Ninja Girls
, 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. Plot. 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 saves the life of Kagari (a kunoichi), he discovers that he is the illegitimate heir to the fallen Katana clan and must revive his household to its original state. Together with fellow Kunoichi Kisarabi and Himemaru, they set out to revive the clan by marrying Raizou to a princess of another household and borrowing their power. Throughout the series, Raizo eventually wins over several princesses but ends up running away due to various misunderstandings. All the while, a group led by the mysterious Kabuki Seigan also attempt to gain control over the other households, only to meet  with failure through the intervention of Raizou and his followers. Publication. "Ninja Girls" was serialized in "Monthly Shōnen Sirius" magazine. It was collected into nine volumes by Kodansha, and has been licensed in English by Del Rey translated by Andria Cheng, and in Traditional Chinese by Sharp Point Press. Kodansha USA will keep publishing the series in 2011. Reception. "Ninja Girls volume 1" debuted sixth on "The New York Times" manga bestseller list for the week of August 23–29, 2009. The following week, "Ninja Girls volume 1" slipped to eighth position. 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". 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." Activeanime.com's Davey C. Jones enjoyed the "voluptuous" character designs of the girls. Matthew Alexander found the character of the spirit tablet imbued with the protagonist's mother's spirit to be very funny, 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. Dan Polley felt the first volume had "potential", and that the secondary characters were intriguing.