Inuyasha Manga: 005 Kagome's Arrow

Kagome must be a fast learner, because her last arrow went flop. Either that or the crow decides to take a small nap and she shoots it while it's sleeping. Changing shape and composition like that probably DID take a lot of energy, and it's going to NEED a feast before laying down for a year-long coma. It's a growing man-eating crow! It needs all the rest and nutrition it can get!

That's why it's heading straight to the dinner table.

It's not a plane or superman, that's for damn sure. A mom and her son are walking hand in hand with their backs turned to the creature, so it swoops down and grabs the little boy with it's claws. The mother calls out her son's name, Kokichi, as his hand is ripped from hers and he's carried away screaming. The mother falls on her knees just as Inuyasha and Kagome come sailing in after the bird and its meal, Inuyasha complaining that it's already begun to transform.

The boy is bawling, because it's probably really painful to be carried around by your arm by some sharp claws. Kagome can't even bring herself to get the whole question of if the crow is really going to eat Kokichi, but Inuyasha understands her stutterings and reminds her that he told her the crow eats humans. His annoyance with her redundant inquiries doesn't last long, though, because the crow can't go as fast when it's holding onto prey. Inuyasha holds up his claws above his head to strike, declaring that he'll shred everything.

Kagome is shocked and then angered by his disregard for Kokichi, calling him an idiot just before moving to save the kid herself.

Careful you don't rip the kid's arm off while you're trying to save him, Kagome! Inuyasha calls Kagome a bitch for interfering with his murder swipe. Kagome's not paying any attention, though, because the crow has flown back around and is opening its jaws to chomp down on her and the boy. She squeezes her eyes shut and Inuyasha utters a curse before he swipes at the crow for the second time, ripping it apart with a move he called "Sankon Tessou".

Kagome and the boy crash to the ground among the pieces of crow raining down around them and Kagome quickly sits up to remove the claw from the crying boy's arm. He throws his arms around her and weeps as she soothes him and tells him its alright. Meanwhile, the shreds of crow are knitting back together, and Inuyasha asks Kagome where the jewel is. She must not have been listening, likely because crying children are pretty loud. Anyway, the crow is allowed to reform.

Thanks Obama!

Kagome observes a glowing area under the crow's wing and alerts Inuyasha. Inuyasha swipes again, but he only catches it in the tail, and said tail just reforms again anyway. It flies off into the distance once more, probably looking for more eats. Inuyasha is pissed, saying that it's trying to keep enough distance between them and it so that it can have the luxury of absorbing the jewel completely.

Kagome knows she has to do something, and fast, and suddenly remembers the crow's foot still clutched in her fist. She pulls the ascot from the collar of her sailor blouse and knots it around the arrow, keeping one eye on the retreating crow the whole time. Inuyasha looks perplexed as she draws her bow with the modified arrow. Onlooking villagers are whispering about how that's an awfully distant target, and Inuyasha tells Kagome that she'll never make it with how unskilled she is with a bow and arrow.

How did you not see that before, Inuyasha? You were looking right at the arrow as she was nocking it.

Kagome has figured out that the regenerative power of the Shikon no Tama will draw the crow's leg, and the arrow attached, to the rest of the body. Good thing she hung on to that gross leg! The arrow arcs upward where it was going to drop below the target and skewers the bird, right under the wing. Those onlooking villagers from before stare in awe at the hit, and Kagome celebrates her successful plan as a glow begins to emit from the crow's body.

Kaede already knows that this can't be good.

Later, Kagome is riding on Inuyasha's back again as they dart through the forest, wondering what that light was and why it worries her so much. Inuyasha asks if this is really where the jewel landed, and Kagome says she just has a feeling. Inuyasha hears a flap above them and looks up to see the crow's jaws heading straight toward them, though disembodied. Kagome is surprised it's just the head of the bird. Where's the rest of it? I was counting on that being my supper tonight!! Eh... probably gamey as crap anyway.

Inuyasha is glad it decided to come to him this time as he flexes his claws, and splatters it on the ground with a power grind of his palm. A small glint escapes from the flying flesh, and skips along the ground while Kagome watches it. Inuyasha begins to ask after the Shikon no Tama again, and Kagome goes to pick up the small shining fragment she saw. She mumbles about what it could be before coming right out and saying that it seems to be a piece of the jewel. Inuyasha is dumbfounded.

Hours later, back at Kaede's hut, Inuyasha is asking what the hell happened. Kaede asks him to quiet down, but he's not going to quit shouting until he knows what happened to his precious accessory. How is he supposed to complete his ensemble without it?? Kaede answers him simply, saying that Kagome's purifying arrow shattered the jewel along with the body of her target. It's uncertain to Kaede whether the pieces number ten or one hundred, but they've scattered all over, and even one fragment could be a really big deal in the hands of a powerful monster.

Kagome wonders if it's her fault. Uhhhhh, yeah. Yeah it is. Kaede tells both Inuyasha and Kagome to listen to her as she orders them to combine their powers to collect all of the fragments and put them back together. OH GREAT A SCAVENGER HUNT COMBINED WITH A PUZZLE. AWESOME. Kagome looks dejected by this prospect, but Inuyasha scoffs. He asks Kaede if she's sure she wants a bad guy after the Shikon no Tama like him to be responsible for finding and reassembling it. Kaede tells him that there really isn't any choice.

Kagome just wants to go home where she doesn't have to look for jewels or fight monsters.

Wow, that was a SHORT chapter. Despite its length, though, there's a fair amount to think about here. Again, this chapter was action, cover to cover. There weren't any pauses or excessive amounts of dialogue, explanations or seconds wasted. Everything that happened happened moment to moment and was a clean flow of events.

The visuals were phenomenal. I don't think I've raved yet about the horror images this manga evokes, so I'll do it here. SO MACABRE and BEAUTIFUL at the same time. RT really has a talent for designing monsters, I have to say. They're really subtle in what makes them so unsettling, too. I mean, usually they're just creatures that are mashed together in odd ways, but they really evoke a strangeness and spine-tingling feeling that's beyond just the disturbing. I'm not sure how to describe it, but when I do, I'm going to be writing it in one of these reviews.

And our main character is managing to continue to surprise me with her depth of character and intelligence. I can't tell you how often I've heard people disparage Kagome as a character, saying that she's whiny and stupid and useless, but I don't know where those people are getting that interpretation from. This is only the beginning of the story, and she's showing wit and ingenuity that is kind of amazing. Sure, her plan to shoot the crow had consequences, but it made sense and WORKED.

The fact that this stroke of brilliance worked TOO well is what makes the whole scene so brilliant. Usually, the hero just comes up with a way to beat the bad guy and it works and everyone congratulates the hero on their job well done. This situation of beating the hero, but creating a new problem unintentionally in the process showed more complexity, though. It set up the story for the whole rest of the manga, and created a quest for the reluctant heroine to engage in. Now, she has personal stakes. Now, she doesn't just have to listen to people TELLING her it's her duty to go out and find and protect these little jewel fragments; she is now directly responsible for the state of the world she finds herself in, and the rest of the manga is her efforts in TAKING responsibility.

That's a level of complexity that you don't get in a lot of stories, and this chapter reminds me of that every time I read it.