Manga4Kids: Manga Reviews for Parents and Kids

Plot Summary:

Mingchao, a Chinese girl, lives on a mountainside in the Wild West. Her grandfather, who recently died, left her a gun, but she can't figure out how to use it. On her way home one night, she sees a priest lying by the side of the road and assumes he is dead. He reappears as she is preparing a pot of hare stew, and she offers him some. As she is showing him the gun, she accidentally drops it into the stew. A few minutes later, an outlaw comes by on his way to beseige a nearby town. He threatens to kill Mingchao and the priest. Mingchao points the gun at him, and to her surprise, it shoots rabbit-shaped bullets that zigzag like rabbits but always find their mark. The outlaw is only injured, but his brother shows up a little later, seeking revenge. He tells Mingchao to meet him the next morning for a gunfight—or he will kill everyone in the town.

That night, Mingchao's grandfather visits her in a dream and explains that the gun absorbs energy from the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. In order to make it work, Mingchao has to first expose it to the essence of an animal. Mingchao completely misunderstands him, thinking the gun will work whenever she is in danger, and heads off to the showdown brimming with overconfidence. The gun fails, of course, and the gunfighter wreaks havoc on the town, until he shoots a bottle of liquor with a snake in it and the liquid showers down on Mingchao. The gun now shoots snake bullets, and she dispatches the outlaw.

Mingchao and the priest decide to leave town, the priest ostensibly to do missionary work, Mingchao to go to Hollywood, where she plans on becoming a star. By now it is clear to the reader, if no Mingchao, that the priest is a fake who is interested in the gun, but he clearly is affectionate toward her and wants to protect her.

The next adventure involves a widow who is trying to run her ranch with the help of her only son. They are threatened by the proprietors of another ranch, who keep stealing their cattle. They take Mingchao and the priest in and provide them with supper and a place to stay, but the next morning, the boy is missing. Mingchao and the priest rescue him, but not before the rustlers tie up Mingchao and toss her into a rodeo ring with a bull. The gun, fortuisly, falls into a pile of droppings and becomes charged with bull power, allowing Mingchao to overpower the rustlers, grab the hostage, and escape.

The next adventure takes place in a gambling joint, ensuring that no cliche will be left untouched. Mingchao and the priest encounter not only gamblers but a beautiful dancer named Bodney, who is being pursued, unsuccessfully, by a card sharp named Kaufman. The priest shows Kaufman up as a cheater, with the help of a card tucked up his sleeve. Mingchao, not realizing that the priest was cheating, decides poker is easy and gives it a try herself. She loses all their money and then the Edo gun. The gun passes through several owners in the next few minutes as it is used a bet in game after game, each time acquiring a larger reputation ("This is the legendary gun that Napoleon used to conquer Europe! It took out the entire English army with just one shot!"), with Bodney the final owner. The priest realizes what has happened and challenges Bodney to a game of five-card stud, betting his own life against the gun. Both players are one card away from a royal flush, but as the priest draws a card (which would be the ace he needed), Kaufman comes in and shoots the place up, demanding that Bodney come with him. When he tries to shoot her dog, the priest jumps in and takes the bullet. Kaufman absconds with Mingchao and tells Bodney to bring $1,000 ransom to his house the next day.

Bodney explains to the priest that she was once in love with Kaufman, in fact they lived together, but he took to drinking and playing cards and is no longer the man she loved. Meanwhile, Mingchao and Kaufman both get drunk and Mingchao appears to fall in love with Kaufman. Bodney bursts in, and a strugle ensues. Kaufman corners her and strips down to his boxers. Bodney escapes and hides in a wardrobe with Mingchao. As they wonder what to do, Mingchao realizes that Bodney is wearing tiger-skin panties. She rips off the panties, rubs the gun with them, and fires off a tiger bullet, incapacitating Kaufman. The adventure over, Mingchao and the priest go on their way while Bodney returns to Kaufman, who is unable to eat and drink without help.