Customer Reviews

Tail of the Moon, Vol. 1

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Amazon kept recommending this series to me based on my viewing history but for some reason I did not bite. The story sounded like one I would find in a cheesy historical romance book and it was hard to see past that, but the art was cute so I was tempted even though I was skeptical of the story.

Tail of the Moon is set in the feudal period of Japan. In the beginning, you meet Usagi, a klutzy, lazy girl who is training to be a ninja but has no actual ninja skill. People tend to back away when she holds ninja stars because she never hits the targets and ends up injuring someone. Her great grandfather, the ninja clan's leader, is obviously exasperated, his only granddaughter exhibits no signs of improving and seems to hinder other people from doing their work, so, he decides to assign a mission to Usagi that only a woman can do: Go have a baby with the neighboring clan's leader! Although at first Usagi refuses, once she hears how handsome and how talented of a ninja he is she is swayed and decides to accept her mission. Along with her trusty friend Mamezo, Usagi sets out into the wilderness to Hattori Hanzo's village to marry him. Once she finally arrives at Hanzo's home she finds that although he is as handsome and skilled as they say he is also cold and unwilling to marry. Hanzo is in love with someone that he can not have and is determined to remain alone for the rest of his life, but Usagi, having already fallen for this dark, almost mysterious and incredibly serious man is not going to give up without a fight!

But she doesn't just have to fight for Hanzo to fall in love with her; she has to fight her competition as well! It seems that news of Hanzo's bachelorhood spreads fast and has enticed a beautiful and qualified ninja to come and try her luck. But is Hanzo's will strong enough to fend off a beautiful ninja as well as a hopeless klutz who are both vying to be his bride?

Usagi is a cheerful and entertaining heroine with a lot of potential and hidden strength she is charming as a young girl with what seems to be her first crush. Hanzo is the perfect foil because of his distant but caring nature; outwardly he appears strong but he lacks the joy that love can give him. They make a good pair and Rinko Ueda makes sure that you see them together often, even if they are embracing or Hanzo is just patching Usagi up after she has hurt herself. Each of the characters is well developed with interesting back stories that tie to main story perfectly so you are never lost and wondering who is who.

There is just the right amount of humor and it makes some scenes that could be dull, comical and interesting. Usagi provides most of the slapstick humor, a lot of falling, breaking things and of course her lack of skill in all things ninja, like swimming, ninja stars and running. Because there is a war going on, there are several action sequences throughout the book, they are ninjas after all; Hanzo shows that he can be a formidable foe when the time calls for it. So while there is a certain amount of fluff, it doesn't take away from the story, there is a good balance of sappy romance and the actual ninja clan storyline.

P.S. Usagi's name means `Rabbit' (any self respecting Sailor Moon fan should know this) and references to this are everywhere if you pay attention.

The Verdict:
This feudal era romance shows that love will show itself when you least expect it. A

Rinko Ueda's Ninja Romantic comedy starts with the mission of ninja trainee, Usagi to bear the child of the clan head Hattori Hanzo. Why this mission, well Usagi's grandfather has given up on Usagi ever making it to full fledged ninja because of her clumsiness so bearing a child for the clan head will be the only thing she can do. Hanzo, meanwhile will never marry since his ideal woman Princess Sara is already taken by his cousin Hanzou so he wants to remain alone. Usagi is set for failure, but is she? She charms Hanzo and his clan with her cheerfulness and kindness. Things are still unsure for the pair since they both have rivals that show up; Usagi's former fiancée and another candidate for Hanzo's Bride.
Ueda's storyline and drawing style are crisp and clean, the humor developing into a funny comedy of errors starting with the characters mistaken impressions of each other. I really like the character Mamezo, who is Usagi's retainer, he's adorable. Ueda also places random trivia in the front of her chapters, I don't know if they are random or she just likes trivia so I'll wait to see where those lead. All in all a fun read.

This is one of my absolute favorite manga and one I feel deserves much more attention than it has received. It has made me laugh and cry. And the Hanzos aren't bad to look at either, heh heh heh. I can also vouch for the translation. I've read this series in the original Japanese and it has been translated very well.

3/5
I've read Ueda's more recent series, Stepping on Roses, but I hadn't gotten around to read this series when it was first released. It sounded interesting, but not immensely so.
The series is about Usagi, the daughter of some big ninja family, who's quite hopeless when it comes to being a ninja. So far, I'm not a big fan of Usagi. Within the first chapter, she's going on about becoming a good ninja, only she skips practice. And then her grandpa tells her that she's not good at being ninja, to which she whines, and then he tells her that she's going to have to go and have a child with some man. She protests wildly, and then immediately leaves for him when told that he's handsome. Some of these things could be done for comedy, but they just bothered me. She has a very weak will, and she's not particularly smart. She got a little bit better near the end of the manga, but not enough for me to actually like her.
The guy that she is supposed to marry, Hanzo, doesn't seem so bad. He's very against marriage, which is explained a little bit later in the book, but he obviously has a growing affection for Usagi. And we meet Yuri, who also intends to marry Hanzo. I don't really mind her, and hope we see more of her, as we probably will.
And we meet Hanzou, who is a flirt, but who loves Sara, who does not like his flirtatious ways. I like both of them, and hope that they make up soon. And that Hanzou grows up a bit from his flirtatious ways. And Hanzo is also in love with Sara, which is very obvious.
Usagi has a servant like person that follows her, Mamezo. He's a rookie ninja, and is adorable. He's just a little kid, and he gets a little piglet, who is also adorable. Yuri has a servant like person as well, who is around her age, if not older, who is also cute. In a different way. I hope that we see more of him, and that he gets an actual character, but I'm unsure on if I believe that we will or not.
Through out the book, Usagi goes and meets Hanzo, and instantly falls in love with him, to which he declines her proposal. And Yuri is in the same position as her, only she has known him longer. In the second and third chapters, Yuri makes an effort to poison Usagi, which doesn't work because Usagi takes a lot of medicine, that I guess cancel out the effects of it. And Yuri ends up poisoning herself and is sick for the rest of the book.
(I'm thinking that Ueda has a think for marriages, and problems with them. Because the main problem for the main character in this story is that she has to and wants to marry Hanzo, only he doesn't want to, and she has several competitors. And in Stepping on Roses, the main character gets kind of forced into a marriage. I don't know if this bothers me or not...)
Throughout most of the book, Usagi is practicing her ninja skills, and she doesn't seem to be making a lot of progress. Hanzo finds out that Usagi can make medicine, and a lot of townspeople want some, so she stays up late making some because of some stupid promise she made. Because she gets sick a lot, which I think is kind of psychological, because apparently she fakes it before starting to actually feel it, it makes sense for her to be able to make medicine for herself. And at least she's good at something.
We meet Hanzou and Sara, and they get into a fight, and Sara stays with Usagi and Hanzo, and Usagi discovers that Hanzo loves Sara. And in the last chapter, Hanzo and Usagi have a fight and he kicks her out, and she stays outside the village for a little bit but it starts raining and so she heads back to her hometown village. Where she sees Goemon with some woman, where he's giving lessons, I guess, to the younger girls. Maybe they actually did things like this, but I have a hard time believing that. Or I just don't want to.
She kicks them out of her room because she's tired, and then Goemon makes a move on her and the book ends. I'm a little curious to find out what happens next, but not anxious for it. I don't particularly like Usagi, which is probably the main reason for this, but I will pick up the next book when I'm able to.

this book was sooo funny usagi (rabbit) is training to be a ninja but has no skills whatsoever and out of the blue tells her great grandpa to go find some uptight rich dude and bear his children (ROFL) youll lovoe this book you must read it

This is one of the very few shoujo manga series' that I've wanted to read from beginning to end (other than Hana Kimi and Wallflower). I'm not really fond of sap or melodrama, and I'm not a big fan of love triangles; needless to say that I was also a bit skeptical about starting this series. After thinking about it for quite some time however, I decided that this series was worth giving a shot.

I'm very satisfied with my decision thus far. The mangaka portrays her version of Japanese historical figure Hattori Hanzo very well, and the heroine is also very captivating. She's strong-willed (and not a cry baby), determined, and also has a rather interesting outlook on life. I love strong heroines! I definitely recommend this book to anyone who shares similar taste in manga with me. It's funny, slightly romantic, and highly entertaining. I will most definitely be finishing this series.

In short, my little heading describes my feelings. This manga captured my heart from the very first pages. It deserves more attention. It is worth the buy.

I thought tail of the moon had a pretty good story. Strong female character who is sweet and caring. If your into romantic comedy, I will definately suggest this book.