Inuyasha Manga: 053 Kazaana

Much like other chapter titles left untranslated by me, I feel like this attack name deserves to be pronounced in the original Japanese. That "Kazaana" sounds pretty cool is only part of the reason, the other part being that the other names sound just dumb to me. "Wind Tunnel" reminds me of vacuum cleaners, and "Air Rip" sounds like a frat boy breaking wind. Not the the former of those examples isn't actually fitting - after all, Miroku's power operates very much like a vacuum, as it were.

But I'm getting ahead of myself, aren't I?

Is it just me, or is Miroku's description of himself eerily similar to that of a character sheet in Dungeons and Dragons? It's like he's aware he's in a role-playing universe and filling the character of the cleric on the team...

Oh. Oh wow. Miroku KNOWS. He's seen through the fictional veneer of his existence and continues as a meta, fourth-wall-breaking ghost in the machine! It's a hint to the reader that they are viewing a reality star within a world that isn't real! It's...

... Whoops, sorry, I took too big a drag on that joint. Where were we?

Miroku says that Inuyasha will allow him to keep the Shikon no Tama for his own good, holding it up cockily. Inuyasha notes that Miroku said his name, and asks how it is Miroku knows him. Miroku says he doesn't, but that's what the beautiful young lady he travels with called him. Kagome is pleased with being called beautiful, flattered straight into postulating that maybe Miroku isn't so bad a guy after all. Shippou tells her to get a grip, because the guy's a thief.

Inuyasha lifts his sword, threatening to make it so that Miroku won't crack another joke ever again. He slashes down on Miroku, but Miroku continues to protect himself with his staff and Inuyasha can't get a cut in. Miroku compliments him on his strength, but Inuyasha can only mentally curse him for deflecting all his strikes.

The staff sticks in the dirt some ways away and Miroku curses as Inuyasha still barrels toward him. Inuyasha doesn't strike again right away, giving Miroku one last chance to hand over the jewel quietly, unless he WANTS to die. Miroku glares silently, then turns tail to run in the opposite direction. Inuyasha shouts about his cowardly ass running away again, but Miroku yells over his shoulder to the surrounding townspeople, urging them to leave the area as fast as they can so their lives won't be in danger.

The villagers, accompanied by Kagome and Shippou, mutter in confusion. Miroku stops and whips around to face Inuyasha abruptly, who tells him he's lost and to give it up with Tessaiga resting on his shoulder. In response, Miroku hooks out his right arm, smirking. Inuyasha notes this while Miroku yells that despite his serene appearance, he really does HATE to lose. He rips the beads around his hand off and opens his fist, and Inuyasha immediately has to stick the tip of Tessaiga into the ground in front of him to guard against the powerful wind pulling him toward Miroku's palm. A nearby barn housing horses is ripped apart and the horses pulled by the force.

Awwwww... poor horsies...

It's... shrinking? I guess RT didn't want to think about how a full-sized horse could fit into this guy's palm, huh?

Inuyasha grunts behind a Tessaiga that's being pulled toward the hand too, and Miroku tells him that he won't be able to endure for very long. The villagers shout as they flee the scene, worried that they'll be sucked to their deaths. I thought that was a GOOD way for guys to die? Don't know if worth it?

Meanwhile, Kagome is standing behind a wall already leaning in Miroku's direction, peeking out at him as his crazy hand continues to devour everything in front of it. Kagome says it's way beyond houriki, and more like a black hole. If Miroku's hand pulled in everything atom by atom, I could maybe see that comparison working, but the whole SHRINKING thing has me confused on that AND the vacuum hypothesis. It's not really striking me as very much like either one, to be honest.

Shippou jumps up onto Kagome's arm, urging her to run too, but Kagome insists that they have to stop this instead. She surmises that Miroku isn't really a bad person to a dumbfounded Shippou, citing that he ran and told the villagers to leave in order to prevent their being sucked into his hand.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha continues to resist the pull of Miroku's hand while Miroku tells him to give up, because once you're in there, there's no getting back out again.

Miroku tells Inuyasha it's pointless, because both he AND his sword will be sucked in. Suddenly, Miroku is distracted by something he sees beyond Inuyasha.

Inuyasha notices Kagome too and calls out her name, just as Miroku makes a fist again and quickly wraps it with his beads. He's not fast enough to avoid the collision, though.

Because flying! Duh!

Kagome pushes herself up, muttering about how much that hurt when Inuyasha rushes over to see if she's okay. She looks down at the beads wrapped around his fist and deduces that they seal his hand void thing, and that he did it on his own.

How are you defining "bad" here, Kagome?

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? We got off to a rough start with a bit of bad dialogue from Miroku, unfortunately. Miroku's stock phrase of being a priest who helps people with his clerical powers was pretty painful to read, and what purpose it served was a little shady. Since it's pretty antithetical to what we as the audience has seen of him (HELPING being a rare occurrence with Miroku's powers), I'm a little unsure as to whether or not RT was trying to speak to the audience with it. More likely Miroku was trying to convince Inuyasha that he was more qualified to hold the jewel with his credentials, but I have my doubts Miroku would be naive enough to believe telling Inuyasha he's a priest would have made any kind of difference.

However, I DID enjoy the action in this chapter, given how simple and clean it was. Of course, the way the Kazaana works is a little obscure, but given it can be just chalked up to magic, I'm not worrying about the muddled comparisons you could make in trying to describe it. The thing is, it's NOT a vacuum or a black hole, but those are the best similes one can make regarding how it functions, at least from my limited perspective.

Also, this chapter did bring me to ask a question that's pretty important; I'm absolutely serious when I'm asking what the definition of "bad" and "good" are in the context of this world. Miroku doesn't want people to die in the midst of his fight, but he's not exactly a "good" person. He has genuine holy powers and is able to do exorcisms, but he's also someone who isn't very detached from the world or actively seeking to renounce any fleshly desires like most religious figures with that kind of power. Miroku appears to have one foot in both worlds, and straddles the line of sinful and devout in a strangely effective way.

He's a character that keeps you wondering if there IS actually a line in the first place.