YuYu Hakusho Manga: 040 Prelude to Carnage!!

I think it's a little LATE for a prelude to anything there, especially carnage. We've already had some pretty disturbing injuries and deaths so far, so the war is WELL underway. Maybe it's more of an intermission? Releasing the reader to go get some popcorn, soda, kick back and mull over all that they've seen so far before the second half of the production? Not the best case scenario either, I have to admit. The last chapter already may as well not have existed, and if this one is also so throwaway as to behave more like a breather, then YT is two in a row for less-than-thrilling content. 

Fingers crossed that's not what we're facing here. 

Does this bird have Bette Davis eyes???

The fabulous bird is a variant that can speak, and flies into the castle window calling for Suzaku, and find him, or his silhouette, standing over the shattered remains of his demonic CCTV orb. With lashes like those, I'm going to err on the side of the feminine when I say that she utters an "oops" at the sight, but Suzaku greets her as "Murg" in a perfectly cordial way, his rage seeming to have disappeared. Murg giggles about how it appears his three fellows have failed him, and a little bit of his temper returns as he says shortly that that's enough. He asks Murg what she found out about Yusuke, and she reports that it's something interesting and useful, she thinks, telling him to peer into the human world. 

They turn to what looks like an ENORMOUS oval screen with an ornate border. The castle surveillance was covered by a tiny orb, but on the human world they have a massive HD TV?? The image on it is fuzzy at first, but quickly solidifies into Keiko's, who Murg describes as Yusuke's classmate and dearest friend. Not if you judge by how he ditches her every chance he gets, lol. 

Suzaku questions the term "friend" and if Keiko isn't more like a GIRLfriend, and Murg chuckles that his assessment is close enough. She characterizes the relationship as platonic, but most intimate. Only because both of them are a bit squirrelly about expression. Regardless of what labels one puts on it, Murg is certain that Keiko is Yusuke's Achilles' Heel. 

Oof, that thing is as gaudy as his speech. 

As the storm continues to rage outside the castle, Suzaku announces the overture, and Murg praises the sweet tune he plays. I doubt it sounds great, but lovely music has been produced from uglier instruments, I'm sure. 

Keiko is indeed at school, and the hall where she walks is basically empty. Save Iwamoto, who questions why she's still here, as if HE has any business still being EMPLOYED at the place after the shit he's pulled. He tells her to go home and study for the upcoming exams, because she could make the regional top ten scorers. Keiko promises him that she'll leave after she's filed the papers she's holding for the student council newsletter. 

Iwamoto states his approval, but demands one more thing of her - to STOP associating with Urameshi. Her sarcastic reply is aimed as his back while he's walking past, as well as a mocking face with her tongue sticking out. Deserves the finger all day every day too. Mind your fucking business, old man.  

Unbeknownst to either of them, a creepy demon insect skitters along his shoulder and into his ear. 

In the room marked Student Council, Keiko hums a tune, while wondering where her paperwork goes. To her surprise, the door slides open, and a shadowed Iwamoto glares into the room. She asks him if there was something else. 

Hey man, maybe you should calm down. 

But he doesn't calm down, and just becomes more agitated as a nervous Keiko watches his fist clenched at his side tremble at first, then rapidly start to shake violently. His fingers are curled so tightly that at last, blood spurts from between them. Keiko gapes in alarm, then has to cringe away when Iwamoto punches out the glass in one of the door's windows. She screams and runs out into the hallway, Iwamoto's deranged laughter following her in her flight. He holds out his bleeding fist, yelling at Keiko that students that don't listen to teachers deserve to suffer and DIE. 

Soooooo, he's not that much different possessed by the demon insect? 

Keiko runs out of the school, wondering what in the hell got into Iwamoto, having observed before she fled his glassy, unfocused eyes. She soon finds out that he's not the only one with this condition. 

The guy on the left doesn't even appear to be drooling. Maybe he's just a weirdo. Regardless, YT leaves a little note under the above panel that he can't believe he drew this. 

While Keiko stares in horror at the zombies blocking the school gate, Iwamoto comes stumbling out of the school behind her, grumbling her name in a long, drawn-out manner. He reaches out for her, and she yelps, veering off the run around the building instead. She had fragmented worries about the people acting all crazy back there, wondering what's going on. 

Panting, Keiko comes across some foliage, and crouches beside it to at least be a LITTLE concealed, just before a pair of arms reach out of the bushes and seize her, one hand over her mouth to stop her screaming. Girl must be having a heart attack.

Lightening flashes at the castle of the only remaining Beast, Yusuke and the rest of the team running along. He encourages his teammates that there's only one guy left to defeat, and as Kuwabara shouts an affirmative, Yusuke adds that they should hurry, because it's important they get back to the city. A beep sounds from his pocket and Yusuke pulls out the communicator, answering with a petulant and impatient air. Botan identifies herself, saying she has news. BIG news. 

Whatever's left of their minds, anyway. 

Yusuke's face darkens as he urges them to get out of there, but as Botan is assuring him that they will and reminding him to get that whistle fast, Keiko exclaims in alarm at Iwamoto pushing aside their screen of foliage. He asks through his clenched teeth what Botan is doing out of uniform. Does he recognize her from when she's been in the school before? He swings at them, roaring that they're rule breakers, and Keiko launches herself at Botan to push her out of the way while warning her of the danger. Botan drops the communicator and Iwamoto stomps on it, shattering the thing. You'd think a spirit gadget like that might be less vulnerable to ordinary physical damage. 

On the other end of the communicator, Yusuke yells at the fuzzy screen, demanding from a now cut-off Botan info on what just happened. When she doesn't answer, he growls to cover his panic, resuming his run with renewed gusto, yelling that time is running out and they gotta finish this. When our mysterious final villain sees this (presumably on his giant fucking screen because the orb is broken), he tells Murg that she was right, pointing out how Yusuke's composure has broken. Suzaku says he looks forward to his reaction to seeing Keiko's mutilated body, not to put too fine a point on his evil. But before that, Suzaku has to stall the party until he has Keiko in his clutches for this ultimate purpose. Smoke rises from a little pot on a strange candelabra with a shelf sitting right in the middle of it? I assume it has something to do with the "production model hominids" Suzaku mentions should do the trick. 

Meanwhile, the boys skid to a stop outside the highest tower in the castle, announcing that this is the one that has the big boss's chamber at the very top. Yusuke and Kuwabara pause, however, when they see a silhouette emerging in a little doorway off to the side of the tower, jutting up from the structure below. 

They look slimy. 

With the observation emerges that there's like a ZILLION of these guys and it'll take an eternity to fight their way through all of them, Kurama agrees that it'll at least take time they don't have, Hiei noting that these things don't feel pain or fear, like scarecrows. Or... perhaps robots, because at least those are presumably animate. Kuwabara complains about Suzaku being a real sicko, throwing this shit at them when they're trying to save Keiko. Do you expect him to NOT try his darnedest to make a failure of your efforts? He is, after all, the one who's trying to murder her. 

Yusuke hollers that despite what Suzaku may think, he's prepared to finish off ALL the slime shields in their way with a volley of reiki fire. He begins to brace himself for the shot, but Kurama puts a hand on his shoulder and advises him not to expend his energy thus, because losing his cool and his strength like that would just be playing into Suzaku's hands. Yusuke insists there's no other way to get through, though, but Hiei suggests from behind him that perhaps there is. At this comment, Yusuke is taken-aback slightly, though he doesn't even see the exaggerated eyes on Hiei in this shot. They look like your typical alien eyes, and it's a little hilarious. 

Hiei draws Yusuke's attention to a window up above his eyeline, and some distance about the door into the tower itself. Yusuke balks at the suggestion, saying they're not grasshoppers, and none of them could possibly jump that high. As another branch of lightening strikes, Hiei says that none of them could do it from THERE. 

Next thing you know, we get an extreme closeup on Kuwabara's sweating, strained face. 

Kuwabara is getting the short end of the stick AGAIN, I see. 

As Kuwabara and Yusuke run straight for the tower, Kuwabara tells Yusuke he has one shot, and to make it count, which Yusuke says is the plan. With a whoop of encouragement, Yusuke leaps at the last moment, running straight up the backs of Kuwabara, Kurama, and at last, Hiei. He pushes off Hiei with a powerful jump, right for the gaping window. At first, it looks like he might fall just short of it, but...

Dude, I feel like lunch is only the BEGINNING of what you'll owe these guys if you get out of this alive.

Kurama and Hiei give their silent regards, a little sedate wave and a solemn nod respectively, and a grinning Kuwabara says they'll hold Yusuke to his promise. No doubt he's ALREADY hungry, with how much this excursion has taken out of him. After a thumbs-up, Yusuke runs down a hallway leading from the window, and emerges into a shocking scene: a weird dark stone room, with the giant ornate screen showing Keiko and Botan in tense conversation, while someone in a loose cowl-neck jumpsuit tied at the waist with a winding, floating cloth belt blowing into the grotesque flute in front of it. 

Somehow, the flute-player is able to ask Yusuke if he likes the music with his lips still positioned over the flute. He suggests it's a fine funeral dirge for the girl Keiko, and admits that Yusuke got here a bit early, destroying his hopes to have everything ready before the boy arrived. Yusuke is preoccupied with the image of a sweating, terrified Keiko running from a threat, muttering how the castle's boss is a slimy scum-ball.

Listen, I know modern culture has often conflated eroticism and ultra-violence, but don't you think it's a little silly to suggest Yusuke would ENJOY watching Keiko die horribly? While calling for civility, no less. 

But Yusuke isn't having any of it. He tells Suzaku that he's here for one thing and one thing ONLY: the whistle/flute. Yusuke says he MIGHT only beat Suzaku to a pulp if he hands it over, and Suzaku gets the only answer he can possibly get when he asks what happens if he says no. 

Obvi.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Despite the dangerous context, it's great to see Botan and Keiko interacting and helping each other. The last time they came across one another, Keiko was a little cold, a little jealous, and the fact that she's not holding some sort of silly grudge is a good sign for YT's writing of these characters, because I've seen a few too many instances of crises losing their tension when the female characters in them nurse silly grievances instead of focusing on their immediate survival. I can't tell you how relieved I am to see this doesn't seem to be one of those instances. 

There was an interesting contrast here between Yusuke's anxiety over the time that was being wasted and the team's solution for getting him into the final tower. Like a murder mystery happening in an active circus, there's a balance of tension and comedy here that's oddly pleasing. And it doesn't hurt that the idea for launching Yusuke into the tower window was pretty clever. The only thing I really have a problem with in its execution is the same problem I have with most of these plans - the TIME it takes to explain and execute strikes me as a little long, given how many "hominids" came out to block them. You'd think there would be plenty of room for the opposition to get in the way, but somehow didn't.

I don't have... ANYTHING to say about Suzaku. He's not remarkable in the slightest. His flute/whistle design is WAY more interesting than his, and even his little bird friend is somewhat more intriguing. Suzaku as a character seems lukewarm, not nearly as lively as Genbu or Byakko. I'm all set to be quite disappointed with the more humanoid Beasts. I wonder if there's something being said here on the human shape in demons...

Also, I REALLY hope this incident is what finally gets Iwamoto the sack. That guy needs fuck off forever. 

Inuyasha Manga: 339 Experimentation

About the only experimentation I do these days is with cooking, and that's only when I forget an ingredient for a recipe I had planned. I recently had to make some breakfast burritos without onion, because somehow I'd convinced myself that I bought one at the grocery store the last time I went shopping, to the point where I didn't check until I'd already gotten WELL into the process of making the burritos. I threw some onion powder in with the bell pepper I'd managed to remember to buy and hoped for the best, but I don't think it turned out as good. There's just not as good a variety in texture without the onion. It's not inedible, so I suppose the experiment wasn't an absolute failure or anything, but I still wish I had just remembered to put the stupid onion on the grocery list. 

I hope this doesn't have a further detrimental effect on my willingness to try something different when I find my plans can't go forward as expected. 

That thing is SO WEIRD.

Both his underlings and Inuyasha's group approach Kouga, calling out to him with varying degrees of relief. At Kagome's voice calling his name, he turns and greets her, looking surprised. Inuyasha intercepts Kouga before he can get all touchy with Kagome, getting right in his face and asking what the fuss is about, Kouga in turn complaining that he has to talk to Inuyasha first. 

Sango addresses Miroku, who is kneeling by the body of the dead abomination, and he affirms that it's obviously a mishmash of different youkai. He looks up to see the last of the glowing orbs dissipating in the sky. Sango asks if they're souls, but Miroku says that's not the case, claiming they're instead "haku", which the translation characterizes as "spirits". Not sure what the difference is? Both Inuyasha and Kouga turn to question what that is.

So, basically an autopilot?

Inuyasha expresses his understanding as the haku stuff allowing the corpse to move WITHOUT a soul. Kouga notes that whatever the case, this isn't normal, and suggests that someone was controlling the thing. Suddenly, he's got an arm around Kagome, as she nonchalantly wonders aloud if Naraku is involved. Kouga asserts that it stinks of Naraku while Inuyasha FUMES in the foreground. 

It's only a moment before Inuyasha leaps over and brushes Kagome straight out of Kouga's side-hug, and they're in each other's faces again, Kouga asking what his deal is, Inuyasha asking why he's got an arm around her like it's normal. Kouga answers that it IS normal for lovers meeting again after such a long time, and Inuyasha is nearly apoplectic, cracking his knuckles and threatening to kill Kouga, demanding to know who EXACTLY he thinks are lovers here. Kagome sweatdrops, telling Inuyasha to stop in a deadpan tone. 

Inuyasha rounds on her, telling her to shut up. Do you think he knows he's not making a case for himself here? He says that Kouga is taking advantage of Kagome's ambiguous attitude, which sounds suspiciously like he's accusing her of leading Kouga on. Kagome responds with confusion, asking how he can say that. When he returns her confusion to her, she spells out for him that he's blind to how it affects her when he goes off with Kikyou, which makes her angry. Inuyasha falls into a shameful silence, something Shippou comments on from Sango's shoulder, as she observes that he can't really object to that statement. It's not UNTRUE, that's for sure. After a moment of consideration, Inuyasha points out that he hasn't ever hugged Kikyou's shoulder like Kouga just did to Kagome, but Kagome crossly says that's NOT the point she was making. Then she explodes into a tirade about how when he meets Kikyou, he withdraws into his own little world, and he doesn't get to take her for granted just because she restrains herself from going off about it. 

Well, that was a long time coming. And I do mean a LONG time. I hope Kagome's getting it out of her system, because I'm so over this. 

Kouga smugly reads this display as Kagome completely and totally hating the "dog-turd" Inuyasha, telling Inuyasha to suck it. Not that he'll be able to hear Kouga over the dirt packing into his ears. Kouga's underlings are both thinking that it seems like Kagome is completely IGNORING Kouga, though. They wisely keep this assessment to themselves. 

At his first opportunity, Kouga grabs Kagome's hand and pulls her close, looking into her eyes as he bids her goodbye, since he's leaving. She questions how soon he's going, but in the polite, neutral way one might to an important guest who visits the house. Kouga promises to find the guy pulling the strings in this case, the sooner the better. Miroku deems this a worthy occupation of time, citing the pieces of youkai scattered a long way in every direction, and Sango agrees that the corpse in front of them isn't the only one moving by its haku. 

A narrow sky transition panel puts us in front of a couple of farmers hoeing their field. One of them hums in question, presumably to a noise that in the nearby trees. This is immediately preceding a mantis-armed, tentacle-faced creature popping out of the foliage to lunge at the men, who scream in horror. 

Almost as hideous as the last. And it's not the only one. Sango is riding Kirara with Hiraikotsu held at the ready on the very next page. 

They're extraordinarily easy to kill, aren't they? I'm reminded of the parasite yadori sanagi, but chances are these new pests don't have a nest that can be destroyed to get rid of them. 

With Kagome trotting along behind him, bow on her shoulder for easy access, Miroku approaches Inuyasha and asks how it's going. Inuyasha says he can still smell many of these creatures in the area, so they've only really made a dent. Another sky transition takes us to the gang reconvened and traveling at speed, but Miroku is on the ground running like Inuyasha, and Kagome is on Kirara's back behind Sango. She apologizes to Sango for taking Miroku's spot, but Sango says she doesn't particularly mind. 

Meanwhile, a grumpy Miroku runs next to Inuyasha and demands he just apologize to Kagome already, because this is a problem for him. Inuyasha still doesn't seem convinced this little spat is any fault of his, but Miroku doesn't appear to be paying much attention to that.

Yeah, you're not earning my sympathy with that shit either, dude. 

Inuyasha suddenly catches the scent of a youkai and human blood, alerting the others that whatever it is this time seems to have gotten a village, who all react with tense alarm. Indeed, ahead there is a multitude of human corpses laying about, and something else... disturbing.

Looks like SOMEONE has been well-fed.

Cursing, Inuyasha draws Tessaiga and brings it down on the creature with a yell. As its "haku" escapes it, Inuyasha looks over to find another massive silhouette looming a short distance away. Inuyasha comments on yet another of these fuckers lurking around, and goes for this one too.

Those stripes are TOTES infringing on Sesshoumaru's style. I hope he has a lawyer.

The rest of Inuyasha's group gape in alarm, Miroku wondering aloud just exactly WHAT is going on here. Inuyasha turns and makes a questioning sound, so Kagome spells out the obvious to him - that all of these composite youkai are becoming closer and closer in form to humans. Pausing to look down at the creature he just took down, Inuyasha agrees that it does look much more human in appearance compared to the first mishmash model, and trails in a statement about what it looks like. In her head, Kagome thinks it's as if all the youkai composites so far have been experiments, and speculates on whether the ones they come across in the future looking more and more human. 

Elsewhere, Kouga continues to run his underlings ragged, who as usual plead for a little mercy on the pace. Kouga isn't very sympathetic when they express the want to rest because they're going to DIE, claiming their whining makes them sound so helpless. But he skids to a stop anyway when he looks ahead again and sees a very familiar figure of a child dressed in white jacket and ballooning hakama ahead. 

Hakudoushi correctly identifies him as Kouga, leader of the Wolf Tribe, further elaborating on his interest in him being narrowed to the Shikon shards in his legs. The underlings express confusion on the childlike appearance of Hakudoushi, while Kouga just asks directly who the hell the kid is. 

That's not the question he asked you, but I guess it's fine. 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It's serendipitous that Guillermo Del Torro's interpretation of Frankenstein came out recently, because I was already thinking about this movie when I got to this chapter, and this whole "experimentation with animating dead bodies" thing is giving HEAVY Frankenstein vibes. Hakudoushi also has a history of dismembering (and decapitating) youkai en masse in an attempt to gain something material out of their parts, so the precedent makes this whole scenario all the stronger. The question remains as to why he's assembling the youkai parts in an more human configuration as he goes, and that mystery is well set-up for pondering by the reader; with how much emphasis there is BOTH visually and in dialog about it, a lot of curiosity can be built around WHY that might be. 

Also, I can't gush enough about how WEIRD these creatures are. Y'all know how much I LOVE a great monster design, and I'm loving all of them in this one. Amazingly grotesque, 10/10.

All I can say about the relationSHIT drama I've already said, so I won't repeat myself on that front, since you already know how I feel about it. I WILL say that it seems RT has only just remembered that Kouga has jewel fragments in his legs, as a way to continue to make him relevant in the overall story despite his main "make Inuyasha jealous" purpose. The fact that we went through a whole subplot of going to the border between this world and the next for a single remaining Shikon shard and Kouga was barely mentioned at the beginning of it, and yet he pops back in now to exacerbate the tension between Inuyasha and Kagome, shows just where his value lies for RT in the narrative. It's REAL CRINGE. 

In any case, I am looking forward to him fighting in the next chapter. Whenever he's forced to fight, it's a fun show. 

YuYu Hakusho Manga: 039 Hiei Joins the Fray!!

What, the little stunt he pulled at the Gate of Betrayal didn't count as being in the fray? I suppose he didn't really do any fighting there, except perhaps against his own reflexive rejection of teamwork. And that was defeated by his even MORE reflexive affront that the masters of the castle would dare to dangle something petty like being one of their own in front of him so he would betray his team to begin with. Being a dedicated loner seems a little like a balancing act for him; weighing all necessary alliances against each other while resenting everyone who forces him into them. 

No wonder he's a bit prickly.

I hope your sixth sense wasn't reduced by your heavy aura loss in that last battle. 

But Yusuke is confident enough to accept this answer without question and head straight for the cited door. When Hiei expresses some doubt about Kuwabara's assessment, Kuwabara assures him that mapping out mazes and traps is kinda his forte, with a note below this pointing the reader back to when Genkai was choosing her successor. Oof, that's an awkward explanation.

The wind howls around the castle while the remaining antagonists watch the proceeding team in a shining orb, commenting on the one in their number who has a strong sixth sense and allows them to make straight for their goal without falling into any traps. One of the pairs of eyes gleaming out of the shadows scoffs that there's only two of them left, the other pair turning a glare on them. This second pair assures Master Suzaku that they've only seen the preliminary scuffles, and he'll take all of them out, identifying himself as Seiryu. 

Don't think there will be ANY more resistance beyond them? Good luck, lol.

The gang arrives at a pair of great bronze double doors, flanked with elaborate statues of dragons. Yusuke deems the decor pretentious, and Hiei thinks the statues are worthless. Kurama says that this must be Seiryu's chamber, judging by the demonic aura leaking out that's more potent than the others they've come across. Kuwabara agrees, complaining of goosebumps, but that could just be due to his continued shirtless state.  

When they push open the creaking door, Yusuke gapes in alarm.

Invested a lot to look that intimidating, didn't you? 

Seiryu chuckles after sharing his plan to dismember them all and then kill them, as if they didn't hear similar threats from the last guy. In fact, Yusuke informs him that they've heard that line before, calling him a "skank". Does Yusuke know something about this guy's sex life that I don't, or do we have different definitions of that word? Either way, Seiryu glares silently for a moment, then hums over an uninvited guest they have. 

Some confusion colors Yusuke's expression, but he and the others look around at the sound of intermittent scuffing sounds in the direction from which they came. Kuwabara identifies it as something dragging something else along, grimacing. Hiei reiterates it's coming from down the hall. Then the great doors open again. 

His form is REMARKABLY intact for having taken a swim in acid. 

Byakko begs for some energy from his ally, stuttering that he'll repay Seiryu once he's stronger. Sweating bullets, Kuwabara is horrified that Byakko is still ALIVE. Yusuke mumbles that it's too much, no doubt referring to the amount of pain he can imagine Byakko feeling right now. 

Seiryu quietly calls Byakko a fool, ridiculous, AND a failure. The triple insult. Byakko says Seiryu's name in supplication, but Seiryu is pitiless. He extends a hand, not to help, but to gesture in a way that suggests the movements of a technique. Calling Byakko useless and, even more so an EYESORE, Seiryu is surrounded by a sudden gust of wind-like energy. Byakko recognizes the stance and is begging again, this time that he NOT do what he's about to do. 

Seiryu bids him to fall to the "Ghostly Ice Fist", punching toward Byakko without coming close to touching him. Though he has not been hit, Byakko's body seizes up and FREEZES OVER entirely, shocking Yusuke with the sudden icy fate of the giant cat-like creature. 

Ah, the old freeze and shatter trick. 

Gets 'em every time. 

Kuwabara is SHOOK by this display, Yusuke exclaiming his disbelief that he killed one of his fellow Beasts. I mean, at this point, I don't know if I believe Byakko is dead; he seems to THRIVE off of humiliating almost deaths. Byakko's frozen head thuds on the floor and utters a groan. SEE??? I wouldn't be surprised if he puts himself back together somehow and shows back up the moment we need another demonstration of Beast powers. 

Seiryu scoffs that he laid 100 freezing punches at near absolute zero on Byakko, an attack that no one but his precious Master Suzaku can dodge. Byakko's head spews blood from the mouth, managing to ask Seiryu WHY. This dude just keeps on TRUCKING. Seiryu explains that he's proven himself weak and worthless, though I wouldn't PERSONALLY call swimming out of acid and talking as a disembodied head WEAK. Regardless of my definitions of words, Seiryu calls Byakko a loser in short, and spits on him. The spittle lands on Byakko's temple, he lets out a final groan, and goes silent at last. Rest in piss? Why do I feel like it's STILL too early to say goodbye to this douchebag?

Yusuke looks absolutely INFURIATED, as Kurama comments levelly that these Beasts have no sense of camaraderie, driven solely by greed and hunger. Kuwabara admits he wanted to destroy Byakko, but the way Seiryu did it is super wrong and weird. He insists that Byakko deserved better, vowing to get him some justice. Vein in his temple popping, Yusuke agrees heartily, and promises to do the honors himself. 

But Hiei tells Yusuke to wait, and with a sober expression, tells him to save that rage for later, when he'll need it to face Suzaku. Yusuke begins to protest, but it's a very timid one, and Kuwabara and Kurama remain in a speechless awe as Hiei steps toward a chuckling Seiryu.

Nah, he just wanted to show Kuwabara he's not the only one who has pecs. 

Hiei glares into his periphery, not answering Seiryu. Kurama says he's never seen Hiei like this before, asserting he is, or WAS at least, exactly as Seiryu described above. But he seems to be pretty upset at what Seiryu has done to Byakko. Everyone has a line, I suppose. Kurama continues, observing that self-interest isn't what moves him now, which appears to bewilder him, but Kurama can't say precisely what this means. The only thing Kurama CAN say for sure is that the battle aura surrounding Hiei is the strongest he's ever seen. Maybe he's discovered his own amygdala. 

As Yusuke and Kuwabara look on, Hiei and Seiryu glower at one another, the latter striking an offensive stance and promising to crush the former. Hiei grasps the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it at the most opportune moment. When Seiryu yells at him to die and makes his first move. 

... Is it over ALREADY? Seiryu certainly looks shocked enough at his bisection in the next panel to suggest it might be. The reactions of the bystanders are looking on about the same level of shock too. The lightning fast Hiei has landed and replaced his sword in its sheath before Seiryu's parts have succumbed to gravity themselves. 

Dare to DREAM. We all thought Byakko was gone too, and he made a surprise encore. 

Kuwabara is absolutely in AWE at how flippin' awesome that shit was, asking rhetorically if any of the rest of them saw it. They saw the results, maybe, but I think the process might have been a little fast to pick up. Kurama scoffs, saying he saw, but lost track after the first stroke. Kuwabara admits that he MIGHT have to revise his opinion of the little runt, hunched over and arms hanging like the caricature of a gorilla or caveman, which I suppose might indicate how primitive he is in skill compared to Hiei. 

Yusuke blurts a delighted noise of admiration, gushing about how amazing it was that Hiei laid Seiryu out in one blow, the wind whipped up in the flurry still appearing to clear the field. As the team approaches Hiei, Kurama asks how many cuts that was, and Hiei responds that it was SIXTEEN. I would have only required one to defeat me, so it just seems like overkill in my book. Yusuke admits he only caught eight of those slashes, and Kurama tells him his eyes are way better. Kuwabara says Seiryu was filleted before he even blinked. When Yusuke praises Hiei on how fast he is, saying he would be beat in a rematch between them hands-down, Hiei turns and walks away, merely saying that MAY be the case. 

This aloof response confuses Yusuke, who thought he'd agree outright, but Kurama claims that Hiei has changed since he came here. Where, Demon City? The castle? This very ROOM?? It's not clear, but Kurama says Yusuke might be a good influence on Hiei. For once, Yusuke's expression is quite neutral, and he's not wearing some goofy, exaggerated face. Not sure I like it all that much. 

Meanwhile, the shining orb the Beasts use to spy on their "guests" show the four teammates strolling forth before being shattered in a fit of rage. 

For real? Seiryu is REALLY failed that FAST? 

Talk about style over substance. 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I have to admit it was rather anticlimactic. Even being suspicious that perhaps Seiryu's death is yet another fake-out, given YT has trained me to think that way over the last few chapters with Byakko in them (INCLUDING this one), Hiei's victory with no struggle whatsoever was disappointing. Both of our other combatants were HEAVILY injured and fatigued by their battles, so it seems almost like an insult to them that Hiei should win his in the blink of an eye with very little effort. Moreover, part of his stated reason for taking on Seiryu was to clear the field for Yusuke to take on Suzaku ahead, but Hiei's victory is so ridiculously complete that he no doubt has energy to spare to face Suzaku too, no problem. 

And it doesn't exactly make Hiei look like the biggest badass, from my point of view. His teammates were pretty impressed, but Seiryu only got to show his stuff against once, and it was against a severely weakened Byakko, who couldn't even BEGIN to fight back. Seiryu was calling Byakko weak and useless, but the dude kept coming back from defeat over and over, and it just took a few slashes from Hiei to take Seiryu down. Again, I'm not convinced Seiryu is REALLY dead, as I've learned from Byakko not to trust an obvious death, but even so, he went down this initial way without much time to be so much as a nuisance. It gives the overall impression of a blowhard who was talking a big game and wishcasting projected strength with a lot of expensive trimmings, but someone who was ultimately a weakling himself. 

Which WOULD be interesting, but only if we know something substantial about the character in question, or even WANT to know something about them. Seiryu isn't given enough time to pique interest, and doesn't seem to add anything that makes him stand out from the other Beasts in the castle. It makes you wonder why he's here, if he adds nothing substantial to the story except being a body that stood for mere seconds between the team and Suzaku. Guy may as well not have had a name, for how quickly he was discarded.  

Anyway, tired as I'm getting of all the unlikely survivals here, I can't help but hope that my suspicions are correct, because this seems like an AWFUL waste. Hiei deserves an ACTUAL challenge on par with the others, not a throw-away tension-killer that lasts a couple of panels and we're done.  

Inuyasha Manga: 338 Haku

Oh, here it comes. This is where things start to get a little complicated for me. I could never tell if my understanding of the upcoming concepts/plot points are due to my Western point of view on what follows from what evidence, or if I was just genuinely missing something the first three times around. I did tend to kind of rush through some of this arc, as I found it less engaging than the others thus far. Perhaps with a closer look this time, I'll be able to pinpoint exactly why that might be, because I remember there were a couple CERTAIN parts of it that were VERY compelling. Not getting ahead of myself and the blog here, but if you know, you know. 

That WOULD be heartwarming, if it weren't painfully obvious that something is about to go horribly wrong and these guys will never make it past that final mountain. 

The soldiers look up with confusion when a strange sound echoes over them, and spot what looks like a long white giant fish flying through the sky. It's not long before this dreamlike vision becomes a nightmare. 

The formation allowed for them to be scooped up one big bite. 

Cut to Hakudoushi and Kohaku, floating in a protective bubble high in the sky. Poor Kohaku, having to rely on everyone else for a ride all the time. He's reminiscing about the "crystalized youki" in a big pile Kagura had shown him, and how she had explained that the youki in the crystals disappear when they get near a stone called the "Fuyouheki". Examining one of these crystals closely, Kagura says that Naraku has most likely handed the stone off to his infant incarnation, and this means that the crystals are a good clue to finding that very baby. Kohaku also scrutinizes one of the crystals closely in his memory, and when he comes back to the present, he glares at Hakudoushi's back, thinking that both him AND Narkau should die when the infant is destroyed. 

Hakudoushi is preoccupied with something entirely different, drawing Kohaku's attention to a rising cloud of streaking balls of light in the distance, which he labels as peoples' souls. Kohaku repeats the phrase in question, and Hakudoushi mutters that it seems a lot of them were eaten, specifically by a youkai named "Haku". Chapter title reference aside, Hakudoushi does not explain further, and instead just invites Kohaku to hunt this thing with him. How does Hakudoushi manage to make the task of taking down this army-eating creature OMINOUS?

Haku itself is flying around in the sky, whale-like mouth thankfully closed at the moment. 

Well that didn't take long, did it?

While they stand atop the headless body of the creature, Hakudoushi instructs Kohaku to slice open the belly without damaging the stomach. Kohaku precisely does as he's told, revealing through a slit in the skin a sack filled with round glowing objects. He wonders what they are, and as if he's reading the boy's mind, Hakudoushi says they're human spirits, what Haku fed on. Kohaku parrots the word as a question and Hakudoushi chuckles, asking aloud if he should make sense of all this. I think the readers might appreciate it... so you're not going to, are you?

HakuDOUCHIE. 

Cut to a dirt devil spinning along the ground while a couple of guys in furs and a pack of wolves chase after it, the former begging to be waited for. 

Ah, Kouga, long time no see! If I didn't know any better, I would think RT FORGOT about you or something. 

His underling with the two-toned hair demands to know if Kouga thinks something is strange, while the one with the mohawk tells Kouga to have some situational awareness and look around him. After a noise of frustrated confusion, Kouga finally comes to a stop in the middle of a stretch of rocky land where various dismembered youkai are littering the ground. Panting and flushed (with annoyance as well as the exercise), Two-Tone tells him that this area has been strewn with pieces of youkai since they got there, and Mohawk says the number of the pieces has been increasing as well. 

Kouga suggests that's LITERALLY why they've been running this way, and Two-Tone slumps, muttering about how Kouga wants to reach "it", presumably the thing that's causing all this carnage. Mohawk is of a similar deflated attitude, thinking he KNEW it. Kouga says that the smell of blood is fresher ahead as they follow the trail of youkai pieces, which means the culprit has to be somewhere ahead. While he can't be sure Naraku is involved, he does admit it's been an awfully long time since they've had a clue. You're telling ME. 

A howl sounds at a short distance, then a figure emerges out of the rolling fog ahead. Kouga and his underlings stare at this approaching hunched silhouette, the former glaring placidly, the latter agape and cringing in horrified disbelief. 

The FUCK is that???

All this thing's mismatched eyes lock on Kouga, waggling its tenta-tongue at him, and Kouga can't help but gape and wonder what it is, noting that it looks like disparate youkai pieces were slapped together. He has to leap out of its way when its head dives and scoops at the earth where he was standing, getting a mouthful of dirt instead. Kouga twists on his way back down and swings a powerful kick at the creature.

With a little distance between them and the monster, Kouga's underlings half-turn suggesting they get the hell out of there while they can, but Kouga asks if they're stupid. Hey man, you're the one with a sick sixth sense here. He shames them for their urge to ignore a stinking youkai like this and run away.

Narrow sky transition panel! Inuyasha and company have crested a hill, Sango asking Miroku about status, and Miroku reporting that there's been no change to the crystal he's holding, therefore the Fuyouheki isn't nearby. He holds up the slightly glowing stone and examines it in the light, saying he had THOUGHT they would be able to quickly catch up with the fleeing Naraku as long as they had it. 

Sango appears to respond with a non sequitur about Naraku's heart. I checked my physical copy of the official Viz manga, and it's relatively the same there - think perhaps she was correcting him about them catching up with Naraku's HEART rather than Naraku himself, because when Miroku turns to ask Inuyasha if that's what he thinks, Inuyasha answers in the affirmative. He cites Kikyou, who he remembers saying that Naraku has taken his heart outside his body. 

Shippou pops up on Inuyasha's should, asking him with clear suspicion if that's ALL Inuyasha talked to Kikyou about. SHIPPOU NO. SHIPPOU DON'T. This kid seriously trying to revive relationship drama that we are ALL sick of? Sweatdropping under this hyper-scrutiny, Inuyasha affirms that it was JUST the thing about Naraku's heart. A sulking Kagome thinks that there was no reason for Inuyasha and Kikyou to talk secretly if that was all it was, though. 

I guess I shouldn't be surprised with Kouga sliding back into the story, with the added effect of reminding Inuyasha how desirable Kagome is with his excessive attentions. 

Ugh, just remember Writch. They're stupid fucking teenagers. Emphasis on STUPID. 

Or, or, here's an idea: we could just keep going with the ACTUAL story. 

Thank goodness that Inuyasha's nose starts working all of a sudden, because he alerts everyone to the fact that he smells youkai nearby. They race on into the area with all the youkai parts lying around, and I'm happy to observe that Kagome isn't SO irritated with the Kikyou conversation that she's riding on Kirara instead of Inuyasha's back. But when Shippou observes from Miroku's shoulder that the pieces of youkai are increasing the farther they move along, Inuyasha maintains a tense silence.

Until of course he mutters to Kagome over his own shoulder that she shouldn't SULK the whole time. I feel like this is the wrong fucking move. Kagome looks away and insists she's not sulking, annoyed, and Inuyasha asks her what's with the attitude if she's not. He tells her in no uncertain terms that he and Kikyou did not discuss anything shady at all. To the surprise of NO ONE, Kagome snips that she knows that, and he's being too noisy right now. Take that hint bro and shut your mouth about it already. 

Also to no one's surprise, he doesn't. He immediately takes offense and demands to know what the fuck she means by that, calling her a bitch, quite the opposite of shutting the fuck up about it. Lucky for him, she's distracted from the growing argument by the sense of a Shikon shard that she alerts the others to. She also says it's two shards, and announces it's Kouga. A vein pops on Inuyasha's temple, his annoyance jumping to new heights in the space of a single second. Shouldn't he have been able to smell the guy? Kagome asks him what's wrong, urging him to hurry it up, and Inuyasha responds by commanding her to shut up. What, the thing you should have been doing this whole time?

Cut to Kouga punching through the combo youkai with a powerful kick. After it collapses to the ground in a heap of its disparate parts, a clump of glowing orbs starts to rise out of it. Kouga's underlings observe this as Inuyasha and crew arrive. 

... Really fucking weird? Yeah, I noticed, lol.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Here's the thing: I didn't miss Kouga. I didn't ask where he got off to this entire time he's been missing, and now that he's back, I kind of see why. We've seen this same scenario play out between him and his followers several times by this point; he runs too fast, they whine at him to stop, they have an exchange about their surroundings, Kouga knows/doesn't care, rinse, repeat. Without much variation, it's gotten very old. Not to mention, his reappearance now coincides rather handily with another encounter with Kikyou, which gives away why he's REALLY here to begin with.

Because this everlasting argument between Inuyasha and Kagome over his interactions with Kikyou have gotten stale too. I give the characters room because they're stupid kids, but there's only so much patience I have when there are much more interesting and engaging places RT could go with the narrative, and she just keeps re-covering this ground over and over. Still, the "love triangle" is titillating to her target teen audience, so she and her publishers/editors are dragging this out as long as possible. One of the ways in which they can do that is to play off of INUYAHSA'S jealousy as well, so in pops Kouga to be the Kikyou on THAT side of the equation, hopefully balancing it out so that there's a little more reason for Inuyasha to understand how Kagome feels. OR, at least they can distract readers with a slightly different angle while they keep the relationship drama as high as possible for longer than is wise. 

At least I like the design of this weirdo piecemeal youkai. It's so chaotic and illogical that it's delightful, and is another of those that reminds me more of the early days of this manga's monster design, days that I very much miss. This thing is the WORST, like a creepy Frankenstein's Monster built by a child out of dirty rags while suffering from a high fever, and I LOVE it. 

I prefer it to the tired old trail of romantic drama that we're all treading yet again, anyway.