Inuyasha Manga: 100 Judgment on the Snake

What time is it? Time to have a 100 chapter party, that's what! I'm busting out the wine, cake and games, and inviting everyone to join in on the fun! Of course, the former two party staples aren't really communicable over the internet, but we can all participate in a game, right? Perhaps something themed...

Not that one.

Although, Inuyasha looks like he's ready to take on the role of dark arbiter of justice for himself, since that goddess his friends set free hasn't taken up the mantle herself. It's a role that suits Inuyasha, actually, because he tears fake!Suijin's arm clean off while growling at him to give it up. Sango's pretty impressed that Inuyasha took an arm as well as a weapon, but fake!Suijin has finally reached the limits of his patience. His face elongates and grows scales, turning into the plain old snake's head that it always was underneath his man-disguise.

Fake!Suijin damns Inuyasha, then chomps right down on his arm, presumably trying to get him back for the loss of a limb holding a holy weapon. Sango notes that the remains of fake!Suijin's torn and shredded clothes are falling away, the last remnants of the transformation shedding away, and assumes it's because the halberd was taken away from him. Or it could just be ecdysis. Snakes tend to do that sometimes.

Though Inuyasha looks pained, he chuckles when glaring at the giant snake head pinching his arm, saying that it looks like this guy really IS a snake and that he's trying to take back that holy weapon. Wonderful observations, Inuyasha. He punches fake!Suijin on top of his head right between his eyes, shouting that he's had enough of all fake!Suijin's mischief. That's a strangely MILD word for feasting on a village's children and sending them deadly storms on the side.

Fake!Suijin and Inuyasha splash into the lake below, and there's a moment where those watching from the walkway can't make out where they went. Shippou clings to Kagome's shoulder and asks if Inuyasha got the villain or not, but she just gapes out at the water. Taroumaru looks panicked, protesting one very dangerous fact.

So much for that sacrifice!! The village men are puzzled about what's going on, since they had only JUST handed over "Naushi's" (which I'm informed here means "headman" instead of being the name I was using it as before *ahem*) son Taroumaru over to the water god. The headman himself is speechless and sweating, thinking he can't tell them that he substituted another child for his now.

Back at the shrine, the tiny goddess hanging out in Kagome's hands says that it's easy to calm those water spouts. Kagome asks her if she's serious, and Suikichi starts to ask politely if she would PLEASE do something about it then. Suijin tells them that they have to fetch her halberd before she can do shit. Kagome sweatdrops, looking kind of appalled in addition to flabbergasted.

Inuyasha and fake!Suijin burst back out of the lake and Kagome takes the opportunity to yell at him to pass the halberd to them, squeezing the shit out of the goddess in her fist as she does so. Seriously, it looks like she's pooping her intestines right now. Inuyasha appears exasperated as well as cross-eyed when he scoffs and wonders aloud if she couldn't worry about him just a little bit. Why would SHE worry about you? YOU'RE not even worried about you!

Impeccable aim Inuyasha, as always.

Kagome makes a dash for the halberd's handle before it can totally sink into the water, but Taroumaru dives into the water before she even reaches it, much to her and Suikichi's shock. As he's swimming for the holy weapon, he reminds himself that he's the headman's son, and if he can't save the village right now, he could never face the friends who were eaten by fake!Suijin. A moment later, he bursts through the surface of the lake, holding up the halberd. His victorious emergence is short-lived; a great coil of snake comes whipping out at him.

Sango acts fast, throwing Hiraikotsu at fake!Suijin and sawing right through the offending section of his body. The severed tail sinks, as does an unconscious Taroumaru still clutching the holy weapon. Inuyasha has also been deposited in the lake nearby, probably because losing a tail has distracted fake!Suijin for a moment, and sees Taroumaru disappearing below him. He turns around to find that fake!Suijin has regained his focus on his enemy and his wide jaws are closing in. Inuyasha grabs Tessaiga's hilt, knowing that there's no time to hang around.

I was sure that was that, but fake!Suijin begs to differ. His lower jaw along with a good portion of the bisection of his upper body hangs off him while he rises up out of the water. Sango, pulling a u-ey over the lake on Kirara, is shocked to see that this severely wounded thing is still trying to run away. It's thoughts are less on escaping and more on destroying the village with the last of its waning existence, though.

But he only gets as far as the shoreline when he meets up with a stern-looking Miroku. Those fancy fish from earlier warn Miroku that fake!Suijin is coming, and Miroku holds up his right hand, ready to rip off the beads around it with his left as he says that the clean-up should be left to him.

It doesn't get cleaner than THAT.

Shippou and Kagome's mouths hang open in awe, and Shippou is SURE fake!Suijin has been gotten this time. Kagome suddenly remembers that Taroumaru was lost in the lake earlier and wonders where he is moments before she and the other two children see the tip of the holy weapon pop back out of the lake.

It's Inuyasha dragging both the halberd and Taroumaru back onto the front steps of the shrine, complaining that Taroumaru overdoes things as he lowers his still unconscious ass onto the stoop. Kagome shouts Inuyasha's name in praise, and Suekichi has a tear in his eye at the sight of his friend still alive, though he likely has a concussion now. Kagome takes the halberd to Suijin, whom I imagine got tired of Kagome squeezing her guts out of her and asked to be put down. The minuscule woman raises her hands up like she intends to hold the halberd that's the width of a fallen log to her. Despite her apparent reservation, at least judging by the "Umm" she utters as Kagome is presenting her with the holy weapon, she makes contact.

Convenient. I wish I could do that.

Sango and Shippou both marvel at how this tiny being got so much bigger just by touching a halberd while Suijin faces those water tornadoes still wreaking havoc toward the village. She lifts the halberd and commands the clouds to break, which they do with only the little swirly atmosphere effect to show in protest. Then the sunlight streams out of the sky and onto a now totally calm lake. One of the villagers says in disbelief that the storm has calmed down while the headman gapes in speechlessness.

Later, the headman is on his knees in front of Suekichi, apologizing to him. It's genuinely touching. Suekichi tells him not to sweat the substitution, because Taroumaru DID come to save him after all. They'll make the cutest couple when they grow up! Suekichi approaches Taroumaru looking pensively off the top of a hill, asking if "those people" have already gone. Taroumaru confirms this, thinking he couldn't even thank them properly.

Meanwhile, one of "those people" is complaining about the nasty side-trip they had to make back there. Guess who. Seriously. Guess. Miroku suggests that the whiny Inuyasha should be okay with this, because they saved a life. Or several, if you count all those villagers who would have gotten drowned in future floods or devoured in future sacrifices. Inuyasha asks what the deal is with all this cargo Miroku has collected then, and this is the first we get to see of the horse Miroku is riding, hitched to a cart piled high with various stuff. Shippou is perched on top like it ain't no thang. As Sango looks back at him with a wide-eyed expression, Miroku begins by saying that they did such great work for the headman and his son.

They're both such outstanding citizens.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Damn near perfection. I've already said what makes this arc my favorite in a previous chapter, but it's illustrated here even more; these characters work so WELL together. There's enough push and pull in all of their relationships to each other that they seem slightly dysfunctional when they're just hanging out, but when they start working, they're like a well-oiled machine out there kicking ass. They're not all vying for the same job, but they're also not sitting back letting everyone else do everything, striking a nice balance with everyone picking up on the tasks they're good at and supporting the person on either side of them with just the right amount of interference if it looks like somebody needs help. Each of their talents and skills interlock to form one hell of a force to reckon with, and that's not easy to pull off.

Something else that's not easy to pull off? Making someone who tried to sacrifice a child at the beginning of the arc seem almost sweet at the end of it. I was just amazed at how apologetic and remorseful the headman was in that single panel. He wasn't just paying Suekichi lip service either - he was BOWING to a servant. That was a genuine apology, without rationalizations or blame, and it was almost ridiculously touching to me.

Maybe it's because I so seldom see anything other than doubling down on mistakes rather than apologies these days. *Shrug*