Hanzo pulled off an amazing feat in the last volume, but if he convinces all three of his wives to live under the same roof, then he truly is the greatest stud monkey of his era.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Kazuo Koike / Artist: Goseki Kojima
Translation/Adaptation: Naomi Kokubo
What They Say
Assassins have been cast as the sensual and shadowy villains throughout history, but their exploits have never been so fully realized as they are within the pages of Path of the Assassin. From the most intense sword fight, to a silent poisoning, no job has been too much for the infamous Hattori Hanzo. Now, the stage is set for Tokugawa Ieyasu’s destiny to be fulfilled, and with Hanzo watching his back, can anything stop him from uniting Japan?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Shingen is dead, Ieyasu is saved, and Hanzo has a new wife. Seems things are going great. That is until Hanzo tries to make his wives live together to dispel any contempt they may have for each other. Seriously? Three ninja women fighting for the affections of the same man? I think Hanzo is just plain ass crazy.
Before that, Hanzo and Tsukibue must defeat three sorceresses sent by Shingen’s son to kill Ieyasu and Hanzo, and retrieve Tsukibue. The sorceresses wouldn’t be much of a match if it weren’t for their ability to entrance people with their dance. Even Hanzo falls for their tricks and narrowly escapes. What will it take to finish of these treacherous women? Maybe Hanzo can pull a little Austin Powers mojo and out sex the women?
Just when things seem to simmer down, Ieyasu’s wife stirs things up in an attempt to make his life more difficult. Ieyasu’s son looks nothing like him, and he is married to Nobunaga’s daughter. None of these are a big deal, except Ieyasu’s wife won’t let her son sleep with his wife. Instead, she sends smoking hot girls to sleep with him. This is bad news if Nobunaga’s daughter decides to tell him. Not only is this going to hurt Ieyasu and Nobunaga’s truce, but Nobunaga could squash Ieyasu if he wanted to.
Hanzo is really good at taking down opponents face-to-face, but court treachery is beyond his abilities. Can Ieyasu pull enough strings to fix the situation? Will Nobunaga discover his daughter’s unhappiness? Will Hanzo convince all three of his wives to have sex with him at the same time and then each other whenever he is out of town? None of these seem to bode well for Hanzo and Ieyasu.
In Summary
Another great volume in this highly recommended series.
Content Grade: A-
Art Grade: B-
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: September 27th, 2008
MSRP: $9.98
