Inuyasha Manga: 346 The Gyouja

"Gyouja" means ascetic, apparently, but while I was looking this up, I was surprised to learn that the Inuyasha Viz Big volumes were all available on the Viz website. I don't know if this has always been the case and their search function just sucks, but I already have an account and it's how I've accessed the Yu-Gi-Oh chapters and, more currently, the YuYu Hakusho chapters. I wanted to be able to do so with Inuyasha as well, because it's a bit of a chore to drag the box with my paper volumes out of the closet whenever I need to compare the Viz official translation and whatever scanlation I'm working with. 

So, I was very happy to discover this and looked over the whole LONG list of Inuyasha chapters just to see if they had them all, and was then surprised to see that all but the first three were barred to me by a paywall. I'm already paying about $3 a month for a subscription to the Shonen Jump manga, but they want me to pay another $2 per month for an entirely SEPARATE subscription to OTHER Viz manga that are not in the Shonen Jump publication. 

I guess I'll be continuing to drag my physical copies out of their box whenever I want to compare in the future. XD

Poor guy is still not having any luck finding a good place to get some shuteye since the last time we saw him, huh? Je suis passé par là.

The men look up at the giant mountain monster in horrified wonder, stuttering that it's a youkai. Brilliant observation guys. Our rocky boy is glaring into a growing surge of light, and a few points of light shoot from the glow to pierce him in and around the neck area, bursting straight through him. 

Gives the phrase "I'll sleep when I'm dead" a whole new level of morbid meaning.

A couple of the witnesses from the first page affirm that this happened three days ago, describing what they call a "batch" of light that struck through the monster mountain. They point out the place where the giant youkai fell, which is still visible as pretty much a regular mountainous outcrop, because the body was just left there. His isn't the kind that dissolves upon death, I guess. Gotta leave proper evidence for our team to examine. 

Apparently, the gargantuan corpse is so frightening, no one from the community has gotten close to take a look. As Inuyasha and Company rush toward the site themselves, Miroku admits that he can only imagine that it was Gakusanjin who fell here, but he also says he can't sense any youki from this mountain at all, Sango saying it's like the mound of rocks and foliage is just a regular mountain. I would have thought THAT would also dissipate along with the subject's life, but I'm no youkai expert, so what do I know? 

Inuyasha remains quiet, thinking that the smell remains, and he's pretty certain about who they're coming upon as the massive outline of their destination coalesces out of the mist ahead. 

Yup, that's his bulging eyes, officer. POSITIVE. Sango certainly can't deny it, affirming that it's Gakusanjin's head, and Inuyasha agrees with a melancholy air. 

Kagome recalls how when they met before, Gakusanjin had told them Naraku stole his Fuyouheki, with the power to erase the youki of the holder. Miroku suggests that Gakusanjin must have also gone after Naraku after they parted the first and last time they met, and Sango asks if he believes that Naraku is the one who killed Gakusanjin. She receives no answer from Miroku, but Kagome asks after Inuyasha, who is crouched on the ground, sniffing with some purpose. Inuyasha informs her that there is the scent of SEVERAL humans here, and when Kagome repeats "human" as a question, he elaborates that it's a fresh scent, which he deduces to mean that they came here AFTER Gakusanjin's death. As Shippou pops up on her shoulder, Kagome asks what THAT in turn means, and Shippou notes what they were told about the locals being too afraid to come over here. Assuming they're not just unaware of any dumb kids going to poke the dead youkai with a stick...

Narrow NIGHT sky transition panel, a full moon on display. A giant hairy eyeball with furry legs sprouting from it at every angle has perched itself on a roof, and a few villagers with torches stutter about it coming out. Clearly they are familiar with this creature, which is unfortunate. A couple of other villagers turn to shout at a "Gyouja-sama" to please take care of this shit. 

Sengoku Era lasers strike again. They're even sucked backward like a retracting tape measure. 

Are those... children? 

They are indeed, because the stuttering village men thanking them for their work stand a head or two taller than they do, despite their stooped peasant posture. Granted, it's nothing we haven't seen before in this manga, but not being accompanied by ANY adults whatsoever isn't quite so common. Being peasants, the villagers struggle to bring up the subject of a reward for the service rendered, but the kid at the forefront of his mini-exterminators tells the villagers that a handcart is all they need. 

The village men seem confused by the request, but in the next panel, the body of the spider-eyeball has been loaded onto the requested cart, and the kid assures his customers over his shoulder that the youkai corpse shall be buried at their residence over his shoulder as he pushes at the back of the cart on their way out. The villagers mumble amongst themselves about how the kiddos sure are something, despite the hesitant observation that those Gyouja-sama still being children. Not anything "ascetic" about them, as far as I can see, but I haven't seen much yet, to be fair. 

Cut to another mountainside, near the foot of which the kids are dragging the cart up a path to a complex in the trees. Around this set of buildings are giant spikes of stone or maybe even crystal sticking up out of the ground, and in between them, what looks like the desiccated forms of monks with wide open mouths sitting cross-legged in eternal meditative pose. They look ANYTHING but peaceful. 

Someone calls for "Goryoumaru-sama", announcing outside a particular building that they brough the remains of the youkai they finished off, with the goods to prove it on the cart at their backs. A voice from inside the dark doorway open a crack praises them and gives them permission to go rest. 

Everything about this is creepy AF.

Come daylight, someone ELSE is expressing incredulity at the village. It's Inuyasha, at the head of his own group, questioning the claim of the village men working in the field who told them about the gyouja going around exterminating youkai. But a villager leaning on his hoe confirms his claim, saying that these characters come from the holy mountain to the east. Oh no, not another holy mountain! The men further disclose that the gyouja had a kind of weird pot with them, which emitted a light that pierced the youkai.

This appears to ring a bell for Miroku, who asks how many of these gyouja there were, since the villagers indicated multiples. The villagers answer that the ones who came here were a three-"man" team, using the word "man" rather loosely in my opinion, but say there are rumored to be many more of them. 

Kagome recalls to everyone's attention how they were told that lights of the same sort killed Gakusanjin, and Inuyasha agrees that the implication is the gyouja guys did the deed. He calls for his group to hop to it, and in their wake, the villagers mutter over how the boy they just saw had some weird ears and was a youkai, they guess. They're pretty laid-back about it. 

It's amazing how many times I've seen this very panel reproduced by this point in the story. 

Kagome wonders aloud if these gyouja fellows have a connection with Naraku, and Inuyasha gives her a big "DUH" answer, citing the fact that they killed Gakusanjin. Coincidences are NOT possible in this story. He repeats the information they got that the gyouja come from this holy mountain in the east, so he's more than ready to go and confront them about killing the mountain-guy, at the very least. 

But a moment later, Inuyasha suddenly picks up an alarming scent, that appears to be familiar to him. It's another mere moment before a blast rushes toward his left side, and he has leap out of the way. It slams into the ground below, and Sango observes that it appears to be just a surge of light. Inuyasha touches down with Kagome struggling to keep her seat on his back, already twisting to confront whoever shot at him.

Ugh, kids these days and their over-use of the "z" sound. 

Miroku comments in mild disbelief that their attackers appear to be children, and Sango observes that they must be those gyouja they've been hearing so much about. Inuyasha also says he's POSITIVE that these are the same scents he smelled at Gakusanjin's head. Kagome hides half behind his shoulder like she's SCARED of these rugrats, lol!

One of the kids admits to only NOW noticing the human behind Inuyasha, and another bluntly tells her that she should get away from the youkai if she doesn't wanna die. I'm pretty sure brats like these are like HALF the reason I never became a mother. The other half being the environmentally destructive fascist capitalism. 

Kagome gets irritated at being advised thus and stutters a demand to know what it is they think they're saying, but Inuyasha tells her to get back again. Ah, the quintessential female experience of being given conflicting orders by all the boys around you like you're a fucking house pet. Inuyasha comments on how dangerous those jar things are on those kids' backs, and asks where they got them. The kids in turn ask what good it'll do knowing, because he's about to be exterminated anyway. Inuyasha draws Tessaiga and vows to make them talk no matter what, lunging for them.

For being "ascetics", these kids sure are gluttons for shooting youkai with lasers. 

So, what do I think of this chapter overall? I'm sure it will surprise no one that my favorite part of this chapter is the creepy atmosphere of the complex for the gyouja characters, and how creepy the guy they answer to is. The rocks sticking out of the ground like giant stakes and the figures of agonized monks between them strikes a very unsettling tone of warning. There's also something ominous about the insistence of the boys to bury their slain youkai in this place - it puts a loose connection between the twisted nature of the landscape and this practice. 

It's also somewhat reminiscent of Sango's first appearance in the story, who took pieces of the youkai she had killed back to her village of exterminators herself, and had an established practice of doing so to manufacture armor and weapons from them. But the tone was FAR different, from the contrast between the environments to the clear versus obscure purpose, and there seems to be a deliberate comparison happening here. The kids are after all using the exact language that Sango used when referring to her exterminator career. I'm looking forward to seeing more of HER response to this in particular, because she no doubt would be able to provide a unique insight to this community of little exterminators calling themselves "ascetics". Gonna have a hard time getting over that word. 

Finally, I think Inuyasha's behavior in this chapter is interesting, showing a unique kind of empathy for Gakusanjin and sadness when his murder is discovered. His manner is less caustic than usual, keeping a more internal dialog like he does when he's contemplating something uncomfortable for him, and his expression suggests at the very least disappointment. He wants to chase down the killers pretty much immediately, and while HE would probably characterize that as eagerness to get at the shadowy villain behind the murder he's been chasing this entire time, but I think in addition to the other things, it at least speaks to how sad Gakusanjin's loss is. Inuyasha had promised to bring the fuyouheki back to him, so there might perhaps be an echo there of the guilt he feels at failing to protect Kikyou, as well as a frustration at the lack of justice there for a guy who just wanted to go back to sleep.

Of course, I might just be projecting. Gakusanjin was my boy. We had so much in common, just wanting to get some fucking sleep. XD XD XD

YuYu Hakusho Manga: 046 Springtime for Kuwabara!!

That sounds... oddly familiar. Isn't that uncomfortably similar to a fiction within a fiction by the illustrious Mel Brooks? I hope this doesn't indicate that YT is trying to write a flop for a theoretical larger payout like the protagonists of that movie. Granted, I've never seen The Producers, but it's a rather beloved comedy, and I'm not sure YT could pull off that kind of a thing like Mel Brooks can. He's got a kind of finesse as a combination of comedic timing and gentle conscientiousness of identity/sensitive subjects that I'm not sure YT has developed, at least not by this early point.  

All this talk of tapes and VCRs is making me feel ridiculously old.

Keiko appears, asking after the video tape, and scolding Yusuke for bringing it to school because they're not allowed. Yusuke says he doesn't give a shit about that, and no doubt since he's so flippant, Keiko asks what's on it. She suggests "T2" and by Yusuke's disgusted reaction, I assume it's something dirty, but I couldn't really find any slang pertaining to that term after a cursory search. Feel free to educate me in the comments if you know what the hell these kids are talking about!

Yusuke recalls with some discomfort Keiko demanding his promise to tell her her first and foremost whenever he's dealing with a new case that could be dangerous. After a short pause, he goes ahead and lets out that it's his next "Underworld" assignment, though he hasn't seen the tape yet. Why put "Underworld" in quotes? Because Keiko's question is what he means by that word, and he falls over in his alarm. 

From the floor, Yusuke looks up at her with confusion mixed with irritation, saying he THOUGHT Botan had told Keiko all about this business he's mixed up in. Keiko says Botan told her he was working for a private detective, and assumes "Underworld" must be the name of the agency. Again, Yusuke is struck with absolute shock. For a smart girl, Keiko isn't really questioning the MANY questionable things in this claim. 

Later, at Kuwabara's house:

Oof, THAT'S what Botan told Keiko??? How did Keiko swallow all that SLOP???

Botan's excuse is that she was trying to explain things to Keiko without giving too much away, and despite how undercooked this "explanation" was, Keiko seemed to buy it. It's apparently well-known by Yusuke that they have to be discreet, because the details of his little job are top secret, and she puts on a distracting (per the note in the panel next to her) cat face and paws to insist that it's TOO DANGEROUS for Keiko to know about the Spirit Realm. But she already kind of... DOES? None of them remember all the affirming experiences that she had interacting with Yusuke's spirit when he was dead at the beginning of the comic, do they?

Whatevz, Yusuke says that he can't argue with that, the unspoken part of that statement being that it's because he's just not the debate-bro type. Kuwabara is sitting cross-legged in front of a tube TV, his impatience coming out when he asks if they can go ahead and WATCH this fucking tape already, because he's aching to know what's on it. It's fine for HIM to be in the know about the Spirit Realm, I guess... 

Yusuke points out that this has nothing to do with Kuwabara this time, but puts the tape in the VCR anyway, muttering in annoyance that it doesn't matter anyway. Botan and the boys lean closer in interest as the static at the beginning of the tape hisses. Kuwabara in particular utters a word of amazement, because a big image of the binky-sporting Koenma fills the screen and starts speaking. He says his dad is off being a "BIG DEAL"(TM) again, so he's back to being the Director of Underworld Investigations. DUI sure is a title, guy!

Koenma reaffirms that the tape concerns Yusuke's new mission, appearing only as white noise to normal humans, so he doesn't have to worry about eavesdroppers. What about people who think he's a little loopy for staring at static for several minutes? Kuwabara asks if THIS is really Yusuke's boss, this OTHER shrimp boat, no doubt referring to Hiei as the first. 

I've never seen this movie, but I assume it's a little like Koenma. 

Yusuke actually agrees with Kuwabara, sweatdropping in embarrassment, and somehow Koenma on the prerecorded tape calls for them to pay attention. Is it actually more of a streaming thing? Who knows. 

Ah, the classic escort mission. No wonder Koenma chose this one in his quest to select the mission that might be the most annoying.

Neither boy says anything to this, continuing to stare at Koenma and his clasped fingers as he begins to describe the target for rescue: she's a non-human girl, though he clarifies that she's not entirely INhuman. Over a panel containing a mountainous, hilly region, he says that this girl is being held prisoner in a place called Bone Ulcer Village. Demons sure know how to name shit. Koenma cites reliable Underworld messenger birds as the source of this information. 

Koenma goes on to tell the boys this girl is an "Ice Maiden", a member of a specific clan of winter spirits that are known for the beautiful jewels they produce. In fact, it's the reason she's been kidnapped, forced to make these jewels for her heartless human captor. The boys remain silent so Koenma can elaborate that she produces these jewels through her tears. 

Botan says that these jewels must be pure rare crystal, worth hundreds of millions on the black market. Kuwabara is starting to look a little miffed as he suggests that this villain holding her is making her cry to get them. Koenma confirms this, and further dispenses his intelligence, telling them that the girl's captor is a gem dealer named Gonzo Tarukane. The picture Koenma shows them looks NOTHING like the beloved Muppet, instead a balloonish man pinching a cigar between sausage-like forefinger and middle finger, with a lumpy bald head and substantial pouchy jowls. YT wonders in a note under this guy's portrait why he's always drawing pug-uglies. I don't know, bro, it's YOUR comic. 

Koenma says that Tarukane has always earned his living through unscrupulous means (as ALL rich people do, I'll add), but the Ice Maiden's jewels have made him pretty enormously rich even on top of all that. At this point, all three of Koenma's audience members appear to be eating popcorn from a bag in Kuwabara's hand, like they're watching a regular movie or something. They're essentially watching TV, to be fair.

After Kuwabara says through a mouthful of snack that this guy seems like a major sleeze and Yusuke affirms with the a similarly full mouth that he's worse than any demon, Koenma presents a slowly emerging image of the girl herself that he says is telepathically relayed by their birds.

Kuwabara is struck dumb by this image, stopping dead in his snacking to stare of the girl. Hit him harder than a sack of BRICKS. 

Koenma says that she's being held in Tarukane's summer mansion. Nowhere nicer to spend the summer than in a demonic township called BONE ULCER VILLAGE. XD XD XD. That barrier of talismans is there to keep her restrained, by Koenma's estimation, which is fair.

Suddenly, Kuwabara stands up, trembling in every limb, disturbing Yusuke who makes a questioning noise. Kuwabara says he's in love, then suggests they go to that mansion with gusto. Yusuke asks if he means NOW, and Kuwabara says OF COURSE he means now. He's a teenager after all, and nothing drives him faster than his out of control hormones. In mild alarm, Yusuke points out that they haven't watched the whole video yet, but Kuwabara demands that Yusuke hustles or he'll be left behind. I WOULD ask how he plans to get there by himself, but I don't expect Kuwabara OR YT to have much in the way of plans for conveyance. He asks what more they need to know, because they already know this poor girl is suffering and needs their help. More intelligence on the location? Dangers? HER NAME???

Kuwabara calls for his sister, demanding enough money to get him to Bone Ulcer, and Shizuru calls it by the name Honedatare, which she says with some shock is all the way over in the next prefecture. HOLD UP. You're telling me that a place in the HUMAN REALM is named BONE ULCER???? Are you fucking KIDDING ME right now??? Who the fuck named this place??? 

My complete shock aside, Shizuru comes into the room with a tray full of mugs and a cigarette hanging in her lips, looking back toward the door where her brother has stormed out and asking what's got him so fired up. A sweatdropping Yusuke is also flabbergasted enough to ask what's going on here, and only Botan seems to be aware of the symptoms. Taking a sip from her mug, she says it's springtime for Kuwabara. Congratz on saying the chapter title girl!

I'm pretty sure that ring around the lump on the top of his head is supposed to be a few remaining hairs, but it reminds me a bit of the stitching around the braincase of Frankenstein's monster. 

The entrance hall to the mansion is lined with columns, and also a line of butlers on either side, one of which is bowing in the front and informing Tarukane that they've been waiting for him. Yeah, no shit. Tarukane asks how Yukina is, and if she's shed any tears since he's been gone. Oh good, we only learn her name from the villain. That's good. The butler hesitantly tells Tarukane that she hasn't, because her emotions have "flattened out" as of late. The disassociation is probably REAL. 

The next panel shows Tarukane from the front, and extremely TALL man stands behind him, hand sweeping aside the tails of his long duster coat to shove his hand in his trouser pocket. On his shoulder is what looks like another guy, much smaller with long lanky dark hair, hitching a ride. They're a weird pair. Tarukane is complaining that Yukina has become indifferent to his needs. His NEEDS. What a STRANGE use of that word... He says he's brought a couple of specialists (the two behind him) to rekindle Yukina's interest in what's good for her kidnapper. The butler sweats as he asks who they are, glancing nervously at the men, who stare back. The former's expression is indifferent, though his eyes are hidden behind sunglasses. The latter seems to have a creepy smile. They're introduced as the Toguro brothers, brokers of darkness. 

Yeah, try not to cut yourselves on all that edge. 

The butler is rather intimidated, though, and sweats all the more, clarifying for no one other than the reader that this means they're demons in the business of providing monsters. Tarukane smiles, adding that the monsters are for everything from sideshows to assault forces, and these guys KNOW how to deal with freaks. In that case, I'm sure they have HIM figured out, at the very least. The tall brother quotes a saying about setting a thief to catch a thief, and then tells them to leave the girl to them. 

The next couple of panels scan the side of the mansion, to the general area where Yukina is sitting in a chair, surrounded by a few fluttering silhouettes. 

Mood. I myself have felt jealous of the birds flitting around my yard because they can just LEAVE whenever they want. 

Yukina reaches out for the window and the fencing over it, which crackles in warning as her hand approaches. It's a demonstration for the birds, and she vocalizes as well how SHE'S trapped by subtle but effective traps. I disagree; there is absolutely NOTHING subtle about the fencing littered with paper charms like it's surrounding a fairgrounds with years of fliers plastered over it. 

Hearing an approaching footstep in the hall, Yukina snaps at her bird companions to go. While they fly off out the window, a cold wind is shown pushing out from around her feet. It rushes out over and underneath the door, producing a crust of ice over even the outside of it, where paper charms are strung back and forth across the door. 

Though Tarukane hums in question over the icy blast, he appears to have come prepared, having put on a fur-lined hat and jacket. He concludes that "the freak" knows they've arrived, likening the cold air to a warning from a rattlesnake's tail. However, within this cage of tangled charms, she has no bite, and Tarukane says the warning won't do her any good. They open the door and she's sitting expressionless in her chair in the center of the icy room, and Tarukane jokes to his associates that she's as expressive as a glacier. 

The tall Toguro walks over and performs a slashing motion at her face that is fast enough to blur. 

This girl is over here looking like a serious badass. 

Tarukane tells his associates that "physical coercion" won't work, as she's been resisting crying, screaming, and even twitching her eyebrow for FIVE YEARS now. Koenma, why did it take you so fucking long to launch a rescue mission???? 

At this moment, the worst possible one, the birds Yukina had been socializing with before flutter back toward the window. Instead of staying at the pinnacle of stoicism, Yukina immediately reacts with concern, then shouts to them to fly away again. The tall Toguro snaps at his brother on his shoulder to "go", who scoffs, extending his fingers like tendrils out past the paper charms and chain link fencing. Why can HE step over this barrier with no trouble, but SHE can't? No idea. 

The two visiting birds are flanked by the tendrils, each tipped with a barb or claw, which quickly wrap around the little critters and draw them back into the room. The shoulder Toguro giggles gleefully at their terrified chirps, his brother remaining silent and inscrutable. Yukina holds out a staying hand, begging for the birds not to be hurt, but Tarukane tells two OTHER men, faceless, to restrain her and they rush into the room. The tall Toguro, asks if these little twittering friends of Yukina's help her get through her lonely days, and without any deliberation, the shoulder Toguro squeezes the birds and stabs them in their little heads with the barbed tips of his tendril fingers. YT is doing a phenomenal job of making me hate these guys. 

Yukina screams out in protest, then pleads for no more, tears flooding from her eyes over her cheeks. 

Tech bros, 2026. 

As Yukina is held in a T-pose by Tarukane's faceless goons in the background, Tarukane sits on the floor staring at the shining jewels in his cupped hands, elated that he's holding at LEAST another billion, and he's rich. Or... MOAR rich. I mean, the guy has a summer mansion, I feel like he should be FAR beyond this level of happiness at having another billion. But hey, rich people are just a whole other category of loopy. He's literally DROOLING while he thrusts his triumphant face in Yukina's and lifts her defeated chin with his sausage fingers. He says the thoughts of "freaks" really baffle him, because he just can't fathom being so sad over a couple of wild birds. Cute, coming from a guy who is over the moon because of a few shiny rocks he can sell to other people who are into shiny rocks. Somehow, he claims the former is pathetic, but the latter seems perfectly rational to him. 

As Tarukane strides off out of the room again, he promises Yukina that she'll dine exclusively on roast robin starting tomorrow. The lengths he's going to be a complete dick are impressive, I've gotta hand THAT to him at least. He calls out that it's time for an auction, and demands the bidders be rounded up. Does he have bidders just wandering free-range on his estate or something? XD

The tall Toguro offers her his advice before he walks out of there; to learn to cry on demand, because at least then she'll be free of him and his brother, if not free in any other sense. I THINK he's got the leg of one of the birds his brother killed in his mouth and is CHEWING on it, but I can't be 100% certain, since it's a little difficult to make out. Once he slams the door behind him, he leaves behind Yukina with her face cradled in her hands as she sits on the floor. She's surrounded by more birds, which seem not to be super concerned for the future danger next to her.

Out in the hallway, Tarukane thrusts off his fur-lined coat at the butler and laughs that the spectacle he just saw was WORTH the exorbitant fee the Toguro brothers charged. He barks at the butler to check on Yukina in a little while to see if she's created any more jewels, but when said butler leans down and mutters something of concern to him, his jauntiness is replaced by enraged disbelief. 

Yusuke's leg is looking REAL weird there. 

Tarukane sucks on his cigar and supposes that these kids have been sent by one of his competitors to discover the secret of his jewels. He must be DOMINATING the jewel market if he thinks his competitors can only afford a couple of babies in school uniforms to infiltrate his home. Or, more likely, he's not doing much THINKING at all, since he doesn't seem to have two braincells to rub together. He says the boys will have a bit of a gauntlet to run, given basically the whole village has been made into his fortress. Bring on the Resident Evil! The tall Toguro says he already has a few men on security, and the intruders won't get anywhere near them. 

As Yusuke and Kuwabara stroll down the drive in FULL view of anyone who looks, they talk about how amazing it is that they're able to reach the mountains after only an hour trip by train and bus. Sure, rub your robust public transportation system right in this American's face. The conversation drifts into how there's plenty of countryside outside the city, but only the rich get to enjoy it much. As if they even LOOK outside for more than half a second at a time. The boys reckon the tire tracks they're following should lead them to the mansion. 

Suddenly, Kuwabara yells to the "Lady of the Snow" to be patient, and he's on his way to save her. Yusuke sweatdrops at him hooting and hollering, marveling at how this girl really got into his head, and thinking it's a good thing he didn't see the rest of the message from Koenma. He told Yusuke to pay special attention to that part in fact, because it involves a personal debt he owes; he gives Yusuke Yukina's name (at last) and reveals that she's Hiei's sister. Drama bomb!

They cross paths with a guy in a suit standing in the middle of the road, with sleepy-looking eyes and a protruding smirk. He tells the boys to buzz off, because this is private property. They feed him the lamest motherfucking excuse I've ever seen in my life, and they must realize this, judging by their grimaces as they deliver it: it's late, they missed their train, and they thought they'd be able to stay at the rich douchebag's mansion. 

The sentry says there's no chance of that, accompanied by a ripping sound as his suit shreds. Yusuke and Kuwabara gape in shock as he gives them a verbal shrug.

Well look who just squelched out of an H.P. Lovecraft story. 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? There's actually quite a bit to this one, considering we have a whole new set of villains, as well as a new victim of them. I very much like Yukina so far; we don't know a ton about her yet, but her resistance to Tarukane for a number of YEARS, developing the ability to shut down so effectively that she doesn't even react to physical harm, is pretty impressive. But more than that, it's a horrible thing to think about, because this is a strategy for resistance that no doubt takes a lot out of her. It HAS taken a lot out of victims in similar situations. Dissociation that hardcore leaves a mark, and all to survive captivity while giving as little to her captor as possible. 

Because even though the tall Toguro advised her to learn to cry on demand, I doubt he doesn't know that this isn't a skill issue for her. She's actively REFUSING to produce for her capitalist master. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a better representation of the true core of capitalism in a cartoon before. Tarukane is fabulously wealthy, has multiple homes for multiple seasons, because he has turned LITERAL SUFFERING into profit. It's not a subtle metaphor for the diamond industry by any stretch. And Yukina has been trying this whole time to deny him her labor, deny him her suffering, and deny him access to the product of her body.

Girl is an anticapitalist icon. I LOVE her. 

But I have just ONE little issue with how she and the chapter overall is framed. The chapter title highlights Kuwabara's feelings about her, rather than HER situation. HER suffering is framed through Kuwabara's interest in her, which is not the most delicate choice when it comes to how female characters are presented to the reader. It gives the impression that YT didn't think anyone would find her compelling in her own right unless one of his main boys had a crush on her, and that her value in the story is only higher outside of a damsel in distress if she becomes a love interest. Weird, considering she's already displayed a handful of traits that have a lot of potential to stand on their own. 

Something else weird: the decision to make the time Yukina has been in captivity so LONG. I wouldn't have gone over a year for this situation, because any longer kind of makes a couple of crucial characters look SERIOUSLY bad. What excuse does Koenma have for sitting on this to that extent? Did Hiei KNOW his own sister was being used and abused by a rich asshole for such an extended period? If he did, why has there been no indication that his motives ran deeper than self-interest this whole time? Yeah, sure, dude doesn't easily let on emotions, but there should have been SOME kind of hint before this point. Was his inaugural scheme part of a wider attempt to break his sister out of her prison? 

I hope there's at least a little bit of an answer to this later, because while I know Hiei isn't meant to be a HERO, he is a main protagonist, and I should hope his care for a family member might act as a balancing agent to his sour disposition. 

Inuyasha Manga: 345 Thread of Memory

What a flawed concept. Human memory is notoriously inaccurate and littered with holes that are filled with all kinds of ludicrous things by an illogical consciousness. The further removed a memory is from the present, the more degraded and distorted it can become, so its reliability is questionable at best. A single, unbroken thread of memory is probably damn near impossible to find. In particular, memories that are rather unremarkable and without much importance get thrown out of the brain all the time. Hell, most days I've forgotten what I had for breakfast by the time I've gotten off of work!

For a regular sex pest, it's probably VERY difficult to recall all the women one has victimized over the years, huh?

You know what they say: men are afraid women will laugh at them; women are afraid that men will kill them. 

Inuyasha yells at Nushi-sama about going berserk this late in the game achieving nothing for him, punching his giant fish face and sending him reeling. I'm not SURE what he means by "this late", but it's probably a reference to how these complaints against Shima are basically last minute. The great catfish flops on the ground, churning up soil, it's cheek all swollen. Nushi-sama wails a curse, trembling and sweating all over. Inuyasha pulls out Tessaiga, promising that if Nushi-sama wants to get serious, that's a challenge he's well prepared to meet.

Still sounds like a "you" problem, dude. 

Shima's mother and father stare with caution at the fish-creature that appears to have calmed down for the moment, Shima herself asking if they think this also means he's given up on her. Shippou hops up on Inuyasha's shoulder, saying it didn't take long for Nushi-sama to lose steam, as Inuyasha puts away Tessaiga, and with exasperation says it would be ugly to kill the guy when he's like this. He's serving NOTHING but pathetic sauce right now. 

Kagome sidles up to Inuyasha and mumbles to him from behind her hand, informing him that it's getting pretty serious between their two friends off to the side. Inuyasha expresses confusion about them still arguing, as if he and Kagome aren't being petty to each other every five seconds. No room to talk, these two.

Miroku is still standing a distance from Sango, but he's put a tentative foot forward, clearly wanting to get closer to the woman he's addressing. She on the other hand is standing in defeated, moody silence, only speaking after Miroku asks if she won't even listen to him. It's not like she's going to be talking over him or anything. Sango looks off to the side, admitting she's not sure if she knows anymore. Inuyasha opens his FAT TRAP from the sidelines, yapping to Sango about how this behavior is NOT new from Miroku, Kagome snapping his name in rebuke. When he asks her what she's complaining about with a defiant glare, she elaborates her frustration that he just doesn't get that Sango doesn't feel good about Miroku's old girlfriend turning up. Oh, I think Inuyasha understands that VERY well, and his argument is that maybe it should have occurred to her as a likelihood at least EVENTUALLY. 

What he clearly doesn't get is that it won't feel good no matter how prepared she might have or have not been for the probability. 

Shima comes to stand next to Miroku and pleads with him and Sango to stop fighting, Miroku saying her name in mild surprise. She tells Sango that this is all her fault, and asks her not to blame Miroku, but while Miroku remains in silent discomfort, Sango whips around to turn away from them both. 

What do you expect when you haven't actually made an effort to speak up for yourself and just let SHIMA do it for you??? 

While Inuyasha looks annoyed and bored, Kagome asks Miroku if he's not going to go after Sango. Girl, she told him not to follow her. Pretty much the only thing he can do RIGHT at the moment is to honor that request. Also, Miroku says what Sango is basically implying with her surface-level uncertain answer, that she won't listen to anything he tells her at this point. Not that he's even TRIED to tell her anything yet, that I've seen. 

He also expresses his sadness that Sango clearly doesn't trust him all that much. What, she doesn't trust him NOT to have fucked a girl that says he fucked her? How craaaaaazy. Kagome appears a little confused by his statement, and Shippou says with wide eyes that it seems like Miroku's suggesting he's been falsely accused of this alleged tryst. Sounds like your friends ALSO don't automatically find it unbelievable either, my guy. What does that tell you? 

Their overly dramatic conversation is cut off by a distressed call, and they turn toward it to find that Shima is now being flown away on a magic cloud manifested by Nushi-sama. She's reaching out to her parents, crying out for them to save her, but they are powerless to stop the abduction of their daughter by the youkai, who claims that he's changed his mind and he still loves her. I've seen no evidence he loves her AT ALL, but okay. 

Miroku curses and lunges in Shima's direction.

... You realize she's not going to be able to breathe down there, right? 

Inuyasha has joined Miroku in pursuing the kidnapper and his victim, swearing as he regretfully says that he should have finished Nushi-sama off after all. Miroku just says that they MUST save her. No doubt he (rightfully) feels responsible for this whole damn situation. 

Narrow sky transition to Sango, who sits beside the lake, sighing. She casts a glance over her shoulder, sullen over the fact that Miroku isn't even following her. Which she told him to not do. Ugh, TEENAGERS. As she wonders what she's going to do now, she sees Nushi-sama's cloud pass over her head, and adopts a concerned expression at the screaming Shima being pulled along on it. Nushi-sama is still talking about making her his wife no matter what, so Sango starts to jump to her feet in preparation to intervene. But when Shima cries that she already told Nushi-sama about how she already joined with Miroku, Sango's expression sours. Sango, stop being fucking petty and save that girl!

Nushi-sama MAGNANIMOUSLY says he'll forgive Shima for something that happened in the past before they hit the water and he transforms into his giant catfish form, the helpless girl being pulled along in his wake. He looks around at a spiraling disturbance in the water approaching him just before it hits him and he's knocked silly by the object causing it. While he's stunned, the fading Shima's wrist is grabbed and pulled toward the surface. 

Shima identifies Sango as Miroku's companion with some shock. Well, you can't rely on that scrub directly, may as well get helped out by a more responsible girl adjacent to him. 

It's at this point that Miroku and the rest of the group arrive on the ground, looking up at the girls. He calls Sango's name, who looks down at him as Shima calls back to him. Sango returns to staring straight ahead without responding, thinking that he didn't actually come for HER in the first place. I have a question: WHO CARES?? 

Nushi-sama's big fish face pops out of the water below to spit a massive jet of water up at Kirara and passengers passing overhead, hitting the sabertoothed feline directly in the stomach. Sango cries out in alarm, and then a thin tendril wraps around her ankle while she's caught off guard. 

For someone who is so insistent that he LOVES his intended victim, Nushi-sama sure did just grab a completely different one without much thought. 

On Sango's way down, she yells at Kirara to take Shima to a safe place. Inuyasha and Miroku are rushing forward again, the latter complaining that Sango is being so reckless as the former curses once more. Sango throws her Hiraikotsu at her assailant, but he calls her a stupid fool, spitting another water jet to knock the weapon off course. Already, Shima is on the ground with Kagome kneeling over her, who voices this fact with dismay. 

At last, Sango hits the water in an explosion of bubbles, groaning internally. She's not exactly able to open her mouth at the moment. Nushi-sama is perfectly capable of talking underwater though, and chuckles that she's a wench, threatening to drag her down into the bottom of the lake and make her his mistress. I guess I should be thankful to him for demonstrating that Sango could ALWAYS be worse off than if she gets together with Miroku, lol. She looks pretty disturbed by this suggestion too.

A group of paper charms shoot through the water in much the same way they have shot through the air in this comic, which was already a pretty weird depiction of conveyance. Or, maybe they weren't in the water, because the next panel shows an enraged Miroku stabbing his staff down on the charms sticking to Nushi-sama's head, which is ABOVE the water line here. Not sure when he surfaced, but quite convenient for Miroku in any case. The crackling energy sent through him with the attack reverts Nushi-sama back to his more compact form and he falls back into the water with a trailing groan. He's not allowed to languish in the lake for long, though.

How did he hear something Nushi-sama said underwater? 

Whatevz. Nushi-sama apologizes, because he wasn't aware that Sango was ANOTHER of Miroku's women. He's only willing to back off girls if a man expresses ownership over them. Cool. Miroky pushes Nushi-sama aside as he splashes toward Sango, asking if she's okay. She remains moodily silent and swims off, Miroku paddling after her whining for her attention. On the shore, Inuyasha is trembling with frustration that there was NOTHING for him to do AT ALL. He probably wouldn't have been satisfied by defeating that little Spongebob character guy anyway. 

After a transition panel, confusion is expressed, and Shima is shown hanging her head as she sits on the bank in front of the Inuyasha gang, apologizing for lying. Kagome leans toward her in deep interest over how Shima's claim she had hooked up with Miroku was a lie. Shima raises her hands together as if in prayer for forgiveness, admitting it was in fact a lie, because she REALLY didn't want to marry the catfish. You can't blame her; Miroku being the sole alternative would be the ONLY way you'd get me to lie about sleeping with him. In any other context it would be a MORTIFYING thing to say.

Eyes closed in dignified stoicism, Miroku says that Shima made quick use of her wit. Sango is still incensed, though, saying that if it were a lie, MIROKU should have been cable of telling the truth of the matter to her and their friends. She trails the question as to why he DIDN'T do this, and Miroku says he too her kindness for granted and assumed she would understand without him having to tell her. 

I'm FAR less impressed by this explanation than Sango, who stares at him with doe eyes and says his name. Miroku says that his bad habit has been a problem for a while, and he apologizes for giving her a bad memory. I feel like he has a lot MORE than that to apologize for here, but it's a START, I guess. 

After a short pause, Sango says she forgives him, and admits that she was pretty happy about how he saved her. 

Ugh, you both are cringe AF!

Miroku holds her hands, asking if she can forgive him, and she says only if he can forgive her. Touching. Inuyasha questions the voracity of these vows while Kagome says that Sango is kind, and Shippou asserts that she MAY be kinder even than Kagome. Yeah, well, as long as she's careful not to become a doormat. 

Cut to when the group is on the move again, and Shippou suggests from Kagome's shoulder at the back of the group that it WOULD have been better for Miroku to deny the allegations at the very beginning. He FURTHER questions whether it just took a little while for Miroku to remember that he didn't actually do what he was being accused of. 

"... And I've messed around A LOT. I thought we established that."

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? As probably must have been obvious, I didn't enjoy it very much, and after having read through it again more carefully than before, I'm starting to understand why I didn't bother to remember it the previous three times I read this part. It's not just that this isn't really the kind of content that I value, not being a romance plot type of person. More than that, this little arc could have spoken with substance on the situation it brought up, about how few options girls and women have historically been afforded and how their autonomy and ability to say no are denied them. It could even have given these young women an opportunity to seek support from each other, and allowed Sango to demonstrate how Shima shouldn't need her father OR Miroku to get Nushi to fuck off. At the very least, it could have made it more clear that the whole issue with Nushi's grasping entitlement was not a violation of some other guy's ownership, but of Shima herself.

But no, instead what we got was a reaffirmation of male possession of female bodies, and that being the only thing that Nushi was really willing to respect. Furthermore, we have Sango admitting that it made her happy to be "saved" in that manner, with Miroku expressing his ownership over her. It's a pretty vivid picture, and not in the best way.

I'm mainly thinking back to when Miroku and Sango had their little talk about their future, Miroku's admission that he couldn't really love her as a woman, seeing her mainly as a comrade in arms. I feel like this chapter adds a new, nasty dimension to what he said, because now there's an implication that in order to see Sango as a proper woman, she has to be in a comparatively helpless context so he can assert an heroic impulse and a sense of possession over her. His declaration that she was HIS woman was only possible when she was in the position to be stolen away, because his concern for her turning away from her of her own will wasn't really all that potent - he wouldn't have assumed she was still "his" after she said this wouldn't work out and stormed off if the concern was serious to him. 

I realize that I'm thinking WAY too hard about the implications of this goofy little romantic affirmation scene, but that's only because RT thought far too LITTLE about it. She just kind of regurgitated old romantic tropes, no doubt because she was being pressured by her editors and publisher to push out more of these kinds of relationship development scenes, due to their popularity with the mainly teenage audience. There may not be a ton of room to plan with a serialization like this, but any writer should be prepared to question WHY they're writing things a certain way, or making certain content decisions. All of this was a decision, even if it was a decision to just lazily repackage old tropes that are best retired or transformed. 

Most of all, though, I'm just sad for Sango. She could be such a cool character in her own right, and IS in a lot of ways, but she's not allowed to stand on her own. Ultimately, despite being the only team member who doesn't rely on innate magical powers, despite being a competent and confident professional, despite her strength and compassion, her character STILL revolves around the men in her life, and that's just SUCH a waste.

YuYu Hakusho Manga: 045 Battle at "Hell Housing Development"!!

Which one? Take a walk in any city where I'm from and you'll spot any number of housing developments that could be nicknamed "Hell" because the real estate companies that own them can't be bothered with proper maintenance. I've lived in places where the landlord ignored every complaint and safety concern that I submitted, and some of my neighbors suffered quite a bit from their own petitions going unanswered. Everything from holes in floors to black mold, and management brushes you off without so much as a second look. Slumlords are some of the most vile parasites in our current capitalist system, and they're very good at making chronic issues with your unit seem like they were caused by you so they can kick you out and rent out the place to someone else for twice the rent you could pay. 

Can't wait to see how bad THIS development is, though I can't imagine it will be much of a shock. 

I mean, it's fair. Suzaku was SUPER lame. 

The next panel explains that the law of the jungle prevails in the demon realm, meaning anyone who overthrows the more powerful demons is simultaneously feared and a target for overthrow themselves. That in turn means that Yusuke is the new subject of a bunch of demonic ambitions as they claw their ways to the top. Wow, it's crazy that Spirit Realm would put that on a literal CHILD, isn't it???

And that's not the only consequence of Spirit Realm shenanigans for Yusuke. He pops and creaks at every joint as he walks down the street toward school, grimacing at the sounds. Yusuke mentally complains at his exhaustion and the mass of pain his whole body has become. Despite how quick the wounds healed, the pain lingers, like the pricking of pins and needles all over. Sounds like some nerve damage there, kiddo. Can he file a worker's comp claim or what?

It looks like Kuwabara is feeling similarly, because when one of his friends claps him on the back and wishes him a good morning, he lets out a yelp of pain. He rounds on the lot of them, demanding they not do that anymore, and Yusuke draws the same conclusion I did. They all hang out together on what looks like the roof, books and snacks scattered between them, as Kuwabara describes how much torture it is just walking around right now. He says it must be how guys in sports manga must feel, and says they'd better lay low for a while, but his friends are not so certain they can do that, because something's been happening since Yusuke and Kuwabara have been out. Wasn't the whole school out for a couple of days?

It's not all that big a surprise, with how readily those around these boys believe they're capable of the most heinous shit.

The imposters are shown fleeing scattered boys groaning in pain on the ground, the Yusuke-alike promising to come back to them later and inviting the Kuwabara-alike to come along. The latter also reinforces the idea that what they did was a mere start to the damage they plan to inflict. The former even drops a student ID with Yusuke's name on it at the scene, just to drive home the framing. The fake ID was a detail that is thoroughly lame in their view, and someone asks if the imposters think they're international terrorists or something. 

The fair-haired guy says that the imposters casually call each other by Yusuke and Kuwabara's names, and the middle guy says that the dumb guys at Kasane fall for it all the time. With jaws clenched, Yusuke complains that the idiots flood in to fill the power vacuum when they're gone for a mere couple of days, and Kuwabara is determined to take down the fakers ASAP. But they're still crackling and snapping at every joint, so they add that they have to wait to get better first, much to the consternation of their company. It's mentioned that things could get out of hand if they don't do something, and the victims of the imposters are already going after random classmates from this school. 

The exhausted and bedraggled pair grunt in discomfort, and their companions stare back expectantly. They eventually all three stand and begin to depart, calling back to Yusuke and Kuwabara to give the issue some thought, and they'll do what they can if it comes to all-out war. Damn, middle school politics are harsh. Kuwabara calls for them to wait, and they're immediately enthusiastic with the assumption that Yusuke and Kuwabara are agreeing to do something, ready to run those imposter punks down at that very second. 

If you guys did all-out war right now, you'd fucking LOSE. 

We're transported to Kasanegafuchi Park at 2 PM, where a group of shadowy figures declare that Urameshi and Kuwabara will die today. A guy with a pencil mustache and a haircut very similar to Kuwabara's, a plant stalk protruding from between his teeth, is incensed that who he thinks are Yusuke and Kuwabara attacked at night, but are now issuing a bold challenge in the daytime. So... he's NOT one of the imposters. Got it. He says the actual imposters want to meet them at the old "Hell Housing" site at 4:00. 

Another guy screams in a rage that the presumed guys from the rival school have turned nasty, an about-face from their sense of fair play no matter what dirty tricks their own school gang pulled. Wait, so they're just pissed that Yusuke and Kuwabara no longer appear to be playing by rules that they've NEVER observed? Who are these kids, the fucking GOP?

As the large gang continues their conference, some being given the orders to go downtown and round up anyone who wants in on the action, with the promise that Urameshi and Kuwabara will be going down for good this time, a couple of off-model characters grin and lurk behind a nearby tree. And I do mean OFF-MODEL.

Yeesh, no wonder you guys had to attack at night. No one who believe you were Yusuke and Kuwabara otherwise. 

Believe it or not, they become even MORE off-model when the Kuwabara imposter grows some sharp fangs extending over both lips, and the Yusuke imposter's mouth widens into a frog-like countenance with a long tongue protruding from between them. "Kuwabara" says they'll wait until their targets are all tired out and then go in to crush them, for the purpose of making their reputations in the demon and human realms soar. "Yusuke" expresses disappointment that "half-breeds" like them can't just kill them and disappear, because they're actually tied to real human identities, making it necessary for them to improvise. I guess it's a real convenience that their real human identities sort of resemble the biggest targets in both these realms then. Might be a bit of a liability long term, though, if anyone were to look a little closer at the situation. 

Let's be honest, though, that wouldn't happen even if they succeed. 

Their skin becomes leathery and textured in the final stages of their transformations and they chuckle in a sinister way to match their more demonic appearances. Elsewhere, Hiei has his third-eye open and looks to have perceived their planning from a distance with it. He stands on the edge of a building, pulling his bandana back down over the extra eye with a scoff, calling the conspirators third-rate. Muttering that they couldn't defeat Yusuke on his WORST day anyway, Hiei recalls a conversation with Koenma, where he says that Yusuke only recently started fighting with his aura and after the fierce prior battle, his reserves are rather depleted. Therefore, because Yusuke will be even more painfully weak than the average human for the next few days, his goose will be cooked if any demon is able to take advantage of that.

Hiei appears to consider this for a moment, and then he lowers his head, chuckling, asking himself what he's thinking. About taking advantage of this weakness himself, no doubt. 

"It's not what it looks like! I wasn't thinking about killing Yusuke while he's vulnerable, I was just planning my MLP coffee shop AU!"

Hiei keeps it cool, and doesn't turn around when he demands that Kurama not sneak up on him. Kurama asks him what he's doing up here, but Hiei just answers he's not doing anything of consequence. He does ask Kurama in turn what he's doing up here. Kurama says that the Spirit Realm has told him to guard their human associates, but admits his stomach injury isn't fully healed yet. Not surprising - it's sure a thing that would painfully kill a normal person. Kurama reminds Hiei that this is the SECOND severe hit he's taken in that body part, referring to Hiei's stab to his gut back when he was aiming for Yusuke instead. Hiei says he gets Kurama's point, though doesn't speak on whether the pun was intended or not. 

He at last turns to Kurama and declares he's no slave to the Spirit Realm, just putting in his community service. Kurama half-turns, saying he understand, then asks for confirmation that the big clash is happening at the Hell Housing site at 4 PM, and Hiei testily tells him it is, aggressively telling him goodbye. Clearly he'd like to be alone. Kurama airily expresses pity for Yusuke having to fight third-rate demons, but on his way through the door to the stairwell suggests that Hiei might not care, given he's already been beaten by the boy. Oooooh, send Hiei to the BURN UNIT. Hiei silently fumes about the passive insult to him. 
 

Time skip to 3 PM:

That was some FAST work...

As Kuwabara kneels in front of his friends, between them and a gathering crowd of onlookers, one of them stutters out that their attacker came from behind. Kuwabara snaps at them not to try to talk, then calls for someone to take them to Dr. Gonda, and let him know that they're friends of his. A couple of nervous bystanders sweat and shiver, telling Kuwabara that the Kasane guys have a message for him and Yusuke: that they need to either show up at the Hell Housing site at 4 PM or the Kasane gang will beat THEM up next. 

Yusuke clenches a trembling fist and barks in a furious rage that he's prepared to forget the imposters, because the creeps at Kasane are cruising for a bruising. But when they set out for the Hell Housing place, about a kilometer away according to Kuwabara, they dragging themselves along on their feet with the aid of canes, their bodies twitching in pain. Yusuke confidently says the walk should take them 5 minutes, but then admits it'll probably take more like 30 in their current state. They proceed with determination anyway, like the doomed child soldiers for justice they are.

Meanwhile, the imposters are chuckling between themselves again. Fake!Kuwabara says everything's all set up and is ready for the mayhem to begin. Fake!Yusuke says his money is still on the guy he's pretending to be, but the FINAL winners will be the two conspirators. 

Evil attire? What's so evil about it? They look like normal clothes to me. 

Anyway, thirty minutes later, with the above small army kind of hiding out behind a pile of stacked lumber or girders or something, Yusuke and Kuwabara arrive. They've ditched their walking sticks, presumably to appear more capable, but they're trembling something AWFUL. Kuwabara asks what Yusuke thinks, and Yusuke responds after a pause that he's amazed they managed to get there at all. Him and me both. 

The leader of the Kasane gang has managed to get his shirt off, and asks how Urameshi dares to show his face here. Uh... dude, you INVITED him. Fairly DEMANDED he show up, really. But the leader reveals an interesting bit of info - he's under the impression that Kuwabara and Yusuke challenged THEM to a show-down after all their nighttime attacks, and says he hopes the two boys are ready to die. It wouldn't necessarily be a mysterious experience for Yusuke, although he might spend an eternity being embarrassed dying again so soon after he came back. 

Kuwabara yells at the Kasane gang that THEY were the ones who summoned him and Yusuke, not the other way around, and after they beat the shit out of his small posse, to boot. Yusuke asks what all that was for anyway, since it's just the two of them the rival school gang wants. Kasane's gang asks what they're babbling about, and the response is a demand for them not to play dumb. 

Anyone with at least two braincells to rub together might have realized at this point that something FUCKY is going on here, but I doubt there are two braincells between all these masses of kids put together. 

The imposters watch from their hiding place, excited by the start of the show, and how delightful it promises to be. 

But there is a call to hold it right there, as well as a couple of roses tossed between the two and the crowd of toughs rushing them. It is, of course, Kurama, but when the confused Kasane gang yells over Yusuke's identification of him asking who this jerk even is, he says they can just call him Tuxedo Mask. 

Then I realized there are still a few pages I have to cover here, and a short amount of time to do so. 

Kurama may not be wearing a tuxedo OR a mask, but he is here to deliver a snarky lecture upon impatience and starting the fight too early, because the Kasane guys NEARLY beat up the wrong duo. He points over to the pile of construction materials, at the two heads peeking out from behind it, and declares the ones the gang really want are there. 

The imposters grin on regardless, even though the fake!Kuwabara admits that they've been busted. Fake!Yusuke says the masquerade has run its course anyway, because they've got the manpower to crush all of them anyway. The imposters stand confidently as members of the gang put together the fact that THEY'RE the ones who did the ambushes and fooled them into thinking it was Yusuke and Kuwabara. They confirm with raised hands, telling the morons that it doesn't exactly matter that they finally figured it out because they're surrounded now. They call for their fellow "half-breeds" to step forward. 

... And they wait. A tumbleweed may as well be bouncing across the panel, because they are not joined by their own little gang, left alone with raised arms like the morons they assumed the gang were before. They at last lower their hands and make confused noises at one another. 

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE the wacky faces in this comic? 

Fake!Yusuke asks his companion if he knows what he's thinking and fake!Kuwabara immediately guesses it's that they're screwed. Not really that hard of a game, to be honest. They're surrounded by the crowd of Kasane gang members, who call them punks, telling them to get ready to pay big time for their little scheme. The imposters laugh nervously, then scream, yelling for the gang to stay back, or... Well, they never really get around to coming up with consequences for their beating. They're smashed to a pulp, blood spurting, and bruises, lumps, and broken bones making their already off-model forms that much more twisted and distorted to the point where they're pretty much unrecognizable. Then, to my horror, the next panel show them laying on what looks like some cracked rock face, NAKED, their clothes burning between them. Thankfully, where we might have seen some genitalia on one of them (fake!Kuwabara), there is smudge to sensor it. However, fake!Yusuke's ass is fully on display, and it's a good thing I've already had breakfast, otherwise I might not be hungry for it after seeing that.

Yusuke thanks Hiei for his help, and Hiei expresses his surprise he had to step in at all, in the most dispassionate way possible of course. He tells Yusuke that he can't go losing to a couple of morons like that no matter HOW bad a shape he's in, because it wouldn't reflect well on HIM. Even though Hiei suggests it could have been a fluke, he still lost to Yusuke. He asserts that Yusuke and Kuwabara really need to toughen up, if only to protect his own tough reputation. 

With a chuckle, Yusuke admits that he's right, and he owes Hiei for two now, while Kuwabara rages off to the side about how anyone could mistake that pug-ugly freak for him. Let it go, dude. Yusuke holds out a creaking arm for Hiei to take, saying it's good to have him back (as if he WENT anywhere).

Yeah, I'd wanna get the hell out of there too. Those clothes burning must stink something AWFUL.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It's gratifying that the issue of exhaustion and recovery is being addressed here. I feel like I see too often in a lot of these action-oriented fighting-heavy stories that the protagonists move between battles with little to no recovery required. In the cases in which recovery IS focused upon, it's depicted more on the scale of just being a bit tired. Here, we get a more severe picture, with the boys suffering GREATLY in just about every way with every part of their bodies, to the point where they really have to put in the effort to even MOVE. That's a much more realistic view of how a novice having just come out of a battle that was probably a bit beyond their skill level at present might fare. 

I also appreciate the discussion of what that kind of vulnerability would invite from potential enemies, but that's a much more common depiction in these narratives than the former. Usually it's surrounding a particularly grievous injury on the already strong, skilled protagonist, so it can be chalked up to an anomaly rather than a general weakness. That way, you can have the danger from a recovery period while not sacrificing the bulk of the power fantasy these stories are usually based upon. Though I'd say that YT managed very well to communicate the general relative weakness of Yusuke and Kuwabara, with the emphasis on (per Hiei) the fact that they still have a long way to go before they can really come out of fights with literal demons and not be all but incapacitated. It doesn't make the boys look like awesome badasses, but it DOES help to build anticipation for when they eventually reach that state. It promises a satisfying arc, which is much preferable in my opinion. 

I do find it funny that there's half-demons who so resembled Yusuke and Kuwabara that they could pull off this scheme. Given how Yusuke's character evolves, I WOULD be tempted to think this was some kind of wink in that direction, if not for Kuwabara's character NOT taking the same path. A shame, because I would have LOVED to give YT the credit.

Shout out to my wonderful husband, to whom I've been married for 11 awesome years today, and the one who convinced me to start covering this manga on my blog. Love you, honey! <3 <3 <3