Inuyasha Manga: 003 Those After the Jewel

We know of one already, and he just ended the last chapter by threatening to tickle Kagome with his really sharp nails if she didn't give him her pretty rock. Wait a minute, it sounds like some kind of weird sleepover story when I describe it like that... What kind of manga am I even reading??

I think this is the first time I've asked myself that question in the whole four times I've obsessively read Inuyasha.

Yeah Kagome, don't give it to him! He just wants to stash it in his sleeping bag when no one's looking! Also, it's an unholy jewel that boosts youkai power. That's a thing. Inuyasha raises his hand and cracks his knuckles, saying he won't go easy on her, especially when she smells as disgusting as he thinks she does. He leaps at her and she backs out of the way just in time, so he shatters the ground beneath her instead of her body. The village men just stare in awe at how this demon creature is attacking a girl.

What gave it away, Kagome? Was it that massive crater he dug into the ground where you were just standing?

One of the men standing behind Kaede states the obvious fact that releasing Inuyasha was a REALLY bad thing. She seems to think it's only a mild bother, which is the exact OPPOSITE opinion to the one she had in the last chapter, but, you know, continuity is hard. She produces a string of beads, mumbling about how this fucking asshole is being a fucking asshole yet again.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha swipes at a tree Kagome is cowering behind, tearing it in half without even breaking a nail as he tells Kagome to prepare to die. Kagome asks how she's supposed to do that, and she is my HERO right now. No one EVER asks the obvious question, but she's on top of it with her snark. Girl after my own heart.

As the tree falls, she trips and lands on her face, and the jewel rolls away from her a little. Inuyasha leaps over the fallen tree, preparing to deal her some hurt, but is distracted by the string of beads Kaede was holding earlier are thrown around his neck. Old woman has some CRAZY good aim! She's humble about it too, because rather than gloating, she shouts at Kagome to say a word to subdue him.

Kagome looks at Kaede like she's lost her mind, and she explains that any subduing word will do, it just needs to be something to quiet Inuyasha. Kagome laments that her mind's just gone blank in the urgency of the situation. Inuyasha is incredulous at the thought that he should be subdued, and that must be why he's missed Kagome and only managed to hit the ground AGAIN. How does he keep missing? He's got demonic powers, and yet Kaede would beat him at horseshoes every time!

He still thinks he has room to brag, though, because he tells Kagome and Kaede not to kid themselves that they could subdue him. Kagome is stuttering while Inuyasha is apparently dicking around, and finally comes up with her subduing word.

The useless village men remark on how that shut Inuyasha up right good. Kaede just hums, like she's tired of them hanging around saying unnecessary shit. I hear that, lady.

Inuyasha's eyes bulge as he rotates his face out of the dirt. He sits up and grapples with the string of beads around his neck, demanding to know what it is. Kaede walks forward and tells Inuyasha that resistance is futile, because those beads subdue his power at the command from Kagome. She calls the beads a rosary, but, to me, the word "rosary" means a very specific thing in Catholicism, so I'm probably going to avoid calling it that myself.

Inuyasha is dumbfounded at first, but is soon driven to rage. He leaps at Kaede, claws extended, telling her to shove it up her ass. Why, Inuyasha? You finally have a pretty piece of jewelry all your own. Kaede coolly reminds Kagome to say the word again, and Kagome does just that, sending Inuyasha down to eat dirt once more.

Kaede tells everyone the show's over and that they'd better get back home while Kagome stares at Inuyasha's prone form with fascination. The next day, those village men look like they're making themselves useful for once by pounding on roofs and carrying things and shit, but the village WOMEN are trying to eavesdrop on the happenings in Kaede's house, accompanied by a lone old man. As they all peer into the hut to get a good look at Kagome and Inuyasha, Kaede asks Kagome to show her the wound in her side, so she can treat it with some medicinal plants.

Kagome lifts her shirt so Kaede can work, and Kaede begins talking about how problematic it is that the Shikon no Tama reappeared in this age as she does so. She says that evil beings will start swarming to get a shot at possessing it. Kagome asks if she means youkai, but Kaede tells her that youkai aren't the only evil she's talking about, but humans with evil in them too. She explains that warmongering men would love to get their hands on the jewel to fulfill all of their violent wishes as well. She qualifies this time as a time of war, and I'm wondering how she's doing that without a contrasting frame of reference. Kaede has ALWAYS lived in war, so it's not like she would see war as anything other than normal.

Oh well, regardless of how Kaede manages this almost impossible insight, it intrigues Kagome. She asks Inuyasha why he's after the jewel as he lays on his side with his back turned to her spitefully. Staring at the jewel, Kagome says he doesn't exactly need it, being pretty strong as it is. Kaede tells Kagome that it's because Inuyasha is a hanyou, or only HALF-youkai, that he wants it, and this statement gets Inuyasha all riled up.

She doesn't really have to KNOW you personally in order to put two and two together, does she? I mean, Six-Arms McGee figured it out, didn't she?

Kaede says it's not surprising Inuyasha doesn't recognize her, because she's the younger sister of Kikyou who sealed him to the tree, and she's aged quite a bit since he last saw her. Inuyasha repeats the name, scratching his head and recalling that she must have been a brat he barely paid attention to. He surmises that Kikyou is probably quite the old hag herself, if Kaede looks so old, and says it must be a drag being human.

That's quite the expression you're wearing, Inuyasha. He corrects that right away by sitting up and putting on a smirk, saying that if that's so, too bad so sad for that bitch, but it's a relief for him. He reclines on his side again, still facing away from Kagome deliberately. Kaede tells him that it's a little too early to be relieved, though, because she's pretty sure Kagome is the reincarnation of Kikyou. Inuyasha glares in her direction out of his periphery.

Kaede not only cites Kagome's looks and powers, but also the fact that the Shikon no Tama was in her body as the best proof of them all. She tells Kagome that it's now her duty to protect and guard the jewel, and Kagome stares at it dangling from the string around her neck, wishing that Kaede was just joking. By the next page, it's revealed to be some time later, when she's walking around the village and villagers are whispering about how they heard she was Kikyou's reincarnation. Apparently, this makes them see her as somewhat regal and solemn, whatever that means.

Well, that's a tad creepy.

Meanwhile, on the branch of a tree, Inuyasha is looking a little moody as he sits cross-legged and stares at the sky. How is he sitting cross-legged on a narrow branch? No idea! He's trying to figure out how Kagome could be Kikyou in his head, and if he keeps thinking of it like that, he's never going to get anywhere.

Suddenly, a... tomato-looking thing flies through the air at him from behind. I only say "tomato-LOOKING" thing because tomatoes would not have been grown in Japan at that point, given that tomatoes are exclusively from the Americas. Inuyasha catches it without even turning or looking, like a BOSS. I wonder if Kagome expected that he would make that catch, or if she intended to spatter that vegetable all over his outfit?

One point for the former interpretation, considering she doesn't seem at all surprised. But what the hell, Kagome? He only gets that one measly vegetable? You're carrying half a grocery store, be a little less stingy won't you?

Inuyasha asks what's with all the food, and Kagome tells him that the villagers offered it to her like she's a walking shrine. Creeeeeeeeepy. Kagome suggests Inuyasha come down from his perch so that they can eat together. He glares down at her, but in the next panel he's sitting hunched like a dog next to her and watching her closer, asking what she's up to. Kagome says she's not up to much, and observes that he doesn't seem to like her very much. Inuyasha says it's more like she makes him sick, and she demands he listen to her when she says, yet again, that she's not Kikyou.

Inuyasha continues to glare, but Kagome asks him to try and be a little more friendly with her. He scoffs and jumps to his feet, calling her an idiot and reminding her that no matter who she happens to be, he's going to do whatever it takes to get that Shikon no Tama. Kagome says that if he gets violent with her, all she has to do is tell him to sit. When Inuyasha does another faceplant into the grass, Kagome waves her hand and pretends she didn't mean it.

Maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on the villagers bowing down to her. This girl is my QUEEN.

Fast forward to nighttime, when Kagome is lying under a kimono in Kaede's hut, restless though she's supposed to be sleeping. It's been two days since she's showed up in the feudal era, and she knows her family must be getting worried. She really needs to find a way home. As she rolls over and tries to sleep, a crow has landed in the window to look at her. A three-eyed crow.

Everything has an incorrect number of body-parts in this comic, doesn't it?? The crow caws and hops around on the sill, and a shot from behind reveals it also has a weird reptilian tail out the back. A pebble flies close to it, bouncing off the side of the hut.

Your aim sucks ass, Inuyasha. As it flies off, Inuyasha thinks the nasty thing must have followed the scent of the jewel. Well, it won't get it on Inuyasha's watch! Not when he's got to grab it himself!

The next morning, Kagome is shuffling through the forest, heading for the well she traveled there through. She figures that should be the way home too. Back in the village, Kaede is calling out for Kagome and getting no reply. A couple of villagers say there's no sign of her, and Kaede worries that she left the village all by herself. And after Kaede warned her about all the thugs looking for that jewel she still has around her neck. She should have at least left it in the village before she ran off...

Speaking of thugs, Inuyasha overhears this as he's perched on a roof. Are we certain he's not a CAT instead? He likes heights an awful lot... Speaking FURTHER of thugs, a rustle in the bush behind her later, Kagome is grabbed by several burly arms before she can get to that well. A hand muffles her screams while she's dragged to what looks like a hideout at an abandoned building that's in surprisingly good shape. Why was it abandoned when a few nails and a fresh coat of paint would have fixed it right up? Oh well.

A bunch of dirty-looking guys in mismatched armor look around and marvel at the girl brought into their midst. Kagome is slammed chin-first onto the old floor, and I hope she doesn't get splinters. The guys say to a massive dude lounging on the other side of the room that they captured her, just like he ordered, and add that she's dressed really strangely. Why would you mention that? Is your boss dude blind or something?

Boss dude mentions the jewel, and Kagome glares up at him.

That's super gross, man, wipe your mouth. Kagome gulps. Meanwhile, Inuyasha is leaping through the forest, wondering where Kagome went with his precious jewel. He calls her stupid over and over in his head.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? A lot of information was dropped here, and most of it in a very pleasingly subtle way. It's obvious that Inuyasha's reaction to learning about Kikyou's death is a front, and it only took one panel with no dialogue to show that right before he started shooting off his mouth.

Exposition was minimal, though I do think it went on a tad too long when it came to Kaede describing how even humans were after the jewel. The part about "this time of war" could have been cut out altogether and the scene would have been better for it. Also, after seeing how Inuyasha was told by Kaede how Kikyou was dead, I kind of wish the initial scene explaining it to Kagome a couple of chapters ago would have been cut entirely. It would have been a bit more economical to reveal that information to both characters at once, because there was no reason for Kagome to care about it before. Inuyasha's reaction was much more important here, and since Kagome and the audience already knew about this (twice over now with the audience), it feels a little less impactful than it could have been.

Otherwise, this was a strong chapter without a ton of dialogue, and the dialogue that DID exist was witty and informative. I got a great deal of meat on the characters here: Kaede is a pillar of her community, though she's not above being a little exasperated with everyone around her every once in a while while she's doing all the work. She's TOO much fun, and I love everything she does so far. Inuyasha comes across as this smug, provocative little shit and since he kind of failed at killing Kagome, you get the impression that he's all talk, or a fake-it-till-you-make-it type of guy. He's just a blustering windbag, and I love everything he does so far too.

And the best thing about all of this is, once again, I didn't need to be TOLD any of it. The characters SHOWED me, which is a novelty I'm ALWAYS going to praise.