Shades of Green

Cover of the original July 1993 issue of Usagi Yojimbo, which featured Shades of Green.

### Written and Storyboarded by

**Script:** Yui Tashiro (New Air)
**Storyboard:** Kōdai Shimizu (New Air)

### Animation Director

Utako Tanaka (New Air)

**Shades of Green** (*Kanji: 緑の色合*) is the series premiere of the Usagi Yojimbo anime series.

## Synopsis

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles travel through time to team with Usagi in 17th-century Japan.

## Plot

While wandering about, Usagi and his friend Gennosuke inadvertently stumble into an area currently kept under the tight control of the Neko Ninja, who attack the two travelers immediately. Outnumbered, Usagi and Gen jump from a cliff causeway into the river below and are washed up near a village, where they are found by the village's wise man (rat), a mystic named Kakera, who declares that their coming here was ordained by fate: Their task is to protect the village from the predations of the Neko Ninja, who seek to capture Kakera and use his powers to restrengthen the Neko Clan.

When other samurai and mercenaries lured towards the village end up killed by the ninja, Kakera decides to summon ninja for help. Using four baby turtles, he conducts a mystic ceremony which brings the Ninja Turtles from their world into this one. First confusions are quickly settled when Leonardo acquaints his brothers with Usagi, whom he has met before, and upon learning about the situation, the Turtles pledge their support to Usagi, Gen and the beleaguered villagers.

Soon afterwards, the Neko Ninja commence their attack and, despite Usagi, the Turtles and Gen's stout resistance, manage to capture Kakera, critically wounding Leo in the process. Despite his injuries, Leo leads the others to the temporary base of the Neko Ninja (having followed one of their scouts just before the battle in the village), where they are set upon by the ninja. During the fight, Usagi manages to slip away and track a group of the Neko Ninja attempting to spirit Kakera away. He engages the escort, thereby inadvertently saving the life of the Neko Clan's leader, Chizu, who is caught in a power struggle against her underling Gunji, who desires the leadership for himself. Chizu and Usagi vanquish their opponents, and Chizu, whose late brother Shingen had fought once side by side with Usagi, leaves with a kiss on Usagi's lips, surrendering Kakera to his custody. After his recovery, Kakera sends the Turtles back home after they have exchanged invitations with Usagi and Gennosuke to meet again.

## Cast

* Osamu Hosoi as Miyamoto Usagi.
* Takashi Nagasako as Murakami Gennosuke.
* Yū Asakawa as Chizu.
* Mitsuaki Hoshino as Gunji, a *chunin* of the Neko Ninja clan.
* Chiwa Saitō as a set of turtles that are eventually turned into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:
	+ Junji Majima as Leonardo, leader of the Ninja Turtles.
	+ Hiro Shimono as Raphael, the Ninja Turtle best known for his sarcastic mouth and hair-trigger temper.
	+ Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Michelangelo, the most lighthearted and happy-go-lucky of the Ninja Turtles.
	+ Tatsuhisa Suzuki as Donatello, the brains of the Ninja Turtles.
* Akitoshi Kimura as Kakera, the one responsible for bringing the Ninja Turtles to Usagi's world.

## Trivia

* This episode stands out from the rest of the series for having an unique ending theme and animation, both of which focusing mainly on the Ninja Turtles.
* In September 2021, in celebration of the Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles animated series, animation director Utako Tanaka reuploaded the episode to her YouTube channel.
	+ Due to a scandal regarding Tatsuhisa Suzuki, his character (Donatello) was almost completely edited out of the episode. His verse in the episode's ending theme was also removed.