Inuyasha Manga: 188 Sealing Claw

I've only ever known claws to break seals. My pointy little fingers sometimes tear them open or off without really intending to, so all those resealable bags have to be rolled up with a clothespin anyway. Stupid cute modern amenities and I can't even use them properly. Maybe it's my little claws I'm using wrong, if you can create a seal with them like this title suggests. Anyone know of a youkai with a Youtube channel that's doing tutorials on that kind of thing? May as well cultivate a new skill while I'm sitting at home all damn day.

"You pull that sword so often, you should be able to even lift by NOW, bro."

Inuyasha tells that proto-boomer to shut it, because this is exactly why he's asking how he can make the Tessaiga lighter. While digging a pinkie finger into his ear idly no less, Toutousai tells Inuyasha to work at it himself in no uncertain terms, but Inuyasha snaps back that he's in a hurry. He hangs his head and admits that he doesn't want to transform anymore. Toutousai makes a noise like he's intrigued, but it's hard to tell when his eyes are popping out of his skull in permanent surprise like that.

As he recalls the small-fry who drove him to the brink and the way he batted the heads of the bandits off their shoulders, Inuyasha talks about how he shamefully lost all reason. He says he's had it with all that, and it gives him the creeps. Toutousai nods along with the story, humming in understanding, but doesn't offer a solution like Inuyasha had come there for. He doesn't notice, though, because he's busy glaring down his cheek before pulling away his forelock of hair to reveal a feeding Myouga the flea, whom he greets with a flat expression. Myouga pulls out (well if THAT isn't the euphemism of the century right there) to offer his insistence that he's so glad Inuyasha is alright, but Inuyasha cuts him off with slap to his neck, flattening Myouga right out. As he flutters down into Inuyasha's withdrawn hand again like a piece of paper confetti, he says that he was worried about Inuyasha, but Inuyasha scoffs and accuses him of just sheltering from danger under Toutousai's roof.

And that's not the ONLY thing Inuyasha is pissed about. He asks Myouga how he DARED hiding it from him. Myouga stammers a denial, a stuttering question on what Inuyasha could be talking about, and Inuyasha yells at him not to play dumb, clarifying he's referring to the connection between Tessaiga and his monster transformations. He says that Kagome told him about it instead, recalling how she broke it to him with that same sad expression she had in the last chapter that Tessaiga suppresses his youkai blood, and when it was broken, that blood was awakened. She said that this is why, from now on, he shouldn't relinquish Tessaiga, to avoid any future instances where his body will transform to protect itself.

Which I guess works well even when its poisoned to the point of literally melting. Extraordinarily well, in fact.

In Inuyasha's recollection, Kagome apologizes for not telling him before, because if he'd know maybe this whole mess wouldn't have happened. She trails off in this speculation, but there's no doubt that she's bearing some heavy guilt about the might-have-beens here. But presently, Inuyasha is sure that even if he HAD known, he's just not strong enough to be able to keep Tessaiga in his hands. He leaves the consequences of him not being able to use Tessaiga hanging, but there's a LOT of implications hanging onto the end of that supposition.

So Toutousai scoffs himself, and asks for confirmation that Inuyasha that his experience has made him sure he never wants to transform again. Inyasha hangs his head in a nod; affirmative. Toutousai looks to the ceiling and hums, saying there's no help for it.

Imagine how confused an English-speaker like me is.

No one has to be confused for long, though. The explanation is that Ryuukossei is a youkai Inuyasha's father fought and sealed. While Inuyasha walks through a remote forest, he remembers Toutousai asking why he thinks Tessaiga is so heavy. It's apparently because the fang of Inuyasha's that is now binding the pieces of the sword after it broke isn't nearly as strong as the original one from his father. Inuyasha surmises that this means, in theory, that he can surpass his father's strength if he can rip apart the youkai his father couldn't. Seems logical. Kind of.

Myouga is hanging with Inuyasha during this journey through the woods, and says that there will be no need for ripping anything apart. Otherwise Myouga wouldn't be there, obvi. He tells Inuyasha that just piercing Ryuukossei's heart while it sleeps is sufficient. Inuyasha asks Myouga if he won't be actually FIGHTING the thing, then, and Myouga snaps at him not to be ridiculous. He lectures the pouting, surly Inuyasha that the inu-daddy couldn't finish off Ryuukossei even when he sealed it. Inuyasha mumbles that Myouga's suggested solution is essentially just killing someone in their sleep, hardly an honorable or STRONG action to take.

While Myouga threatens not to show Inuyasha the way if he keeps complaining, and Inuyasha barks back a question of who Myouga thinks he's talking to, a familiar wasp-like insect buzzes on a nearby branch, watching the duo argue. It rises into the air and flies away, no doubt in the direction of Naraku to offer some intel.

Meanwhile, someone is addressing Toutousai, who seems to have made the trek down from his volcano into the regular old woods too.

Too easy for WHOM?? Inuyasha or the people he ended up killing in a fit of youkai rage? Don't be a dipshit, Toutousai, you're better than this.

Toutousai continues to make excuses by claiming that even if Inuyasha could use Tessaiga easily, he wouldn't master it. Gee, that sure is a higher priority than Inuyasha's sentience and the LIVES of everyone around him for sure. Would Toutousai be one of those ghouls asking people to get sick and die for the sake of the economy in the middle of a fucking pandemic in real life? Say it ain't so, my dude. Kagome offers not righteous indignation in the face of his blathering so much as depressed protest when she says that Inuyasha is suffering a LOT though. Miroku explains that Inuyasha killed humans, even if they were of the bandit variety. Toutousai scoffs, and says this is exactly why he told Inuyasha in the beginning that anyone okay with killing humans isn't qualified to carry Tessaiga.

... Are you trying to pass this off as some sort of hint? A little nugget of fucking wisdom that Inuyasha could have interpreted and extrapolated? Proto-boomer indeed...

Atop a rocky outcrop opposite a sheer cliff surrounded by a whistling wind, Inuyasha stares in the direction the bouncing Myouga on his shoulder dictates. A shape stands out against the cliffside through the mists, and Myouga says THIS is Ryuukossei.

Anyone getting deja vu here? I could have sworn I've seen something like this somewhere before...

What an odd parallel.

Anyway, Myouga tells Inuyasha that that big-ass arrow claw stuck in the dragon-creature's chest is marking the location of Ryuukossei's heart. A whooshing noise is heard atop that gigantic broken nail, where a dark figure suddenly appears. Inuyasha looks on with surprise and disbelief. Three guesses who it is up there.

Come on, Inuyasha, the guy is your personal stalker. How did you NOT see this coming? Everyone else did, I promise you.

Naraku doesn't say a damn word as he kneels to place a gentle palm on the claw, which begins to melt away from the miasma of his touch. It rapidly decays out from under him and he jumps into the air rather than fall into what I assume is a canyon below. Naraku seems to disappear just as suddenly as he came onto the scene, and the claw keeps melting away as Inuyasha and Myouga look on, the latter fretting about the seal. Yeah dude, it's going, going, GONE.

Anybody ever tell this thing that it has too many faces? What do you need with two faces anyway? I can't see there being much of an advantage, and this probably just costs it twice as much in groceries.

Naraku is now on top of the cliff above Ryuukossei's head, giggling evilly. He refers to Inuyasha as the son of the hated man who sealed Ryuukossei, and tells it to fight to its heart's content, as though it's one of Naraku's underlings. I'm surprised it didn't turn around and bitch-slap the shit out of him for acting like he's the boss of its two faces. Inuyasha gapes as rock debris falls down all around him, still in some shock, I guess.

Myouga is freaking out, urging Inuyasha to flee with him to safety, but Inuyasha has gotten over his alarm and asks what Myouga is blithering on about. Inuyasha was never comfortable with the prospect of stabbing someone who can't fight back.

Famous last words. May as well be saying "hold my beer."

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Man did Toutousai tick me off in this one. Perhaps I'm just really OVER old dudes refusing to take responsibility for hiding a very serious threat from the people who could be hurt by it, but I'm far less impressed with him than I usually am this time around. He's acting like Inuyasha just wants to take the most expedient route to mastering his sword even though it's been explained to him by multiple people at this point that Inuyasha's situation is pretty dire, making him rather hard to stomach right now. Of course, that makes Inuyasha all the more sympathetic, because what kid reading this HASN'T had valuable information withheld from them by an authority who thought that they just weren't ready for it, or didn't need to know? It's actually a pretty common issue among children and teens, even the so-called "mature" ones like I was deemed. You kind of get the impression it's because the adult in the situation wants to hold a little something over your head to always make sure you need them for something when it happens, and those are the kinds of vibes Toutousai is giving off at the moment.

Then again, you can't blame an old fuck for consistently underestimating the kid who always rushes headlong into conflicts and only tries to strategize when bum rushing an opponent doesn't work.

I was very taken aback by how similar Ryuukossei's sealing looked to Inuyasha's. We're almost 200 chapters into this series by now, so it's not like the reuse of imagery and the like is out of the question; Sesshoumaru practically had a CLONE in Gatenmaru in the previous arc, as far as motives and attitude went. And yet, there's something odd about Inuyasha having to overcome a foe that was sealed in much the same way he was, while the sealer, much like Kikyou, died very shortly after the encounter. Toutousai mentioned earlier in the chapter that the reason Tessaiga was so heavy was because his own fang, his own lagging strength, is weighing it down, literally. Could the parallel between Inuyasha and Ryuukossei be another symbol pointing toward Inuyasha's struggle against himself to live up to the legacy of his father?

Or am I reading too much into this?

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 246 Cage of Fire!

No thanks. I think I've had just about enough of cages in the past few years. I mean, granted, though my apartment is tiny, I can't in good conscience call it a proper cage YET, and a cage of fire does SEEM like it might be better than a cage of ICE, where there are STILL children being forced to live without proper amenities or their families, now amidst a full-blown pandemic. At least that death would be swifter and more humane, arguably. But these days it's difficult for anyone to sell something to me based on a little shift in branding, especially when there's nothing but generic available at the grocery these days anyway. If there's one thing I'm being taught in this dystopian hellscape, it's that fire, ice, or quarantine, it's all still just a cage, and I'm not buying it.

Oh, there might be ONE more lesson; any powerful assholes whose normal tricks aren't so money anymore better lay super low over the next few months if they don't want to get the shit kicked out of them by the angry people they hurt before. Word to the wise.

Next to a dazzled Shizuka, Honda pumps his fist in the air for his nice move in turning the tables on other!Marik and finding the hole in his strategy. Yami wears a pleased little smile, characterizing this move as brilliant, and Jonouchi himself as a true duelist at last through all the steps he's taken throughout his battles. Finally, we're given a clear definition of what that means when Yami lists pride, spirit and strength as all the things Jonouchi has in his heart. Cleverness isn't in there at all? Because I feel like it took quite a bit of that to pull this move everyone is going apeshit over, but maybe that's just me.

Jonouchi is still focused on that promise he made to Yami, though, because he again thinks at Yami to wait for him. He thinks of this as his own personal Battle City, and when he defeats this final opponent standing in his way, he wants to move on to facing Yami again. Saving Mai is just a little detour. We'll be right back to the IMPORTANT stuff after that. Oh, and Yami RESPONDS to Jonouchi with an affirmative?? Once again, I thought Jonouchi was just reaffirming his plans in his own head, but KT pulled a fast one and it turns out he was speaking aloud the whole time. Or maybe my hypothesis from way back before this arc has some truth to it and a part of Jonouchi is in the Millennium Puzzle too, so there's a little telepathy between them?

Ehhh, I've been burned before by this comic, so I'm keeping my expectations low...

Anyway, Jonouchi shouts that it's his battle phase to other!Marik, and announces its commencement.

Can you believe that other!Marik hasn't made any smug references to death and darkness in over SEVEN pages now? Must be some sort of record for him. He just growls about how Jonouchi managed to hurt him this badly as his life points drop to 2400. The next panel shows nothing left but a couple of non-monster cards and a gust of wind surrounding him on his side of the platform. Yami is delighted that the monsters have all gone from other!Marik's field, and is hopeful that all four of Jonouchi's monsters can attack other!Marik, making him the winner. With eyes crossed and fists clenched, Honda forces out a full TWO declarations that Jonouchi can win, Shizuka also insists that her brother can do this, and Anzu is psyched for Jonouchi that it's actually happening; he's actually going to duel Yami just like he wanted.

On the other side of things, Mokuba looks up at Seto and asks if he thinks Jonouchi is REALLY going to beat other!Marik, looking a bit skeptical. Seto remains quiet for a moment, glaring at the platform, before he tells Mokuba not to underestimate a god card wielder. I... feel like that was never really an issue, because other!Marik isn't the one in this duel who is being perpetually underestimated. Not that this fact matters much to Kaiba, who examines Jonouchi high on the platform and is quite certain he can tell that the gods won't smile down on someone like Jonouchi. And I can tell that Jonouchi could win against everyone in the damn world, including Kaiba himself, and Kaiba STILL would pretend like he's not good enough.

Maybe I'm just sore because I know he's right; the plot demands that Jonouchi lose, no matter what cool moves he pulls out of the air.

Jonouchi calls out to other!Marik, asking if he's ready, and announcing that during this turn, all his monsters attack. They indeed all fly toward other!Marik, who just smiles, shocking the shit out of Jonouchi. Other!Marik reveals his the one face down card he has left on the field, a spell card called Dark Wall of Wind. Of COURSE it is. A flurry of black strands surround other!Marik while the monsters all launch their attacks, and we get a nice close look at Jonouchi's wide right eye.

Well, this is on track to be the cheapest victory on record.

Other!Marik tells Jonouchi that his battle phase is over, but reminds him that before his TURN ends, Viser Des is going to tighten the vice on Panther Warrior's temples and Helpoemer will steal another card. Sure enough, as both Jonouchi and Panther Warrior howl in pain from the torture, the ghostly hand creeps from Jonouchi's Duel Disk to pluck another card from his hand. Jonouchi groans, doubled over again, as other!Marik pulls an infomercial move to let him know there's more. I sure hope it's a truckload of acetaminophen for the major migraine Jonouchi is enduring. Other!Marik says he's been thinking of the penalty game he's going to inflict on Jonouchi when he loses, and decided that it's just not bad enough. That's right, other!Marik wants Jonouchi to suffer MORE, and vows to make it twice as awful as the original plan. For kicks or because he feels humiliated that Jonouchi managed to fuck up his strategy so badly he doesn't say. Maybe both.

Jonouchi growls at him, haggard and sweating but still looking determined, when other!Marik declares it's his turn. He draws a card, takes a look to see it's Lava Golem, and is all the more sinister when grins about this NEW penalty game that's coming up for Jonouchi.

Yup, we're riding the cheap train ALL the way to the end of the track now.

A shocked Yami wonders if this is a special summon monster, because I guess he thought he might have seen a couple of monsters on other!Marik's side to sacrifice. Other!Marik explains that this isn't HIS eight-star monster, because he's using two of Jonouchi's monsters as sacrifices, which means it will be Jonouchi's. The price for such generosity must be STEEP.

Like a mother fucking cliff.

While Jonouchi is in wild disbelief over this powerful monster supposedly under his control, heavy emphasis on SUPPOSEDLY, Yami is totally flabbergasted by what other!Marik is doing bringing this high-level creature onto Jonouchi's side. When they've had enough of a confused think about it, other!Marik lets the catch drop; the lava golem melts around and does damage to its master every turn, making it quite the handful. And hot stuff. All at once.

Jonouchi looks horrified by this prospect, eyes popping and teeth grinding.

I don't know if you're prepared for the laugh riot you're going to have on your hands if you tease the prisoner in the cage, other!Marik.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It felt awfully short, but perhaps that's just due to the abundance of action double-page spreads. I can't really complain about that; I love action, and there are just not enough chapters of Yu-Gi-Oh that cut down on the useless dialog to let the art speak for itself. It wasn't in actuality a "short" chapter so much as a chapter that cut out all the useless fluff that slows down a regular installment in the series.

Yet I also feel like the pacing was sped up from the last chapter because Jonouchi's brilliant move was so quickly shunted aside for other!Marik's rebound, and a rather unimpressive one at that. Kaiba seemed to hang a lampshade on the fact that no matter what cool things Jonouchi managed to pull in this duel, there isn't really a "divine push" behind him. Not only does he not have a god card like his opponent and the other two, but in the overall plot, his arc has pretty much played out. Yami spells out at the beginning of the chapter that Jonouchi has indeed become the true duelist he was gunning to be this entire time. There's really no reason for him to move further in the tournament, despite his wishes to duke it out with Yami.

And if this wasn't heavy-handed enough, we have other!Marik playing a couple of cards that seem to automatically invalidate what Jonouchi has done, in a manner that doesn't appear to require a ton of effort on his part. Sheesh, it's no wonder no one will ever take Jonouchi seriously when even the narrative is just dismissing anything he does. KT doesn't exactly display a lot of faith in his characters when he's pulling stuff like this.

Inuyasha Manga: 187 Blood-Stained

This title pulled an unconscious groan out of me. I wouldn't be opposed to a campaign to redefine "inconvenience" with the annoying blood stain. You can never get your stain soaking in cold water fast enough, and all those cute little tips and tricks on the internet don't work. And don't even get me started on the looks people give you when you're wearing one. Depending on the location and size, you can get some pretty nasty looks. Or wide-eyed, shifty stares, if the stain is big enough, funnily enough.

It's just a splatter of blood running down the length of my dress, what's everyone so nervous about?

These blood stains are in technicolor today! Fancy.

As Inuyasha is pushed back and ultimately launched into the sky by the mere pressure of Tokijin's remote pressure, Kagome screams his name. Inuyasha crashes to the ground and Kagome runs to him, demanding that all this stop. She flings herself over Inuyasha's chest protectively, glaring over her shoulder at Sesshoumaru seemingly unaware of the fact that Inuyasha's eyes are still as red as his crimson outfit, and WIDE OPEN. She's lucky this is one of those rare comics that DOESN'T sacrifice its female characters so that the men can have moar angst, because what an opportunity THIS would be for a hack job, in both literal and figurative senses.

Sesshoumaru approaches through the mist I'm pretty sure is just there to save RT from having to draw his weird boot-things, and abruptly, the technicolor ends. Either his interest in making this into a real fight is gone, or RT ran out of watercolor. Sesshoumaru observes that Inuyasha has finally stopped moving, and Kagome snaps at this idiot to stay back, tears spilling out out her eyes. Ooooh, girl's mouth is running away from her! Miroku and Sango sprint over, Shippou shouting from the shoulder of the former that she should watch out, figuring that Sesshoumaru could kill Kagome along with Inuyasha.

But... he doesn't.

SOMEONE has all the answers, doesn't he?

Kagome is flabbergasted that Sesshoumaru doesn't intend to kill Inuyasha while Miroku and Sango step silently between her and Sesshoumaru. Practically dripping with skepticism, Miroku points out the fact that Sesshoumaru could easily have cut Inuyasha in two earlier if he'd chosen to, but just held his brother off with the Toukijin's blade pressure. He asks the blankly staring Sesshoumaru why he held back, since it's obvious to everyone with eyes that he hates Inuyasha's guts, and it's not likely that he's suddenly grown fraternal affection.

And with that, Sesshoumaru turns around and fucks off before anyone can call him on his bullshit. Miroku and Sango stare after him speechlessly, Kagome gaping right along with them as she thinks that it's ALMOST as if Sesshoumaru came along to stop Inuyasha's rampage. Almost.

Inuyasha groans a little, eyes reverted to normal and jagged cheek markings gone. Miroku turns to him, saying his name while Kagome leans over him, exclaiming that he's awake. Inuyasha doesn't respond, staring out over the blood-soaked ground stretching out next to him, covered in human and equine corpses alike. He stands silently, against Kagome's halting advice that he shouldn't be moving, using Tessaiga now magically in its sheath again to prop his no-doubt screaming limbs as he continues to survey the scene. He's not grinning now. Not at ALL.

Inuyasha asks if he did this, and all Kagome can give him is a hesitant placeholder syllable. Miroku stares at Inuyasha's back while he returns to uncharacteristic silence with a hanging head, and notes that he doesn't seem to remember anything. Inuyasha scoffs, growing an ironic weak imitation of his smile from before, and mumbles about his claws.

I've seen that exact expression on a thousand Youtubers' faces these past two weeks. Inuyasha looks like he's preparing for some hardcore social distancing for SURE right now.

The kid they brought back to the village with his grandfather, and who stumbled back to them with an arrow in his shoulder earlier, is now shambling toward Inuyasha and company once again, among the dismembered bodies strewn on the ground. Inuyasha and Kagome stare right back at the boy as he approaches, the latter making a little noise of surprise. Two women hurry to flank the boy, restraining him on either side from going any nearer. They warn him he's walking towards a monster, and that he'll be torn apart if he gets too close. Kagome is in disbelief at their words, but Inuyasha doesn't look surprised, not the least bit inclined to make a correction.

The child shouts that he doesn't CARE if Inuyasha is a monster, because he avenged his grandfather, who must have died off-panel. Inuyasha's bloody claws twitch when the kid argues he killed the bad guys for the villagers.

Yeah well, the excuse to hang out at home and write more that I wanted didn't exactly turn out as expected either. Join the club.

Later on, Kagome somberly stands on the bank of a body of water holding a polka dotted towel as Inuyasha splashes and scrubs, fully clothed. He curses in his head that the smell of blood just won't disappear, describing it as annoying. That's not the word I would use for this kind of problem, but whatever helps get him through the night. He sloshes through the water back toward the shore where Kagome waits patiently, but sits on the grassy bank without acknowledging her. Not to be deterred by his increased surliness, she sits next to him, offering more plainly the towel. He insists that he doesn't need it, so the two sit in tense silence for a moment or two.

Inuyasha says that Kagome doesn't have to force herself to be beside him, but Kagome just looks at him with a sad expression. He spits a query about what's up with her lately, claiming that everyone's been walking on eggshells around him, and finally shouting that he's sorry that he's not sorry about it. Inuyasha starts to say something about what the bandits were, but Kagome cuts him off with a steady statement of his name. He repeats it back to her, studying her sad face, then turns his head away, scoffing in irritation. While he glares down at the ground, Kagome surmises internally that it must be painful for him.

Inuyasha confirms in his head now that he doesn't remember what happened during this last transformation, and it wasn't like when it happened before. He worries that if it happens again, he might tear even Kagome up with those stained claws that are resting over her hand at this very moment.

So, in the space of a page, we're outside of Toutousai's old fish-bone dwelling, Inuyasha barging right the fuck in without so much as a greeting, demanding to know if the old swordsmith is there. He strides up to Toutousai examining one of his newer creations and says they need to talk.

How did you guess? The only youkai that could have gossiped about it to all the others didn't make it out of there alive! Are their scuttlebutts telepathic or something??

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It doesn't pull ANY of its punches. Even as Inuyasha is attempting to pretend like he's perfectly okay with murdering the bandits because they were horrible shitty people, it's obvious how raw his emotions are. It's not just about being LABELED a monster either, though it's obvious that this claim adds insult to injury. Right after Inuyasha regained lucidity, his view of the carnage clearly all at once disturbs, devastates and depresses him. His face expresses the regret and pain of committing this slaughter long before he admits to himself that the full youkai power he wanted isn't anything like what he imagined. RT's art is ON POINT - I'm honestly amazed with how much emotion she can fit into these two-dimensional characters and how little they need to say while they're in a panel.

Talk about showing and not telling.

This, however, is the first point at which I start to see a clear distinction between the characters' attitudes about killing YOUKAI and killing HUMANS. If Inuyasha had reverted back to his normal self directly after he killed Gatenmaru, he wouldn't have been nearly as upset, and he did begin to point out how terrible the human bandits were as well. Now, in this context, the discomfort with killing the bad humans is understandable, given that they were showing signs of "not okay" when their youkai boss came out and started eating the village women. To expand upon what I said in the previous chapter analysis, there's the implication that the power differential is the real problem here, that the victimization of the villagers by the bandits was bad, but that doesn't make it right to victimize the bandits in turn.

But as we move further into this story, I fear that implication of "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind" message will be muddied and get lost in a simpler message of almost "human good, youkai bad", which is pretty problematic for a clear racial allegory in the story. That fear may be unfounded; it's been a while since my last reading of this series, and I wasn't looking AS closely at the content as I am in this go-around. Still, I recall a particularly popular arc in the future in which there is a distinct advantage for the very HUMAN villains in the story going off of that base assumption of "human good, youkai bad". But I won't know if the arc is a critique or reinforcement of that assumption until I get there, so we'll just cross that bridge when we get there.

Speaking of which, I hope everyone reading this is doing alright in our current dystopian horror world, taking things one day at a time. Please stay healthy and safe, wash your hands frequently, don't touch your face, and take this time to do things that you enjoy and that relax you. This blog STARTED in a high-stress point of my life in which I could barely function for how much anxiety I had. Writing about and taking apart my favorite manga was a way for me to get out of my own head for a while and just rest in a world that wasn't my own. The blog continues to function in that fashion for me to this day, and I really encourage my readers to engage with their favorite stories in whichever way creates that effect for them. Write fanfiction, draw fanart, just read or watch all of it all over again and hang out in another world for a bit. Fiction is a magical thing, friends, and it is at your fingertips during these trying times.

Take care everyone.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 245 The Darkness of Death!

I don't even feel like this is supposed to be scary anymore? The exclamatory title almost denotes excitement in the sense that we're really looking forward to the darkness of death. I mean, granted, I'm no stranger to severe depression. I'm part of that millennial generation that makes fucking MEMES out of wanting to die. We get it. Death is kind of attractive now. It's just kind of weird to me how this comic manages to tap into that weird generational depression a couple of decades AFTER it was published.

Did KT predict our current hopelessness and capitalize on it? With all this talk of MILLENNIUM Items and inverting our associations of dark as bad and light as good, there's some big coincidences in here. Throw in a few more winding extrapolations and we'll have a full-on conspiracy theory that KT is actually other!Marik trying to inspire us all to look at death as a sweet embrace.

It's definitely NOT the hand of the author beckoning you into lovely oblivion!

Other!Marik asks Jonouchi if he really thought he could kill the Helpoemer that easily. Now that it's in Jonouchi's graveyard, other!Marik reiterates for the new chapter that it will steal a random card from his hand at the end of every turn and take it to the grave with it. Again, we see the ghostly hand snatch a card from Jonouchi, to his shock. I assume this is just a rearranged retelling of the last scene, because aside from a turn never being skipped in this blasted manga, Jonouchi is just too surprised for it not to be the first time this is happening to him. Other!Marik clarifies that this is all his plan to slowly bring Jonouchi AND his cards down into the darkness, with a sadistic chuckle. Great plan?

The peanut gallery gapes, Honda doing his duty to state the obvious fact that having a card taken from Jonouchi every turn will put him at a serious disadvantage. I surely would not have figured that out for myself with context. He is indispensable. Tethered to his monsters, one of which is still hooked up to other!Marik's thumbscrew apparatus, Jonouchi's curses, represented in a series of special characters of course. Gotta make sure the kiddos don't get exposed to expletives in addition to a creepy sadist promising all of the agony to his opponent. Yami hopes that Jonouchi's face down card is a way for him to turn this around.

Other!Marik announces his turn, drawing a card that will NOT be taken from him by a vengeful hologram at any point, the jerk. He assesses Jonouchi's side of the platform, and the two warriors there, both Rocket and Panther. Other!Marik figures that as long as Viser Des is attached to Panther Warrior, it will continue to lose 500 points every turn, with the added bonus that it can't be sacrificed. Therefore, he concludes that there's no sense in getting rid of Pather Warrior as long as it's a source of sweet, sweet pain for Jonouchi. So, he puts a card face down, and brings out "Gil Garth".

... Anticlimactic. This lack of an attack confuses Jonouchi, makes him question with the utmost suspicion if this is some kind of trap. Most assuredly. but the scoffing other!Marik isn't giving any hints as to what that is. I guess there IS something that he'll keep his fucking mouth shut about. Again, Honda is the mouthpiece of exposition, his judgment being that it's obviously a trap, and that Jonouchi can't attack. He practically begs Jonouchi to calm his ass down and think of a plan.

Jonouchi decides he's going to sacrifice his Rocket Warrior for a higher-level monster on his turn... or he WOULD if he had anything but a four-star Baby Dragon in his hand right now. He thinks he'll just have to draw a high-level monster, like that's the easiest thing in the world. Of course, joke's on me, because I forgot that Jonouchi's whole theme is "luck". When he draws after he warns his opponent that it's his turn, he takes a sidelong look at the new card to find that it's the trap-destroyer Jinzo. The only issue is that it's a seven-star monster that requires TWO sacrifices to summon. Instead of getting discouraged, Jonouchi is surprisingly level-headed when he stows his Jinzo in his hand with an acknowledgment that he can't summon it on this turn and resolves to play Baby Dragon and await his next chance. Never thought I'd see the day when JONOUCHI is the adult in the room, but damn, I guess anything really IS possible in this game.

He summons Baby Dragon in defense and switches Rocket Warrior to defense as well. Before other!Marik forgets, he raises a hand to remind his opponent that Viser Des is going to tighten on Panther Warrior's head in Jonouchi's battle phase. As if he could forget. Other!Marik commands Viser Des to spill Jonouchi's brains, and Panther Warrior howls in agony as its attack goes down to 1000. Jonouchi clutches at his own skull, a squeaking emitting from him while he grinds his teeth like he's chewing aluminum foil.

Shizuka doubles over, hand over her mouth, tears at the corners of her eyes, calling out at her brother. Honda also yells out to him, as Yami and Anzu remain too alarmed to speak. Other!Marik laughs softly at Jonouchi's scrunched, twisted expression. Jonouchi insists to himself that he can take the pain, but other!Marik promises that he's not done yet.

All of Jonouchi's mature zen is gone in a second, fretting over the loss of this one card. Other!Marik takes the panicked look on his face with mirth, deducing that card must have been super important. Jonouchi tells him to shut his trap, but he'd be lucky if other!Marik paused to breathe between creepy giggles. In fact, without missing a beat, other!Marik informs Jonouchi that his suffering isn't over yet. Because there's nothing like piling the misery on, other!Marik reveals his face down card, a permanent trap called "Coffin Seller."

Well, THAT doesn't sound good.

Jonouchi is aghast, as is Yami, who is most alarmed by the fact that the trap wasn't triggered by a monster attack. Why is this so worrisome? Other!Marik explains that every time Jonouchi "discards" one of his cards, some of his life is ripped out.

There should be NO surprise here. Other!Marik's deck is full to the brim with every torture device never dared to be conceived of by man. You know what he's about.

He understates (in comparison to every other duelist here) the beginning of his turn, drawing a card as he chuckles darkly, gearing up to show Jonouchi a terrifying combo. As opposed to the fluffy comfy one that's plan B. He plays two face down cards, one of which is called "Malevolent Catastrophe", one of the deadliest trap cards in existence due to its function of destroying every monster on the field regardless of summoner. Since Jonouchi has more monsters than other!Marik, that'll be 3500 points of bad news instant death for him! Other!Marik revels in the smug knowledge that he doesn't even need a god card to defeat Jonouchi, while Jonouchi stares in teeth-grinding anticipation of whatever horrors await him.

Other!Marik announces the main event; sacrificing Gil Garth to summon the weird winged, four-armed, dragon-handed The Legend Devil. Jonouchi regards this new nightmare with utter horror, considering it rather tough-looking. And that's just its appearance. Other!Marik explains that it has a special power, which alone isn't much of a surprise coming from other!Marik. All of this dude's monsters are loaded with OP talents. This one gains 700 attack points every turn it's in attack position. Jonouchi immediately shouts that this isn't fair, and he's absolutely right, it sounds crazy game-breaking. Other!Marik just chuckles that Jonouchi should blame the designers.

Here I was, over here mocking the shit out of this comic, when it comes at me to mock right back. Sick.

Anyway, other!Marik warns Jonouchi that if he doesn't defeat Legend Devil right away, it'll only get stronger with time. With this teasing little tidbit, he ends his turn, thinking that it doesn't matter if Jonouchi beats Legend Devil, because he's still going DOWN next turn. Is it sad of me to say I believe it? Yami wonders what Jonouchi will do next.

Ugh, it's just AMAZING he doesn't cut himself on so much edge. And that my eyes don't roll out of my head every time he talks.

Jonouchi has the perfect response to his self-assured evil, though, and that's to laugh, snapping his fingers in jaunty style. This successfully leaves other!Marik speechless in shock, FINALLY. Oh my goodness, it's bliss. Jonouchi delivers another metaphorical slap to other!Marik's face by claiming it was HIM who has fallen into a trap. Other!Marik gapes in disbelief as Jonouchi offers to show his trump card.

The Socratic Method! Or, possibly that annoying thing six-year-olds do when you tell them not to do something and they keep asking WHY on every level of explanation. The only way to beat a dark little trolling troll that constantly alludes to impending death just to get a rise out of you is to annoy that fucker right back, after all. Fight fire with fire, Jonouchi!

Other!Marik continues to gape, so Jonouchi explains that they both will guess which monster is at the top of their opponent's discard pile in their graveyard, and if the guess is correct, the monster STAYS in the graveyard. Again, other!Marik stares at Jonouchi with a mixture of disbelief and confusion, even though I'm pretty sure he should be smart enough to see where this is going. I mean, if I can figure it out, and realize what a doozy it is, the same thing has probably occurred to him as well. Perhaps this is just his "I just shit my pants" face.

Anyway, in lieu of other!Marik's response, Jonouchi offers to go first. He mockingly asks if other!Marik didn't just sacrifice a monster on his last turn, in cheeky tribute to his card, and deduces that THIS is the monster that has to be on top of other!Marik's graveyard stack - Gil Garth. A now growling other!Marik glares down to see Gil Garth indeed sitting in the little graveyard nook of his Duel Disk. Jonouchi, grinning, asks with all the smugness his trick deserves if he's right, but doesn't wait for an answer before demanding other!Marik guess HIS card now.

Extreme close-up on other!Marik's wide right eye, and the bead of sweat running down his temple next to it. Jonouchi mocks him, striking a strange squatting pose as he points at his Duel Disk, jeering at other!Marik to guess. When other!Marik can do nothing but grind his teeth in impotence, Jonouchi loftily supposes that he CAN'T guess, and that's obvious, because he doesn't know the card Helpoemer randomly discarded. Other!Marik growls at Jonouchi's jaunty finger pointed at him. The peanut gallery's reaction has taken a 180-degree turn, Honda cheering Jonouchi's great idea, and Anzu amazed that he used other!Marik's idea against him.

Jonouchi gets so far up his own ass about his play that he's STILL goading other!Marik into guessing what the top card in his graveyard is. He even counts down the five seconds until other!Marik runs out of time to guess like a self-fellating asshole. Jonouchi's hand hovers over the central joint of his Duel Disk as he announces that this means other!Marik's monster will not be summoned, but his WILL, since other!Marik failed to even take a stab at a guess. He calls for Jinzo to come out.

Yeah, yeah, we get it, you showed everybody how competent you can be. Don't get insufferable about it.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Jonouchi's progression in gaming skill continues to impress; this was quite the play, showing once again why Jonouchi deserves to be taken seriously despite his goofy demeanor, but also why he was uniquely qualified to go up against other!Marik. I had completely forgotten about Jinzo and how it can destroy traps, so it was the perfect tool to use against a good number of other!Marik's special little cards. Jinzo's appearance also highlights again Jonouchi's power as a character - taking inspiration and strength from his struggles with rivals/friends. The last chapter emphasized Mai's influence on him and his determination, and this one is hearkening back to his previous statement of carrying with him the hopes and dreams of his prior opponents in facing his new ones. His incorporation of what he's learned and experienced with all of those before him is why he poses a unique challenge to other!Marik, whose superficial connections are represented in the monsters he links to himself. It might be inferred that relationships are nothing but AGONY to other!Marik, and pain is how he relates to others, so he makes it into a shared experience, the only one he is able to truly comprehend. He takes nothing else from interaction with others. A bit of a sad interpretation of the dynamic, but then again, Marik (as a whole) is just tragic all around in every respect.

Another thing that occurred to me that's a bit sad is that, though I have consistently been blown away by every step of Jonouchi's journey of character progression, I'm hyper-aware of the fact that he will never be fully recognized for this in-universe. In every one of these duels, Jonouchi is on some level, trying to prove himself over and over. There is always someone, if not the whole crowd around him, INCLUDING HIS SUPPOSED FRIENDS, who doubts that he is at all capable of overcoming the challenge in front of him. The biggest critic is Kaiba, of course, but there are plenty of other more subtle forms of faithless dialog in there, and I feel like there will never be a time in which Jonouchi will earn any kind of lasting respect. This is frustrating for sure, but strangely... true to life? How many of us find ourselves trying desperately to earn some modicum of faith from the people around us? And no matter how much we do to prove ourselves, how hard we work, it just never seems to be enough? It's so relatable, and yet another glaring example of how Jonouchi is by far the character with the most understandable experience, and probably the best.

What's not relatable to ANYTHING, in this chapter or my feelings toward it, is the title. What the hell does the darkness of death have to do with anything in here? Other than an eye-catching and potentially profitable suggestiveness, what purpose does this title serve? Shame on KT, or the official translators, or some hapless intern, WHOEVER came up with this one, because I'm pretty sure I could have inadvertently started one of those stupid internet conspiracy theories in my cold open up there.

And no, it's not my fault for careless stream-of-consciousness rambling. Shut up.

(All jokes aside, friends, I really have to urge anyone reading this to stay healthy and safe, wash your hands regularly, and try not to touch your face, especially in public. Be careful in this currently very scary new microbial environment, guys.)

Inuyasha Manga: 186 Lost Mind

Hey! I haven't lost it... yet. Sure, I almost cried when my work computer refused to connect to the printers today, but I'm not throwing the damn thing across the room. I might get irrationally angry at my fellow shoppers at the grocery store for standing right in the middle of the fucking aisle, but I'm not the one with uncontrollable youkai blood that takes me over and sets me on a homicidal rampage. All I have is a shopping list on which I can never seem to find everything, and then I can't do half of my meal plans, so I end up eating WAAAY too many frozen pizzas and boxed mac n' cheese, and does anyone else hear the ocean???

No, it's NOT like looking in the mirror. Don't @ me, as the young folk say.

Inuyasha tears right through the fleeing bandits, blood spraying every which way. Kagome calls his name in desperation, other friends looking on in horror from behind her. But now that he's ripped into those lovely throw pillows on the couch, he's too riled up to react to tone.

If only there was something Kagome could say that would compel him to stop what he's doing and take a SEAT for a minute or two. Wouldn't THAT be something.

Inuyasha's OP blood pulses with power once again as he heads off a group of running bandits, leaping in front of them. They collapse on the ground, stuttering to be spared and forgiven, offering up the excuse that they were only doing what their boss told them. Yeah, "I was just doing my job" isn't the get-out-of-jail-free card you're presenting it as. Just ask the SS. Inuyasha appears completely unmoved by their pleas as Kagome runs toward him, demanding desperately that he stop it.

He just grins behind his elongated fangs and cracks his knuckles.

I feel like that's not entirely accurate, Miroku.

Inuyasha keeps smiling on through the layers of blood splattered all over him by this point, still swimming in that power-high. Kagome is frozen, dumbfounded that he seems so happy about killing people. A trembling Shippou on the edge of tears clings to Kagome's shoulder and says he really doesn't like Inuyasha looking like that, and urges Kagome to get Inuyasha's Tessaiga to him, that she's still got clutched in her hands. He's disappeared by the next panel when she dashes forward without another thought but a silent begging for Inuyasha to return to normal.

I'm not sure if I should classify her as brave for how fast she responds, or stupid for how she doesn't consider doing the one thing that could possibly SUBDUE him right now. Either way, she's just MORE than I am.

As Kagome approaches, Inuyasha gets skittish and leaps high into the air away from her. He lands on the ground in the path of a figure walking toward the scene a short distance away. A distinct fabulous form half-draped in fur. Kagome, Sango and Miroku all stare open-mouthed. Shippou is conspicuous only in his absence.

A little bit late to see your cheap imitation eat it, Sesshoumaru. What, were you off rolling in fairy rings for the last few minutes? Is that why you seem to be trailing spores?

Kagome identifies Sesshoumaru with just as much worry as she regarded the situation with before. Probz because she only has a limited amount of worry, and it hit maximum a long time ago. Miroku wonders aloud what Sesshoumaru is even DOING here. Sesshoumaru doesn't answer, because he's too busy coincidentally thinking about the explanation of Bokusenou that brought him here; that the blood of a full youkai that Inuyasha inherited from his father is far too strong for a hanyou body, his mind would be eaten away with repeated transformations, and his mind would eventually be lost completely. You get the gist.

Sesshoumaru stares dispassionately at Inuyasha hunched a ways in front of him, and Inuyasha cracks his knuckles at him in aggressive response, like some sort of half-formed warning. Sesshoumaru tells him to prepare himself, to test the extent of his transformed strength. Fucking pop quizzes man. Inuyasha lunges at Sesshoumaru, though, because he apparently studied for this one.

But Sesshoumaru just raises Toukijin to point it at Inuyasha lazily.

Guys, if he didn't hear any of you before, what makes you think he can with the sound of his own skin shredding in his ears? Miroku plows ahead with his logical argument that Toukijin can mince an enemy with the remote pressure of its blade alone and Inuyasha will be beaten before he can even touch Sesshoumaru. He's the kind of guy who tries to verbally persuade his cat to shit in a box rather than his bed. That cat would shit on his pillow next while maintaining eye contact the entire time, just like Inuyasha concentrates all the harder on the enemy in front of him, ignoring Miroku with all his might.

See Miroku? Problem solved.

Shippou has reappeared on Kagome's shoulder to make a worried noise, and Sango on her other side comments in disbelief on Inuyasha just punching the sword aside. Inuyasha's fist explodes in blood from this little stunt, but he keeps his focus on Sesshoumaru as he lands, who scoffs at his wasted effort. While that might have gotten a rise out of the easily flustered regular Inuyasha, blood-lust Inuyasha don't give a shit, and raises his bleeding hand to rush Sesshoumaru again. Sesshoumaru leaps out of the way, just in time for Inuyasha to swipe at the ground where he was just standing.

Whoo, it seems like this might go on for a while. Sesshoumaru swings and points his sword in midair, which appears to be entirely for show, because in the next panel he's got both feet on the ground again, striking a sideways defensive pose as Inuyasha comes at him again. He's so bored he's taken up interpretive dance in the last couple of minutes. Anyway, Shippou cries that Inuyasha is COVERED in blood, as Kagome yells at Inuyasha to stop it. Because if he stops, that's NOT going to leave him open to an attack from the dude who walked up in here spoiling for a fight with him.

Although, said dude is pensive at this point, wondering at Inuyasha if he feels any fear. Even more than that, Sesshoumaru thinks, Inuyasha doesn't even seem to feel PAIN as he pushes past his many injuries, his grimace one of pure aggression rather than hurt. Once more, Bokusenou's words come back to Sesshoumaru, about the formerly hypothetical of Inuyasha's mind being eaten away by youkai blood, its owner not recognizing anyone, fighting until his body is gone. Sesshoumaru scoffs that this is pitiful, now fully understanding in what must be his 100th consideration of the concept. He gets now that Inuyasha has not ascended to perfect youkai-dom, in the end nothing but a hanyou.

The visual aids must be what clinched it for him.

I never thought it was possible, but Sesshoumaru somehow managed to combine a motivational and de-motivational poster into a strange quantum-motivational hybrid. Which should really piss him off, considering how much he hates hybrids.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? All the layers of horror really stood out to me. Though Inuyasha's targets are ostensibly bad guys who weren't batting an eye at the suffering they caused everyone else before, their deaths are presented as terrible. It's not framed as justice for their destructive and harmful actions, it's just a massacre. Even if it's a little poetic that the power dynamic has flipped on them, it manages at the same time to be repulsive. Not only because most of their power in the moment before Inuyasha killed their boss came from that strong youkai backing, but also because no matter who is in the position of begging for their lives, it evokes a sense of primal existential dread. In the swipe of a claw, those men aren't around anymore, their fragile lives extinguished just as easily as their victims the villagers.

And with a similar ease to Inuyasha's sentience. He's at the mercy of his youkai blood just as much as the bandits, overpowered by a cold, deadly force that threatens to kill everyone and everything on impulse alone. There is no reasoning or pleading with it; it just tears through Inuyasha and overtakes every part of him, body and will. His very face reflects how alien he has become, not even resembling himself anymore, because he's been pushed out - he's no longer in there. There's just pure, autonomous aggression left.

Which inspires a whole different angle of fear from his friends, watching their normally abrasive but discerning friend disappear into a cloud of homicidal rage. This is a guy who grew up in alienation from both sides of his heritage, yet still manages to restrain himself when entertaining a fight with humans. Entitled white boys have gone on murder sprees for a lot less. This in addition to the eerie silence as he's slicing through everything that moves drives home the ultimate terrible fact that he's not the guy they all knew. It begs the question if Inuyasha can actually come back, or if he'll ever be the same if he does. Through all this nervous uncertainty and outright fear that Inuyasha might be beyond any help at this point, it's actually not all that surprising to me that she didn't use her "sit" command. There's no telling that it would even work as far gone as he is, and getting Tessaiga back to him is the only method that is known to curb the effects.

At last, Sesshoumaru's reaction gives us a bit of a reprieve, because his newly acquired knowledge of the issue and more distant concern pulls the reader back just a bit. He does still express a slight amount of emotion - there appears to be the smallest level of disturbance in a couple of those panels, as he regards Inuyasha's unchecked mindless rage. Even HE knows Inuyasha enough to be put off by the facsimile before him, even if it manifests more as pity and a little bit of affront that Inuyasha's blood gives him a convincing veneer of full youkai. There's something about the way Bokusenou's description of Inuyasha's mind being eaten away echoes in Sesshoumaru's head over and over that suggests the idea bothers him deeply.

Or maybe I'm wrong and Sesshoumaru just has one of those FACES.