Inuyasha Manga: 183 The Secret of the Transformation

Uhhhh, is somebody spilling tea over here? I'm not sure I want to be a part of this. In the first place, I just generally don't like gossip. I just spend the whole time I hear it wondering what the person eagerly vomiting other peoples' secrets in my direction says about ME the moment my back is turned. More than that, though, gossip in Inuyasha tends to happen primarily between youkai, and that would put us in some pretty dangerous territory. You know what they say; two can keep a secret if one of them is dead.

And I would DEFINITELY end up the dead one in this scenario.

... Unless there are other, tinier, more vulnerable creatures around in a REMOTE FOREST WHERE NO ONE WILL EVER FIND THEM. Run, Rin and Jaken! Run!

To amp up the horror film vibes, a voice floats out of nowhere to say the owner has been expecting Sesshoumaru to come visit them soon. Rin looks up, bewildered that this voice seems to be coming out of the sky. Jaken also looks around, concluding that there appears to be nothing here. These poor little bastards aren't going to last very long if this turns out to be a slasher.

Sesshoumaru refers to the voice as "Bokusenou" and asks it if it knows why he's here. He's looking up at a large-ish tree in front of him, as the disembodied voice guesses that Sesshoumaru's visit could only mean that he wants to discuss some swords.

AAAAaaaahhhh... oh. Hm.

Yeah, I expected something a bit more intimidating, but now that I think of it, Sesshoumaru going into the woods to meet with a TREE makes all of the sense.

While Rin shouts in alarm about the tree spirit, Jaken asks Sesshoumaru who the hell this tree is. Sesshoumaru explains plainly that Bokusenou is a 2000-year-old magnolia tree. That... is actually pretty dope. Props. Jaken asks if that's really the case, and Bokusenou confirms it, along with the fun little factoid that the scabbards for both Tenseiga and Tessaiga were carved from his branches. I hope they fell off naturally first, because it seems like a thoroughly unpleasant thing to have your limbs hacked off so your apparent FRIEND can have some nice sword accessories.

Jaken looks impressed by the sheath trivia, regardless. While he's done demanding to know who Sesshoumaru is speaking to, Sesshoumaru takes this opportunity to suggest that Bokusenou would know the connection between Inuyasha and Tessaiga. Bokusenou recalls that Inuyasha is Sesshoumaru's younger brother in the oldest way possible, as Sesshoumaru recounts the two instances of his particular concern; the first was when Tessaiga was bitten in half by an ogre, and the second was when Inuyasha lost Tessaiga in a battle with him.

Sesshoumaru elaborates that Inuyasha's blood smelled not like a hanyou's but a full-ass youkai like the blood of himself and their father. Bokusenou grows a gnarled tree hand JUST to stroke his gnarled tree chin in a ponderous way, humming that he wonders about if it can really be characterized as the "same". Sesshoumaru asks him what he means.

Sudden and abrupt cut to Kagome walking her bike with Shippou hanging out in the basket, beaming about the fact that she can now see a village. No doubt because Inuyasha is getting his sulk on a short distance away, an old man hoisted on his back who sighs contentedly that he is officially saved. A boy walking next to them cheerfully reiterates that they're almost home.

When they reach the village, the old man expresses how grateful he is that they came by and helped him after he sprained his ankle and couldn't walk home. Kagome tells both the old man and the boy to take care, and they both offer polite thanks to her again. The boy reaches under his collar for something to offer Inuyasha, whom he refers to as, ahem, "Monster-Dog Onii-Chan". This of course pisses Inuyasha off. He raises a shaking fist, veins popping on his head as he repeats the first part of that phrase furiously. Kagome tries to sooth his rage with a hand on him arm and a tight smile while she says his name, which apparently works, because he's just devolved into bewilderment when the boy comes over and deposits a treasure into his palm as payment for his kindness. The  old man and boy walk into the village, the latter twisting to offer a final happy wave to their saviors.

What happened to that twisted ankle, old dude?

Yeah, so lucky the SNAKE didn't even want it.

Later, as the group continues ramblin' on, Inuyasha is still complaining about how they don't have TIME to futz around helping people. Because he clearly has much better things to do with his time, like walking in the same direction as those he helped ANYWAY, as Kagome suggests when she claims that they were just walking with the duo. Miroku points out a pattern he's noticed; Inuyasha always gets sullen when he helps people. Inuyasha scoffs in response.

Then he freezes, his nose picking up something concerning. Kagome calls to him in question, noticing his sudden serious expression, and Inuyasha says he smells the blood of an awful lot of people, fire and smoke. Miroku and Sango stop and stare at him too, while Inuyasha comes to the realization that these smells are from the direction of the village at which he dropped off the old fart and kid. And yes, he does actually call the old guy a "fart" because this is still Inuyasha; even when he's being good, he's not good.

Anyway, Inuyasha concludes with some disbelief that the village was attacked by something. WHAT ARE THE ODDS??

We switch back just as suddenly as before to Sesshoumaru standing before Bokusenou, rapt attention on the tree telling him that Inuyasha is a hanyou born of the union between a youkai and a human. Thankfully, Bokusenou stops his explanation there, because if he launched into a full discussion of the birds and the bees, I'm pretty sure the poor old fool would have ended up chopped the fuck down. Instead, Bokusenou states unequivocally that because he is a melding of the two kinds, Inuyasha CANNOT become a true youkai.

Oh, Bokusenou knows how to play it, doesn't he? Using that "perfect" descriptor for this spoiled prince's pedigree. Buttering him up.

Bokusenou tells Sesshoumaru to consider the example of whenever he's in battle, and observe the fact that no matter how pressed he became, his mind was always cool. He asks if Sesshoumaru can think of a time he ever lost himself. Sesshoumaru scoffs and snobs that he's never EVER been pressed. Give it time, darlin'. Bokusenou chuckles at this whippersnapper, nine-foot tall and bulletproof as he is, and agrees that he may never have been stressed out in a fight, but Inuyasha is different. When pushed to the point where his life is in serious danger, Inuyasha's youkai blood takes over and transforms his body to give him a boost of power and protect him. Sesshoumaru thinks back to the sight of Inuyasha's intimidating, crouched form with glowing eyes and acknowledges this must have been what was going on.

But Bokusenou isn't done. He says that the blood of a greater youkai like Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's father is WAY too strong for a hanyou. Sesshoumaru is curious enough to prompt Bokusenou to go oooooooon, which earns him the information that Inuyasha's mind would eventually be EATEN AWAY by the too powerful blood of his father.

... Metal.

But also thoroughly unpleasant, and obvi not something Inuyasha's dad wanted for him. So, Bokusenou reveals that Tessaiga was given to Inuyasha as a sword of protection for HIM as much as any human he's the muscle for.

More abrupt scene changes! Inuyasha and company come to a halt back outside the village, appalled to see the young boy they had dropped off only a short while ago stumbling toward them with an arrow sticking out of his shoulder. Kagome identifies him with shock while Inuyasha just makes a groaning noise. The boy falls into Kagome's arms when she kneels down in front of him, and she shouts at him to hang in there. Sweating and half-conscious, the boy manages to get out a plea to help his grandfather.

Inuyasha is already on his way down the path the boy took to get to them, yelling back over his shoulder at Kagome to take care of the kid. She haltingly gives her affirmation as Miroku turns to Sango and charges her in turn with protecting Kagome. Sango snaps at him that SHE KNOWS, dipshit. He's too distracted to note her sass, running to Inuyasha's side at his invitation to get into that village. No doubt to kick all of the child-shooting ass.

I'm always amazed at how this comic feels like a strange mashing of two different genres to me: westerns and fantasy. I know that my own cultural perception is informing this feeling, because the historical periods on which we base our separate genres in the west are distinct centuries, and Japan kind of had the wild west and a feudal structure all wrapped up in a nice enigmatic bow at once... But it's still a super strange sensation.

Anyway, one of these here outlaws says he likes this village, and the other he's talking to suggests that they stay until they've eaten all the food. Wow, I've never seen anyone revel so much in being a literal parasite. Most of those have the decency to at least PRETEND they contribute something. Mostly they just say it's something nebulous like "jobs" or something, but at least they try. Someone else refers to a huddle of women already gathered on the ground nearby, scuffed and cowering, instructing his fellows to gather all of them in that one area and kill any that try to run. I shudder to think how many times they've done this exact thing to small animals too. And yes, I'm willing to bet that the REASON they gathered the women is the same for those hypothetical animals.

Inuyasha and Miroku arrive, the latter concluding the obvious - bandits. Screaming at those bastards, Inuyasha draws Tessaiga and swings down, producing a jagged line of destruction that looks an awful lot like Kaze no Kizu. It can't be, though, because it just kind of frightens one dude's horse as it breaks up the ground near its hooves, and Kaze no Kizu is established to only work when a swirl of YOUKI comes in contact with the surrounding air. Shitty people notwithstanding, they don't look like anything but humans. And yet... it did look an AWFUL lot like Kaze no Kizu...

After the man on the horse nearly voids his bowels in alarm and confusion over the weird blast of power from the sword, because no doubt THAT is the weirdest thing he's seen in a world full of strange monsters, Inuyasha states he's saving the small-fry for later and demands to be taken to their leader. Next he's going to claim this planet in the name of Mars. Miroku begins to elucidate a little something he's noticed among the bandits, but Inuyasha reminds him that he's got a super-sniffer. He's aware that there's a youkai in the bunch of bandits.

Ew. Hair.

Inuyasha confirms that this is indeed the youkai, which is pretty plain to see just at a glance, no super-sniffer needed. Yet the bandits in the background are all kinds of confused, surprised by the accusation and wondering out loud just what the heck Inuyasha is on about. Not the sharpest tools in the shed are they? And make no mistake; they are ALL tools.

The leader of the bandits demands that the brat Inuyasha hand over his sword, and now it's Inuyasha's turn to act confused, asking what he's gibbering about. Miroku warns Inuyasha not to get careless, to which Inuyasha indignantly asks if Miroku really thinks he would LOSE to this dude.

Depends on what kind of contest you're getting into. Let's face it, Inuyasha, you ain't got nothing on this guy's eyeliner game.

So what did I think of this chapter overall? Here RT goes again, just tossing us between multiple locations to observe simultaneous events with little to no real transition. And yet, there's something about this instance that works where it didn't in the others. The oddly well-timed exposition Sesshoumaru is getting in one place nicely contrasts the beginning of the action in which it will be relevant in the other, and it helps that we're not asked to follow two high-stakes events at the same time here. Again, the exposition is very convenient, given we're fresh out of an arc revolving around anyone other than our titular character, giving us the fresh opportunity to see this information in action. But I'm willing to overlook that here for how it teases relevance rather than out-and-out shoves it in your face, with the final lines of Inuyasha and Miroku in the chapter providing some foreboding with the literal question of whether Inuyasha should be cautious. This guy he's facing doesn't LOOK like much, but with Miroku's warning, we're not only wondering what HE sees that Inuyasha doesn't, but we're also fresh from Bokusenou's vivid description of what can happen to Inuyasha if he's pushed too far now.

I'm LIVING for Sesshoumaru doing research and investigating what was happening to Inuyasha, making the connection between the transformations he's observed and Inuyasha being separated from Tessaiga. A little because we get a new trait (curiosity) added to the mostly boring list he had before (snobbery and dispassion), which at least gives him a little more dimension. But mostly, learning the more "technical" side of what is happening to Inuyasha when he's going through those those fits of full-demoic tantrums. His whole SELF is being overridden and taken over by the youkai half of his "DNA" so to speak, and his body literally cannot handle the strain anymore than his mind can. Sesshoumaru's youkai blood is in a youkai body, and therefore he's in no danger of losing control of himSELF. His personality, no matter how white-bread boring it is, will remain intact, as well as his faculties.

Which SHOULD give him a pretty good reason not to want to take Tessaiga away from Inuyasha anymore. He's just learned it's not so much a sword as it is an elaborate mechanism to keep Inuyasha's disability in check; medication and a crutch all in one, if you will. Being snobbish as he is (rooted thoroughly in his racism and ableism, ironic for a guy missing an arm), Sesshoumaru should be inclined to dismiss the sword just as much as he dismisses Inuyasha himself from now on. Furthermore, he should WANT Inuyasha to have it if they're fighting in the future, as it wouldn't be sporting to murder Inuyasha while he's unaware of what's happening. Or, at least that's what he'll tell himself. We should see a marked shift from Sesshoumaru constantly going after Tessaiga now, to him being more focused on defeating Inuyasha himself, IF he's even really interested in such a thing of course. I've pointed out before how Sesshoumaru just... wanders off at the moment when he could easily win or give chase a lot of the time. The only reason Inuyasha was on his radar in the first place was because of Tessaiga, so he's probably going to go back to ignoring Inuyasha as much as possible at this point.

Anyway, can we talk about the miniature Kaze no Kizu in this chapter? I don't recall this happening before, because it's established that Inuyasha has to sense the place where the air and youki collide in order for it to come out. And the fact that it happened in the direction of a human is doubly mystifying, since the "youki" part of that formula would be missing there. I guess since he can barely swing that sword right now, due to how heavy it is, you could argue that Inuyasha accidentally found the youkai bandit's youki and produced a LITTLE bit of power with the weak-ass follow-through, but that's a bit of a stretch. I feel like RT might have just forgotten her own rules there for a moment.

Understandable, of course. We are almost 200 chapters into this massive story, so...