Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 301 Divine Light, Divine Shadow

The regular light and shadows are good enough for me. Call me simple, but I'm perfectly happy with my predictable day-night cycles, rushing around completing tasks by daylight and slowing down to chill out once evening falls. I don't need them to be in constant conflict with each other, since there are PLENTY of power struggles in the strictly human sphere that I'm side-eyeing. Besides, the almost religious morphology of the "battle" between light and dark never rose to the level of cosmic horror for me. You know, given that we're aware the universe is going to collapse into eventual heat death and dark is the ultimate victor there. 

Scientifically speaking.

Anyway, on to happier topics! Human kings deliberately dragging everyone else into their dipshittery!

Thief!Bakura wants to make a game of it; he calls back to Yami, challenging him to save as many fools he can save, labeling it a game of death. Yami growls in response. He leans forward over his horse's neck urging it on, the giant monsters flying above. 

Diabound hovers low, startling the populace below. Someone remarks in alarm on the giant monster in the sky, another counters that they don't see anything, and another just yells for everyone to run. Thief!Bakura commands his glorious spirit Diabound to destroy the city and slaughter the people with its Magic Blast, and Diabound pauses only a moment to build up a sufficient aura before letting loose a series of blasts at the buildings lining the street they're following. Yami groans at the scene of his subjects fleeing as their shops and homes explode around them, crying and screaming and running for their lives, while continues to chase after the menace razing everything around them. He passes a man diving out of the way, with no time to slow down and check after his condition. 

Slifer absorbs the blows on its back, Yami's teeth grind from the pain this causes him as well. The fact that Yami is portecting everyone by taking the damage himself seems to amuse the shit out of thief!Bakura, who asks how long Yami can keep that up. Slifer keeps itself between the common folk below and Diabound above, but thief!Bakura just laughs off this supposed "barrier". 

Man, the EASE with which those without a conscience can just throw gigantic tantrums until they get their ways, I swear. It would be enviable if it weren't so despicable.

Yami growls through a clenched jaw, fuming over thief!Bakura forcing him to use Slifer as a shield by attacking his people. Thief!Bakura is still speeding along too, laughing that Diabound only really needs one shot to kill Yami's so-called god. I guess we're ignoring the blows Slifer took to protect the city-folk? I guess Diabound didn't really need to let loose particularly powerful shots to take out regular people. Thief!Bakura commands a Spiral Wave out of Diabound, and its aura starts to magnify again, holding out its hands to power up a swirling energized wind at Slifer's back. 

Yami realizes that even Slifer can't survive such an attack from behind, considering his ONE chance as Diabound's glowing ball of death grows between its hands, if Yami can be FASTER than the monster of course. There are still people flailing around nearby while Yami orders Slifer to fire a Lightning Strike from its bigger mouth, straight at the ground. The force of the blow starts to propel upward, much to thief!Bakura's consternation.

Seems to me that Diabound is too SLOW if it can't get off one shot while its opponent gets off two in quick succession. We see who the REAL gunslinger is here. 

Thinking he has to take the battle somewhere safer, Yami yells to Slifer to pull Diabound higher. Slifer whips around its long body/tail, coiling it around Diabound's wrist. Shocked beyond belief, thief!Bakura watches Slifer drags Diabound away from the street.

Yami claims that now thief!Bakura's attacks can't reach the city, but I'm not so sure. Thief!Bakura does seem a bit put out by the distance of the fight now, though. Yami also asserts that Diabound can't utilize its ability to walk through walls in the air, even if this doesn't appear to be thief!Bakura's biggest concern. It's more that fact that Slifer's lightening should be all the stronger in the air that's got his jaw locked as he glares anxiously into the sky. 

With an order to attack from Yami, Slifer begins to charge up that lightning laser in its open mouth - the bigger one, of course. But as the ball of crackling energy expands in Slifer's jaw, thief!Bakura cackles that Slifer might be be able to control the heavens, but Diabound can control the night. The blast is released, named "Thunder Force" by Yami, though it doesn't LOOK any different from Divine Lightning. It rockets toward Diabound.

... And keeps on going. 

It seems to be a shock to Yami that Diabound appears to be just GONE, but we've seen this song and dance before, dear readers. A grinning thief!Bakura reminds Yami that Diabound has a new power to blend into its surroundings, becoming one with the darkness. Yami is in horrified disbelief over Diabound being able to hide itself no matter where it is, like it's invisible. Slifer hangs in the air, in limbo as thief!Bakura ominously says that this raises the difficulty level of the game.

A boom sounds, smoke billowing up from the city to the right of Slifer. Yami looks around, wild-eyed, thief!Bakura laughing that he'd better find Diabound before there are more victims. Unless that building was in a vacant part of the city, I'm guessing it's a bit too late. Thinking he has to stop this slaughter, Yami is nevertheless aimless in his hurry to help - with Diabound invisible, where's he going to head? Thief!Bakura waxes poetic about his attacks coming unseen from the dark, and implying slyly what his next target is. 

I'm not convinced that the peek-a-boo attack from behind is going to take this thing down, but even if it does... you haven't defeated Slifer until you've trapped it into a never-ending loop of attack-and-draw. Every other method is illegitimate and I refuse to acknowledge it. 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? There were a couple of instances where I had to tilt my head and squint, as usual. I'm not certain I understand how Slifer's propelling itself upward with one attack to the ground was better than just twisting around and using that shot on Diabound from where it was. The information that Slifer has more power in the air gives this decision a LITTLE credence, but the amount of air gained with the propulsion move didn't seem to be much, and didn't seem to really impact the strength of the next attack either. It also didn't appear to give Slifer much of an advantage when dragging Diabound higher up. I get the feeling that KT just did it for how cool it looked rather than anything practical it added to the way the fight was progressing.

Which isn't WRONG - it did look pretty cool, as did the rest of the chapter in a comparable way to the last. I just question the utility of the aesthetic when there's an implication that it exists.

Otherwise, I'm very much intrigued by the smaller implications of the chapter. At the beginning, there seemed to be SOME people who could see Diabound and Slifer, and others who could not. I wonder, with the comments Isis made a few chapters ago on Mana's magic not being powerful enough to see her master's spirit and Priest Seto's certainty that he could find plenty of test subjects with promising ka in the city, what subset of the city's population has a talent for spirit/ka stuff or if that will be used as a plot point later on. It would be interesting to see if the people Yami is trying to protect play a more crucial role later in their own protection. Though, even if they don't, it's a nice detail that I find very grounding and helpful in establishing just a touch of diversity in the otherwise somewhat monolithic "thing to protect".

Also, if Slifer is really out for the count here, I'm anxious to see what happens to Yami. It's been established that one's ka getting ganked is a death sentence itself. Though it doesn't appear that the gods are Yami's PERSONAL ka, which are more closely linked to a person's vitality and soul, he IS pharaoh. Considering the consensus in this time and place is that the pharaoh is an incarnation of god, solidifying the divine right, Yami's connection to the gods might be analogous to a spirit ka, even if they didn't originate from HIS soul.

Due to being the focus, I know he can't DIE... at least not yet. Still got a few chapters yet before how he croaked in the first place gets to be a concern.

Inuyasha Manga: 242 Renkotsu's Temple

Okay, that SOUNDS impressive, but really, what's he got in there anyway? Some Buddha statues? Altar tables? Unconscious hostages and the corpses of the monks he murdered to take the place over? Lame. I think I've got him beat with my recent purchase from the antique mall:

Yeah, that's right, I got me a dress form. I'm gonna make so many corsets and coats with this baby. At the very least, it looks way better than monk corpses as decoration.

Although the minimalist look he's got going in this room is fairly pleasing, I have to admit.

Renkotsu says he was sorry to have heard Kagome was attacked with poison, insincerely, while Kagome realizes she can't speak. She was doing so okay before, so I don't know what changed in such a short amount of time... Renkotsu engages in a little victim blaming when he chastises her for moving so much after her poisoning, because it's made all of them pretty weak. He indicates the snoozing Sango and Miroku on the other side of a nervously sweating Kagome, saying they won't wake up for a bit. Then he sets a small incense burner already issuing a slow stream of smoke on the floor next to her, encouraging her to sleep as well. 

As the smoke wafts over her, Kagome has the stilted thought that she has to get away from here, and Renkotsu pauses in the doorway to look over his shoulder in a sinister manner. He silently tells her not to worry, because he doesn't plan to kill her RIGHT away. How comforting. He wants Inuyasha to be somewhat communicative when he gets to the temple, after all, and Renkotsu anticipates he won't be if Kagome is already dead by the time he arrives. No doubt a little bit of humanity he's had to interpret many a time back in his more active killing days.

How does that follow? Does he imagine Inuyasha just exists for the moment when he can watch his friends be carried off to presumable safety? Just pops in and out of life for this tiny purpose?

Ginkotsu launches those saw blades again, yelling at Inuyasha to just die in peace already, but Inuyasha scoffs, saying GINKOTSU is the one who should resign himself to death, since he's fully able to fight now. I feel like it took him longer to say so than it would have for the blades to get to him, but he manages to talk all he likes AND leap straight up out of the way of the blades. He has Tessaiga slung over his head, a few tendrils of wind spiraling around the blade. Ginkotsu shouts that this is futile, firing the gun on his back up at Inuyasha, just as Inuyasha lets loose a Kaze no Kizu. 

Ginkotsu is literally falling into the ground here, the rocks and soil around him caving in over his metal head. Inuyasha lands on the lip of the fissure, commenting with annoyance about how the distracting bastard fell in there, and puts away Tessaiga. He's in too much of a hurry to consider how suspiciously EASY his victory in this battle was, leaping off in the direction where Kagome and the others were flown away due to pure worry. 

As he darts through the forest, he picks up a scent that alarms him; another scent of corpse and grave soil, making him wonder if there's another Shichinin-tai member ahead. But he perceives that this scent is a bit different, of a human burnt. Inuyasha halts once he's run up the stairs, finding Renkotsu with a shovel there, covering a crispy body with dirt in the garden. Renkotsu looks over his shoulder at him as he comes onto the scene and asks if he would be Inuyasha, because he's been waiting for an Inuyasha. THIS is what catches Inuyasha's suspicion, and he questions what Renkotsu means with a glare. 

A short trip down the porch with birds flitting across it...

Inuyasha leans closer to where Kagome is sleeping, Shippou snuggled into her shoulder and passed out too, breathing a sigh of relief that she's safe. 

Renkotsu suggests that Inuyasha is being chased, which wouldn't be a difficult deduction if he DIDN'T have inside information, but Inuyasha is still a bit on edge. He dangles a trailing invitation for Renkotsu to introduce himself, again glaring over his shoulder, but Renkotsu just asserts that he's a priest at this temple. Sweatdropping, Inuyasha wonders if he can trust this dude. Not that it would matter if he couldn't, of course. 

Damn, it's ACTUALLY a likely story. 

Renkotsu reveals that the people he was burying when Inuyasha arrived were also roasted by a zombie too. I've heard that the best lies have a grain of truth to them, but this is ridiculous. He also reveals that he had heard Inuyasha and friends were being chased by the shichinin-tai, but his uncanny ability to imply the truth without completely giving it away is interrupted by Inuyasha, who wants to set the record straight - they're not BEING chased, but GIVING chase. 

Yeah, tell that to your inert unconscious buddies, dude. 

Renkotsu leapfrogs right over this declaration to ask Inuyasha if he knows and can tell why the Shichinin-tai have been resurrected in the first place. When Inuyasha asks him what he's going to DO with this information, he makes up some bullshit about wanting to pacify they because he's a priest, blah, blah, blah. Inuyasha tells him he'd better not even THINK of doing any such thing, as it's not something a priest can handle. However, Inuyasha IS tentatively convinced that this guy isn't one of the Shichinin-tai. Seems the mild-mannered priest garbage was a success, as it tends to be. Just ask Miroku. Inuyasha also claims that he smells like a regular human, which must just be his nose going on the fritz for plot purposes again.

Hey! You know who we haven't seen in a while? The guy small enough to ride in on a crow!

Where the fuck have YOU been, Myouga?

He wonders aloud what Inuyasha is up to this far north, as if he just now realized Inuyasha wasn't hanging out with him on his bird. The rumble from below grows stronger, and a few rocks are shaken from rest, rolling down into the crevice. 

See? If you hadn't ghosted the story until this moment, you'd know what this is about. And probably would nope right off for an indefinite period anyway, so...

Back at the temple, Renkotsu is asking Inuyasha for some confirmation that this Naraku person resurrected the Shichinin-tai. He asks what Naraku is like while he's seated next to a still-kneeling Inuyasha, whose answer I expected to be expounding upon his enemy's douchebaggery. Instead, he simply says Naraku is kinda like a youkai, and when Renkotsu probes for a more precise meaning, Inuyasha explains that Naraku is not COMPLETELY a youkai. He goes on to say Naraku has fucking hid himself away at the moment, speculating that he's probably endlessly recombining his disparate body parts and storing up his power, using the Shichinin-tai as a shield in all likelihood. Renkotsu gives him a somewhat sharp look at this hypothesis. 

A massive crash sounds toward the front of the temple, to which Inuyasha looks over Renkotsu's shoulder as he turns. Ginkotsu is at the bottom of the stairs, looking at his handiwork blowing off the whole roof off the building with his huge shoulder gun - it sits askew between the ground and the wall. Inuyasha rushes out, cursing that bastard Ginkotsu for catching up, as Renkotsu makes an alarmed noise. Inuyasha yells over his shoulder for the "priest" to stay back if he values his life. Renkotsu just stares sullenly in silence after him. 

Internally, Renkotsu wishes the jerk Ginkotsu had come just a little later. He kneels next to Kagome, thinking that he at least understands that this Naraku character is not to be trusted. Renkotsu pulls the small bottle of Shikon shards from beneath Kagome's collar while she still lay there, out cold.

Did he take a minute to paint his face again? What the actual hell, dude?

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Renkotsu's ruse is decently layered and clever, given how secure he's made his position. Even if he were to accidentally give himself away in the process, even if Inuyasha had cottoned onto the fact that he's one of the bad guys, there's literally nothing he could do about it. Shippou and Kirara are unconscious now too, so there's no one to take everyone to safety. Inuyasha is well and truly alone, so having the knowledge that Kagome and the others are essentially hostages would have done him no good anyway.

It's also very understandable why Renkotsu would WANT to have a neutral chat with Inuyasha in the first place. He didn't let it on in the conversation he had with Jakotsu, but he's also rather suspicious of this mysterious benefactor they have, allowing them to roam the living world again, killing all Naraku's enemies. With how shrouded in secret Naraku seems to be, it makes sense that the Shichinin-tai would be a bit wary, considering they were killed by the very armies that hired them the first time. Cautiousness is definitely prudent here, and Renkotsu taking advantage of being a stranger to Inuyasha to milk him for information is a slick move. 

Not so smart is some abrupt shifts in the chapter, most painful being the one to Myouga for a couple of pages. It's like RT realized she completely forgot about him, but needs him for the part coming up, so she shoved him in there on feeble pretenses so she could have HIM witness Ginkotsu coming back up from the trench. More awkward things HAVE happened in this story, but it was a little glaring. The more minor issues I had was the disregard of Kagome having a voice in the previous chapter but suddenly not in this one, and Renkotsu's face paint magically emerging once Inuyasha is out of view. I've already gone over why Kagome doesn't NEED to be rendered unable to speak before, so this is completely unnecessary in the grand scheme. And since Renkotsu isn't a youkai, but supposed to be human, it makes LITERALLY no sense for his makeup to function like Sesshoumaru's markings. It's baffling at best, and annoying at worst.

Inevitable as mistakes like these are in a serialized story, it still ruffles my continuity feathers a bit, I'm sorry to say.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 300 Slifer vs. Diabound

My local liquor shops do not sell good champagne, which should surprise literally no one. However, if I COULD find a decent bouquet in this town, I would absolutely be popping a bottle for this milestone. KT's 300th chapter, and my 300th time taking the piss out of his comic. I know I've said it before, but I still to this day find it ridiculously ABSURD how consistently I've been keeping up with this blog, to the point that it's now in its seventh year. The sheer number of OPINIONS I've conjured out of thin air about this story is perplexing, and I still don't know what I'm going to do when it ends. I see the conclusion creeping up on me, so I'm going to have to sit down and really ponder the choices for when the time comes. 

In the meantime, I suppose I should just enjoy the last leg of the journey. 

Though THIS particular journey looks to just be getting started.

Yami's got his arm out, presumably directing Slifer, as he chases thief!Bakura, silently promising not to let him shed any more innocent blood. Thief!Bakura is MORE than happy to have Yami following him, internally urging him to follow along to his own doom. Just outside the palace, propped against the outer wall, Yuugi and friends (plus Bobasa) doze away. That is, until there are shouts from the guards yelling about thief!Bakura and how they can't let him get away. Briefly, the group awakes in drowsy confusion, Honda and Jonouchi asking what all the noise is about and vaguely registering that something is going on. Yuugi rubs the sleep from an eye while they listen to the guards panic about thief!Bakura escaping toward the city, the pharaoh himself pursuing him, disbelief at these details, etc.

The mention of the pharaoh wakes Yuugi up completely, Bakura's name a close second in the hierarchy of concerns. He jumps to his feet, alert JUST in time to see Yami galloping past in a hurry. Yuugi gapes in alarm.

I want this as a poster. It's so SICK.

Jonouchi speaks in awe regarding how clear it is that his is Yami, despite him being dressed as a king, and Honda remarks on Slipher being by his side too. Anzu just calls out in worry as Yami recedes into the distance, Slifer's LONG back-end trailing all the way back to the palace. The guards are still shouting about getting thief!Bakura, which Yuugi turns over in his mind, trying to comprehend his other self going after Bakura with Slifer. While he's busy processing, the action is getting farther away.

Thief!Bakura mentally commands his Diabound to attack that stalker with its NEW power. Diabound stretches out its arms on either side, one of them pointed at the oncoming Slifer, to shoot what look like a volley of energy balls at it. LESS than impressive, and not just because it's pretty par for the course as far as monster powers go. Slifer's lithe long form just weaves between these blasts as they smash into the surrounding architecture, splitting an obelisk in half. Destructive, but average. 

Yami is still understandably a bit distressed by this, though, looking over his shoulder to assess the damage as he grunts. Somehow, thief!Bakura is able to shout clearly back at Yami as they're still galloping along, and provides an explanation for what is so special about what Diabound is doing; it's able to steal the abilities of defeated enemies now, and this is the Magic Blast he got from the Magus of Illusion, spirit of the axed priest. Yami recalls Mahado in shock, but in the monsters are uninterrupted in their dance above, Diabound continuing to shoot blasts and Slifer ducking them.

Thief!Bakura gets a bit annoyed by how fast Slifer is, hardly a moment before Slifer shoots forward and Yami yells at him to feel the wrath of the gods.

But thief!Bakura is not so bothered by THIS, tut-tutting Yami for forgetting Diabound's OTHER power. With a crackle of electricity, Yami is looking around in shock when Diabound disappears, and exclaims that it's hidden in the ground. It's not long before he hears some groaning in the earth around him, to his continued shock. 

A massive crack splits the ground behind Yami's horse, following the galloping animal as Yami urges it forward. Thief!Bakura calls this the "fuse of death" and encourages Yami to run and see if he can outstrip it. Yami groans, an explosion of dirt and sand blooms next to him, and his horse rears, prancing to the side to avoid the monster emerging. 

Yami is having NONE of this invasion of his personal space. 

SUCK IT, Diabound!

As Diabound is propelled backward, thief!Bakura clutches his chest where the blast hit his monster, grimacing. He realizes that the Dragon of Heaven's lightening is no joke - it actually hurts! Who woulda thunk? He and Yami are still galloping through the city, by the way, and Yami is thinking he has to hunt him down. Easy hunt when the guy is right in front of you, I guess. 

Thief!Bakura is grinning again at his periphery, because he's considering the creed of the pharaoh behind him as putting first the good of the world and the people. He wants to see how many innocents Yami can save.

Plagues of Egypt, eat your heart out. 

Yami is horrified by how low Diabound is flying, knowing that it's going to hurt the people in the city, and commands Slifer to him, getting him closer. Slifer drifts directly behind Diabound, also flying down low.

I can already tell I'm going to hate this game. It's going to suck.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I was underwhelmed by the reveal that Diabound had stolen the Magus of Illusion's power, but that's probably not KT's fault. I've just seen SO MANY anime/manga with a power-absorbing weapon/character that I'm kind of desensitized by the concept and have come to expect it at this point. It's old hat by this point, but not BAD by any means. It was a little hokey that Yami can hear thief!Bakura's shouts back at them as they're galloping along, though. I was kind of rolling my eyes at that one, even though it's pretty par for the course in this comic. 

Other than these two very minor complaints, this chapter was downright SICK. The action was intense, the imagery was equally so, and this was probably one of the most insanely cool chapters in this whole manga, if not THE coolest. The way the scene where Diabound rose out of the ground almost right under Yami as he's trying to avoid the crack it's causing in the ground? It had me breathless, I was so blown away. The detail on Diabound and Slifer was incredible, demonstrating once again how much FUN KT clearly has drawing these big god-like creatures. Therefore the chapter as a whole was a major blast. 

Love it, simple as that. What a tricentennial!

Inuyasha Manga: 241 Ginkotsu

The punny nature of THIS name is a bit reduced, I'm afraid. The "Gin" in this one is the character for "silver", which I kind of expected in my insignificant knowledge of Japanese, but it's also limited as a descriptor. Since actual silver isn't really used in heavy machinery for obvious reasons, we can only assume that we're talking about color or the sheer amount of MONEY that went into making Ginkotsu a cyborg. So the interpretations of this guy's name I'm ultimately left with are either that he's impressively SHINY, or essentially the Six Million Dollar Man. In the latter case, I'm just tempted to call him Steve Austin instead. 

It's really a shame that RT couldn't have gotten away with calling him "Chrome Skill/Chrome Bone". Would have raised fewer questions for me, at least. 

Oh yeah, I haven't gotten into Renkotsu's name yet!

I'll do it later. I'm lazy. 

Renkotsu tells Jakotsu that he'll go and finish his OTHER work, though no word on what that is. I'm probz better off not knowing, to be honest, which means I'm very likely to find out before too long. But Renkotsu does promise that if Jakotsu hurries it up, he may just be in time to see Inuyasha die. What a comforting thought for a sadist. 

Out in the wooded hills, Inuyasha carries Kagome on his back while he leads Kirara, ferrying the unconcious Sango and Miroku slung across a massive back and Shippou perched on her head, who asks Inuyasha how far he intends to go. He ignores the question, asking the dozing Kagome over his shoulder if it hurts, and for her to hold on just a little longer. Sango and Miroku rustle a bit as Kirara picks through the forest, but they too are otherwise silent. 

Insistent, Shippou says it's bad to keep moving everyone for how it speeds the poison's circulation, to which Inuyasha snaps that he KNOWS. There's a rustle above that Inuyasha glaces up for, clearly a bit paranoid at this point. He carefully slides Kagome off his back holds her out to Kirara, bidding Shippou take her and the others on ahead. Shippou looks confused, I'm sure due in no small part to the fact that he's not only being entrusted with holding Miroku's staff, but also a girl five times his size as Inuyasha leans her on Kirara in the front. Seriously, he doesn't even bother situating her on the giant sabertooth's back like the others. Perhaps he thinks he doesn't have time; he's already got a hand on Tessaiga's hilt, cursing that whomever has been stalking them has caught up. The rustling around them becomes more pronounced. 

Oh come on, what is this, the Final Destination series? Is Inuyasha being careless in shop class?? 

Inuyasha deflects the ridiculous flying saw blades with his sword, cursing again, and they are yanked back toward their source by some force, to his surprise. Over the stumps of the felled trees, Inuyasha spies a hazy figure stamping up the hill as the last errant saw blade locks back onto a rack on its back.

That is the jankiest shit I've ever seen. 

Inuyasha tentatively identifies the jank-man as a member of the Shichinin-tai as well; though this one's human shape is a bit on the ambiguous side, Inuyasha says he still smells like corpse and burial soil. The object of this assessment just gurgles a chuckle, introducing himself as Ginkotsu. With Tessaiga hoisted on his shoulder, Inuyasha says he has a few questions, but acknowledges that this isn't the time to ask them.

Careful, he might have a hidden self-destruct button.

Ginkotsu laughs again, surmising that Inuyasha wants his poisoned friends to rest as soon as possible, and offers to kill them off himself before the poison has a chance to bring them that far as he launches those disc saw blades from his back again. Inuyasha dodges and weaves around them with a grunt, then while they dig themselves into the ground with their rotating inertia, he turns to yell at Kirara to everyone away from here. Kirara wastes no time in grabbing Kagome by the cape of her sailor blouse and lifting all of them in the air, including a shocked Shippou. Hope Kagome's blouse is made of a decent textile. 

Ginkotsu chuckles that they won't get away, aiming that arm that looks like it's capped with a grappling hook up at them. The claws have come out, and, for better or worse, we'll never know if that blouse would have held up under the weight of Kagome's limp torso.

Mayday! MAYDAY! We've got antiaircraft artillery!

Ginkotsu yanks back on the chain attached to his grappling hook and Kirara & crew go DOWN straight into the dirt. Inuyasha gapes at a groaning Kagome, who still seems to be unconscious. He then turns back to Ginkotsu, sword held at the ready, as he promises the bastard in front of him that he'll pay for that. Ginkotsu laughs in amusement while Inuyasha calls out the ever reliable Kaze no Kizu. He doesn't have a chance to follow through.

It's at this point that Inuyasha notices the steel wires connected to the blades that he's gotten a bit tangled up in. I guess he thought the saws were returning to Ginkotsu through sheer magic before? Not a completely illogical idea, given his environment, but still...

Ginkotsu explains that he was told by his big brother not to Inuyasha swing his big sword around too much, metal parts screeching against one another as he chuckles some more. He wastes no more time in firing the big canon on his back at Inuyasha, yelling at him to just DIE already, and Inuyasha cringes away from the blast with a grunt. Debris bounces in front of Shippou, who has hit the deck and stutters in shock that this is gun powder. Brilliant deduction, my young mascot. 

The jank-man declares victory too early, claiming that Inuyasha was blown to pieces with pathetic certainty. Dude, don't you know the whole story is NAMED after him??

Try again when YOU'VE got a comic with your name on it, bro.

Ginkotsu jumps back as Inuyasha swings Tessaiga down where he was standing. Quite limber for a hunk of junk. Inuyasha yells again at Shippou and Kirara to get going, and Kirara takes off again, all bodies miraculously back on back or in jaw, and Shippou shouting Inuyasha's name while they fly away. Once they clear the canopy, Shippou can clearly see a temple rising at the top of a nearby hill. He points it out to Kirara, directing her to land over there. 

After a small black panel, we are with Kagome as she slowly comes back to consciousness. Shippou is sat next to her head, on the futon she's laid on with a plain blanket draped over her. She acknowledges Shippou, asking where they are with the roof over their head and the open sliding door. Shippou tells her they're hiding at a temple, and indicates Sango and Miroku laying next to her, on their own futons, stating that they're still unconscious. The only thought Kagome has is to question where Inuyasha is. 

Someone at the door comments on the fact that she's awake. A serene-looking monk is framed in the open door, claiming how glad he is to see she's come to, asking her to rest without worry. He can't fool her for a single moment, though.

He wiped the flames off his face, but it still wasn't enough.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Inuyasha's anxiety is PALPABLE in this chapter. It's easy to feel how nervous he is over the condition of his friends, getting them to a safe place, being stalked, etc. He's less cocky, and is very quiet while Shippou nags at him about the poison spreading, with only the tense snap-back to acknowledge he's heard. If he were feeling his normal hot-headed self, he would have at least said something snide and hit Shippou over the head, but clearly he's a bit overwhelmed with the situation. Not only does he have a lot of dead weight to look after, but that dead weight was recently a team and friends. It just goes to show how far he's moved away from a loner mindset that he's become so uncomfortable with the possibility of the company/support going away. He has certainly gotten reliant on his group, both emotionally and in a fight, which SHOWS in how his demeanor has deteriorated since the previous chapter. 

It's been a while since I've read this part of the manga, so I can't remember all that well, but I find it hard to believe that Renkotsu DIDN'T know Kagome could sense the Shikon fragments - he and his associates know entirely too much about (most) of their enemies from Naraku for me to buy that he hasn't been briefed on THAT as well. I'm guessing Renkotsu decided to disguise himself as a monk to look innocuous to innocent little Shippou, and is banking on Kagome not being able to speak on the matter. She's demonstrated that she CAN above, of course, but given the group is out of commission at the moment, it would be unwise for her to let on that she knows anyway. No doubt the mental torture of this is part of Renkotsu's plan, since there's a noticeable pattern among all of the Shichinin-tai that they're all about inflicting all kinds of anguish on folks. 

No wonder Naraku gets on so well with them.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 299 Assault on the Palace!

Guess those giant sentry statues sitting at the entrance weren't intimidating enough. Perhaps they're more an advertisement of the wealth within than a deterrent in the best of times, but especially when there's a madman running amuck with a creepy monster in his wake stealing everything he can get his hands on. I'm not saying that the architecture isn't impressive, or huge statues aren't cool, but maybe the pharaoh that commissioned those things should have considered what statement they were really making. I'm considering some fun aesthetic bullshit for my new house, but if I flanked my front door with a pair of massive expensive carvings, I'd expect at least a couple of people in the neighborhood to think about taking me down a peg. 

Yup, she's lying on a cot behind those bars; so much for her getting a proper ROOM, I guess. 

As Priest Seto stares at her sleeping on the other side of the bars, backlit like the creeper he is, one of the guards to her cell says she's out cold, and the doctors say she'll recover well with some rest. The "CLANK" sound effect that accompanies his closer look is a poor indicator that the door is being opened for him by a guard (I had to look at the next page to confirm. Mystery Lady just keeps on snoozing.

Once he's in the room, standing over her, he wonders how much pain will need to color her blue eyes before her white dragon is released into the sky. 

Keep your mediocre sadistic poetry to yourself, please. 

With a hard stare, Priest Seto makes a silent vow to make the white dragon his own servant, even if he has to sacrifice the wielder's life. Well, I guess we know now why he didn't just take her to be inducted into the priesthood. Dude wants to take a woman's extraordinary talents/achievements and claim them as his own. Tale as old as time. 

We see the full moon through the bars on a window, hanging over the palace. Yami's Millennium Puzzle is buzzing around his neck, restless. He grasps it and peers down to where he holds it just below his chin, looking a little concerned as he repeats that he's got a bad feeling, and wonders if it's a premonition from the puzzle. In a timely manner, a couple of guards burst into the room in which he's sitting at a desk to alert him to some terrible news: they found a bunch of corpses in a tavern, ripped to shreds, and the blood is still warm. EW. The guards suspect this is the work of thief!Bakura, of course. At first, Yami looks alarmed at the news, then adopts a more stoic expression when he insists to himself that he KNEW thief!Bakura must be near. 

Sure, you can turn that vague sense of dread into a specific vision. I definitely WON'T call you on it. 

Much more fitting as a title page than the panels above, I have to say.

Thief!Bakura says it would be easy to just kill Akhenaden and take his Millennium Item right now, but he proposes a partnership. That's right, he suggests that Akhenaden could work for HIM instead of the pharaoh. Gritting his teeth, Akhenaden is utterly speechless at the moment, probably because he's still reeling from his spine splitting like the stone behind him, but that's just a guess. Thief!Bakura doesn't bother to wait for an answer anyway, because he has a lot more adjacent stuff to say, like he's found the Millennium Ring he's wearing can infuse a part of the owner's soul into an object. Just HOW and WHY did thief!Bakura come to this conclusion? No clue; it's not exactly published in a peer reviewed journal of any kind. Even one of the less trustworthy ones. Just thrown out there without so much as a reference to whatever experiment or accidental finding thief!Bakura stumbled into. Anyway, he asks Akhenaden what he thinks would happen if he put a piece of his soul into the Millennium Eye, favoring the possibility it would make Akhenaden into his pawn with a chuckle. 

Akhenaden stutters that he's loyal to the pharaoh, so that would NEVER work. Golden eye glinting, he begins to summon another monster from one of the unbroken slabs on the wall. What looks like the head and shoulders of an armored cat emerges from the stone, only for an annoyed-looking thief!Bakura to yell that he's sick of these sorts of wimps as his Diabound issues a blast at it from a massive palm. The armored cat is incinerated, and Akhenaden gurgles in response. 

Thief!Bakura is a lot more serious when he threatens that he could tear Akhenaden limb from limb at this very moment, but he says it wouldn't be enough of a punishment for Kul Elna. 

No doubt a feature of that "sin" he was talking about earlier. Thief!Bakura confirms this with his sardonic question about if Akhenaden can still hear the death screams of those people of Kul Elna, the village of thieves, of which he is the sole survivor. I see he came by his thieving talents honest. The revelation that thief!Bakura came from Kul Elna takes Akhenaden aback, but remains silent as he stares at thief!Bakura, who vows that this city will drown in blood now too. He adds that Akhenaden will be the one to spill it too, when Akhenaden becomes the ruler of the shadows, which is... a foreboding statement, to say the least. Akhenaden is definitely sweating about it. Or all his shattered bones. Or both.

A scream issues from the shrine, and the confused guards recognize the voice carrying it. Yami hears it too and rushes out to a balcony to investigate. 

Looks like the senpais noticed each other.

As he's running along the tops of the columns, thief!Bakura thinks at Yami that one of the priests belong to him now, wondering what the punk pharaoh will do about it. He raises a bloodied hand to show a shocked Yami, mentally asserting that the fall of Yami's kingdom has begun. 

Priest Seto seems to have not noticed the commotion as he strolls out of the palace, until one of the guards calls to him to come along quickly, citing Akhenaden in the Shrine of Wedju as the reason. Immediately, Priest Seto expresses tense disbelief, eyes wide and teeth clenched. Meanwhile, the bulk of guards yell back and forth about how thief!Bakura was here, that he must be hiding in the palace, commands to find him and calls to bring back the guard in the city to surround the palace, etc. One guard leaps on a horse to perform the latter duty, galloping out under an arch that no one has noticed thief!Bakura is perched upon. Well, until the smug bastard leers down at the rider, and by the look on the riders face, leaps right down on top of him. 

That pain must be a hazy drop in the bucket at this point, but DAMN. That looks AGONIZING.

Kalim (this poor guy, I keep having to look back up his name XD) assures everyone that Akhenaden's just unconscious and not dead. Priest Seto growls through gritted teeth fuming over that scum thief!Bakura for first targeting Mahado and now Akhenaden. I'm surprised he even remembers that guy he seemed to hate so much for literally no reason, let alone recalls his death as a BAD thing. Probably the nicest thought Priest Seto has ever had of the dude. 

We get another shot of Akhenaden with his eye half out, and Kalim says it looks like thief!Bakura tried to steal it. Priest Seto questions the fact that he left WITHOUT the item, which is probably the first coherent thought he's ever had about anything. He doesn't dwell on it, though, yelling that thief!Bakura is still nearby and ordering someone or other to get him. 

But thief!Bakura is already galloping past scattered guards with little resistance - they just weakly yell at him to stop as he laughs it it up, breezing on by. The guards assemble in a very THIN formation in front of another arch, their spears held up defensively, calling for each other not to let him pass. With a smug grin from thief!Bakura, they are all shoved back in a ring around him, blood spurting from disembodied limbs and heads. 

Whatcha lookin' at there? Surely nothing is capable of turning your overinflated head now!

Try Yami, speeding out behind thief!Bakura on a white steed, prior subversion of light and dark color associations be damned. Though thief!Bakura lost his grin for a moment, it's back in full force now. He's no doubt tickled pink that the pharaoh himself is chasing him down. As he gallops up behind thief!Bakura, Yami makes one of those high-elbowed gestures that indicates he's chosen a card to summon with a Duel Disk, thinking thief!Bakura won't escape this time. 

All he needs is some shining armor. Or... any armor, really. Looking a little vulnerable there.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? The action in the final third of this chapter promises A LOT in the next one, and possibly beyond. With a rematch between an upgraded thief!Bakura/Diabound and Yami's swapped out god coming up, I assume we're about to get a better idea of how powerful thief!Bakura has REALLY gotten with the Millennium Ring. The way thief!Bakura tosses around and minces the guards doesn't really give us a great idea of what he's capable in a legit fight, considering they weren't holding up any better against him BEFORE he picked up the new powers. I'm both excited and nervous to see what kind of new challenges Yami faces just days after the first encounter, considering he hasn't done much in that time except sit on his ass. Or stand. Occasionally. 

I appreciate that thief!Bakura was clever enough to make it LOOK like he was trying to steal the Millennium Eye before he left, that Kalim made the very understandable mistake of assuming this was the case, and that Priest Seto had the mind to question that due to thief!Bakura's escape without it. He was also way too concerned with catching thief!Bakura to ponder to much on this thread. This all makes Everyone in the situation fallible, but in a logical way, while not dumbing them down for the sake expediency or lengthening a thread in the plot. I can think of another mangaka who could take this leaf out of Yu-Gi-Oh in particular. Not naming names, but...

It's interesting that thief!Bakura plans to implant a part of his soul in the Millennium Eye, presumably to control Akhenaden, since his spirit counterpart in the ring pulled the same "horcrux" shit with the puzzle to allow himself to get in the Memory World. I'm curious as to whether that piece of his soul STAYED in the eye too, if it's still there. Is it the malevolent presence that Pegasus sensed when HE had the eye? Is it possible that, given the right circumstances, there could be MORE spirits of Bakura running around all at once? 

Gracious, what a HORRID thought. It'll keep me up at night.

Inuyasha Manga: 240 Those Seeking Naraku

Don't envy THEM in the slightest. Perpetually chasing around a guy who hasn't quite figured out personal hygiene so they can put him out of his stinky misery? And you just KNOW he put that stench in a BIGGER barrier rather than wash his ass for once, so it's going to be even WORSE when they finally catch up with him. They better treasure their olfactory senses while they have the chance, because they're probably going to have to stick a lit match up their noses in a bit.

It'll be a BIT, though. 

Yeah, that's the guy who's going to get the worst of it, for sure. 

Kagome heaves herself up on her hands and knees, dumbfounded at Sesshoumaru saving them, while Mukotsu is just confused as hell about what's going on all around. He THOUGHT that Inuyasha and Kouga's groups where the only enemies that the Shichinin-tai had, so he asks Sesshoumaru who he is. Sesshoumaru, in turn, asks what Mukotsu is, staring blankly down at him bleeding on the floor.

Not Sesshoumaru WANDERING in and out of situations like a hallucinating junkie, only asking questions when he's already sliced someone up! But, I'll tell you what, he's convincing me he's got that GOOD kush. Sesshoumaru, honey, sugar, please tell me what drugs you're on and where I can get them! PLEASE!

**Edit 1/4/2022: My husband has decided to make a contribution to this image of Sesshoumaru as a stoner - enjoy!

Mukotsu strains to sit up, calling Sesshoumaru a bastard for attacking him before he even knew who he was. He shouts that Sesshoumaru is taking him lightly as he pulls ANOTHER canister off his back and aims it, pulling off the cover for Sesshoumaru to take in the face. Kagome and Miroku gape through their agony, noting Sesshoumaru is getting doused in poison. But they forgot, he's got the "COOL" designation in the story. He'll be fine.

See? Not so much as a thread out of place. 

A motion blur bisects Mukotsu's face, and Sesshoumaru holds up Tokijin in the aftermath of his slash. He tells Mukotsu that the poison of a mere human has no effect on him as the flesh dissolves off Mukotsu. The collapsing skeleton manages to express disbelief before it's silent again, so I guess the explanation wasn't COMPLETELY wasted on a dead man. The Shikon shard from Mukotsu's neck falls into the folds of his clothes. 

Inuyasha rushes onto the scene, yelling Kagome's name. As typical as typical can be. 

Oh, awkward moment that is ripe for all KINDS of misinterpretation!

But who are we kidding? Sesshoumaru is WAY too high to care what it looks like. 

Inuyasha sees Miroku and Sango all but unconscious while Kagome struggles to prop herself on an elbow, weakly calling his name, taking a minute to process this as he gapes. He says her name, looks at his brother glaring over his shoulder at him, then leaps between the two, calling Sesshoumaru a bastard. Inuyasha demands to know what he's doing there and what the FUCK he did to Kagome and the others. He looks like he's fixing to lose his fucking mind when Kagome pipes up from behind him, telling him he's mistaken. She says Sesshoumaru saved them, bewildering Inuyasha.

Sesshoumaru has to set the record straight, claiming it wasn't his INTENT to save anyone, and indicating that the pile of bones he reduced Mukotsu to was just interrupting their conversation. A conversation that literally did not exist, and WOULD not exist, had he not saved the people he wanted to converse with. Deep-fried logic coming from this one. Just the deepest.

Inuyasha DOES seem rather skeptical when he asks about this nonexistent "conversation". 

Don't tell him anything, Inuyasha! At least not until he hooks you up with where he's stashing that good shit he's on.

As Inuyasha responds with confusion at first, Jakotsu is watching from behind a tree, at a distance. First he thinks of Inuyasha as a jerk for making him wait so long that he thought he wasn't coming, presumably what led him to go to find him instead. Then Jakotsu wonders who the snobbish jerk is, because like Mukotsu, he never heard of an enemy like one with the big fur. He also noticed the guy killed Mukotsu like an insect, which suggests that HE got to the scene much sooner than Inuyasha did. That's... weird. 

Anyway, Jakotsu decides that he's lingered here long enough and slinks off before he's noticed. Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru is demanding that Inuyasha tell him where Naraku is. Damn son, don't you think Inuyasha would have nerfed him already if he knew where the fucker was? Nevertheless, Inuyasha explains that they heard Naraku's evil aura was heading in the direction of Ushitora the last time it was detected, and were attacked by those under his influence as they got into the area, so he concludes that Naraku is definitely nearby. I don't know if that's a FAIR conclusion, since he hasn't been able to CONFIRM the Shichinin-tai are in Naraku's employ, but a good summation at any case. 

With a swish of fabric, Sesshoumaru turns to leave, nary a goodbye to offer. Inuyasha hesitantly calls to him, but Sesshoumaru just says that this is all he needed to know, fucking off again. Inuyasha sweatdrops as he watches Sesshoumaru disappear again, marveling that he's also after Naraku. His attention is grabbed by Shippou worrying over Miroku and Sango in the background, lamenting that they've all been poisoned. Inuyasha stares a moment, then goes to cradle Kagome and gently say her name. She assures him that she's okay and that Miroku and Sango protected her, albeit weakly. 

Ah shit, should have picked that up when you had the chance! 

But it IS concrete proof that Naraku is involved, at least. Inuyasha notes that it's a saimyoushou, and Kagome urges him to go after it, since Naraku has to be nearby if they're about. But Miroku and Sango are still slumped and unconscious, and Inuyasha declares that he's taking care of them and Kagome first, internally cursing himself for not being here sooner. The transformation has been quite dramatic from when Inuyasha would have at least been COMPLAINING that he couldn't go after a Shikon shard, let alone Naraku. Our boy is growing up.

Elsewhere, Jaken and Rin sit on a log or exposed tree-root, the latter kicking her feet over the edge. She comments on how late Sesshoumaru is - dad's not back from "work" by the time he usually is, apparently. Rin says she should have gone along with him, and Jaken calls her a fool. He tells her that Sesshoumaru went somewhere with a lot of poison floating around, and she would have been a goner had he brought her along with him. Rin lifts her hands up behind her head, complaining that she's boooooooooored though. This kid making my inner child jealous with how awesome and magical her life is right now, and she thinks she's BORED. The audacity. 

Rin catches sight of something out of the corner of her eye, the movement of a figure in the trees, and realizes with shock that it's Kohaku. He lifts his hand to greet a saimyoushou HALF HIS SIZE, the one that snatched the Shikon fragment from Mukotsu's remains; it's offering him the glittering shard. Hand to her mouth to muffle any gasps that might escape, she wonders what he's doing in a place like this. Jaken notices her alarm, despite her efforts, and asks her what's wrong, to which she plays it cool and says it's nothing. He won't suspect a thing. She looks furtively back to where she saw Kohaku and finds the space empty again. 

Ooof, any kid asking THAT kind of question should seriously consider ducking under someone ELSE'S wing. Super red-flag right there. 

Cut to a staircase leading up to a temple gate. No narrow-sky transition panel required, imagine that. Beyond, on a porch, two figures sit discussing the subsequent deaths of Kyoukotsu and Mukotsu. The one that can be made out as Jakotsu confirms this.

The type who could probz do with some stimulants instead of depressants for a change. Better question, what type of person are YOU to be wearing monk robes and flames painted on your face? 

Jakotsu scratches his cheek thoughtfully, saying that Sesshoumaru seemed kind of cold to him, but also handsome. Emotional inaccessibility - hot or not? Jakotsu soon comes to the conclusion that he prefers the naive types like Inuyasha though, while the guy he's talking to asks WHO even asked about his taste in men, clearly annoyed. Not really interested in going on a long sleepover tangent about which boys they want to kiss, this one. 

That's okay, the fangirls have done that labor of love for them. 

Jakotsu gets his serious on, leaning in and addressing his companion as "Renkotsu no Aniki", so very fitting for the monk getup. He expresses some suspicion about how little they've been told, asking who the hell this Naraku guy is who resurrected them and if Renkotsu has met him at all. Renkotsu deadpan says that only BIG brother has met Naraku, before explaining that their leader was given the Shikon shards by Naraku, enough for all of them to be brought back, and promised to let them keep the fragments if they killed everyone coming after him. 

Looking put out, Jakotsu complains that two of them have already bitten the dust, claiming that there's only four of them left. Following a pause, Renkotsu tells him that seven minus two equals FIVE. Which of them does Jakotsu think so little of that he's forgetting him right now?? Renkotsu redirects the conversation yet again, asking for confirmation that Inuyasha's friends were dosed with Mukotsu's poison. Jakotsu says this is true, and adds that Mukotsu's poison lasts a while, during which those kids won't likely to be moving a lot. 

The narrow-sky transition panel is back to briefly show how Inuyasha has lined up his ailing friends on the ground by a small waterfall and river. He kneels by Kagome's side while Shippou says they've ingested some non-specific anti-poison herbs but warning that he thinks it'll be dangerous if they don't rest for a bit. Inuyasha agrees, voicing the necessity that they find a safe place for them somewhere. 

Back with Jakotsu and Renkotsu, the latter chuckles that this is interesting, because GINKOTSU is on his way towards Inuyasha's location at the moment, with the purpose of bringing him and the group to the temple. 

Was... was he that way BEFORE he died?

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I'm sarcastic about Sesshoumaru's sobriety in this one, but I really did appreciate his swooping in to get rid of the active threat in a somewhat ABSURD tone. The horror of the scene before, the greater horror of what could have been, is utterly DESTROYED by Sesshoumaru's comically nonchalant attitude. It's clear that he grasped the urgency of the situation, given that he struck Mukotsu before even attempting to start that "conversation" he wanted, but he also chose not to strike what he would assume to be a mortal blow just to attempt to satisfy his curiosity about what this person who smelled like a walking corpse was about. If Inuyasha can smell it, so can Sesshoumaru, and he's got a penchant for curiosity. Just seeing how his priorities shift in the moment according to his inquisitiveness is something that I find hilarious. Since the joke here isn't at Kagome's expense as the victim, it's a bit of a welcome break to the tension too. 

Sesshoumaru's denial that he MEANT to help anyone is in a limbo of interpretations to me, though, due to the awkward, roundabout, and illogical way it was presented. He could have just said that he didn't save Kagome and the others out of the goodness of his heart, but so they could be alive to answer his questions, and that would have been a more straightforward sentiment, sweet and to the point. I'm curious if this is an issue of trying to produce a more direct translation, because if it is, I can just chalk it up to a refusal to sacrifice a word-for-word literal interpretation for a better ease of meaning. If it's NOT and the original Japanese comes across as awkward, however, I'm tempted to look at this sentence as that of a guy who is starting to recognize that his actions have been leaning more toward a compassionate bent lately, and is trying to on the fly make up excuses as to why it LOOKS like he's changing when he's really just the same. 

Either way, funny scene, Sesshoumaru is an awkward stoner, change my mind. 

Anyway, it's also very interesting how secretive Rin becomes when she spots Kohaku - not only is she not holding a grudge against him, she's worried about what her companions will do if they cross paths with him again, especially Sesshoumaru. It's likely because she took what Jaken said about how angry Sesshoumaru was to heart, and the implication that he's off to murder Naraku/anyone else involved because of it. All because of her, as she said before. Now, instead of being flattered that she's such an important person in Sesshoumaru's eyes, she has to be concerned about what the level of importance could result in for another kid whom she grew to really like over their short time together. Poor girl just cannot get a break; always having to deal with SOME shit in her orbit that she has no control over and yet is inextricably tangled in. 

And finally, I'm excited we get to see the introduction of TWO more Shichinin-tai this chapter! A sardonic prick and what passes for a feudal cyborg are a fair replacement for the two lost so far in my view. Some additional ditzy dialog from Jakotsu certainly doesn't hurt, because in combination with his natural suspicion of a guy ordering his team around that only one of them has met makes for a pretty nuanced performance from him. We're starting off the new year RIGHT!

Happy 2022!