Inuyasha Manga: 116 The Hole of Evil

*Snrk* I'm sorry, I didn't expect this. I thought I was reviewing an Inuyasha chapter, not the misinformed ramblings of a religious misogynist's response to a question about where babies come from. I can understand the office getting them mixed up on delivery, though. After all, they're both fruitless endeavors and on the surface it seems fitting for a screaming feminist harpy like myself should be uniquely qualified to respond to the latter. Still, I prefer a project that WON'T get me eternally abused and harassed online. It's been a long time since Inuyasha fans were THAT overzealous, so Inuyasha chapters are the safer target for my criticism.

So, call off the doxxing. Please.

Feel free to run around yelling Kikyou's name, though. Apparently it hasn't occurred to her to use an alias when living and working in a world where she's supposed to be long dead.

She and the guy who called to her kneel down next to a man who doesn't look like he's waking as well as the guy said he was. He's still got his eyes closed and everything! His friend keeps going on about how it's thanks to Kikyou he's alive and able to go back to his village now, though. He himself mumbles about how he'll finally be able to meet his child too, a little bit of sweetness that's undercut by a weird little lump forming up above his head on his sick mat.

Kikyou looks a little alarmed at the lump, which has become a tiny little imp and climbed onto the injured man's face and head, squeaking. Her eyelids lower while she contemplates how the tiny creature is still after the man's life. With the flick of her finger, the imp is dislodged and begins to dissolve. The man's excitable friend, confused by why Kikyou would flick his buddy like that because he apparently couldn't see the parasite on him, says Kikyou's name with some uncertainty.

She assures him that it's nothing with a smile, and says everything will be alright now. Yeah, if another one of those imps doesn't latch onto him. If that DOES happen, he's screwed, because someone has just arrived shouting about this being the priestess Kikyou's temple of residence, and all the recovering soldiers gape at the man who looks like he means some time-consuming BUSINESS. He's wearing fancy duds, and an accusatory tone when he describes Kikyou as someone who treats war's wounded regardless of sides. He says he wants her to come and treat a man who has fallen under some strange spell of illness as best she can.

Kikyou stares speechlessly for a moment before telling him she only has a little experience with strange spells and the like. Not exactly a lie, but it's not the TRUTH, either. The pushy noble insists she'll hear more at the castle that he offers to travel to together with her. That sounds sketch as hell, girl.

Elsewhere, there are some nasty storm clouds are hanging over some unhealthy looking fields. A couple of men kneel next to the withering crops, fretting about what they'll do when so many of their food is dying. One of them begins to mutter about the suddenness of this field condition in the past month when he's interrupted by the beginnings of a shower. At first they speculate that it's rain, but red tracks run down their faces and hands that look an awful lot like blood. A clattering sounds from above, accompanied by the sight of a black mass of something falling through the clouds. The men stare.

Guys, I think I know what's killing all your plants.

Ew.

Time skip to when someone is asking about this story, and someone else responds that they feel bad about it. Whether it's because it was so horrible or because it was true isn't quite clear. Regardless, Miroku asks how everyone ELSE has been feeling lately as well, revealing that he's interviewing a headman while the rest of the gang mills around watching. The headman says that both old and very young, as well as the weaker members of his village have been dropping like flies. Inuyasha glares silently, while Miroku says this isn't surprising, since it must have something to do with a strong evil in the area.

Inuyasha leaves his butthurt comments until they're heading out of the village at least, complaining that they're saving people again, and implying that they don't really have time for this. Kagome asks him if he has something ELSE to do, and looking for Naraku is his snappy answer. Miroku drawls that Naraku probably won't recover for a good long while yet, because of how thoroughly Kagome OWNED his ass with that arrow of hers. Just in case you guys forgot, RT dedicates a panel to his shocked face when that and his shoulders are pretty much all that's left of him from a few chapters back.

In a strange follow-up to this, Miroku offers Inuyasha a string of coins for helping to save him. Kagome blinks in surprise at him, beginning to ask when he managed to get so much money, and Inuyasha cuts her off to accuse Miroku of TAKING them.

Kagome looks over to notice that Sango is being awfully quiet, but also somewhat intent on something. She asks what it is she's thinking about.

What's wrong, guys? Surprised that at least ONE of you is using a brain?

Cut to where a procession is proceeding across a plain, where the topic of conversation is their lord named Kagewaki, who was born with a weak body, and who recently gained rulership from the previous lord's passing. The only problem is that Kagewaki has deteriorated even FURTHER, and refuses to see any doctors or retainers on top of that. At a castle, someone states that no one is allowed to pass, even as someone else yells at them to move their ass. That rhymed.

It's the pushy nobleman from before, with Kikyou standing demurely behind him, as he barks at the insolent guard denying him passage that he's come with a priestess to cure Kagewaki of his illness. The guard insists that Kagewaki won't see ANYONE. As they bicker, Kikyou is evaluating the castle, which seems to have regular human staff, but a strange evil hanging over it. She walks right on by the guards, ignoring their protests, and rips aside a hanging curtain to enter the room of a man sitting up from his mat on the floor. She has determined that the evil she senses is coming from this man.

Miroku doesn't know what he's talking about! Naraku was so busy over the last few chapters regrowing his limbs and painting his nails... You know, the regular self-care package.

He looks pretty distressed upon seeing Kikyou, though, eyes beady and wide. Kikyou is focusing more on the fact that the guy seems dead from the neck down than on his expression. While she's examining his lack of life force, he manages to force out a question about who she is. When she confirms her name matches exactly who she LOOKS like, his face suddenly turns sour, though in his head he's still confused about Kikyou still being alive. Over a picture of her burning in her funeral pyre (was he present for that bit?) as she clutches the Shikon no Tama between her knuckles, Naraku reasons that Kikyou should have died. But here she sits, looking exactly the way she did way back then.

He refuses to believe that it's her, asking himself who she could be instead.

Back with Inuyasha and company, he's hiking up a mountain pass while Inuyasha carries Kagome's bike on his shoulder. Miroku follows on foot as well, but women and child are hitching a ride on Kirara's transformed back. Shippou asks if they're getting close, and Inuyasha confirms that they must be, given that no plants are growing here due to the evil in the area.

Is this the "hole" from the title? I mean, I wouldn't describe that as a "hole" at all. A mine shaft, or maybe a passage, but...

Yup, as they approach the mine shaft, Kagome describes it as a hole. She wonders what it is, but knows one thing; the evil is coming from inside. Inuyasha tells her to wait outside, and Kagome seems offended by the command when she asks him why. He cracks the knuckles on his fist with his other hand as he says that a large party of exterminators won't be able to go in there all at once. I guess he's never heard of a little thing called a LINE.

Miroku grabs Kagome's shoulders from behind, offering to stay outside and guard her. Both she and Sango shoot him dirty looks over their respective shoulders, and Inuyasha is glaring daggers at Miroku when he tells Miroku he's coming along in the passage.

Aaaaand we're back with Kikyou again. She's sitting outside of Naraku's room again with the pushy nobleman as he asks her what the diagnosis is. Kikyou haltingly tells him that this is beyond her abilities, keeping her worries about this "Kagewaki's" real form to herself. She's more concerned about the stronger evil swirling around outside the castle and in the mountains. She bows respectfully in farewell, but she's greeted by spear blades when she looks up again. The guards say "Kagewaki" ordered that she not leave the castle.

 "Interesting" doesn't begin to describe it. I should think "fucking terrifying" would be a better phrase for your particular situation.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Again with the scene jumps every couple of pages. It's my habit to be annoyed by this, but in this particular case I'm not sure some of these jumps could be rearranged and stitched together like in past instances. There's a complicated interplay of events going on with several different people who don't know what the others are up to, so I think the jumping does establish a particular flow to the chapter where there were a few time skips and dramatic reveals that wouldn't have meshed well otherwise.

I don't think I realized before this reading that this indicates a short period where Kikyou was just... living. She's not actively pursuing revenge or lover's leap with Inuyasha anymore, because it's been explained to her that Naraku was actually behind her death, but she doesn't have enough information on Naraku yet to start stalking HIM yet. She's just doing what she can and what she knows in a kind of limbo. She's only managed to stumble onto Naraku here, at a point where she's settled down a bit without being actively vengeful.

This is interesting for a couple of reasons. The first is that she's establishing a pattern of moving toward performing at the life she used to have, instead of seeking revenge like Urasue insisted she would. Kikyou seems less interested in getting justice or balance for her death, and more in just getting her life BACK. Which leads me to the second reason, which is that she's so much more docile than the anime made her seem. I don't know if I've brought this up before, but the anime had a habit of trying to skew perception of Kikyou to the worse end of the spectrum (and Sesshoumaru toward the good, but that's neither here nor there at the moment). There was always a push, even when Kikyou had shown nurturing and healing qualities, to reduce her complexity and make her into a bad guy. Whether it was because they were writing the show to appeal to a wider range of ages and thought nuance would confuse a younger base, or just because they wanted to make it clear that Kagome was the one for Inuyasha because Kikyou was a big meanie-pants is unclear. Maybe it was a little of both. Still, it's constantly a shock to get such different impressions of a single character from two different source materials.

Speaking of which, Sango is quite the cunning little thinker here too, which doesn't really come through in other mediums. She's able to get everyone on the same page with a single vague statement of possibility, quiet and contemplative until that moment. While the boys are bickering over nothing, she wants to get a job done, and there's nothing more uniting for any of them than implying that Naraku might be on the other end of the problem.

I think Miroku just got replaced in the title of most logical party member.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 174 The Combo of God!!

I guess it bears repeating that I came here for ridiculously overblown drama with my card games. If KT is trying to evangelize to me, he's barking up the wrong tree. I'm not looking for religion any more than Kaiba is. Of course, I think Kaiba was already a member of the Church of Duel Monsters, so he's not exactly a candidate for conversion.

I, on the other hand, clearly have a HUGE target on my back, which has been hit far too many times at this point. It's the only explanation for why I've downloaded Duel Links on my phone. And am looking for friends.

Same screen name.

Just saying.

Just don't expect me to last even as long as the losing Yami here if you do get around to challenging me. I'm still not very good at this game yet, and I also don't have plot armor to ensure I'll be alright in the end despite the surprisingly high tension in this duel.

Marik speaks through his doll's mouth again to remind Yami that it's his turn, but Yami is still pausing after that last blast; to his record of cool as well as his monster. He notes the Kuriboh he has in defense, with the hologram covering its big goggly eyes and everything, and his face down card. He's convinced none of the cards in his hand will help either, though he's got Dark Magician Girl and Spellbinding Circle in there from what I can see. Still not enough to beat that badass dragon's badass points.

Yami wonders what the card sitting on top of his deck is, because he'll have to bet everything on it. Before he can speculate any further, he goes ahead and draws it with gusto, agape when he peeks at it. It's "Magic Cylinder", and I can't remember if we've seen this one before. Have we? I don't know. All Yami is concerned with is the fact that he needs a spellcaster in play to activate the card, so he picks Dark Magician Girl out of his hand, silently relying on its help.

Kuriboh squeaks as Yami offers it for his sacrifice.

Unfortunately, that's not about to last long. The doll informs Yami that his summoning of a new "servant" has activated Slifer's special ability. Oh yeah, there was another one of those, wasn't there? Yami is in shock at this information, though, even if he should have already seen it coming. Hey, it's been DAYS since I've read the last chapter, but he has no excuse.

So, you guys remember how Slifer has two mouths? Well, he opens the little baby one on top now, charging up some sort of blast in there while Yami's gape gets even wider to match the Dark Magician Girl's. Marik explains at length that Slifer is able to bring down the attack of an opponent's monster by 2000 points, instantly destroyed if in defense and has less than 2000 defense points. Wait, what happens if it's less than 2000 attack points in attack position? Does it go into the negative or is it destroyed too? Why specifically mention that this is for monsters in DEFENSE?

In all fairness, I don't know why Marik says half the things he says anyway, and I don't think he does either. He calls out the Lightning Shot attack and when Yami is aghast that this monster can attack on his own turn, Marik corrects him to insist that it's a god rather than a monster. A distinction that doesn't seem very important here, which at least fits in with the pattern of boastful bullshit Marik spits out on a regular basis.

Dark Magician Girl's points are brought down to 1700, and Yami growls before yelling over Slifer's roar that he's revealing his face down card. It still looks like Dark Magician Girl disappears in the midst of Slifer's attack, making Marik assume that its life has been cut short, or rather what he refers to as Yami's "woman". I'm getting a headache from how hard I have to roll my eyes at him right now.

Yami says that they'll see if what Marik says is true, and this prompts him to take a closer, more shocked, look at the field now that the blast from Slifer has subsided. Turns out Yami's snazzy top hats with the question marks on them have appeared there on the field! Marik growls in disdain for the Magical Hats, but quickly regains that arrogant smirk of his. He says he thought he would end Yami's pain quickly, but he SUPPOSES Yami just likes to draw out his own torture. Yami glares, clearly not interested in responding to stupid assumptions. So, Marik keeps running his mouth, tongue in cheek as he wishes Yami the best of luck in his futile resistance to being torn apart piece by piece. He doesn't seem so scared of that anymore, though.

Hell, I wouldn't be very entertained otherwise.

He slaps down the two cards he's pulled from his hand above, face down, and ends his turn. They're not visible to the eyes of the doll, so Marik reasons that they must be hidden in the other two hats. The doll draws a card for Marik, who announces it as well as his turn. He pulls a Count from Sesame Street and gives Yami the precise number of cards in his hand, now six. He says that the rules prohibit a player from having more than eight without discarding additional draws, which was SEVEN in the last chapter, but I guess that number can keep fluctuating. Who needs continuity?

Marik holds up the Infinite Cards... card... again, saying that if he plays it, he'll get to have as many cards as he wants. Yami is surprised yet again, and I'm left scratching my head because I thought he already PLAYED that card in the last chapter? I thought he at LEAST showed it to Yami. But, going back to check, I realize that he didn't give the name of the card explicitly, nor did he show it, so I guess that's fair? I'm not even sure if Marik was meant to be speaking out loud for those two panels anyway because even after 173 chapters KT STILL doesn't have a consistent distinction between thoughts and dialogue.

Regardless, Marik asks if Yami knows what that means, and I think I do!

Yup! It means that Yami is ALSO under the false impression that infinity is a number of cards that one can hold! We're just SWIMMING in dumbass today, aren't we?

Our wise official translators have decided that Yami is SAYING the word "gasp" here, along with the obvious statement that Slifers attack will be more than 6000 starting next turn. I can't wait until it's over 9000. Memes, yaaaaay...

Marik claims that the five cards he has in play are the ultimate combo, or the "God Five". Not to be confused with the Big Five from Duelist Kingdom, who weren't nearly big ENOUGH for what Marik describes as "the divine realm for collectible card games where no mortal can hope to tread". I shit you not. Word for word. He also says the combo is invincible, because he hasn't seemed to have considered the fact that he'll eventually run out of fucking cards to draw if Yami evades attack long enough. It's a fairly good assumption that Yami wouldn't if he were one of those hopeless mortals referred to earlier, but, you know, he's not...

Whatevz. Marik calls to resume his attack from YAMI'S turn, with the big dragon mouth now instead of the little one.

I don't know about your intuition, but your confirmation bias is like a RAZOR.

Yami has one last gamble he throws out there while the blast from Slifer rips into the Dark Magician Girl's hat. Marik assumes he's destroyed he monster under that magnificent hat, but his eyes widen in disbelief and frustration when the dust clears. Turns out that the Magic Cylinder Yami drew earlier caught and absorbed Slifer's attack at Dark Magician Girl's command. Marik stutters at the incomprehensibility of this injustice.

The explanation is actually rather simple: instead of hiding Magic Cylinder in a different hat, Yami hid it WITH the Dark Magician Girl. What's more, he hid the Spellbinding Circle in there too, just for good measure. Marik calls this double magic, the activation of a spell and trap at the same time, and I can't tell if he's angry or impressed. Probably cast a little double magic himself with BOTH emotions. Advanced.

The curse of the Spellbinding Circle holds Slifer in place while lowering its attack strength. It looks like an impotent t-rex caught in the circle the way it is, which is kind of funny.

Marik puts on a smirk once more to tell Yami that no, he in fact cannot defeat a god, and reminds him of that one time he said that no mortal can raise a hand against the gods. Revival Jam jumps in the way of the blast, surprising Yami with the fact that it can even intercept reflected attacks. Of course, this means the slimy critter reforms, and Marik's doll gets to draw three more cards because of the Card of Safe Return. In turn, Slifer's attack points go up by 3000, and that now makes a whopping 7300 points, even more than BEFORE the attack.

Checkmate atheists!

To top it all off, Marik informs Yami that the Spellbinding circle isn't going to last more than an instant for a god like Slifer, so it'll disappear in just one turn. Yami stares in alarm as Marik narrates the breaking of his Spellbinding Circle, Slifer busting out of there like a bodybuilder ripping off a shirt just from flexing muscles. Slifer's attack points are now at 9000 (meme reference ahoy), and Marik says that on the next turn, Dark Magician Girl dies. It must be a graphic fantasy, her getting blasted by Slifer in this panel, because if it really happened, Yami would lose hardcore right this moment.

Yami is sweating again, mouth slack in horror, as he falls to a knee in front of the terrifying Slifer glaring down at him. He bows his head with his eyes still wide, knowing there's just no way to beat this thing. Then he hears a voice.

A perfectly demanding douchy voice, telling him to stand up again.

"After all, you defeated ME, and we all know I'm basically a god."

"Shut up, Kaiba."

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? KT pulled it off a THIRD consecutive time! I'm really stoked for this! I was surprised when Yami wasn't getting to be his smug self as much as he usually is the first instance, REALLY amazed when KT actually gave Yami a real struggle the second time, and now I'm just tickled pink that the struggle is amped even further this time. He's laying down the best moves he can and it seems more impossible than ever. Of course, as the reader I've got a longer view of what's going on here, and I actually know how "infinity" works in this usage, so it's not like I don't know how this will end, but it's still really exciting!

Especially due to Yami's brief recovery that makes up the body of the chapter. He comes out with an actually solid plan to keep impending doom at bay for just a bit longer, but it's the attitude he displays here that's really compelling. He has HUMAN emotions here. He swings from terror, to steely resolve and back to terror again. He's not smirking out of nowhere and being an arrogant twerp as he twists the arm of the game into being advantageous to him again. His emotions reflect a somewhat realistic picture of what anyone in that situation might think. And the chapter does it without dragging the drama out like in the end of Death-T or Duelist Kingdom.

Additionally, his friends aren't there, but KAIBA, of all people, shows up to encourage him. Just think about that for a second. It's a little mind-blowing the situation that KT set up in which the guy who told Yuugi in Duelist Kingdom that his friendship is disgusting is filling the role as a friend right now. Sure, he's only doing it so he has a chance to face Yami in the finals himself, but to RESEMBLE a friend for even a moment is more than Kaiba was capable of in Duelist Kingdom. He's blurring that line in the sand he drew, and I'm sure that's going to confuse the HELL out of poor Yuugi.

Inuyasha Manga: 115 Home

You mean the one that's currently been rendered a bonfire by the village? I ask because the picture of Kagome on the title page made my brain immediately evoke an image of her at her desk in her room at the shrine she calls home. Somehow I think this isn't quite the right conclusion to draw, given that now would be a pretty bad time for Kagome to fuck back off to her time. Imagining her just standing in this context and walking mechanically off in the direction of the well is a bit funny, but a little bizarre too. Think about the weird direction this manga would have to go in order to justify something like that. What would her motivation be? Would Kagome be driven by some inexorable force of TIME?

I don't know why I'm wandering down the rabbit hole of a funny image I thought of for a moment. What the fuck is wrong with me?

I don't know, he might at least need a little help with that wonky arm. Looks like it's bent back a bit at the middle of the bone. Very worrisome.

A tearful Kagome begins to ask why Jinenji's own mother is suggesting he just tough this one out without help, but Inuyasha is picking up what the old woman is putting down. He spies what's left of the village mob trying to crawl away while the monster is fighting and jumps straight into their path. He demands that they watch the whole fight all the way through.

At least his arm doesn't appear to be BROKEN here, but Kagome turns to Inuyasha anyway to insist he do something. He calmly tells her not to worry, because Jinenji won't lose. No question there. As Jinenji grapples with Mommy!Worm, holding her tightly to prevent her escape, his mother speaks like he's paying some sort of attention. She says that because he's so nice, he's been putting up with being bullied, but she yells for him to show the villagers his true power.

Maybe he WAS actually paying attention, because he chooses this moment to rip Mommy!Worm's head clean off! I mean, it's not clean, actually. It's rather messy, with blood flying everywhere and shit. It's awesome. Kagome clings to an impassive Inuyasha while she watches the display.

Yeah, even he looks a bit unnerved that he tore apart the Mommy!Worm like that.

He pauses for a second, probably coming down from his adrenaline high, and the village mob stares at him, gaping. Kagome stutters that the kill was amazing. Inuyasha is still impassively speechless for a moment before he dryly states that the villagers should be a bit quieter now. Assuming they're not the kinds of douchebags that have their heads too far up their own asses to even recognize when someone could fuck them up if provoked. Granted, those types are rare, but I'm realizing more and more that they exist in frustrating capacity, nonetheless.

Jinenji looks over at the villagers mentioned, who cringe under his gaze. They even start scooting away and screaming when he approaches them, until they bow and scrape, apologizing for their previous doubt and begging not to be killed. Kagome points out that Jinenji is frightening them now with some distress, but Inuyasha says that fear is the REASON things will be okay for Jinenji now. He smirks, stating that if they can't be friends, those nasty villagers can at least know whose strength is greater in their unfavorable relationship.

Kagome is a little put out by this revelation, in denial as she watches Jinenji raise a fist to the villagers. They cringe again, expecting to be hit, but Jinenji finds his voice - he says they're all injured too. He opens the fist he was holding out to reveal the herbs crumpled there, telling the villagers that they're good for treating bad wounds. Kagome clasps her hands in pleasure at seeing Jinenji being the kind person she hung out with the previous day, and Inuyasha tilts his head in incredulous disbelief.

Don't be too upset, Inuyasha. Those guys still know who could flatten them in a fight now.

Jinenji's mother sits on the ground staring in disbelief at her son, but the villagers are looking down at the herbs, the ground, anywhere BUT Jinenji, with shame. What's wrong guys? You had SO much to say earlier.

Some time later, I'm guessing, Kagome asks Jinenji's mother if something is okay, and the old woman says it's fine. She stands with her hoe in the gouged field while Jinenji silently rummages in the burned out debris from what was their house the day before, encouraging Inuyasha and Kagome to go now that they have the herbs they came for. Kagome wishes Jinenji farewell, which he's apparently surprised by. He turns to Kagome while she lets him know that she and Inuyasha are leaving now, and he awkwardly acknowledges this. Kagome thanks him for everything, which makes him smile happily.

Inuyasha stares up at Jinenji absently, with Jinenji's mother staring at him, speechless. She doesn't even say anything while they walk away, thinking that it's she and her son who should be thanking them. Why she ISN'T doing that isn't explored. After a moment of reflection, she turns to Jinenji and orders him to cheer up, because they have to get busy clearing the field. Jinenji agrees, and his mother starts working at turning over the earth next to her with the hoe. She doesn't go long without interruption, though. The village mob has shown back up, less of a mob and more of a repentant group seeking to help. She stares a moment.

Those are actually tears from the smell. When ONE person pulls their head from their ass it stinks. I can't IMAGINE how much it reeks to have a whole GROUP do that simultaneously.

As they walk, Kagome appeals to Inuyasha striding ahead of her. She asks if something similar to Jinenji's situation happened to him. At first, Inuyasha asks her what she means, and Kagome elaborates on the bullying. Inuyasha calls Kagome an idiot, telling her that if something like that happened to him, he wouldn't keep quiet about it. Smiles and says that's true, likely because Inuyasha isn't really the quiet type anyway. Still, inside, she's convinced of the opposite.

The two remain quiet for a panel, Inuyasha's eyelids drooping again. He mumbles something about not being either, and Kagome asks him to clarify. He says he wasn't youkai or human, and couldn't go with either group.

Inuyasha looks down and says that it was the only way he knew how to live. Kagome looks full of pity when she says Inuyasha's name now, and trails a sentence articulating her feelings on the matter. It's quite a shock when she says she's HAPPY. So much so that Inuyasha stops in his tracks, looks over his shoulder with a strange mixture of disbelief, hurt and exasperation, and asks her to repeat herself.

Kagome says she's happy again, looking a little confused herself. So, Inuyasha turns to her and asks what exactly it is that she thinks he's been talking about.

This... still requires explanation, Kagome.

Thankfully, she elaborates, telling him that she wanted to know what made him pained and sad, what he thought about those things. Inuyasha asks if that sort of thing makes her happy, and Kagome puts on a cute little smile as she says that sometimes she wants to see the weak side of him.

Cringe.

Inuyasha swings around to start striding off once more, saying that it's like Kagome is telling him he never gives in, whatever that means. Instead, Kagome says that it should be alright now, because he's not alone anymore. He pauses again, eyes wide.

Well, you know what they say: home is where the... awkward confessions during revealing troubled pasts is.

Or something.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? My scales were pretty level on this one; I didn't come down on one side or the other. I was disappointed by how easy it seemed for Jinenji to tear apart the youkai, with less than half the chapter to do so. For a guy who didn't do any fighting before now, I feel it should have been a lot harder for him to find his own strength. On the other hand, the fight could easily have swung to the other extreme that too many shounen manga seem to get stuck on, with far too much drawn-out grappling. At least the shortness of the scene goes against the grain.

And it kind of gave me chills knowing what complete confidence Inuyasha had in Jinenji's ability to win. He knows nothing about this guy except that he's been bullied his whole life for being a hanyou, but that was enough. Inuyasha's statement kind of points to an inherent toughness in all hanyou, because they have to be in order to live in a world where most of the people they meet are going to reject them. Even though Jinenji is meek and kind, he still has the experience of having to deal with constant abuse, and that makes one really resilient if you can weather the storm.
But with that resilience comes some vulnerability from the other side, the kind that Inuyasha has had the opportunity to wear down a bit since he's begun regularly associating with a team. He's hinted that he likes and needs others around him for some time, but until now hasn't come out and expressed just how lonely and isolated he's been. Kagome is somewhat right to be glad that he's come out to her about it, because it means he's ready to deal with that instead of just lock up the pain of that adjustment inside.

I say SOMEWHAT, because while it's perfectly natural for Kagome to be happy that Inuyasha is sharing his vulnerable side with her, SAYING it outright was a bit dumb for her. Expressing happiness when another person is pouring out their sorrows to you can end VERY badly, and she's lucky he's not going to withhold that kind of information from her from this moment on. Of course, that was very impulsively adolescent of her, and hilarious at that, so I approve of the scene on the whole. Don't know if it was supposed to make Kagome look selfish as fuck, though.

I mean, let's face it. Kagome was TOTALLY making it all about her for a minute there.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 173 Combo of Despair!!

I've just realized I failed to wish anyone a happy new year thus far. I was so ill and intent on sleeping well before a double shift in the morning that my celebration was... muted. I'm still a bit ill right now, truth be told, because I haven't had much time to rest, and being ill tends to make me a clueless twit about even the biggest events going on around me. My dear husband has to explain all of the current news to me now, something he can't do without a wobbly pitying smile because his wife has been rendered such a moron by the flu.

Get your flu shots, kids!

Oh, and, Happy New Year. Finally.

Well, at least it is for SOME of us. Being a nasty sicko isn't as bad as this noise in the page above. I actually feel bad for Yami right now.

But then I remember every time he put on a pompous smirk and pulled some trick out his ass that he TOTALLY MEANT TO DO ALL ALONG I SWEAR. And then I don't feel quite so bad.

Right now he's gaping in horror at Slifer the Sky Dragon in disbelief, while Marik confirms with a nasty grin that this is indeed one of the Egyptian god cards he's heard SO much about. He encourages Yami to take a look at its power - which is apparently however many cards are in Marik's hand multiplied by 1000. In addition to that, any monster Yami manages to summon gets its attack cut by 2000 automatically.

Yami gasps as Slifer roars at him, and he realizes that he's frozen in fear and can't move for the power he feels pouring out from the god card. He wonders how he can even hope to beat it, especially when the whole world seems to shake when it moves. Marik has no qualms about telling him he CAN'T beat it, and no one can. He says all duelists are powerless against Slifer's "infinite" attack power. Infinite? Kid, I know you had limited education, what with growing up a tomb keeper and all. I'm certain that the curriculum wasn't the most comprehensive, or comprehensible. But man, did whoever taught you math do YOU a disservice...

Despite his sustained fear, Yami too seems a little skeptical of Marik's use of words. Marik spells out that since Slifer's attack power is equal to the amount of cards in his doll's hands, and his doll has three cards, Slifer's attack is 3000 points. Again, this is FAR from infinite, but Yami is just BLOWN AWAY that the dragon's power is dependent on the number of cards in Marik's hand. He extrapolates that next turn it will be 4000, and since Duel Monsters allows up to seven cards in a player's hand at a time, Slifer's attack could be as high as 7000 points.

But not infinite points. Marik, as if he knows what I'm thinking, says he knows what YAMI is thinking. I know that doesn't make much sense, but hang with me here. He reminds Yami that he said INFINITE power before, and tells Yami that he has a card that can increase Slifer's power all the more. Okay, let's have it.

Uhhhhhhhhhh.....

Marik, you do realize that infinity isn't a number, right? It's a counting concept and aid. It is IMPOSSIBLE to have an infinite amount of cards in your hand, never mind the fact that you should only have 40 in your deck in this tournament. At most, Slifer can have 34,000 (discounting Slifer and the cards Marik has used so far, if I'm counting correctly), which, AGAIN, isn't infinity!!

Oh, but apparently Slifer has another special ability that will maybe make what Marik says true. Possibly. We get a brief look at Yami's 4000 life points and Marik's 3200 and instead of telling us what that special ability is, he just taunts Yami with the knowledge that the end of his next turn means the steel cage disappears and leaves him vulnerable to attack. He demands Yami make his move.

Yami growls while the monster roars. He considers the fact that Slifer has 3000 attack points, and Buster Blader gets 500 attack points for every dragon Marik has on his side. He calculates that to be 3100 attack points for Buster, but I'm wondering if Buster is included in the 2000-point-slash in Slifer's fine print. Regardless of whether or not he could kill Slifer, Yami is unable to attack at this point due to the Steel Cage. Marik is sure to draw another card at the beginning of his turn anyway and Slifer's points will rise.

Marik continues to taunt, asking Yami if he's too paralyzed to draw a card, trying to goad him into summoning a monster or laying a trap even if an attack can't happen this turn. He wants Yami to at least pretend not to give up, apparently so that he can enjoy the sight of Yami squirm and struggle in his predicament. I mean cage.

Yami grits his teeth and glares, deciding he's not going to lose to this douchebag. He draws a card with a firm announcement, reaffirming that he's not going to ever give up as he looks at it. This doesn't appear to be promising right off the bat, because he's still examining his cards and mentally insisting there has to be a way to beat Marik with them in the next panel. One of them is Kuriboh, which can only mean one thing: Marik is going to nosh on some tribbles some time in the near future.

But before that happens, Yami urges himself to think of how he can make that happen. He takes stock of Marik's side of the duel; Slifer, Revival Jam in defense, and a face down card. Yami glares over the top of his cards, knowing that Marik's next turn will decide the match. With that burning thought out of the way, he slaps two face down cards on his Duel Disk and then plays Kuriboh in defense before ending his turn.

Marik narrates the hissing disintegration of the Steel Cage surrounding Yami, the only thing protecting him up until this point.

Drama all the way down, I tell you.

With the doll's drawing of a new card, Slifer roars (victoriously, I'm sure) for having a new total of 4000 attack points. Yami clenches his teeth, looking utterly terrified, despite being prepared for this. After a moment where Slifer stares threateningly at Buster, Marik commands it to attack. It spits a great big energy loogie at Buster called Super-Conductor Thunder Force, and Buster braces for the hit, like a batter following a pitch.

It's at this point that Yami reveals one of his face down cards, which Marik is too surprised by considering they were only just played a couple of pages ago.

The Lightforce Sword skewers one of the cards in the doll's hand, which Marik notes with fury brings Slifer's attack back down to 3000. Buster dodges the loogie, and Yami announces the counter-attack Buster intends to send crashing down on Slifer's head with the Dragon Buster Blade. But just when Yami is getting giddy thinking he can defeat Slifer, Marik is smirking again. He tells Yami not to be so hasty, so Yami resumes sweating.

Oh snap! So close!

Or maybe not so close after all. Marik says he's activating another spell in this moment as well. I thought you couldn't do that in your attack phase, which is the point of calling out an attack, but yeah, alright. It's called "Card of Safe Return", and gives Marik the right to draw three new cards every time one of his cards is special summoned from his discard pile (graveyard, as they say). Yami identifies it as a hand-increase card, and an extremely specific one too. Did Marik commission this card from his underground lair or something? For this particular scenario?

He explains that this will allow him to draw more cards every time his Slime regenerates, and he has five cards in his hand now, so Slifer has the corresponding 5000 attack points. Buster is razed by a god-laser to the face.

Elsewhere in the city, an electronic beep is heard from Kaiba's Fonzie coat collar. A voice is transmitted to Kaiba from the KC logo on the lapel, alerting him to the fact that they've found some god card activity in 350 West Block "E", involving Yuugi Mutou. Kaiba turns to look dramatically into the distance, fist clenched as he thinks Yuugi's name. Mokuba looks at him with confusion.

Me too, kid. Me too.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? KT is managing to keep the tension up for this one, which I didn't think he would be able to pull off. I admit, I was SURE this chapter would have Yami pulling a duel-turning move that would flip the odds of the game in his favor again. That is, after all, the established pattern for games in this story. It's definitely what Yami TRIED to do... and FAILED. KT successfully subverted my expectations and kept his golden boy down in this one in order to maintain the pressure on him, and it's working. I feel all the more invested in the duel knowing that Yami's usual ease with which he turns the duel around is not there, and he has to work harder for his victory this time. It's that try-fail cycle I was talking about regarding Jonouchi's growth in the game a while back. KT must be cottoning on to the fact that his characters really have to struggle in order for everyone to identify with them on an emotional level, and I'm really hoping he keeps this up.

That said, the card Marik played in order to be able to draw more cards was too specific, which threw me right out of the action. When you cite a rule about a player only being allowed a certain number of cards in their hand at once, my suspension of disbelief only extends so long as to accommodate ONE card that allows them to break that rule. When you add a supplement card that would only work on the off chance that the player also had the first card in this very situation, that's when I have to call bullshit.

Of course, if Marik and his Ghouls can make copies of rare cards that are convincing, perhaps he just manufactured these cards himself for his own needs. It seems plausible, if not a little "headcanon-y" for the sake of having a reasonable explanation for such a card's existence. It might explain why Marik is so dumb as to take the word "infinity" so damn literally when playing the card. If he made it, that's probably how he MEANT it. Literally.

Which is dumber than ever, but at least it makes the existence of these highly-specific cards less of a stretch.

Inuyasha Manga: 114 A Half-Youkai's Desire

Do we really need a whole chapter to tell us what a hanyou's desire is? I think it's pretty obvious from the way Jinenji was making eyes at Kagome. In fact, Inuyasha and Kagome are in a full-on relationship. A tumultuous, immature one, but a relationship nonetheless. Those hanyous can't seem to get enough of that girl, and all because she's not a racist piece of shit. Pretty low bar, but at least there's a bar at all...

So, if you need a bow that also treats you with a baseline level of respect no matter your lineage, get yourself a Kagome! Kagome: 2 out of 2 hanyous would recommend!

That's the level of binging that's bound to make little tummies upset! What kind of mother would let her kids eat an entire village when it'll just teach them an unhealthy attitude toward food! She should be ashamed!

I feel there's another point here I'm missing... Oh well.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, where Jinenji is still staring at the sleeping Kagome, a rock collides with the shack's wooden frame. Kagome groggily comes to as a voice shouts for Jinenji to get his butt outside. She and Jinenji's mother snap to their senses rather quickly when the voice claims knowledge that Jinenji is responsible for all the murders in the village, and calls him a damn dirty ape half-youkai while it's on a roll. They stare at the door with trepidation while Jinenji sweats in the back of the hut.

Kagome clings to Jinenji's mother's sleeve, and Jinenji's mother in turn grabs a hoe, glaring at the door the villagers are doubtless hiding behind. Jinenji whimpers to his mother, who assures him that it'll be fine. She instructs him to wait where he is as she heads toward the door, pulling aside the curtain only to be showered with a hail of rocks thrown by the villagers. They call Jinenji and his mother ingrates, encroaching on the village's kindness letting them live there for so long. Oh yes, you're sooooo generous. I suppose the constant abuse was part of how NICE you all have been too...

Kagome charges from the hut with a command to stop at once, in front of Jinenji's mother, whose head is bleeding from a rock to the face. She asks Jinenji's mother if she's alright, then begins to ask the villagers with their torches and pitchforks why they're such assholes, presumably. The head of the mob tells Kagome to get out of the way, questioning why she's siding with their hated enemies.

She tells them that if they would spend any time with Jinenji at all, they'd realize he was gentle, kind, and incapable of hurting anyone. We get a shot of him still cowering in the back of the hut to prove just how paralyzed he is right now to boot. Regardless, the ring leader tells his mob to ignore her, reminding them that she came into town with a youkai brat as well, and she's a friend to youkai.

Apparently it never occurred to them that the youkai might just be more friendly than people who throw around wild accusations without evidence, stone others based on those accusations, and burn other peoples' homes.

Because that's a thing now. Some of the members of the mob have thrown torches, and it's caught the roof on fire, much to Kagome's horror. Jinenji's mother just looks pissed. She runs at the bastards, hoe raised to swing, but before she can reach them, one of the men in the mob is torn straight in half, head and shoulders rolling away with the force of the blow.

Do you smell that? That's the smell of twenty-plus men collectively shitting their pants.

Everyone is speechless, watching the little wormy-critters shoving their faces into the dead man's guts. Jinenji's mother makes a halting statement about how they're eating the bowels of the corpse, before the giant mommy worm's tongue (or something like it) shoots like lightning from the forest of wriggling things over her mouth and into another man's stomach. Finally, the rest of the men in the mob start to scream and scatter. Jinenji has his ear to the wall in the hut, listening to the crunching noises outside.

What about the burning noises and smoke inside? The hut is still burning, right? Anyway, turns out that the mommy worm can talk, and she tells her babies to go on and get the rest of the fleeing men. The babies rustle toward them, and the villagers cringe, screaming. Kagome is still holding onto Jinenji's mother in front of the burning hut (so it IS still a thing), thinking she's got to do something somehow.

The next panel isn't exactly clear as to whether Kagome runs back into the hut in order to retrieve her bow and arrow, or if Jinenji has come out to find her retrieving them from against the outer wall. I'm banking on the former, since it makes sense for her to take her weapons with her inside in the evening to prevent them from being stolen or something. Still, I went back and checked to see if I could find her bow or arrows in any of the previous panels and I hadn't seen them at all, so...

Anyhow, Kagome tells Jinenji to stay by his mother's side, a command that makes him a bit sweaty. Or maybe that's just the inferno surrounding him. Not really sure.

The mommy worm sways before hitting the ground hard, and for a second Kagome thinks she got it. However, the mommy worm strains to regain her strength and whips her tail around at a shocked Kagome as she does so. The tail hits Kagome right upside her head and neck and she goes flying, much to Jinenji and his mother's horror. Kagome's head hits the ground first with a thud, and she is clearly taking a little snooze now. The mommy worm is upright again and calling Kagome a little bitch.

She pokes her approximate-tongue out again, intending to eat Kagome's bowels, but as the tongue darts out toward Kagome's stomach, Jinenji yells out for the mommy worm to stop. And that's not all.

Turns out he just needed the right motivation to choke a bitch.

Jinenji's mother is in complete shock, gaping at her normally passive son. I'm not sure how mommy worm was talking before, but now I'm REALLY perplexed, because she's managed to damn Jinenji while he's got a hand in her mouth and out the back of her head. I'll just go with it, I guess. Kagome opens her eyes to the battle happening right over her, and sits up to call out to Jinenji. He's sweating some more, urging her to escape, and telling her that she's the only one to have ever treated him like a normal person.

His mother looks on in sadness.

Meanwhile, the villagers are still hacking at the baby worms to no effect. One man even cleanly breaks a sword over one of the worm's heads. The men begin to panic over the broken sword, because neither it nor spears are working for them. What's more, one of them is beginning to be dragged off by the little buggers again, and all anyone can do is scream. The man reaches out to what's left of the mob, begging to be saved.

And, miraculously, the baby worms swarming over him are slashed to pieces by a "Soul Shattering Iron Claw". The saved man stares wide-eyed at the pieces of the baby worms scattering out in front of him. Inuyasha waits for neither thanks nor apologies when he asks them what the FUCK they think they're doing there. They just stammer out recognition and the odd statement that they're saved as if it happened to be by a force of nature rather than a person. Kagome is more than willing to acknowledge Inuyasha's arrival with his actual name, though. And a request.

Or two contradictory ones, anyway. And one from the least likely of all people. No wonder he's confused.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I like the mother motif running through this chapter. It's a theme through the whole arc, but in this chapter it really dominates the scene. You have the human mother who was always fighting for her son, letting him hang back behind her, and the youkai mother, who leads by example, but quickly encourages her numerous offspring to do it themselves. It's a stark contrast in how these two mothers parent, even if it seems there's a bit of a difference between learning to get food and learning to stand up for one's self. Maybe the two actions aren't so far apart on the spectrum after all, given they're both essential skills in being an independent, functional adult.

I was a little disappointed by the lack of attention to detail in this chapter, what with it being unclear if Kagome or Jinenji were inside or outside the hut for a few panels. It doesn't break the chapter, mind, but it does make it feel a bit rushed or as though there were panels missing. We never see Kagome move from Jinenji's mother's side, nor do we see Jinenji step outside the hut. A small indication of action would have made the whole scene a lot clearer, and it wouldn't have taken up much space or time.

As they say, the devil is in the details, but it really does make story and pacing flow a whole lot nicer when that little devil is happy.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 172 Summon the Nightmare

A title that is only too apt for my reality right now. I spent the past two weeks trying to avoid getting sick over my vacation, and then my first weekend back home I'm attacked with a sudden severe sore throat that makes it hard to even swallow. It blew my precious weekend, but at least I feel a bit better for the double I've scheduled myself into today. At least I'm not intermittently spitting in the sink to avoid swallowing. That's always a plus.

Enjoyable for your hate-boner, maybe. I still happen to be in enough pain to be in constant discomfort.

Yami brags that Marik's moves are too weak to take his life point and makes a phony apology for it, as a guy who is about to make an ass of himself is wont to do. Marik says that his last turn was just to test the waters, pebbles and ripples and all that, all to measure Yami's skills. Yami protests that a move such as that wouldn't be big enough to even make a ripple, but Marik chuckles. He launches into a heavy metaphor in which duelists are vessels and strategy is water, taking the shape of the vessel/duelist, bottom visible if the vessel/duelist is shallow.

I bet you there's a nice framed copy of a masters degree in armchair philosophy from the University of Marik's Ass hanging right above his mantle. But he thinks it's all good though, because he praises Yami on how he lives up to the rumors of his skill and depth.

Yami just glares. Meanwhile, Marik is exploring deeper than ever into the vast landscape of Metaphor World.

I hope he left a trail of breadcrumbs. Otherwise he could get lost.

Come to think of it, that might not be so bad...

Damn all the bad luck, though, because he's back in reality again after a short pause to show his 3300 life points as opposed to Yami's full 4000. He shouts at Yami that the duel should continue, and Yami agrees, because he's probably just as sure as I am that Marik's lofty pretentious banter would have made for a very BAD chapter. He draws a card and takes a look at it, to see that it's the many-starred Buster Blader. He plans to summon another monster on this turn and then sacrifice it along with Gazelle to summon Buster. Seems like a plan that could EASILY be thwarted, but he's the star player, so whatevz.

He introduces Marik to Beta the Magnet Warrior, popping out of its card face like a magnet-themed Astro Boy. Yami wastes no time in declaring his battle phase and has Gazelle destroy the Worm Drake. Gazelle strikes, Worm Drake bites it, and Marik bows his head as his points go down by another 100. Yami ends his turn with that, comfortable in the knowledge that Marik has not one monster on his side to defend him. While Yami thinks he has the upper hand, Marik smirks from behind the placid face of his doll, silently gloating over how Yami is the one being cornered.

Marik declares his turn and has his puppet draw a card, promising to show Yami how water-like his strategy is according to his former metaphor. A metaphor that apparently uses the malleability of water to form shields and swords. Yeah. Alright. The doll chooses a card that he holds out to Yami, with Marik announcing that it holds the power he's musing about. I guess we can assume he was saying all that other stuff out loud too, otherwise this would be really confusing.

I unconsciously crossed my legs upon seeing the last panel there. Read into that what you will. I certainly did.

Yami looks just as horrified as I am at the slime machine, but when he calls it that, all I can really think of is all those fun slime recipes online. Marik explains that the machine produces one slime every turn, which sounds like a fine deal for someone selling all their creative slimes on Etsy. The drawback, of course, is that Marik isn't able to summon any other monsters while the machine is there popping out all the slimes.

It sputters and putts, and Yami gapes at it, realizing the plan must be to produce enough of these slimy jams to sacrifice them for a max level monster. Marik confirms that it requires 3 sacrifices to summon a 10-star god card, which can lead to only one conclusion for Yami.

Yami decides that his only choice is to defeat Marik before he can get that god card in the game. The smug Marik is convinced it's far too late now that his combo has begun, though, calling the advent of Slifer inevitable at this point. He indeed has it in his hand now, and it will only take three more turns for it to make its debut.

Drawing a card, Yami shouts that it's his turn. He announces the sacrifice of both his current monsters, and Marik waits with some interest to see what Yami is summoning. He doesn't look too terribly happy when it arrives, though.

Buster splatters the little slime creature with ease using its "Destructive Sword Flash" move, but Yami's victorious grin had having swatted it is short-lived. He notices the jam begins to reform while Marik chuckles. The scattered droplets pull themselves back into their former shape, Marik explaining that this is the power of REVIVAL Jam. Maybe should have seen that coming.

Marik says that no matter what Yami does, the slime won't die, making attacking it as futile as attacking a pool of water. Again with this water crap... Yami reiterates that it can regenerate, a little slower on the uptake than usual, and Marik mocks him. He asks if he didn't already tell Yami that it was a shapeless invincible shield, making Yami's monsters unable to touch him. Not sure what the above expression of shock and upset on Marik's face is about then, but oh well.

Yami isn't looking too good for his close-up in the next panel, but Marik isn't too concerned with his comfort. He says it's back to him again, and has his doll draw a new card for him. He commands the machine to birth a brand new slime to join his first, and it's shot out of the gurgling hole like a cannonball. Yami sweats, looking at the slime with some apprehension while desperately thinking that he has to defeat the machine before it puts another one of the little bastards out there.

Marik admits that the little baby slimes produced by the breeding machine are weak at 500 points a pop, and since they're apparently born in attack position, Yami could do a shit ton of damage by attacking them. So, Marik's puppet throws down a card to prevent that scenario playing a spell card.

So nice they named it thrice!

Marik cites the strength of the cage as the reason they won't be able to attack each other for three turns, and Yami begins to panic at the notion that Marik will use the turns to generate more slimes. Marik confirms that his goal during this little down-period he's created is to build up his forces. He activates the machine again so it pops out yet another Jam. Wait, didn't he have to wait until his turn in order to do that? I mean, I know Yami can't attack or anything, but he can still draw a card at least. No?

I guess not, because Marik says that by his next turn he'll have all the monsters he needs anyway. Yami is seriously freaking out from behind the bars of his cage, knowing that Marik has his god card and will summon it shortly. As he's looks helplessly on, Marik asks through his doll how Yami feels in his cage, whether it's humiliation, despair or sorrow. He snarls at Yami that this is how he's felt his entire life, enduring the narrow fate of the Tomb Guardians. Marik perks up when he considers what kind of freedom his revenge will get him. Yeah, it's just SO invigorating getting to make those insignificant decisions regarding where all your ever decreasing disposable income is going to go month to month, only to have to allocate all of it to medical or financial emergencies that were ultimately not your fault anyway.

You're going to LOVE it in the "free" world Marik. Totally.

I don't think Yami is listening. He's instead insisting that he can't lose, let Yuugi die, or let his memories fall into obscurity forever. Maybe he's drawing a card here as well, but I'm not sure because they usually call out when they do that. I certainly hope he did, though, because Marik's machine has again popped out a little baby slime. Now that he has three, he destroys his machine, sacrifices the babies (I'm beginning to understand why there was a little bit of a moral panic around games like this in the nineties...), and tells Yami not to turn away from his bloody ritual. He introduces SLIFER.

... Awesome.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It almost seemed somewhat rushed toward the end, compared to KT's long-standing habit of milking every moment of the duel for any tension he can squeeze out of those teats. He instead opted to skip Yami's useless turns altogether, only paying him attention to focus on his panicking. I think it's a good move, ultimately, because it doesn't drag the chapter at all, but it's just a tad strange given how we're used to him writing these types of scenes. I actually hope this is the start of a new trend for him, because he's trained us to expect certain things that he should be well on his way to growing past as a storyteller. I only hope we can be retrained. You know what they say about old dogs.

I find it a little hilarious how naïve Marik appears about what his little revenge will afford him. He thinks it will solve all his problems, and it's given him a sever case of that "grass is always greener" syndrome. I know we'll never see how "freedom" is treating him by the end of the manga, because his motivation isn't really a main focus for us. Still, it would be funny to see him griping to Ishizu that all this financial and social independence was just not what he thought it would be in the end.

Finally, I have to express my happiness that Yami is FINALLY, BLISSFULLY, getting a taste of what it means to really be caught off-guard. In Duelist Kingdom, his distress came not with having no way of countering his opponent's moves, although that would have been difficult in and of itself. It stemmed from Pegasus knowing every move he was about to make. In this situation, however, Yami is free to strategize, but Marik was able to restrict his moves in a way that no other opponent has been able to do before. That is REAL nervousness on his face, not the product of his mind being manipulated or peered into. He is trapped entirely within the confines of the match and game, and it's scaring the hell out of him.

Thank you, KT, for restoring some conflict back to your main character and giving me a reason to CARE again. This duel will be a shit ton more interesting than most of Yami's, that's for sure.