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TAIL OF THE MOON (VOL. 3) |
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Thursday, 05 April 2007 |
 | | ▪ | PUBLISHED BY: | | VIZ MEDIA | | | ▪ | ART/AUTHOR: | | RINKO UEDA | | | | ▪ | FORMAT/COLOR: | | JAPANESE FORMAT / BW | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 200 | | | ▪ | RATED: | | T+ | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 02/06/2006 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 04/06/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | HOLLY ELLINGWOOD |
Left in the care of Lord Ieyasu to become an herbalist, Usagi is overwhelmed with the loss of her friends and Hanzo’s abandonment of her. Still, she tries her best under the main herbalist to Ieyasu, Yukimaru, but she’s about to find out a secret about her new mentor that could change everything!
Lots of comedy, this particular volume of this energetic ninja romantic adventure sees more than one person confess their true heart. With the humorous gender-confusion of the first chapters set aside, readers get to see not only how much Usagi misses Hanzo and her friends, but how much they, particularly Hanzo, miss her. He even attempts to send her messages via Goemon. What he couldn’t expect was that Goemon’s jealousy over Hanzo and the ninja’s own feelings for Usagi would interfere with his mission. Usagi never gets the letters and feels all alone and lonely. It’s only later, when she works alongside Yukimaru in the village and they discover a woman having trouble during birth, that her past and Hanzo will collide. The flashback to Usagi’s past about her mother is a revealing one and explains her deeper empathy to become an herbalist over a ninja. It also leads to a touching moment between her and Hanzo after they are reunited. But with her still lacking the skills of a ninja, what will Hanzo’s choice for a bride be?
The triangle between Usagi, Hanzo and Goemon becomes much more apparent in this volume with Goemon’s willful disobedience and decision to trash talk his master in the hopes of turning Usagi against Hanzo. It shows a duplicitous and less likeable side to Usagi’s childhood friend, proving that he may well be unworthy of her affections let alone her heart. It will be interesting to see how Hanzo chooses to deal with Goemon after discovering this betrayal and also what else Goemon might do to win Usagi. He might give up after recent events but it remains to be seen.
IN SUMMARY:
Tail of the Moon is a spirited comedic romance involving ninjas and samurai in feudal Japan. This set of chapters sees Usagi and Hanzo separated and a rival for her affections move in to take advantage of the distance between her and her true love. |
