Tail of the Moon, Volume 1

Usagi is the granddaughter of a prestigious ninja village's leader, but she never grew out of her kiddie class. Due to Usagi's lack of progress, her grandfather sends her to marry Lord Hanzo and have lots of ninja children. Unfortunately, the lord is not interested in her childbearing abilities!

Love is never easy, and Usagi has some unexpected competitors. There is another ninja clan that wants Lord Hanzo to join their family, so they have sent the beautiful and talented Yuri to win her wedding. Usagi won't be daunted by her rival's looks and skills, but will Lord Hanzo's feelings for an off-limits princess be enough to make her give up?

The reason for my rereading of this manga is a mystery to me. My teenage self did not like it, and I show more still do not like it as an adult. When I saw this manga at the library, I was curious to know if my taste in manga had changed. I wanted to see if my opinions had evolved, but I quickly realized that my feelings about the story hadn't changed. The characters and plot still didn't resonate with me, and I struggled to stay engaged with the manga.

This lesson focuses on superficiality. The reason Usagi wants to marry Hanzo is that he is attractive. Although he has some positive qualities, his asshole-like tendencies outweigh all the positives (like being attractive, which is one of his defining characteristics). Nothing else really stands out about Hanzo. Looks only. My summation of him would be: "Attractive guy, somewhat arrogant; only shows kindness when reminding us that he and Usagi are destined to be together."

As for Usagi, she's not much better. It's supposed to be her job to train to be a ninja, but she fails miserably. She's lousy at everything. This woman is seriously too stupid to live. Her only talent is making medicine. Despite being naive, unquestioningly trusting people, and not very good at ninjary, she believes she can go on real missions. She is incapable of seducing one guy at all, which is something that ninjas should have the ability to do. I hated her because she kept following Hanzo around like a puppy dog, despite him being a dick, fawning over him even when he tried to tell her to leave him alone.

The series also has two "romantic rivals" -- I put that in quotes because in the "real world," Usagi wouldn't be able to compete (but this is shoujo manga, so Hanzo is going to choose her for some reason I cannot fathom). This romantic rivalry includes "rich bitch" (who even attempts to poison the competition) and "better than you in everything, but she's so wonderfully amazingly talented, you can't hold it against her" princess who is so perfect it's almost unimaginable. All they serve is to show all of Usagi's flaws and add some drama or make her work harder. While I liked the princess (in spite of the fact that she has a chance to survive, unlike our heroine), I did not care for rich bitch whatsoever.

This princess bothered me because she acted as if Usagi had broken up my boyfriend and me when it was obvious Hanzo was totally in love with her.

The princess's perfection and Usagi's flaws create a stark contrast that highlights the challenges of the romantic storyline. Despite this, the series seems determined to push Usagi as the chosen one, leaving readers questioning the plausibility of the romance.

There's nothing special about Tail of the Moon; it's just poorly written. There is no point in continuing this manga or recommending it. show less

When I first picked up the first 3 volumes I wasn't expecting much,to me it looked like every other girly manga I've ever seen as ne'er read. I mean SERIOUSLY a romantic ninja adventure?!? You've GOT to be kidding me :|

It was so super cute I absolutely loved it!!!! ^.^
Usagi is this hopeless ninja clan who's been sent to marry and bear Hanzo a child. The thing is, Hanzo just eats to be left alone. As soon as Usagi sees him she's smitten and falls head over heels for him but he seems unattainable. Hanzo is an Elite ninja and she's a lazy clutz who can't even qualify to be a ninja. He's in love with a ninja Princess (who's deeply in love with Hanzuo, A relative of Hanzo)

Oh and to top it all off Usagi has an adorable sidekick named show more Mamezo. Mamezo is a little kid who's terrified of dogs and has a pet piglet that Usagi caught for him. He wears a good luck rabbit tail on his bum so that he can run fast (princess has one too)

So what's the point of all of this? Well Hanzo has agreed to let Usagi live in his house and train to qualify as a ninja within the year. If she fails she'll be sent back to her village. So what's stopping her? Well she's a terrible ninja, Goemon, her ex-fiancé, wants her to marry him now but she won't, and she's an amazing herbalist that everyone wants to help them.

As everyone's relationships grow and the character development flourishes it really becomes a cute ninja romantic adventure and I love it! I don't think it could compare to Fairy Tail or any really popular manga but Tail of a Moon is great in it's own special way and you'll just have to read it to know what I'm talking about! show less

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 show more 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. show less

I really have liked and enjoyed this graphic book, the story is funny and intresting, but what really is intresting the fact that the story and the characters are so similar to Yuu Watase's "Fushigi Yugi", the setting, the girl cute but not pretty, like to eat alot, and the girl who is actually a very handsome man, a guy who loves her but she loves another no matter what. it is just so intresting...