by Rinko Ueda
Synopsis
Usagi is the granddaughter of the leader of prestigious ninja village, but she's such a klutz that she's never made it out of the kiddie class. Frustrated with Usagi's lack of progress, her grandfather sends her to marry Lord Hanzo and have lots of ninja babies. But the lord has no interest in her or her childbearing potential!
Usagi will remain in Ieyasu's household forever, apart from her beloved Hanzo, unless she can come up with and elixir of eternal youth. Usagi journeys to a mountain to find a hermit who supposedly knows how to create such an elixir, but he has no intention of sharing his knowledge with her. Even if Usagi is successful, there are others who don't want to see her free to return to Hanzo's arms.
Review
There's really nothing wrong with this volume, but the story keeps playing out naturally, and it doesn't feel forced or artificial.
Usagi still has her goal of reuniting with Hanzo, and fortunately, she does in this book. It was interesting how the elixir of eternal youth arc played out. She actually did get ahold of it, but Yuki burned it out of jealousy. But in the end, it was for the best, as the hermit explains how difficult living forever really is. One sees all their beloved family members and friends die. That and no one can succeed you if you don't relinquish your position. So, somehow Usagi manages to convince Tokugawa that he doesn't need it either, and it's more important to focus on the next generations. This has the effect of motivating Tokugawa to unite Japan, which is cute if you know anything about Japanese history.
One hilarious part was when Usagi was imagining how she might make babies with Hanzo, and she got a nosebleed. (If you don't know, it means lust.) I thought it was rather refreshing that the woman would feel that way for once, as it's usually men who do.
Final thought: I'll keep collecting this series.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
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