Tail of the Moon

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Tail of the Moon


caption =
ja_name = 月のしっぽ
ja_name_trans = Tsuki no Shippo
genre = adventure, romance, historicalInfobox animanga/Manga
title =
author = Rinko Ueda
publisher = flagicon|Japan Shueisha
publisher_other = flagicon|USA Viz Media
demographic = Shōjo
magazine = Margaret
first = 2002
last = 2007
volumes = 15

Nihongo|"Tail of the Moon"|月のしっぽ|Tsuki no Shippo is a shōjo manga series by Rinko Ueda.Ann manga|5138. Accessed 2007-03-21.] It is published by Viz Media in the U.S. and 12 English volumes have been released as of August 2008. The main characters are Usagi and Hattori Hanzo.

Plot

The story takes place in the Tenshō Era of Japan. Usagi is a bumbling ninja-in-training in her village in southern Iga. Since she is such a terrible ninja and has made no progress, though she is already fifteen, her grandfather gives her a special mission: to go to Segachi and marry Hanzō Hattori, the leader of the main branch ninja family, and bear his child.

Mamezo, Usagi's longtime friend and companion, accompanies her on her trip to Segachi. Once they arrive it becomes apparent that Hanzō has no intention of marrying anyone, and worse yet, it seems Usagi has a much more refined rival. It is clear that as Usagi spends more time with Hanzō, she is growing on him, though the fact that he is constantly bombarded with new potential brides makes Usagi self-conscious.

Character histories

;Usagi Momochi (also known as "Usa"):A young ninja-in-training who seeks to marry Hanzō Hattori in order to bear his child for the sake of her family. Her one skill is the making of medicinal herbs, because she suffers from constant stomach aches and sought to find a medicine that would cure them. It is revealed that originally, Usagi faked stomach aches to get out of ninja practice, but as she got older she really began to have them. It has not yet been revealed why (probably puberty). She and Goemon had been together since her birth and she doesn't have passionate feelings for him like she does for Hanzō. In Volume 2 of the manga, Usagi reveals she is an orphan. Her father was apparently killed by a bear on the "Mountain of Death". In Volume 3 she remembers her mother died in childbirth along with the baby. She is very kind-hearted and tries to get Hanzō and the princess together because she hopes it would make Hanzō happy. In volume 10 she finally is told how you make babies by her friend, Kame when she instructs Usagi on how to seduce Ranmaru in order for them to escape his prison alive. As of volume seven, Usagi is Hanzo's official fiancee. She also seems to be steadily improving in her ninja skills, slowly becoming less of a "ninja failure". She later on marries Hanzo in volume twelve but in their wedding night the Oda clan attacks Iga and she is saved by Hanzo who hides her in a secret place. She comes out after three days and sets out to the remains of Iga, where she hears that the three high ranking ninjas have been killed, one of them being Hanzo. A year had passed and Usagi matured a lot and has become an amazing ninja still taking care of a grown up Mamezo. She still loves Hanzo and doesn't want to forget him.

;Mamezo:Usagi's constant companion. He is a young boy who looks to be between six to eight years old, although he seems somewhat more skilled in every day tasks than Usagi (In Volume 2 it is revealed that he even helps her dress). It is also revealed in Volume 5 that Usagi raised him after her dog, Shiro, found him when he was still a baby. Hanzō thinks that this is the root of his fear of dogs. Later on it seems that Mamezo's deepest wish is to have Usa as his mother and to have Hanzo as his father.

;nihongo|Hanzō Hattori|服部 半蔵|Hattori Hanzō, or nihongo|Shimo-no-Hanzō|下の半蔵|Shimo-no-Hanzō:Usagi's love interest. A dedicated and talented young ninja who is head of the Hattori clan of Segachi in lower Iga, hence his being referred to as "Shimo-no-Hanzō" (下の半蔵 "Lower-(Iga)-Hanzō") to distinguish him from the other ninja also named "Hanzō Hattori" (including the historical Hanzō Hattori). He has made it clear that he has no intention of marrying anyone, although he allows Usagi to hang around and even indulges her a little. He still has feelings for Sara-hime, who "dumped" him. However, in Volume 3, he starts to show feelings for Usagi. In Volume 7, he tells her that he wants to have sex with her and marry her; he also told Mamezo that he will protect him and seems to have fatherly feelings towards Mamezo. According to Volume 2, he has had to "lead the weakening Hattori clan since he was 11 years old". He also seems to have a talent of taking care of others especially children. This evident when his sister dumps her children on him and he is seemingly able to take care the children as well as take of job as a leader of the Hattori clan. He marries Usagi and get "killed" on their wedding night by a night raid of the Oda clan.

;nihongo|Yuri Fujibayashi|藤林 百合|Fujibayashi Yuri:Usagi's rival. Yuri is clearly more talented than Usagi at ninjutsu, but appears to be threatened by the way Usagi's good-natured and straightforward behavior seems to affect Hanzō. Shortly after she arrives, she attempts to poison Usagi but fails due to Usagi's immunity. Later, she develops a girlish crush (which later develops to full-on romantic feelings) on Goemon, mentioning to Usagi how "lucky" she is to have Goemon so devoted to her. She claimed to have been qualified as a ninja at the age of seven, but Hanzō found out that it was really her twin sister, Yuna. Yuri has always had to live in the shadow of her sister which makes her all the more desperate and ruthless to become a ninja. "Yuri" means "lily". After seeing her grandfather killed in front of her she goes to battle that night the attck on Iga took place. no one knows if she survived or died yet..

;nihongo|Hanzu Hattori|服部 半蔵|Hattori Hanzu, or nihongo|Kami-no-Hanzu|上の半蔵|Kami-no-Hanzu:A relative of Shimo-no-Hanzō Hattori, this Hanzō is from the Hattori clan of Okazaki in upper Iga, hence his being referred to as "Kami-no-Hanzō" (上の半蔵 "Upper-(Iga)-Hanzō") to distinguish him from the other ninja also named "Hanzō Hattori" (including the historical Hanzō Hattori, who is Kami-no-Hanzō's father in this story). While he is a notorious playboy he is currently in a relationship with Sara, the daughter of Oda Nobunaga - this is a relationship his father reservedly accepts, not only because (as the manservant of Tokugawa Ieyasu) the Hattori clan is current warring against her father, but also her father's aim to obliterate all ninja in Japan. In Volume 7, he told her that she couldn't go on the assignment because she was pregnant. Hanzō compares him to Hikaru Genji from "The Tale of Genji", in Volume 2.

;Princess Sara :The daughter of the feudal warlord Oda Nobunaga, Princess Sara is a talented ninja, but is considered an enemy by many ninja clans due to her father's actions. Assassins are regularly sent after her. She once faked a marriage to Shimo-no-Hanzō to save Iga from attack. Though she despises Kami-no-Hanzō's flirting, her love for him is so strong that she would rather die than live without him. She is now pregnant with Kami-no-Hanzō's child. It is revealed that she climbs three mountains every day to stay fit. She has her daughter Kaguya with the help of Usagi after the attack on Iga.

:He was once engaged to be married to Usagi, and grew up taking care of her in their Ninja village. Goemon canceled the engagement for some unknown reason(the reason being he so incredibly injured on an assignment that he had no choice but to cancel, also he felt he can no longer take of Usagi as she needed), but appears to still hold feelings for Usagi, and actively interferes with communications between Hanzō and Usagi for a while. He was described as one of the best ninjas in Iga until he broke his leg during an assignment. He is still a wonderful athlete, especially when he takes Usagi's medicine to help his leg. He is a very easy-going guy and not afraid to be very intimate with Usagi in public. He is still in love with her. Later, his leg becomes completely healed due to a meeting with the mountain hermit and once healed he continued his work as the most outstanding ninja, in chapter 36 Hikaru inserts a instant kill potion to Goemon via his mouth. A real Ishikawa Goemon is known in Japanese history, being a skilled ninja and a bandit. He was one of the few that survived the attack since he was on an assigment that night.

:Another feudal lord, Ieyasu's son and wife were killed by Princess Sara in the manga (although that is not historically true). Usagi first met him in the woods when gathering herbs to tend to a wounded soldier. Later, he stitched up Usagi's forehead when she ran into a wall and he hired her as an herbalist to assist his current herbalist, Yukimaru.After much begging on Usagi's part he allows the princess and Kami-no-Hanzo to be together. Kami-no-Hanzō's father, the historical Hanzō Hattori, works for him and this is the reason that he will not allow Kami-no-Hanzō and Sara to be together. Usagi also inspires him to gain control of Japan in order to establish peace and prosperity. He lets Usagi work and live with him.

:Ieyasu Tokugawa's chief herbalist. Originally Usagi believed him to be a woman, due to his good looks. Yukimaru also believed Usagi to be a boy. Yukimaru has a fear of women, and Usagi makes him uncomfortable. He falls in love with Usagi. To keep her by his side he even burns the elixir of eternal life, which will allow her to leave Ieyasu Tokugawa. His name consists of "yuki" which means "snow", and "maru" which is a popular name ending for males in Japan. when he comes back from the west in volume 12 he is surprised to see the now beautiful and strong Usagi. He sets out to go look for a "monster" that has been haunting the new Iga after the destruction of the former one. He goes with Usagi so she can finally cry since she has never cried after the attack.

;Master Momochi Tanba ::Usagi's great-grandfather. One of the three high ranking ninjas. He fears that Usagi will be left all alone if he dies and she has not yet become a wife or a ninja. It revealed in volume 10 that he is indeed an excellent ninja by wearing a disguise that even fools Hanzo's sharp eyes.He also died the night of Usagi's wedding when the attack on Iga took place.

;Ranmaru ::The most loyal follower underneath Oda Nobunaga. He is in charge of hunting down Iga ninja's, but somehow fell in love Usagi. He even tries to have his way with her even going as far saying that as he was having sex with her best friend Kame he imagined that it was with her. After the attack on Iga he sets out to look for Usagi but finds the dead and burned Kame.

;Kame ::Usagi's best friend and childhood friend. She is a beautiful and outstanding ninja. However she was not always perceived this way. She was constantly picked for being a slow learner and Usagi had to save her. Though it revealed that the only reason that she graduated second to last to Usagi was because she was constantly giving into Usagi's demands to play with her. When she found out that Usagi was Hanzo's bride elect she was relieved that someone will care for her when she cannot; she is like a sister to her. The reason she became Ranmaru's lover was to find out the plans for the attack on Iga; she has compunction whatsoever to seduce any man and kill him to protect her home and Usagi. She likes Goemon. Kame dies saving Usagi the night of Usagi's wedding night.

References

* Ueda, Rinko. "Tail of the Moon: Vol. 1." California: Viz Media, LLC, 2006.
* Ueda, Rinko. "Tail of the Moon: Vol. 2." California: Viz Media, LLC, 2006.
* Ueda, Rinko. "Tail of the Moon: Vol. 3." California: Viz Media, LLC, 2007.

External links

* [http://annex.s-manga.net/tukinoshippo/main.html Official "Tail of the Moon" website] ja icon
*ann manga|id=5135