Usagi's failure as a ninja warrior prompts her grandfather to marry her off to the neighboring ninja lord, Lord Hanzo, with explicit instructions to bear his child. Despite her initial protestations everything changes when she meets the handsome and noble young lord. But things are never easy and Hanzo promptly informs Usagi he has no intention of marrying anyone, ever. If his refusal wasn't bad enough, Usagi soon has not just one, but two love rivals. As Usagi gets to know Hanzo better they soon become friends, but will she ever be able to fulfill her quest and become his wife?

This story reminds me quite a bit of "From Far Away" for the setting and the artwork, except that it is a much lighter and humorous tale. All of the characters are endearing and I had a lot of fun reading through the first two volumes this evening. Although Usagi's strengths do not lie in learning the ninja way, she has other strengths which I think will become more apparent as the series goes on. In addition there are many other strong female characters to rival out the abounding ninja warriors.

The artwork is very easy on the eye and there is a nice balance, it doesn't feel overly cluttered or lacking in detail like other manga I've read. The characters are all pretty in their own ways, from the very cute Mamezo and his/her (I'm not sure which) pet pig to the very nice looking Hanzo men.

This is another Shojo Beat Manga that I'm now interested in following and I'm looking forward to the adventure. ( )