Graphic Novel:Past Experience
| Past Experience | |
|---|---|
| Issue #: | 72 |
| Released: | February 11, 2008 |
| Story by: | J.T. Krul |
| Art and colors by: | Jason Badower |
| Lettering by: | Comicraft |
| Produced by: | Aspen M.L.T. |
| Easter Egg: | Behind the scenes image of Masi Oka and George Takei |
| Previous: | History of a Secret |
| Next: | War Buddies, Part 7 |

| A long and proud legacy continues. |
| When a new assignment disappoints, Kimiko Nakamura reaches back to her past to learn a lesson from one of the world's greatest heroes. |
Summary
Kimiko Nakamura reminisces about herself arranging flowers, or the act of "ikebana", as a child with her mother while her father tells her brother one of Takezo Kensei's many legends, this one being about the aftereffects of his victory over Oni of Tottori.
Two samurai warriors argued with each other over who should receive the Sword of Oni, each warrior believing himself to be the rightful owner due to the number of men they each killed in the preceding battle. Kensei intervened, claiming the fight over the sword to be childish and a waste of time. He told the two samurai there is no individual--there is only Japan. Kensei then broke the sword in two pieces, handing one half to each of the warriors.
Kimiko then remembers discussing a large painting of Takezo Kensei with her father in their office in Yamagato Industries. Later in time, at Kaito's funeral at Aoyama Cemetery, Kimiko is approached by Kin Egami about what she believes to be her succession to CEO of Yamagato Industries, only to be told by Kin that she should take over Kaito's legacy project: the Yamagato Fellowship.
While she understands this to be a reason for Yamagato to ease her out of the CEO chair, Kimiko heads to the Fellowship to see how it's doing. Despite the facility being virtually empty, an employee tells Kimiko they are open. Kimiko thinks that perhaps Takezo Kensei is meant to live an eternity of obscurity.
Kimiko is persistent and soon takes her place as new CEO of Yamagato Industries. Two of her employees, Taro and Jiro, tell Kimiko that Hosiden sent a PDA as a welcoming gift, and the pair argue over who should get it. Kimiko stares at the painting behind her, deep into the eyes of Takezo Kensei, and realizes her father was right all along--the past will show her the way. Kimiko grabs her father's sword from the wall and slices the PDA in half, telling Jiro and Taro that there is only Yamagato, not individual employees. While Taro and Jiro hold onto their respective halves of the PDA, Kimiko calls Dai and tells her they will expand the Yamagato Fellowship online to bring the stories of past heroes to the people.
Character Appearances
Trivia
- Young Hiro wears a shirt that says "Xander Black". This is a nod to Jason Badower's friend who helped him out with some technical issues.
- The entirety of Past Experience was included in Novel Approach: The Hiro Collection.
See Also
- For images from Past Experience, see images from Past Experience.
- For Jason Badower's original art from Past Experience and notes about his work, see here.
External Links