Inuyasha Manga: 039 Spider-Heads

Awwww yiss. After the four-chapter-long gut-punch that was the last arc, I've been looking forward to reading an arc that was a little less on the emotionally torturous side. Some old-fashioned horror with a manipulative shapeshifter should do the trick. Not that this arc doesn't have its softer elements, mind you, but at least those elements don't rip your heart out and stomp on it ruthlessly is all I'm saying.

How is she playing right now? No one knows. Inuyasha is just in his usual crappy mood and clearly doesn't like Kagome pointing out how nice the weather is right now.

He probably wouldn't like me pointing out that I'm actually reading this manga from RIGHT TO LEFT this time around as was originally intended. His attitude won't ruin it for me, though, I promise.

He looks behind him where Shippou is leaning over the side of their boat and groaning, asking if he doesn't think there's something wrong with a youkai getting seasick. Looking elsewhere, Kagome sees a figure moving along a nearby cliff, identifying it as a person with some bewilderment. Yes, Kagome, there are other people here. Surprise. A shadowy figure is crawling along behind this person, who appears to be running away. The shadowy figure stretches out its neck and pushes the first figure, a screaming young woman clutching a fistful of flowers, off the side of the cliff with its face.

Kagome gasps in alarm while Myouga alerts Inuyasha that it's a youkai up there. That was kind of obvi, dude.

Nice catch indeed, and no one even had to tell him to do it.

The shadowy figure on the cliff gazes down at them for a moment and then shifts backward, disappearing. Inuyasha glares up at it, wondering what the hell it was while still holding onto the young woman he caught. She stutters about what a close call that was and begins to thank Inuyasha, but then catches sight of his ears. The young woman freaks the fuck out about this and smacks him across the face, demanding that the vile youkai let her go. Inuyasha falls into the river from the blow, taking the girl with him, with Kagome and Shippou looking on in surprise.

Later, Inuyasha is wringing out his big bell sleeves, muttering about what a fucking joke this all is, while Kagome bandages their new acquaintance's wrist and asks her if she lives on the mountain. The young woman is salty, refusing to answer, and Shippou comments on her lack of manners despite talking to the people who saved her. She yells at him to shut up, because she identifies him as a youkai too, causing Shippou to flinch away. The young woman says that she hates youkai.

Changing the subject, Kagome sheepishly asks what the thing that pushed her over the cliff was. The young woman says that they're spider-heads that settled on the mountain the previous spring, possessing corpse heads and attacking people ever since. She tells Kagome that many people have been eaten by these creatures at this point. Kagome hums, thinking that she didn't sense a Shikon fragment from the spider-head before.

She turns to Inuyasha and asks if they should help out, but Inuyasha is already stepping back into the boat, scoffing about what a joke this is again. He tells Kagome they're leaving, because he wants to get out of the mountain area by nightfall. Kagome questions why, saying they can't leave without stopping in a place with youkai troubling it. Inuyasha informs her that he hasn't been killing off youkai to help people who are bothered by them, and Kagome acknowledges that this is true, but she still thinks he would normally have at least checked things out.

Kagome looks back over her shoulder to see the young woman starting to climb the side of the cliff. She says she's going home, though Kagome offers to take her there due to the danger. She turns down the offer, because she doesn't want help from any youkai. But the vine she's tugging on snaps and she tumbles down again, right in front of a staring Kagome and Inuyasha.

If looks could kill....

An old man in monk's robes meets them, calling the young woman Nazuna and asking who she's brought there. Nazuna elbows Inuyasha in the side of his head while jumping from his back to return the greeting from whom she calls Oshou-sama. He asks if she was attacked by spider-heads, and she begins telling her tale of picking flowers for the graves, but veers off into asking forgiveness for letting wicked youkai break into the temple like she did as she bows deferentially.

Shippou is irritated with how insulting Nazuna is still being while the monk peers at the youkai questioningly. Inuyasha assures him that they will be leaving presently, but the monk asks them to stay the night instead, prompting a horrified protest from Nazuna. He just tells her to prepare a meal for their guests, and after a moment of being taken aback, Nazuna turns to do as she's told, casting an angry suspicious glance over her shoulder.

The monk asks the guests to forgive Nazuna her rudeness, because her father was killed by spider-heads. He's been taking care of her since then, but her hatred and dread for youkai is pretty strong. Changing the subject, the monk tells Inuyasha's group that he's managed to erect a modest barrier around the temple that the spider-heads shouldn't be able to enter. However, he's wondering if something about Inuyasha is just in his imagination or not.

Inuyasha understandably wants to know if the old guy is blind, but the monk disregards the matter of his physical appearance, because he can't sense a youkai's aura from Inuyasha at all. This seems to make Inuyasha a little nervous, or at least sweat. He immediately launches into defensive mode, cracking his clawed knuckles and advancing on the monk, asking if he'd like to test out his youkai-ness, since he can't sense it in the normal way. Kagome mutters a sit command which grinds Inuyasha's face into the ground once again. She gives the monk a short bow and apologizes for Inuyasha's violence.

Looks like they're still allowed to stay, despite Inuyasha's threats, because the next we see them, they're sitting in a room in the temple after nightfall eating that meal Nazuna presumably made. It's at this time that Kagome chooses to bring up the fact that she's observed Inuyasha acting pretty strange today. She thinks it's weird that he got so angry over a monk assuming him an ordinary human. Resting on the rim of one of their rice bowls, Myouga agrees with Kagome and tells Inuyasha he should act a bit more dignified. After all, he's a magnificent hanyou for being born of the union between a human mother and a great youkai father. Shippou thinks that a "magnificent hanyou" is still worth shit, which earns him a well-deserved lump on the head and a command to shut his trap.

Inuyasha scoffs, but on the inside, he's worried. He wonders if the small-time monk of the temple has managed to see right through him. Kagome gains his attention by leaning toward him and peering at him closely.

Inuyasha's face is just full to the brim with pricelessness.

As Inuyasha grinds Shippou into the floor boards, Kagome asks if she's wrong, and Inuyasha exasperatedly confirms this. When Inuyasha gets up and walks toward the door, Kagome pauses in lifting the abused Shippou off the floor to ask where Inuyasha's going. He informs her that he's going to sleep by himself, and begins to warn her to stop nosing into his business when his attention is grabbed by a mass of something in the upper corner of the room next to him.

HAVE THOSE GUYS BEEN THERE THE WHOLE TIME???

Meanwhile, Nazuna runs through the temple among the quickly formed webs and wriggling human-headed-spiders. She's completely dumbfounded as to how they got in when the monk's barrier should have kept them out. Nazuna figures the barrier must have been broken. She bursts into a nearby room and is appalled at the sight of the monk lying on the floor where human-headed-spiders have looped their silk around his his frail limbs, crawling all over and around him.

Back in Inuyasha's group's room, he stands protectively in between Kagome and the fast-acting human-headed-spiders, which have already covered the room in their silk and wriggling bodies. He looks over his shoulder to tell Kagome and Shippou to run ahead, cutting off Kagome's protests with a promise that he'll manage something if he's by himself. He puts his hand on Tessaiga while the human-headed-spiders leap at him, unsheathing it and shouting at Kagome to just get out of there.

She reluctantly says that she understands as she and Shippou book it out the door. Looking back, she notices with some alarm that the sword Inuyasha is hacking at the invading spiders with isn't transformed like it usually does in these situations. It's just in its default junk-state, and that's allowing the wave of spiders to overtake him.

So, Kagome and Shippou head back to help him with yells of fright as he disappears beneath the spiders. Kagome calls Inuyasha's name while Shippou throws a swirl of foxfire at them. It drives the spiders far enough away that Kagome can drag Inuyasha out of their mound of silk by his arm, begging him to hang in there.

They flee, huffing until they reach a relatively safe area next to a tree and Kagome determines that they're not being followed. Inuyasha, still covered in silk, curses, drawing a curious look from Kagome. She asks what's happening to him and he tells her to shut up for what seems like the umpteenth time during this chapter. Shippou whaps him on the head for his attitude, because Kagome is just worried about Inuyasha. Inuyasha isn't paying attention, because he's telling his companions to just worry about themselves while he pulls the spider silk from his head. Kagome is floored by what she sees beneath it.

Well fuck me!

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It was great in building all the little details to support the big reveal and cliffhanger at the end. Inuyasha's heightened irritability in the situation is presented very well. The paranoia surrounding this event that only HE sees coming at nightfall is palpable; his wanting to get out of the mountainous area by nightfall when he never cared where they were before, his threatening of a seemingly harmless old guy that he would only have scoffed at before, his wondering whether he was "found out" by that monk even hours later are all supportive of his anticipation of something bad happening, but Kagome and the audience not knowing what. She and we know there's something going on, though, because something's just really off about Inuyasha's normally blustery personality.

I also never get tired of how actually competent Kagome is. Even when Inuyasha tells her to get out of there, she hangs back when she sees Tessaiga isn't transforming and helps to DRAG Inuyasha out of danger. So many people see her as a typical damsel in distress most of the time, but I have to disagree - she does her fair share of rescuing as well, and she doesn't shy away from danger in order to at least TRY helping out her friends.

Which is why Inuyasha's closing line about them expecting to be saved like always just tickles me. Whatever bro, THEY just saved YOU! He doesn't even SEE the irony there, and it's hilarious.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 097 The Final Card

This is it, guys. This is when the latest pair of superfluous assholes are presented with their own asses and we say goodbye to them forever. Admittedly, the Meikyu Brothers were at least more interesting than the previous two superfluous assholes, but that just makes me suspicious that they may have been responsible for their whole class of unneeded characters being created. I'll be glad to see the back of them when they're beaten.

Oh yeah, that's right, we have THIS anomaly to deal with too. How are Yami and Jonouchi going to squeeze this hulking monster through the labyrinth? That final card the title refers to probably helps that happen in some way, though I'm still not certain on the process.

The Meikyu Brothers gape at the badassery that is this Black Skull Dragon, as Jonouchi suggests they start shopping for a brand new dungeon for after he and Yami destroy this one with it. This just makes Kyu laugh super hard, making Jonouchi question if he's really THAT funny. Maybe he should pursue a career as a comedian after the tournament? Kyu explains that he's laughing at how foolish they are because they seem to have forgotten that the labyrinth can only be traversed by ground troops, and their fusion doesn't take away the Red Eyes Black Dragon's dragon characteristics that excludes it from getting in the narrow corridors, namely wings. While the Black Skull Dragon can't get within range of the guardian, the guardian can still attack the whole labyrinth, and that's what makes this punchline all the funnier.

Jonouchi sweats, now ashamed of his impulse play because of how he was told the dragon wouldn't be a good one before. He realizes that Yami played his Polymerization card as though he had a plan anyway, though, and asks if he really screwed up as badly as Kyu is suggesting. Yami assures him he did just fine, and they still have a chance. Jonouchi perks up instantly, because he knew Yami would find a way to win. He points at the Meikyu Brothers and tells them that he's all done with a wide grin. Mei and Kyu grin back, chuckling from behind their guardian.

Anzu calls to Jonouchi and Yami that they can do it, but Honda seems a bit more nervous when he says that their getting out of the tunnels depends on Jonouchi and Yami's win. Bakura admits that this duel is the last thing between them and Pegasus's castle, as well as the secret of the Millennium Items he's so certain he'll find there. He looks down at his ring with one of its needles pointing ahead, appearing just a bit out of it...

Never mind THAT, there's a card game going on!

Grinning, Kyu claims that the card he's holding scares even him. You don't LOOK very scared, dude. Yami looks curiously ahead as Kyu slaps down Ryoku the magic card. Curiosity turns to alarm as Yami identifies this as a legendarily rare magic card. Kyu laughs, saying that his opponents life points belong to him now, which Jonouchi can't believe and Yami says is decidedly BAD. Both players' life points go down by half, which leaves Jonouchi and Yami with 650 and 600 points respectively. Kyu then feeds those points he stole to the guardian, giving them to both guardian parts and raising their attacks to 3250 and 3000.

Well, ain't THAT a kick in the pants? Kyu says that he can't attack in the same turn as using Ryoku, but next turn he'll thrash their dragon with the combined strength of his thunder and wind demon gods, and they can't do anything to stop him. Jonouchi growls next to a stoic Yami, while their friends mumble anxiously in the background.

Yami is still fired up to take his turn before that, and draws a card. He looks at it and identifies the "shift" card, formulating a plan around it.

The Dark Magician proceeds seven spaces due to his star level as directed, Mei asking if Yami thinks he can just walk out of the labyrinth though he should know he has to face the guardian before that. Yami points and lectures Mei that he and Jonouchi will keep going, no matter the obstacle or risk, as long as there's still a chance.

At seven steps, the Dark Magician is officially out of the labyrinth and standing in front of the guardian, just one more step from the doors on the other side of it. Yami says he's playing just one more card that he holds up before he ends his turn. It's monster reborn, which he uses to bring back an unspecified monster from the Meikyu side and make it defend him. Mei doesn't care, because he's convinced it won't matter which monster is brought back.

He's clearly forgetting a particular monster that's very capable of blocking this attack.

Wow, that was quite the oversight. I can't BELIEVE he didn't see that coming.

Jonouchi congratulates Yami on the smooth shit he took all over Mei's attack. Their friends stare; Bakura is relieved that they managed to survive this particular attack, but Honda wonders if they have a way to BEAT the boss guardian. Kyu is pissed that as long as Yami and Jonouchi have Suijin, the brothers can't touch them.

Yami turns to Jonouchi to remind him that it's his turn, and he draws a card in compliance, wondering what's left to do to win. Yami knows that the brothers will destroy Suijin on their next turn, leaving he and Jonouchi defenseless, so all their hopes rest on Jonouchi's next card. Jonouchi looks at this card, a card called Copycat. He stares a moment in nervous contemplation, then grins and chuckles, having just come up with quite the idea.

He slaps Copycat down on the table and says he's going to copy Ryota, shocking the Meikyu Brothers with his imitation card. Jonouchi intends to take half the Meikyu life points and attach them to a monster for its attack stats.

Yami is impressed with Jonouchi's play, thinking that with that kind of power, they can surely beat the guardian. Kyu yells at them that if he's told them once, he's told them a million times; their dragon CANNOT cross the labyrinth to attack. Then why are you sweating, bro? He announces it's his turn aggressively and destroys Suijin with Kazejin. Yami gets another of those unexplained exclamation points above his head, even though he knew this would happen.

Mei asks Yami what he'll do now that he has no defense, but doesn't seem interested in an actual answer. He says on the next turn, they win, laughing. However, Yami thinks it's actually HIS turn to laugh, causing Mei to clam up real quick. Yami asks if they haven't figured out the REAL reason he took the Dark Magician all the way through the maze, and Mei looks genuinely flabbergasted by the question.

Yami holds up the magic card Shift, explaining that it lets him put his stronger monsters up front. The brothers stare in disbelief, and Kyu's eyes bulge at the realization that getting the magician through the maze and face to face with the guardian would allow him to put any monster in its place with Shift. It's too late to do anything about this, though, because Yami is already calling out his shift. The dragon and magician are surrounded by a flash of light.

Nighty-night, assholes of the superfluous variety! May we never come across another one of your kind again.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? More than the finale, I was actually more impressed with Yami's use of Suijin to block the attack of the other two parts of the guardian. It was critical that his Dark Magician survive long enough for him to switch it out with the dragon, so it was really ingenious of him to bring back out the already defeated part to give them a little more time.

Jonouchi's play of copying the Ryota card was an awesome build on that as well, because it shows how much he really trusted that Yami had a plan to get the dragon through the maze, and he pumped up its power accordingly. This is what makes Yami and Jonouchi such a phenomenal team, because of the implicit understanding that they have of each other and how to BUILD on each others' plays rather than just making their own independent of one another. They GET that they have to observe what one another is doing and use that as a foundation for future moves. Even if Jonouchi's understanding of this fundamental concept is intuitive rather than intellectual, it doesn't diminish the effectiveness of it.

Now all they need to do is go through the right door and they're all set! I wonder if Yami's figured out which one that is by now...

Inuyasha Manga: 038 To Calm the Soul

Ah yes, calming the soul is definitely something that should be done here. But how to go about it? Most kids don't have much patience for sitting still and meditating, and this one in particular has demonstrated that she's resistant to settling her ass down, so that's out. Speaking patronizingly to her didn't seem to help either. What's left?

The clock is ticking, Kagome, so you'd better come up with a plan soon. Especially now that the Tatari-Mokke is descending at a certain familiar spot.

Mayu has been deposited someplace pitch black, wondering where she is now. She sees a line of light in front of her and reaches out to it, pushing open a door. A gust of fiery air rushes into her small dark space and she balks at the flames quickly surrounding her.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha and Kagome land where they saw the Tatari-Mokke disappear, and Kagome recognizes it as the burned out former home of Mayu's family while she runs toward it.

Inuyasha comes in after her, also seeing the ghost flames and asking if Mayu burned to death. Kagome confirms that Mayu died in the fire in the apartment and Inuyasha relays what Myouga said about the Tatari-Mokke bringing the child meant for Hell on a detour to relive their death before dragging them off. After he says this, one of the Tatari-Mokke's wide eyes appears to Inuyasha and Kagome through the flames, alarming them.

What the balls?? Tatari-Mokke needs to seriously back the fuck up off people who AREN'T supposed to be bound for Hell!

In order to send this message, Inuyasha swings his Tessaiga down on where the Tatari-Mokke disappears, and it comes down on a burned carpet devoid of flames, ghost or otherwise. The Tessaiga hasn't even transformed, still in its junk-state while Inuyasha faces the empty apartment with bewilderment. He mutters that Kagome's gone with wide eyes and sweat at his temple.

Back at the hospital, it appears that someone has found Satoru's mom and patched up the lump on her head with a bandage. She sits in the hospital hallway, looking nervously contemplative. She's sure her vision of Mayu looking the way she did before she died wasn't an illusion. Suddenly, a nurse bursts from a nearby door to announce something about Satoru and his mom jumps to her feet. She runs into the room to see Satoru on a gurney, awake and recognizing her.

Satoru's mom tearfully holds her hands up to her mouth in shock. While she kneels down to put a hand on her son's chest, the nurse informs him that he's been asleep for half a year already. Satoru puts his hand over his moms and haltingly mutters to her.

THIS IS KILLING ME, GUYS.

Switch back to the apartment, where Mayu is sitting crouched in the ghost flames thinking that it's too hot and someone needs to save her. Realizing she's already dead, she knows that no one saved her then, so no one can save her now, hanging her head.

Suddenly, she hears someone call out her name. She stands, thinking it might be her mother, but she looks out of the closet to see that it's Kagome shouting for her to answer. Kagome looks around and sees Mayu peeking from around the doorway and runs toward her kneeling in the closet in front of the little girl sitting again to back away from her. Kagome urges Mayu to take her hand so they can get out of there and go home, but Mayu asks if she's some kind of moron. She shouts that she's already dead and has nowhere to go home to.

Kagome observes something happening behind Mayu.

This ocean of fire just turned to an ocean of OH FUCK. You would think those would be the same thing, but RT managed to make a distinction!

The chains around Mayu's arms tighten and Kagome lunges forward to grab her, calling out her name. She just grasps her hand before Mayu is pulled out of her reach, but this only means that Mayu is a tug-of-war rope between Kagome and the chains of Hell. She looks fearfully down into the depths where the chains disappear, then back up as the Tatari-Mokke's eye appears above Kagome, insisting that she go to Hell.

The pull is even stronger, yanking Kagome down to her armpit as she struggles to hold on, Mayu looking up at her with despair. It looks like she's already resigned to her fate, but Kagome yells at her to come back because Mayu can't possibly let it end like this. Kagome begs Mayu to come home with her and make up with her mother. Mayu's eyes widen, like she didn't even think of making-up as an option.

Mayu hangs her head and mumbles something about "won't be" which Kagome doesn't quite understand. Mayu asks more clearly if her mother won't be angry. It's Kagome's turn to widen her eyes. She tells Mayu that she thinks her mother really loved her and she asks if Mayu wants to see her again. GREAT deflection, Kagome! Mayu doesn't even care that she didn't get an actual answer, because all that matters is she's not willing to never see her mother again after this crappy night.

Oh, girl...

Some time later, a moderately high-heeled shoe steps on a piece of broken glass in the apartment. It's Satoru's mom, who mutters Mayu's name while remembering the first thing Satoru said when he woke up. She hears a call to "okaa-san" and looks over to see Mayu there next to the shattered window, looking sheepish. Satoru's mom stutters out Mayu's name in disbelief and drops to her knees in BROKEN GLASS AND EVERYTHING when Mayu approaches.

Mayu tells her mother that she's going now, confusing her.

IT'S JUST TOO MUCH!!!

I don't know how Inuyasha and Kagome aren't crying their eyes out as they peek inside through the busted window, checking out how Mayu's make-up with her mom went. Seriously, do they have hearts of freaking STONE?

Kagome just looks kind of wistful when she says that she thinks that what she did was the right thing after all. Inuyasha is looking down at her in amazement as he thinks that she REALLY managed to calm a fucking ghost. He puts on an exasperated face when he criticizes her actions as risky considering she could have been dragged to Hell too if she failed. He uses the word poltergeist to describe Mayu, but Kagome considers the word as though it doesn't quite fit.

Later, Souta is telling Kagome as he visits her room with a summer Popsicle that Satoru is finally getting out of the hospital next week. Kagome says that's nice, before Souta passes along Satoru's mom's regards, though he doesn't quite understand why. Kagome says she sees, again looking a little melancholy. He leaves and Kagome gazes at the ceiling as she sits at her desk and sighs, thinking that it's all over.

Someone whispers at Kagome from the window, though, and it can't be Inuyasha because he's too loud for that shit.

That was the sewing project! Satoru's mom was doing it for Mayu's upcoming birthday!!

Mayu flies away back toward the no-longer-threatening Tatari-Mokke, waving at Kagome and thanking her. Kagome smiles up at her and thinks that Mayu was just a little girl who really loved her mom.

I swear, I look EXACTLY like that right now.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I think I pretty well expressed myself to an embarrassing capacity above. Don't for one second think that I'm exaggerating when I say that all of those gifs were absolutely representative of how I felt, and always feel, reading this chapter. This little arc always hits me SO hard with all of the emotions; the pain, the loss, the relationships between all the members of the family. RT makes Mayu, her brother, and her mother so REAL; they are such distinct people established in their very understandable personalities and struggles that it's hard to believe that they're just characters in the manga. This paired with the serious subject matter and the beauty of how it was treated is amazing to me. This chapter and its arc are works of incandescence.

That's not to say it's without its flaw, though. Much like the Tessaiga arc, I'm wondering how Kagome and Mayu got OUT of the illusion of the day Mayu died and back into the real world. They just end up back in the real world again, with no explanation. Unlike that arc, though, there are at least HINTS that the Tatari-Mokke may have let them out of the illusion. It alerted Kagome to the fact that there was a problem with Mayu, dragged her into the illusion with Mayu which allowed her to directly help, and the chains DID break on Mayu when she finally admitted that she wanted to see her mother. It seemed like the Tatari-Mokke put Kagome in with Mayu in order to give Mayu a chance, and once that chance was taken, it could let both of them go.

It's those hints that allow me to give this one chapter a pass on how Kagome and Mayu made it out of there, because even though it wasn't explicit, there are reasons to believe that their escape was dependent on Tatari-Mokke just dissolving the illusion around them.

All in all, I'm ALWAYS awed by this chapter in how much it can make me feel all throughout it. I don't think there will ever come a time when I'm not moved to tears by it.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 096 The Deadly Guardian!

This title takes on a double meaning knowing that if Jonouchi and Yami can't manage to win against the guardian, they're stuck in the caves and probably as good as dead. Not that I believe there's a chance of that happening. There have been an awful lot of threats regarding child death in this tournament so far, some of which have been issued by Yami against himself mind you, that have never come to fruition. I'm grateful for this, obviously, but also find myself rolling my eyes when the kids are yet again threatened with death. It doesn't help that the threat is always SO overblown in the context of a card tournament...

Looks like some sort of weird steampunk robot or something.

Turns out that EACH of the three parts have their own attack points, from the top down: 2600, 2400 and 2500. Balls that's a lot of power. The third page shows yet another shot of the huge three-part monster from the level of the table. Jonouchi is fixated on the size of the monster while Yami acknowledges they're have to get past it in order to win.

Jonouchi clenches his teeth, saying he should have known because dungeons always have boss characters. Too true, boy. Yami has his smirk back on when he tells Jonouchi it's time to get to it. All of their monsters are at different points in the labyrinth, while the guardian and beast tamer sit at the end with the doors. The ceiling Yami cited as the reason Jonouchi couldn't play his Red Eyes Black Dragon must be WAY higher at the end to accommodate that monstrosity.

The Meikyu Brothers laugh at the fatal mistake Yami and Jonouchi made to allow them to play the gate guardian, though there was nothing they could do to stop it anyway. Which is it, guys? Did Yami and Jonouchi ALLOW it to happen or was it inevitable? Anzu says Yami and Jonouchi's names in worry as Honda talks about how tough that three-tiered monster looks. Kyu shouts that it's Yami and Jonouchi's destiny to be destroyed by the guardian at the very threshold of the doors.

Jonouchi scoffs and tells the bald men that they may have card combos, but Yami and he are going to show them the power of a combo of teamwork. The brothers invite them to try, wanting to see this teamwork they obviously think is insufficient at work. I kind of want to see it too, because that means there's less meaningless CHATTER.

Kyu tells Yami that his turn is done with the summoning of the guardian, so it's on to him now. Yami draws a card and reviews the state of his and Jonouchi's monsters. He counts two monsters in the top hats, though Jonouchi's Flame Swordsman jumped out of his earlier, so Yami is already off to a terrible start on observation grounds alone. He is right about one thing, though; the monsters will have to move closer to the guardian in order to actually attack. Yami glances at the imposing guardian, noting that it's a bit too risky to just go charging out. He settles on playing two cards face down before ending his turn.

Mei says it's his turn again, so commands the guardian to lay some hurt on the Flame Swordsman. This is the first time Yami is wise to the apparent fact that the guardian can attack ANYWHERE in the maze, and frets that there's nowhere for the swordsman to hide.

As the blast comes at the swordsman, Jonouchi is agape that it's dead because Sanga is stronger. The shot strikes and Mei thinks that another monster has bitten the dust, but a chuckling Yami has other plans, turning over one of those face-down cards. Mei's eyes widen.

A rushing wind twists around the guardian and stops the shot from getting through, which Yami calls an airtight magnetic field that double-deflected the hit. Okay sweetie. Mei says that the reflection activates the moment an enemy attacks, leaving the guardian impervious to harm. So... why did you have to command Kazejin to do it, then? Or did you just want to shout for no reason?

Yami chuckles again, talking about what a shame it is that Mei's other monster isn't safe. The tamer was electrocuted in the reflected blast, which Mei apparently didn't expect. He growls when the tamer dies and he's left with just 900 life points. Jonouchi breathes a sigh of relief at his monster's narrow escape, thanking Yami for saving him yet again.

Glaring, Yami thinks he's figured out from the previous attack that the guardian is really just three different monsters stacked on top of each other, so if they attack one piece at a time they should be able to get rid of it. Something tells me it's not going to be that easy, though. Jonouchi declares that it's payback time, and orders his reprieved swordsman to attack the guardian with Salamandra. It's repelled, though, confusing Jonouchi.

This time, a wall of water stands between the attack and the guardian, named by one of the brothers. Yami is shocked that another defensive wall was able to keep back the flames. Kyu asks if they understand now that the guardians triple form of the forces of wind, water and lightning make it unbeatable. It's his turn now, and he shouts at the water part of the guardian to make the boys pay for their insolence with the Aqua Wave.

The flood rips down all the tunnels of the labyrinth over the hats and toward the Flame Swordsman. Yami thinks that his magician should be fine in his airtight hat, but Jonouchi's monster will suffer a 300-point damage to its attack from a water-based blow. Then he says it's going to die. Can ANYONE in this chapter make up their minds about what's going to happen?? Kyu orders the swordsman to drown, and Jonouchi is devastated that they managed to get his monster, points going down to 1300. Guess that point reduction was enough to take Flame Swordsman out.

Kyu chuckles, and Jonouchi curses at the fact he lost the Flame Swordsman just when they were about to get to the doors. He moans at the prospect of having to walk the labyrinth all over again. Yami says that it's his turn with a familiar smirk, putting down the awesome Summoned Skull to retrace Jonouchi's steps.

The brothers don't look too stoked about this play, but they acknowledge that it's all the way at the beginning of the maze and it's attack won't reach the guardian. Somehow I think all the water flooding the maze is kind of making that a moot point. Yami clarifies that he's following the swordsman's footsteps through the maze, and this brings Kyu the realization that I already came to.

The lightning attack heads straight for Suijin, and Jonouchi cheers that they did it, but Kyu thinks he's can reflect with Kazejin's wind powers. He commands this thing that he said should be done automatically, but nothing seems to happen, making him grind his teeth in bewildered frustration. Yami asks if Kyu is surprised, and gives him the clue that his wave passed over the top hats. Kyu is flabbergasted, so Yami explains that this set off Yami's trap of the Hexagram, which was attached to the Dark Magician the whole time. Kyu looks horrified when Yami's hexagram activates for Kazejin and Suijin eats lightning. It's destroyed with a huge explosion.

Kyu grits his teeth, life points reduced to 780, pissed that his opponents managed to destroy one of the guardians. Jonouchi yells that they'll knock all of the pieces out from the bottom up like a game of Daruma Otoshi. Actually, that kind of reminded me of that particular game too. All that's needed is a little mallet. From the sidelines, Anzu shouts about how easy that boss enemy seems to be while Bakura gives them a generic cheer. I wouldn't be judging how easy a monster is to defeat unless you're actually sitting there in the duel, girl.

Mei nervously begins his turn, knowing it should definitely be used to remove the hexagram from the guardian to allow it movement again, and slaps down the De-Spell card to undo its magic. The guardian is freed, and Mei shouts that it's the opposition's turn once again, cocky again that they won't be able to defeat what's left of the guardian even if they make it through the maze. While the guardian and the demon face each other from their opposite sides of the table, Jonouchi takes the cue to draw his next card and glance at it.

Uhhh, didn't Yami say that Jonouchi SHOULDN'T play that card? Although, he doesn't seem to be upset at all when Jonouchi does, just rolling with it. What's his plan for getting through that maze with this thing?

I guess we'll have to find out in the next installment, then. I don't have any ideas, but I'll be damned if that thing doesn't look like a badass mofo.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? This is the first time in a while that I thought there was a bit too much recap at the beginning of the chapter. I think that could have been condensed down to so much less than the four pages it took up. I understand that KT wanted to show off this monster design here, but at one full-page spread and another two huge panels featuring nothing but it just standing there, I think that was just more space that he could have used spreading out the density of the chapter's dialogue.

Other than that, I enjoyed watching Yami taking advantage of the environment created by the Meikyu Brothers. I've finally gotten past the "that sounds fake, but okay" phase of my viewing of these kinds of environmental rules around the game. The rules have been presented as consistent enough that I've begun to look beyond how the holograms make them visible to an extension of those elemental advantages that Sugoroku explained at the beginning of the arc. Don't get me wrong, I still think the mechanics are too heavily reliant on the holograms, but at least now I can see how the new environmental rules of this tournament are building off the regular rules of the game rather than being made up out of whole cloth.

Now all I need is a feasible reason why these cards would be microchipped before the technology to use those chips was even conceived of and I'll be all good on this manga's believeability. No? Okay.

Inuyasha Manga: 037 To Hell

There's a hand basket involved here, I'm sure. If the Tatari-Mokke can put away his flute long enough to grasp a basket in his tiny little fist, that would probably be a nice ride. The swinging mode of transportation might remind the child inside of being rocked in a warm cradle, though a bit TOO warm after a while. But trust me, until the basket combusts, it'll be very pleasant! The most humane of conditions for an eternally damned baby.

Not if Kagome can help it, though! She stutters a bit when first confronting Satoru's mom, who recognizes her as Souta's sister. She asks Kagome what's up, and Kagome falters before clumsily saying that she's there to talk about Mayu passing on. That could have gone VERY badly, but after a moment of confusion, Satoru's mom asks if Kagome knows anything about Mayu on that day. It's Kagome's turn to be puzzled, and waits for Satoru's mom to elaborate.

On the day she died, Mayu shouted that her mom is an idiot, demanding to know why she didn't come to "Parent Participation Day" at school. Satoru's mom explained to her that Satoru suddenly came down with a cold, so she couldn't help but stay home with him. Satoru's mom says that Satoru has always been on the sickly side, so she and Mayu were always arguing about it. When Mayu ran out of the apartment screaming about how she hated her mother and brother, Satoru's mom thought she would be gone for a while like always. She was alerted by neighbors on the way home from the grocery that her house was on fire and they called the fire department, but she had to run inside to get Satoru still in bed.

She carried her son out of the apartment before emergency services arrived, but at the time she had no idea that Mayu was also inside. The firefighters found her in the dining room and asked Satoru's mom to confirm that it was indeed her daughter. Satoru's mom tearfully says that she would have gone back inside to save Mayu too if she had known she was there.

Fuck this is rough, and I'm not even at the part that REALLY gets my waterworks going.

Kagome has determined that Satoru's mom can't possibly be lying and remembering how Mayu said that her mom hated and abandoned her, thinks that this interpretation of events can't be how it went down. A crash sounds at the hospital behind Satoru's mom and she looks around toward it.

You damn right it has. Inside the room, a nurse lies unconscious on her face on the floor and Satoru's IV drip is yanked off him again. Kagome busts into the room followed by Satoru's mom like a BOSS and calls out to the trouble-maker she knows is Mayu. Mayu glares over at them.

Satoru's mom can see Mayu standing on the window ledge, and stutters out her name in disbelief, dropping her bag with the sewing project inside. She reaches out to Mayu and begins to ask why, though I would be much more concerned with how. Regardless, Mayu shouts at her mother to shut up, telekinetically flinging a metal table at her which knocks her mom against the wall as Kagome stares in shock. Satoru's mom is knocked unconscious from the blow.

Even Mayu is a bit speechless at her own actions, and this gives Kagome time to jump right into things. She asks Mayu to try and remember, and whether she can really say that her mother abandoned her when that mother had no idea she was in the apartment. Mayu looks contemplative as she flashes back.

The memory shows Mayu coming back in from the cold and slinging her scarf over a line hanging above a radiator. Satoru weakly tells her that she shouldn't hang wet clothes over the stove when there aren't adults around, but Mayu tells him to shut his trap. She turns to instruct him not to tell their mother that she's back too, wanting to make her mom worry, but Satoru is already fast asleep again.

How mature of you to admit, Mayu! Are we making some headway here?

Nope, nope I spoke too soon.

Mayu's rage is so powerful that a ceiling light cracks, she throws Kagome against the wall, and makes that final tip on Satoru's bed to send him flying straight out the window. Kagome sees this and lunges for the falling boy, but it's too late. When she gets to the window, she only sees the wall of the building fading into the black ground below, and thinks that he fell as her heart pounds mournfully.

A voice from above mockingly asks if she can do ANYTHING right.

It's good to know you'll always be stalking Kagome to correct her mistakes, Inuyasha.

A trembling Kagome takes Satoru in her arms and haltingly expresses her amazement that Inuyasha came around. Outside the hospital now, Mayu floats in the air, head in hands, but surrounded by swirling dark energy. Inuyasha swings inside the hospital from Tessaiga's sheath that he shoved into a crack above the window, explaining that THIS is why he told Kagome not to get involved in this mess.

Mayu thinks about how she understands all of the circumstances that led to the fire and her death, but she still didn't want to die thus. Inuyasha says that even though Kagome points out the truth to her, Mayu won't just go obediently to the afterlife, because it's not that simple. Kagome is still shaking as she agrees. Inuyasha glares at Mayu with the assessment that her spirit has degenerated so badly that she's only one step away from becoming an evil spirit.

A sound emits from the dark night, Inuyasha and Kagome peering out into the black looking for its source.

Looks like that final step was closer than Inuyasha thought. The Tatari-Mokke announces that it is time to go to Hell, and chains wrap around Mayu's arms that she's confused at seeing. These chains pull her in the wake of a Tatari-Mokke streaking off into the night. Kagome stares after them, remembering what Myouga said about the Tatari-Mokke taking the child to Hell after its eyes open completely. She screams out Mayu's name, who looks back at her in concern whipped around in the tail of the Tatari-Mokke as they disappear.

Kagome turns to Inuyasha and urges him that they need to get going after her, and Inuyasha asks her if she still doesn't get it. He tries to tell her that this isn't a situation she can handle anymore, but Kagome turns to run out the door, no longer holding Satoru, Inuyasha indignantly reminding her that he was talking. Irritation is written all over his half-lidded glare as he grumbles.

He grabs Kagome by the back flap on her sailor blouse, asking why she always has to make things more difficult. Inuyasha deposits her on his back and prepares to leave through the window, Kagome uttering his name in gratitude.

You don't know anything about handling ghosts, but you know enough about them to evaluate the state of evil in one? Sure. Whatever you say, man.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I really liked the fact that it wasn't that easy to convince Mayu that she wasn't wronged in some way. Kids are difficult to reason with specifically because reason and logic are LEARNED skills. Even if kids understand facts and get what they mean, it doesn't automatically translate into a reasonable conclusion. She's still angry, still feels neglected and abandoned because dying alone with an unresolved fight with her mother hanging over her head is more emotionally compelling than facts to her. She's not stuck on the facts surrounding her death, but the argument before that that led to her coming home early to hide in order to make her mother worry. The abandonment she's REALLY still sore about is her mom skipping out on "Parent Participation Day" because she sees THAT as the catalyst. THAT was the betrayal that she's been irritated with for six months, and being unable to resolve it and her feelings surrounding it just made her twist the importance of the events of that day into something unrecognizable so she could sustain her anger and hurt.

I'm a little miffed about the fact that NO ONE else came into the room during this interlude with Mayu. This isn't an abandoned building, but an active hospital with staff there night and day - SOMEONE else should have come into the room to find out what all of the commotion and screaming was about.

But it might have been inconvenient for Mayu to spend all her angry energy flinging hospital staff around, huh?

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 095 The Terror of the Dungeon

I guess Yami and Jonouchi didn't manage to power through the worst of what the labyrinth has to offer yet. That's alright, I kind of expected this duel to be a bit on the longer side, considering there's four of them instead of just two. Doubled-up means double the trouble, am I right? It looks like we're going to be underground for a while, so let me just grab my snacks and everything.

I DO feel like I'm forgetting something, though...

Whatever, this is where we left off! Along with Kyu growling at the most recent loss of his life points and BOTH brothers warning their opposition not to make the mistake of thinking it'll be that easy and they'll escape. They resume the duel while Honda pumps his fist in the air in the background, shouting that Yami and Jonouchi are tag-team champions and encouraging them to show off their stuff.

No, not like that, get your minds out of the gutter.

Jonouchi definitely plans to take Honda's advice with a grin, but he's not the only one who will be smirking. Mei draws a card and smiles evilly, because he's just drawn Sanga of the Thunder. This is apparently the demon god of thunder, and one of the three guardians of the elements, the other two being of wind and water (Kazejin and Suijin are the other two guardians). It used to be that Exodia was the only monster in the game that was summoned using multiple cards at once, but Pegasus made a new one just for the use of the Meikyu brothers.

Mei eventually stops gloating and plays Sanga already. He chuckles as Yami curiously leans in and the holographic smoke starts to swim. It forms a tied up box floating on the table, a mystery that Yami wonders about. Chuckling, Mei is convinced that while Yami and Jonouchi might get through the labyrinth, they'll have to face the gate guardian once they get to the doors themselves. He ends his turn.

Yami notes the symbol on the box is "Rai" for "Thunder" and something is sealed inside. Duh, Yami. It's a box. He has a baaaaaad feeling about it.

Jonouchi announces it's his turn and draws a card, chuckling about how there isn't a bad guy in sight thanks to Yami. So, he moves his Flame Swordsman forward through the labyrinth. Once the swordsman has accomplished this, he ends his turn. Kyu thinks about the three monsters slowly moving closer to the doors, but he's sure they won't make it before the final two guardian cards are drawn and played.

He draws a card and grows an identical grin to his brother's. Yami glares.

It's another tied-up box that joins the other in front of the brothers, Kyu saying that there's only one card left until they can bring forth their guardian. Yami continues to be mystified, noting the appearance of this other box. He thinks that the heavier air around him isn't just the oppressive atmosphere of the dungeon, but also whatever hides in those boxes.

Kyu plans to chip away at his opponents until he can draw the third card he needs and plays one more card - the Dungeon Worm. A rumbling emits from the table which Yami notes with an anxious expression. This is an entirely justified expression.

OH SHIT! OH SHIT! It's Tremors all over again!!

Yami's points go down to 1200 as, shocked, he watches the worm dive back into the floor of the labyrinth. One of the brothers explains that it spends its time between meals hiding underground. Kyu says that the boys can't avoid the worm no matter where in the labyrinth they are, and as if that's not bad enough, its points go up by 10% after it devours a monster. Yami compares the worm to Ryouta Kajiki's ocean strategy too, while Jonouchi looks petrified in the background.

He asks Yami what they should do, and Yami just announces that it's his turn, deciding on a card to use. It's Magical Hats again, four hats spreading out over his and Jonouchi's remaining monsters, much to the bewildered shock of the Meikyu Brothers. Jonouchi is excited that now the worm won't know where to attack while Yami explains that the magician and swordsman are hidden somewhere under the hats. He smugly says that if the worm chooses the hat with the Dark Magician inside, its power up still won't be enough to beat it and the worm will die.

Looks like the brothers got a nice dose of their own medicine, but Mei doesn't appear to be choking on it. It's going down with a smirk, like Mary Poppins just swooped in with a fucking spoonful of sugar. Yami is wary of that look, which is followed by Mei playing his Monster Tamer of Hell card. He tells the boys that this will allow him to take over the Dungeon Worm and increase its attack by 600 points.

Dammit Mary!!

Yami worries about how the worm is actually stronger than his magician with its new power up and if the magician is found, it's dead.

Hoooo, that's a relief. Mei doesn't see an enemy monster in the worm's teeth, so it's obvious that he's missed and his opponents cheer his terrible choice in hats. Still, Mei grins, because the worm will just go back underground to a place attacks can't reach. It slinks back down its hole.

Yami knows that they survived this turn, but can't help but fret that the worm will attack again, and it's only a matter of time until the Meikyu brothers pick a hat that has a target underneath. Jonouchi draws a card for his turn and smirks, though, so it's looking like he's got something nice in his hand now. He drawls that he just HATES cramped dark places, so he's going to do something about it.

What the BALLS, Jonouchi?? Everyone else in this comic appears to be asking the same question, shocked by Jonouchi's seemingly rash decision. However, Jonouchi pulls a card from his hand, telling everyone to take a gander at the power it contains. It's Salamandra, The Fire Snake, which goes inside the Flame Swordsman's sword to increase its power.

At Jonouchi's command, the Salamandra does its job, and then slithers down the top of the already eliminated hat. Mei is floored, because Salamandra went all the way down into his worm's hole.

Jonouchi is fucking KILLING it! Literally.

But leave it to the Meikyu Brothers to shit all over the celebration. Kyu draws a card and plays it with a nasty grin. Kazejin is now on the table too, and the other boxes pop open along with it to form the demon god guardian the brothers have been yammering about this whole time; attack points sitting pretty at 2400. Yami and Jonouchi stare, not knowing what it is, but their startled faces showing that they know full well it can't be good.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? As cool as it was to see Jonouchi making that awesome move with the augment card he played on the Flame Swordsman, he and Yami's cards are being picked off one by one anyway. They started out in the labyrinth with four monsters, which have now been reduced to two. Granted, those two monsters are pretty powerful, but their newest threat, the Guardian of the Elements, is looking awfully beefy itself.

Which is great, because I'm definitely wondering how they're going to pull defeating it off. The tension in this match has been pretty high since the beginning, because the Meikyu Brothers have really managed to match all of Yami and Jonouchi's adaptations one for one. They're whittling down the protagonists' forces methodically, and despite the small victories the kids have had, it's still looking grim for them overall. It's keeping me invested because the Meikyu Brothers are the first opponents we've seen who are using the exact same adaptation strategy that Yami and Jonouchi have been using to win all of their duels thus far, so we KNOW it's not only viable but powerful as well.

I can't wait to see how they face the guardian in the coming chapters.