503

Oh, those bandits! Who doesn’t love their silly antics? So, we’re finally back to the main cast and their attempt at a ninja cave infiltration. I’ll be honest, wanting to tell this part of the story was one of the main reasons I was hesitant to put the comic on hiatus, and I’m crazy excited to be drawing it now. There’ll be a lot of awesomesauce to come, I assure you!

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502

So Genchu’s bilingual! What can’t that man do, eh? I suppose he can’t dissuade Bartello from his goals. Also, that cop guy, he certainly has a face!

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501

It’s the popo, cheese it! I like my silly samurai cop, I think he’ll become another lovable side character in the long haul.

 

 

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500

Hey, guns are scary, you know!

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499

I am just super excited to have Genchu in the story, doing stuff that isn’t in a flashback! I think everyone’s going to enjoy getting to know Genchu outside of his usual ‘super swordsman badass’ persona, which is pretty much all we’ve seen of him up to this point. His more laid back personality may surprise you!

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498

HOOOO BOY, the game has changed now! No one brings a sword to a gun fight, unless they’re wanting to get dead. How will this shift the ever changing balance of power on the isles of the Japans?? Only time will tell!

And for any sticklers of historical accuracy, the model of matchlock rifle is probably not the exact version that was brought to Japan, but it was the one that was most fun to draw. I think I’m a few decades off, but the mechanics behind the firing mechanisms didn’t change for a number of decades anyway.

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497

It would seem Priest Alvarez is still getting the hang of this whole preachin’ thing. The captain knows how it’s done, though!

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496

LOOK AT ALL THESE NEW CHARACTERS! We’ll be spending a little bit of time with them before getting back to the main cast. I know it’s been a year of waiting to find out what happens next with Yori and Co, but we’d long planned on the introduction of these characters at this point in the story!

Captain Ricardo Bartello is  very boisterous guy who’s heavily influenced by John Rhys Davies’ character from the Shogun miniseries. In fact, the outfits for the Portugese characters are all inspired by the costume designs from Shogun.

It was Joe’s idea of having the Christian priest, Manuel Alvarez, and the Hindu Guru, Vasu Nair, always trying to convert each other to their own religion. Brilliance, I thought!

Also, waaaait a second, I recall a prophecy involving a Christian Priest, Hindu Guru, and Blind Taoist Monk from somewhere…

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495

NN4B is BACK! Wait, is that Genchu fishing in that boat?? Is this a flashback or something?

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