Well, that's ONE title for which I don't have to look up the meaning! It's a relief, because the less work I can get away with today, the better. I'm having one of those low-energy funks that make the process of doing anything that much more difficult, and I suspect I won't be getting as much done today as I might have otherwise. If it weren't for all that capitalist programming that has colonized my brain, I would probably just hang out in bed, but I'm far too brainwashed for proper rest. My poor body will have to settle for a reduced workload.
Normally I don't put title pages in these reviews, but this one is so comprehensive, and in color, that I couldn't resist. Please ignore the incorrect chapter number and the inconsistent spelling of "Fuyouheki" - the set of fan translations I'm working with is still laboring a whole chapter ahead, apparently. XD
I think I know who's going to win THIS staring contest.
Kikyou notes an a slow, deliberate way that Kohaku's life is connected with the Shikon fragment in his neck. He sweatdrops at this observation, his Shikon shard glowing for emphasis, as Kikyou reiterates that his life is in Naraku's hands. But internally, she can't help but also note that the Shikon fragment in this kid is polluted due to Naraku's evil, but the soul of the boy is different.
She abruptly asks Kohaku why he obeys Naraku, taking him aback somewhat. He wonders who Kikyou is and why she's asking such a thing, but suddenly he gapes in surprise at her, much to her own confusion.
Kikyou's eyes widen in horrified revelation when those branching claws of Naraku's rapidly close around her in her periphery. If she had a traditional digestive system, she might have shit herself.
Meanwhile, Miroku reports from the back of Kirara that the crystalized youki he's holding up is losing the youki part of it, leaving just the crystal. Shippou stares with wide eyes over his shoulder, and Sango conversely narrows her own eyes at the news. From Inuyasha's back, Kagome asks for confirmation that the Fuyouheki is up ahead then, and Miroku asserts that there can be no mistake. Clenching his teeth in a silent snarl, Inuyasha knows that it's not just the stone that's ahead, because he can smell Kikyou as well.
You think that the dire situation will keep everyone from reigniting all that relationship drama from earlier? Yeah, me neither.
The smug Naraku says he hasn't seen Kikyou in a while, not since Mt. Hakurei. He may as well just flip her the bird at this point. As Kikyou says his name in utter contempt, she's thinking of how she didn't notice him even when he was right behind her, and even now she's not sensing his presence or any of his youki. For once, she is at a loss, and wonders what the hell is going on here. Well, we know that he didn't do the simple thing and just finally take a fucking BATH...
Naraku chuckles, asking Kikyou why she doesn't have a happier expression. Just when I think I can't hate this asshole even more, he goes and suggests that a woman SMILE more for him. He has attained absolute PERFECTION in his douchebaggery at least. He suggests that she did, after all, want to see him so very bad, referring to the fact that she was out looking for him, no doubt. To KILL him, but I guess the reason doesn't really matter, huh?
Kikyou releases the arrow she's had trained on him with a small groan.
He made it kinda hard to miss.
Naraku is giggling like it doesn't hurt as his body is dispersed by the arrow, and I guess I have no reason to believe it WOULD hurt. Maybe he made this new body without nerve endings or something. Meanwhile, Kikyou tries to reach up to grab another arrow on her back and finds she can't reach that far, since her arm is curled around a large rigid tentacle, one among many that keep her enclosed in a very cramped cage. Funny, in the panel above it doesn't look like she wouldn't be able to bring her arm up and around to get more arrows, but it's possible her confines are still solidifying around her.
The floating bust of Naraku turns his attention to Kohaku and asks what he's looking at, then commands him to take Kikyou's head. Kohaku sweats, silently regarding Kikyou tangled in a cage of thick tentacles, identifying her as the person Naraku fears the most. His hand trembles on his sickle, and he asks himself silently what he's going to do. Naraku has noticed that Kohaku has failed to immediately act, and suggests he's hesitating, which causes Kohaku's resolve on his precarious plan to return. His grip steadies on his sickle.
But suddenly a bent object flies out of the sky and causes Kohaku to leap out of the way before it strikes the ground where he was standing.
Kohaku thinks on his sister, and Inuyasha thinks on Kikyou, and I can't help but notice Kagome is just kinda absent from these panels. Inuyasha yells at that bastard Naraku, drawing Tessaiga to cut him, but with a scoff, a liquid cloud of miasma explodes from him. So he STILL hasn't taken that bath, huh? As Sango and Miroku gape in alarm at the oncoming flood of miasma, Kagome at last has appeared on the scene, arrow drawn, announcing she's going to clear the nasty stuff with its purifying power. She releases the arrow and it hisses as it burns away a good portion of the corruption, the rest breaking down and dissipating in a mist.
I see Naraku fucked off as fast as he could. Big fucking surprise.
Miroku echoes this observation with a bit of disappointment, while Sango mutters Kohaku's name under her breath, who is also suddenly gone. Kagome just stares, hair blown back by a melancholy breeze. No doubt she's looking at Inuyasha approaching Kikyou as the cage of discarded tentacles dissolve around her. He asks if she's alright, and instead of answering directly, she clutches her shoulder and says stiffly that she was careless. Ah, hurt pride, then. She explains that she couldn't feel any youki from Naraku, and Inuyasha grumbles about how that jerk Naraku must have used the fuyouheki specifically so he could attack Kikyou, though he does phrase it as a question. There's still some doubt that Naraku would go to all the trouble for that end alone it seems.
Kikyou repeats the name for the youki-vanishing stone, so Miroku explains what it is but also expresses his suspicion that Naraku left awfully fast for Kikyou to be the whole reason he has it. Sango hesitantly addresses Kikyou, asking if her brother Kohaku did anything bad to her.
In the sky, Kagura is giving Kohaku a lift on her feather, cursing about how she THOUGHT he might be able to get close to that baby since he was the only one who was called out. To her surprise, Kohaku SPEAKS. Hesitantly, granted, but he says the infant should be nearby. After Kagura twists to make a questioning noise at him, he continues by telling her that Kikyou was getting awfully close, and Naraku came out to head her off deliberately, probably to distract her from the child.
Kagura is silent at first, regarding Kohaku warily, then asks him what's up. She points out that he's usually quiet, but he's talking an awful lot all of a sudden. Internally, she suspects that his memory has returned.
Kohaku addresses her with a simple question: she wants to be free, right?
Who ISN'T at this point?
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I find Kohaku's gamble here pretty interesting. Through his first meeting with Kikyou, it finally seems to be dawning on him that his solo-vigilante plan isn't going to work. Sure, it was hard for him to aid in the demise of so many innocents, and harder still to act against his own sister while hiding his consciousness from her, but I think being asked to kill KIKYOU was the last straw. He acknowledged that Kikyou's name was familiar to him because Naraku is SO afraid of her, and it had to have occurred to Kohaku that he cannot afford to dispose of such a powerful ally. If one of the most effective foes of Naraku goes, what chance does HE have?
So it makes sense that he would show is cards to Kagura at the end. He's FINALLY recognized that he needs someone on his side. Even someone as universally distrusted as Kagura could be a valuable ally to him on the inside if he can feed her information, because she's got powers and the ability to roam that he doesn't have. That ability to travel is notable as well because of how little surveillance she's under despite the lack of trust there is for her. Naraku has his saimyoushou, but they aren't on Kagura's tail as much as I would expect. It's convenient for her, but also I think it speaks to how Naraku is distributing his resources, and the possible reason why he snatched that fuyouheki. It suggests he's spreading himself a bit too thin as it is, and needs an additional tool to make sure important parts of him are safe. Kohaku and Kagura can definitely take advantage of that together.
And it's good for the Inuyasha gang to confirm so rapidly that those youki crystals work to locate the stone. That's at least one thing that doesn't have to be complicated.
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