"Fun, if bloody, fantasy adventure" by Mark Carson (USA) on Feb 4, 2004

OK, let's admit upfront the premise for the story is ludicrous. A marionette maker in late 16th-century Japan, who uses his extraordinary skills to unravel unsolved murders and right unrequited wrongs, and who is accompanied by a pretty, hot-tempered (and flat-chested) princess-samurai - well, "reality" is clearly not going to have a lot to do here.

But Takada is obviously having a lot of fun, and it's infectious - sort of like with Detective Conan, though the series are otherwise of course quite different. A word of warning though - Takada's notion of "fun" is still going to have its share of blood, gore, and body parts. Hmm, not that that's so unusual any more...

The Pika edition seems well-done.