I must say I am a huge fan of this wonderful manga and amazed at how under rated it is. At first I had feared that the main character, Noriko would be another one of those stupid, weak, useless female characters, however I gladly admit I was mistaken. She was very strong willed and central to the story. The story it's self is a very good one, with an exciting journey and a wonderful plot. It has romance without being all gushy about it and a nice dose of action. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this manga and plan to reread it in the near future.