That title? Not on the chapter on the Viz website AT ALL. I had to look up the title on a search engine, because I scrolled through the whole chapter looking for it and I couldn't find the official chapter title except in regular dialog. Somewhat strange, since I don't think a translator has ever forgotten to include the title in their translation before in all the manga chapters I've covered on the blog. I would think it's the easiest part of the chapter to interpret, but I suppose I wouldn't know, since I'm still working on learning other languages, and not even close to being a professional translator.
I'm just sayin'. Viz gets paid for this.
Oh yeah! It's these guys again! Funny meeting you here... at this demonic castle.
Kurama laughs a little, saying they're here for community service in lieu of jail time. By the way, the Gutter Imps have returned to their feet and are advancing again, but this doesn't seem to be concerning to a single person here. Indeed Kurama is smiling and Hiei placid as the former says they might even earn pardons if they help Yusuke and Kuwabara out. Sweet deal. Yusuke calls "Good Ol' Koenma" unpredictable as ever. I suppose it's fair to not expect consistency out of weird god-people running the underworld, lol.
Yusuke introduces Hiei and Kurama, and Hiei almost immediately launches into his own angle on the business, which is to snatch all the cool treasures that the Four Beasts beat him to stealing, so he warns them all not to expect any help from him. Kurama lets out another little polite scoff, and Kuwabara asks what's with the shrimp copping a major attitude.
They're already getting along sooooo well. Honestly, I'm a little surprised Yusuke isn't more wary of Hiei, given what almost happened to Keiko.
But, then again, I'm not. XD
Kurama tells Hiei to stop it, as they can argue after they've successfully completed the job. Or you could just not bother to bicker at all, because who needs the headache? But Hiei is ornery as ever, and says he still has a score to settle with Yusuke, warning him exactly ONCE to watch his back, while Kuwabara demands that Hiei not forget about him. Is he JEALOUS of the attention Yusuke is getting from the little curmudgeon? These kids are weird.
Anyway, Yusuke maintains a good-natured attitude as he says he'll take any allies he can get, Kuwabara and Hiei scoffing in response. It's about this time that the recovered Gutter Imps belatedly notice that Kurama and Hiei are who they are - famously on the Underworld's "Most Wanted" List, and in awe that these guys seem to be siding with humans. Took them a while, right? They skitter to the side as the boys all stroll on toward the castle, and we get a closeup of its very Space-Needle-esque spire at the top.
I mean, to be fair, you don't seem to have much of a position to negotiate from.
A series of black panels labeled with the names of their speakers follows, so we don't know what these folks look like. "Genbu" says that it's been a while since they've had visitors, and "Byakko" claims that they don't seem like they're worth worrying about, contrary to the attitude of the Gutter Imps below. I guess that's why they're down there, and "Byakko" is up in the castle, though. "Seiryu" asks "Suzaku" what they should do, and "Suzaku" responds that "Byakko" is right, that they don't need to worry their heads about a hodge-podge band like the one approaching them, which cannot hope to breach their fortress. The assumption is that they'll just die at the Gate of Betrayal.
They actually call it that.
What's even better is that when Yusuke and Co. show up at the gate, it looks like the top of a skull with a tunnel carved out of the rock below so it appears you'd be walking into its wide-open TRAP when you're going inside. It's also embellished on either side of the tunnel with clawed paws. The whole thing looks like a haunted house that has a bit of a budget, which, I guess would be on brand for demons. Still, the setup is a bit on the goofier side.
Yusuke seems impressed though, calling it some entrance. It's also towering over him, so that's gotta have a pretty good effect. Kuwabara makes a shivering noise at the long dark tunnel before them. Yusuke's grimacing, but he forces out the adage about nothing ventured, nothing gained, encouraging the party on. A note on the panel pokes some fun at him for not having a clue and going in without any plan.
As they waltz inside, they make out the fluttering form of a bat, but upon closer inspection, it's a big eyeball with bat wings hovering in a doorway. And it TALKS with no visible mouth. It welcomes them to Labyrinth Castle, (pleased to meet the property, I'm sure) and tells them that those who dare enter will be tried at the Gate of Betrayal. Both hooligans are incensed at the word "tried", no doubt duly familiar with legal proceedings.
But instead of facing a judge and jury, the eyeball-bat flutters over to the wall and extends one of the nerve endings trailing from the back of its body to pull a lever there. Yusuke immediately perceives that the ceiling is dropping on them.
It's not even like that Star Wars Garbage Compactor shit that's all slow and foreboding.The eyeball declares this is a SMART gate which senses the strength of each person under it and applies just the amount of pressure they can tolerate. Not even one of them can relax without the whole party becoming pancakes. Just one more example of how AI having access to your biometric data can fuck you over. Yusuke growls a curse at the flying eyeball, but it remains unfazed, explaining further that if one of them ducks out from under the collapsing ceiling to save himself, the others will immediately be flattened. If NONE of them attempts a betrayal, they'll all slowly become exhausted in the effort to keep the slab aloft and die together anyway. The eyeball concludes by saying that only cowards can enter the castle, and the choice is theirs.
A sweating Kuwabara grunts that this is a load of crap, as Yusuke observes the Eye-Bat across the room, next to the lever it pulled. He thinks that they have to push it back into its original position, and calls to Hiei.
It's crazy weird that they're forced to do this corporate trust exercise right at the beginning of this mission.
Hiei sweatdrops while Kuwabara asks Yusuke if he's out of his mind, telling HIM to go rather than trust the little creep. As opposed to being offended, Hiei says that the "Flat-Face" isn't a complete moron after all, and asks Yusuke if he's sure he really wants to trust HIM as Kuwabara protests at the new nickname he's gotten off Hiei. Yusuke insists he can support Hiei's share of the weight for a second or two if he gives it all he's got. But what about the Smart Gate (TM) and its measurements of the exact weight each of them can handle at their limits? No matter, we'll ignore that. Yusuke tells Hiei to go urgently, and smiles as he jokes that he shouldn't go taking too long about it. Hiei stares in some astonishment.
But he zips out from under the heavy ceiling and over to the lever in the wall regardless of his clear bewilderment, preparing to push it back up. The ceiling weighs down on his remaining party, Yusuke pushed into a wide squat in order to support the extra burden. Hiei is paused, looking back at the mismatched little team. Kuwabara can't help but demand to know what the holdup is, and yells at him to raise the lever already.
The Eye-Bat flatters him, saying that a criminal of his caliber would be welcomed heartily by the Four Beasts. Kuwabara's indignation flares up again, asking if SHORTY over there is going to betray Yusuke's trust just like that. Not likely, since the Eye-Bat didn't even really OFFER him anything tempting except an audience with a head honcho. Who even KNOWS what a "hearty welcome" entails with demons.Hiei starts chuckling softly, then murmurs about a bunch of fucking morons, Yusuke and Kuwabara staring on in horror as he yells that they have NO IDEA.
Least surprising result ever, lol.
The Eye-Bat is still alive and fluttering away screeching while Hiei tells it to inform its masters that he'll spare their lives if they submit to his will. He says he's giving them just ONE chance to beg for their lives. Shit, guys, don't ever try to offer Hiei a manipulative deal. That pisses him off more than insults to his face.
Once the other three are out from under their burdensome ceiling, Yusuke wobbles a little. Kuwabara asks if he's okay and Yusuke tells him he'll let him know in time. Apparently the weight Hiei was bearing was a bit more than he was expecting. He gives Hiei a thumbs-up, thanking him for his good work, then claps him on the shoulder in mirth over how he made them all sweat over that imperious act of his. Yusuke calls Hiei a twisted guy, which Hiei doesn't deny. Instead he scoffs and points at Yusuke, claiming he didn't do it for his sake, but just because this errand will go all the faster with backup. He walks off, and Kurama assures a still smiling Yusuke that Hiei is saying "You're Welcome" in his own way.
His own twisted way, to be sure.
Once again, we're treated to panels half cast in shadow so we can't see who's speaking when they acknowledge that the party has cleared the Gate of Betrayal. It miffs this person that Hiei wants them to beg for THEIR life, and vows to make Hiei beg for HIS instead, only large drooping eyes showing through the black of the panel as they introduce themselves as Genbu. Genbu doesn't plan on listening to any pleas for life, though, and announces that four fresh corpses are coming up.
Meanwhile, the party is wandering through the stone halls of the castle, one of them saying they see why it's named "Labyrinth Castle". Another suggests they find some stairs to take them up, because big bosses love to hang on top floors. These are just like, the rules of video games!
Botan's voice calls from Yusuke's pocket where he's stashed his comms device, and she assures him things are pretty quiet in the human world so far, to which he responds in the affirmative. She continues by saying she's managed to take out fifteen of the infectious roundworms, but that's out of THOUSANDS, and he says they need to hurry and snatch that whistle. She's ducked into an alley and is speaking onto her comms compact as people pass on the street behind her, reminding him that these insects only seek out and possess people with SINISTER souls, and there don't appear to be too many like that around. Surprising, considering all the douchebag hooligans Yusuke has opposed throughout this short comic so far. Botan says there may be more hope for humanity than she thought (HAH!) as she squishes yet another insect without a host under her shoe with a triumphant exclamation. She does agree that they need to hurry though, because she could just be experiencing a calm before the storm. He gives her an affirmative again and encourages his team to keep moving, assuring them the city is safe, FOR NOW.
As they continue on their way, Yusuke asks Kurama what he knows about these Four Beasts, having no idea himself about what they're going to face. Kurama cites the fact that the Underworld took special measures to contain them with the barrier as proof that these guys are pretty dangerous, and they don't look at all human, so he suggests they brace themselves for that. From behind a doorway, someone gushes that this is high praise, and they're blushing. After a little surprise, Yusuke knocks open the door with a question of whether this is one of them, and Kuwabara expresses all the MORE surprise when he sees beyond the doorway.
Gamera, what HAPPENED????That long articulated stone tail whips around as Yusuke yelps about what a big sucker this guy is, and Genbu himself tells them that the only staircase that leads up further into the castle is behind him, so the they have two options: defeat him and gain the stairs, or DIE. Seems pretty straightforward.
Again, his tail swings around, and this time collides with the floor, shattering the flagstones, a demonstration of what kind of damage it can do. Genbu encourages them to come at him all at once, because it'll save him a bit of time. Kuwabara's eyes bug in horror, complaining that this has to be some kind of joke, because he's flabbergasted as to how one is supposed to fight a real live MONSTER like this.
Okay my dude, if you wanna fight the literal stone warrior, be my guest.
Couldn't be me.
Kurama teasingly adds that he can't let Hiei have all the fun and take all the bows, to which Hiei responds with another scoff and a declaration that no one cares, still turned away in haughty irritation. Knock off the flirting and get to it, man. Genbu seems perfectly fine with the one-at-a-time arrangement Kurama is making despite his preferences, encouraging him to get going through a grin. Yusuke suggests that they should maybe sneak around and flank the guy, but Hiei tells him to relax, because Kurama MAY surprise him. He says that the whole reason he teamed up with Kurama was because it was way preferable than going AGAINST the guy, because he gets vicious in unthinkable ways when he's threatened. Not sure how he'd have been threatened if Kurama would have been threatened by Hiei not including him in his little heist plot when we got acquainted with them, but I guess that's neither here nor there at this point.
Kurama faces Genbu at a short distance, telling him they can start the fight whenever he's ready. When Genbu doesn't respond, Kurama resigns himself to make the first move. Meanwhile, Yusuke observes that Genbu's stony tail has started to penetrate the floor like the flagstones are mere WATER. The tip of it rises back out of the floor in the same manner, behind the seemingly oblivious Kurama, which Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei note with alarm from their spectator position. Kurama is alerted by the cries of him teammates and looks around, but it's too late. Genbu brags about how rock is his element and he moves freely through it, and that allows him to do stuff like the next panel.
Ooof, that's a bad start.So, what did I think of this chapter overall? For some reason, it strikes me for the first time here that the art has gotten quite a bit better. Perhaps it's because we're seeing Kurama and Hiei again, and they look FAR less stiff and unnatural than they did when we first met them. Initially, their characters were both giving "Baby's first OC Do Not Steal" combined with the lack of skill to pull them off, but something happened between then and now to make not just their posture more natural, but also their actions more fluid and less awkward. Since we see Yusuke and Kuwabara more often, the ease with with they are drawn must have been gradual enough that I didn't note it until now, but on closer inspection, they are also far better represented in form than they were before.
I'm quite entertained by the game-like trials that are being thrown at the boys here; it's a little goofy that they've been teleported to a labyrinthine castle filled with booby traps and bosses that they have to defeat, but in the best way. I think the use of these tropes are very fun, and their execution does kind of remind me of playing those RPG video games with turn-based combat and cute twists on the medieval theme I've gone through in the past. It's an almost warm reminiscent feeling, that doesn't turn into that kind of bitter nostalgia that can be a little toxic.
I also like Genbu's design, because it's intimidating without there being TOO much going on. He's got a pretty simple composition and powers, which leaves room for elaboration later on if needed. It kind of reminds me of a certain class of being in "The Fifth Season" by N. K. Jemisin, which is a novel (and series) I highly recommend. Not gonna spoil it, but Genbu is giving that vibe with how he just MOVES through solid stone.
One criticism I do have with this chapter is a common one I have with most of the manga I cover - time. The way the Eye-Bat described how the gate worked was that it would crush the remaining members of the team the moment ONE of them left from beneath it. Sure, we can assume that was something of an exaggeration, but it was still quite a while, relatively speaking, before Hiei pushed back up that lever. Now I have to assume that his burden was a lot less than the other three, and therefore it bought them a few more moments because he's simply not all that strong. It makes sense if his particular skill is put into speed rather than musculature, but we've seen him with his shirt off, and guy has muscles for days! I don't know if I buy that he's SO much weaker than the rest of the group that they (Yusuke) could manage to hold his weight that much longer.
Of course, this isn't a HUGE gripe, and we can just assume that the Eye!Bat was greatly exaggerating the gate's ability to measure one's personal abilities. It's a little convenient though.