Inuyasha Manga: 150 Reversal

Jokes about this title have eluded me for several days, despite the fact that I'm pretty sure there are some obvious ones I could make. They're just very elusive at the moment. An opportunity for a joke could be staring me in the face and I wouldn't be able to take it. I wish I could say my inability is as noble as not wanting to blast through all the innocent observances of propriety acting as a shield, but I'm not as heroic as Inuyasha is in this arc. I'm just not very clever, the only affinity I can claim with our main character.

I also have the distinct advantage of my enemy jokes not attacking me. Man, that was a clumsy metaphor.

Inuyasha silently curses the fact that the villagers are in his way, reminding himself that he'll kill them if he takes the opportunity to strike that Kagura is presenting with her self-created Kaze no Kizu. He doesn't have long to dwell on the hypnotized faces of the villagers (they no longer look angry, since the illusion doesn't have to be kept up anymore), because a new tornado jabs down at him out of the sky and he has to hold the flat of Tessaiga's blade in front of his face to block it. He skids backward from the force of the blow.

While the sword is guarding Inuyasha's head, Kagura unleashes a series of wind blades on Inuyasha, which slice at his arms and legs. He groans, recoiling from the attack, this time cursing aloud and breaking a serious sweat. Kagura notes how frustrated he's become, and internally promises to let him cut the scar in her wind soon. She adds that it'll be at full power, too, but she sure doesn't seem like she's planning to die from it. She's entirely too smug for this to be a GIR-like self-destruct plan.

Meanwhile, Miroku is carrying Kagome piggy-back accompanied by both Sango and Koharu's unconscious bodies slung across Kirara's back. Shippou is also bouncing alongside him on his other side, explaining that the girl youkai with the mirror appeared to be friends with Naraku, with which assessment Miroku agrees. He keeps his question about why this girl in white wasn't noticed by them before in his head, though. After all, Inuyasha said he didn't smell any youkai nearby, and Miroku himself didn't sense any either. He remembers how the girl in white retreated into the dark recesses of the house like a ghost, all spooky-like.

Back with Inuyasha again, he's getting slammed in the gut by the point of one of Kagura's whirlwinds, and ends up sprawled in a heap on the ground, groaning. Kagura seems somewhat surprised, wondering out loud if Inuyasha is exhausted already. She feels like she could finish him off all by herself even without some round-about plan. Just as she thinks this, the villagers in front of her start fucking off to the sides of the battle, no longer guarding her. Seems she waited a bit too long to come to the conclusion that she's capable of breaking from the plan, because she recognizes the retreat of the villagers as a sign that the plan is going ahead. She does the mental equivalent of a shrug. C'est la vie.

I'd ask him to question WHY that is, but he's probably lost too much blood for his cognitive faculties to be functioning at a critical level by this point.

But Kagura's not exactly making it a mystery what she's up to. She declares that it's time to put Inuyasha out of his misery, which should make it pretty obvious that an attack at this point would be against his interests. He's pulling himself to his feet when she lets loose a new barrage of wind blades, vigor recovered for a moment.

It's Shippou who sees the girl in white peek out from behind Kagura, and he calls out in distress at the sight, but it's too late. Even as he yells at Inuyasha not to cut wherever he's aiming, Inuyasha is already swinging down Tessaiga, calling out Kaze no Kizu. It rips up the ground in its path right toward Kagura, and through the destruction, he's just able to make out the girl in white stepping in front of Kagura before the cut reaches her. Inuyasha is visibly confused and shocked to see the kid putting herself in the way, but not as shocked as he's GOING to be.

He's getting the Sango treatment now.

OUCH.

My comment above can't be in enough caps, because the next page shows Inuyasha's face gaping in pain and horror as he lays sprawled on the ground again, covered in blood. It stains the ground in rivulets stretching from where his Kaze no Kizu was blowing, a ways past him. It's actually pretty visceral.

Miroku stares at his fallen friend as the residual wind from the attack blows past them, in disbelief that Kaze no Kizu was blown back. Shippou looks downright anguished when he tells Miroku that Sango was brought down the same way. She lays, still unconscious on the ground, with Kirara placing a protective paw over her. Koharu also lies propped on one of Kirara's haunches.

Inuyasha, in contrast, has his eyes open, but barely. They're blank and half-lidded, staring into space. As he lays there, an new figure appears out of the fog behind Kagura and Kanna. Shippou hangs from Miroku's shoulder while he leans forward in anticipation of seeing the jerkwad behind this scheme.

That expression, though. The anger is real!!

He runs out to stand next to the incapacitated Inuyasha, preparing to rip the sealing beads from his right hand, while Shippou runs to Inuyasha's other side, yelling his name desperately. Naraku warns Miroku not to do anything HE wouldn't do, which includes opening his Kazaana at the moment. THAT would involve sucking up the souls of Kagome and everyone else's stolen by Kanna's mirror. She stands close to Naraku, not backing away from him or anything. Miroku curses, wrapping the beads back around his wrist.

In addition to the souls, there's a few Saimyoushou hovering around behind Naraku, who says that Miroku is the only one left now, like a threat. I'm sure he means the only one who can stand up to him, because Shippou and Kirara are still souled and mobile, after all. I guess Naraku isn't much impressed with Shippou's... spinning top illusion deal. Can't really blame him.

Even so, Naraku is still quite wrong, because as she lays propped against a hill of rubble, Kagome continues to cling to consciousness. She weakly calls Kirara to her side.

I admire your dedication and will to stick by your guy, lady, but I don't envy you seeing like this. Even I'M disturbed by this image, and I'm not in love with the guy.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? The expressions of these characters get me every time, and I think this chapter is one of the best examples of how expressive RT can be with her art. There aren't any moments where I'm confused or led in a random direction by a character's face, because every expression is carefully crafted and evocative. And the character designs aren't exactly the most intricate, either; this comic has an extremely simple style that isn't busy, but that helps to convey intense emotion, in a way. Whenever a character is disturbed, their faces are so unmistakably disturbed as well that it's impossible not only to notice, but empathize. It's really amazing.

The other thing that's amazing, something I may have mentioned before, is that RT isn't afraid to make her good guys lose, and lose HARD. The first time I read this chapter, I was hard-pressed to figure out how the protagonists were going to get out of this, with every hand tied so tight. One of the best things about Inuyasha is how close RT is willing to cut it, seemingly writing her story and characters into corners to give these story beats urgency and suspense. Here she has fucked Inuyasha up in the worst way yet, and even knowing the outcome, it's still a nail-biting scene. Not just because one can wonder how he's going to survive (or indeed if he has), but because the characters around him react and express themselves in such believable, visceral manners. I can't help but really feel the desperation of the characters, and I don't think I'm the only one.

Of course, RT isn't consistent in employing her talent for invoking suspense, but I can't help but admire it when she goes all-in like this. It's like watching a unicorn taking a dump. You never thought you could ever see even the unicorn itself, but the rainbow shit coming out its backside just makes it all the more real, like it's an honest-to-goodness creature with all the nasty crap that comes with it.