Come to think of it, that bit of surprise has shifted onto me now for not noticing how convenient it was to this plot line that Goshinki's body hung around in a heap for Sesshoumaru to pick up.
Sly, RT. Sly.
Toutousai asks if there's something wrong with a noncommittal hum, and Inuyasha demands that him not fuck around. After a moment to look at his hand gripping Tessaiga, Inuyasha says it's incredibly heavy, and again asks what Toutousai did. Toutousai dismisses it as the fang of Inuyasha's that was used as filler, and bids Inuyasha pay it no mind.
Kaijinbou giggles that having a sword you can't swing must be pretty useless, and points Toukijin at Inuyasha, renewing his vow to rip both sword and hanyou apart. Toutousai cups his hand around his mouth to direct a lazy shout at Inuyasha that if he can't lift Tessaiga, then he'll die. He cannot be ANY MORE unenthusiastic. Kagome protests that Toutousai is being awfully irresponsible, but that doesn't appear to have much of an impact.
Meanwhile, Inuyasha is grunting as he tries to haul the heavy sword over his shoulder. He manages to hoist it up onto his back while he runs to meet Kaijinbou and Toukijin.
Anyway, Toutousai disdainfully calls Kaijinbou a stupid novice for being possessed by his own sword. This, at least, we can agree on. Inuyasha, panting, allows Tessaiga to revert into its more manageable form, then turns to Toutousai, calling him a bastard. Toutousai coolly asks Inuyasha if he's got another problem, but Inuyasha is actually still on about the first. He gets right up close and taps Toutousai on the forehead with the blunt edge of Tessaiga, asking how he's supposed to fight with such a heavy sword, given it's hard enough for him to manage one solitary swing.
Toutousai stares with his wide, fishbowl eyes at Inuyasha significantly, asking if he really wants to know how he can handle the newly heavy Tessaiga. Both Kagome and Inuyasha look eager, the latter even leaning closer with curiosity, asking if there's a way. Toutousai says it's simple. Then they share a moment of a super awkward silence. You can FEEL the weird atmosphere here.
Inuyasha claps Toutousai on the shoulder with a laughing grin, because it would be ludicrous if Toutousai suggested that he just build up his muscle as a solution right now. Toutousai gulps in response, and gets a new lump on his head to replace the one in his throat from Inuyasha's fist, who is a bit irked to learn that this was in fact going to be the advice. Seems Inuyasha doesn't WANT to even lift.
Miroku asks if their conversation is finished as he walks by, clearly more concerned about the immediate problem of the sword and hand still clinging to it stuck in the ground a short distance away. He says that the sword's evil energy has decayed, though it appears to still be emitting that marbled evil energy atmosphere that so often composes the background. Toutousai also comes a bit closer and hums, stating that Toukijin is stained with the malice of both Kaijinbou and Goshinki, and determines that such a thing should be destroyed.
Before they can even begin to talk about how one would go about such a thing (I mean, do you have to drop it in Mt. Doom or something?), dark clouds gather in the sky and an ominous sound echoes through them. A ball of fire rockets from behind the clouds and hits Toukijin in a dead target, incinerating Kaijinbou's hand and causing Inuyasha quite the fright/confusion. A two-headed dragon with one of its muzzles removed for shooting fireballs and a familiar rider have emerged from the clouds now as they head down to the ground.
Inuyasha and company stare in disbelief, Toutousai peeking out from around Inuyasha's shoulder. Inuyasha demands to know what Sesshoumaru's doing here, and Sesshoumaru retorts that this is HIS line, because he was just following the sword. He muses on what has become obvious to everyone by this point; the ogre Inuyasha killed sought revenge even after it became a sword. Again, Inuyasha and Kagome in particular look alarmed, while Sango reiterates that Sesshoumaru knows Toukijin came from Goshinki's fangs, and Miroku trails a statement about what that means. Sesshoumaru of course completes it by admitting that it was HIM who had Kaijinbou make the sword.
What a shock!
Kagome makes a hesitant noise, and Toutousai sticks his head out from behind Inuyasha to warn Sesshoumaru not to touch Toukijin. He's convinced that even Sesshoumaru will be overcome and possessed by Toukijin's evil aura, just like Kaijinbou. Sesshoumaru scoffs at his advice and grabs hold of Toukijin anyway.
Sesshoumaru scoffs again, concluding that this means Toukijin seems to have chosen its master. He tells Inuyasha to draw so he can confirm a little something about him. Gee, I wonder what THAT could be.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? While the previous chapters did everything they could to minimize Kaijinbou as a threat, it was still a bit confusing that he went out so fast. As I said above, it kind of implies that Inuyasha's human form is stronger than Kaijinbou, and I'm not sure what to take from that. It DOES go along with the repeated message that hanyou are not necessarily weaker than full-blooded youkai, but then Inuyasha's more intense fears around being human this time around were kind of diminished by this too. Sure, just because he could withstand cutting force from Toukijin for longer than Kaijinbou could from Tessaiga doesn't mean he would have survived as a human for long, but the seriousness of Inuyasha's vulnerability is just undercut when a clown comes around only to literally fall apart after a few minutes despite it. There was a level of gravitas lost there, because even though we weren't meant to expect MUCH from Kaijinbou, I was still expecting a bit more of a struggle.
Yes, Toukijin itself was meant to be the real threat here, but even IT was just completely subdued by Sesshoumaru before it could really do much damage, which it would have undoubtedly done more of than its new master. Granted, Sesshoumaru will make up for Kaijinbou's lackluster performance, but that's a low bar to clear, and his heart just isn't in KILLING Inuyasha. He's proven this time and time again, even out-and-out WALKING AWAY from opportunities to murder him. Sesshoumaru simply doesn't have the level of animosity toward Inuyasha that Goshinki and the vessel for his hatred do, and appears to be operating more out of curiosity about Inuyasha's transformation into a full youkai than anything else at this point.
So, in conclusion, RT is playing hot-potato with different levels of threats here, and she seems to have eliminated everyone BUT the guy who we're all pretty sure isn't going to put his all into a fight to the death. The tension has at this point gone from the scene.
You know, it just occurred to me that I sound like a bloodthirsty Roman disappointed by the lack of lion mauls in the Colosseum today.
Hm.
Nice read-through! I actually have nothing interesting to say about this arc, because I was never too interested in it? Sure, Sesshoumaru getting a new sword was nice, but the suspense just wasn't there for me (as you pointed out).
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's very anti-climactic, and almost a waste of everyone's time? We already knew how cool Sesshoumaru was, so he didn't need to hijack this potentially awesome vehicle to challenge Inuyasha just so he could reiterate that very plain fact. "We get it Sesshoumaru, you're super strong. Now could you do us all a favor and shut up about it for five seconds?"
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