Too bad Greg isn't here to play Inuyasha and company a wire tap of Carmen Sandiego; I'll bet she knows where Naraku is, since she's always chatting with all the crooks. It's also too bad I don't get to see Inuyasha, Kouga, and Kagome as gumshoes zeroing in on Naraku through all of the clues they get from gameshow questions. Truth be told, it's been a LONG minute since I watched that show, and I don't recall much of it except a couple of goofy skits, but I could see these goofy characters buzzing in and failing at geography. All I need is an artist to render that garbage vision!
At the spot Inuyasha is rushing toward, Kouga and Kagome stand tense and wary of the coming danger. Kouga supposes that he's the only one who can take on the hairy monster after all, high off his own supply as usual. Kagome stutters, nervously suggesting that they go back to where Inuyasha and the others are. Kouga holds her hands and attempts to reassure her that HE'LL protect her, but she sweatdrops, trying to put her lack of faith (or interest) in him in nice terms by beginning with an insincere "appreciation" for his feelings. Walking on eggshells around REGULAR guys who might fly off the handle at rejection are hard enough to deal with, but having to deal with SUPERHUMAN ones?
Kagome's diplomacy skills are legendary.
Kouga begins to offer another reason why they shouldn't run back to Inuyasha and company yet, just as he senses shit about to go down:
An interrogation while avoiding weird hair tentacles? I didn't realize this game show had moved to 90's Nickelodeon. Not that I'm complaining.
The hairball monster gurgles that they're not getting away again, and threatens to eat both Kouga and Kagome's Shikon shards together. But maybe it falls a little flat, because I don't know how anyone can be threatened by the manga equivalent of this:
OOOH! With some mixed martial arts thrown in the show for good measure! And does that look like it HURT!
The monster lurches backward, teeth still crumbling from its broken mouth, as Kouga yells at it for finally catching up to him. He suggests that since the monster managed that much, maybe it can tell him where Naraku is. Instead of doing that, it practically EXPLODES, or that's what it looks like. Somehow it appears to flash brightly like a bomb detonating, which is definitely a weird thing for a hairball to do. No wonder Kouga seems a little confused while he leans away from the flying hair.
And the hair really does fly. The creature has ejected great tufts of it, some of which surround Kouga and close in autonomously from the body, to his horror. Kagome notes in disbelief that the hair came off, before noticing that a few locks are crawling toward her. Kouga curses and calls to Kagome, but he's all tied up, so to speak, so he can't run to her defense. He's really working his legs to pull himself out of the winding locks too, but to no avail.
A little more secure now that someone NOT wrapped in hair is helping out, no doubt.
Inuyasha turns to Kouga to scold him for putting Kagome in danger, and Kouga growls from the ground, trying to extricate himself from the many locks wound around him at this point. Instead of concentrating on getting out of his predicament, though, Kouga snaps back that it's Inuyasha's fault for letting the monster get away. Said monster is actively reeling Kouga in, gurgling that it's going to eat him, and Kouga grits his teeth as he fails to resist.
Kagome stutters at Inuyasha that he should hurry, because Kouga needs saving. Inuyasha gives her a withering glare, asking if she means to be asking HIM, and Kagome points out in a panic that there's no one ELSE who can do it. It's not like there's anyone in the area with a ranged weapon who can fire off a clear shot at the moment or anything...
Inuyasha scoffs and says whatever happens to Kouga is no concern of his, BUT he's not handing over the Shikon shards Kouga has. Oh Inuyasha, just admit that you don't want the guy to DIE. It's not any less masculine for you to admit Kouga's death would probably bum you out. Because it totally would, dude.
This is about as effective as you might imagine: locks of hair fall all around Inuyasha, who is confused that he only got that part of the monster, and it quickly closes in and winds itself around him. For a guy who saw how Naraku's flesh covered Sesshoumaru a few chapters ago independent of the main body, Inuyasha is sure looking SURPRISED by this not very shocking development.
The monster gurgles that it won't let anyone get in its way again, now that he's been freed from Naraku, and now Inuyasha has another reason to be UNJUSTIFIABLY taken-aback it seems.
Really, Inuyasha? Do you think it's novel for one of Naraku's many itemized components to not care for being under his thumb? Is it just baffling to you that one of them might want freedom?
Boy are YOU going to be thrown-off by a good many plot points in the future...
Miroku, Sango and Shippou fly in on Kirara, greeting Kagome, who greets them in turn. The new arrivals look repulsed by the balding lump gurgling in front of Inuyasha, Miroku asking what it is. Kagome tells them it's the youkai from before, as Inuyasha asks the creature what it means by saying it was freed from Naraku, like it isn't obvious. The monster answers that it was abandoned by Naraku like the castle, and it's not difficult to guess why.
Sango seems in awe at the fact that this isn't an incarnation sent by Naraku. To be fair, that IS the move Naraku has pulled most often, so Inuyasha's group has to be rather used to it by now. Kagome suggests this thing is a discarded part, which Miroku reasons out further as the discarded remains of a youkai coming back to life when Kouga with his Shikon fragments stepped onto the castle grounds. This sounds pretty plausible to Shippou, who thinks this creature seems like it's pretty unneeded. Damn, this kid is SAVAGE.
Inuyasha scoffs, mocking this monster with how pathetic he appeared as an offspring of Naraku, THEN turning to Kouga to mock him too, for having so much trouble with this loser. He's alarmed to see that Kouga has stood, pulling off the hair wound around his limbs. He asks if Inuyasha is stupid, insisting he's been going easy on it this whole time. Inuyasha yells that Kouga is making excuses and Kouga snaps at Inuyasha to move, promising to deal with him later. It's gotten to the point where I can't tell which of them is more fragile - Inuyasha, Kouga, or this lump of patchy flesh.
Kouga approaches the monster, cracking his knuckles as he does so. He reasons that if the creature was abandoned, that can only mean one thing.
You think you could wear your masculine insecurities MORE obviously, dude?
Miroku hurries forward to protest, warning Kouga not to be hasty because there's still plenty they can learn from this thing. Kouga tells Miroku not to worry, he held back from outright killing the thing. Comforting to the little Shippou freaking out above, I'm sure. Kouga cracks his knuckles at the creature, demanding that it now tell him what it knows... or else.
If so, can they all just... stay there?
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It felt like a weird wrestling match, kind of "fake" in the sense that there was a part in the middle where the action and danger to the characters wasn't as intense as we are led to believe. We start the chapter with Kouga easily getting in a major hit, then he's overcome with the shed hair from the monster, and then Inuyasha demystifies the entire drama by calling out how weak their opponent actually is. The circus-like showmanship of this chapter is a little bizarre; I don't necessarily feel like I've been "lied to" about the level of tension, but there is a level of insincerity that throws me out of the story a little. It's like watching an overacted and wooden movie.
My low-key annoyance with this is only increased by Kagome's clear ability to help in this situation being completely overlooked in favor of letting the guys competing over her affections grandstand a bit. She has a bow in this chapter and everything, but she whines to Inuyasha that there's no one else to help Kouga. It's frustrating that she's discounted herself from the whole equation when she is probably BETTER qualified to help than her testy boyfriend. You could argue that Kagome is trying to get Inuyasha to be compassionate toward someone he's got some animosity toward in most other situations, but there's zero indication of that in the text, and would be dangerously manipulative if it were Kagome's motivations, because her refusal to help could cost Kouga his life.
If, of course, this whole fight weren't revealed to be a bunch of fucking around by the boys a few panels later.
All in all, this chapter seemed like filler - an exposition vehicle of a hairball being puffed up as a semi-threat not only in order to pass a few panels with pseudo-action, but also to justify Kouga's violence toward the pathetic creature at the end. It kind of failed in the second purpose as well, to be honest, because Kouga cleaving it almost in half AFTER Inuyasha gloats about how pathetic it is makes him seem more like an insecure bully than anything. Maybe that was what RT was going for after all?
Somehow I doubt it.
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