Inuyasha Manga: 154 The Third Youkai

Oh, I think there's WAAAAY more than three. More than half of the characters in this series are youkai, fractionally or whole. Every-damn-where you turn there's one of them coming at you! And they really are coming at you most of the time, trying to murder your face off. It's a wonder any human person managed to survive, let alone expand the population for 500 years into a sprawling metropolis like Tokyo. In fact, now I have to question whether any human person DID survive, for how unsustainable this siege on their communities has been shown to be.

Are all of us just... youkai? Did our ancestors just commit a horrible genocide on humans several hundred years ago, and are us modern people just the result of youkai filling in and exploding the niche human beings once filled?

... That might explain a few things. Actually.

Nightmare fuel aside...

If it makes you feel any better, Kagome, the only thing he got out of it was a load of patronizing bullshit.

Inuyasha seems a little subdued in greeting her, a sweatdrop on his forehead. Might be a result of how he thinks she's going to react, or it might just be that he's tired and in pain. Hard to tell. Kagome shouts his name as she sprints toward him, and makes a worried noise when he has to collapse into a sitting position in the grass. She kneels next to him, asking if he's okay, and he answers yes, then turns his head away from her conspicuously. Ahhh, someone's a little guiiiiiltyyyyy....

This is still a very inappropriate way of getting the guy to face you, though. Ouch, don't you think the guy is in enough pain?

Kagome demands to know if Inuyasha met with Kikyou, though she says she can clearly see it in his face. She's not talking out her ass either, because Inuyasha genuinely looks like he's preparing for a scolding. Kagome points out another clue is that he won't look her in the eye, exasperated that he always acts like this. She fails to mention that she always acts like a jealous girlfriend too, but I'm sure that's beyond her.

Instead of mentioning this, Inuyasha retorts that it wasn't like he snuck off to a secret tryst or anything. Was this wording supposed to make her feel better? Kinda missed the mark, there. While she comes to terms with the fact that he DID in fact see Kikyou, Kagome snaps that she KNOWS he wasn't sneaking to a tryst and calls him an idiot. I mean, is a guy in his condition really going to be able to... Never mind. I think I know a few guys who would die trying, so I can't very well make that argument.

This is where one of those guys I mentioned steps into the conversation, asking Inuyasha if he found out. Miroku is referring to Naraku's testimony that Kikyou gifted him the Shikon fragment in person, and asks if it's true. Inuyasha hangs his head and affirms this, so Miroku concludes from this information that Kikyou has joined forces with Naraku. Inuyasha yells a deefensive "no", to which Kagome looks shocked and taken aback.

Recalling Kikyou's request for him not to die before she removes Naraku and the Shikon no Tama from the world, and admits he doesn't know what her plan is, preparing anyway to deliver a "but". I would have been interested to know what it was, considering Kikyou really hasn't given him jack-shit in terms of reasons to trust her. However, before he says what's driving his acceptance of her story, Kagome storms right the fuck off, distracting him with a question of what the hell happened to her.

The guys he's asking aren't addressing the answer to him. Miroku and the Shippou perched on his shoulder stare after Kagome expressing pity for her, especially in this moment when she's most worried about Inuyasha's injuries. Inuyasha sits in the background with a bewildered look on his face. Dude, just put Kagome in YOUR place and Kouga in KIKYOU'S, and it might become a bit clearer to you.

Fair assessment, even if it isn't very generous. It's not like Inuyasha can just turn off the feels anymore than you can, girl.

Elsewhere, a village sits under a dark, cloudy sky. A couple of horses twitch in a barn, until a scream and a crunch ring out in the quiet. A couple of men charge out of a nearby house, wondering aloud what the hell is going on, and are confused by a looming shape next to the destroyed barn and the dead horses. Not for long, though.

What, the horses didn't do it for you? Gonna eat the damn BARN too?

Kagura is just as unimpressed as she looks, thinking that this monster is just a gluttonous talentless hack. Immediately afterwards, the monster snaps a glare onto her and accuses her of thinking just what she was. Oh, and he calls her his older sister, too. She looks rather more annoyed than surprised as she realizes that this brother of hers can read minds. Man, I don't envy her. Being an older sister sharing a room with her kid sibling for a time was bad enough for my privacy, so I can't even IMAGINE what it's like to have a little brother who can read minds.

Naraku's going to have a hell of a time as a parent now.

Back at the little broken-down shack, Kagome asks Sango if she can move. Sitting up, Sango says she's okay, expressing some concern that it may be dangerous for them to stay there. Miroku looks over his shoulder and voices the reason - Kagura is nearby. Not sure why Sango couldn't have been the one to say that, but hey, whatevz. She reiterates that she's okay, and leans forward to peer across the room where Miroku is the one slapping modern bandages on Inuyasha with a sad sigh. Sango suggests that maybe Kagome can go take care of Inuyasha instead, but Kagome sticks her nose in the air and says she doesn't need to do that. After all, Inuyasha seems to be able to walk around fine now. Ice cold.

Miroku tells a surly Inuyasha to apologize to Kagome, because this whole situation is a bit of an annoyance to him. He then proceeds to fantasize aloud about how nice it would be to massage SANGO'S sides instead, to which Sango replies that she definitely does NOT need a massage. Freezing cold. The ladies are not taking any shit today.

Suddenly, Inuyasha's nose twitches, and he twists to look at the door in worry. Miroku asks him what's wrong and Inuyasha says it's the smell of a corpse. Sango and Kagome are suspicious and concerned about this claim, respectively, but Miroku is greeted by the sight of a man stumbling over a nearby hill when he rushes out the door, followed by Inuyasha using the doorway to lean on as he looks beyond the curtain. The man haltingly says that an ogre came to eat all the villagers, and Kagome, now outside as well supporting Sango, repeats the word ogre like a question. So our man has to get a bit more specific with his description; the ogre had a spider on its back.

Of course, Inuyasha and Miroku are shown deducing that this might very well be a new offspring of Naraku.

That is the worst case of rabies I've ever seen.

Kagome seems confused that this man was dead from the start, even though Inuyasha specifically stated he smelled a corpse earlier. No matter. Miroku suggests that Kagura was manipulating the dead man with her Corpse Dance move. Inuyasha further speculates that Kagura is basically daring him to come and meet her new sibling. Kagome yells at him not to go, because his wounds haven't fully healed yet. I mean, the guy still needed to lean on the door frame a couple panels ago. I think it's safe to say he's not really prepared for a new fight.

But Inuyasha scoffs, snapping back that there's no choice but to go anyway. Sango agrees, pointing out that part of Kagura's message to them by sending the corpse was that she knows where they are. Kagome remains speechless as Miroku also claims that running would do no good. Why not? It might give your tank a bit more time to heal. Then again, it might rip back open those sensitive wounds too if you guys up and sprinted... It's a delicate balance that Inuyasha clearly can't keep. So, he's raring to go and encourages everyone else to follow now that they understand there's no point in delaying the inevitable.

Meanwhile, back in the slaughter zone, the ogre is ripping into a cow. All around him is the carnage from his previous snacks, including disembodied heads. Beyond the dining ogre is a small roofed shack filled with straw, emitting an ellipse, strangely enough. Another angle shows a little face scrunched just beneath a layer of straw, mentally begging the little girl Yuki he's cradling not to cry. He squeezes little Yuki tightly as he thinks that hiding in the straw will definitely keep the monster from finding them.

Of course, you remember the monster can read minds. He looks up sharply.

Why does he feel the need to parrot peoples' thoughts back at them like that? Does he think it makes him seem clever, or is he just trying to impress upon them how their thoughts have betrayed them? Either way, it's annoying, and I hate it.

Both kids scream bloody murder, appropriately, and the irritating mind-reader again repeats their thoughts of wanting rescue from their parents. He assures them that he's already eaten those parents, and his drooling maw starts to come down on the cowering tots, suggesting they'll see he's not lying by meeting their folks in his gluttonous belly again. Before he can make good on the threat, he glances into his periphery.

Hopefully those kiddos managed to get out of the way of sword, because the ogre certainly did. In fact, Inuyasha curses speed at which the creature managed to back out of its path. He addresses the two kids still holding each other in the straw behind him, silent in their everlasting trauma, and tells them to run away. Yeah, before some other weirdo attempts to murder you in awful ways. Run far far away.

Inuyasha turns his attention back to the ogre, addressing him as the third one in an effort to get an introduction going.

Poo, I've been able to do that from the START!

Wait...

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? So, this is where I feel that one of Inuyasha and Co's biggest weaknesses starts to really rear its ugly head, or at least starts to become that much more noticeable. Before this point, it's been fairly obvious how Naraku's traps have been somewhat inescapable for how they're built around unavoidable actions. Chasing Kohaku and going to rescue kidnapped Kikyou and bringing Koharu to a village. The battleground is often determined by the heroes' sense of responsibility to the people they care about, and Naraku manipulating the environment in which they carried out these responsibilities to his benefit. He's always the one who chooses where and how they fight.

This time could have been different. Yes, Kagura knew where they were. Yes, if they didn't go to Kagura, she would have brought her ogre brother to meet them. These are undeniable facts, but could they have not used that to their advantage? Go to an area and MAKE Kagura chase them to a place where they would have the upper hand? That seems like so much better of an idea than barging blindly into a situation they know nothing about.

It's just a tad disappointing, because Inuyasha's ability to strategize remains somewhat untapped if he keeps letting Naraku set the stage. Sure, he may not be able to Home Alone shit like Naraku (yes, I verbed that movie title, sue me), but he could at least have home team advantage and be able to use certain landmarks to his advantage given the chance.

Maybe it's just me who thinks that would be super cool to see, though. Hmmm....