Inuyasha Manga: 015 The Black Pearl

Ahoy, me hearties!! Last we left off, Johnny Depp was making countless weird gestures and drunken sways while trying to get back and keep his pirate ship while his mutinous crew went back and forth between being cursed and... Oh, wait. You say we're NOT reviewing any of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies? You ask why I would be reviewing them anyway since this blog is for reviewing MANGA? You say I've already made TWO Pirates of the Caribbean jokes already?

To that last one, you have NO IDEA the depths to which I can sink when making snarky comparisons. NONE.

Sesshoumaru's still bragging about how he figured out where his dad's grave is, I see. Two days later and he's still patting himself on the back. Give it a rest already. Sesshoumaru speculates that his father sealed his grave in the RIGHT black pearl in order to preserve the integrity of his precious grave. Kind of like an Egyptian pyramid, except not literally a giant beacon proclaiming, "ROB ME!!" in great opulent letters. Sesshoumaru's dad knew how to ACTUALLY hide a grave.

Inuyasha asks Sesshoumaru what the balls he's on about, calling him a bastard again. I'm surprised he can still talk, given that Sesshoumaru has been holding him up by his neck for a while by this point. Sesshoumaru asks Inuyasha if the grave was entrusted to him without his knowing about it, and begins a rather violent invitation.

Notice how Sesshoumaru's digging his fingers into Inuyasha's LEFT eye. More importantly, notice how Sesshoumaru is DIGGING HIS FINGERS INTO INUYASHA'S EYE.

Oh... oh that's so... Woah.

Sesshoumaru drops Inuyasha on the ground, a trail of blood arcing through the air in front of him as he lands on his back. Kagome comes from the side to yell at Sesshoumaru to stop, which is a tad late. Sesshoumaru grips the pearl in his now bloody fist as he continues raving about how it was no wonder he couldn't find it no matter how he searched the earth. Dude, did you ACTUALLY search the whole Earth for this grave? That would eliminate the suspicious gap in time between your dad's death and when you started looking for his grave, but... why? Why would Sesshoumaru look around a whole damn PLANET for a guy's grave who died in Japan? Process of elimination should have told him that the grave probably wasn't off the archipelago.

He says that there was only one clue to the grave's whereabouts while Kagome helps Inuyasha to sit up. Why does Sesshoumaru think they care about his adventures in trying and failing to be Indiana Jones? The clue was a riddle that said the location was one that one can see but can't be seen by the keeper. Unless they're looking in a mirror. Or a still body of water, which Inuyasha was just doing, so, you know, there's that. A creepily shadowed Sesshoumaru holds back up the pearl while repeating the solution to the riddle, which was that bastard Inuyasha's right eye. Girls, girls, you're BOTH bastards. Literally.

Wait, wait, wait! You guys know how eyes work, right? The pupil is a hole that acts like a pinhole camera, letting light in to bounce off of the various receptors in the retina and create a picture in your mind. That means Inuyasha's right retina has been blocked this whole time, and he lacked binocular vision! That explains his horrible aim! It all makes sense, because you see...

... No. No, still a mystery.

Kagome lingers at Inuyasha's side as he's groaning and holding the heel of his hand up to his injured eye, but is staring at Sesshoumaru, mentally questioning his assertion that the tiny pearl is the grave of an entire person. I understand your confusion, girl, but Inuyasha's health and safety should be your main priority here, not the ravings of a madman. Inuyasha growls about how just for that, Sesshoumaru copied his mom at demon Kinkos. He lunges forward with claws extended, screaming that he won't forgive Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru jumps into the air and out of Inuyasha's way, with an amused smile. He tells Inuyasha that he'll have to die if he doesn't get out of the way, because Sesshoumaru's in a bit of a hurry. Sesshoumaru, you are NOT in a hurry, stop pretending that you have stuff to do and places to be. Sesshoumaru darts toward Inuyasha, his claws out too, and just as Kagome opens her mouth to issue a warning, a sleeve flutters in front of Inuyasha.

Mu-Onna's dismembered body flops to the ground in pieces. Kagome is amazed that she protected Inuyasha, and Myouga explains that it's in Mu-Onna's nature to protect a child, since she was originally formed from the tender feelings a mother has for her children. See? That information actually has a PLACE here. Inuyasha stares down at his shoulder where a scrap of the robe Mu-Onna was wearing landed.

Her head landed a short ways away, where a conscious (though stuttered) line issues from it about her boy. Sesshoumaru's boot lands on her head to silence her, squishing it to nothing. Well, Mu-Onna, you were creepy as all hell, but you turned out okay in the end. Rest in peace, girl.

Sesshoumaru calls her worthless, and Kagome immediately grows indignant, shouting at him to wait just a minute. Myouga shouts for her attention in turn, warning her not to oppose him because he could just as easily kill them too.

Jaken is shuffling through the tall grass on hands and knees, panting. He finds his staff lying there and happily informs Sesshoumaru of this, holding it in the air triumphantly. Sesshoumaru isn't nearly as happy, warning Jaken that if he loses the staff again, he'll die. Was that why Sesshoumaru was spending so much time talking about the riddle and shit? To give Jaken time to find that staff? Because it turns out to be pretty important.

Well, I can see how if you really spent years searching the planet for it. The old man's head on the top of the staff wakes up and starts laughing instead of the wail that the woman made. He must be okay with being woken up. Jaken says it's because the tomb is opening, and I wonder what that old guy has to gain from Sesshoumaru finding the grave. 10%?

What's so funny? I'm guessing the "SHOOMP" sound effect that goes with Sesshoumaru and Jaken being sucked into the black pinwheel portal in the next panel. I guess the pearl isn't the grave itself, but the means TO the grave, or world's end. If only they find Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's father like THIS:

I would be laughing for ETERNITY.

Kagome is confused at how Sesshoumaru and Jaken vanished, while Myouga is urging Inuyasha to enter the portal before it closes too, before Sesshoumaru manages to take all of their father's treasures. Inuyasha isn't interested in treasure, and as Myouga is lamenting what a waste of an opportunity it would be for Inuyasha, Inuyasha demands that Myouga shut up, because he's not saying that he won't go after Sesshoumaru.

He clutches the fragment of Mu-Onna's robe fabric from his shoulder, glaring at it and growling about his nasty half-brother. He shoots to his feet and shouts that he'll kill Sesshoumaru for this. Inuyasha looks behind him to tell Kagome to wait in the oily wasteland like a good girl, but finds that she's actually in front of him and has a leg up in the portal already. She asks him what he's hanging around for before jumping into the pinwheel hole.

When Inuyasha jumps in after her, he reminds her that Sesshoumaru is in there, as though she forgot. She lets him know that she's going BECAUSE Sesshoumaru is in there, and she's ready to fight that bag of dicks. She's probably not ready for the fall, though.

Whaaaaaaat is happening with your spine, girl?

Another of those bony birds swoops in from behind and catches a screaming Kagome and a totally cool Inuyasha. They fly toward the giant armored skeleton and Inuyasha calls it his dad. Kagome is flummoxed by this comment, asking if the skeleton is REALLY Inuyasha's father. Inuyasha says that Kagome should be able to see that with her own eyes, looking a little annoyed, but Kagome doesn't know how she's supposed to see the resemblance, with the bones being so big and all. Honestly, I think that's the least trouble I would have finding that resemblance.

Myouga, riding on Inuyasha's subjugation beads, says that Inuyasha's father was a demon who lived for a long time, and these bones reflect his truest form free of glamours or spells. He goes on to say that there's a sword within Inuyasha's father's remains that Sesshoumaru intends to take for his own. To illustrate this point:

Looks like he REALLY likes that sword. Got his bedroom eyes on and everything.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? The black pearl in Inuyasha's eye irritates me a little. I happen to know for a fact that this would have realistically made Inuyasha blind in one eye since the black pearl was installed. I'm sure some vague magic would explain why that wouldn't happen, but what if the disability were actually explored a little bit? I think it would have been an interesting aside to include Inuyasha marveling at how much clearer everything is now and how he overcorrects for his walking and aim and such after the pearl is gone.

Speaking of it being gone, how did it get there in the first place? How was Inuyasha supposed to retrieve it? Knowing the information that's supposed to be dropped in the next couple of chapters, Inuyasha is supposed to have possession of Tessaiga, so how was he supposed to get it? Is this all just a failing on Myouga's part, not sticking around to instruct Inuyasha on how to get and use the Tessaiga? Inuyasha recognized Myouga like he recognized Sesshoumaru, and Myouga said he ran away from his duty as grave-keeper in an earlier chapter. So he could be admitting that he was supposed to relay all the information to Inuyasha, but abandoned this responsibility. Was it because Inuyasha had been sealed up? He thought Inuyasha was dead just like Sesshoumaru? Only came back after he heard Inuyasha had woken up once more and could come into an inheritance?

And what's with Sesshoumaru always pretending to have very little time for anything other than getting to the grave? He's suggested that he literally spent YEARS looking for the grave, and he doesn't seem to have any other responsibilities. Where else does he have to be? What else does he need to be doing?

So many questions...