Space Usagi: White Star Rising

by Stan Sakai, Emi Fujii (contributor)

Usagi must recover the Shirohoshi clan’s secrets before the enemy Kajitori gain access! Continues directly after Space Death and Honor.

The rabbit ronin's classic adventures in space continue—now in color!

Taking place directly after the Space Death and Honor arc, Stan Sakai’s second Space Usagi series sees Miyamoto Usagi continuing to defend the Shirohoshi clan in the far future from scheming rivals, the Kajitori. New friends, like space pirate Rhogen, and new enemies, led by Empress Amateh, are introduced in this miniseries now colored by longtime collaborator Emi Fujii! This collection also includes new stories by Julie Sakai and Stan Sakai, featuring Space Usagi’s Akemi character!

Collects Space White Star Rising #1–#3.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

Published May 27, 2025

About the author

Stan Sakai (Japanese: 坂井 スタンSakai Sutan; born May 25, 1953) is an artist who became known as an Eisner Award-winning comic book originator.

Born in Kyoto, Sakai grew up in Hawaii and studied fine arts at the University of Hawaii. He later attended the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. He and his wife, Sharon, presently reside and work in Pasadena.

He began his career by lettering comic books (notably Groo the Wanderer by Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier) and became famous with the production of Usagi Yojimbo, the epic saga of Miyamoto Usagi, a samurai rabbit living in late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth-century Japan. First published in 1984, the comic continues to this day, with Sakai as the lone author and nearly-sole artist (Tom Luth serves as the main colorist on the series, and Sergio Aragonés has made two small contributions to the series: the story "Broken Ritual" is based on an idea by Aragonés, and he served as a guest inker for the black and white version of the story "Return to Adachi Plain" that is featured in the Volume 11 trade paper-back edition of Usagi Yojimbo). He also made a futuristic spin-off series Space Usagi. His favorite movie is Satomi Hakkenden (1959).

Reviews

[Francis Pellow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fun and paced.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

You could consider Space Usagi, Usagi Yojimbo with a Star Wars skin on it. Star Wars already had a lot of Japanese influences in both the character designs and even the story itself, so these mesh together very well. The second Space Usagi arc takes place directly after Death and Honor and is really a continuation of that story. Gen makes his first appearance in this universe as Usagi and his small team need to infiltrate his ancestral home. There's also a new story with Akemi but that's a bit goofy.
If you like Usagi Yojimbo, you're almost certainly going to like this as well. And it's in full color.

[Mathew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Expanding on the Death and Honor story we now get to see more of the classic Usagi cast done SF. My favorite being Rhogen with his new cyber-horn. Sakai's re-envisionings are a lot of fun and the story has some fun new elements that actually make this feel more than a quick cut and paste into space story. It delivers on the SF hybrid vibe but the story he was telling is old as time and so the twists and plot reveals felt too well trodden to me. ( I had basically guessed the entire story arch after the first 3 pages) But don't give up on this work! I really loved the SF city illustrations that looked like what I imagine Moebius and Charles Shultz's baby would look like.

[A.E. Stueve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stan Sakai's send up to Star Wars is as much fun as it could possibly be. While leaning a bit more into comedy than Usagi Yojimbo, it still makes time for philosophic exploration and actual drama. Sakai also takes his sci-fi rabbit to exotic locales, introduces him to robots and aliens, and brings space lasers into a samurai story. What more could you want?

[Tim Field · Rating 4 out of 5]

Space Usagi: White Star Rising takes place immediately after the Death and Honor miniseries and lacks the complexity and impact of that series, and is content with being a watered down Star Wars homage. The surprise ending seemed tacked on and left me cold.
The backup story Akamai and the Secret Invasion! was a waste of space.
Recommended for hardcore Usagi Yojimbo and Star Wars fans.

[Mee Too · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was entertaining enough. Nothing amazing more nostalgia than anything . Usagi yojimbo was one of the first mangas i ever picked up. Good to see its still going strong.

3✨ for nostalgia and endurance

[Ryan Laferney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This gave me major OG Star Wars vibes and I LOVED IT.

[Mike Jozic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another superb mini-series. It was fun seeing Stan going to the trouble of including more than one homage to Star Wars in this story. It made me smile. Great art, great story, great stuff.

[Simon MacDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stan Sakai continues to be a marvel. Also, there is a Peach Momoko variant cover reproduced in this collection that is too die for.

[Jake Nussbaum · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5