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.