Inuyasha Manga: 133 Capture

There seems to be a bit of a gap between Kouga's stated intentions and this chapter title. He said he wants to MAKE Kagome work for him, but his plan doesn't account for much more than an initial abduction. Somehow, I think he's failed to consider the possibility that Kagome might be a little cross and uncooperative after her abduction. No, following a long and proud tradition of men failing to understand that women's compliance is not dependent on whatever the nearest man wants her to do, he's going to rush headlong into a kidnapping plot with the impression she'll magically do what he asks if he makes it clear that he owns her now.

The poor, dumb fool.

*Internal screaming at the nickname "Dog Turd" intensifies*

Sensing that Inuyasha is still brooding over Kouga's insults, Kagome lays the praise on THICK, telling him she thinks he's strong and cool and all that jazz. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Inuyasha asks her what the fuck she's going on about. Shippou, who's also hitched a ride on Inuyasha, answers that Kagome is just being nice and trying to counteract the obvious hurt he suffered from Kouga's insults. Shippou's plain explanation makes the situation all the worse, given Inuyasha's wide-eyed and pinched expression, like he's been punched right in the stomach.

In the next panel, Shippou sports a bump from an ACTUAL punch to the skull and tears to match, while Inuyasha glares forward past the popping vein in his temple, and Kagome closes her eyes, sighing. Behind them, Sango follows their lead on the transformed Kirara, Miroku riding behind her. He comments on the bizarre atmosphere of the place, and Sango asks him what he means. He casts a suspicious look over his shoulder, saying that the aura drifting around doesn't seem like that of the wolves they just encountered. Sango seems wary of what this implies - that there are other youkai in the area to look out for.

Up ahead, Inuyasha sees a couple-three wolves paused and looking back at him at the bend in the mountain pass. They begin to skitter away around that bend, and Inuyasha, apparently not seeing anything fishy here, identifies them and pursues them like an unthinking wolf-seeking missile. He warns them that they aren't getting away, as they sprint along the path under a sheer cliff to their right, topped with more wolves that Inuyasha clearly hasn't seen either.

Hey! This looks familiar! Miroku seems rather dumbfounded that his own tactic is being copied here (or maybe his memory just isn't all that good), while Sango's surprise at the ambush is in blissful unawareness of her co-rider's previous actions.

Calling the wolves sneaky bastards, Inuyasha instructs Kagome to hang on tight. She haltingly agrees, and Inuyasha rips apart the avalanche of wolves with a swipe of his claws. But more of them are streaming down the steep mountainside, at Miroku and Sango too, who exclaims that this is a BIG pack. Kouga must have these guys breeding 24-7 with these numbers, if he's not vomiting them up like that OTHER wolf guy. Inuyasha is quickly getting frustrated with the horde, and the fact that at this point, Kagome's going to be in serious danger.

Kagome screams as another wolf comes bearing down on them and Inuyasha manages to slash it, but another three are pouncing directly after it's dead. The only reaction quick enough is holding an arm up in defense, and one wolf clamps its jaws around it. Kagome watches in horror as wolves bite down on every part of Inuyasha they can reach, pushing them straight off the naked edge of the pass. Inuyasha is shocked that these wolves seem to intend to go down straight with them, but soon his attention is drawn elsewhere - to his periphery, where a figure is running straight up the side of the mountain at the desperately clinging Kagome.

And history repeats itself all over again.

Inuyasha shouts Kagome's name, and Kagome shouts his back, stuttering in shock. Sango calls out to Kagome as well, readying her Hiraikotsu as she steers Kirara in the direction of the kidnapping. Miroku has been left behind on the edge of the pass to ponder how snatching Kagome was Kouga's plan all along. Has he genuinely forgotten his OWN plans to separate Kagome and Inuyasha at the beginning of their association with him? Because he looks just as shocked as everyone else right now, and I have no idea why he thinks he has the right. Is this just some intense cognitive dissonance on his part, or what?

Anyway, Kouga is already speeding off with Kagome still slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She screams, asking him what his deal is in hysterics. He turns an annoyed look on her and tells her not to scream in his ear anymore and to stop panicking. Bitch, Kagome does what she wants, and if she wants, she's going to fucking panic! In defiance, she declares she IS panicking, and proceeds to keep screaming in his ear, no longer in fear.

Sango urges Kirara to hurry along, but even if Kirara is fast enough to catch up with the Shikon-enhanced Kouga, there's a little problem. Remember how Miroku was talking about there being another youkai aura in the area? Well it belongs to birds. Big birds with grinning sharp-toothed grins in front, and on top, a naked human torso.

Soooo, are the human tops functional as far as heads and mouths go as well, or are they just decoys, like those of an angler fish?

These are my burning questions.

Kagome notices these big-ass birds too out of her periphery, and Kouga also casts a wary glance over his unoccupied shoulder while he holds Kagome's wrist in order to keep her in place on the other. Kagome asks what they are, gaping in horror, but Kouga doesn't really answer. He just mutters about them coming after him. Kouga then turns to Kagome, praising himself for the timing of her capture before he tells her to take a good look at them. She makes a questioning noise, and Kouga asks if any of the birds have Shikon fragments.

After a pause where she stares at the creatures, she says they have no shards. Confirming that Kagome is sure, Kouga speeds up even more, cockily stating he has no use for them. Kagome squeezes her eyes shut against the wind; all she can do is hold on, though Kouga's grip on her shoulder should prevent her from squirming free anyway. Kouga and his bounty rapidly shrink into the distance, the pursuing birds left in their dust. He shouts at them to suck it, because they'll never be able to keep up with his bio-hacked legs.

At a rocky waterfall, two sentries dressed similarly to Kouga himself and crouching on high rocks greet Kouga jovially. Kouga doesn't return the pleasantries, leaping straight through the waterfall, with Kagome complaining the shower was a super cold one. On the other side of the curtain of water, Kagome's eyes widen at the cave beyond.

Sweet pad.

A man with some pretty heavy liner under his eyes approaches, excited about the tasty-looking girl Kouga's brought home. This isn't a euphemism, though, because another guy, jagged teeth protruding from his mouth like he stepped straight out of a creepy pasta begs to be able to eat her too. Kouga announces that Kagome isn't food, and anyone who takes a bite is going to die. Kagome herself is relieved that her life doesn't seem to be in danger at the moment.

Kouga instead offers his followers a little monster that managed to cling to the underside of the tail-like back of his skirt, a monster we know as Shippou. Shippou cries Kagome's name, struggling, while Kagome demands that Kouga stop giving her friends away as snacks. She makes a grab for Shippou, but Kouga holds him out of reach. So, Kagome implies she's going to withhold her help if Shippou isn't released, and Kouga smirks, saying this will make things easy.

He explains that the birds they observed before were the Gokurakuchou, and they are natural enemies of the wolf-youkai. So, there are whole youkai ecosystems here? Fascinating. Kouga says the Gokurakuchou's boss has Shikon shards, and they've killed a ton of his friends. Kagome absorbs this information sitting in a straw bed at the back of the cave, holding Shippou as Kouga sits across from her, arms and legs crossed in seriousness. He tells her their plan is to attack the nest and steal the Shikon fragments, Kagome playing the crucial role of locating them.

Solid plan, Kagome. Let's just hope he finds you with his super-smeller before you get chomped by one of those nightmare birds.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Just a TAD bit peeved at the almost direct copy of this kidnapping from Miroku's pilfering of the Shikon shard in his first appearance. Right down to the mountain pass setting. Sure, there's only so many ways one can pull off a kidnapping, especially when your mastermind isn't exactly a creative genius (if his "dug turd" insults are any indication), but that's exactly why this plan shouldn't have mirrored a previous one engineered by one of the SMARTER characters in the series. It's a bit worrisome that RT is recycling material from chapters that are easily recalled, especially this early in a 500+ chapter series.

Because it's not a problem with creativity. I'm just as blown away by RT's monster design as always; these Gokurakuchou are insanely grotesque, and they send a chill up my spine every time I see them. Hell, even some of the wolf youkai are pretty scary-looking, at least that one with the creepy teeth. I just wish some of the plot points could be just as creative as the design, because when you start ripping YOURSELF off, you know there's some issues under there.

Although I am always impressed with how Kagome handles herself in hostage situations. She knows how to make herself useful enough to buy time, and even some time out of captivity to make her chances of getting rescued higher. No, it's not ideal for her to be kidnapped so much in the first place, and the perpetual damsel-in-distress role is a bit tiresome. If it HAS to happen, though, I'd rather the damsel be as far from passive as possible, and have a strategy going like Kagome often does.

At least she's not sitting patiently in a corner waiting for everyone ELSE to do all the work.