Inuyasha Manga: 189 Ryuukossei

Sounds like the noise I made when I sliced into my finger trying to pit an avocado the other day. I was chatting away about how utterly livid I am on a constant basis these days and not paying too much attention to what my hands were doing, and oops! The knife glanced off the pit and went straight into my finger. Though it hurt like a motherfucker and I was bawling about having to go to the doctor and take away resources from people who need them in the midst of a PANDEMIC, it didn't need stitches. Just a lot of gauze and a splint to keep me from bending it during the healing process.

Be careful with knives, kids, no matter how distracted you are by shitty world affairs.

Or be careful with big-ass swords, no matter how distracted you are by weird two-faced dragons whom your dad couldn't kill. Same thing, really.

Yeah, shitbags who blabber endlessly with one little humanoid mouth while destroying literally everything and everyone around them with their giant dragon mouth is a pretty familiar sight at this point, and enough to cause the slip of any blade. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Ryuukossei was part of the GOP.

As Inuyasha runs across the long coiling body of Ryuukossei, he keeps a sharp eye on the scar from his father's claw set into the dragon's chest area. With Tessaiga hoisted on his shoulder at the ready for a swing, Inuyasha anticipating the sword becoming lighter once he pierces that spot. He leaps at it with Ryuukossei watching, fully open for the attack, and not doing a damn thing to stop it. Truly this MUST mean the bum-rush will be successful.

Don't act so surprised, Inuyasha. Surely you KNEW this wouldn't be so easy.

Or maybe not, because as he flies backward through the air, he's in absolute disbelief that Tessaiga couldn't cut it. I mean, I guess I might expect the tooth to do a bit better than the claw too, but I'm sure Inuyasha's dad thought the same thing, and well... we know how that turned out. Ryuukossei's humanoid face laughs mockingly at how the attack didn't work at all, and informs Inuyasha that his body is harder than steel. Then Ryuukossei proceeds to open its dragon mouth and shoot a ball of crackling energy or fire, or both, at Inuyasha. Inuyasha leaps out of the way just as the rock face behind him shatters with the blast.

Myouga, miraculously STILL hanging out on Inuyasha's shoulder in the midst of major danger, tries to convince Inuyasha that this is really impossible. But Inuyasha snaps at Myouga that this party is just getting started. I mean, no one has even thrown up in the punch bowl yet! Myouga says that while he told Inuyasha that doggy-dad had only been able to SEAL Ryuukossei, it's not exactly the whole story; apparently the Inu no Taishou's death was ultimately caused by the wounds he received in the process.

Great job loud-mouth Myouga. Now Ryuukossei is not only aware that he beat his previous enemy in his SLEEP, but has all the reason in the world to throw that fact back in Inuyasha's face as a psychological tactic. Fantastic. Just brilliant.

Ryuukossei recalls Inuyasha said he was that Inu no Taishou's son (which, you know, is wrong, since it was Naraku actually, but that's probably neither here nor there), and asks if it could be that Inuyasha came to avenge his father's death with that blunt sword he's carrying. Inuyasha scoffs in response, yelling up at Ryuukossei that he doesn't even remember his dad's face, and vengeance would be a waste of time. Priorities in the right order. Man, I knew I liked this kid. Myouga, on the other hand, is super offended, saying that he's not showing a lot of gratitude for the immense help his father's keepsake Tessaiga has been to him. Inuyasha tells Myouga to shut it, which he uses as an excuse to jump from Inuyasha's shoulder, crying about what a disrespectful son he is and claiming there's no reason to care anymore. Inuyasha shouts at that little bastard not to run away, but that's just what Myouga does.

He'll be back.

Inuyasha is almost caught unawares by another blast exploding the ground at his back again, and as he's scrambling out of its way, he recalls that Tessaiga is so heavy because his own fang's sluggish power in comparison to that of his father's. He promises to rip apart Ryuukossei no matter what and surpass his dad, standing steadfast to face the dragon-thing looming over him.

Meanwhile, the rest of the gang is flying over a canopy of trees, Sango and Miroku on the transformed Kirara, and Toutousai, Kagome and Shippou hitching a ride on Toutousai's three-eyed bull. Miroku mentions a terrible evil presence he's feeling, and Toutousai says this is BAAAAAD. Kagome guesses that this must mean Ryuukossei's seal has been broken and Toutousai confirms it's the only thing he can think of. In that case, Toutousai says that there's only one way to defeat the revived Ryuukossei, with something called the Bakuryuuha. Is the fact that it appears to have part of Ryuukossei's name in it another of those famous Japanese lingual puns, or am I just buggin'? I honestly don't know, I barely know two things about the Japanese language, friends.

Kagome attempts to repeat the complicated phrase and gives up two thirds of the way through, just asking what the fuck it is. Toutousai explains that this is Tessaiga's ultimate move, and Miroku asks if it's greater than Kaze no Kizu then, which is totally not an unnecessary question to fill panels. Toutousai answers that Kaze no Kizu is like an easy beginner attack. Kagome frets that Inuyasha can barely lift the sword to do a regular swing, let alone Kaze no Kizu, to say NOTHING of doing this new more complicated move. Toutousai, like a dipshit, just casually says it must be impossible then. Yeah, must be nice to just shrug and say fucker's just gonna die without the slightest bit of worry over it. Pissant.

Miroku notices a little blurred speck hopping from Sango's shoulder guard onto his own arm, and flattens it with his palm before it can try to get at his flesh. He pulls his hand away, letting Myouga's paper-thin form waft back down onto his palm as he accuses the bug of abandoning Inuyasha yet again. Myouga responds with a disoriented noise, and Kagome fixes her worried gaze forward, mentally begging Inuyasha to stay safe.

... He's not doing the best job, is he?

Inuyasha slams into a pile of rubble, as Ryuukossei's humanoid face mocks him for being too feeble and no fun at all, even though he's giggling like a little sociopath pulling wings off a butterfly. Inuyasha groans and leaps to his feet, Tessaiga hoisted over his head, running at Ryuukossei and calling him a bastard. He slices down between the toes on one of Ryuukossei's chicken legs, but Ryuukossei just laughs, repeating that Inuyasha can't cut him with such a blunt sword. He lifts his chicken claws and pins Inuyasha violently to the crumbling rock face that I'm honestly surprised still exists at this point, asking if Inuyasha REALLY doesn't understand this simple fact yet.

When Ryuukossei withdraws his digits, Inuyasha begins to fall, as does Tessaiga.

As it often does, Tessaiga's point sticks in the rubble and fallen rocks, standing in its unimpressive rusted form once more. I swear, they should tie Tessaiga to Kirara's back, blade up, and perform that classic toast/cat experiment. Might be very clunky, but very illuminating as well.

Ryuukossei blasts Inuyasha again, and this time actually hits, sending the guy flying, along with half the landscape, it seems. Inuyasha lands face-first in a pile of rocks, which looks like it must have hurt A LOT, and a familiar darkening around what's visible of his cheek forms.

At this moment, Toutousai and the rest of the gang arrives, flying toward the looming Ryuukossei. He looks strangely small in this shot, and messes with my sense of scale. Draped over Kagome's shoulder, Shippou points out that Inuyasha has lost Tessaiga.

At least he isn't AS far gone as last time. Silver linings and all.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I wasn't kidding that Inuyasha had his priorities in line. Revenge is something of a cliche as motivation these days, and if it has to be in the story, I prefer it to be a garnish rather than the main dish. So far, Inuyasha has done a pretty good job keeping everyone's motivations a bit more complicated; there are elements at wanting to get back at Naraku and others for the shitty things they've done, but more immediate is always the need to keep the villains from doing any more harm, or keeping a horrible curse from killing someone, or even take back up the mantle of obligation from the past.

When Inuyasha outwardly defies the expectation that he's doing this for a man he no longer remembers is all the better, because it just highlights his need to perform this act for the people with him here and now. While revenge is regressive and an unhealthy obsession with the past that the character cannot move past, Inuyasha's motivation is progressive, a literal need to move past his own limitations to protect everyone around him. It has an inherently positive outlook that changes the tone of the battle, which in turn gives that last panel a hopeful note as well, despite how devastating Inuyasha's previous transformations have been. Since his motivation IS Kagome and friends, she has the power to keep him lucid where the dedication to a dead man would not. The Inu no Taishou won't come back no matter how anyone defends him in death, and there's only one way to express real gratitude for Tessaiga now. Use it how it was meant to be used, to seal Inuyasha's youkai blood and protect his human friends to its maximum ability.

But Myouga already knew that, I'm sure. These old dudes know damn near everything. Or so they tell me.