Inuyasha Manga: 248 Two Minds

Relatable. I'm indecisive about damn near everything these days, from what I should do about the giant non-native (though pretty) bushes in my yard, to what I should do for dinner on any given night. I'm not a natural planner, and that's a problem when any kind of issue comes up that I haven't bothered to think about too hard before the moment. I should know by now that these things DON'T just work themselves out, and need someone to push them toward a solution, but I keep failing to learn that lesson, so they just keep sneaking up on me until I can't ignore them anymore. You'd think my more rational mind would have figured out a way to kick the lazy one into shape by now, considering how little of a fight the latter puts up about ANYTHING.

Speaking of planning, this very clunky depiction of multiple personalities probably could have used a bit more of that, huh?

From behind the flames, Sango gapes at Suikotsu, muttering about him. Kagome asks in panic what's happening, and Sango just vagues that Suikotsu seems completely different from before. Miroku suggests that he has two minds in one body (said the title!), and Kagome agrees. She says she's heard of people with multiple personalities, but doesn't offer any helpful information regarding this phenomenon, probably because she doesn't have her copy of the latest DSM on her. Tsk, tsk. She does offer a rather obvious statement that another personality has come out after being concealed from them until now. Her turn to play the Captain, it seems.

Inuyasha admits to Suikotsu that he has NO idea what's going on, but he asks the only question he gives a shit about the answer to: whether or not Suikotsu is a member of the Shichinin-tai. In the interim, Renkotsu calls to Suikotsu, tossing him a pair of fingerless gloves with MASSIVE CLAW-LIKE BLADES attached to the knuckles. He catches the sailing accidents waiting to happen by the wrist, because this scene's tone might have swung in an entirely different direction if he the blades came at him first.

I mean, what the hell else were you going to do with your Saturday night, really?

Inuyasha cracks the knuckles on his ACTUAL claws and scoffs that it's interesting Suikotsu thinks he can defeat him with the fake ones. Suikotsu yells at the brat to watch his mouth before lunging at him, scraping up the ground as Inuyasha leaps sanguinely into the air to avoid the blow. Inuyasha darts down with his own Sankon Tessou extended toward Suikotsu, who also dodges, to the side onto a hand. Inuyasha has hardly stood back up from clawing at the ground when he hears a rumbling a short distance away. He turns to look and is horrified by what he sees.

Girl NO, you gotta quit doing this! Kagome can't even climb down to get you this time!!!

Inuyasha yells out Kikyou's name in panic, while Suikotsu is charging at him again, asking what he's looking away for. Inuyasha leaps upward again, but not fast enough to avoid the weird Wolverine claws, a splatter of blood trailing in the wake of the attack. Miroku runs straight into the wall of flame around them, calling back to Sango that she needs to stay with Kagome, sporting zero visible burns when he busts through and runs to kneel beside the unconscious Kikyou. He manages to lift her just out of the way of the tank as it barrels over where she was laying a moment ago.

Relatively? Man, I don't know, I don't think anyone is safe at the moment.

Suikotsu lunges for Inuyasha again, giggling that he's going to kill him, and Inuyasha complains that this is HIS line. Oh, he read the script, fantastic. Suddenly, doctor!Suikotsu's gaggle of adopted babies yell for all this to stop, running straight for the battle and asking what happened, demanding Suikotsu return to normal. Gracious, did your new dad not teach you guys a SMIDGE of survival instincts since he's been responsible for you?? Inuyasha warns them to stay away, but his bewilderment comes out upon seeing Suikotsu's face as he stands frozen. The kids continue to call his name like an incantation, and... it seems to be doing SOMETHING if not working.

Is he HOLDING BACK a mantrum? That's not like the Shichinin-tai at all.

Renkotsu tells Suikotsu that's enough and to come to the tank. It seems like they're getting ready to hit the road. Without doing much more than mildly scorching their marks. But Renkotsu seems pretty comfy with failing in their objectives yet again. Even when Inuyasha rushes after them, yelling that they're not getting away, he blandly says this is it for today, and Ginkotsu gurgles in agreement, firing a blast from his cannon. Inuyasha leaps away from the shattering ground in front of him, raising an arm to guard against the flying rocks. The settling dust only reveals their collective lumpy shadow receding into the distance at first, much to Inuyasha's irritation, but Jakotsu waves goodbye emphatically to him from Ginkotsu's caboose and suggests they meet again sometime. A farewell that Inuyasha probably appreciates even LESS than the sudden retreat of his enemy, but there is ONE sentiment that I'm sure he would agree with; beside Jakotsu, Suikotsu sweats and grinds his teeth, muttering and cursing about how frustrating that was. 

Back on the ground, Inuyasha looks around at the mention of Kikyou's name. Miroku and a couple of Suikotsu's kids surround her, one of the children begging her to wake up. 

"How long has she been out? That's so BAD for you." - Sterling Archer. Probably.

Inuyasha kneels down beside Kikyou as well, wondering if the dead souls she's normally full of left her body. I'm sorry, dear readers, that is undoubtedly the WORST way I could have put Kikyou's state of being. But I'm also not sorry. Anyway, the fire seems to have died out with Renkotsu's interest in the fight, because Sango and Kagome are no longer surrounded by flames. Kagome looks on at Kikyou's unconscious form ringed by concerned onlookers, while Sango kind of eyes her out of her periphery. 

Hearing a swishing noise, Kagome turns to look in its direction, to find that Kikyou's soul-collecting youkai are attempting to bring her new souls, per their job description. They keep dissolving before they can get to her, though, dissipating into the misty air. Inuyasha and Miroku have also noticed this, the former remarking upon their disappearance, and the latter wondering out loud what's going on. The shinidamachuu swim through the air just out of range, and an initially confused Kagome starts to work out that they can't get close. 

After another look at Kikyou lying unresponsive, Kagome suggests Inuyasha take her over to where the soul-collectors are. Inuyasha stares at her speechlessly, while she states stiffly that Kikyou probably won't wake up if he doesn't. Sango says Kagome's name softly, as if in pity, even though SHE'S not the one knocked out without a replenished stream of energy. She's already powered through HER near-death experience, now it's Kikyou's turn to try not to take a dirt nap. Again. 

Miroku asks Inuyasha what he'll do, and after Inuyasha responds with a light confusion, Miroku suggests HE could carry Kikyou off to the shinidamachuu. Kagome interrupts to assert that it should be Inuyasha who does it, looking forlorn as all hell. Behind her, Shippou asks Sango from her shoulder if she also thinks it's gotten tense up in here, and she assures him that it's NOT his imagination. 

Then... why did you demand Inuyasha be the one to do this? Was that really necessary?

Behind Kagome, Sango mutters to Miroku, asking if Inuyasha is still in love with Kikyou. Miroku just responds with exasperation that he's in awe at how kind Kagome is. Kagome turns to ask, seething, if they have to talk about this at the moment. They all freeze in their tracks, at alarmed attention as they apologize and disown the topic vehemently. Shippou even cowers and calls her scary, but Kagome seems to be confused about why everyone's acting so uptight.

Hey, don't knock THEM when you started being weird first, kid.

Seemingly the moment Inuyasha lays Kikyou at the base of a tree where the soul collectors are hanging out, his group trailing behind, the shinidamachuu dive toward their mistress to deposit a cloud of dead souls on her. She opens her eyes silently, and Inuyasha says her name tentatively, stopping short of asking if she's alright. She looks up and acknowledges him with his name alone as well, Kagome remaining speechless as she watches from around Miroku's shoulder. 

Kikyou asks where this is, and Inuyasha tells her it's the edge of the village, and he doesn't need to explain further. She says she had thought the shinidamachuu wouldn't be able to get close to the village, making it seem like a hypothesis that she hadn't had time to test, despite the few days she spent with Suikotsu at his medical hut. Inuyasha dumbly agrees, because how do you respond to that when you don't have your own hypotheses to share? Kikyou asks what happened to the people with the polluted Shikon shards, and Inuyasha has something concrete to contribute to the conversation now, informing her that they all retreated, including Suikotsu. Kikyou replies with disbelief and a sharp look at Kagome, whom she addresses next. Kagome acknowledges Kikyou with a bit of discomfort in her expression, and Kikyou tells her she should have been able to see the Shikon fragment in Suikotsu's neck. Eyes downcast, Kagome repeats her observation that the clear light in Suikotsu's shard had become corrupted, like she's offering the right answer to a quiz question in class.

She's trying to say Kagome's getting a passing grade.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? The retreat of the villains wasn't awful overall. One of them is shown to be severely compromised, and it seems that at least Kikyou has an inkling that the environment in particular is what's causing such internal discord in Suikotsu. It does seem like Renkotsu's whole purpose in showing up in the first place was to grab Suikotsu and beat it, probably at least partly because of the disadvantage the area's special effects. It can be inferred from there that they didn't really prepare to have a full-out brawl with the protags at this time, and they were looking to make a quick exit.

And yet, it still seems a TAD too convenient for Inuyasha and company, because the mercenaries seemed to have the upper hand in the fight, even with Suikotsu being wishy-washy as he was at the end. Ginkotsu is an ACTUAL tank right now! I'm not sure I fully buy that the undead contract killers wouldn't want to hold out just a bit longer until it was clear they wouldn't be able to win at the moment. On the other hand, Renkotsu seemed to be the one in charge of this expedition, and he has just let Inuyasha run off without much fuss before. 

I also don't HATE Kagome's bout of antisocial moping in this chapter. I remember fifteen years old. I was stupid too. I've expressed my awe at how authentic RT's depictions of various age groups is, and it's at times like these that those depictions really shine, because Kagome's warped perception still manages to make you feel sorry for her. It's clear she's not being malicious or enraged out of nowhere, and her insecurity here is EXTREMELY relatable. Anyone who has ever felt like they just were just sharing someone's affections with another who is a little intimidating can empathize with Kagome's moodiness.

But Kikyou is such an interesting character, and these situations that highlight Kagome's insecurities tend to overshadow what Kikyou could be conveying in the story. Kikyou herself attempts to include Kagome in the conversation, but the point of this is still railroaded by Kagome's mopey attitude. Not much, but enough to make me a little frustrated. 

Oh well, drama (especially the romantic kind) is always going to take center-stage in stories. Don't know why I expect any different.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 306 Time Rewound!!

Meh, I'd rather fast-forward at this point, to a time when I don't have to worry about all the crap that's happening at the moment. I find myself constantly tense these days and wondering why, before recalling that everything from little personal issues all the way to global catastrophes are bearing down on me and I'm a complete wreck. I know there's more than enough stories about time travel that warn against such journeys into the future, but I'm real tempted by the concept right now. No doubt I'm not the only one who wishes the spring forward allowed us to wake up in a world where everyone was saner, safer, and not facing existential threats every five seconds. 

One of the rare instances I need to be told what the picture represents, because otherwise, I couldn't make heads or tails of that.

Diabound reappears in the sky, fully formed and looking intimidating again. From the ground, Kalim protests that the madness of the fact that Diabound has come back to life when it was just dead, but Shada recognizes that Diabound hasn't come back to life - Ra's attack never even happened. He's super confused by this, mind, but he does RECOGNIZE it, to give him a little credit. Someone among the guards urges everyone to observe how Ra is now flying away backwards into the sky, rising back up from whence it came. 

It's sliding out of here like Homer Simpson.

ZN reminds Yami out of nowhere that this world is made up of their combined memories, the after-image of their souls trapped in the Millennium Puzzle. He rambles that their battle left off 3,000 years before isn't done yet, and as long as their desire to finish it lingers, Yami's soul will never be at rest, and he won't be able to be reborn in the modern world. For a guy claiming he wants to move on from this so badly, I feel like someone should remind HIM that HE'S the one hitting the rewind button here. He describes this as a war of memories, the puzzle being a stage for their second fight, where they'll fight to the end. 

"I just want to perpetually re-roll the dice until I like what I see, and I'm making it everyone else's problem." There, FTFY, ZN.

Yami is taking this "War of Memory" phrase a lot more seriously than I am, but that's probz because he's in the thick of things and can't afford NOT to. Then ZN has to flap his mummified gums SOME MORE, saying that death leads to a void of shadows in this world, not the modern world or afterlife, heaven or hell, just eternal darkness. Sooooooo, just DEATH, then? Sounds perfectly natural. Anyway, he insists that he's going to defeat Yami again and return to life in the modern world. Just filling panel space, honestly.

Yuugi and crew are looking pretty surly at ZN's speech, Jonouchi raising a fist and asking rhetorically if he's trying to kill Yami. Honda growls in the back as Yuugi declares that ZN is the REAL villain, not Bakura. Meanwhile, ZN is STILL FUCKING TALKING. Good GOD CARDS, and I thought other!Marik liked the sound of his own voice. ZN admits he miscalculated in not accounting for Yami's modern friends showing up where they don't belong, their appearance introducing a bit of a random element into the mix. He announces the reunion between them ends now, and with an extra stretch of his arms, a great wind starts to blow against Yuugi and friends. They raise their arms against it and brace themselves, trying to keep their footing, Yuugi suddenly gaping in horror. 

Oh shit, THAT can't be good. 

To add insult to injury, ZN KEEPS TALKING - he reiterates that he has the power to turn back time on this memory play-back, and that Yami used his friends to summon Ra and defeat thief!Bakura/Diabound, but now that's all been reversed and his friends aren't here. He asks sardonically if Yami knows what that means, but Yami is a bit too busy choking on his own blood and clutching at his chest to answer with anything other than a gurgle. Since thief!Bakura is an important tool for him later, ZN says he can't let him die now. Then he clenches his fist and draws it back, declaring this a good spot to restart the memory, that it's time for time to march forward once again. According to his own interests, of course.

Dude, I know Yami cheated with his invisible friends, but couldn't you have just turned back time WITHOUT talking him to death? Seems overly cruel.

He's still revving the motor on his mouth, by the way. He repeats that he'll defeat the pharaoh in the final battle, because he can't be sealed into the Millennium Puzzle this time, since they're... you know... already in there. Stellar logic, bro. Downright galaxy-brained. He says he and the pharaoh will meet again and at LONG last, disappears from the sky. 

Nothing left of Slifer but its spiky tail flailing in the air, thief!Bakura is jubilant that he's killed the god of the heavens, ordering Diabound to kill the priests' ka and attack the city again. Down below, Priest Seto utters a statement of disbelief and dismay at Slifer's defeat. Elsewhere, far away, Yuugi and Jonouchi stare up at Slifer's fading form too. Jonouchi yells the obvious, that Slifer is down, while Yuugi lunges forward and shouts that they have to help the other him. He silently urges Yami to wait for them as they go to assist him again (read: CHEAT), when he halts in alarm. 

Asshole!Bakura, of the Distance Police apparently, chuckles at them as Yuugi blurts his name in surprise and Honda demands to know what he's doing here. Being a nuisance, as usual. Bobasa - who I just noticed has not said a single word for several chapters now - recognizes asshole!Bakura as the boy he barred from getting in their travel circle before, and wonders just how he got in here. Thankfully, asshole!Bakura isn't an incoherent exposition machine like his boss, and he doesn't launch into an explanation of how he got here after a clueless Jonouchi yells at him that they'll talk later and that they're in a hurry. 

Instead, asshole!Bakura calls them fools that can't win this war, asking if they want to die in here and be cast into eternal night. Sweating, Yuugi begins to ask asshole!Bakura what he means, but asshole!Bakura interrupts him to assert that he only hung out with them to resurrect Zorc Necrophades. The name echoes in Yuugi's mind as he stares, but Jonouchi has no patience for any of this shit. He lunges forward, warning asshole!Bakura to shut his face and move before he gets his behind kicked, Yuugi shouting Jonouchi's name in warning from behind. The Millennium Ring around asshole!Bakura's neck glows and floats a little.

Are you offering an alternative? Because...

Meanwhile, Priest Seto announces he's not letting Slifer's sacrifice be in vain, and calls for Duos to pierce the darkness. Again. When Duos's sword embeds in that weird floating eyeball instead of Diabound, he's once again affronted by the fact that his attack hit a different monster. As all the ka hang out in the sky, thief!Bakura chuckles at his distance, demanding that the ka of the priests die. Diabound's Magic Blast wipes out Kalim's winged lion, causing him to cough up blood below. Priest Seto yells his name in alarm while Kalim chokes out a warning not to let his guard down, since Diabound is still hiding in the dark somewhere. Duos hovers seemingly alone, and Priest Seto puzzles over where Diabound is hiding, and how they can counter its attacks when they don't know where they're coming from.

Yami's doubled over in his saddle, convinced that his life force has almost run out. He looks up with a groan, determined to follow thief!Bakura, thinking that the only way to stop all this killing is to stop HIM in particular. When he gallops off, Shada yells at him to wait, but he presses on, thinking only of thief!Bakura. 

ZN is WAY too gleeful for my comfort.

So, what do I think of this chapter overall? The fannish part of me is angered by the giant mummy splitting back up the dream team after they JUST got back together; the writer part of me is DELIGHTED by this. Yami and Yuugi, along with their gaggle of friends, has acted as a finger on the scale for a long time, and it has genuinely come across as almost unfair in some places. "Cheating" is a word I used a little liberally throughout the recap, but I don't think it's wrong to think of it in those terms when Yami is the only one who gets a little pick-me-up in a battle he would have lost otherwise if not for his buddies sneaking into the place. In that respect, I think ZN kind has a point in waving Yami's support team away. He can't dismiss them as a negligible advantage when Yuugi changed the outcome he remembers with a small gesture.

The fact that he doesn't just BANISH them from the Memory World is an interesting thing to note. He must be unable to do so, otherwise he surely would have. Since they're not native to this world, it would make sense that he can't really do much more than push them as far away as he can (which doesn't seem to be very far at all). In this light, his talk about anyone dying in here being unrecoverable for the afterlife and reincarnation seems to be a threat tailored specifically for them - he clearly wants to scare them into trying to get out of here of their own accord so they're not resigned to oblivion after dying in the Memory World. Not that I think he was lying about that. It makes sense that this little self-contained world removed from the wider time stream wouldn't be able to pick up spirits/souls lost inside it. I just think he's using this little fact as a big stick in case they keep messing around, which also just points to how little control he must have over them.

As I'm sure was obvious above, I was a bit annoyed with how WORDY ZN was when he was describing his whole reasoning for this setup. All it really comes down to is that he figures if Yami can't seal them both away somewhere in the final battle between them, he'll ultimately lose because he has no other options. The rest is panel-filler, and particularly long-winded filler at that. It's pretty clear this chapter was a bit under-done in that way, which might be an indication for how stressed KT getting over the project at this point. He's filled chapters with little more than chatter between characters before this, put duels on virtual hold while everyone monologed, but none of those previous examples have been quite so... repetitive as this one. ZN restated several points multiple times and he wasn't doing anything but holding his arms up while he did it too. The lack of ability to effectively represent time moving backward and having to go back over a scene he already covered must have left him with very little else NEW to put in the chapter. 

Kind of wrote himself into a corner with this one, I think. But despite all that, I'm fond of Yami and friends getting some genuine struggle here. The whole Memory World is designed against their success, and it FEELS like it. Not sure how finding Yami's name is going to turn this sucker around, but I'm eager to find out!

Inuyasha Manga: 247 Suikotsu

I feel like the meanings of these names are getting a little less clever. The "Sui" part of this one is written with the kanji that means "drowsy", "sleep" or "die", according to the Inuyasha Companion over at Rumic World. Considering ALL the Shichinin-tai put their victims in the "long sleep", this isn't particularly descriptive. If it's a kanji that's used in a specifically medical/clinical context, that would be a different story. Sadly, fansites don't generally provide linguistic context for a term, so unfortunately, that's the closest I can get to squeezing this name into a somewhat functional pun. XD

I still haven't done one of these on Renkotsu, have I? Maybe one day I'll look it up to find it's the best pun of them all. 

It could happen.

Corpses scattered in a burning village? Just another day ending in "y" in the Yashaverse. But the Inuyasha group gapes at the devastation as if it's the first time they've seen something so horrible, Miroku voicing how terrible this is. It's good to know they're not as jaded as I am. Kagome declares this has to be the work of the Shichinin-tai, as she feels a few Shikon shards nearby. Inuyasha agrees, citing his nose, and lunges father into the burning village. He stops dead when he sees the weird Shichinin-tank, it and its riders facing Suikotsu and a painfully familiar lady. Kagome utters Kikyou's name as she draws up behind him, as Inuyasha remains speechless. 

Like she ran into him at the grocery store, what the...

While he, Sango and Shippou catch up to the other two on the scene, Miroku gapes at Kikyou's presence too. Renkotsu drawls about how these bastards they tried to kill so hard are still alive, appearing rather annoyed about it, which isn't unexpected, honestly. Ginkotsu gurgles at them by way of greeting, and an excited Jakotsu calls out to Inuyasha specifically, waving emphatically. 

Renkotsu tells Jakotsu that he's perfect for the job of grabbing Suikotsu, Jakotsu protesting at the assignment with a whine. Suikotsu is mistaking this for talk of murdering him as Renkotsu announces he'll take on Inuyasha and company, crossing Ginkotsu's bumper toward Inuyasha, who identifies him with a snarl. Jakotsu grumbles that Renkotsu just wants to separate him and Inuyasha, asking Renkotsu directly if he's not sure he isn't ALSO into the dog-eared boy. Renkotsu warns Jakotsu not to talk too much shit, or he'll pull out his tongue. 

Now THAT'S a threat.

Inuyasha rushes at Renkotsu with his hand at Tessaiga's hilt on his belt, announcing he's about to get revenge on this bastard for what happened at the temple. Renkotsu lifts a gourd-flask to his mouth and takes a pull, inviting Inuyasha to try.

You know what this situation needed? More fire.

Inuyasha snaps at Renkotsu that his flames aren't even hot, apparently in an attempt to make him self-conscious. Renkotsu retorts that they're not hot TO HIM, and proceeds to fling out his fingers to launch a volley of wires, that somehow form a perfect net over Inuyasha's group's heads. Just neatly domed and everything. They all stare up at the flaming wires in desperation, labeling it a net of fire without questioning HOW that's even possible. Inuyasha lunges forward again to sweep the wires aside with Tessaiga and a curse. Renkotsu pulls back his hand to whip the displaced wires behind him, criticizing Inuyasha's critical weakness of dragging a bunch of ordinary humans along with him. 

They should have EXTRAORDINARY control over projectile wires in order to justify existence, according to him.

Meanwhile, Jakotsu is approaching Suikotsu and Kikyou with a rather un-intimidating pout. Suikotsu says he knows nothing about who they are, but has surmised that they came to get him. He asks in frustration why they would attack the village when they could have just killed HIM. Jakotsu sighs in annoyance, and asks Suikotsu in turn how long he's going to be talking nonsense, urging him to wake up and give his innocent persona a rest already. Warning that he otherwise WILL kill Suikotsu, Jakotsu lazily swings his sword to punctuate his point. 

As the blade whips out at a recoiling Suikotsu, Kikyou shoves herself in front of him and tells him to stand back, arrow nocked in her bow. She shoots, plain and simple.

Renkotsu lecturing Inuyasha about HIS critical weakness over there, while Jakotsu continues to completely overlook the women in the area who could seriously fuck his shit up, lol.

Speaking of, Renkotsu turns to look, having caught the arrow skimming past Jakotsu out of the corner of his eye. He identifies Kikyou with a beady glare, then rounds to the back of Ginkotsu's turret to swivel its gun in her direction. It shoots, plain and simple. 

Near misses, all around.

As Kikyou goes down, looking understandably freaked, Inuyasha calls out to her with panic from the other side of the wall of flames Renkotsu created for him. Renkotsu throws more fire at him and the rest of his group, warning him that his friends will die if his attention is diverted. Inuyasha holds Tessaiga up, I guess to act as a shield against the fire, while Miroku holds his his staff defensively, and Kagome recoils from the flames in the background. Shippou is on her shoulder, but he's just freaking out. 

Suikotsu sits up from the spot to which he had been blown back, immediately shouting Kikyou's name when he sees her lying unconscious as debris rains around her. Kneeling beside her, he lifts her shoulders and tries to coax her awake, but his attention is diverted by a call of his own name. He turns to see a few of the young children he's adopted running toward him. He stutters a plea for them not to come over to him, looking over his shoulder yet again to find Jakotsu emerging from the surrounding fog of war. Jakotsu wordlessly swings his sword, sending a flash of steel at the approaching children. Tears rimming his eyes, Suikotsu pleads with him to stop, after which a splatter of blood fills a panel.

Well, someone had to get hit eventually, and he was probably the better option than the kiddos if I'm honest.

Back in the cage of flame, Kagome and Inuyasha gape at the scene, Kagome second-guessing if this guy really IS a part of the Shichinin-tai. The kids he took the lick from Jakotsu's sword for cry and yell out to Suikotsu, running into his arms as he remains in shocked silence a moment. He manages to stutter that he's okay, asking them if THEY'VE been injured, but he's trembling something fierce. Then a pulse goes through him and he tenses up, the Shikon fragment in his neck starting to glow. Kagome notes this with an alarmed expression, before calling out that the light from it has gone black. Inuyasha gives her a nervous look.

Uh-oh, you know the guy is going bad when his ponytail starts fleeing his head. 

The kids look up at him with clear horror written on their faces, saying Suikotsu's name hesitantly in question. As if in response, he grabs and lifts the little boy by his neck. Inuyasha gapes all the wider at this action, Kagome shouting at him while also looking on in terror for the boy. As Suikotsu holds the groaning boy aloft and giggles about it, Miroku urges Inuyasha to go and help him, Sango confirming that they're okay here dealing with the fire without him. Inuyasha stammers his compliance then runs through the flames with his arm raised over his face and wondering what the actual HELL is going on here. It's not long before he snatches the boy by his back-basket and uses his other set of claws to swipe at a shadowed Suikotsu, who leaps backward deftly to avoid the blow. Much more athletic now that he's turned evil.

Inuyasha kneels on the ground, depositing the choking kid next to him, while asking this bastard who on earth he thinks he is. 

And his eyebrows have gone the same way as his ponytail. This guy's hair has OPINIONS on his shitty transformation, apparently.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I'm going to continue to be annoyed by the Shichinin-tai's miraculous face-paint, probably increasingly so as time goes on, to be honest. The goal with making these demonic type tattoos showing up out of nowhere appears to be visual shorthand for their naked evil, but it comes across as so stupid when there appears to be no mechanism for its appearance at all. This example in particular is egregious, because Suikotsu's lack of paint/tattoos isn't a disguise - his doctor personality genuinely did not know that he's part of the Shichinin-tai, so this reveal just implies that Suikotsu's evil personality manifested his paint/tattoos out of nowhere with pure evil. 

The whole point of having HUMAN villains at this point in the story should be that they can look and act completely normal, even when they're terrible at their core. That's what makes a human villain scary: not just having a perfectly disarming exterior as some youkai have in the story thus far, but actually BEING a human and yet getting an unnatural pleasure from hurting and killing other people. A member of a social species being so thoroughly ANTIsocial is hard to reconcile, making a human killer's motivations and basic function difficult to parse and ultimately unnerving.

But when RT gives her human villains a "youkai-look" or "transformation" every time they fully step into their villain role, it blunts the impact of that point. They LOOK like a youkai, a spirit creature the reader has been trained the whole story to consider INhuman. It allows the audience to conflate these human villains with the youkai and not view them in the context that makes them the biggest creeps that they COULD be. 

Forgive my rant, but this is really bothering me. I wish RT had thought a little harder about it before she decided to automatically give them their paint/tattoos, because she has the skill to draw Suikotsu in such a way that he comes across as a fully HUMAN monster. But, if she HAD to do this, she could have at least thrown in a reason for it. A magic spell, heavy foundation to cover the marks up, SOMETHING other than this out-of-nowhere nonsense that ruins the whole effect of these men as antagonists. 

Otherwise, I agree with Jakotsu; it is SUPER suspect that Renkotsu is trying so hard to keep him from sparring with Inuyasha. I would definitely be suspicious if I were in his position. Also... cool action? What was happening with Inuyasha's group and the fire was very unclear for the most part, and I think it might have been by design. How Renkotsu battles is very conveniently obscure, presumably so that RT doesn't really have to show too many details and lift the illusion that this guy's methods are rather untenable. But the action was moving fast enough that there wasn't much time to consider the trick being pulled here.

The only notable thing in the character/relationship category was that Inuyasha did not rush to Kikyou when she was bowled over by the cannon shot. He was visibly concerned, but he stayed firmly by Kagome's side until his friends told him he had to go rescue the boy. Don't know why KAGOME can't notice these things. It would save her a lot of angst in the future.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 305 Ruler of Shadows!!

Is that where all these armies of nightmares are coming from? I'm having the weirdest dreams these days, and I was really starting to wonder where they were all coming from. That oil-monster eating my whole house while I'm coughing uncontrollably as a Russian accent speaks from on high about how it's definitely not thin air and it can blow all the buildings down can't POSSIBLY have anything to do with current events. It's gotta be that Ruler of Shadows invading my head. It better call off its dogs, or I'll be forced to take drastic action. Like beating my chest ineffectively at the Shadow Ruler and threatening to shoot some anonymous missiles into it or something.

Seriously, though, I support Ukraine, and fuck Putin with a rusty chainsaw for putting them through this with all those flimsy excuses. 

If only condemning REAL egomaniacal freaks were so simple. Where's a Ra god-monster and the help of a mystic spiral twin spirit to summon it when you need them?

As Diabound burns, the priests and guards below pointing it out and watching, thief!Bakura screams in agony on his perch. Priest Seto seems to have recovered enough to put a smile on his face while he muses on how the fire of the sun god will burn right through thief!Bakura's very soul, leaving nothing but ashes to scatter in Hell. He's still on his shitty poetry, I see. But it's not exactly WRONG, either - thief!Bakura is certainly screaming like his very soul is being incinerated. 

Ding-dong, the... thief is dead! I hope there's no curtain behind which could be lurking a few, shall we say, hitches.

Kalim looks admiringly up at the burning sun god, a city-dweller among his fellows crows about the light being Ra's blessing, and Shada contemplates the great pharaoh, not looking quite as happy as the others. He hasn't recovered enough, I guess. The giant bird-lion emits bright rays from every cranny of its shiny body, and Yami denies any involvement in this spectacle, claiming it did all the work. But also he turns and gives credit to his grinning partner, for giving him strength when he was on his last legs. And his other friends, pumping their fists and smiling, congratulating him for getting the damn thing done. I guess he DOES see them? Is this going to be an issue like the whole speech/thought bubbles? 

Yami seems a little taken aback by the name they're using to address him, though.

Or, maybe, you "will" be called Yuugi, if we want to refer to this world by its content's temporal placement. Even though this isn't ACTUALLY the past. I don't know, KT managed to make me confused about what fucking TENSE to use in his story. 

Eyes watery, Honda lunges forward with a finger pointed at his own face, asking if Yami can REALLY see them. Like REALLY tell where they are. Yami assures him that he can see him, and Honda sniffs in response, giving the impression he's holding back tears. Yami also acknowledges Yuugi, Jonouchi giving a thumbs-up, and Anzu in turn. The latter also has tears brimming in her eyes as she silently thinks that she knew all along that Yami wouldn't forget his friends. I can't really call that bluff, seeing as how her thoughts on this adventure have been some of the least explored thus far. 

Jonouchi says he hardly recognized Yami all dressed up as royalty and riding a horse. Yami admits he had no idea what was going on when he first came to this world, not knowing why he was the pharaoh or what was up with the Millennium Items. After a little while, though, he claims he came to understand the position he was in and his duty to protect his country. And the status quo that comes with it, no doubt. Yuugi in turn tells him how they couldn't touch or talk to anyone in this world when they first showed up, given that this is YAMI'S memory world. This is something that seems to alarm Yami, referring to this as a world of memory.

I'm hoping we get a look at the people surrounding Yami at the moment - they are probz HELLA confused by his talking to himself. 

Anzu reminds him that while he's "Yuugi" to them (or one of the two), he had a different name 3,000 years in the past that is hidden somewhere in this world. Yami appears quietly touched by them being willing to jump into a weird yester-world with which they are completely unfamiliar to find his name for him, which... yeah, fair, that's pretty crazy. Jonouchi insists that Yami not worry, and assures him that they'll find his name, no problem, in characteristically boisterous style. Yami responds with an almost disbelieving regard for them all. He's just so overwhelmed, but he'll be alright - it's the default state in this place.

Meanwhile, asshole!Bakura is floating over the scene, but he doesn't look too pleased this time. He scoffs, glaring down his nose, as he fumes over Yami's friends meddling and altering the real course of events. He zooms in record time over to where thief!Bakura is lying sprawled and bleeding from the mouth over his poor horse. His eyes are still wide, but he might very well be dead here. Growling, asshole!Bakura insists thief!Bakura can't die here, and that this isn't how it's all supposed to go down. Tonight, thief!Bakura was supposed to defeat the pharaoh, and asshole!Bakura asks sardonically if he can do ANYTHING right. Man, I've verbally abused myself before, but this is some NEXT LEVEL shit right here. He eventually cools his balls, though, telling thief!Bakura not to worry, because High Priest of the Shadows Necrophades is about to make his move now. An ominous cryptic statement, and made over a panel showing the Shrine of Wedju...

Ugh! I hate it! I hate it so much!

Perfectly articulated Mrs. White, thank you. 

Corpse!Akhenaden says he's Akhenaden himself, with a slightly more rotted body. NBD. Akhenaden is very distressed by this weird zombie's self-identification with him, though. To put it another way, corpse!Akhenaden revises his statement to say that he was born from the evil in Akhenaden's heart - essentially he's Akhenaden after he made a contract with the shadows that changed his physical form. So far I'm not seeing much difference between this and how a ka monster has been established to form, so is that what this dude is?

Akhenaden gets stuck on the mention of a contract with the shadows. Meanwhile, corpse!Akhenaden launches into a soliloquy, beginning with an assertion that a person's fate  isn't determined by a person's birth status, but the course of their life. Tell that to systems of low social and economic mobility, bro, including your own. He says some are humble, some are ambitious, and good and evil are two sides of the same coin. Corpse!Akhenaden tells his less-gross counterpart that we all walk the same road, but at the end of that road, he opened the door to the shadows - this was both their fates, apparently. Okay, so he's literally just DEAD Akhenaden, not a ka monster. Right?

Akhenaden tries to weakly deny this, asking his own corpse if he's suggesting that HE puts all the Millennium Items in the stone slab and makes a pact with dark powers. Corpse!Akhenaden replies that it's just the past for him, only the facts that preceded him. But he implores Akhenaden to listen because he's got some important information to relay:

Well that explains SOME of the scenes that Yami wasn't there for. But what about the ones that Akhenaden wasn't there for either??

Akhenaden reacts about as shocked as can be expected of someone who learns the hypothetical "living in a simulation" question is absolutely accurate. He's gaping and speechless, allowing corpse!Akhenaden to continue rambling on about how he remembers what happened in the past, how things really went down. He asserts that Akhenaden WILL become the high priest of the shadows, conquer the palace, and gather a monster army from the stone slabs. All of this is depicted in what I assume is corpse!Akhenaden's recollection of the event - a pyramid hanging upside down from the sky is in there too, which is definitely not unsettling. 

Corpse!Akhenaden goes on to tell Akhenaden that he'll work together with the restless dead of Kul Elna in a final battle against the pharaoh and his priests. But wait, didn't asshole!Bakura say that the original iteration of the events dictated the pharaoh was defeated by this point already? I'm more confused than ever, and Akhenaden isn't faring much better, attempting to reject this as reality with a trembling horrified expression. 

But corpse!Akhenaden just keeps going. He says that after all this, the pharaoh would give his life to seal his soul and corpse!Akhenaden's too into the Millennium Puzzle.

Nice touch, that.

Corpse!Akhenaden tells the other one that 3,000 years have passed in the shadows, and in the modern world a young man solved the puzzle, allowing the pharaoh to use that boy's body to walk the earth once more/collect the god cards needed to recreate the world he'd forgotten. Yuugi's hands surround the puzzle he put together in the panel, and the god cards float around them, just so the reader gets all the imagery in one go. When corpse!Akhenaden reiterates that this world they currently occupy is just in the Millennium Puzzle, Akhenaden... well he just continues to look horrified and confused turning the concept over in his mind. It's mostly just a shadowy world showing through an opaque pyramid shape, from what I can see. Thematic.

And they say dead men tell no tales, but they never met corpse!Akhenaden, apparently, because he's STILL flapping his mummified gums. He's taken out a mask as he continues rambling about how he and the pharaoh have kind of merged to create this memory world. Corpse!Akhenaden puts on the mask as he says he can be reborn in the modern world if his memories gain control. So there's a struggle for dominance between these memories too? Is there a part of this that isn't overly convoluted? With is mask in place, basically a shallow white bowl with a hole cut in to feature the Millennium Eye behind it, corpse!Akhenaden raises a clawed hand to declare his plan to kill the pharaoh and trap his soul/memories forever. The original Akhenaden stares with jaw locked and remaining eye bulging. 

Suddenly, asshole!Bakura appears kneeling on the floor beside corpse!Akhenaden, head bowed. Is... he WORKING for this literal dead body???? Corpse!Akhenaden hums at him, and asshole!Bakura lifts his head to report that thief!Bakura has been defeated, a fail that was allowed by Yami's friends messing around after sneaking into the Memory World. I'm not sure I would call the leap of faith they did "sneaking", but I guess I can let asshole!Bakura have his incompetent projection. It seems to be the only thing that lets him keep the final shred of his dignity here. 

Corpse!Akhenaden tells him not to worry; he says he was about to give the pharaoh his regards anyway...

And we thought Diabound hovering over the city was bad. At least corpse!Akhenaden had the decency to cover his corpse face before he projected himself up there, though. It's the little blessings. 

Unlike Yami's friends, corpse!Akhenaden is clearly visible to everyone - someone on the ground tells them all to look at the sky. I guess Ra must have beat it earlier, because it looks pretty dark again. Yuugi wonders out loud what the hell that thing is while Yami just stares tensely at the looming figure. Corpse!Akhenaden claims it's been a rather long time since he and the pharaoh have seen each other, and acknowledges that Yami doesn't remember him anyway. So he introduces himself to everyone as Zorc Necrophades and the ruler of this Memory World. Doesn't roll off the tongue any easier than MY name for him, but I suppose I can start using THAT instead...

ZN says he's the ruler of the Shadows who controls the hands of time, future and past. This is the guy from the title, but Yami's grinding teeth speaks more to his STRESS than it does EXCITEMENT. ZN lectures Yami about his friends' interference warping these memories, even defeating HIS Bakura, a declaration that further shocks Yami and Yuugi in their already stunned silence. Refusing to let thief!Bakura die yet, he sarcastically opines the pity that is the breakup of Yami and Yuugi's joyous reunion. 

Take Two incoming.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? This one gave me quite a bit of trouble. While the fact that Yami's memories aren't the only ones informing the shape of this world makes sense, but just like we've been shown scenes where Yami wasn't present, we've also been shown scenes where Akhenaden wasn't present too. Since Bakura seems to be working pretty intimately with Zorc Necrophades, and he was ALSO trapped within one of the Millennium Items, it might be possible that his memories are also mixed in there, but this hasn't been explicitly stated. Or, since ZN separates his identity to a degree from Akhenaden's, perhaps that little incident where Akhenaden makes his shadow contract, he's fused with all those Kul Elna restless spirits/shadow influences into a new conglomerate being that has multiple different perspectives at once? I don't know, it's somewhat opaque. That's not necessarily bad, as highlighting some unknowns can enhance the horror of the situation, but I don't get the impression that it's particularly intentional. 

But I'm somewhat intrigued here by the parallels between how ZN describes his own coming about through the evil in Akhenaden's heart, and how ka monsters are said to form. I'm still mulling over the question of whether he's actually a product of this process, but with a little external help from the Millennium Items/shadow-somethings. I like the idea, but I don't think I have enough of a hold on what ZN was talking about in this chapter to really figure it out. If it truly IS meant to be as hazy an issue as it comes across, perhaps I'll never really know, but I might be okay with that. 

And I guess Yami was supposed to be just ALMOST killed in this previous battle rather than ACTUALLY killed? Because otherwise, I don't see how what asshole!Bakura and ZN were saying could possibly be compatible. I suppose asshole!Bakura merely said "defeat" rather than "kill", so I probably just internalized the wrong conclusion. 

All that aside, all these multiple versions of everybody running around is starting to do my head in. Yami and Bakura and now Akhenaden? I'm so ridiculously glad Kaiba didn't find his way into this little trip or I'd be having a straight aneurysm.

Inuyasha Manga: 246 Uncorrupted Light

Must be nice. I've got a flickering lamp in my office area, and I can't for the life of me figure out what's wrong with it. The cord is fine, so there aren't any critters getting in here and chewing through it, thankfully. I tested the outlet it's plugged into and that's working perfectly, providing uninterrupted power to my laptop and my old keyboard, so I'm also thanking my lucky stars I don't have to rip open the wall to check the janky wiring. Next step is to rip open the lamp itself, or, maybe just get rid of it. I kind of like it, though. It's one of those tall floor lamps with a couple of shelves built in? It's handy. 

Not as handy as a human geiger counter for a supernatural bead, but, you know, useful.

Kagome says that it's a bit strange if a Shichinin-guy is the host of the shard, which draws a confused noise from Inuyasha. She explains that so far, all the fragments of Shichinin-tai members have been dark and corrupted, but the feeling of this one is totally clean. Makes me wonder how the one keeping Kohaku up and running feels, because I don't know if that's a possible alternative that Kagome is considering or not.

Narrow... blank transition panel? Maybe it's just one of those really monochromatic cloudy days. Someone shouts for Suikotsu, crying out that something is really bad and begging him to treat it. He comes out of his medical hut at ask what's up with a couple of approaching men, one of which is sweating, his arm slung around the shoulders of an older helper. The older man says the other guy fell down and cut his leg on a sickle, and sure enough, the next panel shows the injured man is dragging a heavily bleeding leg behind him. Suikotsu looks VERY unsettled by the sight of this wound. 

Kikyou comes out to ask if there's anything she can assist him with, and Suikotsu tells her that her help would be much appreciated. As she helps to hold the injured man behind with his friend on the other side while he's propped on the floor in front of Suikotsu dressing his wound, Suikotsu says he's relieved that the injury isn't as bad as he feared. But as the man groans in pain and Kikyou peers at Suikotsu over the patient's shoulder, he's not LOOKING as relieved as he says. 

That would be MY reaction to a sufficiently gruesome injury in front of me, but then again, I'm not a doctor, so...

Kikyou points out that Suikotsu is sweating profusely, and offers to take over for him. I assume he let her, because next time we see them, they're sitting out on the porch with a couple of those kiddos he's got running around, no patient to be seen. Either that, or he really botched the damn thing. Either way, Suikotsu's sitting hunched, moaning about how undignified his behavior earlier was. Kikyou tells him it's okay, and the little girl on Suikotsu's right pats his knee, stating that he's disturbed by the sight of blood, in question form for some reason. Kikyou remains silent at this information, peering at Suikotsu out of the corner of her eye. Something she does an awful lot, come to think of it. Side-eyeing everybody all the time...

Suikotsu confirms that it's sometimes even worse than it was a moment ago. He says even though he's a doctor, he gets hardcore shivers in his body every time he sees blood. 

Kikyou asks Suikotsu if he's always been this village's doctor, but Suikotsu tells her he was born farther east, and was a bit of a traveling medic for a while, giving care to a whole bunch of villages all over the place, only to settle down here. He sings the praises of this village, and though he acknowledges it's poor, he says it's so isolated to the north that it's practically untouched by war.

Who wants to tell him he's practically the HARBINGER of war in this little peaceful town? 

Kikyou just kind of stares, thinking she can't quite figure him out. She's been observing him for several days now, but there's not a lick of evil in him, only the face of a good doctor. 

Why? A little miffed that he's doing the purification job better than you did in life?

Anyway, fast-forward to a little later, I'm assuming, when someone comes by looking for Suikotsu, whom he's told has gone out for a moment gathering herbs. Kikyou tells the visitor that she's (and the many children milling around, as usual) standing in for Suikotsu, and the old man acknowledges this, but we don't stick around to find out what he's there for. Instead, we cut to Suikotsu, who has taken the rest of his adopted brood with big baskets strapped to their backs. A little girl brags to Suikotsu that she's found some of something, which he identifies as an herb good for the stomach called senburi. He turns to the other little girl next to him, suggesting they head back after picking it with a smile. She agrees, returning the expression. 

It's all very wholesome and sweet, until a bare foot steps into frame, the owner of which they look up at in question. It's INUYASHA and his crew, who are looking varying degrees of serious - not a smile in the bunch. 

Why did you even bother asking, Inuyasha? There is LITERALLY no right answer to this.

Another sky transition panel, and I thought they were a little excessive before... Someone is talking about how doctor Suikotsu waltz on into the community shortly after the Shichinin grave was ransacked. It's the old man who came to the medical hut earlier, Kikyou pressing a bandage onto his arm. Huh, I would have guessed a back injury by the look of his posture. Kikyou encourages him to elaborate on this train of conversation, and he also trails in mention of the name Suikotsu, no doubt having noticed how it fits into the overall naming scheme for the members of the group. Like Inuyasha and company did, Kikyou gets an ear-full of the Shichinin-tai legend, the story of the mercenaries being chased into the area over ten years before and beheaded, and the old man even adds that Suikotsu was the name of one of the mercenaries too. Apparently, the villagers raised something of a stink, suggesting that the doctor might be a zombie from that very grave. 

Kikyou stares, turning over the concept of a Shichinin-tai zombie in her head while trying out the suggestion out loud. The old man waves his hands in his denial, insisting that the two have NOTHING in common but their names. He even says he remembers pretty clearly what happened with the actual Shichinin-tai (and Suikotsu) back when he saw it over a decade prior. 

Probably a face he'd recognize if the guy walked into town claiming to be a doctor, is what he's saying.

Back with Suikotsu himself, he's backing away from Inuyasha, waving his hands in disavowal, asking if Inuyasha doesn't have the wrong person. He says he's a doctor, and asks who in the world these weird people accusing him of being an undead mercenary are. Inuyasha snarls at him that it's futile to play dumb, because his body has something in common with the rest of the Shichinin-tai he's dealt with recently. As he rushes forward with his claws held at the ready, Inuyasha reveals it's the smell of corpse and burial soil. 

While Suikotsu stands alarmed, silently questioning the claim in disbelief, the girls standing on either side of him call his name in fear. He responds with a plea that they run away. On the other side of the impending conflict, Miroku yells Inuyasha's name, Kagome imploring him not to hurt the children. Inuyasha snaps over his shoulder for them to shut up about shit he already knows.

That close call could have fooled me, kiddo.

Suikotsu slides down the steep hill, one of the children calling out to him from the top as Inuyasha stands there with his hand still raised like an idiot. It's here I realize that one of the other kid is actually a BOY where I'd been calling him a girl this whole time - he turns to kick Inuyasha, calling him a bastard and asking what he's doing. Sorry for misgendering you, little boy. Inuyasha does NOT apologize for pushing his nice adoptive dad down a hill, though, standing glaring at the boy instead. 

The kids both rush down to Suikotsu's side while he gazes shocked at his attacker above, asking if he's alright. Miroku steps up beside Inuyasha to peer over the edge of the hill too, observing that Inuyasha looks a bit like a brute picking on an innocent man. Inuyasha protests, but Miroku reiterates that the feeling of this guy is WAY too different from the rest of them. Inuyasha scoffs that it's an act, but soon his attention is drawn by something happening in the distance. 

Fire, just the distraction Inuyasha needed to avoid confronting his impulsive aggressiveness!

The little girl stutters out Suikotsu's name as Suikotsu himself panics about the state of the village. Inside of it, several people are running from the flames, meeting with a no-nonsense Kikyou with her bow and arrows, demanding to know what's happened. Before the man in front of her can do much more than utter her name, a giant explosion propels him and the others around forward. Kikyou somehow remains standing, though. Must be her sturdy, earthy construction material. 

Jokes aside, she stares wide-eyed at the massive shape emerging out of the smoke as chips of debris rain around her. 

... Probabaly bad.

Kikyou turns at the sound of her name, finding Suikotsu stumbling toward her with the same question she had a moment ago. The one that wasn't answered, so they're both on the confused side. As he reaches Kikyou, a voice from the approaching man-vehicle conversationally comments on the DUMP they found Suikotsu in. Renkotsu gives Suikotsu a short greeting, Ginkotsu one that's even SHORTER, and not actually made up of anything but an extended gurgle, and Jakotsu complains about how much trouble Suikotsu gave them. Suikotsu just looks completely baffled, not appearing to recognize a one of them.

With a smirk, Renkotsu urges Suikotsu to get on their convoy, so to speak, because they came all this way to pick him up. The other two just stare expectantly. 

Take it from someone who's committed to thinking too hard about it for years; it's not worth it. 

So, what did I think about this chapter overall? I'm once again concerned about how messed up the passage of time seems to be turning out here. How long EXACTLY has it been since the Shichinin grave was destroyed? Because it seems like Suikotsu is WAY more accepted as the village doctor than even a couple of weeks would afford him, and this with his name resembling that of one of the mercenaries so much, as well as his timing coming into the village according to Kikyou's informant. He's managed to collect a whole shitload of kids whose families died. He's got folks coming to him for all manner of injuries. We've seen NO ONE who is at all suspicious of him, we're just TOLD that there was a time when someone was. I just don't buy that folks, especially those as mostly isolated from the outside world as they are described by Suikotsu, would shrug their suspicions as fast as that, no matter how good a doctor the guy is. I feel like he'd need whole YEARS before people would warm up to him enough for this to be feasible, and maybe a name change. 

I'm not even certain I understand how much time has passed between Kikyou's arrival and now. She says she's been watching Suikotsu for a few days, but is that more or less than three? Five? The prior chapter gave the impression that she stumbled upon Suikotsu at about the same time that Inuyasha's friends narrowly avoided death, and it would make some sense that they would have to rest for a bit of time. And yet, you also get the impression that Inuyasha is rather impatient to get to hunting down the Shichinin-tai before they can be hunted themselves again, despite how understandable it would be for him to not want to leave his friends alone to accomplish this end, for fear of them being caught unawares again. I am curious to know how long his new paranoia could be pushed down in order to ensure his friends' safety while they recover. They do, after all, still seem a little on the subdued side, but that could just be my own sympathetic exhaustion with their situation talking.

Speaking of Inuyasha's creeping paranoia, and the desperation he has to get rid of the threat to his friends, I'm concerned with how readily it's being dismissed in this chapter. It's strange, because it's addressed pretty bluntly through Inuyasha attacking Suikotsu regardless of how passive Suikotsu comes across, Miroku out-and-out stating that it's not a GREAT look for him to be throwing hands at a guy who for all the world doesn't look like he could hurt a fly. But before Inuyasha has a chance to reflect on his behavior, or consider if the presence of LIVE props indicates that there's more going on here than in Renkotsu's ruse, the village is on fire and everyone's attention has shifted. I'm not saying that Inuyasha isn't justified in his suspicion, because it's clear that Suikotsu is absolutely one of the Shichinin-tai. Inuyasha after all can't really afford to fall for another trap. But paranoia run rampant can be more destructive than not in the long run, and I happen to know for a fact that RT does not use this opportunity to explore the ramifications of Inuyasha's fear of the Shichinin-tai getting the drop on his group again. I at least would have like to have seen someone come up with a decent argument as to why Inuyasha should be a little more delicate in the future. 

Maybe the SMART ONE, or the closest thing to such a one, could have come up with something? Miroku, wanna give it a shot?

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 304 The Summoning of Ra!

I'm going to take this as a metaphor for the coming spring, simply because I'm ready as HELL for it. I'm so sick of constantly being cold and wrapping myself in wool blankets/housecoats to avoid turning on the heat as long as possible. Our power company, like so many others across the country right now, is price gouging us. I have to wince every time I look at the power bill, I swear. Besides that, I've got some seedlings currently sitting in the window, and I can WAIT to get them in the ground/planters. This is the first time I've had my own yard that I can garden in, and I'm STOKED get experimenting with what my microclimate will support. I bought way too many seeds to start I was so excited.

Buuuuuuut, since the ground was dusted with snow this morning, I'm guessing it's still going to be a while before I can get out and get my hands dirty. Or just, you know, warm them up.

Oh well, at least these characters get to enjoy a good sun-burst. Enjoyment may vary among them, of course.

Kalim (I'm FINALLY starting to remember this guy's name!) urges everyone to look, for there's a light shining on Diabound and it's bringing Diabound into view. Priest Seto gapes, identifying this as the third of those gods that only answers to the pharaoh. Thief!Bakura is pissing and moaning on his ledge, yelling that it's the middle of the night, and asking if this is the sun, like a crotchety old bastard bemoaning his young neighbor's loud music. Yami seems to have recovered somewhat, hardly sweating at all as he gazes up at the splitting clouds. He thinks at thief!Bakura that it's over for him and his mad darkness/slaughter, because he's going to destroy it with his god. Though Ra is already arriving, Yami performatively calls it forth again. For the drama of it. 

You don't get to complain about how your opponent somehow found the strength to turn the tides in the battle when your biggest assets in it so far were invisibility and holding an entire city hostage. Cry moar while I admire this giant lion-bird-thing.

As Yami is backed by his group of friends, and Yuugi floats next to him with a determined expression, Yami thinks he can feel the presence of his partner/the other soul inside him. Clearly he has not actually seen any of them, but they're so practiced in their unyielding support that he doesn't HAVE to. Their friendship is just that LOUD.

The city-dwellers ooh and ahh at the scene above them, marveling at how fast night turned into day, not the gradual change it usually is. One man gushes that it's the power of the gods. I would be concerned that they were the harbingers of the end of the world.

Kalim points out the obvious that Diabound can't hide itself without the shadows and dark, and that this is their chance. Though thief!Bakura tries to chuckle off this little Ra-sun-god-shaped snag in his plan, thinking it's lucky that Diabound already has the power of a god itself, he's clenching his teeth in tense unease. He has Diabound shoot a "Thunderforce" blast from the snake mouth on its tail, targeting Ra. Yami is horrified to see that Slifer's power has already been copied, while thief!Bakura appears a bit more confident at its confirmation. He reiterates that Diabound steals the power of whatever he defeats, even the power of gods, taking what he can get. Beggars can't be choosers, I suppose. Settling for god-powers must be SUCH a bummer for it./sarcasm

Priest Seto is not having ANY of this shit. While Yami makes an impotent noise in the face of the attack, Priest Seto calls to his own ka, Duos, to attack, announcing he's putting all his mana into its sword. Said sword glows with the excess of power, and Duos lunges forward to put it between Ra and the stolen attack. As the three come closer to converging, Priest Seto postulates that he can deflect the blow if he hits the front of it with all his power. He doesn't look the MOST confident, but that could just be his low energy, having poured it all into this gamble.

Looks like the gamble paid off!

And all it cost was all of Priest Seto's strength, which kinda limits him to an exhausted groan for celebration. 

Thief!Bakura grinds his teeth all the harder at the attack being knocked off course by Priest Seto's puny ka, while Yami looks over at Priest Seto in concern. Priest Seto urges Yami on, not sure if it's either out loud or in his head, insisting that now is his chance. Whether internal or external, Yami's gotten the message, and throws out a hand to direct Ra to attack. The people down below recoil as the giant bird-dragon bursts into flame, and thief!Bakura seems to be genuinely concerned that the thing is covered in fire.

The battle must be wrapping up, if everyone's gotten to the point where they're using every last scrap of energy they have on these attacks.

Meanwhile, back at the smoking and partially firebombed palace, Akhenaden lays on a slab with a bandage over his partially removed magic eyeball. Someone calls his name in the semi-darkness, and a shadowy figure appears at his side. He opens his normal eye, groaning at the disturbance to his recovery sleep, but is wide awake REAL fast when he sees the looming figure next to him. He stutters out a weak demand to know who this is creeping on him.

Ugh, it's like my sleep paralysis demon. Right down to the fact that it just popped in for a moment before the great fiery sun busts its way back into view. 

While those agonized screams are promising, I definitely wouldn't count on it, friend.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I'm not going to lie, watching thief!Bakura lose this hard was satisfying, as was watching everyone pour everything they had into their final attacks. Ra shining a literal light on the shady situation didn't automatically wipe out Diabound either, which I appreciate. I was a little concerned that, since Ra IS the strongest of the three god-monsters, it would just dominate the rest of the battle, if it wasn't just resolved without fuss right then and there. I'm glad to see that there was plenty of struggle to maintain tension pretty much to the very end. 

But there is still something that bothers me about this victory: it was entirely dependent on the actions of a spirit that was not there for the actual event. In the original iteration, it was just Yami there, and he didn't have the strength to summon Ra himself. Yuugi DID say that he has half of Yami's soul, though, so perhaps when everything actually went down in the past, Yami had twice the amount of strength, not being split between two people? I don't know, seems pretty flimsy, and while thief!Bakura's defeat at the end there is VERY convincing, it's still too soon to know for sure if he's going to recover. Yami himself questions if he actually got thief!Bakura in the very last panel. It's all very fishy.

Also, I definitely don't like Akhenaden's mummified doppelganger. It better stay away from my blood.