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Title: Tail of the Moon #3

Author:  Rinko Ueda

Publisher:  Viz

ISBN:  1421508141

May Contain Spoilers

Usagi gets off on the wrong foot with the senior herbalist in Lord Ieyasu’s employee.  She mistakes Yuki for a girl, and after she learns the truth, she also discovers that he hates women!  The two are forced to work together, and even worse, share living quarters.  Lord Ieyasu declares that Usagi can return to Iga, but only after she prepares an elixir to grant eternal life.  Soon Usagi’s banging her head against a wall as she desperately tries to come up with the ingredients for the potion; she won’t be reunited with Hanzo until she creates the impossible!

Usagi dives eagerly into her new duties, though she yearns to see Hanzo again.  She misses him so much that she tries to draw his likeness on a comfort pillow so he’ll be with her all the time.  As her artistic talents are as lacking as her ninja skills, it’s a good thing she’s found her calling as an herbalist.  Poor little Mamezo misses her desperately, and to help ease his misery, Hanzo kindly gives him a puppy to protect.  Too bad Mamezo is afraid of dogs!  He goes to extraordinary lengths to not have to touch the dog.

Goemon shows that he’s a bit of a snake.  Entrusted by Hanzo to deliver some letters to Usagi, he instead tears them to pieces and tells her that Hanzo doesn’t care for her in the slightest.   What a creep!  And he thinks he’s in love with her?  He sinks even lower, when he plans on using the love potion on her.  Ah, Goemon! True love can’t be won through the use of such trickery!

Hanzo tries so hard to be noble.  When he’s tricked into a trip to the red-light district, he refuses to demean himself at the brothel, and his companions begin to question his sexuality.  Since he doesn’t seem to have much in the way of a sense of humor, he wasn’t especially amused when his companions batted the possibility back and forth.  He did look awfully cute when he was denying their accusations…

This is a fun story.  Rinko Ueda’s characters are likeable and attractive. Usagi  often finds herself in outrageous situations, and reading about her trying to disentangle herself from the mess she’s caused is highly enjoyable. 

Grade:  B

Rated for Older Teen