Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 316 Aura Shield!!

I would rather have a heat shield over here. The upcoming week promises to be brutal when it comes to the temperature where I live, a little behind the rest of the country, but still WAY above average for this time of year. Thankfully, it doesn't seem that the heat is going to rise into the triple digits this time, since my home doesn't have AC; I've promised funds that could be going into air conditioning to a new roof instead. It'll still be pretty uncomfortable, though, especially for little Grimalkin, all covered in fur. Wish us luck!

With thief!Bakura also feeling the heat, it's nice to know I've got company. BAD company, but still...

As the magic blows continue to fall on Diabound, he groans and screams, more blood just pouring out of his mouth and from under his hair. I don't know if he has enough blood left in his body to keep going before too long, let alone that all-important magical power. The smoke from the attacks hasn't even cleared yet before Yami is questioning rather hopefully if Diabound is finally dead. Thief!Bakura huffs and scoffs while he kneels on the ground, then looks up and grins through the layer of his own blood. Chuckling, he acknowledges that the Magus's training in the afterlife gives his attacks more of a bite, but it's STILL not enough to beat him.

What do they have to DO? Push him into a vat of molten steel???

Staggering to his feet, thief!Bakura reiterates that he's going to kill the pharaoh and the priests, get all those Millennium Items into their spots in the mold, and seize that power of Zorc Necrophades for himself. No hint as to WHY the dude is SO indestructible to be found. Yami notices with alarm that Diabound is still snarling and upright, and still has some strength left. Thief!Bakura is compelled to correct Yami - he says that he's going to make Diabound even stronger than ever. 

Oh good, one of my guesses as to a source of power for this guy seems... kind of true. 

Indeed, Diabound is perky and energetic after this little recharging, writhing performatively before Yami. Thief!Bakura laughs that the souls he just took into himself will double Diabound's power. Because this battle DEFINITELY isn't overstaying its welcome at this point. Yami, Shada and Mahado stare in horror as thief!Bakura commands the newly pepped Diabound to attack and send the three of them to Hell, BACK to Hell in the case of the latter. 

It freaks Yami the fuck out that Diabound isn't even bothering to turn invisible, and tells Mahado to be careful, because they don't know if this thing has managed to gain yet ANOTHER new unknown power suddenly. Thief!Bakura silently acknowledges that Diabound CAN'T actually turn invisible in direct light, so that's out of the question right now, but he also thinks being invisible isn't needed anymore.

Not exactly sure what that first move was, Mahado, but you sure did make it! Good job!

Apparently it was fast too, because when Mahado zips into Diabound's snarling face, thief!Bakura comments on his speed with awe. Yami commands the Magus to attack, and he lets loose yet another Thousand Magic Blasts. But as the volley hits Diabound, it raises its arm against it, and both Mahado and Yami are in utter disbelief, thief!Bakura wearing a triumphant smile at Diabound's defensive pose.

I'm guessing these ghosts went to the same afterlife battle training course that Mahado did, just enrolled a decade ago? 

Yami panics over Mahado, while the maniacal thief!Bakura bids the Magus a very lovely DIE. Spiraling energy starts to swirl from the center of Diabound's chest, and Mahado watches with alarm, not using that incredible speed thief!Bakura was commenting on a minute ago, for some reason. The Spiral Wave ejects from Diabound and right into the inexplicably frozen Mahado. 

Thousand Magic Blasts must have rooted him to the spot or something.

Legs splayed, Mahado is blasted right into a pillar behind him. I feel kind of bad for laughing, but I really couldn't help it. It was very Looney Tunes. What's not funny is both Yami and Mahado spitting up some blood, the former worrying over the latter with Shada looking helpless in the background. Thief!Bakura laughs that Mahado will never return to this world again, promising to rend him limb from limb THIS time. 

Don't know if he's familiar with a myth from his very own culture that features a god getting reconstituted after being dismembered by his own brother, but someone should tell him that chopping his enemy up isn't any GUARANTEE here.

As they Yami and Shada stare impotently at Diabound hovering menacingly over Mahado and stuttering his name, Mahado himself groaning that he can't move. 

Don't get me wrong, I love a good creative trapezoidal panel, but all these slanted box boundaries are kinda difficult to cut out on the computer...

Yami is certain that it's over if Mahado gets hit again and screams his name. Shada growls with frustration and holds out his Millennium Key, asking it to accept his ba and summon something. But before he can say what that something is, thief!Bakura refuses to let him go any further with this request and his shelled friend behind him starts to build an attack in its gaping jaws. The shot fires right through Shada's back, eliciting a groan of agony from him as the key tumbles from his hand. 

Thief!Bakura gleefully mumbles that he'll take this third treasure for himself as well, and proceeds to TELEKINETICALLY draw it right to him from the air. Where did THAT ability come from?? Did the ghosts bestow this little gift on him too while they were powering up Diabound???

He yells at the hated magician to die now, because Diabound is done fucking around at this point, I guess. 

No sooner does thief!Bakura start to think that ALL his inexplicable advantages had finally gotten rid of the Magus that he has to do a bit of a double-take in disbelief, wondering where the body is when he sees the lack of bloody remains at the base of the shattered pillar. Uuuuuhhhh, Mahado is already dead. Why would he leave a body behind? I think perhaps thief!Bakura has lost a bit too much blood and isn't thinking clearly. Not that he was thinking clearly before...

He looks up at a voice from above asking a master to hang in there. 

Hey! I recognize that wide-neck off-the-shoulder vaguely eighties chic getup! Both Mahado as he's being dragged upward and Yami below recognize Miss DMG here as Mana in amazed disbelief.

Girl must have gotten her STUDY on recently - not just of magic, but also her master's ability to just kind of show up places with no discernible method of getting there.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It really seems that, in order to amp up the drama and stakes for this battle, KT was giving thief!Bakura all KINDS of legs up with damn near NO explanation. As I'm so fond of saying, while I can come up with my own explanation for most of this, it is preferable to have something more concrete understanding from the source material itself. Sure, we COULD say that the ghosts from Kul Elna have learned a fair few more things about influencing the physical world from the afterlife than Mahado, given their longer stint in it. We COULD say that their numbers and greater seniority in the Beetlejuice-style courses for haunting give them an overall greater amount of power, making it easier for them to tip the scales by giving thief!Bakura and Diabound more abilities. Or, we COULD say that the Millennium Items are more inclined to lend THEIR unique powers to the one guy who has more of them than anyone else in the room.

But, does the narrative indicate any of these explanations? I personally don't think so. As a reader, it's natural for me to come up with my own interpretations of the text, but this is a bit more work than I'm used to doing to make things seem plausible instead of just being confused about where these dramatic elements came from. It is more than a little possible, with the compressed timeline for wrapping the story up, this particular confrontation was meant to be two or even three different ones, with their own points of evolution for thief!Bakura/Diabound, and KT was forced to combine them. Unfortunately, we will probably never know if that's the case now.

As jarring as some of these out-of-nowhere elements, and the continued radio silence on WHY thief!Bakura was so powerful to begin with, have been, they ARE still effective in making things a bit more uncertain and tense for the protagonists. When all is said and done, the reader simply doesn't KNOW where thief!Bakura's limits are. Just when you think he HAS to be beaten, he bounces back with a fresh wind in his sails, if I can mix my metaphors a little. Even if you can't for the life of you tell WHY he's got so many reserves of improbable strength, you worry all the same about what this means for our heroes.

And I can't in good conscience say THAT'S not some great writing slight-of-hand.

Inuyasha Manga: 257 Dokko

Since this is the first full summer that I've had a yard of my own, I've been experimenting with growing more than just herbs on the porch, having planted quite a few veggies in beds and baskets. I haven't been TERRIBLY successful - the only things that really got anywhere so far are some buttercrunch lettuce which is a little susceptible to insects, and some potatoes that I just dug up in the past week. I've learned a LOT for next year, though, and I'm looking forward to trying again with some new advice under my belt after February 2023. The tip I'm most looking forward to implementing? Surrounding my more vulnerable plants with nasturtium and marigolds.

Apparently these flowers aren't very palatable to veggie-destroyers, and were described to me a garden "purifiers". Huh, I wonder if those were the ones on Hijiri Island, lol!

It's a wonder we manage to keep track of all these people. 

Within the actual storyline, Inuyasha's friends stand looking on with worry, Sango articulating the obvious point that Inuyasha is at a disadvantage now because of his injury. Kagome thinks that on top of that, Banryuu has some Shikon fragments in its blade, which she doesn't have to explicitly explain is a bit of a power-up. We've seen enough examples to get an idea. Pointing his gargantuan halberd, Bankotsu commands Inuyasha to do a PROPER Kaze no Kizu this time. Through a clenched jaw, his power stirring back up again in absence of the barrier, Inuyasha says he doesn't need to be told. He swings down Tessaiga and calls out his attack, while Bankotsu spins his massive sword above his head with one hand.

I don't get it. Bankotsu gives off both try-hard and easy-street energies at the same time? He confuses the shit out of me.

As the dissipation of the attack whooshes over their heads, Sango, Miroku and Kagome gape in alarm. Inuyasha's teeth are still grinding, though his expression has turned to a more worried one, because he recognizes that Kaze no Kizu has been cut down. Bankotsu is in the air again, asking what Inuyasha is so surprised about before he swings down and Inuyasha leaps out of the way in time for Banryuu's blade to rip into the earth below him. 

Inuyasha calls Bankotsu a jerk, which is the kind of insult you'd EXPECT out of a nine-year-old being bullied on the playground. He swings back at Bankotsu, their swords clashing like two carts in the supermarket. 

"The last box of Lucky Charms is MINE!"

Sango remarks that they're locked together, and Miroku adds that their strength is equal. Just imagine if Inuyasha DIDN'T have a big bloody gash in his shoulder. Teeth gritted and straining, Bankotsu promises to split Inuyasha AND Tessaiga in two, and Inuyasha says this is HIS line, scoffing through his own clenched jaw. The commentary from the sidelines continues, with Sango suggesting that this will take a while and Miroku saying that neither can move until the other does. Shintarou worries about what will happen to them if Inuyasha loses, but Kagome assures him that Inuyasha won't lose, her hands laid comforting on his shoulders. 

Behind her, still in its crater, power stirs in the dokko, then surges suddenly. 

Is this Hakushin-Shonin dude a saint or a poltergeist??

After a moment of confusion over the amazing flying dokko, Inuyasha looks back at Tessaiga to find...

May as well ask if it'll be alright in the end.

Miroku shouts that since the dokko was the heart of the holy barrier around the island, its behavior seems to suggest that Hakushin-Shounin is on Bankotsu's side. Bankotsu's got an adjacent but different interpretation: he says it looks like he's being told to finish up quickly. As he rushes at Inuyasha again, he declares he doesn't like the inherent lack of confidence in his ability, though. Or, maybe it's your tendency to drag this shit out for your own amusement? 

Inuyasha yells at him to cut out the dirty tricks, even though it's obvious Bankotsu's not the one actively performing them. Bankotsu calls him a stupid bastard, and insists there's no such thing as a dirty trick in a death match. Dude managed to make a halfway decent point, good for him. He charges, Inuyasha braces with his chipped and rusted old untransformed Tessaiga, and Miroku tries to warn Inuyasha to fall back. 

An arrow flies through the air and into a confused Bankotsu's forearm, shot by Kagome, whose bow is still thrumming. Inuyasha looks back at her, flabbergasted, muttering her name. As Bankotsu calls her a bitch, Kagome stutters that he's a COWARD. Ironic as it would be for Bankotsu to argue that it's unfair for her to intervene in the fight when he just got done saying that dirty tricks don't exist in this arena, he doesn't. Instead, he just holds up his arm.

That. Is. SICK. In every sense of the word.

Kagome and Miroku gape, the latter babbling about the arm just being bones. Makes a whole hell of a lot more sense than Shintarou's dad being just bones, honestly. Bankotsu is in mild awe over the actual effects of the purification arrow he's no doubt heard about. While he's pondering this, the dokko starts to glow again, looking like it's back in its little crater? I don't know when it migrated back there. Inuyasha flinches back from the burst of light in alarm and confusion.

Anyone else hear that electronic whir from BotW when Link fast-travels?

The peanut gallery is comments in amazement that Bankotsu appears to be disappearing, and Inuyasha yells at the bastard to wait. Why do I feel we've been here before? Inuyasha takes a flying leap to try and grab Bankotsu before he fully vanishes, but collides with a bubble surrounding Bankotsu, yet another barrier no doubt. I guess the dokko has refreshed after a short cooling period. Inuyasha curses this barrier and lands in a crouch as the last of the light flurries where Bankotsu once stood. 

Kagome rushes to kneel behind Inuyasha, hands hovering over his injured shoulder as he asks if he's okay. He answers in the affirmative, though he does hiss a bit, but his attention is more drawn to the fact that it's not just Bankotsu that's gone; the dokko has disappeared as well. Miroku approaches the spot where Bankotsu teleported out of there, reaffirming that he and the dokko went together. Sango asks if the dokko let Bankotsu escape, and Miroku says this is most likely, though Bankotsu's unwillingness to do so kind of makes this wording inaccurate. 

A small, hesitant voice talks of Hakushin-Shounin.

Took a little vaycay? Is it a bank holiday, by any chance?

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I can't help but feel that this newest showdown was nothing but an excuse to communicate to the main characters and the audience what the source of the barrier is, and that this source is an ally of Naraku. It's not... awful, but it IS a bit inorganic. Not only do we have some repetitive elements in the fight, with Bankotsu whisked away at the end just as before, but I'm not sure why Naraku would deliberately lead his enemies to clues about with whom he's teaming up. It was a very deliberate move on his part, and he even had Bankotsu wait there for Inuyasha and company to show up, and he had to have known that they would learn in traveling there just what was supposed to be on the island and its history. I mean, if I were in Naraku's shoes right now, having performed IMPOSSIBLE levels of preparation for a disappearing act as I have, I would probably try to keep these details a secret as long as possible, especially ones that reveal a lot about my means of repulsion against my enemies. 

Maybe he (read: RT) doesn't think it's important that they know, and that knowing doesn't help them in reaching him at all. Maybe he thinks he's got too many layers of protection between him and even the humans he's pissed off that it won't matter. His castle walls are damn near impenetrable, so how does a little information impact that? But maybe I think that someone who has gone to these insane lengths to surround himself with the supernatural equivalent to massive stone walls and a crocodile-filled moat would be entirely stupid to lead his enemies to a library containing instructions on how to build a trebuchet. 

I'm just saying that the care with which Naraku has constructed this scheme is a little incompatible with his lack of caution regarding letting Inuyasha and company know how it was built. And it strikes as somewhat contrived to the very when combined with deliberate way in which RT had Naraku set the stage for this beat-down in the first place. Seems like she wasn't sure how else her heroes were supposed to find out this information, that's all. 

But Bankotsu's skeleton arm was AWESOME, so I can't complain too much. Just mostly.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 315 Shadow Camouflage!!

By now the news has probably thoroughly spread throughout the internet, from the comment of our own Sebastian Braunstein on the previous chapter's review to every anime/manga news site out there; Yu-Gi-Oh's creator, Kazuki Takahashi, has died. His untimely passing is devastating news to all of us, I'm sure, and it's a little hard to contemplate Yu-Gi-Oh knowing that he is no longer with us. This blog was built around looking deeper at this fun and influential work, and it just won't be the same in light of the fact he's gone. But at the same time, it is comforting to know the legacy of joy he left behind, and how it will continue in his stead. I mean, this story was so powerful that the day the news broke that KT had passed, EVERYONE was talking about it, and a comment about it even came up on my fave lefty podcast, The Majority Report! Now THAT is some reach, and one that most of us can't even imagine achieving in our lifetimes. 

This blog has been critical of Yu-Gi-Oh and the writing decisions that went into the story, and it will continue to be. But let us take a moment to remember the man behind the pharaoh, who taught us about the intense (if not a little campy from time to time) power of friendship.

Yami calls to Mahado that this is his chance to hit them with another Magic Blast, now that Diabound is off-balance. With his palm pressed to his eye, thief!Bakura says that he took that one straight to the face, but then removes his hand to reveal streams of blood flowing down his face and INSISTS it didn't hurt a bit. Sure it didn't buddy, suuuuuuuuure. The Magus points his staff at thief!Bakura, telling him he can't dodge this one, and letting loose another Magic Blast at Diabound just as Yami suggested. Thief!Bakura manically declares that this wizard is living on borrowed time, and he can't be hit twice. "Living" is probably the wrong word to use here, but I guess his head is just as cloudy as Yami's is bound to be at this point.

The pillar wrapped in Diabound's tail cracks and begins to crumble.

I don't know what it is about these sound FX right now, but I'm digging them? I don't even think they're particularly different from the ones in previous chapters, but for some reason they're doing it for me at the moment.

Yami scowls about thief!Bakura shattering the pillar to use the shrapnel as a shield as he and Shada hold up their arms against the fragments of stone still tumbling down around them. With a deranged grin, thief!Bakura informs them that all the magic power they used up only served to make Diabound angry. To punctuate this point, Diabound leans forward and roars over them again. Yami looks a little worried in the background, but in the foreground, the Magus looks as stoic as ever.

Thief!Bakura indicated the tablet mold over his shoulder, praising the smart idea that he didn't anticipate of them attacking IT instead. He reiterates that he needs it to make his contract with the great evil god Zorc. He holds up the puzzle tauntingly, indicating that he'll use Yami's toy instead of trying to fight AND protect the slab at the same time. Yami's eyes bulge, in disbelief.

Super badass, but it mostly just makes me miss my fave, Summoned Skull.

Yami and Shada are in disbelief over thief!Bakura's SECOND ka; while Shada knows well that holders of the Millennium Items are able to summon as long as their magical reserves hold out, he's a bit shocked that thief!Bakura has enough in there to sustain two ka at once. More amazing still, thief!Bakura doesn't waste his breath explaining away how he's so powerful. He just grins and says he can attack them without fear now. 

He then activates Diabound's special ability (oddly modern a term for this, given we've been changing the language up a bit for some other things, but alright), Shadow Camouflage. Chapter title ahoy! Yami grinds his teeth, noting that Diabound is disappearing as it rapidly fades out of view in one of its more well-known party tricks. Thief!Bakura chuckles that Diabound has now merged with the shrine and could be ANYWHERE, and no one will know where he will attack from until they're dead. 

Yami, Shada and the Magus are all tense and wary of the disappeared monster glancing this way and that. Yami wonders where it's hiding when an echoing roar pulses through the room, and he revises his question to a tentative suggestion that it's in the wall. Then the floor. There's really no way to be certain.

I feel bad for the jackal - with two noses, whatever scent Diabound is putting out must be PUNGENT.

Its attention goes to an especially dark portion of the wall where it meets the ceiling, and Shada directs it to attack there. The Jackal throws its double-bladed axe chain (everything comes in twos, I guess), and it spins for the uppermost portion of the wall. Thief!Bakura seems more amused by this than anything, though, as Diabound's arm comes through the wall to catch the axe before it can make contact. He mocks them, saying that it's too bad just finding Diabound won't do them much good. 

Diabound pokes its head out of the wall too, growling at them. Yami yells to Mahado not to let Diabound get away now that it's showing itself, commanding another attack. Thief!Bakura says it's too late, given Diabound is already set up for its own attack. Around the corner of the room, to the right of Yami and allies, Diabound's snake-headed tail is building a ball of energy in its jaws. Yami looks around just in time to see the Thunder Force on its way toward them, but is frozen in place. 

Shada demands the Jackal protect the pharaoh, and it obediently leaps over. 

Predictably, Shada groans in agony, blood spurting from between his clenched teeth. There goes all that magic power/life force. He begs Yami to run and save himself, while one of them says that Diabound is gone again, ready to strike once more. I'm going to guess it's Yami, since it doesn't come across as strained or weak in any way like the previous statements from Shada, but it's not certain in the wide shot of the room indicating that Diabound has disappeared. 

Yami growls in frustration as he stands, ordering the Magus to attack. Mahado complies by targeting the room as he did before, this time punching holes in the ceiling letting in the daylight above with a Thousand Magic Blasts. Thief!Bakura assumes that this is a random spray of fire meant to catch Diabound wherever it may be hiding, calling them fools for thinking he can be hit that way. It's a very dumb assumption, driving his flex to position Diabound zeroing in on Yami and the injured Shada above and behind them.

Thief!Bakura's grin is eager as he thinks that Yami can't see Diabound, but it's got the pharaoh in its sights. He's CERTAIN that this is the end, but after a pause Yami turns to placidly ask if thief!Bakura really thinks he's got this in the bag. Thief!Bakura is dumbfounded as Yami says with confidence that he knows where Diabound is. Indeed, thief!Bakura now notices that Diabound has been illuminated in pieces from the light streaming in through the holes in the ceiling. 

I suppose thief!Bakura can't be expected to remember that this happened before - it WAS literally rewound and obliterated from the record, lol!

Thief!Bakura internally bemoans the fact that Yami stayed in place with Shada just to draw Diabound into the light. Yami brags that Mahado had Diabound in his sights LONG before Diabound saw him, as the Magus lunges for Diabound, staff extended. While thief!Bakura clenches his teeth to brace for the coming pain, Yami tells him it's HIS turn to fade into the shadows. Get it? Because he's going to get murdered. 

Why do I feel like this is not final in the least?

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Surprisingly, I don't have much to say on this one, since it was PURE action and movement, and well-done at that, so I have few complaints. There was one moment that struck me as stretched - when Diabound's tail fired from Yami's flank, it took a noticeably LONG time, a page and a half, to get to them so they could have time to react appropriately. Fairly large panels, but three dedicated to Yami standing there watching it coming was about two too many, in my opinion. 

I am very curious to know if there is an explanation to be had about WHY thief!Bakura has so much magic power to spare. Shada marvels at how he's able to maintain two ka at once, similar to how everyone was amazed by Diabound being so strong at the beginning, and it's striking me more than ever as conspicuous. I wonder if this is a result of that enhanced fighting will to live as was demonstrated by Gebelk in his Thunder Dome torture chamber, or if thief!Bakura is just special somehow? It would be helpful to have a couple of panels expounding upon the dangers he had to go through and how he used Diabound to defeat them, etc. But I'm not holding out too much hope for any elaboration here. We all know that there was limited time by this point to establish a more solid foundation for how thief!Bakura and Diabound came to be. Plenty of other details have plainly been truncated in an attempt to wrap up a bit faster, so I'll start assuming that's the case for any hazy stuff going forward. It'll leave room for me to be pleasantly surprised if there turns out to be more detail later.

Perhaps if thief!Bakura's immense magic power isn't explained, I'll just headcanon it's his pet ghosts handing him all the extra energy and call it a day.

Rest in Peace, Kazuki Takahashi.

Inuyasha Manga: 256 Heart of the Barrier

Not the center, surely. Our youkai in the group haven't been obliterated yet, and we're not NEARLY close enough to the climax of this arc for our protagonists to be in the middle of the damn thing. I have to assume it's more the power center or a pump that gets all that juice to the main body of the barrier. It might be fitting that this mechanism is more OUTSIDE the actual barrier around the mountain if that's the case, considering... Well, I guess that's still not quite set in stone yet. Never mind, forget I said anything. ;)

What, you mean two WEEKS ago, when Shintarou's father died, or just now? Are you going to accuse him of planting the flowers too, you loon?

Bankotsu says he doesn't know about attacking the island - he was just told to wait here. Noticing with alarm that there's a familiar glow from Bankotsu's massive blade, Kagome warns Inuyasha to watch out for the halberd, counting two Shikon shards in there. Inuyasha grinds his teeth at Bankotsu at the news, as Banktosu explains that it's because of their skirmish the other day in which it got cut, and he used the Shikon fragments to patch it all up. Taking credit for a little girl's idea is not exactly the kind of low I'd expect from this guy, but then again, he does seem pretty Bro-y... 

Yanking his sword into the air and rushing forward, Bankotsu quickly invites Inuyasha to get to fighting already. Inuyasha announces that he's SURE he'll turn Bankotsu into mincemeat today, and swings down Tessaiga in an ATTEMPT at Kaze no Kizu. 

Ooh, that's REAL embarrassing.

Inuyasha utters a questioning noise, his friends looking on in worry as Sango verbalizes Inuyasha's shame, that his signature attack isn't coming out. Grinning, Bankotsu resumes his initial lunge for Inuyasha, saying he now understands why he was told to fight here. Inuyasha has to hold up Tessaiga as a guard against the ringing blow Bankotsu brings down on him. It reverberates through him, causing him to groan, and he quickly retreats backward with a curse. 

Sango asks why Kaze no Kizu didn't appear, strangely not picking up on the very atmosphere that is also bothering her demonic feline companion. Cradling the lethargic Shippou, Miroku says that Tessaiga's youkai energy is being purified by Hijiri Island, Kagome responding to this with disbelief. Miroku adds that even if Bankotsu is an evil zombie, he's still human at his base (debatable, but I'm less liable to take this matter to court these days, given recent blatant displays of corruption), and the effect of the island's purifying energy is slight compared to that on Inuyasha and his youkai heritage. 

Bankotsu has been listening to this explanation as he launches more attacks on Inuyasha, saying it certainly seems the way Miroku has described it. He tells Inuyasha that his resistance is WAY weaker than it was when they'd clashed the other day. He swings at Inuyasha in defensive stance again, advising him to just hurry up and die already, because even Bankotsu, human as he allegedly is, wants to get the hell off this disgusting island ASAP.

Shintarou suddenly breaks away from Kagome, running for the shrine as she calls out to him, shouting for Hakushin-Shounin and begging him to save them/lend his power to Inuyasha. 

ALERT! The mummified man-baby has escaped the cradle! 

And don't bother telling me I'll be cursed, because whatever. I'm already cursed by living in the United States right now. Eat me, lol.

As Kagome catches up to the boy, still calling to him, he blurts in horror that Hakushin-Shounin has disappeared. Kagome is in disbelief while Shintarou points to where he insisted the mummy was enshrined before. Wondering what's going on, she begins to ponder what Naraku's objective was in attacking the island. Then she runs back out of the shrine, telling Miroku standing outside that Hakushin-Shounin's remains have gone missing, and suggests the possibility of Naraku having stolen it. Again, this news produces surprise in Miroku too, but when he looks around him at the flower-carpeted ground, the main question on HIS mind is WHO put up the barrier here.  

Meanwhile, Inuyasha is still locked in combat with Bankotsu, dodging a blow from the giant halberd in time for it to carve into the ground he was standing before. From the air, Inuyasha swings Tessaiga at Bankotsu, because the thing is still SHARP at least. Bankotsu glares, then...

Your reaction time leaves something to be desired, Inuyasha.

Inuyasha slams into the ground and skids through the flowers, a trail of blood arcing through the air after him. Miroku and Sango gape, the latter yelling his name in alarm. Inuyasha staggers to his feet, sleeve soaked in blood, cursing, and almost immediately has to lunge out of the way of another attack from Bankotsu, who inexplicably announces himself as he swings. Grunting in the effort, Inuyasha barely avoids this one, blood still flying. Must have hit an artery or something, SHIT.

Miroku pleads with Inuyasha silently to hold out just a while longer while he runs to an open space and spears the flowered ground with his staff. Pulling out a sheaf of his paper charms, he thinks the heart of the barrier has to be SOMEWHERE around here. 

... Give me a moment. 

Gracious, the awkward humor of this comic...

Anyway, Miroku tosses the paper charms on the breeze, thinking as he watches them float out from him that they should react with the center of the barrier erected here, Shippou's youki transferred over to them and all. So, is it canon now that youki is just static electricity apparently, lol! Just as Miroku predicted, a couple of the paper charms that drifted to his left crackle and spit over a dome appearing on the ground among the flowers. He cries in triumph that they go purified over there, and yanks his staff out of the ground to thrust it onto this little mini-dome instead. It crackles some more, a shape appearing beneath it.

I don't know what it is, but it looks like it could cut a bitch.

The little dome explodes, Miroku recoiling from the blast, the flowers being blown away. They disappear pretty much everywhere, something Sango notes with amazement while Kirara looks far more alert and perky at her side. A pulse runs through Inuyasha, and a tendril of breeze wraps around Tessaiga's blade. He knows immediately that the barrier has been broken and Kaze no Kizu has returned.

Shintarou trots up to the small crater in the ground where the above artifact still lay, Kagome following him over as Miroku kneels to examine it. The boy says after a moment of confused hesitation that this is the "dokko" that was installed in the shrine, having been Hakushin-Shounin's tool to concentrate his power in life. Kinda like a ceremonial knife in some other religious traditions. Kagome and Miroku gape, the former thinking Hakushin-Shounin lent his power to Naraku in disbelief. Yeah, it's becoming more and more undeniable, huh? You'd think if his power were really so "pure" and "holy" it might go away after being used for corrupt purposes, but...

Inuyasha is facing off against Bankotsu once again, appearing a lot more sturdy than before. Bankotsu laughs at him and asks if he thinks he's been saved.

Because this is just about feeling better, and has NOTHING to do with getting that all-important Kaze no Kizu to work. 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? The fact that Tessaiga could transform but not produce Kaze no Kizu, and Kirara/Shippou were made ill by the barrier on the island but not outright obliterated, was an interesting facet of this that I've never really considered before. It suggests the barrier on Hijiri Island is not just an extension of the one around the mountain, but specifically set up to act as a challenge ground for the largely youkai/hanyou enemies the Shichinin-tai would come up against, to give the Shichinin-tai a specific edge. Otherwise, the Shichinin-tai could just go behind the main barrier to retreat, as they did at first. 

Whether this is a recent development that Naraku had set up after the first scuffle between his mercenaries and Inuyasha's group + allies isn't entirely clear. The implication IS that it was set up two weeks before when Naraku first attacked the shrine, given that his puppet had the smell of those flowers when confronting Inuyasha, and presumably they would have had to have a LITTLE time to bloom. Still, since they disappeared so fast after the barrier produced by the dokko was destroyed, there's no telling if they didn't appear just as fast when the barrier was set up. But if we can go with the former assumption that this was all set up two weeks before, that at least gives us a timeline regarding how long it's been since Naraku disappeared and how long it took everyone to find him. 

Which... isn't long? For all the effort this must have taken Naraku, how he HAD to have had all this aligned when he needed and the amount of time he would have needed to put his pieces exactly where they had to be when he pulled the disappearing act, it did NOT give him much of a buffer until he everyone knew where he was. Thinking on how he needed to persuade Hakushin-Shounin to be an ally, grab him from the shrine, set up the dokko on the island so it would produce a barrier just mild enough to frustrate his youkai enemies, resurrect the Shichinin-tai, etc., he would have had to start work on all this... gracious, AGES before it all came to fruition. Possibly about the time when he spawned Goshinki? Maybe SOONER? I don't know if I buy that he had THAT much time.

I mean, the dude was ALREADY busy surveilling Inuyasha and company and giving birth to all manner of atrocities. How many hours are in his personal day? 70???

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 314 The Spirit Beast!!

The little beast running around my house right now certainly has "spirit" in spades. Grimalkin is a micro-panther who defies ALL attempts to wear her out. She wants to play constantly, and to her, playing is biting and scratching, so you can't even sit still when she's got the bug in her - she WILL target your hands and feet. I've got SO many claw-marks all over my legs and arms right now that I can't wear the appropriate summer clothing, which is a bummer, because it's been rather warm lately, and for once I'm not chilly all the time. 

We've got some new toys coming in the mail, though, so hopefully that will redirect her aggressive kitty attacks. 

Not sure the Magus's attacks can be redirected so easily, though. Thief!Bakura might be fucked.

Shada gapes at the Magus, identifying it as Mahado, and trailing in his recollection of his... state of being. Meanwhile, thief!Bakura is grinding his teeth in fury. While it's true that Yami can't summon his gods without the puzzle, the ghost of his dead priest friend is now guarding him. Takes a ghost to get rid of the other ghosts, I guess. 

It takes Yami a moment to recognize Mahado glaring ahead like the stern teacher he once was. The Magus tells his pharaoh to stand, but not out loud, which has Yami alarmed and asking if this voice he's "hearing" is Mahado speaking directly to his heart. The Magus says that the pharaoh's faith has brought him here, which is super funny, because I remember Yami questioning the HELL out of his father's motivations and writhing partly at his agony over the possibility that daddy dearest was involved in some shady shit. 

Regardless, the Magus advises Yami that he will disappear without his will to fight, prompting Yami to lower his eyes and consider his will to fight. He's very confused, and recalling what thief!Bakura said during their first encounter at the palace is NOT helping: that bit about defining "good" as just a loyalty to what the establishment says is right. Right now, Yami is indeed questioning what is "right", wondering if it was "right" to save the kingdom by murdering an entire village, and if THIS is his father's legacy. He's quickly starting to fear that thief!Bakura was telling to truth, a bead of sweat sliding down his cheek in much the way a tear would. Go figure, your dad was a HUMAN BEING in charge of a whole shit-ton of other human beings. Things get messy under those circumstances, friend.

The Magus begins a little soothing soliloquy, talking about how he sensed the evil in the Millennium Ring back when he was alive, learning through the item the origin of it and its siblings; he admits he KNEW of this atrocity before he died, Yami gaping at him in alarm. But he also says that Yami's father did NOT know, another surprise to the shocked Yami. The Magus tells Yami of the time after he became a priest and sealed the ring, when he confronted the prior pharaoh about these origins, telling him the truth he knew. 

Ah, the innocence of calculated ignorance. 

Yami seems a bit more subdued now, thinking on his father with a sad expression. The Magus assures Yami that his father's desire for peace and justice did not waver, and with a sharp look over his shoulder at him, says Yami has inherited this desire. Yami looks back up with new determination, thief!Bakura scowls with hatred, and the Magus warns that the whole country will be plunged into darkness if that guy is allowed to have the Millennium Items. "The country" seems a bit of an understatement to me, but okay. The Magus implies some bad shit will happen if Yami doesn't stand his ass up to thief!Bakura, either way.

Thief!Bakura is still on his offensive, of course, hissing through a strained grin that he'll kill Yami as many times as it takes. He directs his pet ghosts to tear the pharaoh and the magician spirit to shreds, and as they fly toward them, Yami thanks Mahado silently. He's prepared now.

More than most kings do, so we're greatly exceeding the bare minimum now!

Thief!Bakura freaks out that the Magus is returning and destroying his ghosts, while the Magus calmly holds out a staying hand to the oncoming spirits, confident that they're not a match for his magical power. After all, he DOES remind us, he was able to suppress the Millennium Ring's evil. Not to mention his power move of consciously becoming a fucking spirit terminator. Thief!Bakura groans, but then...

He chuckles, asking what about HIS spirit. Yami casts a paranoid glare into his periphery, suddenly afraid that thief!Bakura's well-known spirit beast is here. Yeah, no shit? Thief!Bakura commands his literal partner in crime to him.

I'd ask Yami why he didn't see this coming, but, to be fair, he probably has a couple of unaddressed head-injuries after that fall.

Diabound roars right in Yami's face, and he sweats in response as Shada gapes at him from the background, alarmed. Yami's convinced that it's stronger and more hideous even than when it fought the three gods. Thief!Bakura reminds Yami with relish that he has both ring and puzzle, and he's not JUST trying to collect all the rest to fit them in the tablet. He wants to evolve his spirit beast by absorbing the evil in all those items. Like some sort of demon-osmosis.

Thief!Bakura laughs while Diabound rushes for the Magus and Yami, the latter of which warns the former to look out for Diabound's ability to copy the abilities of those ka it fights. The Magus of course concludes that it must already have his magic, then, and a grinning thief!Bakura confirms this mentally, adding that it's got all those god powers too. He yells at Diabound to go, and commands a Thunder Force shot, which Diabound fires at the Magus. Mahado points his staff at the attack with a small smile, thinking he should have warned thief!Bakura that he TRAINED in the afterworld to increase his arsenal and powers.

Oh SHIIIIIIIT, dude, look who else has some new toys to play with!

Thief!Bakura notes with alarm that the Magus has sucked the attack into a hole in space. That's what... she did...? I don't know if that works here, but I felt like SOME kind of innuendo had to be paid respects. The Magus explains that the afterworld warp ejects the energy from the attack from another point in space, which seems to further surprise thief!Bakura and make him hella nervous. Yami warns Mahado to be careful again, telling him that Diabound can walk through walls to avoid a direct attack. Something of which I'm sure the Magus is already aware. With another little sly smile, the Magus suggests he's altering his plan from this information. 

The vortex opens back up high behind a gaping thief!Bakura, who turns at the sound of the blast emerging from it, exclaiming in disbelief. The shot goes right over his head and crashes into a pillar on his other side. He's cocky about this, chuckling at Yami and the Magus that they missed, but Yami, just as cocky, asks if he really thinks so. The top of the pillar scoots loose from its place on the ceiling as its middle cracks in two, and it begins to fall. Thief!Bakura is horrified again to find the pillar is arcing through the dusty air toward that all-important mold tablet. 

Thief!Bakura screams for Diabound to protect the tablet, and its tail manages to wind around and hold the errant piece of stone before it slams into it. Rather than being relieved, thief!Bakura's eyes look like they're going to pop right out in apoplectic rage. 

Look at this smug bastard, wagging his finger at thief!Bakura. Who's the real king here, hm?

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? If you've been following this blog for any length of time, you're probably able to guess that I'm a fan of the action we got in the latter half of the chapter, scant as it was. More than that, though, I am a fan of the reappearance of Mahado, and the showcasing of how BUSY he's been since he died. I recall being a little sad that we didn't really get the chance to get fully acquainted with him before he was gone, because it hadn't really occurred to me that he would be returning in a CONSCIOUS and deliberate way like he did here. Not only is it great to see that he's clearly still fully himself and not just another ka that Yami could direct, but he's also been actively preparing to return to help out in the fight he PHYSICALLY left before. The devotion he expresses in words is fully backed up in the level of study and practice of his craft he's performed, using his status of "deceased" to his full advantage. Now it's a lot more obvious that Mahado had NOT carelessly thrown away his role in protecting the pharaoh he claimed to love so much, as I had kind of thought before - he'd just put himself in another position from which he could do so, possibly better than before. 

A very strange kind of smart, but smart nonetheless. 

I'm not stoked about the conversation in the first half of the chapter, though. There seems to be a conclusion drawn that because the former pharaoh didn't KNOW about how the Millennium Items were made before, and he felt bad about it when he DID find out, that his part in their creation was negligible or forgivable. I don't necessarily object to a discussion of just how culpable he was with limited or nonexistent knowledge of the process, but I think it's more than fair to state that his level of understanding of the creation of the Millennium Items was a CHOICE. There's no reason to believe that Akhenaden's memory of his broaching the subject to his brother was unreliable, because if it was, we would expect that he would try to make himself seem a bit better than he was, and his brother a bit worse. He seems to present the conversation in such a way as to suggest that going through with the dark alchemy was his own idea and the pharaoh allowed it out of desperation, not even asking what the process is or how it works. 

But that's precisely what bothers me: Akhenamkhanen didn't ASK. The very NAME of the process was ominous enough to raise a few red flags, but he just gritted his teeth and told his brother to get on with it. The fact that he didn't ask so obvious a question in so critical a time suggests to me that he didn't WANT to know. He knew very well that it was bad, that bad things were going to be done in order to make these artifacts, even if he didn't know exactly what. That's a move of calculated ignorance in order to give oneself a level of plausible deniability in the long run, if someone comes in accusing folks of crimes, much like thief!Bakura did. The invasion and defeat of the former pharaoh's country was also a pretty time-sensitive issue, and it wouldn't really be prudent to deliberate on the details of this cure with the clock ticking down like that. A deliberate refusal of reasons to hesitate in making this critical decision is a distinct possibility here too.

This is not to say I don't believe the former pharaoh could have felt bad and became deathly ill because of the enormous burden his shattered ignorance had on him. Nor is it to say that I think he's wholly at fault for the horror of the Millennium Items' creation. But to take the implication of the chapter at face value, that his ignorance made him a victim in this scenario at the end, ignoring the simple fact that he didn't HAVE to be ignorant, is kind of frustrating. I mean, we can say the guy was committed to justice and peace all we want, but he refused on some level to stand up for those values on one VERY notable occasion.

But, I guess that's a better track record than the democratic party here in the States, so...

Happy 4th of July for USians? Who knows, really? I'm not celebrating.