I'm pretty sure this volume is my favorite of the series so far. Hanzo hasn't said anything about Usagi's weight for quite a while. In fact, he spends quite a bit of time carrying Usagi out of danger and kissing. It is nice to see him treating Usagi much better now.

In this volume Usagi seems to be coming in to her own as she makes allies in the troops of the formidible Lord Nobunaga and catches a former friend and Iga spy in the arms of the enemy. I really like how the plot has turned to more dramatic intrigue and how the romance between Hanzo and Usagi seems to finally be progressing. Also interesting are the manga-ka's side bars where she discusses how she came to be a professional manga artist. It seems she started very young and sold her first one-shot while still in high school. Pretty impressive!

With this cliffhanger in particular I'm looking forward to the next volume so we can see what happens with the new scrape Usagi has gotten herself into. ( )