Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 237 Night Before the Deadly Battles!

You mean it's not OVER yet?? One inconsequential duel between asshole!Bakura and other!Marik isn't likely to sate this audience, I guess, especially when it was so relatively short. Besides, we've got so many other characters to peek in on while they get up to a whole bunch of pre-final hijinks, because we've never seen THAT before.

... What do you mean it's just "Duelist Kingdom all over again"?

Anyway, we start this one up just as other!Marik and his pet god merge to attack the shit out of asshole!Bakura and the regular-sized Marik.

Well he's gone forever now. I have no doubt we will never see him again. *sarcasm*

In the blimp below, Ishizu's eyes snap open in alarm, Marik's name blaring in her head. She must still have some remnant of the clairvoyance she says has left her since she lost. Probably should have waited more than two seconds to declare she no longer had any powers, huh? Ishizu sits up in bed, looking expectantly at the door, the jamb outlined in the light from the passageway beyond. It opens, and Ishizu is further alarmed to see it's Anzu, looking glassy-eyed and vacant. Ishizu says her name hesitantly, no doubt pretty freaked out.

No way! Who could have known that he was still around?? *sarcasm*

Like the douchebag ghost of a vengeful multiple-personalitied jerk he is, he just psychic-yells at Ishizu to go and save Rishid from his murder-twin. That is most normal sentence to type. I'm laughing too hard to breathe, but Ishizu gapes in absolute horror at Marik instead. I guess you had to NOT be there.

Meanwhile, it's half-past NOON? Nah, the translator just accidentally put a "PM" instead of "AM" on the end of 12:30 in the panel of the blimp zooming along through the dark sky. Which is a shame, because I could totally see Kaiba losing track of time hunched over a keyboard in his dark control panel room, and being hideously late for own fucking tournament finals. Or maybe I would just LIKE to see that.

He's still clacking away on that keyboard past midnight, though, plenty teenage-boy-ish enough for now, I suppose. Kaiba's sweating a whole bunch too, as he continues to fret over all the new things he's learning about Ra's special ability. The more he looks, the more he's convinced it really IS an invincible 1-turn winning god card. He wonders if there's a way to beat it, even though his 13% probability run earlier suggests that it's not IMPOSSIBLE.

Kaiba just may not be able to figure out what strategy allows for that scant 13% before he passes out from exhaustion.

Speaking of which, Mokuba wanders into the room behind his big brother to ask if he's really still awake. He encourages Seto to get himself some rest, considering tomorrow is the tournament finals, but Seto just tells him not to worry, and suggests he go to bed first. Mokuba recognizes that Seto's analyzing opponent tactics, and works out that the one card that's causing so much stress must be the Ra god card.

Because Seto's unrelenting stare at the screen in front of him is a little awkward, the mostly ignored Mokuba informs his brother that the blimp's ETA for arriving at their destination is 6:00 AM.

A mushroom stamp on the horizon is the stage for the finals in Kaiba's would-be self-aggrandizing tournament? Appropriate.

Because the audience needs context for this compensation tower, Mokuba explains that the island it was built on was once Gozaburo's high-tech military island, and is man-made. He stands there reminding his brother how he destroyed the island when Gozaburo died, shifting the focus of the company from warfare to games, as if he wasn't there. Then again, it is a feat that bears repeating; it can't have been easy to do to take an established weaponry company and remake it in an industry that bears little to NO resemblance to the old one. Anyone else would have HEMORRHAGED investors from the whiplash.

Mixing my medical metaphors, but you get the idea.

Seto assures Mokuba that he WILL win on that manufactured island, becoming a real winner once he takes on that hallowed title of Duel King. He's also all fired up about finally conquering the hated reminders of Gozaburo in his own heart. Presumably by winning a card game atop the physical reminder on the ocean. Or something.

As the blimp sails on through the air, other!Marik is walking down the hallway once again, once more drawing the hidden blade in the Millennium Rod with a goofy smirk on his face. He arrives in Rishid's room framed in the doorway, in an almost identical fashion to the way he did before, except when he approaches the bed with the blade poised for the stab, the smirk drops right off his face.

Who ELSE but the solitary person LEFT who gives half a shit about Rishid on this whole blimp? You don't even need a mind-probing Millennium Item to figure that shit out, come on son.

Yet ELSEWHERE, Yuugi has finally gone to sleep, but judging by the sweat on his brow and groans as he holds the puzzle resting on the pillow next to his head, it's a fitful rest. The puzzle itself begins to stir in its power and glow from the eye on its face. Within it or Yuugi's mind, it's not all that clear, we see the two doors that that piece of shit Shadi discovered way back when, the one on the left clean and white, the one on the right dark iron mottled with vein-like tendrils radiating out from the central eye.

The door to the left opens a crack and Yuugi peeks around it at the door across the hall, venturing out to it a moment later and mumbling about a bad feeling he perceives coming from it. He puts a hand on the handle and pauses, thinking that it's the first time he's ever moved to enter his mind-buddy's mind-room. He might reconsider going in entirely if he knew what happened to Shadi when HE decided to barge in without an invitation. But Yuugi DOESN'T know, so he goes ahead and opens that door.

Yuugi looks around at the complex maze of stairs around him and wonders why it's there. Then he's nearly scared out of his incorporeal skin when Yami appears behind him, asking if he wandered into his room by mistake after falling asleep. Yuugi turns to express his relief, informing Yami that he startled him. Yami winks and apologizes, telling him that this is actually not a dream like Yuugi surmised above. Yuugi's eyes rove the endless sets of steps and doors, realizing that if this is real, then the uneasy feeling he's getting from it must be as well. Yami confirms this, saying that he felt it too just now.

They both look around uneasily for a panel, until Yami decides to make some small talk about how shocking it is that his room is a maze. Yuugi denies it's a shock, per se, as it's an understandable outgrowth of Yami not having a concrete memory, and the room shows the lack of certainty about which it the real road in Yami's heart. Yami looks a bit shocked himself at Yuugi's insight, like he hadn't thought of such an explanation himself before. As they stand awkwardly silent once more, Yuugi thinks it's HIS responsibility to help Yami get back that memory that's causing so much confusion in its absence one day, looking determined.

Yami strikes up the conversation again, bringing up the fact that someone trespassed in this room before, which really DOES shock Yuugi this time. No doubt he's a little confused about how one could actually make it in here. It makes more sense when Yami states that it was Shadi, though Yuugi still seems a bit blown away by the information. Don't know why, that guy is always busting into heads whenever he can, the fucking jerk.

With a concentrated glare, meant for Shadi, I'm sure, Yami says Shadi was looking for his true heart's room, the location of which even HE doesn't know. Yuugi wonders what Shadi could possibly want to find in that room, still gaping away. He says that finding the true heart room in this clusterfuck of an entrance hall would be pretty hard to do. No shit.

Oh, what a surprise to see this smug bastard again too. No surprises there.

Asshole!Bakura's smugness has disappeared by the next panel, though, when he admits Yuugi is right about the difficulty in finding the correct room in here. He's been searching ever since this small slice of his soul was placed here through the piece of puzzle he gave back to Yuugi back in the DDD arc. Wow, call-backs to a lot of stuff in the past with this chapter.

With an authoritative stance, Yami tells Yuugi that he'd better go back to his own room and get to sleep. Instead of reminding Yami that he's not his REAL dad, which is what I definitely would have done, Yuugi expresses his remembrance that tomorrow is indeed the finals. Because it's apparently easy to forget. Smiling, Yami promises Yuugi that he'll win, using his own powers to open that door... that they can't find. Yuugi smiles back and nods.

When we zero back in on Kaiba, he's no longer sitting hunched in front of his computer, but standing atop the blimp on the dueling platform, watching the sunrise over the nose the craft. He's far less nervous, chuckling in his dorky way, an indicator that he's feeling a bit less nervous now, I'm assuming. Indeed, he grins, assuring himself that if his feelings on the matter are correct, there is a way to defeat the god card. Wait, wait... Kaiba, you're telling me that you fretted over the problem of beating that card all damn night, and you graduated from absolute despair/uncertainty over it to a cocky little smile with nothing but a FEELING to back it up???

... Good luck with your new coma, kiddo.

I guess the translator of this chapter is new to this party, because ain't nobody on my blog at ALL surprised that Kaiba's blabbering like this. Hell, that he calls this island ALCATRAZ isn't even that big of a shock. Of COURSE he calls it Alcatraz. This final page is quintessential Kaiba, all the way, and I would show it to anyone who needed a short explanation as to who this guy is. It doesn't get any more nutshell than this.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? The newest direct interaction between Yuugi and Yami is just the latest in a string that are saturated with feels. KT shows here what he can do if he stops trying so hard to communicate every little thing with dialog and just lets the relationship play out in the pictures. There is so much awkward tension between the two characters, being so close as to feel the same strange disturbance within their shared experience, but at the same time walking on eggshells around the ultimate resolution of this little adventure they're on. Their communication is stilted, stalled a couple of times, and Yami has to try and jumpstart it again the moment that Yuugi strays a bit too close to the reality of the future that they're facing, with everything from excitement to dread to nervousness.

But there's this level of sweetness added with Yami and Yuugi taking on roles of elder and younger brother, almost. They share the same house (body), yet reside in separate rooms, the younger, meeker Yuugi shyly checking in on his older brother after he notices a disturbance with him, with the older Yami giving Yuugi a gentle push back to his own room like a benevolent authority. It mirrors the Kaiba brothers in this chapter, who even seem to face a similar future. Kaiba is working toward dealing with memories as well, even if he's looking to destroy them, and Mokuba appears to be in the same supportive role of setting his brother free as Yuugi. The poetry of two juxtaposed rivals being set side-by-side like this to show just how much they have in common is a lovely little bit of storytelling.

Minus the clumsy exposition of Alcatraz's metaphorical significance in Kaiba overcoming his adoptive father's influence and abuse. That was a bit of a bummer.

Though not nearly as much of one as Marik and asshole!Bakura's IMMEDIATE reintroduction to the narrative. I know I was not convinced at all that they were gone forever, but KT could have at least TRIED to string along their absence for longer than ten seconds. They didn't even need to be revealed to still be hanging around here. There's this weird implication that asshole!Bakura is the one who caused the "bad feeling" in Yami's soul room, but I doubt it was really him, considering he's been in there for a while now without letting on his presence. And Ishizu could have gotten the tip about Rishid from the Millennium Necklace, or a genuine psychic ability that was actually REPRESSED by the Millennium Necklace in order to make it so she wouldn't win against Kaiba.

On that last point, how did Ishizu and Anzu get big, bulky Rishid out of that bed by themselves? He certainly wasn't going to be HELPING. Girls are ripped, it's canon.

Inuyasha Manga: 178 Kohaku's Memory

If it's of his own name and other important personal details, he has none at all. If it's of handling a dangerous blade on the end of chain in flippant circus-clownish ways, he has ALL OF THE MEMORY. Amnesia seems to be extremely selective in that way - blocking out the information closest to one's identity and leaving alone weird skills. I guess one could argue that muscle memory is a bit different than ACTUAL memory, and that I don't KNOW for sure that swinging around a sickle and chain isn't a bit like riding a bike...

... I'm just saying that, for the purpose of a story, it might be interesting to see that amnesia scene play out a little in the opposite way from time to time.

The weird bug dude doesn't seem to care that the cavalry has arrived, and giggles, bidding Kohaku die as his tongue lashes out at the boy like a frog's. Kohaku has to leap out of the aggressive lick before it smashes apart the ground where he once stood. While he's ducking and dodging every which way, Kagome gapes at the shining pinprick of light from his back, and states that the weird bug man is trying to steal Kohaku's Shikon shard. Noooooo, you don't saaaaaaaay. Got anything else to add to the scene, Captain Obvious?

Except, I guess Sango hadn't picked up on that particularly plain bit of information yet, because she responds with bristling disbelief. The knowledge that Kohaku's life is tied to the Shikon fragment, and he'll die if it's taken out, puts her in a panic. The badass kind of panic.

The kind of panic that puts you in hyper-defense mode.

Kohaku sits there in stunned speechlessness, watching the chunks of youkai fall to the ground. He follows the path of Sango's giant boomerang with his eyes, to see Sango catch it like a fucking BOSS. Her hard expression softens significantly when she looks down at him and says his name, but she can't help but recall that he was being controlled by Naraku the last time she saw him. He guarded the evil fucker with his own body and extermination skills. She's aware that Kohaku should have been at Naraku's castle, and trails a question about why he's here.

After all, packing away a little boy should be SO much easier than a castle.

Awkward sauce.

And the initial awkwardness transitions into one of those empty huts that seem to be in such high supply in the fantasy feudal era. Seriously, you'd think there was some sort of weird housing bubble expanding in which the average villager can't afford the inflated prices of the average domicile and so they just sit empty. Capitalism isn't a thing yet, though, so I don't know how that could be. Unless...

This is Naraku's most insidious plan yet. The long game. The plot that no one even noticed. He's invented REAL ESTATE.

Anyhow, Kagome sits in front of her backpack, unpacking her first aid supplies, while Sango demands to see her amnesiac brother's wounded arm to wrap a bandage around it. It's kind of a tense atmosphere. Kohaku chances an exploratory noise, and when Sango responds encouragingly, he asks if they've met before. Instead of allowing Sango to answer, Kagome asks him in turn if he really remembers nothing of running away from the castle earlier. A little like the butting-into-the-reuniting-of-estranged-siblings form of a cock-block.

No. Forget I said that. It just reads poorly.

Kohaku apologizes for not remembering, and Sango asks if he's forgotten about Naraku too. He squints at the floor, considering the name, and that memory of being told by the featureless man that there's no need for him to live so he should join his father and fellow exterminators crops back up again. Kohaku speculates that this might be Naraku. He's super good at this series.

Despite Miroku's natural suspicion, though, he can't help but compare the mindless puppet-like Kohaku with his soul taken out before with the different one now. Maybe the acting involved in going from A to B seems a liiiiiiittle too complicated for a kid like him to pull off. Kagome hesitantly steps onto the scene, looking over her shoulder, while Shippou clings to it and wonders out loud if it's okay to leave Sango and Kohaku alone. Kagome says that Sango DID want it that way, though it's obvious that she has her doubts about how good an idea it is. Both Miroku and Inuyasha cast apprehensive looks over their shoulders at her too. They are all getting the distinct feeling that this whole thing is a bit fucky.

Inside the building, Sango and Kohaku sit side-by-side, the latter looking over at the former curiously as she stares into space in front of her. Kohaku is asking about this exterminator village she must have mentioned, and she wistfully says that's where they used to live. Kohaku just HAS to follow up this answer with a request for confirmation that he ALSO exterminated youkai and such. Kid, you have extremely specific skills that can be translated into exactly ONE other use than wood-cutting tricks. You do the math.

But Sango designates him as but an apprentice, recalling that the cursed night they went to Naraku's castle was Kohaku's very first time out with the pros. That leads to the painful memory of her father getting stuck in the neck with Kohaku's chain-sickle, when Kohaku's mind was controlled by Naraku, as well as the knowledge that he killed all the other exterminators that night too.

She's broken out of her dark reminiscence when Kohaku requests that she tell him everything she knows. Very politely. She looks at him, stunned, as he picks up small-form Kirara and sighs, admitting he feels a bit helpless and asking how he ended up here. This puts the ghost of a smile on Sango's lips, because he sounds like the old Kohaku, timid and quiet.

Oh, DOUBLE awkward sauce. I guess my note on the nature of Kagome's "cock-block" being a particularly non-sexual kind was entirely warranted. Because Kohaku's a little pervert. Sango is far too preoccupied to give the little gag much thought, though, thinking that Kohaku has come back and escaped Naraku's clutches. At least, she realizes this is what she WANTS to believe.

Outside, Inuyasha suggests that giving Kohaku two or three fists to his noggin might bring out his true character, but I think he's just really eager to hit somebody. Kagome begins to reprimand him for this, and Miroku says he doubts it would be so simple to expose a deception. According to Sango's point of view, whether it's a trap or not, Sango's brother has appeared to returned as the person he once was. Kagome hangs her head and agrees that if this IS a trap, it'll DEVASTATE Sango, which Miroku points out is what Naraku lives for - toying with the emotions of others.

Inuyasha swivels his head to cast a glare in another direction, nose twitching. He stands, stating that a mysterious swarm is coming, a dark cloud that can be seen off the slope of a nearby hill.

The saimyoushou were just the scouts. Now they've brought in the troops, mother fucker.

Inuyasha identifies the giant wasps and Miroku calls them agents of Naraku, as if it was necessary or something. We all remember them, dudes, no need to give us a refresher course. From the dense pack of youkai comes a crescent-shaped gust of wind that Inuyasha has to sweep Kagome away from, and Miroku has to dodge a little as well before it carves into the ground under them.

Well it sure as hell wasn't going to be wallflower Kanna or Naraku himself!

Kagura seems super annoyed when she looks past Inuyasha and company altogether to call at the hut to Kohaku, asking a rhetorical question about if he's in there and then demanding he come out. When Inuyasha makes a noise of disbelief, Kagura mistakes it for stupidity and tells him not to play dumb. She refers to Kohaku as the kid Naraku "raised", which has some... implications. Naraku must be the absolute WORST father substitute.

Kagura explains that in the confusion (of what she doesn't specify), Kohaku ran off, escaping with the Shikon shard in his back. The audacity! Sango and Kohaku kneel by the door, peeking through a crack in it and listening in on Kagura's exposition. With an exasperated expression, Inuyasha asks if Kagura has come to take him back, but Kagura smiles, saying that the only thing Naraku wants her to retrieve is the Shikon fragment. She claims that Naraku would grant Sango her brother's corpse, though. I don't know, sounds a little too considerate for Naraku.

Inuyasha and Kagome glare at her and Miroku calls her and her minions bastards. Meanwhile, Kohaku gathers his sickle and chain, Sango looking back at him in alarm. He says he's the one they're after, heading for the door with the intention of going out alone. Before he can open the door, Sango grabs him by the shoulders, ordering him not to leave again with a somewhat desperate look. He's her only brother. Kohaku stares speechlessly.

How ambiguous. I hope you're compensating him for this garbage. Although, if Naraku IS claiming a fatherly role for the boy, he might just assert a father's privilege and demand labor out of his kid without having to pay him. It seems like the kind of shit he'd pull.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? That this was a plot orchestrated by Naraku was a certainty, and RT knew it, so there was no point in trying to convince the reader it wasn't. I'm glad she put more of her effort into showing the degrees of suspicion that each character had over Kohaku instead, because he can't be wholly accepted OR rejected within the fold. There's always a chance that he's performing to Naraku's ends, but there's a chance he's sincere too, and the odds seem a lot different to different people. Inuyasha obviously thinks there's a much higher chance Kohaku is acting because he's only ever seen Kohaku in the context of working under Naraku, mindless puppet or not.

Sango on the other hand is more inclined to view the chance of Kohaku being genuine as better, because she KNOWS this kid. She knew him all his life. It's likely why she wanted to be alone with Kohaku to begin with - she was vetting him, examining his behavior, and finding that he was a whole hell of a lot more like the Kohaku she knew before the tragedy than the mindless puppet that was doing Naraku's bidding the last time she saw him. But she's no fool, which is why she can never be 100%  sure. There's always a chance that her interpretation is wishful thinking.

This is complex, no one here is framed as "stupid" for their suspicions, or for their comparative LACK of suspicion. Every character's reaction is understandable, and in addition, there's a lot of sympathy for Sango in her position. They all know, no matter what, that she WILL want to believe that Kohaku is for real. Even her. It's the smallest hope that keeps her hanging on. That they're aware and supportive of this (some more than others) is another reason why these guys make such a cool, cohesive team, even when they disagree. The collaboration process shown here between Inuyasha and Miroku is a solid example of how great these characters mesh under psychological strain as well as physical.

The ending panels above were the only real downside, because they were a tad ham-handed. The wink-and-nod implication that Kohaku is being purposefully deceitful almost gives away the game that he's NOT, so kind of had the opposite effect there. Maybe should have kept your elbows to yourself, RT.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 236 God's Dark Revival!!

I swear, every time KT references the god cards in a title, he sounds more like a televangelist than the last. He has to make it absolutely clear that these aren't your cuddly new age fluffy bunny gods, oh no. They are at best old testament vengeful, angry jerks, and they might very well go into the eldritch horror territory before too long. Granted, Other!Marik has already been in the Lovecraftian realm of weird since he first arrived, so perhaps KT already has that covered, but perhaps the gods will eventually push this crazy-train off its tracks?

Creating and destroying worlds? Messing around with life and death? Passing wildly unfair judgments on their little creations that they can never understand because a god cannot begin to experience a vulnerable existence dependent upon the support and interconnection between others?

Just a few suggestions. Take your pick.

But before THAT, we join Kaiba in a dark room lit by only by the monitor glowing in front of him, burning his eyes out, no doubt. He's clacking on his keyboard, still focusing on the image he caught of Ra with his satellite, pondering the god card's three special abilities. Probz the three I listed above. He still has NO earthly idea why he was able to read the ancient Hieratic on the card, but he's putting aside that little mystery for the time being, because he has to focus on his more immediate concern of finding out a way to BEAT the damn thing.

All that work he's doing on the keyboard is him running a simulation to see how well his virus deck would do against the sun god deck, and he's alarmed to find the probability is at a low low 13%. Even with his Obelisk, it looks like he can't stand much of a chance. And worst of all, the thing he thinks he has to be most careful about, is this "One Turn Kill". What a coincidence! If you wander out on top of the blimp right now, you could get a nice demonstration of this particular scenario RIGHT NOW!

Kaiba considers the ability that allows for the enemy monsters to shatter and the opponent's life points to run down to zero when all the components for Ra are met, and wonders if there is any way to defeat this horrifying power.

Going back to the drawing board on this puzzle, huh? Kaiba must be hella stumped. He goes over in his head how trap cards are useless against god cards, and magic cards only last for one turn. There's only ONE ability Ra has that the other two do not, and that appears to be, much to Kaiba's chagrin, the ability to special summon super fast. It's apparently not the regular kind of special summoning, either, according to Kaiba. If Ra is in the graveyard, it can be summoned using Monster Reborn, but as he mentioned before, this can only last one turn, and Ra will return to the grave after that. It also can't attack in the same turn it's summoned according to Battle City rules.

Dude, I'm telling you, this shit is being covered RIGHT NOW up top, if you just head up there....

But this is where Ra's quick-attack ability comes in, making the god able to attack the same turn it is summoned. He seems really upset by this, despite him recalling in the next panel featuring the image of the card that the defense and attack of Ra is dependent on its sacrifices, and it won't have ANY attack or defense if it's summoned without them.  This is because he also recalls the hidden ability, with which it can shatter all its enemies in a single second. He groans, clearly uncomfortable with the idea of the condition of Ra being in the graveyard, other!Marik having Monster Reborn in hand, and the one turn kill being activated.

UGH, if KAIBA isn't going to run out to watch the spectacle himself, can I at least see it?? I don't want to miss the whole damn thing because I had to sit in this dark room watching Kaiba mull it over!

Oh thank Obelisk, Slifer and Ra, it's still happening!

Asshole!Bakura appears pretty terrified about this one turn kill thing, as other!Marik declares his turn with his trademarked high-as-balls smirk back in place. He shouts that he's activating Monster Reborn from his hand, holding it out. In response, Ra pops back out of his Duel Disk and he has to announce the special summoned card with the ultimate smugness.

Asshole!Bakura and regular-sized Marik both gape, the former groaning and the latter expresses some confusion about the attack and defense being zero, not to mention the Monster Reborn card only working for one turn, meaning it will disappear before it can attack anyway. Other!Marik chuckles, dropping one of those "what if I told you?" statements: the original Marik doesn't have any fucking clue about Ra's true powers.

And he starts chanting the inscription in hieroglyphs on the card. Asshole!Bakura just gets more nervous seeing him begin his incantation, and other!Marik looks only too pleased with this as he continues in the next panel. In his head, he's reveling in how his host apparently didn't receive the knowledge on the Millennium Rod about Ra's special ability, so he's the only one who realizes it exists. Boy, are YOU going to be surprised when you find out about the one other guy who knows this super exclusive secret.

The chant keeps on going, and asshole!Bakura's alarm (and sweating) compounds when he realizes with disbelief that other!Marik is disappearing. He wonders what's going on, and as other!Marik's body vanishes in patches all over as whisps of virtual smoke, he offers to explain the god card's special ability. Please do, I've been waiting the whole damn chapter for this.

Asshole!Bakura is in disbelief at the fact that he's not the only one who can convert his life points into an offensive strategy. Other!Marik confirms that he really IS beating asshole!Bakura at his own edgy game, and reminds him that he also has the ability to attack real fast, all while more and more of his flesh evaporates into the surrounding darkness. He says that this has been an entertaining battle, but it's the last time asshole!Bakura will see him, given his body will reform when asshole!Bakura disappears. I initially thought this wasn't much of a consolation, considering other!Marik was already mostly invisible when he said this, but then asshole!Bakura stares in alarm, and we get a wider shot of Ra, something new standing out above its beak.

... That's one way to reach enlightenment, I guess.

The blast heads straight for the already piecemeal asshole!Bakura. Other!Marik screams for the remnant he left behind to disappear from his perch, and the original Marik... sure seems to be doing that. He screams while the attack slowly vaporizes he and an asshole!Bakura uselessly shielding his face with his arm. It actually looks pretty agonizing.

And yet, after looking at regular-sized Marik out of his periphery, asshole!Bakura smirks back across the platform at other!Marik. He says that THIS time he lost, and as other!Marik giggles at him, he asserts that he WILL revive and murder the shit out of this darkness-obsessed cenobite wannabe.

Will his new interest in defeating darkness lead him to reexamine his poor relationship with it and work to understand the roots of embracing it with such a stranglehold?

Nah, he'll probably just end up punching himself repeatedly.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It's very showy, and I can't deny that I'm dazzled by the trick Marik pulled, fusing himself with his god card in the shadow game. The way the rules of the game played into the style here, as well as how the two players disappeared in pieces as they did, was very pretty. I found myself in the rare position of having to resist pasting EVERY panel in the second half in the blog, because instead of a series of mostly shot/reverse shots, it had a lot to offer that was visually interesting.

And it needed to have that, because in addition to there not being any real stakes to this duel (and the confirmation of such by asshole!Bakura at the end), a lot of the chapter was taken up by Kaiba contemplating in front of a computer. More than there should have been. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to know that he's onto what other!Marik is capable of, and that he's rather intimidated by it, because it's good to see Kaiba intimidated sometimes. But watching him exposit the information we were going to see play out in a much more exciting way in a few pages was a bit frustrating. I don't want to read the manual, I want to handle the machine.

KT didn't give it all away while making us sit with Kaiba, though. He was vague enough about the nature of Ra's mystery special ability that we still got to be surprised by how other!Marik gave the powerless god any attack power. I can be thankful for that at least. Spending more time with Kaiba than I have to just makes me salty, I guess.

Especially when its his own tournament rules that even makes a quick-attack by Ra something of a big deal, according to the scanlator at least. If it's specifically this tournament that demands special summons such as these can only attack on the next turn, then there's no reason that a quick attack provision should be built into the card. Seems less impressive and more like a contrivance in that way. But I have been known to misinterpret the rules before, and I wouldn't even know where to START looking for evidence of the rule before this tournament with so little time these days, so do correct me if I'm wrong!

Inuyasha Manga: 177 The Castle's Remains

We wander around the grounds of once sprawling estates for vacations and honeymoons, oohing and ahhing at the distant past's architecture, style. We imagine what it might have been like to live in such a place, constructing grand scenarios in our heads about existing as a privileged royal or even a downtrodden servant, assisted by signs and plaques set about the remaining bricks. There's a false nostalgia about peeking into an historical site, or the narrative that is built around it at least. It's like stepping into a storybook where anything could have happened.

But I doubt many of us considered the wild idea that the remains of such places were the result of a single night of hasty demonic packing. Now that RT has introduced it to me, I won't ever look at an archaeological site the same way again, which is weird for someone with archaeological training.

Before we get to my area of expertise (rooting around in the garbage of peoples long gone), we have to acknowledge the emotional bog we had to wade through in the last few chapters. And in order to do THAT, Shippou has to grouse at Inuyasha about how he hopes Kagome has gotten the proper apologies. Kagome holds her nose in the air, and whether this is a response to Shippou's obvious antagonism toward Inuyasha, or Inuyasha's demand that Shippou shut it, I'm not sure.

Sango leans around Miroku's shoulder, wondering out loud how Inuyasha and Kagome worked things out. Miroku speculates that it was simply that Kagome caved, the implication that Kagome just FORGAVE Inuyasha for his unfaithfulness being rather shocking to Sango. I seem to recall SOMEONE considering the whole situation a lot more nuanced a couple of chapters ago, Sango. What happened?

She doesn't say, just saying with exasperation that Kagome can put up with a lot of unbelievable shit. Miroku says something about Inuyasha brooding a lot, as befitting a young shonen hero, and the two cast furtive glances behind them as Miroku supposes Kagome thought it would be bad to pressure Inuyasha. Sango agrees that he's normally hot-headed enough, which is a fair assessment. It's at this moment that Inuyasha notices the pair staring, and does that weird floating inflated head thing, asking what the hell it is they're looking at. Miroku and Sango resume facing forward, pretending innocence while keeping their gaze in their peripheries, and the former admits to himself that they WERE being a little underhanded.

Enough of this gossipy teenage bullshit. Time for archaeology!

Miroku acting as a sort of Geiger counter for youki gives me life.

No matter what traces Miroku detects, though, Inuyasha can't help but notice how the whole castle is really just gone. As he kicks some loose rocks idly, he seems to doubt that it was here at all, and calls the whole thing rather strange. Miroku agrees, inviting them to think about all those times in the past when they were lured out to a FAKE castle. Who can blame them for questioning if an actual PHYSICAL building stood here, when there's so little evidence left.

Except of course for the gigantic rock retaining wall and foundation. I guess it's the only thing that Naraku could fit in his suitcase.

Kagome realizes that Sango has knelt a ways away, and calls to her in question. Sango turns and informs them that it's no mistake of any kind - the castle really was here. Inuyasha turns to make a curious noise at Sango, and Kagome is already focused on something that Sango is holding in her hands.

... This dig took a turn for the morbid. The good news is that, while gravesite disturbance can be a bit problematic for an archaeological team several generations removed from the deceased in the modern day, Sango doesn't have to worry about all that nasty red tape.

She just has to deal with stumbling across the abandoned grave of an immediate family member and loved one, which is probably a million times worse, but you know. Silver linings and all that.

The memory of the terrible night she and the other exterminators were called out here arises unbidden, as well as the grisly murders committed upon them at the time, carried out by her little glassy-eyed little brother Kohaku while his mind was being manipulated by Naraku. Move over, dudebro at the party who HAS to tell you about that one (thousandth) time he was SO wasted; has Sango got a tale to top that.

As her friends gather behind her, she explains that the bodies from that night were buried in a corner of the castle's garden, and trails off in her assertion that this is why she's so sure this was once the site of Naraku's castle. Kagome lifts a hand to her mouth, saying Sango's name in undisguised pity. It's super rough, that's for sure.

Sango regards Miroku, hugging the piece of her father's armor to her chest while Miroku starts scooping the remains onto his outstretched robe. He promises they'll take them to a more appropriate resting place and give them a proper burial, asking if that's okay with Sango. I mean, dude, you're already doing it, so a bit late to ask. Regardless, it's a powerful gesture, and Sango gives her approval, thanking him.

Miroku can manage to be considerate sometimes. Go figure.

Meanwhile, Kagome's mind wonders to the people IN the former castle, under Naraku's control, like the very brother who was manipulated into killing Sango's exterminator brethren, as well as trying to murder all of them. She wonders if Kohaku was taken along with the castle. The next panels featuring a log tossed up and sliced in half midair by a familiar sickle-and-chain weapon gives the privileged audience an immediate answer.

Well HE seems a lot happier than when we last saw him. He's performing this show for an elderly couple crouching on the ground and clapping, praising him for his skill. Later, when they're sitting in a little old hut having a meal, one of them asks him if he's remembered anything yet, and Kohaku admits he doesn't. That explains his good cheer.

The old man asks if Kohaku has even an inkling where he came from or his own name, and the old lady suggests that perhaps he lived near that castle. You know the one. Kohaku doesn't though, asks about it,  and is informed that the Hitomi castle disappeared about ten days before in a very mysterious sort of way. I wonder, is there a way for a castle to disappear in a single day that isn't mysterious?

I'd ask for examples, but our current topic is mysterious occurrences, such as the coincidence that the old couple found Kohaku lying unconscious in the road the very next day after the castle vanished. The old woman says that perhaps something very "unfortunate" happened (read: traumatic) and that's why this nameless little boy in front of her can't remember anything. Kohaku stares.

And I feel like I lived a past life as an English queen, but feelings are generally not enough in these cases.

Which is why Kohaku almost immediately gets something of a sign in the form of a cloud of tiny shadows flying across the moon. He gives this a quizzical look, as the shadows grow and get closer, revealed as a swarm of buzzing insects. Why the saimyoushou took a good TEN DAYS to mosey over and grab the lost boy, I'm not sure. Maybe Naraku lost a whole lot of other stuff that were higher priority?

Kohaku is disturbed by the insects' approach, and jumps to his feet in a defensive stance. He runs into the old couple's hut, interrupting their rope-crafting to say in a hurry that he's leaving. The old woman begins to ask where he's going TO, but Kohaku swings back around for the door and states that he can't stay. He issues a final warning that it's dangerous to go outside, and a hurried thank you for all that they've done for him. Of all the things he's forgotten, his manners he has NOT. The couple ignore his warning to step out and watch him leave with a bemused noise.

As Kohaku runs at top speed through the forest, he remembers that he ran away from the castle to here on the night the castle disappeared. He recalls a towering, faceless Naraku telling him that there's no longer any use to him being alive, and bidding him to join his father and comrades he killed. He still doesn't quite remember his name, and has to repeat it in his head from the memory, questioning if it's really his.

Nearby, Inuyasha carries Kagome and Shippou on his back and Kirara does the same with Sango and Miroku, the group streaking through the trees. Inuyasha asks if this is the right way, and Kagome confirms that this is the direction in which she feels a Shikon fragment moving. On their way, Miroku and Sango look up to see the saimyoushou and the latter shouts a warning about their presence. Inuyasha suggests that their target is the Shikon shard as well.

Kohaku is up ahead, dodging out of the way of a blow, but failing to stay out of the way of another from a giant spiny insect leg that catches him in the arm.

Ugh, sympathy to anyone who's been cornered by some wannabe monster wanting to do horrible things to you. Been there.

This particular, LITERAL monster is demanding that Kohaku quietly hand over the Shikon shard in his body. You know, the one that keeps him alive so his limbs work and he can hand things over in the first place. Clearly this thing doesn't operate on logic. Kohaku internally questions the term referencing the fragment of jewel currently glowing in his back. Someone needs to explain to the bug-man-thing that the kid can't see what's behind him, apparently.

Rescue is at hand! And possibly a WEIRD discussion.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It was semi-solid, nicely sliding out of the drama of the last arc into the drama of this one. I like that there wasn't a lot more time devoted to wrapping up Kagome and Inuyasha's reconciliation in the last chapter. It emphasized that their little talk was between them, and none of the other characters are meant to know just what was said, no matter how nosy they get. It's private, and there are some things that even our closest friends are just not going to understand about the communications we have with our significant others.

I'm also enthusiastic about Kohaku's return here, because this is where he starts to get interesting. Amnesia is an overused plot device in general, but here it does make some sense based on what Naraku has said in the past - blocking out Kohaku's memory was necessary to make him FUNCTIONAL. The trauma of being made to kill his father and the other exterminators would definitely not have given him the drive to do much more than commit suicide. I imagine his current amnesia is an extension of whatever will/feeling-obliterating anti-dpressant that Naraku fed him, but without someone directly living in his brain telling him what to do anymore.

My only real criticism of this chapter is that Kagome didn't detect the Shikon shard sooner, or Inuyasha didn't smell Kohaku sooner. They were hanging out at the castle's former site during the day and Kohaku was near enough to be detected the whole time. These powers are becoming spottier and spottier for our characters the more the plot requires them to in order to create more alarm for the main characters, which can be a bit of a problem for consistency.

I would say the same about what I mentioned about the saimyoushou showing up so late too, except I'm PREEEEETTY sure that was by Naraku's design. More on that in the coming chapters.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 235 Consuming Darkness!!

I'll tell you what, consuming darkness was starting to sound pretty good to me a few days ago. When I wasn't able to set up necessary utilities and insurance on my move-in date, due to it being on a SATURDAY, my husband and I had to shelter in a hotel room for the rest of the weekend, unable to enjoy ourselves because of the overwhelming feeling of being trolled by two different apartment complexes. We finally got moved in on Tuesday, minutes before our movers arrived to present us with a lot of belongings that were broken because the ones who took them in the first place didn't pack them in the crates with any sort of care. I've been wary of broken glass every time I've cracked open a box, which hasn't been as often as I'd have liked, because a job I start on Monday requires errands to fill out all kinds of paperwork and waiting an hour and a half to pee in a cup so they can make sure I'm not on drugs.

All of this accumulates into a profound exhaustion and the need to lay down and slip into a long, comfy coma.

This looks like a much slower, more terrifying version of that, though, so asshole!Bakura can have it.

And after the initial shock above, and the explanation from other!Marik that this darkness game causes the loser's body to be consumed by darkness, one life point at a time, asshole!Bakura seems to accept this condition with grace. Or a smug smirk anyway. He even calls the person's fate of fusing with darkness when their life points reach zero "interesting". A bit of an understatement, but he's not exactly wrong.

Other!Marik questions who will disappear first, as the momentary avatar to voice the overarching tension of the duel (or the dramatic irony in knowing EXACTLY who will disappear first), then invites asshole!Bakura to continue the fight with him. An overhead picture is given of them facing one another on top of the blimp, then other!Marik reminds asshole!Bakura that it's his turn. Despite his little grin earlier, he's grimacing in his profile portrait featuring his 3500 life points, as opposed to other!Marik's sadistic smile and intact points. He must have realized this isn't the best start for him.

He draws a card, glances at it, and slips it into his hand as other!Marik warns him to be careful what card he picks, because what kinds of cards he has aren't unknown. It does cross asshole!Bakura's mind that his Ouija Board and Necrofia cards are going to be pretty useless against other!Marik, so he wrinkles his nose and resolves to use his other tactic that other!Marik hasn't seen yet. Meanwhile, other!Marik silently anticipates asshole!Bakura's move, convinced that Ra will be the card that takes his measly life.

Asshole!Bakura notes the one card other!Marik has on his side of the platform and reminds himself that if other!Marik already has his god card in hand, he'll need three sacrifices to summon it. It's at this point that regular-sized Marik pops up over his shoulder to tell him not to fear the god card, likely scaring the piss out of him in the process. He turns to the regular Marik and instead of barking at him not to sneak, asks what he means. Fair, because it's probably impossible not to sneak when you're an incorporeal shred of soul/consciousness. Marik tells asshole!Bakura to listen carefully, because there IS a way to seal Ra, something that seems to shock the shit right out of asshole!Bakura, that's for sure.

Other!Marik starts getting a bit impatient and gets on their cases about all their incessant planning, claims that struggling is also planning (whatever that means) and demands they hurry up and decide. They still take a scant panel, and though there are no speech bubbles to speak of, I have to assume that they've spoken, because asshole!Bakura is grinning in the next one and expressing how stoked he is to be able to fight in the specific way Marik described, since it would allow him to use the full power of his deck. Hold up now, what's this? KT WITHHOLDING information from the audience to build tension? That's a brand new trick!

Asshole!Bakura giggles, reminding Marik that if his information wins the game, his body will be obliterated. Marik responds dispassionately that this doesn't matter and urges asshole!Bakura to sic 'im. Other!Marik glares at them and wonders what it is they're planning, while asshole!Bakura declares it's his turn. It looks like he draws a card too, and I hope he doesn't, because he just did?

Pretty straightforward. Looking at his hand, other!Marik is a bit put out by the fact that he hasn't drawn his god card yet. He resolves instead to use a magic card to get the thing in his hand instead, and activates one called "Coins from Heaven" to do the job. The appearance of the card blows asshole!Bakura right out of the water, as so many things seem to do at the moment, while he's instructed to draw a card along with his opponent. Other!Marik finds after looking at his new card that again there is no god card. It's pretty clear to asshole!Bakura across the way that other!Marik is disappointed, and chuckles about it.

The chuckle evolves into a full-blown laugh when he asks other!Marik if he's REALLY so desperate to draw his god card. I mean, the thing CAN end the game in one fell swoop, so no doubt he would really fucking like it. It's asshole!Bakura's turn to shock and alarm everyone else when he says that he'll use a magic card to fulfill other!Marik's wish. Awwww! It's good to see enemies being so civil to one another! Asshole!Bakura reveals one of the face down cards he just set, "Dark Tutor". Other!Marik looks aghast, wondering if it can be, and asshole!Bakura confirms that it indeed can. He is ABSOLUTELY going to add the god card sitting somewhere in the middle of other!Marik's deck to other!Marik's hand instead.

You don't see THAT baffled look on his face too often. It's way better than his regular sneer and I'm kind of relishing it. He even makes a sick kind of groan when he looks at the god card he pulled from his deck as per the surprise card's instructions. He clearly does not have a good feeling about this. His vague dread seems to solidify into a realization about asshole!Bakura's other face down card, and again, asshole!Bakura confirms his suspicions. He activates that face down card.

Why is this such a travesty? Asshole!Bakura explains that Ra's attack and defense points depend on those of its three sacrifices, and that's its weakness. Even if other!Marik manages to resurrect the god with a magic card, its attack power is zero without sacrifices, and therefore has become useless once sent to the graveyard. Ooooh, tough break for other!Marik, and is even tougher with his knowledge that magic cards only work one turn for god cards, meaning it would just disappear after one turn anyway, even if it HAD the points to justify the move. He stares closely at the god card in his hand, possibly drawing out the goodbye in his head, as asshole!Bakura demands he discard his whole hand, gesturing at him with his intact arm and grinning the whole time.

Because he's convinced that this is the perfect combo. The more cards in the graveyard, the more powerful his deck's performance, after all. How appropriate for a guy who gets off on gore and death. He slaps his own hand into the graveyard with a jovial command for those dead souls to await their turn in their graves. Other!Marik is much more subdued when discarding his hand, groaning some more. But while asshole!Bakura draws more cards, he rambles about how there needs to be danger in his move as well, a little price to be paid for the magic to take effect, the number of cards subtracted from his life points.

Worth it is one thing, but you seem to be taking overt pleasure in the disappearance of your body, my dude. What's THAT about?

Other!Marik ends his turn sullenly, and asshole!Bakura starts his with a little smile. He places yet another card face down and uses his monster already out and ready as a sacrifice to summon up in a whirl of virtual wind "Controller of Dead Spirits Puppet Master". It looks a bit like a zombie jester, with a whole bunch of rings on its bony fingers as it reaches toward other!Marik. At least there's only one of them, and it's not clawing its way up from the ground. And no one is trying to solve a riddle.

Asshole!Bakura must have recognized Shadi from that book he wrote. You know, the one asshole!Bakura is taking a leaf from here.

Other!Marik doesn't seem to give too much of a hoot about the zombie jester, as much as he does the special ability it supposedly has. Asshole!Bakura confirms that when his Puppet Master is summoned to the field, its special ability is activated.

Yeah, your definition of "cute" is an awfully funny one, asshole!Bakura. As is his definition of fun, because he's laughing hardcore at a slice of his leg now disappearing as well. I'm not the only one who's just not getting the joke, because other!Marik glares at him with exasperation - he still hasn't lost a single life point, and asshole!Bakura just keeps hemorrhaging the, so the only one who is getting hurt by this genius strategy is him.

And yet, asshole!Bakura is confident that as soon as his special summons can attack on the next turn (unable to attack on this one), other!Marik's life points will be reduced to nothing immediately. Licking his lips, asshole!Bakura reminds other!Marik that it's his turn now. Other!Marik looks down at his cards, mumbling about his turn, faced with a whole wall of monsters on asshole!Bakura's side of the platform. How in the HELL did KT make me feel bad for this jerkwad??

As asshole!Bakura chuckles that he's gonna win for sure, other!Marik draws a new card with determination. Upon looking at it, it's his turn to laugh. And boy does he laugh. Looking annoyed, asshole!Bakura asks what it is that's so funny, and other!Marik responds that it's his one-turn-kill. Asshole!Bakura makes a confused noise, so other!Marik elaborates that in this turn, he will die. Again, he is taken aback.

ANOTHER one? I guess they're not gods for nothing...

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? As I mentioned above, the imagery of asshole!Bakura's deck and moves seem to closely resemble the weighing of the heart games Shadi imposed upon Yami early on in the manga. I don't know if this is intentional, but I kind of like it. There's a subtle link implied through the similarities, a bit of extra something to add onto asshole!Bakura's recognition of Marik's description. It gives me a little hope that there might be a meaningful interaction between the two later, in either flashback form or real time.

I also really like that we got to just see asshole!Bakura's strategy play out instead of being TOLD about it. This manga has a lot of issues with giving away so much more than it needs to as soon as its able, part of the general problem with not relying on the pictures to tell their fair share of the story, but more specifically it has given us access to all heads all at once, which cuts out a lot of suspense as well as the audience ability to empathize with a certain character. In this chapter, we were invited to empathize with other!Marik rather than asshole!Bakura, simply due to the fact that we had restricted access to asshole!Bakura's head, and much more to other!Marik's. An ODD choice of character for us to cozy up to mentally, but somewhat exciting, because his horrible deeds don't warrant much empathy. Ballsy of KT, but I think it works out.

Until we learned he had an ace up his sleeve the whole time, with his overpowered god card having all the more power than anyone should be allowed in this game. It reminds me a bit of those times, especially in Duelist Kingdom, when Yami's thoughts as well as expression would indicate he was fucked, and then he'd pull something out of his ass as though he could have done it all along. Very frustrating, and indicative of KT's epiphany rather than the character's.

That said, I'm pretty stoked about how fast this duel is going. I think I said before that this match-up wasn't really something I was interested in seeing, and even seemed like it didn't necessarily HAVE to happen. I guess I can thank Ra's no doubt bullshit special ability for the timely wrap-up, at least.