by Hiroaki Samura, 207 pages Manji incurs Rin's wrath by accepting a beautiful prostitute's offer and leaving the young lady to her own devices for a while. But as she vents her injured pride and frustration in a local sweet shop, Rin realizes the dots don't connect the way he wants her to believe they do.
Typical Manji, trying to keep his troublesome charge out of harm's way (and, honestly, out of his way, too, as she's not all that useful in a fight at this point--not that that ever stops her from trying). This time, Anotsu's assassin is more than just a minion, however. Through flashbacks we see how Makie is linked to his childhood decision to form the Ittô-Ryû in the first place. The addition to the primary antagonist's backstory gives him more dimension and makes him harder to hate, despite his crimes. He's just a man, after all, not an invulnerable monster. Samura likes to make you identify with even the most horrible of characters, just as he likes to temper your approval of the protagonists by not letting them devolve into models of perfection. Everybody's human, after all, whatever paths they've chosen to take.
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