them both dying. So we know neither of them are the protagonists of this manga. No. The kids quickly rob their corpses before running off to see Benzo fight the samurai. The villagers fall out there to try and stop him and a guy with a unibrow runs away.

[00:03:07] End of the prologue and beginning of us really trying to figure out what the fuck is this manga is actually going to be about. Yeah, because, so to be clear, like the last two panels are just like this guy with a unibrow looking over a post and then running away. And we haven't met the guy with the unibrow yet. So it's just, it's just like, who is that? I think that's Benzo. And he's going to be joined by his assistant peroxide. Or his assistant barbiturates.

[00:03:37] Okay, Benzo barbiturates. Benzos are a type of drug, which is what Xanax is. Oh, okay. I live a clean life, Jordan, so I wouldn't know. I see. Winners don't do drugs, except for all the really successful people that do a ton of drugs. I went to art school. Anyway, Jordan, speaking of art school, what were your impressions on this chapter? Man, I love this art, man. Oh, this is some classic shit. This is some, yeah. This is unironically. They don't make it like this anymore. They really don't.

[00:04:06] This is like some Osamu Tezuka, like Get A Robo style, old school manga art. Oh, I love it. Where like things are extremely like expressively drawn. You can tell that there was influence from like old Mickey Mouse cartoons. It's sick. It's interesting because this definitely is, it makes me, I don't know if it was because the offer was still growing, but you can actually see certain techniques not used in this chapter

[00:04:35] and not like in a cool intentional knot. Like one thing that really stood out to me was that giant panel where the two samurai are about to duel each other. Yeah. And there's a giant gap, but one of the samurai is holding his sword out. But the sword is at an angle that you can't use it as a way of leading your eye to the other samurai where I just seems like such an obvious miss to have made it much easier because you have this huge blank spot that just makes it hard to jump to the second samurai in the spread. Oh, I disagree. I actually really like that composition. Well, you can go fuck yourself, Jordan.

[00:05:05] Yeah, because like it creates this sense of like, of like stillness that I think actually really benefits the panel. Like there's room for these characters to breathe. I think there is a very intentional negative space that was created there. I just think it was not intent. I think it wasn't intentional. I mean, David, they understood how composition worked. I don't know.

[00:05:32] I don't think composition was intentional until Tom's composition tried to draw two things at the same time in 1985. Ah, you know what? I forgot about Thomas composition. It was like Alan. What was it? Alan running where he tried to walk twice at the same time. But yeah, this just obviously if you cut it, it bleeds Kurosawa energy. Yeah, this is I wouldn't be surprised if somehow we find this is like originally supposed to be an adaption of something, you know, like a legally distinct Kurosawa adaption.

[00:05:58] I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out this is referencing a very specific folk legend, because it is, again, about a real life person named, I'm assuming they haven't directly said it, but I mean, I'm pretty sure the first guy we see is Miyamoto Musashi. Like legit one of the most famous samurai ever. So this might just be part of a famous story. I have no idea.

[00:06:27] Yeah, it could be. This is like the hamlet of samurai. I also really like the message of that fight between samurai. Like this series I'm getting is very critical of samurai because like the fight that we see between samurai is completely fucking pointless. Yeah. It is just like these two guys fighting for no reason. They both die. And then their corpses are robbed by kids.

[00:06:52] And a lesser series would have one of the kids say like these fucking samurai. They fought, but now they're dead and we just take their stuff. It's like, no, I don't need to need that. I get everything directly from what I'm seeing. So this guy is already like very good at showing and not telling. Like there's good visual storytelling here. Yeah. That's the thing is like, I really love that message where it was like it was completely pointless to all. There was no honor in it. No, they both died. It was like one was just shit talking the other. And the guy was like, you can just back down off. And he's like, no.

[00:07:21] And then they died for no fucking reason. They didn't even die like in a cool way. He gets his head partially split open like an awkward way and their guy gets stabbed. The other guy pulls out like a secret knife he had and stabs him. Like there's no honor in that at all. And they both just die. And then the other samurai we see has been walking around lying about all these cool exploits he had and is about to try and kill a kid. Like this series does not like samurai. Yeah, I guess we'll see though really what the theme of this main series is going to

[00:07:51] be. Yeah. And with that no, Jordan, I take it you would keep reading this. Yeah, this I'm very interested in this. Yeah, this seems pretty sick. I really want to finish this. And Jordan, what do you think I'll have next? So first of all, first guess, I think that the samurai is literally Miyamoto Musashi, as I've said, which hasn't been confirmed yet, but I think so. And by samurai, I mean, the first guy that we see who is like taking a piss. So I'll just change this to say the pissing samurai. Yeah, the yellow samurai. Yellow samurai.

[00:08:20] I was watching Taskmaster Australia and there's a scene where a guy's singing a folk song and he's just like, I'm just a common man. And it shows him like look like he's pissing and then it rotates to show it's like a hose standing and he's washing his hands. And they had that joke like three times because they know how funny that joke is to make it look like he's pissing himself. And then sorry, did you say the rest of your guesses? No. OK, then fucking do it. All right. My other one is Musashi will intervene and defeat the samurai trying to kill the kid.

[00:08:47] And I think that Benzo is going to play a prank on this fucking samurai instead of fighting him. How about you? That's good. That's never mind. I think mine is we're going to ultimately be like, oh, the series wasn't very good. But man, it had some great themes and art style and give it a pass because of that, as we can already tell in this first chapter. I think that the main character is going to be taught by the middle aged guy in the last page and we're going to have a younger protagonist and that the main character will have some sort of valley he refuses to kill or something, you know, some sort of Ronin Kenshin, but maybe without the pedophilia.

[00:09:16] Yeah, maybe you're right, David. Maybe you could do the thing that Miyamoto Musashi actually did. That was the inspiration for Ronin Kenshin. Well, now I feel very smart. Yeah. And I'm smart enough to say my power word was messy. This was a messy battle. I think the art style is messy. I had a little bit of trouble following things, but of course, as noted, I keep reading this. What was your power word? I see you based it on yourself. Legend. Yeah. Absolute legends.

[00:09:45] No, I mean, this series is a very clearly based on some legendary times, probably some legendary duels, and this is some legendary art style I'm seeing. I wouldn't be surprised if the creator is famous for other things. Oh, yeah. I looked in. They actually are still making manga to this day. Good for him, man. 1972 to today. Good for good for that guy. I wonder if he has the same art style.

[00:10:16] I'm sure Maxie will have a lot of fun research notes for this. Yeah. And then, Jordan, let's get to our Q&A is a big. As a note, you can drop your questions in the Shodin' Flop Discord. We get priority to those who haven't had a question answered in a while, haven't asked a question before, or, you know, just because it's an interesting question. Starting with Risen at Warhammer Nerd, can you see why kids love the taste of Cinnamon Toast Crunch? I actually have grown out of it, and I no longer can. How about you, Jordan? Yeah, it's covered in cinnamon and sugar. Like, oh, is it the brown cinnamon swirls? What?

[00:10:44] Is it because it's like, looks like it was tanning in the sun? No, it's because it's covered in sugar and cinnamon. Like, of course kids like it. I'm just imagining, oh, fuck. Why am I spacing on, uh, what's the thing that was inspiration for Control? Fuck, it's that wiki that has, oh, SCP. So there's an SCP where it's a Cinnamon Toast Crunch that adults can't taste the kid. That'd probably be a pretty good shit post. That probably should be. Okay, maybe I'll write the article for that. Yeah, you should.

[00:11:11] Uh, you do not recognize the faces in the water, David. God damn, I fucking, I made that reference to my friend and he got it. And that was one of my favorite moments. Shout out to you, Tim, for knowing that reference. We were playing Dungeons and Dragons and the DM was like, I used to detect magic. And she's like, it's no form of magic that you can detect. And I said, and you also don't recognize the faces in the water. And one of the guys at the table just kind of looked at me and nodded. And I was like, hell yeah. Yeah. All right, moving on, though, to T. Wolfwood, where they ask, what would you like to see in a future flopped sports manga?

[00:11:41] I would just like that Gring and Greens didn't get canceled. So how about a good series about sports that didn't get canceled? What do you think, Jordan? What would you like to see in a future flopped sports manga? Yes, I would like to see Gring and Greens done again, but not. But instead, I'm not sure. What would I like to see in a flopped manga? Yeah. Like a manga that failed. What would I like to see in a shitty manga that failed? Yeah. How about it's like a really...

[00:12:07] I kind of wouldn't want to see a good series that flopped. Because that means it would flop. Fair. I don't know. What's a sport you'd want to cover in Shonen Flop? American football. Someone trying to come at the king. You come at the king, you better not miss. Which if you're on this show, then you fucking miss. How about American football, but they really didn't understand the rules. They just make up their own... It's like the Yu-Gi-Oh! of football. Yeah.

[00:12:37] Where it's just not at all associated with the game, really. Exactly. All right. The next question is, what would you like to see in a flopped action manga? I would love to see... This is hard because it's a failed series, so you don't want something that's really good, but you want something that's interesting. How about an action manga where... I think I was just about to say strong female protagonists and then really just describe Candy Flurry again? Because I feel like... Why do we like Candy Flurry so much?

[00:13:07] I don't know. It's like everything always turns into... It's like the curse... It's like everything tries to evolve into a crab, but every manga just kind of turns into Candy Flurry. It sounds like you're asking what series do you want to cover on the show, which I guess... I don't know. Maybe that black torch guy could return to draw some more asses. Yeah. Oh, are you jumping to his next question of what would you like to see in a future flopped romance or harem manga? Well, I wouldn't like to see that. Just ass, ass, ass.

[00:13:36] I wouldn't like to see a harem manga is what I'm saying. Maybe... What about a reverse harem for once? I don't know. Yeah, a reverse harem isekai. Yeah. God, yeah. Why don't we do that? Yeah, make it an isekai. Fuck. An isekai harem. Maybe they'll have RPG elements. Let's do that. Oh, yeah. In a very complicated power system. And all the women have giant gazangas. Of course. Well, what's the point if they don't, you know? That's true. Oh, man. And then why would you like to see in a flopped Exorcist manga?

[00:14:06] This is a harder question than I thought. I didn't realize Exorcist was a genre. There's been like 12 Exorcist manga. I mean, I guess you're right. Wait, the answer to all of these is a series that doesn't waste my fucking time. Yeah. Anything that's painless to read. Like, fuck, what did we just cover where I was like, it wasn't very good, but you just kind of zoomed through it. The series we're about to cover. Oh, yeah. For the record, by the way, due to some scheduling, we actually are covering this before our Bose main episode.

[00:14:34] So yeah, Bose Beats definitely went fast, even if it wasn't great. Yeah. I mean, I don't know. We'll talk about it on the episode, my thoughts. So I don't want to. Yeah, we'll get into it. By this time, you probably already know our thoughts on it. Yeah. But like, you know, just don't waste my fucking time. Yeah. And then. Oh, so yeah. Bose Beats was what we wanted to see in Exorcist manga. Well, we got it. All right. And then for Spike, if you could remove one character from any series you covered, who would it be? Who would it be?

[00:15:04] I'm trying to think, are there any characters that you really hate? I. Oh, yeah. I would remove the main character from Protect Me Shigemaru because he was the worst part of that series. It's so fun. I was also thinking Protect Me Shigemaru. Yeah. Just call it Protect Me. So I guess that's the answer. Yeah. Protect Me. All right. Next, Spubby, if you could combine one jump manga with one non-jump manga in a crossover, what would you go with? I feel like combining the Eagle Call with Hakani Banashi might be really cool, where it's

[00:15:30] like she's telling the stories of the battles in like a really interesting, creative way. And like you're kind of seeing how do people culturally react to like these famous events from like a storytelling perspective? Hunter, Hunter and Death Note. So both of those are jump manga, Jordan. Fuck. Never mind. Which did you think wasn't jump? I thought Death Note wasn't jump. No, it's just. But you're right. Yeah. Obviously Death Note is jump. Okay. Damn. Damn. Um, shit. Did iShield 21 run and jump? Yes, it did.

[00:15:58] I think every manga you've ever heard of ran and jump. Fuck! You can do a non-jump manga we've covered in this series. Wait, wait. Or we've covered in this podcast. Wait. No. I have one. I would like to see Dragon Ball Z in Berserk. Sure. I don't know. There you go. All right. You know what? Yu-Gi-Oh! And Berserk so that Guts could live in a decent world. I like that. That sounds fun. Yeah.

[00:16:25] And finally from ZZ Digital, what would you want as a Digimon partner? This is a question that I answered when I was about eight years old. And I still have the answer, which is Andromon. Andromon. Why? Because he's fucking awesome. He's like this weird, gross-looking cyborg zombie dude. Like, that's so sick. I would be basic. I'd pick Gullimon. I think he's super fucking dope. I like having a virus-type partner that's really edgy but cool.

[00:16:53] And also Steve Bloom voiced him in the tub. And also, a shout-out to how Indiana Context is going to have to cover Digimon Tamers in the next, like, three months. Because they fucked up. That was very merciful of me to pick that as the series they had to cover. Yeah, that was. Which, as everybody knows, that series is Evangelion for Kids. Unironically, a very good series. Yes. And unironically, Jordan, I want to say thank you so much for all of your hard work on the show. Thanks for editing the chibi and making the cover art.

[00:17:21] Thank you, David, for doing all the work on the show, which includes finding guests, scheduling things, editing things, just doing a shitload of stuff. Because David got upset when I was just like, all the stuff you do. That's true. I did. I also want to give a shout-out to my wonderful wife and my lovely potato dog, Ravioli. I love you both so much. And I definitely didn't forget to say that. Aww. All right. Thank you, Dylan, for assistance with editing. You can find his podcast, Anime Out of Context, at animeoutofcontext.com.

[00:17:51] Thanks to Tucker and Maxi B for assistance with pronunciation, translation, and other miscellaneous research. Find us on BlueSky.com. Tumblr is shonen-flop. And our website, shonenflop.com. We're also on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, wherever else you get your podcasts. And come join the Shonenflop Discord as we talked about. Open to everyone. Hang out with us. Talk about anime games. Whatever else is on your mind. We even have a manga book club and movie nights. You can find the link to it in the show notes or on our site, shonenflop.com. And Jordan, here's a chance to plug some stuff on your end. Yeah. Well, first off, shout-out to my lovely girlfriend, Steph.

[00:18:20] Check out my paintings. Instagram, Jordan Forbes art. And I don't know. You want to listen to Mission Ignition? That's my other podcast that may update at some point. When's any game plan for your next episode? No. Okay. Okay. Well, thank you so much for listening. Tune in next Monday for our full episode on Musashi featuring Mercury Falcom, aka John Falco. This has been Jordan. This has been David. And even listening to Shonenflop, David, say it. Keep on flopping floppers. Bye. Bye.