Print Review: Tail Of The Moon volumes 1-3

Tail Of The Moon volumes 1-3Written by WarpshadowRating fair/good

If there is one lesson that expanding to manga reviews has taught me about shojo is that there are no shortage of stories that contain the same conceits as male centered harem shows.

Usagi was a girl living in an Iga village during the time of the warring states. She is a ninja trainee although her ninjitsu skills are rather lacking. Seeing as she is hopeless as a real ninja the village elder has a new task for Usagi; she is to move to the house of Hatori Hanzo and become his wife. Upon seeing Hanzo for herself Usagi decides that this mission is one that she must follow to it’s conclusion although Hanzo lacks interest in either Usagi or any other woman wishing to marry him.

To put it simply Tail Of The Moon is a very standard shojo series with a gimmick being that it is set in 16 century Japan instead of the modern era. The characters are also a bit generic as Usagi randomly putters about collecting bishonen (she is up to four by the end of volume 3). This is a bit different than outright calling the manga horrible but rather to point out the fact that it contains many of the same conceits that most so called harem shows and manga have albeit in shojo form. The artwork is also pretty nice although it mainly exists to showcase as you can guess pretty men. This is not a manga I can recommend simply because there are several shojo manga just like it (without the gimmick though) that can manage a decent plot on the side.