Monday, April 30, 2018

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Yojimbo


The first of three episodes to guest-star Miyamoto Usagi (Yuki Matsuzaki), and the only one written by rabbit ronin creator Stan Sakai, "Yojimbo" finds the Turtles transported to an anthropomorphic dimension and hypnotized by the evil Jei (Keone Young) to kill the wandering samurai and capture the young child who is under the ronin's protection. How many ninja turtles does it take to defeat one rabbit ronin? More than four. In their confrontation, Usagi is able to knock some sense back into the turtles who agree to travel with Usagi to deliver young Kintaro (Evan Kishiyama) to the Temple of the Sky Buddha.

The best of the three-episode arc, "Yojimbo" not only gives us Usagi squaring off against the Turtles but also the group disguised as samurai fighting off the marauders who destroyed Kintaro's village. We also get Usagi telling his tale to his new friends (featuring Sakai's art during the flashbacks). While pretty much a one-not brat for the arc, Kintaro will learn some valuable lessons on the journey to the temple (the same can be said for Leonardo who butts heads with Usagi over most of the arc). Ending in a literal cliffhanger (Usagi and the group ride horses off a cliff in the closing moments of the episode), there is much more fun to be had in the remaining two episodes.

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