KageTora Vol.#09
© Del Rey

Mania Grade: A-
Art Rating: B
Packaging Rating: B+
Text/Translatin Rating: B+
Age Rating: 13 & Up
Released By: Del Rey
MSRP: 10.99
Pages: 208
ISBN: 978-0-345-49771-0
Size: B6
Orientation: Right to Left
Series: KageTora

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KageTora Vol.#09

FINALLY, a new character shows up and forces Kagetora to pull his head out of his ass.

Creative Talent
Writer/Artist: Akira Segami
Translated by:S atsuki Yamashita
Adapted by: Nunzio DeFilipis and Christina Weir

What They Say
 

THREE'S NOT THE CHARM!

Yuki is the heir to the Toudou martial arts family, and Kagetora, the ninja assigned to teach and protect Yuki, is in love with her. Unfortunately, his honor forbids him to act on his feelings. Enter Kujou, a big clumsy guy who wants people to stop picking on him. He asks Kagetora to give him some lessons in self-defense, which will be no easy task. But when Kujou meets the beautiful Yuki, things really get tricky!

The Review
As I said in my review for volume 8, this series has really dragged because of the repetitious training sessions, boring sessions at that.  However, this volume finally scores a big hit with the story’s direction and pacing.  All of the good aspects in this volume come down to the introduction of Kujou, a ninja nut who desperately wants to be Kagetora’s disciple.  Kujou isn’t so much a ninja otaku as he is a weakling that desires the strength and skills of a ninja.  He hopes training under Kagetora will make him stronger and better able to fight back against his bullies.  This seems strange because Kujou is a really tall guy that seems like he should be strong.  Actually, he is surprisingly weak and easily as clumsy as Yuki.

At first, this whole clumsy aspect of Kujou’s character initially made me cringe as he started training alongside Yuki.  I thought this volume was just going to be more lame ass self-inflicted injury plagued training sessions.  Oh, how wrong I was, mostly.  Kujou seems to have some animosity towards Yuki in the beginning, but he quickly begins to fall in love with her.  He may be weak, but he isn’t stupid and he sees how Yuki looks at Kagetora with puppy dog eyes.  Even if Kagetora claims he has no feelings towards Yuki.  Eventually, and with some words of encouragement from Kiritani, Kujou takes Yuki out on an impromptu date without Kagetora following.  Kiritani’s meddling is quite interesting, is she trying to force Kagetora’s hand, or does she think Kujou could make Yuki happy? 

Since Kagetora told Kujou that he could never have feelings for his master, Kujou decides he will tell Yuki how he feels.  That doesn’t work out so well.  Kujou returns to confront Kagetora in an attempt to show him how stupid he’s being.  Surprisingly, it turns into an all out battle between the two.  Will even a few jabs to the head be enough to make Kagetora realize he can’t fight his love for Yuki?  Does Kujou really think he can survive a real fight with Kagetora?  Can this exciting conflict continue for more than one volume, or will this series fall right back into mediocrity?