YuYu Hakusho Manga: 032 Genkai's Successor is Chosen!!

What do you mean "chosen"? This whole time, Genkai has been letting the candidates whittle themselves down, going through an increasingly violent obstacle course in a competition of luck as much as skill. All she's been doing is kicking back and making commentary, doing as little active CHOOSING as she possibly can get away with. If anything is doing the choosing here, it's Providence, because she's got her hands fully off the wheel.

I'd hate to have to be hanging out with her, and get to the point where everyone is hungry but we don't know what restaurant to patronize. All her shrugging would make the exercise a nightmare. 

Sorry, I think I said at the end of the previous chapter that Rando shot and severed the aura cord he'd forged holding Yusuke to the branch, but it was actually the branch itself he shot. Regardless, Yusuke falls, screaming, while Botan calls to him and Genkai gapes in alarm. He thinks he's done for, lamenting that being dumped into a slimy pool to be eaten by demon fish is a really stupid way to die. But it's uncommon, at least. Not many people go out that way I'll warrant. Yusuke recalls that people say you're supposed to relive the best moments of your life before you die (who the hell says THAT?), but all he remembers are aggravations, and thinks he should have grabbed for more gusto, whatever THAT means. He's acting like he's never perished horribly before or something. 

Rando expresses his desire to see a beautiful fountain of blood and hear some agonized screams now, which is quite the ask. Indeed, scoffs at the damn near NOTHING he's seeing, but recovers his disappointment, planning for when Yusuke's bones float to the surface instead, when Genkai's secrets will be his. Botan screams Yusuke's name, rather politely reminding Genkai that Yusuke's going to die, a fact that Genkai just... hums at. Meanwhile, a glowing orb rises out of poor Kuwabara, unnoticed by his excited company. He can't be dying, because I think a grinning grim reaper like Botan would be sensitive to an event like that.

These fish are a little slower to act than they were when devouring the little oni/imp creature. Was their previous meal a little more filling than it seemed?

Not that they don't eventually get going, swimming toward Yusuke with their gaping jaw bristling with sharp teeth. Yusuke squeezes his eyes shut, thinking this is it, but his eyes pop back open again when he hears a voice telling him how pathetic it is that he's giving up already. He recognizes that voice pretty easily. 

Did he just astral project himself into the pond??

Astral!Kuwabara expresses his humiliation at having been obsessed with defeating a whiny little quitter like Yusuke for so long. He vows to go after "that kid" once he's better to clobber him, if not the first time, then the second, third, fifth, whatever it takes. Clearly he didn't pause in projecting over to Yusuke in order to take a good look that who "that kid" really was this whole time. Yusuke balks, unable to respond, much less tell Kuwabara just exactly who he's setting himself up against. Kuwabara says through a grin that he'll be fighting his NEW rival over and over while Yusuke becomes an inadequate and dejected pile of fish crap, which is a fitting end for a loser dipstick like him. 

This mockery is what finally raises Yusuke's ire, and he glares, clearly communicating the "oh yeah?" sentiment he harbors without him having to try to say the words through the wrong medium. He starts struggling again, and his sticky aura bonds actually snap.

All those fish, so menacing with their piranha teeth before, fly through the air in PIECES, splattering over the ground. Kuwabara turns in his sleep, mumbling with a scoff that the dummy can seen now that he can do it. Botan looks down at him in confusion.

Rando wonders aloud what THAT was, because he could swear he saw a huge discharge of aura. But he insists it couldn't be, even if SOMETHING had to have blown those fish out of the water. Taking an uncertain step, Rando asks himself if Yusuke broke out of his web, speculating that if he DID summon this explosive burst of power, he could maybe have freed himself. As Rando approaches the edge of the pond, he's resolved that allowing all these assumptions, the moment Yusuke rises to the surface will be his last. 

He points a glowing finger at the water, urging Yusuke to come on already, but the water remains placid after it had settled following the explosion. Botan continues to fret about Yusuke, wondering if he succumbed in his last effort. But a bubble blooms in the murky water at last, and Rando declares he's GOT the boy. 

Jumpscared!

Rando whirls around, gaping, asking how Yusuke got behind him. As Yusuke pulls back his fist for a mighty punch, he explains that the pond is actually connected to the bog hole he fell in in his last battle, a whole-ass DIAGRAM of the water passage between the pond and the hole drawn in the speech bubble, complete with a stick-figure Rando. Yusuke admits he's on his last ounce of strength, and that he's putting it all in the coming punch. 

A valiant effort, as usual. Unfortunately, the chapter is once more only half-over, and we all know how this goes. Yusuke leans his hands on his knees and trembles, panting that the punch was indeed everything he had, and he can hardly raise his arms. He's praying that Rando doesn't surface and just stays down there, but a couple of bubbles precede his rising out of the water, looking murder at Yusuke the whole time. When Rando pulls himself out of the water, he reveals there is not a MARK on him from the hit Yusuke landed. Yusuke is understandably in tense disappointment. 

Rando smiles, and admits that the punch did sting a little. What a consolation. Rando then punches Yusuke back, right across the jaw, and the kid is laid out spread-eagle on the ground. He grumbles that he's through and that Rando should just get it over with. Rando observes that Yusuke looks well and truly used up now, and decides he wants to use the Shrinking Curse he used on Kuwabara to round his victory out. Why? Because "practice makes perfect", clearly.

After a long panel displaying what YT has dubbed an "Enchanted Cat" - functionally just a random cat-girl with an animal print dress on - we return to Yusuke on the ground, who complains that his head is spinning and he can't understand a single word Rando is saying. He's not missing much, because Rando is just declaring that he'll recite the incantation and then have a bit of fun. Because apparently he hasn't had ENOUGH until this point. 

Rando chuckles after a moment that it's done, and yells at Yusuke to shrink away. As he waits for the spell to take effect, he fantasizes about all the ways he could finish Yusuke off, and not in the FUN way. He suggests crushing every bone in Yusuke's body, and then squashing him like a bug. But when the grass around Rando's own feet starts rustling, he looks down in confusion, and then starts screaming in disbelief. 

Lol, I guess he needed more practice than he thought!

He's really confused about the curse shrinking HIM rather than his victim, and Yusuke, who can barely lift his head to look toward his feet where mini!Rando is, give him a questioning expression as well. Botan asks a truncated question about what in the world just happened here, and is alarmed when Genkai tells Rando that he's become way too reliant on his spells. She explains that curses aren't docile servants, and if you make one wrong move in conjuring them, they TURN on you. Entirely fair - we've seen that much play out in this very manga. Genkai suggests that Rando cast this curse too often and without adequate focus.

Rando is still alarmed and perplexed by his failure, though I wouldn't call it a FAILURE, considering the effects still manifested. Just not on the intended target. Rando insists that it's impossible because he recited the incantation PERFECTLY. But Genkai informs Rando that his victim has to HEAR the curse, because it works by entering the body through the auditory nerve, which means it can only work on the unwary or defenseless. It can be countered by the simple act of covering one's ears. Rando is dumbfounded, rejecting this explanation because Yusuke couldn't POSSIBLY have known this weakness to the curse. After all, RANDO didn't until this moment. 

Meanwhile, Yusuke has regained enough strength to sit up and thump the side of his head with his palm, complaining that he can't hear a THING. He draws a lump of algae from his ear and is grossed out, but it explains to him why everything is muffled. It explains things to the shocked Rando too, who stands gaping in horror up at Yusuke. Genkai says that a demon who acquires skills through stealing rather than studying is eventually short-changed by his own ignorance, and declares that Rando has lost. 

Rando denies this and starts to arrange his hands, insisting that he only needs to reverse the curse, but is interrupted in voicing his plans beyond this point by Yusuke hovering over him. The boy chuckles, asking if Rando really thought he'd just be allowed to finish his spell. With a grin, Yusuke admits he can barely stand, but he figures falling should be easy.

Yikes. Has me WINCING. His face in the next panel is GHASTLY, too. It's all bruised and bloody, with the mouth gaping open and only the whites showing in his eyes. 

Yusuke is laying supine on the ground again, muttering that it's even simpler to collapse, and complaining that he can barely keep his eyes open. Then, when Genkai approaches him, he tells her there may not be much left of him, but he's won. She hums in assent, and declares to the pretty much empty swampland that Yusuke Urameshi is the successor. Botan lifts her arms and hoots in celebration, and there's a small info bubble pointing toward the edge of the panel, reminding the reader that Kuwabara is lying there, out of sight and out of mind. Someone should definitely get him to a hospital.

An unspecified amount of time later, Yusuke is standing again, and Botan is holding mini!Rando up by his hair, relaying her plans to put him in a safe or something before taking him to jail. He's still ALIVE??? First Gouki and now Rando, I'm surprised at how HARDY these demons are! Yusuke remarks with a laugh about how Botan has tied up the miscreant in his own web. I didn't realize there was any of that left after Yusuke vaporized it in the pond. 

Botan informs Yusuke that Kuwabara will be just fine, and that the master mended his broken bones. Genkai pipes up that healing is REALLY what her techniques are for, not harm. You cut going the other way pretty close, then, didn't you? Yusuke is enthused that he's accomplished his mission, and declares he's off to those championships at the Tokyo Dome. Damn, I'd forgotten about that little bribe, lol. Botan asks with a flat expression whether he's not had enough of combat yet, but hers isn't the only questioning response to Yusuke. Genkai asks him what he's going on about, and he looks at her in perplexity. 

Did you think she'd just beam the knowledge directly into your brain, kiddo?

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Another lucky break! He strikes me as very much akin to Jonouchi from Yu-Gi-Oh, punks whose narratives are imbued with themes of fortune. I think it's an interesting track, because there's an acknowledgement underneath all the goofy supernatural hijinks that if these boys just had OPPORTUNITIES, they would go quite far, and that's really all that's wanting. Unfortunately, the world they live in, the world MOST of these kinds of kids live in, grind poor and disadvantaged people like grist in a perverted social mill, and the moment they act out in defense of themselves they are given up as rotten at the core and are given no more chances. But narratives like these help to communicate the reality that opportunity and luck play much more of a role in the success of an individual than their intrinsic traits. 

Of course, the narrative is also careful to point out that these gifts of opportunity and luck should be followed up with good, hard work. The villain clearly failed because, though he had taken advantage of the masters he had tricked and killed, stealing their techniques without any real UNDERSTANDING of them contributed to his downfall. Rando's is a cautionary tale, one that shows the reader that coasting along can only get you so far before you're overwhelmed by your own ignorance. A very poignant point in this age of AI and using it to write our essays for us, lol. 

This is something Yusuke NEEDS to learn: actual effort is needed in order to take advantage of an opportunity. He began this story in a state of embedded nihilism, not caring about his future because he assumed it was forfeit. Fighting was the only thing he was putting any effort into, and it was only because he was already good at it from having to defend himself all the time. Now, though this confluence of events that involved COMING BACK FROM THE DEAD, he has been funneled into an opportunity that will require dedicated effort. And we all understand that effort is scary not because it's work, but because we might FAIL. For someone who is so invested in their image of a tough guy (to the point of being motivated by his rival's spirit calling him a sack of weak fish shit), the kind of vulnerability that the possibility of failure brings is terrifying. 

Genkai might have to make some lemonade with this sour kiddo. Well, as dedicated as she was to going with the flow to the point of almost giving her techniques to a deadly demon, she should be a fucking expert at that. 

Inuyasha Manga: 331 People's Hearts

That's a complicated subject. Depending on the conditions around the development of a person's heart, and the conditions surrounding it when crisis strikes, it can react to stimuli in very different ways to a neighbor's. For instance, some people respond to the suffering of others halfway across the world with compassion and an attempt to help, while others respond with indifference. Some see violence enacted upon their community members and stand in the way, others JOIN IN on the violence. The rest cower and stick their heads in the sand, making excuses as to why the violence is DESERVED by the people experiencing it, and soothing themselves with the lie that they're doing everything right so it could never happen to them. 

It's a massive misfortune to have to see just exactly which of your fellow humans fall into which camp.  

Inuyasha makes those around him lucky, though. 

A little distance behind him, Kagome floating on Shippou's balloon back notes as well that she's sensing a single Shikon shard, and concludes it's Kohaku. She urges Shippou to hurry, who's still sweating pretty hardcore from the effort of holding her aloft. 

At the rat origin site, Miroku is yelling Sango's name, horrified at the mound of rats that have formed around where she and her brother were just a moment before. But thankfully, a scraped up Kirara rises out of the swarm of rodents, lifting Sango out of them as well by the straps across her back. She, in turn, has her arms around Kohaku, holding his unconscious form tightly as it hangs limp. It's but a moment of triumph, though.

They look awfully peaceful for how violent a death this promises to be...

Miroku is struggling to get to them, knocking the rats off him as they crawl up his robe, freaking out because he can't use his Kazaana without sucking up Sango and Kohaku as well. Not to mention, he is not holding the rats off himself, and is quickly being overwhelmed as well, a few of the little creatures having climbed up to his shoulders and now leaping for his head. 

Inuyasha arrives at last and calls out to both Miroku and Sango, rats still clinging to his legs even as he's leaping out of the horde. Suddenly, an arrow flies from... somewhere, and hits the barrier around the discarded rat-box. A flare of light surges around the object at the impact. 

Miroku urges Inuyasha to smash that nuisance of a box, since the barrier has been removed on it, as he's just a tad weighed down by the legion of vermin. Inuyasha flies past him and brings Tessaiga down on the zushi in record time, shattering the box. The multitudes of rats do what ALL truly dead youkai in this comic do: they dissolve into thin air, which still seems to leave Miroku in mild shock. It's understandable, his brain is probably just about as rumpled and torn as his rat-nibbled clothes at the moment. 

Meanwhile, Shippou draws Kagome's attention to the rats disappearing below them, which must be a relief to him given it means he can finally touch down and doesn't have to carry people five times his size anymore. Kagome declares that the zushi has been broken, then is shocked at the appearance of a trio of figures on a nearby cliff, two short and one taller. 

Took you a minute, didn't it?

As Shippou pops back into his own form nearby and Kagome runs to catch up with Inuyasha and Miroku, Inuyasha stares up at where Kikyou is perched, saying her name softly. She turns to walk away, but she's still occupying Inuyasha's thoughts immediately afterward, as always. 

His focus on her is snapped when Miroku indicates Sango, though, who is still lying on the ground with Kohaku, both unconscious it seems. They're surprisingly WHOLE, considering how long the rats were gnawing on their flesh. Of course, it's difficult to say just how long all that business took, so maybe it was a shorter amount of time than I think. 

Anyway, Kohaku is the first to open his eyes, and sits up to find that he's partly constrained by his sister's body laying on top of him. He notes that she's covered in wounds, and that it's all because of him. I'm still DESPERATE to know where the line is for him when it's not worth it anymore.

Sango is opening her eyes now too. 

Whoops, lingered a little too long. 

Sango haltingly asks Kohaku if he's okay, reaching out to cup his cheek in her hand. Kohaku lets this gesture linger for a moment, looking a bit regretful as he regards his sister. Then he jumps back onto his haunches out of her range, poor Sango making a shocked noise and then calling out to him in despair. The atmosphere swirls behind him and the Saimyoushou reappear at his back, Miroku identifying them as though this is the first he's seen of them so far. I don't know, maybe it IS the first time he's noticed they're there, considering his focus has been monopolized by those rats until now. 

Kohaku's had enough of these close encounters, it seems. 

Hakudoushi's head starts interrogating Kohaku about who that woman is down there and why she protected him, like it's any of HIS business. After a short pause, Kohaku claims he doesn't know, acknowledging silently that Hakudoushi was watching the whole scene. Creeper. Kohaku looks down at Sango sitting staring up at him from the ground again, not wanting her to be in any more dangerous situations like this one, so he resolves even harder to defeat Naraku ASAP. Yeah kid, I don't think you have any control over the scheduling here. 

Sango yells Kohaku's name as he recedes into the sky, clearly anguished. Miroku and Kagome look on at her forlorn and defeated posture with pity. A horizon with a sun low in the sky over the distant wooded hills shows some time has passed, and Kagome and Inuyasha are shown sitting at a campfire outside a forest hut. Shippou stands a little ways away, staring at the hut, wondering aloud how Sango is doing, because she got chewed up pretty badly by the rats. Hope she didn't come down with PLAGUE. Inuyasha snaps a twig, saying that Sango's tough for a human, so her BODY will probably be fine. Kagome follows this up with the observation that the biggest issue for Sango will probably be how shocked she was to see that Kohaku had been involved with the rat plot. As usual, it's the trauma that lingers.

Inside the hut, Miroku is sitting with the dregs of a first aid kit beside Sango, who lays on her side facing away from him. He asks if her wounds are ailing her too much, and she takes a moment to respond, with the answer to a somewhat DIFFERENT question. Though not THAT different. 

... Fair. 

Miroku says her name, and she continues elaborating on her position, not only that there were many villages wiped out by the rats but Kohaku killed a lot of people at the castle with the "birds" as well. Even if these things were orders from Naraku, she emphasizes that what Kohaku has done must NEVER be forgiven. 

Or, rather, that's what she understands in her mind. She recalls a feeling like her chest being crushed when Kohaku was being attacked by the rats. What's more, when she saw that he was okay, she felt relief from the bottom of her heart. 

... Also fair. 

After saying Sango's name again, Miroku tells her this is a GOOD thing, and that she doesn't have to force herself to hate her brother. Sango hangs her head, still struggling to take some kind of responsible, moral stance on the matter by implying in a halting way that she'll have to behave differently from now on. Miroku recognizes her attempts to blame herself for not hating Kohaku, so asks her if she REGRETS protecting Kohaku. She answers that she doesn't exactly KNOW if she does or not, but, clenching the hand she's leaning on into a fist, says she thinks she'd regret it MORE if she didn't protect him. Again, Miroku assures her that this is good, and asserts that this is how people's hearts are. Sango agrees, thanking Miroku in her mind. 

Of course, he'd be in personal trouble if people weren't able to acknowledge the shitty things one has done but love them anyway. XD 

A narrow sky transition panel takes us to Kikyou wandering among one of the obliterated villages in the path of the rats, observing a barren waste scattered with skeletons of humans and animals. Her little child shikigami march ahead of her without much regard for any of this, but she's silently fuming about how Naraku did all this just to draw her out. 

She kneels next to a body of water while the shikigami hold her bow and arrows, and cuts a lock of her hair with a small knife. Kikyou then winds the lock of hair around with a tie and hands it over to the shikigami, instructing them to fly around with it. 

These assholes are really out here making looking for each other everyone else's problem. 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? RT has a multitude of strengths and weaknesses as a storyteller, but I think one of her strengths is not shying away from the complexities of human emotions. Sango's struggle here is very realistic, and it forces the reader to consider how they would feel if a beloved family member committed an atrocity. As much as we like to believe our morals and ethics are inflexible when it comes to certain things, it's against our natures as social animals to turn against people close to us. I poke fun at Miroku here for his personal interest in not being hated for his shitty behavior, but he's right: no matter how horrible a loved-one's actions are, there is some part of us that rebels against abandoning them. There's also a part of us that feels responsible for their actions, like if we had loved them better, or differently, this wouldn't have happened. Sango's pain comes through as not just understandable, but acute and encompassing; you can almost FEEL her heart breaking. 

There's not much more to say about Kohaku's side of things, because he hasn't really done anything new here. He's sticking to his guns, still resolved to get close enough to Naraku's heart to smother it with a pillow or something. The only thing that's really changed is that seeing Sango hurt because of a plot he had a hand in, he's wanting to speed things up a bit. I don't know how he thinks he's going to manage that, since his whole plan revolves around just letting Naraku order him close to the infant. Also, though there's no outright textual evidence for this in Kohaku's thoughts or dialog, I get the feeling that he's stuck in this sunk-cost fallacy where he's convinced he's so deep in, he may as well see his plan through to the end. 

In any case, one thing's for certain: if Sango ever finds out that Kohaku has been doing horrible things consciously, outside of Naraku's influence, her anxiety around loving him anyway is just likely to increase. 

YuYu Hakusho Manga: 031 The Raging Fist!!

Seems to me certain fists have always been raging to a certain extent, the only difference being the target. A fluctuating variety of targets I've observed these days too! Seems like every week I hear of someone else being attacked and new wars being started, then being ended abruptly when there's some new target in the crosshairs. No diplomacy, no real deals being negotiated, just pure chaos as fists are swung in every direction, including at the body they belong to. Being in the body of the flailing beast, I've had a rather bumpy ride trying to live in here. One particularly famous game phrase keeps popping into my head every time something new crops up. 

"It hurt itself in its confusion!"

I sure hope that isn't a problem YUSUKE has.

It's not for the moment, anyway. Shaolin only has the time to react with a wide alarmed stare as Yusuke plows his fist into his face, sending him skipping along the swamp like a stone. 

I wish we could do the same to certain hegemonic monsters in our own world. That would be SO SATISFYING. 

Shaolin doesn't respond with anything but grunts and spits as he pushes himself into a sitting position. He gets to his feet and is immediately alarmed AGAIN by a quiver running up them. I'm not sure if Yusuke REALLY hit him that hard or if it's Yusuke's second thundering approach, but...

How in the world did this guy manage to murder 99 martial arts masters??

Shaolin lands on his back in the swamp, with a nasty sloshing sound. Yusuke approaches him yet again, yelling at him to get up. He continues to sit in the mud, though, wiping his bruised jaw with a slimy fist. Shaolin makes a disgusted noise, suggesting he got some mud in his mouth, which is a strangely satisfying thought. He then says that while Yusuke scored a physical strength number of 155, but he's certain the kid easily tops 200 in actual combat. 

Yusuke is pulling back for another punch, informing Shaolin that it's just for STARTERS, but the little menace makes a couple of winding motions with his arms from his crouching position, calling this a "Slicing Gale Aegis". 

Kagura, eat your heart out.

Botan gapes in her concern, but Genkai looks as placid as ever when she says that Yusuke will be made into hamburger if he tries to charge through. 

The air makes a worrying whooshing sound, but Yusuke just roars in rage, and leaps straight at Shaolin, fists outstretched and flying almost like he's SUPERMAN. Shaolin is in disbelief that Yusuke is leaping OVER his buzz saw air, though he's still getting a bit sliced up, with his arms crossed in front of his head as a guard. Shaolin gapes, but Genkai, in a slightly more excited manner, explains to the still speechless Botan at Kuwabara's side that Yusuke is avoiding the worst effects of the vortices by jumping in head-first. I imagine it's a kind of "less surface area" kind of deal, Yusuke turning himself into a long missile shape so that the slices don't hit him broadside. 

... Has anyone called an ambulance yet?

Yusuke collapses to the side with an exhausted chuckle and a weak declaration that he GOT Shaolin. He shakily gets to his feet, inviting Shaolin to repent for his crimes in Hell. Then when he reaches where Botan is celebrating his victory on the sidelines and Kuwabara is still laying there unconscious, he admits that he's absolutely done, shot, finished, kaput. Botan assures him that he doesn't need to worry about it, because he finished Shaolin in one smashing blow, having avenged Kuwabara's demise in style. 

Wait... DEMISE??? Maybe Botan just means that in the sense that he fell in battle, because I'd be surprised if he perished this early in the manga while living out the whole anime. Yusuke wobbles, unsteady on his feet, as Botan marvels at how he really IS done. 

But Genkai warns Yusuke in her typical dry manner that this fight is ANYTHING but over. Yusuke makes a questioning noise at her, so she elaborates that if Shaolin really is Rando, then he's just getting warmed up. The chapter is hardly half-over, after all. 

Suddenly, some stilted coughs of laughter start to sound behind Yusuke, and a rumble passes through the ground. A voice asks itself how many decades it's been since its owner fought a human as Rando. A hand reaches up, nails lengthening into claws, knuckles cracking, while the voice continues to babble, this time about how it was so unexpected to be unmasked by anyone but Genkai herself. What looks like Shaolin's vest/tunic flutters in the air as it's thrown away, and the voice talks about pleasing being discovered is actually, and how much consideration needs to go into making Yusuke suffer and die. You'd think you'd like to shake the guy by the hand more than kill him if he did something you LIKE, but I guess it's always opposite day for demons or something.

Yusuke slowly turns to look at his ACTUAL enemy. 

CHANGED? That is just NOT the same guy! Doesn't even KIND OF look like the disguise. 

Botan marvels at this other form that represents the real Rando, even seems a little impressed. Genkai, on the other hand, continues to look bored.

Yusuke is trembling, his body already put at its limit, as Rando approaches him, mockingly asking if he's alright, looking as pale as he is. But since Yusuke has never been one to recognize limits, he lunges for Rando, demanding he shut his yap. He proceeds to rapidly punch Rando again and again, but it doesn't appear to affect the heavily muscled target that just stands there stone still with a small smirk. Rando asks now if Yusuke is finished, commenting on how that wasn't anything like his previous attack, barely even registering, no power behind them. Yusuke groans in response, as some fine, silvery threads extend from Rando's lips. At first I thought he was spitting, but...

You can do just about anything with that aura stuff, huh?

Hell, Rando is practically drooling it when he corrects Yusuke, telling him it's an entire aura WEB, actually. He reckons he's probably the only demon who can spin one too, presumably because he stole the technique from a human master, although it DOES seem like something a spider monster might do before a human. In any case, the stuff wraps around first Yusuke's limbs, then his whole body, binding him tightly in what looks to be a sticky, gummy straight jacket so he can't move. Botan and Genkai stare with shock, the latter a bit less than the former, but showing SOME emotion nonetheless. Rando pulls on the rope of it extending out from Yusuke, saying it's tough stuff, so tough that you can't break it no matter how hard you try. He offers a VIOLENT demonstration of this by starting to swing the rope, and a screaming Yusuke with it, around his head. 

No, please not again...

We get a close-up right on Rando's cold eye as he says he could swing and swing his victim all day, then zoom out again to see Yusuke slammed into the ground again to emphasize Rando's declaration that the rope of sticky aura would never snap. I guess it's a good thing the ground is soft swampland? Can't be THAT soft, though...

Botan agonizes over how Yusuke is helpless and can't escape, but she's clearly in no position to help. Maybe Genkai...? Nah. 

Rando drags Yusuke a little through the grass, the boy gagging a little, before announcing that he has an idea. Next thing anyone knows, the rope of aura has been tied up on the branch of a bare tree, and Yusuke is dangling upside down from it over a small pond. Blood rushing to his head, he asks what new sadistic trick this is, and suggests he just kill him, since Rando's got him helpless anyway. Rando says he'd like Yusuke to meet his little friends first, and reaches out an arm, chanting something unreadable. Yusuke sees some shadows emerging from the depths of the pond. 

Oh, I hate those SO much. 

Rando says they're fish summoned from the demon plane, which is distressingly vague. Also, he's summoned something ELSE: a tiny oni-type demon, which he clutches in his fist though its little mouth is wide in protest. He throws it straight into the pond, saying that the fish also have big appetites, and the little oni shrieks and splashes, munching accompanying its cries. Those stop in short order and the bones of the oni float under Yusuke, picked absolutely clean. It's yet another horrifying DEMONstration, an abundance of which seem to be available to Rando, who points a glowing forefinger at Yusuke and tells him that human flesh is a special treat for those fish. 

I mean, if they have to get summoned from the demon plane to get a taste of it, that makes sense. 

Botan gasps about Rando's pose, very much in line with Yusuke's when he's about to fire his Reigun. As Rando's forefinger glows brighter, Yusuke also gapes in alarm, speechless. Rando says he loves that expression he's wearing, and Botan laments how the demon learned the Reigun fired ONCE and already figured out how to do it. Genkai agrees that Rando is a quick study, back to a deadpan placid when she admits that he could surpass her, but as an EVIL master. She doesn't seem ENTHUSED about it... but she doesn't seem OPPOSED either. 

Rando holds that shooting pose, the light at the tip of his finger growing all the brighter, and says he loves the sounds of humans getting eaten by his demonic piranhas as well. Once that light reaches a blinding pitch...

I'd say RIP to our main character, but we know from EXPERIENCE that Yusuke doesn't rest in peace. 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I don't think I've ever seen a more dramatic transformation out of a disguise than this one, and the other manga I'm covering has youkai regularly turning into animals and shit. It's no wonder the Botan's information on Rando didn't include a physical description; who knows if THIS is even what he really looks like. The weird spider tattoo across his face does strike me as an edgy kind of enhancement rather than his natural appearance, but then again, it's the kind of thing that anyone might have figure out a way to cover if they were getting a job at a convenience store, let alone trying to infiltrate the confidence of a martial arts master. 

It's almost not fair that Yusuke looked to be doing so well in the first half of the chapter, only to be fed to demon piranhas in the second. But I suppose that's the point, to show that no matter how righteous one's anger or cause, it'll only give you so much of a boost against an opponent that is just that much more PACKED with resources. This is a creature that has spent years collecting all kinds of master techniques and killing their originators, and he sure is loving showing them off at the moment. 

Yusuke really is going to have to pull a Houdini in order to get out of this one, or get his second-wind of luck that helped him win his last match. 

Inuyasha Manga: 330 Rat Swarm Runs Wild

A couple of weeks ago, we had a man come to our door several times in two days to talk to us about our supposed rodent problem. He was adamant that the mild signs of disturbance of insulation under the house was a sign that the mice were going to move into the house at any moment, and that it was going to be a serious problem later on when they started chewing on our electrical cables, for some reason. In all this scare-mongering, he carefully avoided talking about what it was he wanted to DO about this highly exaggerated issue, which I'm sure involved killing off all the wildlife in the yard. 

We took a flyer from him in case anything cropped up, and firmly told him he needed to stop knocking on our door every five seconds. Not only have we seen no droppings, had no electrical problems, and have a cat that would NOT be quiet if she heard rodents under the floor, but we've ensured the overgrown yard is an ample habitat for them. They have plenty of food and shelter out in the foliage that it wouldn't make a lick of sense for them to move in even CLOSE to us humans. 

A massive hungry population roaming a barren moonscape, on the other hand...

Miroku acknowledges that the rats are coming back after him, and wonders if the mayose charm has been broken as he rips the sealing beads from his right hand with a bitter curse. He points the Kazaana at the oncoming stream of rats, but despite it sucking in a great cloud of them, there's still a separate line of them streaming out of the Kazaana's range and right past him. He sweat about not being able to vacuum up all of them, since there's too many.

Meanwhile...

She reminds him that he's a youkai EXTERMINATOR, so he's kinda doing he OPPOSITE of what he's supposed to. Kohaku continues to defend against Sango's advance, though, noting once more that the Saimyoushou are hovering over his shoulder, watching him. At least they're too busy doing THAT to bother Miroku about his rat clean-up duty. Kohaku is convinced that if he shows Naraku even the SLIGHTEST hint of betrayal, he'll lose his chance to find out where that baby (or Naraku's heart) is. 

Sango forces Kohaku to leap out of the way again as she slams Hiraikotsu's end into the ground in the spot he was crouched. It's looking like she's far less likely to hold back here. She pulls a chain from one of the secret compartments at her elbow and throws it so its weighted end wraps around an alarmed Kohaku's ankle. After he skids to a stop on his knee, he responds in kind, throwing the weighted chain on his sickle at her, which she avoids by ducking behind Hiraikotsu as it wraps around the boomerang's tip. She declares he can't get away now.

At the sound of scrabbling on the rocks behind her, she looks around.  

That's looking pretty bad. They're both looking in disbelief at the advancing writhing shadow crawling across the ground toward them, and I can just HEAR Sango thinking that Miroku had ONE JOB. 

Meanwhile, back at the mayose tree, the burns from the slugs are exposed, a majority of the slugs themselves lying in shreds on the ground and being examined for devouring potential by the rats. 

The lump of slime falls to the ground among the rats, but they're still wandering aimlessly along the ground, and Shippou curses the fact that they're no longer showing any interest in climbing the tree. Kagome looks up at the damaged trunk and says that it's died, unfortunately. Didn't take much to kill this tool of unparalleled spiritual power. I guess Kikyou is showing us some weakness after all?

Nearby rats are starting to gain their bearings, and notice that the fleshy Kagome and Shippou are nearby, much to their panic. Inuyasha curses, descending from the tree in a hurry, his clawed fingers held up at the ready. He acknowledges that the rodents will just increase when he cuts them and laments how annoying they are, so he claws up some of the earth in their path to disturb it and buy a moment of time. He uses it to yell over his shoulder at Shippou to hurry up and transform rather than gaping, because they're leaving immediately. Shippou seems alarmed at the prospect of running away, but Inuyasha reminds him that the mayose tree is no longer of any use, and they're off to smash the zushi that's producing the little menaces. 

Wow, way to fat-shame Inuyasha, kid! XD

Meanwhile, as the rats advance on Sango and Kohaku, Miroku flies over the swarm to call to the former, telling her in a panic to hurry and smash the little box Kohaku is protecting. After a moment of dazed alarm at Miroku's sudden appearance with the rising tide of rats, Sango lunges once more for her brother with grunt. He fends of her fresh attack, even while she's trying to appeal to his reason by insisting he has to understand he'll be eaten by rats at this point too. He understands this only too well, and is also imagining Naraku to most likely give him the orders to protect the zushi even if it costs him his life. Talk about complying in advance. 

All the time, the rats advance on them, and start to leap at Sango's back once they get close enough. Kohaku watches in horror about to utter a warning to his sister before...

Oooh, this is an IMPRESSIVE panel! Look at that dynamic movement!

Kohaku jumps back, lands in a crouch, then quickly makes a break for it again, Sango hot on his heels. Miroku calls to Sango over his shoulder for her to get on Kirara, because it's too dangerous to be on the ground. She takes his advice, sitting astride the giant sabertoothed cat, but Kohaku is left the principal target of the rising wave of rats. Kohaku is outflanked, and the rats leap for him from seemingly all directions, teeth and claws extended. 

I want to offer a survey to Kohaku every five seconds asking him if this stunt is still worth it.

Miroku gapes over his shoulder in horror as Sango jumps from a circling Kirara's back and pulls Kohaku out of the pile of rats. The box falls from his back and she pauses in her efforts to drag her brother up from the little biting critters to raise Hiraikotsu over her head with the intention of breaking the thing so the rats disappear. But Hiraikotsu is repelled when it hits the zushi by a barrier, because OF COURSE Naraku/Hakudoushi put a barrier around the fucking thing. Still, Sango is SHOCKED that she can't break it. Miroku has now half turned to the scene, too invested in her task to not be splitting his attention, and recognizes the barrier protecting it. 

The rats are once again surrounding Sango, Kohaku, and Kirara, though I'm not certain why they were holding off for the few seconds it took for Sango to try to break the box. Plot convenience time-dilation, I expect. Miroku yells at Sango to get away now, but she kneels to cuddle her injured brother while the rats leap at them again. 

Nearby, Inuyasha announces he's going on ahead and jumps down from Shippou to touch down briefly within the sea of rats, against Kagome's protest. 

We all do, Inuyasha. We all do. 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Aside from the little time snafu toward the end there, I was very impressed with the action in this chapter. Nearly every panel was filled with movement and terror with the characters being pursued by a perpetually starving cloud of menace that wouldn't be sated even when the heroes are consumed. And underneath that surface of that desperate turmoil of fighting a fall to this pest, I can't help but think about how this relates to the setting. The basis of animistic spiritualities like Shinto is making relatable and impose personality and literal spirit into forces of nature that seem too big, eldritch, and indiscriminately cruel to comprehend. In the time period this story is set, it was a very real threat to suddenly have a rush of "plague" on crops, rampant disease, famine, and a surge of pests that could ruin everything for the year due to a chain of cause and effect that were not necessarily visible to your everyday person. In a way, youkai and other kinds of spirits, both malevolent and benign, were conceived to help explain these phenomena and provide a story basis for comprehending them on a more personal level. 

I'm still a little frustrated by how everything is about to go back to normal in record time despite how absolutely DEVASTATING an event like this would be on this small archipelago, since frankly, I don't believe for one second that RT had intended to make me think about all this when she wrote the arc. Still, it's interesting to consider how a plague of rats went from a terrible disaster in an ancient context, to the result of the whims of a malevolent spirit, to the set dressing of a modern story.

Can we take a moment to appreciate how SAVAGE Shippou is above too? Is he aiming to inspire an eating disorder in Inuyasha or WHAT??

YuYu Hakusho Manga: 030 Shaolin = Rando!?

I didn't realize the final page of the last chapter was the chapter title page for this one. Not that it's a problem, of course, given that it would have to bear some repeating when it first came out in print. Not just because of the natural tendency for a reader's memory to get fuzzy during the week in between issues, but because little inoffensive guys like Shaolin don't really get the same amount of scrutiny that big burly guys get. No doubt this was the reason Rando chose this particular disguise. 

I mean, just look at that punim!

Botan exclaims that she wouldn't have guessed, and Yusuke is in disbelief that it's this little dude who's the dangerous demon. It's always the quiet ones, lol. As Genkai announces the second match of the semi-finals, Kuwabara rotates his shoulder to stretch and pop the joint, thinking he'll take out the shrimpboat and then it'll just be him and Urameshi left. It has not occurred to him at all that the "shrimpboat" smiling benignly at him might have gotten this far because he's not all he seems. 

Yusuke calls to Kuwabara to listen for a second, but Botan waves an admonishing finger at him, warning him not to give away classified information, reminding him that they're undercover. Uh, I think your inexplicable presence here has probably blown that cover wide open for at least Rando. GENKAI certainly knew who she was and where she came from. Still, Yusuke seems chastened and mutters his assent as Kuwabara comes over.

He asks Yusuke what he wants, then tells him if he's going to cheer him on, he doesn't need to bother with that. Yusuke stutters a bit, but then leans over and whispers to him not to underestimate this guy, and gives him some advice to throw the match for his own good. Yeah, that was ALWAYS going to go over badly. Kuwabara shoves his finger in Yusuke's face, pushing in the tip of his nose, and basically scoffs at the advice of a guy who won his last match through sheer dumb luck and still got beaten up so bad he can barely stand now. He's certainly got a POINT, here. While Yusuke growls at him like a feral possum, Kuwabara tells him not to worry, that he'll get to HIM next.

Oof, that panel hurts my eyes a little. 

Shaolin strikes a posture with his fist in the opposite palm, and politely suggests that the best man win. While they face each other when the match begins, Yusuke and Botan look on in gaping worry. Kuwabara starts things off with a declaration that the best defense is a good offense, and lunges for Shaolin. To the absolute shock of the onlookers, Kuwabara lands a face-warping punch on Shaolin. 

Are we... absolutely SURE there's a big, bad demon here at all?

Yusuke looks confused, and Shaolin rubs his cheek with a childish whine, admitting that Kuwabara is a bit stronger than the numbers indicated. Kuwabara is a little sheepish, muttering that he barely touched the wimpy guy. Wimpy, but persistent. He resolves to get more serious, and after a growl of determination, runs at Kuwabara. Every swing he takes at Kuwabara is dodged, Kuwabara twitching out of the way with no effort whatsoever. Kuwabara eventually gets annoyed and punches straight down on Shaolin's head, and Shaolin whines once more, clutching the lump on his head and bawling. Kuwabara asks who's getting the better of whom here, which just makes the picture all the sadder. 

Genkai frowns at the scene, Yusuke and Botan looking on with surprise. Yusuke turns to Botan and asks if she's absolutely SURE that's Rando, because he's not exactly living up to his reputation right now. It's Yusuke's suggestion that he got beaten up and robbed of HIS power, and Botan hums in response, without much else to say. It IS pretty hard to argue this guy is much of a threat. 

Shaolin crouches and a spectral fire surrounds him as he says it's time to play his ACE. Botan is concerned about his aura changing, and Yusuke looks like he's back to being cautious. In the palm of Shaolin's hand appears a puff of flame, which alarms the hell out of Kuwabara. 

Well, Genkai seems a little shocked, at least. 

Kuwabara lifts his arm out of the path of a flying fireball just in time and it whizzes under his armpit, but it singes his shirt which catches on fire from the proximity to the fire. He dances around, complaining of the heat, and Yusuke yells at him that he's not a rabbit. Once Kuwabara has got the little flame put out, he glares at Shaolin, grumbling about the stuff he's pitching at him and makes his own resolutions now that he's "at the plate" so to speak. 

He takes out the little piece of wooden sword he'd gotten from his previous match and creates the energy sword in much the same manner as before, calling it the "Leadoff Hitter Sword". These baseball metaphors are adorable, especially since his shirt appears to be a baseball jersey. 

Shaolin shoots another fireball, and just like he's a batter, Kuwabara swings and hits the fireball right back at its alarmed pitcher with the Aura Sword. 

It should be illegal for a scene to be this fucking cute. 

Yusuke points out to Botan that Kuwabara is getting more powerful by the minute, and even if Shaolin IS Rando, he could be in some trouble with our baseball boy. Botan wonders if Yusuke could be right, sweatdropping, but also looking a little hopeful. It would be awfully nice if Rando's defeat turned out to be easier than she assumed. 

So why do I feel like it's only going to be harder instead?

Shaolin gushes a bit about how Kuwabara just hit the fireball straight back at him and he couldn't dodge it, claiming Kuwabara combined defense and offense into one fighting style. Kuwabara is grinning when he tells Shaolin that flattery will get him nowhere, insisting he give up already. Shaolin refuses for the moment, lacing his fingers except for the two indexes, which he steeples together to point toward his chin. A jumble of Kanji float around behind him, indicating some sort of chant. Kuwabara asks aloud what all this Buddhist jazz is, speculating that it's Shaolin saying his prayers before he flattens him. 

Genkai mutters that it's some spell, though. When Yusuke and Botan look to her for explanation, she says that the flaming palms and the one Shaolin is currently using are techniques that the best "Voodoo charmers" and martial artists she knows have spent DECADES mastering. Uh, that term gives me the distinct impression that Genkai doesn't know a SINGLE Root Worker or Voodoo practitioner. Regardless, Genkai says now that she's heard of a demon stealing various masters' secrets recently, which is a hell of a thing to admit NOW, at the tail-end of her own competition for a successor. 

Yusuke expresses absolute shock that Shaolin actually DOES seem to be Rando, as Kuwabara makes a mad dash for Shaolin, resolving to make a move if his opponent is just going to stand there chanting. Suddenly, Kuwabara freezes in his advance, in question at first, then gaping, sweating HORROR.  

At first, Kuwabara screams that Shaolin has become a giant, but then he notices the tall grass around him and wonders where it came from, then hears a rustle next to him and turns to see a caterpillar that is almost as large as he is crawling over the ground. He shrieks at the snuffling thing, jumping back from its path, asking himself what's going on, if Shaolin grew, or if HE'S the one who changed. He leaves that last part unspoken, perhaps unable to utter the unspeakable, perhaps because he doesn't have time to finish his sentence before a giant hand descends and grasps him tightly, lifting him from the ground.

Honey, I shrunk the hooligan. 

Yusuke yells impotently that Shaolin can crush Kuwabara at will, a real "no duh" moment, and encourages Kuwabara to throw in the towel because he's lost. Uh, if Shaolin is a killer demon, what makes you think he's going to ACCEPT a forfeit from Kuwabara before just taking him off the census? Indeed, Shaolin asks politely for Yusuke not to take away his fun, expressing his desire for Kuwabara to suffer a little before "the end". Ominous as FUCK.

Kuwabara is struggling to escape Shaolin's grasp to absolutely no effect, and one of his arms is only allowed out of Shaolin's fist when Shaolin himself releases it to take it up into his opposite fingers. He asks mockingly what would happen if he held it like that, Kuwabara falling into silent panic, and Yusuke calling Kuwabara's name in alarm. Shaolin bends the little toy-like arm a little in unnatural directions, delicately, but producing a worrying crackle. Kuwabara stutters at him to stop, then screams when his right arm snaps under the pressure of Shaolin's fingers. Yusuke is rendered speechless in his horror.

Alright, NOW it's easy to see this guy as a demon. 

Yusuke overcomes the initial shock of watching mini Kuwabara getting his arm broken and turns to Genkai to shout at her to call the match, because it's over. She hums dispassionately at first, but then does as Yusuke asks, announcing that Shaolin is the victor. After Shaolin asks Kuwabara if he heard that he won, he claps his other hand over Kuwabara in his other fist and squeezes, producing a crunch as the body inside is mangled. Yusuke yells Kuwabara's name again, lunging toward Shaolin in the effort to stop him, calling him a scum ball. Thankfully, it looks like Kuwabara isn't COMPLETELY broken when we see him sticking out the top of Shaolin's fist in this panel, Shaolin having taken his other hand away. 

But Shaolin's cruelty isn't finished yet. He scoffs at the approaching Yusuke, then flings Kuwabara into the surrounding swamp, claiming to be done with him anyway. As Yusuke runs off in the direction Kuwabara was thrown, Botan joining him, Shaolin laughs about the speed he got on that pitch, and sighs in admiration for his thrill of victory. He supposes aloud that they would prefer Kuwabara to be returned to his original size, and lifts his hands again to reverse his spell, because he sees no real harm in it. 

Doctor? Doctor. Especially when Botan makes her medical assessment of Kuwabara while she and a fretting Yusuke kneel on either side of him: both arms, a leg, and some ribs SHATTERED. In fact, Botan says that it's possible the arms may never heal properly. Girl, take out those magic cleric powers or whatever and get busy! 

As if anyone asked, Shaolin starts gushing about how he wanted to try out that spell for a long time, but it's an awfully long and complicated incantation, and leaves him vulnerable when he's reciting it, which means it doesn't really add to his power in a practical way. He confesses that he's interested in Genkai's techniques because they require few words and create DEVASTATING results, like being able to blow a human to smithereens. Unsurprisingly, his little smile is looking pretty sinister here in a shaded panel. 

After a small pause, Genkai says that this would be the case in EVIL hands. Surely she recognizes by now that Shaolin does indeed HAVE those evil hands. I mean, he literally BROKE Kuwabara with them and everything. And he's just continuing to gush about how excited he is to try all this stuff out, and the rest of them just don't even GET IT. Yeah, man, no doubt they don't get the excitement about potentially murdering people. Super abnormal. 

Yusuke grunts through his clenched teeth that Shaolin will only get to try it in his dreams, which prompts Shaolin to take a moment to re-examine Yusuke and happily declare that he's never seen an aura so fired up with bloodlust. He thinks it's WAY COOL, lol. 

Shit is about to GO DOWN.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Yusuke is having quite the emotional reaction, and I can't help but notice how much more POTENT it is than the one he had to Keiko's kidnapping and near demon-turn. That combined with how Yusuke doesn't even seem to really WANT to hang out with Keiko, and you start to wonder just exactly why some creators scratch their heads at rainbow interpretations of their male main characters. XD

All half-jokes aside, it's no wonder to me that this attitude of Shaolin/Rando has frustrated Yusuke to the point of murderous rage. He's maintaining an almost friendly and innocent affectation while saying some of the most malicious and threatening things with it, and the combination is very disturbing. It begs the question why he's bothering to keep up this strange act, unless the jaunty disposition is natural to him and just goes really well with his unassuming disguise. It sends a chill up your spine to think that the excitement he expresses like a kid in a candy store is literally just how he considers potential violence against humans; just like CANDY to him. Demonic indeed. 

I'm confused by Genkai again. She indicates that she's heard rumors about the demon stealing her colleagues' techniques, but still seems largely disinterested in the idea that this is what is possibly happening here. I can't decide if it's more likely that he held these trials in as a trap for the demon in partnership with the Underworld authorities (considering she did seem to recognize where Botan was from, and therefore Yusuke), OR if she just genuinely doesn't give a shit if her power goes to a demon or not. I recall from one of the discussions under a previous chapter that there MIGHT be some reasoning on Genkai's part that progress has no moral compunctions, but we have yet to hear from Genkai herself, so I'm still reserving judgment until I do. Perhaps I'm still holding out hope that she's not a consequentialist weirdo or something, lol!

And poor Kuwabara! Not only has he been horribly mangled, but he BARELY got to use his Spirit Sword, and certainly not in any way that wasn't a bat! Though I did appreciate the baseball metaphors. They were major league fun. :)