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.
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?
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