Inuyasha Manga: 341 Pieces

One of these days, if I can carve out enough time, I intend to go through a closet that has been accumulating junk pretty much since we moved into this house. There are vinyl figures, old clothes that are no longer worn, gifts that we never ended up using, and knick-knacks whose origins we don't even really remember. It's frustrating how, no matter how mindful I am about my consumption levels, I always seem to accumulate a ton of junk in the course of regular life. It doesn't help that I have a slight tendency to hold on to items I think MAYBE might be useful one day. You know, if I am in a very specific situation or want to do a specific kind of project. It's wholly irrational, since there's barely enough time to clean these days, let alone take on new little crafts with pieces of garbage I hold onto in the hope they'll be creatively satisfying. 

If the pile of junk grows high enough, I might even have to worry about something similar to this. 

Won't look NEARLY as cool as that, though. 

Chuckling, Hakudoushi asks why Inuyasha and company down below are so shocked, since they know that he made Mouryoumaru from various youkai parts. He says adding parts for flying was pretty trivial. Mouryoumaru's branching tentacle limb still embedded in the ground where it punched in front of him, Inuyasha asks who Hakudoushi thinks is so shocked. The tentacle limb whips up and around, jabbing at Inuyasha, who asserts that Mouryoumaru just flew to dodge, and there's no way he can stand up to Kongousouha. 

Without finding some way to prevent him dodging again, you're kinda just wasting your energy, aren't you?

Kouga's underlings are amazed regardless because of how that tentacle limb was blown away, but Kouga points out that it was JUST the arm that was destroyed with a scoff. Miroku and Sango look up, the former questioning if the main body escaped. Indeed, it still hovers up in the air, if not a bit higher. In a rage, Inuyasha demands the bastard get his ass back down there, as if he'll descend to die at the deployment of a firm tone. 

A clump of spheres starts growing out from behind Mouryoumaru, then plummet to the ground. Miroku identifies it as haku in disbelief, both he and Inuyasha gaping up at the spectacle. The spheres splat over the ground along with strips of discarded flesh, and Miroku warns Inuyasha to be careful of all the pieces of arm that were embedded in the haku, Inuyasha scoffing that this is just a waste of time. As the tentacle limb reforms around the haku and jabs toward him, he declares he'll blow it away every time. 

Cool. Still only targeting one part of it. And Inuyasha still thinks the OTHER guys are the suckers too. At least until THIS happens:

Let's face it, he really should have figured this would happen. Yet he expresses disbelief when looking at the tentacle digits sticking out of the wound in his arm. Kouga's underlings shout that smashing the arm won't work, looking up at the shredded flesh regrouping around the balls of haku midair. Once it coalesces enough, it launches at Kouga this time, who leaps out of the way handily. But he does note bitterly that the target is still his Shikon fragments, judging by the aim of the tentacles for his ankles, presumably. 

Inuyasha is alarmed by this statement, as though he JUST remembered the Shikon shards were still being hunted by Hakudoushi and Mouryoumaru's boss. He's not really shining intellectually today, is he? As he's shrugging off the remaining strips of tentacle draped over his back, he's even MORE alarmed that these haku-enabled tentacles are snaking along the ground toward Kagome now. He calls her name and lunges forward to save her.

Kouga yells at Inuyasha over his shoulder that he better not get near Kagome when he still has the tentacles on him. Maybe he should keep clear of EVERYONE until he finds where he left his brain and shoves it back into his head. Because he doesn't seem to have clocked that he even still has Mouryoumaru's flesh riding on him, feeling around for it curled over his shoulder, much like Sesshoumaru's fluffy accessory. 

His fingers sink into the flesh, and Kouga's underlings observe this, telling him entirely too late that he mustn't touch Mouryoumaru's skin, a trap he won't get out of if he gets caught. Inuyasha's ALREADY got Mouryoumaru's flesh knitting over his hand, and barks at the underlings to speak up sooner next time. Kagome gapes over at him in horror, watching him yank his hand back with a curse. 

Got no time when you're dodging slime. 

Sango reiterates what the underlings have already discovered: the body of Mouryoumaru hardens and softens depending on if it's attacking or defending. As the pieces of flesh coalesce in the air again, Miroku rips the sealing beads off his right hand and declares he can at least reduce the amount that's available for the assault. Way to take some responsibility for controlling the amount of creepy wandering tentacles, Miroku! Maybe one day you'll realize you can do that with your own hands too. 

Hakudoushi pouts and swears a little at Mouryoumaru's flesh being sucked into the Kazaana, but he sends out the EXACT countermeasure to this that you presume he would. The Saimyoushou come buzzing in from behind Mouryoumaru (or perhaps from inside him, since they appear out of nowhere otherwise), and Shippou performs a similar appearing act on Miroku's shoulder, warning him that their venom poses a risk while Sango identifies the insects with distress. As if Miroku's not already echoing Hakudoushi's curse and wrapping his hand back in the beads. 

Inuyasha acknowledges that the clouds of flesh hovering around are BARELY lessened, but he still figures it's a little better at least. Still, he's uneasy, no doubt because Kouga is still leaping here and there with Kagome in his arms, trying to outrun the attacks of the tentacles. Kagome says SHE needs to do something about the remaining flesh around them, telling Kouga to put her down. He responds with disbelief at the request, and Inuyasha is no less floored by it, gaping in her direction while she explains that the repeated physical attacks against this youkai aren't doing the trick. Kouga asks if she means her arrows can work instead, and she affirms this. 

So Kouga does one final leap out of the way, sets her down like she asked, and she nocks an arrow quickly.

Sango looks impressed, announcing Kagome did it, and Kouga's underlings gush about how Kouga and Kagome are in perfect sync. This ticks off Inuyasha, who knocks them over both their heads in quick succession. Kagome rushes forward, calling Inuyasha's name, but he yells at her not to come near him, a plea Two-Tone echoes as he holds her back by her arm, Mohawk pointing out that some of Mouryoumaru's flesh is still attached to Inuyasha's shoulder. 

Mouryoumaru and Hakudoushi are still up in the air, carefree as can be, no doubt.

More likely to just get scattered around again. 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Mouryoumaru LOOKS cool, but by no means was this chapter engaging. The characters act like the soft flesh that absorbs turning hard to attack is somehow NOVEL, but we've seen this ALL before. Naraku has been pulling this exact thing for AGES now, and it's a little disingenuous to present it as some new set of powers no one's ever seen before. Even detaching parts of his limbs and attacking independently from his main body is very much familiar ground by now. 

This is probably the most blatant indication I've seen YET that RT ran out of ideas and is doing some heavy recycling. It wouldn't have to be a terrible thing - after all, Hakudoushi is an offspring of Naraku, and since Hakudoushi is familiar at least with his own form and function, it would make sense that he would model his creation after that particular example. But there's no attempt at that simple explanation and instead the chapter is trying to convince us that it's a brand new thing that is completely shocking. 

Just a strange direction to take, honestly.  

YuYu Hakusho Manga: 041 Fist of Dark Lightning!!

Kinda felt like it for a moment. Recently I was chopping cooked Andouille sausage for a jambalaya, and stuck myself real good with the knife. Thankfully, it wasn't deep or wide enough to have to visit the hospital, and stopped bleeding very soon after I bandaged it, so I at least didn't have to spend a fortune getting stitches (#USHealthcareNightmare). However, I do still have some bruising around the area, and a little tingling every once in a while. Hope that's not a bad sign, because my copay went up after re-enrolling in my employer-sponsored health insurance plan. Couldn't possibly have anything to do with the discontinued ACA subsidies or anything.

*Sigh* If ONLY our massively militarized society could afford universal healthcare!

I guess it's better than having these creepy worms, though. 

Keiko compares their pursuers to mad dogs, still alarmed over the fact that ONE of them is a teacher. Despite this, she focuses in on how Botan talked to Yusuke, and demands to know where he is and what he's doing, not to mention who BOTAN herself is. Sweating, probably due to both physical exertion and the very hot spotlight Keiko is putting on her, Botan says it'll take some time to explain, promising they'll have a nice long chat over tea when all this is over. She adds that they'll have to weigh their options for escaping in the meantime. 

Back inside the school Keiko complains that the phone she's trying to dial out on isn't working, and Botan evenly says that it figures that their zombie stalkers are trying to cut them off. Keiko suggests the faculty lounge, and Botan enthusiastically agrees that other teachers should be able to help. When they arrive, Keiko hardly needs to call out for anyone who might be there, spotting Takenaka sitting with his back to them ahead. Expressing her relief, she approaches him with her hand outstretched, attempting to inform him of all the people on the grounds acting real weird, Iwamoto being one of them.

But she trails off when the silent Takenaka wobbles in his seat a little. 

SHIT! He was the ONLY good one!

Both girls recoil in horror at the sight, and Keiko mutters in horror that they're alone. The horror increases when Iwamoto, grumbling through his clenched teeth about killing them, appears behind them. They resume their flight, Botan yelling over her shoulder to stay away. Keiko clamps a hand over her mouth, either to dampen whatever terrified noises are issuing from it, or hold back vomit. Either are a perfectly understandable reaction to this situation.

This same image is on the giant screen behind Suzaku, who smiles and strokes his chin in his apparent amusement. He asks Yusuke what he thinks of Keiko staring in this little horror film he's making, claiming she's got a flair for it. Suzaku admires her "marvelous" expressions, a talent that life-or-death situations bring out as a matter of course. 

Yusuke clenches his shaking fists, suggesting that they bring out something ELSE in him. 

Also a perfectly understandable reaction in this situation. The kids are valid. 

As Suzaku has observed, Yusuke delivers a series of rapid punches that are barely visible, but Suzaku manages to not only fend Yusuke off with blocks, but with one hand, to his alarm. Suzaku also notes that Yusuke is actually LIGHTNING fast, a little hint of where Suzaku's experience is at, I suppose. Both of them seem to be mainly admiring the other's ability in this first stage. 

Yusuke throws a punch that sails straight through thin air as Suzaku darts completely away, straight upward as Yusuke perceives shortly enough. He scoffs that Suzaku can't dodge him now, pointer finger starting to glow. Suzaku immediately recognizes this as Yusuke's Reigun as Yusuke yells at him to eat it and fires the shot. The blast heads straight for the hovering Suzaku, and Yusuke thinks it's a bullseye, but Suzaku prepares to meet this shot with a measured yell.

He can block more than just fists, it seems. 

The blast glances off path and explodes straight through the domed ceiling of the tower. Suzaku descends from the air, lightning arcing past the giant hole the Reigun made, as he casually tells Yusuke how powerful the blast was. Well no shit. Suzaku admits that a direct hit to him might have done some serious damage, and that it's something he hasn't felt in years; he flaps his arm about as he talks about it still stinging. 

Sweating, Yusuke thinks this guy is TOO MUCH, and despairs over how his Reigun failed to blow Suzaku to bits despite all that training from Genkai. Yeah, those whole WEEKS of training that the manga skipped right over should TOTALLY have prepared you for this! 

Murg flies over and asks Suzaku if he needs her to hold the whistle for him, but he assures her he's fine. He reckons he's got Yusuke's full measure now, and he should only need one free hand for what he wants to do, especially now that he has direct access to the flashing sky. He looks up at the hole in the ceiling, lightning still arcing past it, and holds up a couple of fingers. Forgot to lick them first, I see. Murg happily gushes about the Fist of Dark Lightning, and wins the prize for saying the chapter title while she warns Yusuke that he's gonna get it now! Huzzah!  

The lightning shoots straight down through the hole into Suzaku's fingers. It's not a euphemism.

Says he only needs one hand, proceeds to tuck the whistle under his arm so he can use two. 

Suzaku lunges for Yusuke, whether he's ready or not, as he declares, swiping the boy across the face with his outstretched arm. It doesn't even look like a punch, with the index and middle fingers still extended, but I suppose it doesn't need to be. The electricity from Suzaku's hand passes into Yusuke and arcs all across his body, and he SHRIEKS in pain. Yusuke is able to admit in his head that Suzaku just GRAZED him and he feels like he's being fried alive. Electricity doesn't need a LOT of contact, it turns out. 

Yusuke collapses on the floor on his face, and Suzaku casually talks about how his protective aura is stronger than expected, and Yusuke is the first human not to die on contact with his lightning attack. As Yusuke pushes himself onto his hands and knees, he thinks it's awfully swell to have the distinction of being the first not to die with a small tap, but he's also sure he's gotta figure out a way to block the next attack before he's barbecued for SURE. 

Suzaku compliments Yusuke on his willpower, since he's getting to his feet, but warns him he's only rising to certain death. But he's kind of dedicated to the order of events he's already planned, because he wants to return to Keiko's plight so that he can ensure once SHE dies, then Yusuke does too. Yusuke questions this certainty in Suzaku, saying that Keiko is no pushover, and it'll take way more than this dipshit plot contrived by Suzaku to bring her down. He asserts that it's the same for him as he continues to push himself up. 

Sure hope your soles are ACTUAL rubber, kiddo.

Murg clocks that he's trying to use the soles of his shoes to insulate himself against the lightning, and laughs that it's an effort on par with blocking cannon fire with soap bubbles. But Yusuke stands firm in his defense strategy, refusing to listen to her. It DOES sound like something someone would say to discourage ANY level of resistance whatsoever. (Haha, resistance...)  

Suzaku placidly says he pities Yusuke, and ALL humans really, so helpless against despair, so susceptible to delusion. Demons, on the other hand, NEVER succumb to delusion, and that was something ELSE we were seeing the Beasts display all throughout this arc. Suzaku promises to release Yusuke from this nightmare of irrationality, like some sort of internet debate bro, and lunges for him again, wishing him goodbye and to rest in peace. 

Cut back to the girls at the school, who are cornered at the end of a hallway, their exit cut off by a crowd of insect-zombies. After the acknowledgement that they're trapped, Keiko says that since they're after her, Botan can run and she'll lead the thread away. Botan refuses this offer, vowing to go down swinging before running from these creeps. They're both sweating like crazy. As the insect-zombies advance on them, Keiko says she also planned to go down fighting, and Botan replies it's just the two of them then. 

They both look off to the side where a fire extinguisher is hanging on the end of a chain of lockers. Botan asks if Keiko is thinking what she's thinking, and Keiko says she'll distract the zombies. 

Separation was a good strategy after all, though brief. While the zombies seize the struggling Keiko, grasping at her limbs and clothing, Botan quickly grabs the fire extinguisher and begins spraying the contents at Keiko's assailants. Somehow, she manages to miss Keiko altogether, covering just the insect-zombies in foam, and urging Keiko to follow her back down the hall and out of their range while they recover from their disorientation. But as she flees, looking behind her to make sure Keiko is on her way, a shadow looms in her path. It's Iwamoto, who grabs her throat and lifts her straight off her feet with one fist, the other still clenched and bleeding. Regardless, he's laughing his ass off at Botan's gurgles as he strangles her. 

Keiko calls Botan's name and her open palm sails through the air toward Iwamoto. 

Hell yeah, girl, smack him up!

Back at the Demon City Tower, another blast blows through the roof, and the shoes Yusuke was using for protection basically shred into oblivion. And YET, Suzaku is in disbelief in the next panel. Yusuke is blocking him from making contact with a thick aural insulation around his crossed hands. He roars, balls his hands into fists, and delivers a punch, his hands still covered in reiki protection. Suzaku is thrown back quite a distance, and when he skids to a stop on his knee, he exclaims that the shoes were just a blind so he wouldn't notice Yusuke concentrating his aura into a barrier to deflect the lightning. 

Yusuke tells Suzaku that his script for that horror film he was talking about earlier SUCKS, and he's demanding a rewrite. 

Don't lose sleep over it, Keiko. If there's ever a time to slap a teacher, it's when he's trying to kill someone in front of you. 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? The thing I appreciated the most was pretty balanced amount of time covering both Yusuke's and Keiko's struggles, giving them roughly equal importance. Keiko isn't just framed here as the object Yusuke is trying to save, and is shown helping Botan just as much as Botan is helping her, and doing her own active defending. I LOVE that Yusuke verbally states that Keiko is no weakling, and Suzaku is going to find it difficult to kill EITHER of them. It suggests that he's not as distracted by her being in danger as Suzaku intended him to be, and therefore is way more engaged in defeating Suzaku than was calculated. 

Which hilariously highlights Suzaku's BLANDNESS as a character. His reactions to setbacks and even the furthering of his plans are almost indistinguishable from one another, and overall very neutral. I've commented before about how the faces characters make in this comic are delightfully expressive, and while that has already toned down just a bit, Suzaku doesn't even meet THAT standard of expressiveness. He has NONE of the wacky cartoon color that I've come to associate with this comic, keeping a relatively straight face throughout like an aging beauty queen who's trying to avoid getting wrinkles. It's SO fucking boring. 

Is this an indication of how bored YT was in writing Suzaku? Because I know I'm bored READING the guy. 

Inuyasha Manga: 340 Mouryoumaru

This manga just loves to throw mouthfuls at me, like it's a food fight and I couldn't begin to tell what it is that's splattering over the side of my head. Thankfully, I have the wiki to guide me in what names mean, because guessing is pretty much out of the question, given how I've paused my relaxed study of Japanese. Those lessons were taking so much more time than the other languages that I'm studying, and it was cutting a large chunk out of my day. By contrast, French has become a blast to learn, and Spanish is just IMPORTANT to know at this point. My enthusiasm for Japanese has sadly lowered in comparison lately. 

But maybe someday, in the far future, when I've got more free time or less of an urgent need to pick up other tongues, I'll get far enough to understand the construction of some of RT's character names. 

This one, by the way, apparently means "Perfect Monster".

One COULD make the argument that it TAKES a perfect monster to MAKE a perfect monster. 

Hakudoushi tells Kouga that he's an offspring of Naraku, as if anyone even ASKED, and Kouga suggests that it's been HIM making all these crude mish-mashed youkai the whole time. Chuckling, Hakudoushi says that he made all kinds as a test, and all this trial and error showed him that his creations' bodies moved better the closer their forms were to a human one. With his latest attempt behind him, he explains that a human form is most familiar to human haku. Makes so much sense, it's kind of a wonder you needed to experiment so often to come to that conclusion. 

Suddenly, the little bastard orders his giant composite monster, referred to as "Mouryoumaru", to eat Kouga along with his jewel shards. Congratz to him for saying the chapter title so very early on, and I hope he chokes on his victory. Kouga glares sharply at Mouryoumaru, and at first it's not clear that Mouryoumaru intends to do more than the same. 

I half expect him to start shouting "Victor" over and over. 

Kouga lunges forward too, encouraging the giant to go ahead and TRY to eat him, enthusiastically. I assume he finds the idea ridiculous. After he kicks Mouryoumaru in the gut (and fails to notice that he doesn't appear to react AT ALL to the attack), Kouga mocks Hakudoushi by telling him not to cry when his precious new toy is broken. Hakudoushi just scoffs in response, and Kouga notices something odd happening as he continues to hang where he landed his kick.

How did you NOT pick up on that immediately, dude? 

He acknowledges that he's being sucked in with horror, and takes a swipe with his fingers are Mouryoumaru's torso to fight back. He does shred it at first, but his wrist is enveloped in the shredded flesh as it knits back together, trapping his hand as well. His underlings are shocked that he got stuck in the process of trying to rip the monster's body, Mohawk exclaiming that it's like it's body is goo. 

Kouga manages to reach the sword that is always at his side and actually USE the damn thing (for the first time, I believe!) to slice through the flesh holding his wrist, as well as the stuff holding his leg. 

Now do what you do best, dude, and get the HELL OUT OF THERE. 

The little balls of haku are briefly visible before the wound Kouga opened up in Mouryoumaru closes up, something that the underlings note accurately. Kouga mutters about how the wound is now healed, and the haku isn't escaping from it like the other youkai he fought earlier. Hakudoushi reiterates what he already said, that the haku is most familiar with THIS body shape. 

Kouga tries to figure out what he can do to not attack carelessly and NOT get absorbed, but as he's contemplating this, Mouryoumaru lunges, shattering the ground under Kouga's feet and forcing him to jump out of the way. Yet another shocking revelation for the underlings, who are flabbergasted that the monster is solid enough to crust rocks now. 

Mouryoumaru chases Kouga, much to his chagrin, causing him to question if he should get out of here since the odds don't look good. I refer you back to my sentence after the previous panel. He's distracted from his calculations by something glowing in front of him. 

Those jagged lines are looking rather familiar... Hakudoushi recognizes it as Kaze no Kizu himself, in a kind of deadpan manner, as it tears toward a gaping Mouryoumaru. When the dust from the attack settles, the deep scars dug into the ground all lead back to Inuyasha, who asks Hakudoushi what the fuck he's planning this time. The picture of class and elegance as always, my boy. 

Awfully nice of Hakudoushi to keep Mouryoumaru in the barrier as well, since it's clear he would almost certainly have survived Kaze no Kizu. 

Miroku is in a little shock over the human-esque youkai crouching next to Hakudoushi, and Sango mutters about knowing that the designs were getting much much more anthropomorphic. Kagome isn't quite so concerned with that as she is with where Kouga is, expressing some worry over his well-being. Kouga immediately shows himself, but surprises me with his first action NOT being massaging Kagome's hands, but whacking Inuyasha over the head and calling him an idiot. It's just the order of events that surprises me, not that he did this at all, mind you. 

Inuyasha turns a frankly scary look on Kouga, commenting on his survival with displeasure, and Kouga grins about Inuyasha wanting to catch him in the crossfire. Kouga then goes straight for Kagome, holding her hands as she apologizes for Inuyasha's behavior. Both Kouga and Inuyasha tell her not to apologize, but Kouga's tone is tender, while Inuyasha is quite annoyed as he glares over his shoulder. He's still facing Mouryoumaru, though, and asks Kouga if the reason he's running from this new composite youkai is if it's more trouble than the others they faced earlier. Kouga returns to whack him over the head again, objecting to the characterization of what he was doing being "running scared". 

But Kouga's underlings are more than happy to dish the deets: Two-Tone says the the monster's body can switch between hard and soft, and Mohawk says that even cutting its flesh with a sword doesn't hurt it. Kagome asks about this sword, and Kouga admits it's just something he took off a human for decoration, and he never thought he would have to USE the thing. Kouga is into AESTHETICS? The Kouga lore only SLIGHTLY deeper than a puddle now, go figure. 

Inuyasha scoffs that Kouga shouldn't compare his wimpy sword with Tessaiga (he wasn't?), preparing for what he must consider the REAL fight. 

This had BETTER work.

Hakudoushi just stares silently, and Mohawk mutters that the sword looks like a jewel as he and Two-Tone look on in wonder, Kouga displaying a more stoic expression. Inuyasha lets off an impressive volley of diamond spears with his shout of Kongousouha. A placid Hakudoushi responds by addressing Mouryoumaru, who remains silent, before the spears hit. They create a chaotic cloud of action as they meet their target, Inuyasha's team gaping in amazement at the spectacle. 

But when the dust clears again, not even the remains of Hakudoushi and his monster are anywhere to be seen among the diamond spears sticking out of the scarred ground. Miroku questions whether the two are gone, Inuyasha more inclined to the interpretation that he blew them both to pieces. Lol, he wishes. 

Ooooooh, cliffhanger!

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Did RT actually recently READ Frankenstein before this arc? I can't help but note how very similar the two massive, somewhat beautiful, enormously strong monsters built from the parts of others are to each other. Of course, Hakudoushi is no Victor Frankenstein, and made HIS monster specifically to maim and kill, not disturbed at all by the appearance or behavior of the thing. 

Of course, I'm ALSO reminded of the OTHER massive human-shaped foe Kouga in particular fought in the Shichinin-tai arc: Kyoukotsu. I was wondering the whole time if that guy was really human, how he could be SO large and what his origin could possibly have been. We never got ANYTHING even resembling a backstory for him, and he died so fast it was pretty much moot by the time we started hearing those of the other band members. Given how oddly similar he is to Mouryoumaru in size and strength, though, this new arc is reviving my suspicions about the Shichinin-tai not being entirely human.

No surprise that the brand new technique Inuyasha got at the border between worlds would already be rendered obsolete. We're not even allowed to think for a MOMENT that Naraku might be defeated, the chapter ending with a refutation of Inuyasha's assumption he wasted the incarnations. Because this series hasn't quite been wrung dry yet. Not only has RT opened far more storylines than can be wrapped up nicely in this moment, but Inuyasha as a brand is still running strong and popular at this point. It's clear even at this fairly early stage that, despite Inuyasha collecting new attacks like Pokemon, NONE of them will be actually useful in the resolution of the plot. 

Pull on your rubber boots, because we're in for a slog.