| Ninja Girls | |
Cover of Ninja Girls first volume as released by Kodansha |
|
| 乱飛乱外 (Rappi Rangai) |
|
|---|---|
| Genre | Harem, Comedy |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Tanaka Hosana |
| Published by | Kodansha |
| English publisher | Kodansha Comics USA |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Magazine | Monthly Shōnen Sirius |
| Original run | 2006 – 2009 |
| Volumes | 9 |
Ninja Girls (乱飛乱外 Rappi Rangai, lit. Flying out of turbulence turbulent), is a manga by Tanaka Hosana. The manga sets during the civil war in Japan and revolves around a boy named Raizou Katana who is loathed for having a short horn on his forehead. He saves a female ninja, who then tells him that she's his servant and he is an emperor, and she introduces him to her clan of female ninjas who are devoted to restoring his family name.
Contents |
The story revolves around a boy named Raizou Katana. He was living in a village where the villagers despised him for having a horn on his head. When he meets Kagari and Kisarabi (a group of kunoichi), he discovers that he is the illegitimate heir to the fallen Katana clan and must revive his household to its original state. They planned to revive it by marrying a princess of another household and borrowing their power. Throughout the series, Raizo eventually wins over the princess but runs away due to a misunderstanding. A group called Kabuki Seigan also attempt to control other households but fail when Raizou intervenes, which causes more anger towards Raizo.
Raizou is a young boy who has a small horn on his head, which identifies him as the heir of the Katana household. Due to his horn, he has been a leper for most of his life.
A Kunoichi devoted to the restoration of the Katana household. She can use the special technique Shintaigo, which makes her body as strong and tough as steel. She seems to hold great feelings for her master. Her house revival plan is to build a castle and flag to attract people without masters or wards to rally under them.
Kisarabi is the second kunoichi working for Raizou to rebuild the Katana household. She is a very serious woman who has excellent sniping skills. Her special technique is Rasengan, which increases her sniping skill a good deal. Her house revival plan is to have Raizou marry a princess of a powerful house, and to use that house's power to destroy their enemies.
Himemaru is the third kunoichi. At first glance he is a very attractive woman, but he is actually a very feminine male crossdresser. He uses a shibari technique called Higyaku no Shibari, which wraps ropes around the target in a way that makes it painful to move. He also dabbles in medicine (to be precise poisons). Although at first he merely wanted to marry Raizou to gain wealth and fame, he soon was charmed by him. His house revival plan was to seduce other lords in order to make them submit to the Katana household.
Raizo's deceased mother communicates with her son through her mortuary tablet, often showing disapproval by falling on him, or satisfaction through a gleam.
Ninja Girls was serialized in Monthly Shōnen Sirius magazine. It was collected into nine volumes by Kodansha,[1] and has been licensed in English by Del Rey translated by Andria Cheng, and in Traditional Chinese by Sharp Point Press.[2] Kodansha Comics USA will keep publishing the series in 2011.[3]
| No. | Original | English | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Release date | ISBN | Release date | ISBN | |
| 1 | March 23, 2006[4] | ISBN 978-4-06-373019-7 | August 25, 2009[5] | ISBN 978-0-345-51242-0 |
| 2 | August 23, 2006[6] | ISBN 978-4-06-373034-0 | December 29, 2009[7] | ISBN 978-0-345-51243-7 |
| 3 | February 23, 2007[8] | ISBN 978-4-06-373058-6 | June 22, 2010[9] | ISBN 978-0-345-51244-4 |
| 4 | October 23, 2007[10] | ISBN 978-4-06-373091-3 | November 16, 2010[11] | ISBN 978-0-345-51245-1 |
| 5 | June 23, 2008[12] | ISBN 978-4-06-373120-0 | May 24, 2011[13] | ISBN 978-1-935429-65-4 |
| 6 | January 23, 2009[14] | ISBN 978-4-06-373152-1 | July 12, 2011[15] | ISBN 978-1-935429-66-1 |
| 7 | November 20, 2009[16] | ISBN 978-4-06-373195-8 | September 27, 2011[17] | ISBN 978-1-935429-67-8 |
| 8 | September 9, 2010[18] | ISBN 978-4-06-376233-4 | November 15, 2011[19] | ISBN 978-1-935429-68-5 |
| 9 | May 9, 2011[20] | ISBN 978-4-06-376268-6 | March 6, 2012[21] | ISBN 978-1-61262-070-1 |
Ninja Girls volume 1 debuted sixth on The New York Times manga bestseller list for the week of August 23–29, 2009.[22] The following week, Ninja Girls volume 1 slipped to eighth position.[23] Joseph Luster, writing for Otaku USA, felt that the manga was in an awkward position: "too fan-servicey for some, and not enough for others".[24]
Comicbookbin.com's Leroy Douresseaux compares the tone of the manga to Strawberry 100%, and feels that the manga is full of "comic violence that is brutal and bloody or innuendo defined by female ninja (kunoichi) in some state of undress."[25] Activeanime.com's Davey C. Jones enjoyed the "voluptuous" character designs of the girls.[26] Matthew Alexander found the character of the spirit tablet imbued with the protagonist's mother's spirit to be very funny,[27] and found the protagonist to be a "likeable character" who "cares more about the feelings of those around him than he does about his own wellbeing".[28] Dan Polley felt the first volume had "potential", and that the secondary characters were intriguing.[29]