Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 309 Ripples in the Shadows

Where I am, we're still dealing with the dreary and chilly springtime rains. The days are mostly cloudy, dumping rain on us for a good majority of our waking hours, which of course makes the ground and brown, sloppy mess. I run on the cold side, so this weather keeps me bundled up in oversized hoodies all the time, even though I'd rather be prancing around in sundresses by now. Still, there's one thing that I appreciate about the linger chill; I get to fully enjoy my brand new boots I just got for my birthday. They're lined in soft wool so they keep my feet nice and warm, and while the block heels have me teetering around about two inches taller than I am normally (which is already rather tall), they make the best splashes in the puddles outside. I feel like a little kid again, fascinated by the big ripples I'm making through the water around me. 

My guess is that thief!Bakura is getting a DIFFERENT kind of joy from these ripples than the childish kind I'm getting on my end.

A convenient little label on the next panel zoomed out to show the tablet thief!Bakura is fondling in the middle of a small dais in a dark room calls this the ruins of the Hidden Shrine. Sounds like a secret location in a video game. Still kneeling at the tablet, thief!Bakura reiterates how he sealed part of his soul in the Millennium Eye, and predicts that it's only s matter of time before the kingdom falls, what with the pharaoh dead and all. Allegedly. He also expresses his certainty that the remaining five items would make it back to this slab even without his help, but presumably he just wanted to move the process along to avoid dying before these inanimate objects inch their way back into their molds. 

Once the items have all come back home, thief!Bakura anticipates gaining the shadow power of Zorc Necrophades (calling him the "Great God of the Underworld", though there are a couple of actual mythological figures that filled that role before he did), and then stealing the world with an army of ghosts from Kul Elna at his back. Sounds like a party, but not one I would ever want to go to. 

Meanwhile, at the palace with its damaged obelisks, guess who's pissing and moaning that they haven't found the pharaoh yet? No surprise it's Priest Seto, and even when the kneeling soldiers try to tell him that the search party hasn't actually come back yet, he yells at them to find Yami, even if they have to drain the Nile to do it. Oh, didn't expect the guy named for SET to be scrambling to find the pharaoh like ISIS right now. Super unexpected. 

Hanging his head slightly, Kalim wonders out loud if it could be that their pharaoh fell to thief!Bakura. Next to him, Siamun pauses to glance at him, then says that Shada is still out with the search party. He also worries about more items than the ring getting into thief!Bakura's hands, and that only four of the original six priests sworn to protect the pharaoh are left in the palace right now. Siamun, we know you're secretly a badass, dude, you could TOTALLY step in. Sure, you don't have a Millennium Item, but you can work around that!

The only good throne, in my opinion. But then again, nobody really asked. 

Priest Seto is throwing a full-on mantrum, yelling that the pharaoh HAS to be alive, and his dream to protect Egypt is still strong. He demands that they not lose faith the pharaoh will return, and he's starting to sound WAY more like Yuugi than Kaiba now? Unless this is a ruse in which he's laying the concern on REAL thick, or he and Kaiba have way less in common than I expected. Akhenaden thinks at Priest Seto that faith and dreams are not enough to protect this country, and that he needs POWER to do so, which is definitely not wrong. He cites the power he raised 15 years ago as an example, selling his soul to the shadows in the process, a variety of images from the previous chapter flashing in his mind. 

Isis, not the goddess, but the priestess, hovers her palms around her Millennium Necklace, her eyes closed in concentration. Siamun seems to have changed positions in their huddle so he's next to HER now, asking what she sees. She opens her eyes, but they're downcast, and describes a ripple in dark waters and a reflection of the shadows, or one that will fade soon. Vague and opaque, just like any good fortune-telling experience. She warns them that if two or three ripples overlap, they will collectively drown them in a great swell of tragedy. Siamun pauses again, then asks if this is the future of their land, and Isis confirms that this chain of events has already begun. In despair, Akhenaden complains that the divine order of Ma'at upheld by the Millennium Items has already begun to unravel, all by the hand of one thief. Maybe considering the products of your blood magic as integral to the fabric of the universe is very... bad, dude.

Suddenly, Isis's eyes widen and she declares she knows what will prevent the tragedy. Apparently, the answer is a "vessel" to hold that swell, and though I don't know what that means, Akhenaden seems pretty shaken up about it. Priest Seto considers the "a vessel" phrase, and Kalim and Siamun (side by side again) stare tensely at her. Siamun is moving around this room a LOT for an old dude.

A guard comes up to Priest Seto and says he has a report, and after the guard passes him a quick mumble, Priest Seto is alarmed to learn that the White Dragon Lady (TM) is awake now. He tells the guard that there's no time, and that she must be taken to the underground at once. He doesn't budge from his place among the other priests, so it looks like she's not going to get the personal escort treatment. 

Ah, the face of a woman who's woken up in a prison cell. I hope she doesn't have the ADDED anxiety of snapping out of her snooze during that freaky battle outside last night. That's heart-attack-inducing shit.

With a clank, a guard opens the door to her cell and asks gruffly if she's done eating, demanding that she get up. Instead, she asks hesitantly where she is. The guard says this is the HOSPITAL WING of the palace (because apparently the palace's sick and infirm need to be locked up like prisoners), where she has been asleep for four days. He further elaborates that she was so weak when they found her that no one was quite sure that she would even wake up, but at the same time, a special doctor had been assigned to her, doing everything he could to get her well while she was out. Hostile to cordial is two seconds flat, this dude, and SUSPICIOUSLY forthcoming with information for a guard. He turns around to lead her out of the cell while telling her that this is all because of Priest Seto, whom she owes her life. She tries out the name haltingly, like she's only just relearning how to speak.  

Elsewhere, two figures are walking down a massive hall between the giant pillars holding it up, Priest Seto and Akhenaden. They've been talking about their star inmate, clearly, because Akhenaden utters an exclamation about a woman who harbors a god. Priest Seto answers in the affirmative, explaining that he and Shada found her with the Millennium Key when they were out on their ka hunt. He mentions that they also have another prisoner who's a witness to that god spirit, failing to mention that the guy is probably not someone they'd consider particularly trustworthy in any other context.

Akhenaden tells Priest Seto that the palace is helpless if something happened to the pharaoh, because they've lost the protection of the three great gods. Priest Seto seems to have let go of the theatrics for the time being, because he just goes along with the hypothetical, saying that they need a ka stronger than those gods, that can bring anyone to their knees. Akhenaden adds that they need a new leader, a new pharaoh, which seems to scandalize Priest Seto for a moment. Picking up the thread of lost protection he started before, Akhenaden says the three gods may only be summoned by the missing pharaoh, and one would need even GREATER power to become the next pharaoh, new gods to fulfill new needs of the country. The conclusion he reaches, of course, is that Priest Seto needs to surpass the power of the gods. Priest Seto stares at him with a very mild shock, maybe sort of getting used to the idea? Akhenaden is absolutely CONVINCED that Priest Seto is the one from Isis's prediction, the vessel that would become the pharaoh. 

I thought the vessel would contain the swell of evil ripples? Do we want a pharaoh who contains evil ripples? 

Eh.

Oh SHIT, what a callback!!

I really hope he dies like an idiot in this context too. Like, I'm not saying I want him to flip out about an infant shitting in his lap, but I do want the past to RHYME with the future, if you're picking up what I'm putting down. 

The, um, proto-butler (?) leads them down the steps that he says go down to the underground prison wing, asking them to watch their step. Akhenaden brings up the rear of their procession down the narrow stairs, holding the wall and complaining that priests like them should have to visit such a place. Says the dude who murdered a whole thief village to make some shiny mystical shit. Proto-butler tells them that the pharaoh doesn't know about this place, which is no surprise to me. Tell me something the guy DOES know, why don't you. According to Proto-butler, the place was locked up since Akhenamkhanen's reign, and he jokes that he had a heck of a time finding the keys to the torture chamber. Punching down much? 

Priest Seto calls him Gebelk, asking him how his ka-extraction operation is going, conversationally. Equipped with more name that he was afforded in the beginning of the manga, Gebelk starts detailing the results to his experiments; hunger and fear are the best stimuli to bring out violence in a man's ka. He's saying that if people are hungry/afraid, their spirits, extensions of themselves, are more likely to lash out. I invite everyone to come to the ONE CONCLUSION you can given such information. Hint: maybe if you made sure that people weren't ever hungry or afraid instead of burying your riches with dead kings, you wouldn't have a supercharged thief with a god-like ka running around fucking up your shit!!!

Ahem. Anyway, Gebelk says that severe torture is way more likely to just kill a prisoner's ba instead, so that's counterproductive. Wow, he's just saying the most obvious shit. Priest Seto says that a spirit ka is made stronger with training and meditation, so he asks what strengthens the monster ka the prisoners have. No doubt no one is bothering to explore the same methods on these monster ka. Gebelk claims that he's had a few casualties, but he's found the answer to that question. This is when they draw up to a door flanked by two guards, and he says the results they seek are behind it. On the other side, they stroll a walkway running the edge of the room, flush with the wall on one side and lining a pit sunk in the middle. The walkway turns at the corner, leading to a dais with a couple of high-backed chairs in its center. 

Akhenaden is again complaining, calling the room foul and saying its pervaded with a dark aura. Gebelk, gesturing them toward the chairs on the dais, laughs that he believes this is the result of his work here as well. He invites them to have a seat, and for some reason, it's not until they're comfortably sitting that they take a good look at the room and wonder in unison what the balls this is.

Don't know why you're surprised. You fight people with ka too, what did you THINK they were doing down here?

High above the men facing each other on their rickety scaffolding, there's a tri-horned ogre-like monster lunging at an oversized centipede with bony pointed legs and eyes extending too far over its sides and back. Or are those boils of some kind? Either way, Akhenaden acknowledges with alarm that these ka are both mighty, and Priest Seto wears a mesmerized little smile as he watches the fight, looking delighted and yet in disbelief that these men have ka like these. Gebelk corrects Priest Seto - he says that these prisoners had weak ka when he first saw them, but he raised and grew those ka into the titans before them. He also chuckles at the absolute MOCKERY he's made of actual parenthood, because he's just that sleezy. 

Priest Seto asks frantically how Gebelk managed to GROW these things, and he answers that these men have been fighting on and off for about 34 hours, with one rule guiding them from the beginning: 

Well, except that in THIS case, TEN men entered the scaffolding at the beginning, and these are just the only two left. There are still a couple bodies visible on the platform of spikes hanging below them, as you can see in the screenshot above. Welcome to the Thunderdome, I guess.

As they all stare at the ongoing battle, expressions ranging from awe to horror to self-satisfaction, Gebelk concludes that what makes a monster ka stronger is its owner's desire to live. Priest Seto mulls over this lesson.

I feel like there is a GLARING hole in this strategy, but I very much doubt we'll get to see such comeuppance, as much as I'd revel in it. 

While Gebelk is gleefully encouraging them to believe that they can't live unless their enemy dies (and further establishing himself as the REAL enemy they should be going after here), another guard approaches Priest Seto to tell him they've brought the woman down. Priest Seto shifts his eyes to his periphery as she's shoved toward him by one of the guards escorting her. When she gives him an uncertain look, Priest Seto gives her the SLIGHTEST of smiles in return. Has he not considered why they would bring her down here in the first place, or is this seemingly innocuous gesture actually cruel? The woman, just stares at him, again trying out his identity in her head, continuing to turn it over with a slight gape. 

With a rather gummy grin, Gebelk identifies her as the woman who harbors a god. 

Oh, nope, Priest Seto just really didn't THINK that she'd be subjected to some nasty shit down here for some odd reason. He has dipshittery in common with Kaiba for SURE.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? This dichotomy between monster and spirit ka is so arbitrary, it's kind of laughable. There has still not been one concrete definition given that distinguishes between one or the other, and the only definition by proxy we got was "strong spirit ka can't possibly come from thief". With that in mind, when Priest Seto suggested that developing the monster ka in their prisoners HAD to be different in a tangible way from the vague training and meditation he underwent to develop his own ka, I was questioning this extrapolation all the harder. Why COULDN'T a prisoner just while away any hours in his cell meditating and performing exercises to grow his "monster"? The official answer would probably be that we should ASSUME that the lowly prisoners can't do such disciplined work, and their ka come from a place of fear and hate. But I feel like the more HONEST answer that should be given in this chapter is that there's not time for that. 

Because if the deductive logic of "spirit ka can be developed through training" held, then our girl with the "god" ka should be able to meditate her way to making it a titan to be reckoned with. Yet she was brought down here to meet with her savior and a sadistic maniac to find out how much power she has. I thought Shada already kind of figured that out with the key, but my guess is that what they really want is to SEE the damn thing and know what they're dealing with. No doubt if they felt like they could afford to do so, MY suggestion a while ago to induct her into the priesthood and get her on that passive training track would be Priest Seto's preference. Then again, he's the spiritual progenitor of Kaiba, who never DID live up to the genius he was purported to have. 

Speaking of which, with this chapter, I'm starting to question if Kaiba is this guy's "reincarnation" in the classical sense. Sure, they have a fair amount in common, but that frantic speech about having faith in the pharaoh's return and his lack of consideration for himself becoming pharaoh if Yami never returned until Akhenaden suggested it to him are striking differences. I suppose it's not out of the question that they could still be the same reincarnated soul while being different people - Yuugi and Yami are quite different themselves despite their similar appearances and the talk of sharing a soul in the last arc. Maybe this is a mystic spiral deal? 

Or maybe I'm sick and have a headache, so I'll try not to think about it too hard, lol!

Inuyasha Manga: 250 Bankotsu

Another chapter, another Shichinin-tai name to interpret. This should be the last one introduced though, so this might be the last time I discuss what bone/skill someone has in this comic. Assuming of course I never get around to looking up Renkotsu's name. I think I'm just avoiding it out of spite now - I don't like Renkotsu and I think his spitting fire trick is stupid. But I know there will be plenty of opportunities in the future to take a peek at what his name means, so I'm also not in any hurry.

I'm also not in a hurry because I was once again disappointed by this chapter title's namesake. What the hell is a "barbarian" or a "barbaric" skill anyway? How is that expressed? I know for a fact that this guy doesn't go around grunting and smashing people over the head with a club or something, so I don't know WHAT his "barbarian" designation is supposed to indicate. Either a Japanese audience will have a much different definition of that word than I do (entirely possible), or RT kinda ran out of descriptors for her current villains for hire (equally possible). 

At least he's relatable. If I had a penny for every time I struggled to write a few sentences on a piece of paper...

He crumples he paper he's holding between his hands, complaining with a groan that it's no damn good. While he's facepalming in utter defeat over his collection of balled up papers, Kohaku kneels a short distance behind him, addressing him as Bankotsu. He hums in question, apparently DEAF to the rumble-stomp of the Ginkotsu tank chugging up the hill. Whatever he was writing must have been REALLY consuming all his attention.

Jakotsu waves carefree, calling to his big brother Bankotsu, and Renkotsu just quietly acknowledges the man sitting on the grass in front of them. Those of them with human bodies disembark from Ginkotsu's massive flanks, and kneel in front of Bankotsu, Renkotsu stating unnecessarily that they've all assembled. I'd say he can probably SEE that, but Bankotsu is fiddling with a fresh piece of paper and brush, giving them a distracted, half-hearted greeting before he asks Renkotsu if he can write, since he's the smart one. Renkotsu catches the brush tossed at him, agreeing to write as Bankotsu instructs. Bankotsu whirls to turn his back on them, dictating something about going to repay an old debt, and a command for the recipient to wash their neck, or something like it. 

Excitedly. Jakotsu asks for confirmation that they're going for revenge, and Bankotsu gives him an affirmative, indicating the castle across the way that his hill was overlooking. 

He's probably not smiling over the memory of their beheading, because next he says that this is also the location of where his "partner" is being kept. 

In another village, someone calls out to a group, warning them to not stick around for the folks from the castle to capture them. It's Inuyasha and company, naturally, who all cast a questioning look over their shoulders at that ubiquitous expository old man, who explains that all the young people in town have been taken by soldiers, and there has so far been NO exception for travelers. The group gathers around the old guy to hear more, Miroku asking if there's a big battle coming. The old guy says he doesn't know, but he HAS heard that a warning notice was received by the castle, threatening to steal the castle's heirloom. You'd think the castle folk wouldn't be going around telling random villagers this kind of sensitive information, but whatever. Inuyasha's group looks collectively curious about this "heirloom" the old guy mentioned. 

Cue narrow sky transition panel, that brings us to the castle, where someone is assuring the castle's master that reinforcements will arrive by the evening, making the castle's defenses perfect. What is it they say about rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic? Anyway, the master scoffs that they're really overdoing this whole thing. But his advisor, a general of a sort, tells of uproar caused by the rumors of those Shichinin-tai zombies already spreading everywhere through the castle. 

"Partner" identified.

The castle's master seems proud as he describes the heirloom as their proof that they executed the leader of the Shichinin-tai, and he's convinced they'll decapitate the bastard again, now that he and his band are back. Suddenly, there's a cacophony outside the room and castle that catches the master's and general's attention, all the way at the gate. It's smoking, charred, and the guards stationed there scramble around it, looking in confusion for the cause of the blast to it. 

The Ginkotsu tank gurgles at them as he emerges from the raised dust, Renkotsu standing on the side. Before they can react, the guards' heads are separated from their shoulders by a chuckling Jakotsu and his snaking sword. A swarm of soldiers run for the gate, ordered not to pull back or let these zombies set a single FOOT inside the grounds. Suikotsu scoffs, his fist with its clawed glove raised. 

That fourth claw is doing a lot of heavy lifting to make Suikotsu's design legally distinct from Wolverine, lol!

There's a big explosion outside, fire licking the castle walls, and this is a Japanese castle, so that's no small deal. The general bolts to his feet inside, stuttering to the master, but he just advises the general not panic, insisting they won't get this far in. At that moment, the door to the room clatters open and Bankotsu greets the astonished general blandly, asking if they read his letter. 

The general recoils, stuttering that Bakotsu is a bastard, while the castle's master asks what happened to their body guards. Bankotsu thrusts a thumb over his shoulder and asks if he means the guys in the hall behind him, their heads shoved up through the ceiling and dangling in a jagged row. How he made his little serial killer art installment even THAT neat is beyond me, unless those guys were all asleep when he came in.

Bankotsu prepares to get down to business, cracking his raised knuckles much like Inuyasha, Kouga and Sesshoumaru are known to do, furthering the merging of these supposed human villains with youkai for some reason. The castle's master calls for him to wait in a panic, gesturing to the heirloom behind him to encourage Bankotsu to take it if he wants it so badly. So much for just cutting the guy's head off again without any trouble.

Bankotsu grins in pure happiness at his Banryuu.

I don't believe RT when she says these guys are human at this point. She can't fool me. They're youkai, pure and simple. 

Stumbling over his words, the master of the castle eventually gets out that he doesn't care if Bankotsu is a zombie freak, offering him a job. A murder job, presumably. The general addresses the master with affront, horrified that he's trying to put a dead man on the payroll. When Bankotsu looks over his shoulder, his smile has disappeared, and he asks if the master had read his letter properly. He slices off their heads with his massive sword, uselessly reminding them that it told them to wait and wash their necks. He certainly didn't send in a RESUME. 

Outside, the Ginkotsu tank sits among a field of carnage, he and Renkotsu at his side looking over the bloodied corpses in the foreground and the billowing fire and smoke in the background impassively. Nearby, Jakotsu hums in interest at something he notices, Suikotsu looking over his shoulder in question. Jakotsu has spotted a procession of soldiers on horseback coming up the road, and he excitedly identifies them as the reinforcements that the castle called for earlier, his hand acting as a visor on his brow as he leans forward to get a better look at the incoming troops. Suikotsu chuckles, asking if they should go wild again. But a voice behind them tells them to step aside instead.

The worried man at the front of the reinforcements is unnecessarily informed by a man at his flank that the flames are coming from the castle. The leader's not really listening, but making a confused noise at something HE sees at the end of the road ahead. It's the silhouette of Bankotsu backlit by the fires at the castle behind him. Reminds me of the badass walking away from an explosion trope. 

I feel like I've seen THIS before too, if I'm honest.

Well, you're kinda in the "misery loves company" territory now, so that makes a little sense.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I feel like RT didn't intend for me to take a lot of the things I'm coming away from this chapter with, which is an interesting sensation. There is a prominent part of me, the LEFT-most part, that is living for Bankotsu rejecting a job offer by beheading the aspiring boss. The castle's master has a familiar attitude, haughty and confident that those seeking to take back the spoils he's STOLEN will be defeated, and then simpering/eager to buy them off when it's clear he's on the losing side. Maybe it's the preponderance of unionizations in the news, workers starting to organize and win their rights to collective bargaining, but there's something VERY satisfying about a character like this being flat-out told to go fuck himself when he tries to bribe the person holding him accountable. Obviously, that sense of satisfaction is chafing against the greater context of the person holding this power to account being a mass-murdering undead sadist who only got his toy taken from him in the first place because people were starting to fear that he'd start murdering the WRONG people. It's... awkward to say the least, but that's the kind of awkwardness that breeds discussion, so I'm not TOO uncomfortable. 

I will reiterate my overall problem with the Shichinin-tai as human villains being more "youkai-like" than a truly interesting human villainy would allow. They have automatically populating face-paint, Bankotsu has super strength, Ginkotsu is just a fucking TANK now, etc. It's becoming clearer with every new detail about these mercenaries that the only reason RT made them "human" in the more technical sense is because she wanted them to be able to pass freely through Mt. Hakurei's barrier. It's a bit of a bummer, knowing how much more could be said if these guys were really just HUMAN, and had to rely on the skills their names boast.

Even if I'm still not sure what the hell a "barbarian" skill is. Maybe it's the skill to hang guys up in the ceiling by their heads?

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 308 The Birth of the Millennium Items!!

I'm betting on that labor having been pure HELL. I've never had babies, but I know a few women who have, and it's not exactly a pleasant process to begin with (at least the way we do it in a lot of modern societies). Giving birth to pure evil scratching and tearing their way out of the birth canal? Terrifying, even knowing there's no lady involved in this case. I pity the hell out of that tablet or mold or whatever the hell had to bring these asshole items into the world. 

My only comfort here is the thought that whatever evil is awakening will probably be banging into the walls as it thrashes around in the dark until Yami wakes up. Serves it right. Jerk.

Apparently, Akhenaden is taking a little stroll down memory lane as he snoozes through the terrifying pitch-black period. We jump back to 15 years before the current replay of events, where two armies are clashing in a battle. One side appears to be the same soldiers/guards we've seen wielding their spears up until this point, and the other is made up of men in a single pauldron strapped across their chest with anywhere from one to several strips of jagged leather. They slash and stab at one another, grappling and drawing blood. It's your typical chaotic battle scene.

At the palace, robed figures surround a figure on the throne, which is also fairly familiar, until we see that the person sitting on the throne isn't Yami, but a stiff-looking old-ish man with a sharply manicured beard. He's the same man from the fragment of memory Yami had of his father - a kneeling figure in front of him calls him King Akhenamkhanen, delivering a panicky report that the foreign armies have crossed their borders and they have no more troops to fight back. Sounds like this conflict was HORRIBLY mismanaged. 

The messenger gives the dour news that they have seven days until the enemy forces reach the palace. Akhenamkhanen hangs his head, asking if there's any way they can protect the kingdom, but the messenger isn't done handing him unhappy news. He says this isn't JUST an invasion, their enemies knowing exactly what they have. Hint: it's not an iconic strut.

Oooh, I LOVE ancient spellbooks! But not enough to ignore that we're starting to trade ONE mysterious origin for another that KT is hoping no one is going to ask for an explanation to.

The messenger is finally given a good profile shot, and I'm surprised to find (though I probably shouldn't be) that it's a much younger Akhenaden! His hair is dark and his face is... smooth-er as he says that even foreigners have heard the legends of their powerful spells that can summon gods and monsters, using magical powers that can bring mundane armies to their knees. Akhenaden just vagues about how it will give the invaders even greater power if the book falls in their hands and the entire continent would be theirs.

Akhenaden doesn't explain why he and Egypt's armies aren't using the tome to fight back the invaders themselves since it has that kind of power, so it falls to Akhenamkhanen to morosely mumble that even THEY haven't been able to decipher the book in the hundred years they've been trying. Akhenaden falls silent a moment before admitting that they've actually JUST finished the translation of it. Aw, and illiteracy was a perfectly valid reason not to use it too. 

Akhenamkhanen is blow away, asking for confirmation in awe and disbelief. Akhenaden does not seem stoked to disclose that the tome describes a process called "shadow alchemy" that changes worthless objects into precious metals, also providing instructions for creating seven treasures which grant mysterious powers. The pharaoh continues to gape, turning the phrase "seven treasures" over in his overheated brain. 

Akhenaden gestures to the three robed figures behind him, saying that together they have set up the shadow alchemy procedure, so I guess he's not looking for excuses now. He's still not looking particularly happy about it, either. Might have something to do with the "shadow" in this variety's name. It doesn't register with Akhenamkhanen that Akhenaden is being super somber and vague about all this, asking how long this alchemy will take. Akhenaden says seven days, which I'm sure everyone in the room has realized is exactly the time when they should expect to be under siege. 

The pharaoh hangs his head again, considering how unleashing a such a great power, even one he has been told virtually NOTHING about thus far, could bring disaster. Siamun, looking exactly the same as he does in Yami's memories, urges Akhenamkhanen to hurry it up with his orders on what to do, because there's no time.

How many more secret relatives does this guy have? 

Outside the palace, Akhenaden sits on horseback in front of a formation of soldiers, whom he instructs on their impending trip to Kul Elna near the Valley of the Kings. One soldier makes a disgusted face over the destination, saying that people call it the "village of thieves". Another next to him complains that there's nothing there but grave robbers, descended from the royal tomb-builders but gone very very BAD. He asks why they're going THERE of all places, and the first soldier says he heard a rumor that they're off to perform a magic ritual, a strange expression on his face. Another confused man points out that they're soldiers, not wizards. 

Akhenaden isn't paying any attention to their grumbling; he looks over his shoulder at a kneeling woman and a small child staring at him from a distance. 

Even as a baby, this kid looks emotionally constipated as all hell.

Anyway, Akhenaden is riding away as he thinks about being fated to walk in his brother's shadow ever since he took the throne, concluding that neither he nor Seto will ever become king. Don't know what this has to do with SHIT, but okay, be weirdly resentful of how you won't ever sit your sad ass on a particularly fancy chair and dictate EVERYONE else do shit. He wishes his tiny uptight son farewell, a sentiment that is strangely final, given that we know he comes back at some point. While he and his soldiers kick up dust on their way to Kul Elna, Akhenamkhanen stares straight ahead while his own infant son is being cradled in the background by (I'm guessing) his nameless mother. Don't know when she showed up, or why.

As he travels, Akhenaden thinks seriously about the dark cost of the shadow alchemy he's read about: mass human sacrifice is needed to turn base substances into gold. 99 lives are required to produce seven treasures, in their creepy tablet mold looming in the panel above. Akhenaden knows that the king always frowned on cruelty, but he thinks what pharaoh doesn't know won't hurt him. I'm starting to see why he was comparing Priest Seto's plans for human experimentation to this, but there is still one difference that I can see so far...

Akhenaden doesn't look AT ALL pleased or excited about this ritual sacrifice. 

Doesn't waste any time when he gets to Kul Elna, though.

Get a load of THAT freak reveling in murdering a whole bunch of people who just "stole" things that no one was even using.

Next we see the sarcophagus-shaped tablet laying in a tiered circle ringed with alchemical symbols of every level, and it's smoking at the points where the newly minted Millennium Items are embedded in it. A narrative dialog box informs the reader that these magicians made a contract with gods and devils through their shadow alchemy, Akhenaden staring intently at the Millennium Eye in the tablet in particular. Five silhouettes stand looking down at their steaming treasures, more narration saying that the villagers of Kul Elna died and the Millennium Items were born. The next panel shows the items all displayed against a dark background, telling of the conspirators deciding who would get which item when they got back to the palace - six priests taking an item each and giving one to the pharaoh. Sharing is caring, I guess? Just be sure not to tell the guy where his shiny new pendant came from. Like a kid who first finds out that their meat isn't just grown out of the supermarket shelves, I don't think he'll take it well.

You've already got a close relative as the pharaoh, dude. It's not as though this would be a major overhaul of your family's station or anything. 

According to the narration, it's seven days later that the opposing army arrives on the edge of the city, from a very similar overlook to the one thief!Bakura was just hanging out on in the last chapter. But I thought the whole process of creating the Millennium Items was supposed to take seven days, from what Akhenaden said? They were supposed to be cutting this real close with their return, right? Are we experiencing time dilation?

The leader of the enemy is a husky guy with a marvelous mustache on a horse, grinning down at the palace. He says he PLANNED for them to build a mountain of corpses, but there aren't even any guards at the palace gates that he can see. Too bad my imagination has to conjure up the image even though it won't be drawn. Ew. The enemy leader declares they'll have the throne in no time, leading his army in a charge to attack. He shouts permission to kill anyone they find alive, since this is their land now and all. They could really benefit from getting their kicks elsewhere - somebody should go back in time and hand them some video games.

As they approach the gate of the palace at a full gallop, the leader sees a set of silhouettes standing outside, and he makes a confused noise at this. 

They won't make a mountain, but maybe you'll at least get to make a molehill? Right?

I was afraid of that.

The leader asks aloud if it's some kind of joke that these dudes are confronting their whole-ass army with seven men, but as he and his soldiers ride closer, those seven don't even flinch. Wearing the Millennium Puzzle around his neck, the pharaoh asserts silently that seven treasures protect his country and people, the latter of which have probably been suffering immensely under the invasion for the past seven days, but we'll try not to think about THAT. The portraits of the other six wielders of the items are clustered after his, most of which we don't recognize, except for Akhenaden of course, and HEY, Siamun used to have the Millennium Key! No shit!

Akhenamkhanen raises his fist to the sky and implores the spirits to give them their power, and it's not long before the incoming army looks up in alarm and disbelief at a blinding light emerging over the palace. The leader's eyes practically pop out of his HEAD in shock. 

That's an understatement for sure.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I made fun of it earlier, but I do think it's pretty interesting that Akhenaden resents and is jealous of his brother for getting the throne, to the point where he would make a wish on the Millennium Eye to make his son the pharaoh instead. I think these feelings could have been elaborated upon just a little; perhaps Akhenaden could blame Akhenamkhanen for the invasion, considering him a weak leader for his soft policies and shying away from violence, as he mentioned in the chapter. In any case, I do like how this jealousy is a little reminiscent of the story of Osiris and Set, the latter murdering and dismembering the former in retaliation for some slight and assuming the throne. It's clear that (future) Priest Seto is named for Set, so that seems to speak even more to how sore Akhenaden is that he and his son will never get to be pharaoh, and his distant hope that MAYBE Seto will usurp the throne one day. 

But given how uncomfortable he is with Priest Seto's bent toward torture in order to build a match against Diabound, reflecting his own dismissal of how much his pharaoh would hate that he's going to be hurting people to achieve victory, I wonder if he truly understood how much Priest Seto would grow to resemble his namesake, the god of chaos and violence and death. As he's grown older, he's grown to REALLY regret what he did to create the Millennium Items, and even more, what he's done to create his SON as he has turned out. He's clearly grown to fear the fulfillment of his wish on the eye, made out of resentment, not the reflection on whether a path of death/destruction would really create a good ruler. He's lived long enough to realize that violence only begets more violence, and that's not going to limit itself to just "enemies" of the throne. 

Took him long enough.

I only have one complaint about this chapter, and that's the obvious one - how much of the creation of the Millennium Items fit within that deadline of seven days kept shrinking as the chapter went on. At the beginning, Akhenaden made it seem like they'd be cutting this pretty close just by MAKING the things, but by the end, they had enough time to get to Kul Elna, kill (nearly) everyone there, make the items, bring them back to the palace, and assign them to seven individuals to use, all before the clock even starts TICKING. There's not even any mention of LEARNING how to use them, so those must be some pretty intuitive mystical objects. Granted, Yami didn't really LEARN his way to summoning a god when he first showed up here either, but that makes me scratch my head even more. Akhenamkhanen mentioned that it took them 100 years to even translate their ancient spellbook, and the products of its magic just work instantly without any study? Seems WAY too easy to me.

But, I guess MOST things that the elite and fabulously wealthy do seem way too easy to me, so I should probz be used to it by now.

Inuyasha Manga: 249 The Barrier at Mt. Hakurei

A unique challenge for mountaineers, no doubt. Sure, you could go for K2 or Mt. Everest if you're interested in conquering mere ALTITUDE, but people have already done that. What Mt. Hakurei lacks in height, it makes up for in spiritual judgment. Why endure freezing temperatures and treacherous crevasses when you could instead have a vaguely dickish evaluation of your purity of heart press in on you in a mist of pure spiritual elitism? Doesn't that sound like a new kind of RUSH?

Mt. Hakurei tourism board, call me for more promotional ideas.

You know, the big rocky thing sticking up from the ground over there? Surely Inuyasha couldn't miss a mountain, right?

Miroku mentions that he's heard of the holy mountain that cleanses evil being before, and Kikyou confirms that's the one. She says Suikotsu could stay in the area because he had a truly uncorrupted heart. How is this possible when it's irrefutable that he is indeed a member of a group of murderous mercenaries, you might ask? Well, Kagome seems to be coming to the conclusion that doctor!Suikotsu was fine and dandy, but murder!Suikotsu was the one who had to leave when he burst onto the scene. Her epiphany is a bit lackluster, though, due to her pouting. 

Inuyasha suggests that all of those Shichinin-tai dudes left in a hurry because of the mountain.

There's a certain amount of purity we EXPECT from our mountains, but dammit, this is EXCESSIVE.

Sango asks Miroku what they should do, and he says they should investigate this anomaly that makes him a tad uneasy. He's the FIRST one the mountain is low-key judging up and down for his shitty behavior. Inuyasha starts to address a silent Kikyou, but trails off when he notices the presence of doctor!Suikotsu's adopted brood loitering behind him. They also address Kikyou, who says that she'll be sticking around for their sake for the time being. She also mentions that she couldn't go to check out the mountain even if she wanted to. Confused by this at first, Inuyasha says her name in question, and Kikyou reminds him that he saw how her Shinidamachuu were rejected by the energy in the area (or rather, disintegrated). 

Though she states she can just about manage to stand, she remains seated against the tree for the moment, while Inuyasha just kind of stares at her in tender concern. He wonders if she's being affected this way because she's already dead. Kikyou just stares blankly back at him, her head cocked to the side and her hair rustling int he breeze. 

Kagome stands with her back to them, Sango regarding her with pity from her periphery. Kagome sadly thinks that Inuyasha and Kikyou must really want to embrace. Or, they could just be tired from battle and awkward. That's a possibility. 

She must really be upset if riding a massive flying cat isn't putting a smile on Kagome's face.

Inuyasha and Miroku (on whose shoulder Shippou is riding) are on the ground, running side by side. Apparently, Inuyasha didn't think to ask Kagome when they were on their way out, and is now wondering out loud to Miroku why Kagome has decided to ride on Kirara's back instead of his. Miroku answers plainly that it's probably because Kagome doesn't want to ride with him, to which Inuyasha responds with a sweatdrop and a defensive question of what he did. Miroku acknowledges that Inuyasha DID nothing, but criticizes the general MOOD between him and Kikyou. Meh, I've seen people issue cold shoulders for more absurd criteria than this. Miroku argues that girls have a sharp intuition, and Kagome is sensing Inuyasha's lingering feelings for Kikyou, hurt by them. 

Thankfully, Miroku's next statement isn't COMPLETELY pulled from his ass, and suggests to Inuyasha that he leave Kagome alone for a little while, and not provoke her until she cools down in a little while. But he looks up to find that Inuyasha has run ahead to yell at Kagome. It's too late for him to be shouting at Inuyasha to wait, but he does so anyway, while Shippou comments that Inuyasha isn't listening. Don't know how we would know these things if you weren't telling us, Shippou. Keep up the good work.

Kagome has her face turned in the opposite direction of Inuyasha as he demands she answer him and to know why she's ignoring him, Sango closing her eyes and hanging her head in exasperation. 

Funny how quickly Inuyasha didn't want Kagome's attention anymore. That expression is EFFECTIVE.

Later on, everyone's sitting on the grass, Miroku and Sango next to one another with Shippou and Kirara hanging out on either side of them in the background, and Kagome and Inuyasha with a gap between them in the foreground. Were they not going somewhere? Is this a legally mandated 15-minute break? Inuyasha tells Kagome to just say whatever she has to say, but Kagome icily states she has nothing in particular to talk about. He is refusing all of these hints.

Inuyasha tries to get her to admit that she's angry, but she denies it. Sweating, he insists that this is not the time to fight, asking if she understands. She doesn't respond at first, then says his name, and Inuyasha barks a derisive "what" at her, as if he wasn't JUST urging her to speak. Kagome reminds him that she's talked about this before, about what it means for them to be together. He must have forgotten, because he looks at her, dumbfounded, as she acknowledges that there's a bond between him and Kikyou, and she can't ask him to forget about her. She also acknowledges that being together with him was her decision, although by the look on her face, I'd say she's starting to wonder if the emotional irritation is worth it. Inuyasha's expression is much softer as he says her name now, while she looks up at the sky and explains that she was just trying not to mind seeing him and Kikyou together before. Inuyasha looks curious when she utters that all-important "but"... and then Kagome explodes on him, screaming that he's being belligerent, asking why he could just leave her alone, and yelling that she's been enduring this for so long.

Dude didn't catch her drift with the more subtle expression, so she had to bring out the BIG guns. 

Inuyasha, missing the point entirely, stutters that this bitch really WAS angry the whole time, so Kagome tells him to sit. Multiple times, calling him an idiot over and over as he's driven farther into the dirt face first and somehow also gets out halting commands for her to stop. At their very short distance away, the rest of the group is awkwardly sitting and listening to this ruckus. As Kirara has an eye out over a shoulder at the drama, Shippou is leaning around Sango's neck, commenting that Inuyasha seems to have gotten smaller. An exasperated Miroku says this is exactly why he told him to leave Kagome alone. 

What did we learn from this, children? 

After a traditional narrow sky transition panel (TM), Inuyasha's group arrives near the base of the mountain Hakurei, mists skirting its edges. Miroku remarks on its similarity to Kikyou's description, Shippou clinging to his collar to peek up at the column of rock. Kagome watches a flock of birds fly up above the mist, the trees tiered along the mountain's steep side, and thinks this place really is quite serene. There's a thin line between serenity and eerie silence, if you ask me.

Kirara is in massive sabertooth form, but trembling something fierce, prompting Sango to ask what's wrong. She's alarmed when Kirara shrinks into miniature size, mewling, again addressing Kirara in question. Miroku does the same with Shippou, whose eyes have started swirling in disorientation and he appears to be sprawled over the shoulder, unresponsive. Sango approaches him, carrying a limp little Kirara in her arms, trailing in a statement of what this is. Miroku finishes for her, saying that they're being affected by the mountain, since they're full youkai. He mentions that Inuyasha, on the other hand, is hanyou, though.

That doesn't exactly look comfortable, but at least he's not passing out.

Inuyasha recoils a little, asking if this is a barrier. Miroku answers that it's likely, put up to protect the sacred precincts. I'm not sure what that means, but it sounds super important. He says that this barrier is strong enough to purify youki and evil beings fairly fast, admitting that even a regular human like him is uncomfortable with this intense level of purity. Kagome and Sango make a noise of surprise, looking at one another and confirming that they're both feeling fine themselves. A judgy Inuyasha glares at him, accusing him of just being impure, but Miroku snaps that this isn't the time to be thinking about his alleged impurity. I don't know, bro, I think you're a bit overdue for a discussion of your behavior.

Miroku says he'd been thinking that it might be possible for Naraku to hide himself using the barrier to hide himself, but he expresses some uncertainty around the idea now. Inuyasha agrees, going even further to say it's impossible. He asserts that a lump of evil like Naraku couldn't so much as put a foot in the barrier without being purified in an instant. His fairly confident thought is that Naraku isn't here.

On the Ginkotsu tank still clawing its way over the landscape, Jakotsu whines at Renkotsu, asking where they're going. They're approaching Kohaku, who stands quietly by a skeletal tree and some tall grass, which Jakotsu notes as he squints at Kohaku from under his palm raised like a visor against his forehead. Ginkotsu responds with a gurgle, and Renkotsu says simply that they've arrived. 

Except for the two members you guys are missing, of course. Might wanna think about changing the name of the group. 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Before anyone comes at me for claiming Kagome's feelings are bullshit, let me clarify: I think her feelings over Inuyasha and Kikyou being close and her moodiness due to how she's interpreting the looks they gave each other in those moments are completely valid. Any interaction between a boyfriend and their ex is going to be awkward for a current partner to see, bringing out latent insecurities and worries. I remember shortly after my husband and I started dating, we went to a Halloween party hosted by his ex, and she was VERY handsy with him, which of course raised MY hackles and made me feel threatened. 

The thing is, the ex didn't mean anything by it, and she was actually handsy with EVERYONE at the party, because that's just how she was as a person - very touch-oriented. I just didn't notice because I was hyperfocused on my then-boyfriend now-husband and his interaction with her. I've already pointed this out, but it bears repeating that Inuyasha DID NOT rush to Kikyou's side in the previous battle, even when she was knocked out. He stayed by Kagome's side until she urged him to help the children, and MIROKU was the one who got Kikyou out of the way of the rampaging Ginkotsu tank. Kagome didn't notice this, because she's young and insecure and is going to blow minor gestures (that SHE demanded, by the way) out of proportion. This is all understandable, but to paint it as some kind of intuition for the true feelings behind Inuyasha and Kikyou's contact, perceptions of underlying emotions and desires that she has no way of accurately judging, is downright absurd. She has no idea what's going on in Inuyasha or Kikyou's heads, and to claim that she's picking up on it with her girl antenna is taking the responsibility for her jealousy and insecurity and placing it squarely on Inuyasha's shoulders. At best, this is unfair, because he can't control how she feels about him and Kikyou. He really DIDN'T do anything, so he shouldn't be subject to scorn over something that he may or may NOT have been feeling because Kagome perceived it as suspicious or hurtful.

Thankfully, Miroku seems to be the only one handing out the bullshit here, because Kagome herself appears to understand this on some level. Though the cold shoulder was a bit immature, she's just trying to process how upset she got over seeing Inuyasha and Kikyou together again and wanted to be left alone to do that - they're HER feelings, after all, and she meant to put them aside so she can keep being with Inuyasha. The last time she saw him with Kikyou took some processing too, some time alone to evaluate where her priorities lie and whether the love outweighed the pain. I don't blame her for getting angry at Inuyasha toward the end there for interrupting that brooding ish, since she's already in a delicate state and she doesn't need him to be sticking his dirty little fingers in her wounds, so to speak. 

All that touchy-feely shit aside, I've been waiting for the establishment of Mt. Hakurei's role in all this, and more specifically its barrier's, since the arc began. This chapter shows readers that its function is totally blind. Kirara and Shippou are human-allied, and the latter is a literal CHILD who is damn near harmless, but it puts his youki out of commission without any distinction between it and a youkai with a truly malevolent intent. No doubt it would totally kill him if he got too far in. It indicates that the definitions of "impurity" and "purity" are a little out of whack here, and there's little if any wiggle-room for the more fuzzy examples of youkai-kind. When the worst examples of humans in the story are just made to feel a little uncomfortable (not talking about Miroku here, since his discomfort can't be considered more than a joke), and the BEST examples of youkai would be purified straight out of existence, I'm going to go out on a limb and say your barrier isn't judging based on fair criteria, spiritual or no. 

What criteria it IS judging by remains to be seen.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 307 Shadows Fall!!

No, no more shadows, dammit! My yard is mostly shaded right now, and I've had to begin gardening without really knowing where the sun falls most of the day. I went ahead and constructed a bed and put some shade-hardy seedlings in there, but who really knows if the spot I picked is good enough. I do love being surrounded by trees, but that also means they're blocking a lot of light to plants beneath them, and some of my favorite veggies won't really produce here. It's a disappointing realization, but hopefully I can get a little SOMETHING out of my new patch of dirt. Not as much as I'd like, but SOMETHING surely.

I don't know if YOUR condition is any more optimal for results than that of my yard, Shada.

As Yami speeds along on his horse, the Millennium Ring around thief!Bakura's neck hovers, pointing with a single dangling cone-ornament at the bottom, presumably at the approaching Yami. He laughs that Yami is on his way, with no fear of death, which is perfectly fine with thief!Bakura. He says he won't run or hide, or so much as BUDGE from the place he declares Yami is going to die. Yami himself is concentrating too hard on getting to thief!Bakura to monologue himself, but ZN is... somewhere, encouraging thief!Bakura to take the Millennium Items, calling him a cog in the wheel. But a SPECIAL cog! One that will reawaken ZN's fate and truth.

I would personally be pretty irritated by this poor excuse for encouragement, but there are some people who will swallow even the flimsiest praise in order to play strong-man for a little while.

KT is NOT disappointing with these late-stage title illustrations. Not as active as the others, but dope as hell.

Cut to where asshole!Bakura has appropriated a defensive stance, legs wide and arms crossed, in front of Yuugi and friends. Yuugi has a hand on an enraged Jonouchi's arm as Jonouchi growls and trails an insult about asshole!Bakura being lousy and other such things. Honda's also got his fists out, but I very much doubt there will be fisticuffs like early in the manga. If the ex-bullies haven't punched Kaiba all the multiple times he's deserved it so far, I don't think it will occur to them to break asshole!Bakura's nose either. 

Yuugi snaps that they don't have time to fight each other, demanding (with a cursory polite "please") that asshole!Bakura let them by. Asshole!Bakura chuckles that they have to defeat him before he'll let them get past him, and Yuugi can only think in frustrated impotence that he TRUSTED asshole!Bakura. This kid is lucky he's the main character - in any other position, his poor judgment would have gotten him killed WAY at the beginning of the manga. Asshole!Bakura reminds Yuugi that this world is a memory created by the pharaoh, in which the epic battle over the Millennium Items is replaying before their eyes. He argues that the events will play out just as they did 3,000 years before if they just let them happen. Yuugi shouts that he KNOWS that, which is precisely why they are trying to save Yami from this shitty fate. With a glare, asshole!Bakura tells Yuugi in no uncertain terms that he came here to STOP them from doing just that. 

Jonouchi sputters in confusion and disbelief, and Honda asks WHY asshole!Bakura would want them to fail. Asshole!Bakura repeats again that this world is a moment-by-moment replay reel of events that have already happened, but contrary to his previous assertion, he says that the ENDING is going to be different. 

... Justice?

Yuugi gapes and Honda clenches his teeth, both in horror. Asshole!Bakura explains that only one of the two souls that were sealed into the puzzle 3,000 years ago can return to the modern world, but he, much like ZN, didn't expect one thing. He admits that he didn't really anticipate Yami making friends strong enough to infiltrate this world inside the puzzle and make an imprint on the pharaoh's eternal memories. He calls them pathetic too, but the insult seems like a last-ditch effort to dismiss all their very successful meddling so far. 

Sweatdropping, Yuugi asks hesitantly who exactly asshole!Bakura is. In response, asshole!Bakura asks what Yuugi would think if ZN sealed a part of himself in the Millennium Ring 3,000 years ago Presumably before Yami got the rest of him in the puzzle, I guess. Yuugi continues to gape, trailing a question he seems to have already gleaned the answer to, given how ridiculously obvious asshole!Bakura just made it. Nevertheless, asshole!Bakura confirms with a deranged grin that he is indeed ZN himself, leading me to wonder why the FUCK he looks like Bakura, then. 

KT remembers Bobasa again just long enough to show his shock and repulsion to this confession, and Yuugi thinks that this must mean that ZN used their friend Bakura (the OG) to steal the Millennium Items and kill them. Is... is that why he looks like Bakura? Did he just grow to look like his host like some mockery of an old married couple? 

Meanwhile, asshole!Bakura holds up his arm, which is bubbling and morphing into a disturbing growths. He keeps on grinning with malevolent intent as he tells Yuugi and pals that they have the ability to warp this world, so he has to get rid of them. Disturbed, Jonouchi points out asshole!Bakura's mutating arm. A close-up on his forearm shows jagged, angular lumps emerging from it as well, like new bones branching from it. He says he thought long and hard about how to destroy them. 

Ugh, I hate that ALMOST as much as ZN himself. The body-horror alone would probz be enough to defeat my weak ass. 

Asshole!Bakura tells them not to look so shocked; everything from the modern world that Yami remembers also exists here - as long as he covers it in skin and veins first, apparently. He says that you can WILL something to appear in this mind-realm, even if you can't see it, ordering them to try now too. Yuugi and Jonouchi stare at their clawed fingers in anxiety at first, then their expressions change to curiosity as an opaque outline of a Duel Disk starts to flicker around their wrists. They exclaim in awe as they solidify into a regular, NON-FLESHY Duel Disks on both of them.

Confirming that asshole!Bakura just wanted to be nasty. 

His Duel Disk looks completely normal too when he starts Bakura-splaining all about how the ancient Egyptians used stone slabs to summon their monsters, but these Duel Disks just seemed more appropriate for modern duelists like themselves to him. I don't know if I trust the definition of "appropriate" from a guy who just morphed a Duel Disk from his bones as a gross-out tactic. Jonouchi is DOWN, though; he says with confidence that this is the BEST weapon for a duelist. 

Behind them, Honda and Anzu stare with nauseated looks at their own imagineered Duel Disks, the former saying that he made one appear as well even though he can't duel. Anzu says she doesn't even know what CARDS she has. They are in some DEEP SHIT, because asshole!Bakura asks which of them wants to die first, so it looks like he's not letting ANY of them off the hook. Although, any of them could just sneak off while he's distracted dueling another.

Not out of cowardice, mind you. To help Yami. 

That's right.

His iron resolve is admirable, but I'm with Yuugi. He might want to rethink his eagerness to go up against the guy who just created a Duel Disk out of his own flesh. 

Just imagine what he'll create out of JONOUCHI'S.

Jonouchi insists that Yuugi leave this to him, saying he didn't make it through Battle City for nothing. And without the spirit of an ancient pharaoh running his duels too, so maybe he has a point. Asshole!Bakura gives him points for his guts, but tells him not to forget that this is a shadow game, a fact that Jonouchi is a little taken aback by. Asshole!Bakura tells him that upon losing one's 4000 life points, one dies a true death of darkness and oblivion, with NO chance of coming back. He impresses upon them that when you lose here, you lose everything, and you can never return to the real world. 

Surprisingly, Jonouchi's recoil at the announcement of a shadow game has completely dissipated by the next panel, and he displays steely determination as he simply challenges asshole!Bakura again. Yuugi, Honda and Anzu are all in utter shock by Jonouchi running headlong into this conflict, but Jonouchi is only thinking about defeating asshole!Bakura quickly in order to run help Yami. A counter for his life points appears, though I can't tell if it's supposed to be diagetic or not.

Asshole!Bakura summons Spirit Zoma, which looks a little like a gremlin's skeleton, but with the bones of wings attached to its back. Jonouchi summons Panther Warrior, commanding it to go get Zoma. Panther Warrior lunges and slices straight through Zoma with its sword, and Jonouchi declares this an easy win, wishing Zoma a "so long". But this late in the game, NOTHING is that easy. Asshole!Bakura chuckles through a dark grin and informs Jonouchi that he's fallen into a trap, sarcastically saying what a shame it is. Jonouchi makes an exclamation of disbelief as Zoma's skeletal head rematerializes before him, jaws open wide. 

Asshole!Bakura explains that Zoma has a special power, turning into ectoplasm when it's slain by the enemy and possessing the opposing player. This possession results in the consumption of the possessed player's soul, which asshole!Bakura clarifies means in other words that Jonouchi is dead, grinning all the way. Zoma speeds toward the still numb with disbelief Jonouchi, and the rest of the gang gapes in horror, Yuugi calling out to Jonouchi in alarm.

Normally I really like when this comic gives an impression of how it used to be in the beginning, but this... this isn't happening to a villain. This is happening to my FAVORITE, and I hate it.

I have a feeling I'm going to hate this too.

Thief!Bakura says he's been waiting for Yami, which is a big "duh" - can't imagine why ELSE he would be just sitting there. Yelling as effectively as he can in his utter exhaustion, Yami demands that thief!Bakura stop hurting innocent people who have nothing to do with this. Thief!Bakura chuckles over Yami losing all of his energy when his god was defeated, and his coming to deliver a lecture now that he can't summon ka. As much as I hate to admit it... that IS pretty funny. Very ironically on-brand for a guy who has spent this whole story delivering self-righteous monologues.

Thief!Bakura instructs Yami to look out at the city from their perch, asking if he can see the palace that is definitely too big to miss, even at this distance. He suggests that Yami has never seen his palace from afar like this, spending his days squatting on his throne all the time. Thief!Bakura calls a ruler a pitiful thing, which is definitely a valid point, given the framing. But I believe Stevie Nicks when she says they make bad lovers too, so maybe my existing opinion is also coloring my perception of thief!Bakura's position.

He compares Yami's sheltered and cloistered existence to that of a thief, who views everything they see as a potential steal (haha). He lists royal power, the city, human lives, and even their current view as examples here. He boasts that if being a king is essentially just getting everything you want, a king of thieves like him is surely a king of kings, ultimately. He sardonically asks for confirmation before bursting into laughter. Yami says thief!Bakura hasn't gotten anything (discounting the Millennium Ring and victory over him and his priests, of course), and that he's just stomping all over the lives and hopes of the people in the city. Grinning in pure satisfaction, thief!Bakura just asserts that it doesn't matter what Yami says, because he WINS.

Suddenly, the portion of the pass on which he and his horse are paused crumbles beneath them, completely detaching from the side of the cliff.

Great idea Shada, I'm sure he was thinking of NOT hanging on.

As Yami dangles by his hand, thief!Bakura comes to snatch the Millennium Puzzle around his neck. Thief!Bakura yanks the puzzle from Yami neck, breaking the rope holding there, narrating his action while Yami groans with the strain of clutching the precarious rock edge. With a call-back statement that now he'll trample YAMI's life, thief!Bakura stomps on Yami's fingers, and he plunges into the chasm below.

Man, I hope none of us are afraid of the dark...

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? This is all looking very dire for Yami and company, although I think perhaps Yami's black-out as he fell into the chasm might have just saved Jonouchi's lucky bacon there. Since ZN has outright said that Yami is going to survive long enough to meet him and his ka army later on, that being when he sealed them both in the Millennium Puzzle in the first round of these events, I'm pretty sure Yami's going to survive this fall. That'll be one hell of a bump on the head, though. I do wonder if everyone stays CONSCIOUS during the literal black-out, though. Though I made a joke about it, I don't think it would matter if you're afraid of the dark or not - being stuck in complete darkness until Yami wakes up would be downright TERRIFYING. 

Yami is once again very poor at expressing his position as the hero in comparison to thief!Bakura, who isn't WRONG here. From his "everything can be stolen" philosophy, he's far more powerful that the inflexible and inexperienced Yami. He has freedom of movement, freedom of conscience, and a freedom of action that Yami cannot have, both in his previous life and his current reliving of memories. Being constrained by his moral compunction to protect the city-folk and his simultaneous complete UNFAMILIARITY with them or any of their conditions on the outside lost him the previous battle. And now all he has left is an appeal to thief!Bakura's sense of fairness to people who aren't personally involved in the scuffle, something he should know by now DOES NOT EXIST. Guy's got nothing, and that does not bode well for what lays ahead. 

Yuugi and the others seem to be having a similar problem: they are also trying to reason with asshole!Bakura like he has a conscience, engage with him as though he's inclined to give them a fair shot, when he has given them every indication to the contrary. It's frustrating seeing all of our protagonists still trying to preach fairness and empathy to a bunch of people who clearly have no interest in either concept. Seeing Yuugi piss and moan about trusting asshole!Bakura as though it should have made him feel bad, and Jonouchi rushing into a duel with him like there was even a modicum of a chance that he would be given a chance gave me a recurring scoff of irritation. There should be no doubt in their minds that they will be gutted at the first opportunity with no remorse, as they have been TOLD as much.

They're just opening more opportunities to be railroaded every time they act like their enemies can grow a conscience, and I've seen this happen too often in real life to be entertained much by it in fiction.

Of course, I've got more QUESTIONS regarding how asshole!Bakura is also ZN. My guess is it has to do with thief!Bakura tampering with the Millennium Eye, sealing a part of his soul in there that exacerbated the hinted nasty tendencies of Akhenaden. That could lead Akhenaden to be the one to make the deal with shadows and essentially create a fusion of the two that would become Zorc Necrophades... right? Honestly, I'm not sure trying to REASON my way to a conclusion on this is the best idea, since there seem to be about five million facets to this particular problem. All I can know for sure is that ZN/asshole!Bakura has been sealing his soul in damn near everything he can get his grubby hands on, and I wouldn't be surprised if he managed to be haunting half the cursed objects on this planet. 

Douchebag seriously needs to do the soul equivalent of keeping it in his pants.