YuYu Hakusho Manga: 047 The Black Book Club!!

No doubt referring to a list of secret contacts for conspiring and plotting - rich weirdos always have a network of other weirdos that they can call on for various sundry corruption schemes. The infamous "Epstein Files", only half of which have been released as of this writing, lay bare a small portion of the vast spider web of favor trading and trafficking in everything from weapons to drugs to humans between a class of individuals whose sole object in life seems to be to immiserate the rest of us for their entertainment. Oh, and simultaneously bring about the end of the world and insulate themselves against it? Because apparently they're so blind to the mass of labor the bulk of humanity performs for their benefit that they haven't even considered who's going to grow their food or do their laundry in the fallout. Their greed and disdain for their fellow humans below a certain net worth can only be outmatched by their own stupidity, truly.

The sole difference between this real-life league of villains and their cartoon counterparts in this comic? The comic's demons are literal rather than metaphorical. But functionally, basically the same. 

He's not beating the H.P. Lovecraft origin allegations. 

Kuwabara recoils with a disgusted noise, saying this is pretty gross, even for a demon. I'm very much in agreement with this assessment, especially when we get a close-up of his fingers, which have grown a bumpy/barby texture and the tips appear to have the skin rolled back slightly, but there's not bone underneath. It could be eyeballs or more suckers, but it's a little too soon and unclear for me to tell for sure at this point. This guy tells them not to think of turning back, because no human has seen him in this form and lived to tell the tale. 

Yusuke glares silently, looking ENTIRELY unimpressed. Then, after his pause, he casually mentions that the girl being held here is a demon too, one of this tentacle nightmare's own. Yusuke asks if it doesn't BOTHER him that scumball humans are exploiting her like they are. The tentacle nightmare asks in turn why he SHOULD care. He says humans are always willing to sell each other out for their own selfish inclinations, and questions why Yusuke would expect demons to be any LESS greedy. He has a point, of course - one might expect them to be even MORE horrific, being demons and all. The boys nevertheless glower at the tentacle nightmare as he chuckles, betting they would throw each other to the wolves if there were a big enough pile of money in it for them. 

While Kuwabara conjures his energy sword and Yusuke's fist glows with concentrated aura, the latter says that's a fat lot this tentacle nightmare knows about them. The tentacle nightmare leaps for them, aiming his underside at them showing a gaping mouth where his tentacles meet, calling the kids "high and mighty". 

Well, they aren't wrong, are they? 

The tentacle nightmare's eyes are wide with horrified disbelief, gurgling inarticulately as his dismembered parts fly every which way. Then Yusuke silently raises his fist, forefinger extended, a hard frown on his face the entire time. He fires off a massive blast aimed off panel.

Cut to our tall Toguro brother with the sunglasses, who appears as surprised as those placid features will allow. I suppose that's why the exclamation point is required. 

Uh-oh, the overgrown toddler has suffered a small disappointment. Everyone prepare for a tantrum. 

Maintaining his cool, the tall Toguro denies this interpretation of events, and says it rather means that they're not dealing with just ANY street rats. Tarukane complains that Toguro told him they could handle anything, and reminds him that he's paying them good money to handle just that level of threat, nothing less. Toguro reiterates that they WILL do that, but Tarukane demands he prove it, pointing a fat finger as he issues a vague command to show him what they can do. After a contemplative hum, he's asked HOW he would like them to do so. 

Tarukane proceeds to invite them to follow him through the ornate halls of his mansion to show them something, leading them down what appears to be a dim set of spiral stairs. The place they enter is filled with cages, the contents of which are some bizarre creatures. One looks like a two-headed dog/lizard, each of the heads with a single eye and a little forked tongue poking out, and a large gaping mouth running down it's back and another couple of eyes topping a mound at the back. Another multi-headed creature, this time with a tortoise shell encasing its body, is shadowed in its corner. They're pretty creative monster designs, so I'm giving mad props for that. 

As they walk in the hall between the countless cages, Toguro compliments his host on his freak menagerie. Tarukane says they are his most prized acquisitions, well worth the bundle they cost. Too bad they have to stay in his dank creepy basement, unlike MOST prized possessions. Tarukane stops in front of a particular glass cage, much bigger than the others, and bids Toguro to behold. 

It looks like what you would order from the book "Where the Wild Things Are" if it were a catalog. 

With a shit-eating smirk, Tarukane asks if Toguro thinks he can take her, betting silently that he's not going to be willing to step into that cage himself, since it's a whole other matter than just providing security. It's also a WHOLLY different ask, and I'm not sure what it has to do with taking on two kids coming to liberate one of his other "acquisitions". Nonetheless, he thinks it'll improve his bargaining position. I feel like he should have been trying to BARGAIN long before this point, but hey, he doesn't seem like the sharpest crayon in the box. 

Toguro says he'd rather not, and just as Tarukane thinks he's balking and there's a 20% discount on the horizon, he's shocked by the fact that Toguro opens up the door to the cage and walks in anyway. He leaves his brother behind outside the cage, making it much easier for him to whip off his coat once he's in there with the beast, revealing a narrow muscled torso and almost comically broad shoulders. Apparently the reason he would have rather NOT gone up against the beast is because he's an animal lover, though you wouldn't know it just looking at him. 

Tarukane is in a panic, calling him an idiot as he tells him to get out of there, asking who's going to guard Yukina if he gets splattered all over the glass. He says that this girl doesn't have the brain capacity to take commands, so he can't call her off. Clearly Toguro ALSO doesn't have the brain capacity for such. He just stands there and assesses the beast, who has stood on her hind legs and is towering over him at twice his height, tall indeed. He hums that it's too bad, then flexes his hand, estimating that 30% of... something will be enough to defeat this poor creature. 

Okay, he's filling them out a bit more, but why do those shoulders STILL look ridiculous?

Tarukane fully flushes, his face darkened as he exclaims that Toguro's muscles are expanding. Toguro humbly states that he lacks useful skills, and all he can really do is increase his muscle mass. As if ANYONE could just do that shit, no problem. The beast comes roaring at him and slams an extended paw on his shoulder. Instead of crumbling under the creature's blow, the floor BELOW Toguro cracks and dents into a CRATER with him as the center. The beast expresses confusion, pausing in her attack because of how unsuccessful it turned out to be. Toguro wraps his arm around her furry arm, and mumbles about how it's going to cost a bit to repair the floor. Then he apologizes to the creature, whom she calls "sweetie", because what he's about to do stems directly from her master's insistence on demonstration.

He balls his hand into a fist and punches. 

... I'm a little sick now. 

As the fan of blood settles behind the beast, Tarukane gapes, letting out a slow sound of amazement. Toguro appears to look to the side, but his sunglasses make it impossible to read his expression accurately. When he turns around to leave the cage, its inmate's corpse twitching and splattered everywhere, he's returned back to his regular level of muscle content. He says that even though his client wanted this outcome, he doesn't feel HAPPY about it. Me neither, dude. 

But Tarukane isn't exactly SAD. He chokes out a couple of nervous chuckles, which turn into genuine guffaws spraying spittle everywhere. It's pretty nasty in just about every way imaginable. He says the slaughter was "splendid", and goes the OPPOSITE direction he intended going into this - offering Toguro double, even triple his fee to make Toguro his personal body guard. Toguro says mildly that he'll think about it. He must really need the money to even CONSIDER keeping this job up, lol.

Tarukane asks if this "30%" comment Toguro made earlier meant that he was able to defeat the beast (whom we only find out NOW is named Helen. RIP Helen.) with only a third of his strength. As if a third is NOT a significant amount. Toguro confirms that's the idea, adding that 20% probably would have done it, but he's "timid" at heart. Meaning he didn't want her to suffer, I'm guessing. 

When they cross paths with the butler Sakashita, Tarukane yells at him to get on the phone. Sakashita assures him that the auction is already all set up, but Tarukane says this isn't about the auction at all, and that he wants him to call the Black Book Club now. Congratulations to this shithose of a human being for shouting out the title. Bastard. 

What's with this guy's bowtie? Is it buttoned on or something? 

Tarukane says OF COURSE he can't just watch what he considers to be an eye-catching money-making show all by himself. To him, this is a most fabulous opportunity to turn a bit of a profit out of the five club members. He calls this Black Book Club the "BBC" here, which just tickles me pink. Sausage fingers clawed upward to grope the air like the capital pervert he is, Tarukane speculates on how many more billions he can make if he manipulates the odds, talking about pay-per-view revenue, because he's planning on broadcasting all this secret shit like a reality show? I guess the "BBC" joke was a little more fitting than I thought at first. Tarukane giggles that Yukina's ice tears aren't just enchanted jewels, but money magnets. 

I am BEGGING capitalists to get some fucking therapy and stop making their number-go-up addiction the rest of the world's problem. 

The tall Toguro blows a stream of cigarette smoke from his lips, saying he doesn't foresee a pleasant end for Tarukane. What, is he some kind of seer now? Tarukane laughs at this prediction, admitting his bestie body guard might be right, but he's going to enjoy himself to the fullest until that very bad end comes. Well, you can't fault him for the practical positivity. It's probably the ONLY good quality he has. 

In her room, Yukina stares wistfully out her window. A shot of a nearby mountain with sharp lines is overlaid with an info box that says it's only MOMENTS after the conversation Tarukane and his various employees just had. The phone call must have been really short, because...

... And of course, the wealth-hoarders have ample time on their hands, clearly. 

A bald Bezos-type says he wouldn't miss this for the world, and on the next screen over, there's a more Reagan-type that agrees he could use a fresh diversion. From WHAT is the question. Just the vague "usual hobbies" according to another talking head, and the one after that laughs that there's always amusement in the misfortunes of others. So stereotypically evil, but I'm less inclined to view that as unrealistic these days.

A younger man with long hair and a scar over his right eye asks what's on the card today. Tarukane explains that there are two intruders on his estate that appears to be after his "Tears of Ice". Cute marketing, dipshit. He says he wants to wager on how far these intruders will get against the Brokers of Darkness. The Bezos-type says that although Tarukane has carefully avoided telling them WHO the intruders are, they're intrigued, and Tarukane giggles to himself about how he knew they would be. Aloud, he says that he's always happy to spread the wealth around. They have an economy all their own, don't they? XD

Sakashita stands in front of a map, indicating an "x" on a minimalist map of the grounds and mansion with a pointer stick. He relays the situation as the intruders traveling along the road marked, and the Brokers stationed outside the mansion are converging to intercept them. The tall Toguro states that he has 12 "men" (read: literal monsters) outside, and three inside the mansion, each individual capable of taking out a squad of army special forces. Is that including the guy who lost all his tentacles in less than 10 seconds? The Bezos-type voices his new understanding that this bet is just to spice this up, and fleece them for the privilege of watching the slaughter. The scarred youth stays silent, and Tarukane shamelessley asks if they should begin. You know, the fleecing. He reiterates that the event is two intruders versus 12 Brokers, and Sakashita bows as he adds that this will pay out twice the amount anted by the winner. 

Two voices put up 200 million Yen on the Brokers, and another 250 million. Tarukane is pleased that these guys fell for it, and thinks that the Brokers' reputation is quite persuasive. But he's secretly convinced that if these intruders are the same two human boys who took down Suzaku and Rando, then the Brokers at his mansion might be facing more than they can handle. I guess the tall Toguro's absolute murder of his strongest pet wasn't as convincing as he let on, because it seems to ME he's gearing up to bet against his security force. 

Sniper in the balcony!

Tarukane grimaces at the guy, definitely NOT happy. The scarred youth's fellows on their respective screens ask if he's crazy, how any SANE person can expect two humans to beat a dozen demons. He says that it's BECAUSE there are two of them, giving the same reasoning that these kids might just be the boys stamping out demons left and right these days that Tarukane had quietly been using just a moment ago. Tarukane laughs nervously and sweats, calling this young "Sakyo" a true gambler, as always. Internally, he's cursing this shrewd punk for keeping his ear to the ground. That's the thing about playing the odds; you can't expect no one else to have the information you do. 

The tall Toguro hums yet again, and a now soured Tarukane snaps a question about what's going on now. Toguro responds that six more of his guys have gone the way of the first, and strokes his chin as he admits that these humans are GOOD. Efficient, at the very least. 

The boys are indeed moving rapidly along the road through the forested grounds, declaring six demons down. Yet another six stand in front of them, all manners of grotesque, but not quite worth describing, since no doubt they will be out of the picture soon enough. They insist the humans got lucky and that what's left of their numbers are ready for them now. Kuwabara leads the charge at them, aura sword pulled back for a stab, telling the "pug-uglies" to shut up and get out of his way, because he's burning with romantic fury. At some point, he's donned a head band with "I (heart) The Snow Girl" on it. No idea where he pulled THAT from. Yusuke sweatdrops over his outburst and mutters about how he's hopped to it, for sure. 

Highly motivated. 

Yusuke peppers the rest of the demonic defense with his Reigun shots, and both boys leave the dead members of the security force, dismembered and fried, fanned behind them. They demand to know who's next. 

Inside, the tall Toguro reports that another six are down, in under six seconds. VERY efficient. 

Rich people are so fucking weird.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I'm certainly even further convinced of Tarukane's general stupidity, as well as that of his colleagues. As befits his class, he is concerned with gaining even more wealth, first and foremost, but his breadth of his greed seems to have made him incapable weighing risk properly. He challenges Toguro to battle his bear of a science experiment with the assumption that Toguro wouldn't take it on, meaning he could justify demanding a lower price for an inferior service delivered, only to end up promising MORE money to Toguro when he dominated the task. Then Tarukane literally goes to bet against the rest of Toguro's team when he calls in his betting club, losing 10 billion Yen when his bluff is called. As obsessed as he is with pulling in more and more capital, he's hemorrhaging it instead, because he's just not as smart as he seems to think he is. A very fair representation of a lot of the high-profile rich people I've seen to date.

This Sakyo dude promises to be a real thorn in his side, though. And since he's got a good identifying feature on his face, it's clear from the outset that he's going to be more important as time progresses. But even if I didn't know who he is and what part he plays in the future, I'd still be annoyed by him for being part of this creep betting club. Where did I put my guillotine??

Toguro remains the most interesting of all of this cast of villains, because in contrast to the stoic mask he has put on, he almost seems the most HUMAN out of all of them. He expresses no joy whatsoever at the state of affairs, and in fact admits he's upset by having to kill a beast caged by his employer at his command. He also, unlike his giggling brother, was joyless when he at the poor bird in the last chapter. Clearly he's not having FUN killing creatures weaker than himself, and it forces the reader to question just WHAT his motivations are in this. It's not money; he didn't exactly jump at Tarukane's offer to offer him a raise to be his personal bodyguard, saying instead that he'd "think about it". He almost seems to be going along with all this nonsense in a listless, disinterested way. Perhaps his advice to Yukina in the previous chapter was based a little on his own experience. Just do what's expected of you when it's needed, and don't fight. There is no resisting the social force of wealth and power, even for a guy who can literally splatter a genetically beefed-up beast over a wall. 

He's just as much a tool, a captive, as Yukina is, and that's a little terrifying. 

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.