Inuyasha Manga: 192 Bakuryuuha

Did Inuyasha have a surge in popularity recently that I was unaware of? Or has it retained relative popularity in Japan? Because I can't really see anything other than renewed interest producing a product like THIS:

That's right, you can buy Inuyasha PERFUME now. Not just Inuyasha, but the other major characters too: Kagome and Sesshoumaru fragrances came out with Inuyasha's at the end of last year, and Miroku, Sango, Shippou, Kikyou and Naraku came out at the beginning of THIS year. PERFUME of all things! Did anyone ASK for this? Was this in demand ANYWHERE? Who do the manufacturers of this fragrance line think read/watched Inuyasha and thought, "You know, this series is great, but it really needs something OTHER than manga volumes and DVDs and trading cards and toys and prints and all the regular crap that they shove onto the market. I want something FANCY with a $50 US price tag that can be displayed prominently on my vanity, because that's the only reason I would buy it, for my vanity. How about a perfume?"

I mean, have you EVER seen a more desperate cash-grab in your whole li-

OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE!

I guess you're right, Inuyasha. But OH how I was really hoping we COULD avoid a terrible next-gen monstrosity and the inevitable boring, insipid, and pointless content it would entail, with a serving of implied child-grooming on the side. The drive to wring this successful series dry of any and all capital possible is too great; we'll just have to get through the squeeze. Thus is the fate of art under capitalism.

Sorry, were we talking about something else?

Oh yeah, Inuyasha identifies the swirling stream of youki within the fireball-thing Ryuukossei has just launched at him, and ponders the outcome of slicing through it with Kaze no Kizu - which he does with a heavy grunt even though the sword is lighter now. His own blast meets Ryuukossei's with a shit-ton of commotion, with a lot of swirling, spiraling tendrils of wind that burst out the other side toward Ryuukossei. He's a bit confused by the energy from Inuyasha's sword engulfing his own youki as it comes flying at him, seemingly not grasping the full extent of what that means. Dude still thinks he'll be fine, apparently. Miroku repeats that Tessaiga's swirl of energy is pushing back Ryuukossei's youki. Yeah. Thanks for reiterating that, Miroku. We really wouldn't be able to tell what was going on with just the ONE explanation.

Ooh, ouch, that looks like it stings!

As his head and both faces plummet to the ground, Ryuukossei remains alive and conscious enough to haltingly complain about the supposed impossibility of his body being torn apart. That's what happens when you don't take care of your scales to keep them nice and... oh, oh yeah. Never mind. The dismembered coils of Ryuukossei collapse onto the ground as the whirlwinds of Inuyasha's attack subside. Inuyasha stands frozen with his sword held out behind him in perpetual follow-through, gaping while the last tornadoes shrink to nothing. He wonders what that was just now, if it was a different Kaze no Kizu than the one he'd been doing before. Why not? Tessaiga seems to have changed in every other conceivable way in the space of like thirty seconds, so it's not out of the question, right?

Toutousai's three-eyed bull has landed, and Kagome runs over accompanied by a bouncing Shippou, calling out to him in excitement. Inuyasha's response is more subdued, and when Kagome gushes about how amazing his feat was and asks him how he does it while Shippou latches onto his collar happily, he flushes a little, clearly unsure how to answer. It's Toutousai who approaches next, addressing Inuyasha, but trailing the statement afterward. We'll never know what he was about to say, because Inuyasha turns to him and gives a surprising assessment.

Looks like struggling to lift that heavy sword had an effect on his strength after all. Damn, you don't need to knock the poor guy over, kid. Without paying any mind to how he's turned Toutousai over, Inuyasha holds up Tessaiga, now in its sheath, and asks if Toutousai didn't set up some kind of trick to the sword because it's got so much more power than it did before. Toutousai is still on his head, literally balancing on it like he's performing some sort of painful yoga, when he asks in turn if this means Inuyasha did that stunt without knowing anything. Inuyasha squats to peer down at Toutousai, humming in confusion, instead of pointing out that he couldn't POSSIBLY have known anything, what with Toutousai refusing to say ANYTHING about the sword he himself made and all. Toutousai rights himself and informs Inuyasha that what he just did there was Tessaiga's ultimate move, Bakuryuuha.

Is it significant that "ryuu" is in the name of the attack that killed "Ryuu"kossei, or am I reading too much into this again?

Inuyasha gives Toutousai a blank stare while repeating the name of the attack, so Toutousai begins to explain that Bakuryuuha is a deadly sword-form that envelopes the opponent's youki in Kaze no Kizu, and reverses the flow of youki so it becomes those tightly-coiled whirlwinds that pushed back on Ryuukossei a couple of pages ago. It basically bounced back Ryuukossei's attack and combined it with Kaze no Kizu's explosive power for a bit of extra kick. Turns out there's a reason it's a mouthful. Inuyasha just hums again, looking wide-eyed and a little overwhelmed by the information. Toutousai says that this is just in theory, of course, like it's no big deal that he's got a whole new body of evidence to support this model. Dude, this is a major goddamn breakthrough, can you not be a little more excited???

Toutousai continues by noting that you have to be able to read where to cut the youki, and have a strong enough energy to in order to overcome the enemy's youki, in order to do it. Holding onto his innocent clueless expression, Inuyasha says he simply cut the place where the youki smelled incendiary, which must have been exceedingly easy in the midst of a FUCKING FIREBALL. In disbelief, Toutousai sweatdrops and thinks that Inuyasha appears to have SURPASSED theory, in addition to enveloping Ryuukossei's energy without difficulty. Almost as if someone had to wrap this shit up pretty quickly. Toutousai observes Inuyasha standing wearing a proud smile as he puts his sword and sheath back in his belt, thinking this kiddo might be greater than he thought. How convenient.

Miroku walks toward them now, followed closely by Sango, saying that this means Inuyasha must be able to control Tessaiga freely now. Grinning, Inuyasha says that's not all, and proceeds to draw Tessaiga again just so he can swing it down in front of him swiftly.

A gaping Miroku identifies this as Kaze no Kizu while Sango mirrors his astonishment at his side, and I scratch my head wondering if Kaze no Kizu wasn't something that required youki to be swirling against the air around it or something. Is it just using Inuyasha's to pull off the trick now or... You know what, 200 chapters seems like a good point to change the rules. Fine. Inuyasha asks what they think about him being able to use Kaze no Kizu whenever he pleases, to which question Miroku responds with a smack to Inuyasha's head using his staff and proceeds to lecture Inuyasha about being the kind of person to recklessly show off a dangerous technique. Toutousai retains his sweatdrop as Kagome develops one next to him, and supposes Inuyasha is still a hoodlum. It's what happens when a hoodlum doesn't have to DO anything for his special privileges.

Elsewhere, a marbled atmosphere is all we see as Kagura flies through on her giant feather, a passenger sitting behind her. She complains that this extra elaborate barrier is still in effect, and warns the person behind her, an old woman, to hang on tight. Through the swirling din, the wing of a sprawling estate can be made out. No need to guess who it belongs to; Naraku sits next to a large window, opened wide to give him a splendid view of... the barrier, I guess. His creepy womb-jars stand off on the other side of the room.

Evil version of good thing? How exciting.

Naraku proceeds to ask Tsubaki if she recalls fighting a priestess named Kikyou fifty years before, and she scoffs, saying it was an awfully long time ago. As if he's really trying to piss this woman off, Naraku describes the scenario he heard about her - losing to Kikyou and bearing her a grudge while erasing her form. I wouldn't be surprised if he invited her there specifically to poke her, since there's nothing mor NARAKU that he could possibly do, but that doesn't stop it from being annoying as hell. Anyway, Naraku smirks, explaining that he also heard that she was still alive disguised like a hag.

That youkai rumor-mill never runs low on grist, does it?

So what did I think of this chapter overall? The very beginning concluding the fight with Ryuukossei was visually interesting, and pretty cool as far as how Bakuryuuha was represented drilling through its target. Not half-bad for an ultimate technique. But other than that, I had some trouble finding panels that I could put in this synopsis; there just wasn't much more than folks standing around and talking, which didn't help my disappointment with the previous chapter seeming to rush through making Tessaiga easier to handle. RT actually seems to be hanging a lampshade on this with Toutousai's final comment that Inuyasha seems just as immature as ever - she knows she didn't give him any development and struggle, asking us to accept it as it is. In my less critical readings of this series I managed to gloss over this the way I was supposed to, but I'm really struggling to now, especially when this is the first time I've realized that the rules for Kaze no Kizu have just changed on a dime. What's powering it now? Who the fuck knows! Just automate the process so we don't have to think so hard about a strategy for battles anymore!

RT getting lazy up in here, or what? At least she's still funny, since Inuyasha literally turning Toutousai on his head just like the old man's expectations of him was a pretty solid joke. And I definitely needed one going into the next arc, which isn't one I'm very fond of. Just a little boring to me, but then again, I have changed my mind on various aspects of this series since I started reading it again for this blog. Maybe it'll surprise me.

Fingers crossed.