Stan Sakai Confirms Usagi Will Be In TMNT

[Vicky82]

It's happening guys

The creator of Usagi Yojimbo was signing comics at Rose City Comic-con last weekend, and according to several different reports, he confirmed that his character will in fact be making a return to the lore of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Although we had previously seen the logo for a new line of toys based on the rabbit ronin, there was no confirmation that we would be seeing Miyamoto Usagi in any other form. If the latest reports are true, Stan Sakai himself has finally confirmed that Usagi will be in Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series.
There may not be an official announcement from Nickelodeon as of yet, but the creator himself has already broken the silence. If I had to guess when we can expect the official press release, I chances are that we may hear something at NYCC in October. Regardless, it’s nice to hear that Sakai has been nice enough to allow Nick to use his character in their TMNT series.
Considering how careful he has been about where and how Miyamoto would appear in other franchises, something tells me that he personally read and approved of the script. If Stan Sakai likes your work enough to bring back Usagi Yojimbo, that’s definitely a good sign. That being said, we have no idea how much involvement Sakai has had in this project. All we know for sure at this point is that he signed some paperwork.

Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has already made references to several different iterations of the franchise in its first four seasons. At this point, it makes perfect sense for them to finally introduce yet another memorable friend of the turtles.
I don’t know about you, but I am hopeful that this will be more than just a one-time episode. How awesome would it be if Usagi Yojimbo became a somewhat regular character in Nick’s TMNT series? Whatever happens next, I’m just happy to see Miyamoto Usagi return to the Ninja Turtles lore once again. Now all we have to do is wait until we see those rabbit ears pop up on our TV screens for the first time in a decade!

Ok the website doesn't work here, so you need to copy and paste the website and take the spaces out .

teenage mutant ninja turtles .com/2016/09/14/sakai-confirms-usagi-yojimbo-nick-tmnt/

[TurtleTitan97]

Nice!

Can't wait to see Usagi again!

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Wouldn't mind seeing him in IDW... maybe this will open the door to that?

[Powder]

The website "doesn't work here" because it is blocked. How many times we gotta tell y'all? Don't link stuff from there.

[TigerClaw]

Originally Posted by Vicky82

It's happening guys



Ok the website doesn't work here, so you need to copy and paste the website and take the spaces out .

http:// www. teenage mutant ninja turtles .com/2016/09/14/sakai-confirms-usagi-yojimbo-nick-tmnt/

That's great news! can't wait to see what the Nick version of Usagi will look like.

[plastroncafe]

Yeah, I'm really curious what the character design is going to look like.

[Powder]

This isn't even news, guys. The Playmates leak was confirmation enough. Those of you who want to see his design can just squint at this:

Spoiler:

Looks just like the 4kids toy, in art form.

[Vicky82]

Originally Posted by Powder

This isn't even news, guys. The Playmates leak was confirmation enough. Those of you who want to see his design can just squint at this:

Spoiler:

http://i66.tinypic.com/2yl5teg.png

Looks just like the 4kids toy, in art form.

Yeah, but it's a lot better to get the confirmation from Stan himself as he owns the character.

[plastroncafe]

I wouldn't expect the design to deviate from the source material all that much, but I'm still curious how that design will render in cg 3D.

Basically, what I'm holding out for is the ability to watch his design in motion, something that static 2D image doesn't really help me with.

[TigerClaw]

Originally Posted by plastroncafe

I wouldn't expect the design to deviate from the source material all that much, but I'm still curious how that design will render in cg 3D.

Basically, what I'm holding out for is the ability to watch his design in motion, something that static 2D image doesn't really help me with.

It's also gonna be the first time we get Usagi in CGI form.

[Andrew NDB]

So, little ears and ponytail with long black hair?

[ObiWanFan4life]

I can't wait to see what they do with him in the series. Hopefully, it won't be another missed opportunity like with the Neutrinos.

[plastroncafe]

Originally Posted by TigerClaw

It's also gonna be the first time we get Usagi in CGI form.

...well kind of.
Anyone who was lucky enough to stop by his table at SDCC may have seen this: Usagi Yojimbo: Samurai Rabbit Enters Virtual Reality.

X10 Studios, a company out of Kyoto, Japan plans to make an interactive VR experience starring Usagi Yojimbo. They had the demo up and running at Comic Con and Virtua.US got a chance to try it out. It consisted of 3 different scenes where you watched the samurai warrior dispatch some enemy ninjas, talk to comarades, and fight to save a village. The graphics were cartoon like and the animations were smooth. While no one will be mistaking it for Pixar quality it felt real enough for me to get caught up in the action. X10 plans to Kickstarter the full development of this interactive experience soon and has the blessing of Stan Sakai to use his characters. The demo, while rough in places, seemed like the first step in the right direction. Virtual reality has the power to really immerse people in other worlds, and if that world consists of animal samurais fighting over feudal Japan, then I for one could not be happier.

It was pretty awesome.

[ToTheNines]

Originally Posted by TigerClaw

It's also gonna be the first time we get Usagi in CGI form.

[Jester]

Only real "source" aside from the Playmates video Greg Cipes posted, is the the site who won't be linked...and I guess this Reddit post: see attachment. Sorry about quality. Here's text

At Rose City comic con in Portland over the weekend, got some books signed by Stan Sakai, the creator, writer, and artist behind Usagi. I first met his creation when he popped up in the 80's TMNT cartoons, and soon had the figure in my hot little hands. He showed up in the early 2000's TMNT again, and Mr. Sakai said they had just signed the paperwork for him to make an appearance in the Nickelodeon show. I for one am excited. Much love to the Turtles, but that samurai rabbit is my dude!

Edit:

Originally Posted by CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy

Wouldn't mind seeing him in IDW... maybe this will open the door to that?

Further in the reddit thread a poster said Stan was open to Usagi in IDW.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by Jester

Only real "source" aside from the Playmates video Greg Cipes posted, is the the site who won't be linked...and I guess this Reddit post:

Edit:
Further in the reddit thread a poster said Stan was open to Usagi in IDW.

I wouldn't mind that. Usagi is this weird little constant of TMNT who actually isn't a TMNT character.

[Jester]

Originally Posted by CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy

I wouldn't mind that. Usagi is this weird little constant of TMNT who actually isn't a TMNT character.

Here's the actual post...again a redditer so not 100% official.

I spoke to him a month ago at a Con and he jokingly said that Nick was not ready to make the announcement when that photo was leaked.

He also said he was open to Usagi coming to the IDW comics, which is also very exciting!

[ToTheNines]

Originally Posted by CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy

I wouldn't mind that. Usagi is this weird little constant of TMNT who actually isn't a TMNT character.

That'd be great. I wonder if it'll be "Usagi prime" who already knows the Mirage guys, or a new "IDW Usagi" like how they did it in the cartoons.

If it's the former, I hope he clowns on them for their stupid rainbow headbands

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by Jester

Here's the actual post...again a redditer so not 100% official.

Originally Posted by ToTheNines

That'd be great. I wonder if it'll be "Usagi prime" who already knows the Mirage guys, or a new "IDW Usagi" like how they did it in the cartoons.

If it's the former, I hope he clowns on them for their stupid rainbow headbands

I don't care enough about Usagi to be excited yet; my reaction is more "Hey, neat!"

I really need to read some Usagi...

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by ObiWanFan4life

Hopefully, it won't be another missed opportunity like with the Neutrinos.

A missed opportunity with the Neutrinos, how? Like going to cross the street and missing the opportunity to get hit by a Mack truck?