By Shoko Conami. Released in Japan by Akita Shoten, serialization ongoing in the magazine Princess. Released in North America by Tokyopop.

It’s hard to review this volume without spoiling a few things, be warned.

This volume marks what I expect will be a big shift in the plot of Shinobi Life, as Beni makes the decision to run from her father by having her and Kagetora hide in the past. Unfortunately, this rather depends on her being WITH Kagetora, and she ends up losing her grip on him and ending up in the past all by herself.

Beni’s impulsiveness has been one of the driving points of the series so far, and the author is very good at showing its good and bad qualities. I was pleased to see that, once she realizes that the Kagetora and Hitaki she meets are from the past, she stops acting and starts thinking, making excellent choices on how to deal with things. It also helps to show how she’s attracting these guys – her kindness and warmth really shines here.

It’s hard not to read this volume and try to make sense of all the time-traveling, though this is not helped by the author stacking complications on you every new chapter. I couldn’t help but think of the Robert Heinlein short story “All You Zombies—”, and wondered if it would turn out that every character in the entire manga is, in some way, Beni and Kagetora. I actually do hope that we stay in the past for a while, though I’ve no doubt we will move away a bit to find out what’s happening with Kagetora the elder.

Trying to figure things out can also be a drawback, as you end up meeting new characters and thiking of them as plot devices rather than people. In an attempt not to do that, I will note that Renkaku reminds me a lot of Shigure from Fruits Basket in his goofy perv hiding a darker side, and dispensing very useful advice to others in times of need. He at least adds an element of humor to a manga that is, for the most part, pretty serious. This is more than can be said for Hitaka’s master, Hachikuma, and his brother Toukichi. We don’t see enough of them to get a sense of them as more than characters there to drive the plot along.

The benefit of this, of course, is that the plot is driven along. There’s a lot going on here, and it’s refreshing to see a shoujo manga moving at a fast clip. Even the introspective scenes, with Kagetora and Hitaka wracked with self-doubt, have a pacing to them that I really enjoy. It helps to make the book very difficult to put down.

The beginning of the book also features some of the present-day ‘villains’ attempting to control things, and you see how many people are driven in this manga by a desire to escape control of their parents. I still don’t really like Rihito, but I do feel sympathy towards him after being verbally abused by his father for relying only on secondhand evidence. And as for present-day Hitaka and his threat to Beni, brrr. I get the feeling that the intervening years Beni is about to go through in the past are not going to be happy fun times.

When this first came out, I was leery of getting it, as it looked rather cliched. I was surprised to find that the first volume held my attention and was very good. I’m even more surprised to find that each successive volume has improved on the last. As of this volume, I’d argue it’s one of the best shoujo manga being published in North America right now. I look forward to the next volume with much glee and anticipation.