Inuyasha Manga: 255 Hijiri Island

I went on "vacation" recently to an island nearby. My in-laws rented an expensive Air BnB in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere next to the water. I suppose the plan was to just kinda hang out in the area and pretend we were all rich enough to live there or something? I don't know, my husband and I were looking forward to whale-watching and such instead, so we kinda had to convince them that we should do it. While THAT part was pretty enjoyable, our stay toward the end was rather... less than satisfying. I sure hope Hijiri Island has a bit more going for it, is what I'm saying. For the sakes of our protagonists. 

A lack of "swampy" smell would definitely up the enjoy-ability score, for sure. 

Of course, it's only a plus in the hunt for the water-and-flowers smell that was coming off Naraku's puppet. He reminds himself that this is what he's looking for, a smell as pure as Mt. Hakurei's, just as Sango flies in on Kirara with a short greeting. Miroku and Kagome both acknowledge her, the latter asking how her little trip went, and Sango responds that it was no good because the barrier around Mt. Hakurei has only gotten stronger since they were up there last. Miroku suggests with disappointment that it'll be impossible for them to break in then. Well, not all of them, of course. Inuyasha abruptly changes the subject to Naraku obviously having been near here, though he offers no logic for that statement. But he might just mean the MOUNTAIN in general, because he says they should check every place beside water around it in order to find that unique smell.  

Cut to, you guessed it, a place next to water! It's a village with some boats moored at the shore, and someone BEGGING to be loaned one. The person being begged says no WAY, but the boy asking says his father has been gone for half the month already, and he's SURE something happened at Hijiri island to him. The man unwilling to give up the boat gives the hesitant excuse that Hijiri Island is sacred ground, and they'll be cursed if they step on it. The dude next to him agrees, a position that should make them think twice about what kind of divinity would curse them just for helping a boy find his lost father.

The kid promises that he'll go alone, and they just have to lend him that boat. He twists around when he hears someone behind him ask if he was just talking about "sacred ground".

Story Corps over here. Get ready for a tear-jerker.

Turns out this village's lake has an island near its center that ordinary folks can't enter. The boy is telling our heroes about this, or Miroku and Inuyasha anyway. They've moved to a room where the boy sits across from them with three women behind him. Sango, Kagome and Shippou wait on the porch outside, for some reason. The boy says this the men in his family by chance were the only ones who have been able to cross to Hijiri Island, to take care of someone called Hakushin-Shounin. Miroku repeats this name in question, so the boy explains that this guy was a great priest from over a century before, who became a living Buddha and was enshrined in a small temple on the island. 

Thankfully Inuyasha is the one to ask what a "living Buddha is", because I would have felt stupid asking. Miroku says the kid is most likely referring to a "Sokushin-butsu", or a saint-like priest who abstains from food while still alive, entering Nirvana while their flesh mummifies. That sounds less saint-like and more actual nightmare-like to me, but hey. 

It's also apparently saintly to hand out curses like candy to guys who kinda sorta insult them a little. Side-eyeing this concept HARD right now.

Kagome steps in from outside to redirect the conversation, asking the boy for clarification on how his father hadn't come back. He hangs his head and repeats that it's been half a month already, and he would LIKE to check up on his father, but... One of the women sitting behind assure him, calling him Shintarou, that it's impossible by himself. He addresses all three of them at once as his elder sisters, which explains that, I guess. The sister on the right mumbles that she's also worried about their father though, the sister in the middle says that the villagers are worried about the curse in the meantime, and the one on the left agrees that this seems to be a real conundrum for them.

Leaning down toward the still seated Inuyasha, Kagome asks if they should go. Inuyasha is on board, saying he's pretty sure there's something going on with these sacred grounds. Shintarou offers to be their navigator, since there's always a dangerous fog hanging over the island. The sisters all lean in around Shintarou, the right-most one asking that the visitors take good care of their brother, the left-most stating that Shintarou is the only son the family has. 

Miroku says that this must be lonely, because women make shit company, I guess. By the next panel, he's right up close and personal with the left-most sister, her hands wrapped in his own, making his OWN offer to put some sons in them before he goes. 

Probably not, but kids are hardy. I'm sure he'll be FINE...

Cut to the lake, where Inuyasha stands in the middle of a boat to push them along, flanked by the seated Miroku and Shintarou, Shippou looking off the bow, Kagome sitting at the stern, and Sango atop a swimming Kirara behind them. A scene very reminiscent of my favorite arc surrounding the Water God. No word on where they got this boat, or how they convinced the other villagers so very concerned about petty curses to hand one over. Inuyasha's fists probz had something to do with it, I'm sure. 

Anyway, Shintarou is busy acting more as tour guide than as navigator, talking about this Hakushin-Shounin dude's very strong houriki, and how he saved a shit ton of people in the area, or so it's said. Miroku politely makes an encouraging comment at the vague accolades. Shintarou directs their attention over the the jagged misty peak of Mt. Hakurei, at the base of which he says is the purification place. Kagome asks for clarification, and Shintarou says that's where Hakushin-Shounin opened his temple, in which you can pray and have ANY sin purified. 

Inuyasha glares over at the mountain, seeming a little put off by its mention again. Kagome hesitantly wonders just who set the barrier on the sacred grounds, a question that garners silence from Inuyasha and Miroku at first. Sango breaks the quiet, agreeing that there is indeed someone holding up that barrier, but she is certain that Naraku couldn't have been the one to set it up. She says it's pretty much the OPPOSITE of what that guy is capable of. Kagome thinks on it and also concludes that a holy person had to have set the whole thing up, but she's just not sure for what purpose. Pulling a prank on the local youkai? Priests have the WEIRDEST senses of humor in my experience. 

The boat creaks and a mound of earth rises out of the misty water ahead. Shintarou tells them it's Hijiri Island, and warns them to be careful of all the rocks around it. He begins to go into what happens upon hitting one when a large scrape sounds off the side of the boat. 

Some navigator the kid turned out to be. You're not getting that deposit back, that's for sure.

Inuyasha scoops up Shintarou and Kagome, leaping out of the sinking boat and yelling over his shoulder that they're going on ahead. Miroku, Shippou perched on the top of his head to avoid getting wet, confirms that he does indeed want onto Kirara as Sango suggests. Meanwhile, Inuyasha encounters some resistance as he gets to the island, a crackle of a barrier across his face that he winces against. The same type as the one around the mountain, he observes, though not nearly as strong as that one. 

He makes it through and touches down in a veritable SEA of flower petals.

Flowery enough smell for you?

Indeed it is - as Kagome hops off his back, she begins to ask him the obvious, and he cuts her off with an affirmative. Inuyasha thinks these are the flowers he was smelling on the puppet remains. To Inuyasha's and Kagome's alarm, Shintarou tells them that there weren't flowers covering the ground like this before. They got busy since the last time he was there, it seems.

A rustle later, we get a glimpse of Shippou hanging off Miroku's shoulder, looking ill. Miroku asks if he's alright, and even though Shippou assures him he's just fine, it's obviously taking some effort for him to say it. Sango has dismounted Kirara, an arm wrapped around the giant cat, telling them that Kirara also seems to be feeling pretty bad. If that hanging head is anything to go by, I'd say that's a fair assessment.

They head toward the interior of the island, all the while Inuyasha contemplating how much more to all this there seems to be. He questions why Naraku went to all the effort to bring out the puppet just to let the Shichinin-tai escape, somewhat suspicious that the thing left behind a traceable scent that led Inuyasha RIGHT into a sacred ground. His entirely logical thoughts that this might be a big ol' trap don't cause him to reconsider their march right into the possibility, nor does he mention this to anyone else for a little conference on the best course of action is going forward. Not that I expect a 15-year-old boy to be that calculated. Still...

The mist fades around a hipped roof, where Shintarou says Hakushin-Shounin is enshrined. 

I'm cringing as a homeowner. Looks like a VERY expensive repair. 

Shocked, Shintarou starts running toward the shrine, in an effort to find a reason it was damaged. On his way, he trips over something in the flowers, and looks back over his shoulder to see what it was. He sees an arm, reduced to its bones, poking out of a sleeve - his father's sleeve, as he notes in horror.

There is no amount of therapy that will make THIS okay.

Miroku recalls that Shintarou had said that his father only left for this island about two weeks before, supposedly. Inuyasha remarks that this is too short a time for a corpse's flesh to COMPLETELY rot like this, so Miroku suggests that it must be the work of Naraku's youkai, an assessment Inuyasha agrees there can be no doubt about now. Kagome twists from her comforting embrace of Shintarou to ask for what purpose this was done, and Inuyasha nods toward the shrine, indicating it was for what's inside it on the island. He's being uncharacteristically cryptic right now and it's weirding me out more than the pile of dad-bones on the ground.

Suddenly, Kagome senses some Shikon shards. This is followed immediately by an annoyed comment about being made to wait so long in this place.

I think you were already 90% to that conclusion, Inuyasha.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I'm a little amazed that Inuyasha was allowed to be SMART in this one! He wasn't allowed to DO anything with his little bit of clarity, because plot, which is a bit disappointing. Still, Inuyasha shows some capability for deduction from the highly suspicious circumstances he's working under, something he SHOULD be able to do regularly, considering his past fraught with a multitude of people opposed to his very existence. That's the kind of life that fosters a careful consideration of the motivations of enemies' actions, in my mind. But since Miroku so often gets cast in the role of the "smart one", he's so rarely given the opportunity to display the minimum of cunning that he would have to have to have survived this long.

None of Inuyasha's musings rise to the level of genius, mind you, but given that I'm so used to reasoning below the level of expectation from not only him, but EVERYONE, it is somewhat refreshing. I mean, this is the comic about which I've complained multiple times about characters just randomly coming to the conclusions they're supposed to without anything leading them there, and generally vague or nonexistent logic leading from one action to another. The above exemplifies the OPPOSITE problem - the right reasoning leading to NO action - but it's a change of pace, at least.

Not that this chapter doesn't have its share of frustrating lack of logic. What convinced the villagers to loan them a boat, for instance? Would they have just agreed to do so if they had been given enough time to consider Shintarou's proposal of going alone? We are also given MORE reasons to question this dichotomy regarding the "pure" barrier and the "profane" nature of the youkai/bad actors being repelled by it. The villagers AND Miroku seem to be under the impression that one can be "cursed" for the mere slight of a mild insult directed at a supposedly "holy" being. You'd think a mummified saint would be above such pettiness, but as we'll soon learn, even a human of the highest caliber of purity can't help but get rankled at his fellows' insensitivity. Again, I must emphasize that something COULD be said with this about how arbitrary or tribal these classifications are, if RT is willing to redefine what they REALLY mean in the context of the story. But...

The horror aspects of this chapter are HIGHLY satisfying, though. This poor kid having to find his father not only dead, but unnaturally decomposed, bones exposed, is very much in the decreasing tradition of this manga. The "wrongness" of RT's horror designs is one of the primary things that attracted me to this story in the first place, so it's always a treat to see her revert back to its roots every once in a while. I just wish she would do so more often. I like the laughs, like the annoyed comment from Inuyasha that he should have gotten a warning sooner as the boat is sinking, but I want the chills too, and I'm finding those fewer and farther between. 

Perhaps I'm just wistful over the good ol' days of being able to indulge in some FICTIVE horror instead of the very REAL variety a lot of us in the states are dealing with at the moment.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 313 The Village of Ghosts!!

Sounds like one of those campy ghost shows I currently have a weird craving for. You know the ones - interviews with former "skeptics", overly-dramatic reenactments, psychics that won't go in a certain room because of the bad vibes, and the dead serious voice-over in that creepy timbre? This utterly ridiculous shit is what I prefer as entertainment right now (maybe it's the fact that it's as thorough a retreat from depressing reality I can get), I can't imagine complaining about this one. Bring on the spoops!

You think they'll bring in the pendulums and dowsing rods, or...?

Would you call it "hiding" if he's in the most obvious place ever?

Thief!Bakura is still sitting on the Millennium Item mold, apologizing to the spirits flying around, assuming that they're angry that the hated Millennium Item holders are getting all up in their space. It comes across as the kind of overly cutesy talk I use with my new kitten - a little condescending for ghosts that were supposed to be humans once. Eh, who am I to judge how people talk to ghosts anyway? I once threatened one with wrath if it didn't return my keys.

Oh thank goodness! I was concerned that my fave got disappeared by that asshole!Bakura, but he's just avoiding getting trampled instead. 

Not that he's actually in any danger of such, considering he can't actually be touched by them. Of course, he's forgotten this, again, still cringing on the ground as he babbles about how close the soldiers galloping through the city got to trampling him. Honda calls him a dummy and reminds him that the army would have just gone right through him before glancing out of his periphery in paranoia, asking where asshole!Bakura got off to. Jonouchi stands and scratches his head, admitting he doesn't get it, one minute dueling asshole!Bakura, and the next, everything went black. He says that when the lights came back on, he was in the exact same place, but asshole!Bakura had disappeared. 

 

Bobasa says that since this is a world based on the pharaoh's memories, something must have happened to him to make everything to be swallowed by darkness. Anzu asks for confirmation that the fact the lights came back on and they're all still there must mean that Yami is ultimately okay, which gets her a somewhat hesitant affirmative. This might be the reason Anzu insists on finding Yami right away, while Jonouchi agrees, clearly fed up with the dead-end they've reached in finding clues to his true name. 

 

As they begin their new objective, for which they ALSO have no clues by the way, Anzu wonders out loud where THEIR Yuugi is. Honda thrusts a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the bar he says Yuugi went into, logic being that bars are where you gather info in role-playing games. Though Jonouchi yells at him that this isn't a game, I can't help but recall their first encounter with both regular and asshole varieties of Bakura.

 

We get a look at the bar Yuugi entered, and go figure that it's the same one in which the fugitive criminal who first saw the White Dragon was drinking away his troubles! Inside, Yuugi wanders between the bar and the tables, wondering how he can gather intel if he can't ask any questions. Conveniently, a couple of guys (same ones who were chatting about the troops being stationed in the city while the fugitive downed his alcohol, incidentally) are gossiping about the soldiers again. The shifty one asks if the loud drunk one heard about the ones from before, and the drunk one proves he does by calling the ones who came to scold them for their drink. He then laughs that it'd take 100 of those idiots to grapple with his wife. All the time, Yuugi is passing the table without looking particularly invested in the conversation.

 

Until the shifty one calls his loud companion the idiot, and repeats the rumor that the soldiers found the pharaoh, and he's not lost anymore. Yuugi glances back at them, considering Yami, as the shifty one continues on to relay the rest of the rumor that the pharaoh is at the Village of Thieves, his drunk friend grunting and drooling in response.

 

If only it was as easy to find this guy's NAME as is to find HIM, huh? You might be out of here by now.  

 

As the rest of the priests lead the party galloping out of the city, we get a few of their urgent thoughts on their way. Siamun is thinking that they have to hurry, worrying that the pharaoh can't summon the three gods without his Millennium Puzzle. Priest Seto promises himself to kill thief!Bakura with his own hands this time. Akhenaden is internally whining about returning to the cursed Kul Elna. And Kalim just prays generically for the pharaoh. No word from Isis - is she even riding out there with them? It's impossible to tell by the far away shot showing the horseback party racing into the canyon. 

 

Yami is sure taking his time riding down this abandoned road while his guards cautiously check out the crumbling buildings on either side. He's watching the creepy spirits weave in and out the windows, thinking that he's had the feeling that he can't breathe since he got here, along with the sensation that something is tearing out his heart. Pretty violent stuff. Beyond one doorway, he sees a skeleton, noting these ruins have bodies in them. He wonders what happened here. 

 

A guard approaches Yami and Shada, reporting that they've found a trapdoor a few buildings ahead, that leads underground, and several of their number have gone down to check it out. Yami exclaims at this mention of a trapdoor, Shada also looking surprised. Shada advises caution, warning the guard that thief!Bakura may be hiding down there. Yami just thinks about stopping thief!Bakura as if he's trying to convince himself or something. 

 

Meanwhile, the guards that split off to go beneath the trapdoor are reaching the bottom of a staircase with their torches raised high, a ghostly mist zipping past them back up. As the others make their way downstairs behind him, the first one inside stares up at the vaulted ceiling in apprehension, saying it looks like a giant temple, underground. Another asks hesitantly if there's anyone here, other than the spirits zipping around, of course. 

 

Thief!Bakura's scarred eye is shown in the shadows as he tells the ghosts not to eat TOO much and get full, since the party is just beginning. We don't have to wait long to find out what THAT means - one of the guards gasps in horror to begin...

 

These ghosts aren't as... harmless as the pests I see on my campy programs...

Yami, Shada and their informant guard stand around the trapdoor, a scream issuing from its depths. Shada begins to ask what in the world is going on down there, shocked, when the answer comes in the form of a guard who is struggling to climb the stairs toward them, a hand held out. Instead of asking for help, though, the guard urges the pharaoh to stay out of there for his life's sake, stuttering that this place is filled with evil spirits. No sooner has he gotten this message out does a spirit (his own or an evil one? Both?) bursts from his mouth like in the previous page, perhaps in his attempt to call out and repeat his warning. 

Thief!Bakura hears this and his eyes bulge in his disbelief that the pharaoh is still alive. After he went to all that trouble to murder him and everything! In the midst of this mini freak-out, Yami growls in anger, thinking on thief!Bakura, no doubt all the more annoyed that yet another of his subjects has been killed by this piece of shit. He's pissed.

 

In no time flat, thief!Bakura is back to being maliciously jovial, yelling an invitation for Yami to come on in amidst the guards still screaming from spirit... I don't know, possession and devouring? Kinda difficult to know what's going on here. Thief!Bakura calls this the Temple of the Dead, and taunts Yami with the statement that the Millenium Puzzle is around his neck down there, if the great pharaoh wants it back. 

Yami growls again, as Shada barks that he CAN'T fight thief!Bakura as long as he has the puzzle, trying to assure his pharaoh that the priests will be here any moment to fight with their Millenium Items in tact. Yami protests that the soldiers will all die in the meantime, recalling something his father told him when he was given the Millennium Puzzle - "Never turn your back on what you believe is right". We must have missed that little memory resurfacing. 

A sound of a step ventured down the stairs later:

Guy survived a fall into a giant yawning canyon. I think it's safe to remove the scare-quotes, buddy.

 

When Shada catches up to Yami in the chamber, calling out to him, Yami is trying to help up a slumped guard and shouting generic platitudes at the dude. He then yells at thief!Bakura, who tells him to cool his balls and issues yet another invitation to take a look at the tablet on the floor behind him. Yami is taken aback by the sight of the giant mold, its holes shaped like the Millennium Items, identifying it as the tablet of the pharaoh's memories. 

With a grimace, thief!Bakura says this cursed tablet connects this world to the next, adding that the Millennium Items fit into all these holes, and asking Yami if he knows why. Because they were MADE FOR THEM?

Since we're talking about over-the-top horror.

Thief!Bakura informs Yami that this is where the items were forged, and when Yami gapes at him over it, he elaborates that it was his royal family that used shadow alchemy to make these little jewelry numbers out of a lust for power. A disgusted thief!Bakura reports that the small price for this was the lives of every man, woman, and child in this village. 

Oh, sweetie, didn't you know that monarchies are BUILT on shit like this? 

Thief!Bakura starts heckling Yami, mocking him for being unable to summon the gods without his Millennium Puzzle. He brags that HE doesn't even need to summon Diabound to destroy the "great" pharaoh, ordering his ghosts to tear Yami apart. The wispy skulls flying through the air fly around Yami, flanking him, as Yami stares at his trembling hand, clearly freaking out. Shada calls out to him, rushing to his aid, greeted by his own angry skull flying toward him. Thief!Bakura tells them to give it up, saying through his sadistic grin that the ghosts have a SPECIAL kind of hatred for people who have Millennium Items. Shada groans, then screams while a couple of spirits swirl around him, one flying into his open mouth. 

Yami falls to a knee, face and fingers seizing up and contorting in pure agony, a groan/scream issuing from between his clenched teeth as thief!Bakura laughs at his pain. Wiggling his upturned fingers in a creepy kind of gesture, thief!Bakura details how the hatred of the ghosts surrounds and crushes one like a vice, and promises that Yami will regret that he survived that fall into the canyon. I'd say he already seems like he is regretting it, even if he's not SAYING as much, curled into a ball on the floor and moaning. 

He's not even thinking about the hate-ghosts surrounding him, though! He's begging his dead father to confirm whether or not thief!Bakura is telling the truth. I sure hope he doesn't think his DAD is one of the hate-ghosts, because that would just make this all the more sad. Thief!Bakura tells Yami he'll pay for the sins of the father with his death, which doesn't seem any more fair than his village being murdered way back when, but I guess he never claimed to be FAIR, so...

Suddenly, an image of the tablet holding Mahado's ka appears, a hate-ghost swirling in front of it. I'm not the only one who doesn't know what the hell that's about, because thief!Bakura makes a dumbfounded noise. Yami's still crouched on the floor, ringed by ghosts, but he's not groaning anymore.

Traveled at the speed of light from the palace to do it, too. THAT'S dedication.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I didn't realize how much I missed the rest of the Yuugi crew until the beginning of this chapter! I'm kind of ashamed to admit that, but I suppose I did get a little too wrapped up in the drama around Priest Seto/Kisara and Akhenaden, even if I didn't quite LIKE a lot of it. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing; on the one hand, I'm kind of impressed at the slight of hand KT has performed here to make me effectively FORGET about the characters we've been following a majority of the time thus far. On the other hand, I'm not certain that he didn't also just FORGET about them for a time. The exposition around Jonouchi finding asshole!Bakura gone when the lights came back on could have been a little more impactful and eerie if we'd SEEN it happening at the time. This MIGHT be the first place where KT could have organically fit them in, but I'm more than sure that he could have squeezed an actual scene in before the drama I mentioned before. It might have taken a page, MAYBE two. 

Other than that, Yuugi learning about Yami's location through a couple of gossips we've seen before. That one got me chuckling.

I make fun of Yami being shocked that his father was the one to order the creation of the Millennium Items, but it is a little tragic - he specifically came down there to face thief!Bakura on his own because he remembered some noble (if a little generic) advice his father had given him. To then be told that this guy who urged you never to back down from your own moral fortitude had the DEPRAVITY to order a whole village killed to make his cursed artifacts, that has got to be a little disturbing, at the very least. The dramatic irony is uncomfortable as well, because the audience is aware that BOTH Yami and thief!Bakura do not and cannot know the whole story here. WE were shown that Akhenaden hadn't elaborated on what the dark alchemical process was to create these items to the then pharaoh. It's also clear that the situation was desperate enough for an enemy army to ride RIGHT up to the palace unopposed before they were defeated with the help of the items they created. Whether or not making those artifacts was justified when it necessitated the murder of a whole village, when they were make to SAVE the rest of the kingdom, isn't obvious. In my opinion, it's not, but then again, I think a utilitarian philosophy is deeply flawed and based on hypothetical trolley problems that ignore the incalculable variables of reality. But I also think that the perspective of both villain and hero in this scenario are flawed, and based on fragmented information that isn't likely to be supplemented by the knowledge of the guy who benefits from them being at each others' throats rather than his own.

Speaking of which, I do find it fascinating how the creation of this Zorc demon character from a few chapters ago is a team effort of fuckery. Akhenaden decision to sacrifice the whole village of Kul Elna in his crafting of the Millennium Items created thief!Bakura. Then, years later, thief!Bakura put a piece of his soul into the Millennium Eye through his violent part-ruse of pretending to take it. Because of this, Akhenaden is faced with a specter of himself that is something of a combination of his own dark ambitions for his son and thief!Bakura's impulse toward destroying the current legacy of pharaoh, which will eventually enter the ultimate confrontation with who we know as Yami. Akhenaden and thief!Bakura ended up co-creating their final combined form, which is a level of complexity I didn't expect from this manga, if I'm honest.

Especially when there are awkward moments like the end of the chapter, in which I cannot for the life of me figure out how Mahado/Magus of Illusion was activated or got to the vicinity. There's ONE unclear panel that shows the Magus's tablet, and it's not much of an explanation. Hopefully the next chapter fills in the holes.

Inuyasha Manga: 254 Banryuu's Scar

Oh, it's just ONE scar. I'm sure I'll have so many more than that pretty soon. My new kitten Grimalkin is working on it for me. We've only had her for five days so far and she's got her claws in my skin almost constantly now. She doesn't mean to hurt, but she hasn't quite figured out what the appropriate level of force is, and she's already given me some pretty nasty scratches. I'm trying to dissuade her from thinking of my hands as toys, but until such a time that she understands they are not for biting or clawing, she'll undoubtedly be putting a few new marks on me.

Something I'm sure Naraku is popping up to do on purpose right now.

Naraku laughs that Inuyasha did well to make his way here, as if it's not a sign that his attempt to buy time and hide failed miserably. Meanwhile, ground still trembling beneath them, Miroku alerts Inuyasha to the likelihood that this Naraku isn't the real deal. Before Inuyasha can remind Miroku that he has a pretty keen nose, Kouga scoffs that this facsimile is clearly a puppet. Inuyasha turns instead to Naraku to suggest his little marionette is here to give the Shichinin-tai time to escape. Puppet!Naraku just chuckles evilly in response. 

Kagome is puzzling over this puppet, though. She's also under the impression it's not the real Naraku, but there's something different about this one. Meanwhile, puppet!Naraku sprouts a ton of veiny tentacles from under the babboon cloak, vowing not to let Inuyasha destroy his undead mercenaries in threat. Inuyasha raises Tessaiga and lunges for the puppet, demanding he get out of the way. 

And that's basically all it takes. As puppet!Naraku crumbles to the ground, Kouga leaps forward, running after the already gone Shichinin-tai. Inuyasha yells at him about his obvious attempt to get a head start on the rest of them, but Kouga just twists to holler back that they would just get away if he was as slow and dumb as Inuyasha. Dashing forward, Inuyasha calls for him to wait his ass up, but someone else yells at him to hit the pause button himself.

Inuyasha looks around to where Kagome is kneeling where the puppet!Naraku is lying in pieces, Miroku standing next to her asking if she noticed IT too, while Sango catches up in the background. Inuyasha is still poised to run, but he asks them what their deal is. Kagome tells him that the puppet is strange, somehow CLEAN, to which Inuyasha responds with confusion, questioning what she means by that. She says that it feels the same as Mt. Hakurei, clearly struggling to articulate the striking similarity in the aura of these things. Inuyasha is even more bewildered by the mention of Mt. Hakurei, and goes to kneel next to the pile of dirt that was the puppet himself next to Kagome. 

Did Naraku... finally take a BATH?? That rank body odor was probably the only reliable way of locating the guy. They'll never find him now.

Kouga is running full tilt in the direction the Shichinin-tai left, assuring himself out loud that they couldn't have gone far and won't get away. He crashes right into that Mt. Hakurei invisible wall, groaning as it crackles around him. Kouga takes a step back and curses, in disbelief over this barrier he's encountered. I guess they haven't been introduced yet. Kouga, meet this arc's hazy obstacle.

Closer to the mountain, someone (likely Jakotsu) remarks to Bankotsu that they can see Mt. Hakurei now. Indeed, as they continue to approach, Jakotsu asks what's up with this atmosphere, complaining that, just like the last time they were through, this place feels shitty. Bankotsu suggests that the barrier has been strengthened, saying that Kouga and Inuyasha shouldn't be able to follow them in. Jakotsu is still bummed, though, whining that it's intense enough for them being in here, though they're human. In name only, I might add, but that's neither here nor there.

A shape appears out of the fog, coming toward them. Bankotsu judges by the figure coming to meet them that they won't have to get too terribly close to the base of the mountain. 

Kanna! My girl! How's it going?

Probably same ol', same ol', knowing her, lol.

It's not just Kanna, either, but Kohaku joins her, addressing Bankotsu. Bankotsu returns his greeting, asking who the white kid is. As Kohaku gives a very minimal introduction, Kanna lifts her mirror wordlessly for the Shichinin-tai to see. 

Cute framing, Kanna. Which also kind of makes this strange, because when Jakotsu leans in and identifies this as the guy who killed Mukotsu with surprise, Kohaku informs them that Sesshoumaru is Inuyasha's elder brother and he needs to be murdered like the others. Why is the baby girl included in this picture to the point where it's not even centered on the primary subject of Sesshoumaru? Kanna putting a hit out on Rin too? She jealous of the minimal paternal affection that can't be gotten from Naraku?

Bankotsu is unimpressed, asked for MORE than just these orders. When Kohaku doesn't offer up any additional juicy bits, Bankotsu gets right in his face and presses the frustration he has that this is all Kohaku's got after dragging them all the way over here, since they were right in the middle of a battle with Inuyasha. Real "this could have been in an email" energy here. Kanna responds that he would have gotten killed if he'd continued to fight as he was, implying that's the real reason they were drawn away from the battle. Bankotsu gives her a questioning noise, so she SLIGHTLY elaborates that his halberd can't beat Tessaiga. He twitches in continued annoyance. 

Yes, that's him stabbing the ground at her feet with his planet-sized blade like he's trying to intimidate her. Because Kanna don't give a shit, this of course gets nothing but a blank stare. 

He indicates the crack on the flat of the blade that he made sure was pointing at her, asking if THIS little thing is what she's talking about. He tries to claim it's nothing, but I seem to recall him thinking enough of it to piss and moan a little when it happened. Kanna passes her palm over the crack and says vaguely that the sword can become even stronger, then looks up expectantly at Renkotsu perched on Ginkotsu's tread. Bankotsu utters another confused noise at first, but has a quick epiphany about what she's putting down. 

Bankotsu calls to Renkotsu to fork them over, alerting him that his secret is out. Renkotsu tries to play dumb after a short pause, but Bankotsu points Banryuu at Renkotsu's neck, spelling out that he knows Renkotsu has been hiding the Shikon shards he took from Kagome. He suggests that they can just cut the shard in Renkotsu's neck out right now if he doesn't want to cooperate. Another pause as Renkotsu sweats, and then Renkotsu reaches under his collar to retrieve what Bankotsu is asking for. He asked Bankotsu not to be mad, insisting that he INTENDED to hand them over. 

Are we sure he's a "big brother" so much as a "daddy" in this context? Not in a kinky way, either, just a weird creepy way.

Bankotsu warns Renkotsu not to think he'll get a second chance, to which Renkotsu responds with another slight pause, then an affirmative. All these ellipses in Renkotsu's speech bubbles should be a red flag to Bankotsu if you ask me. Bankotsu is ready to move on, though, getting down to business by addressing Suikotsu and taking a moment to consider a partner for him. He settles on Jakotsu, ordering the two of them to go and finish off this Sesshoumaru dude. Jakotsu immediately protests, and when Bankotsu asks if he doesn't LIKE those lady-killer types, Jakotsu cannot emphasize ENOUGH that it's Inuyasha he likes. 

As he crushes the tiny bottle holding the Shikon shards in his palm over-dramatically, Bankotsu tells Jakotsu his love is unrequited and to deal with it. Then he slaps that same palm over the crack in his sword, the Shikon fragments deposited inside healing up the "wound" in seconds with a glow. Kohaku says he knows which direction Inuyasha is coming from.

Ugh, he REALLY thinks that phrase makes him sound cool, doesn't he? Where's Regina George when you need her?

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I'm not quite sure how to feel about puppet!Naraku being defeated so easily here. On the one hand, we've already gotten a battle in the last couple of chapters and another protracted one with something they know isn't even Naraku himself is probably not productive. Also, I don't think Inuyasha has faced a puppet!Naraku for some time, and he's gotten the ability to do Kaze no Kizu at will now, so it might make some sense that it could be easier to defeat now just by default.

On the other hand, I don't know if I buy that Naraku wouldn't beef up his distraction just a little, in order to ENSURE that the Shichinin-tai was well out of range by the time Inuyasha and company finished dealing with it. The last time he encountered his sworn enemy, he VASTLY underestimated what Inuyasha was capable of, and it caused him to fall back on disappearing entirely to regroup. His lack of erring on the side of caution in this instance doesn't make a lot of character sense, and I strikes me as just a convenient way for RT to re-introduce Naraku without having to commit to another battle directly on the tail of another. It's not terrible, but it IS a little awkward in my opinion.

It's a little MORE awkward what RT is probably doing with Sesshoumaru and Rin's image in Kanna's mirror. Again, Sesshoumaru's not even in the center of the frame, ROOM is made not just to include Rin but FEATURE her when Jaken is EXCLUDED entirely. I think this was a ham-handed attempt to present Sesshoumaru with visual shorthand as a protector and guardian for an innocent, essentially revamp his image as more "wholesome" than it was. I'm a little iffy on this, because Sesshoumaru as a character has done virtually NOTHING to atone for/make better some of his more egregious actions in the past, so he's essentially getting this shiny new good-guy image for free. Don't get me wrong, Sesshoumaru is one of my favorites in this manga, and he's the embodiment of one of my favorite found-family tropes ever: the emotionally guarded adoptive father of a cute little girl (seriously, this shit is like a healing salve on my weary soul, I love it so much). But I can also acknowledge that Sesshoumaru is NOT a good guy in any sense, and he isn't exactly in a position to be reframed as such. The implication that he is here is a bit eye-twitch worthy, for me. It doesn't feel EARNED.

And finally, this tension between Bankotsu and Renkotsu is curious, because I'm not sure where it's coming from? Was Renkotsu always a little adversarial to his leader, even before their first death and resurrection? If not, what has caused him to start his insubordination? Does his wariness and the shocking lack of it on Bankotsu's part sparked a bit of a disagreement on how the team should be lead? Is Renkotsu's distrust of Naraku born out of the betrayal that got them beheaded in the first place, and he wants to be more cautious this second time around? I don't recall if any of these questions were ever answered, and I don't think there was much discussion regarding their dynamics BEFORE their deaths in the text. My closer reading this time around HAS got me asking a lot of questions that were probably not meant to be asked, though, knowing RT's lack of depth in her world building. 

We shall see, I suppose.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 312 The Pharaoh Returns!

Though the title here means to be triumphant, I'm sure, I can't help but feel a little anxious about that prospect. Usually, when a pharaoh is returning in a story, it's in the form of mummy; an incredibly dusty, curse-riddled mummy. This specific pharaoh wouldn't have had the privilege of being mummified if he HAD died, given the circumstances of his disappearance, of course. This was probably an added feature of thief!Bakura's presumed victory over Yami before, denying him his ferry into the afterlife. But that mummy image keeps popping into my head just by virtue of horror culture conditioning. Forgive me. 

I don't think the assumptions of Shada here are too far from my own, though. Just subtract the intricate wrappings and preparations, and we're probz in the ballpark.

Shada thinks that he can't return to the palace until he's found Yami, and done something else he doesn't elaborate on as well. Trying to be mysterious, it seems. He asks one of the men accompanying him on horseback if the group that was following thief!Bakura has caught onto his trail yet, and the horseman confirms that they have found the thief's hideout. When Shada asks where that is, he looks serious at the answer - Kul Elna near the Valley of the Kings. Sounds familiar!

Something catches his eye above and he looks up, humming in question. It appears to be a VERY big bird at first, but after a moment, Shada recognizes the more humanoid form and spectral fire surrounding it, identifying it as Spiria, Isis's ka. Spiria flits around in the sky, directed by the remotely meditation Isis, and flies nearby a pass leading up to a cave. 

Yes, THAT cave.

Yami is still contemplating who that weird guy was who called himself the watcher or all memories. But I guess he decides he can contemplate and walk around at the same time, because he stands stiffly with a groan. He wonders how many days have passed since thief!Bakura stole the Millennium Puzzle - Clearly not enough for him to NOT look like he just got thrown around in a cyclone - and hopes that the palace is safe as he wobbles toward the cave entrance. Telling himself he can't stay here, Yami uses the cave wall to lean on, keeping himself upright as he silently insists on getting back those Millennium Items no matter what. 

Upon reaching the circle of daylight, squinting against it, Yami looks up to see Spiria as well, hanging in the air, having caught sight of him as well.

Well, now that Isis has beat you to your ONE JOB, Shada, maybe you can go do that other thing that I'm sure is super important or something. 

Back at the palace, behind massive arches and guards flanking them, Kisara is back in her barred room that is DEFINITELY not a prison cell, snoozing away. Priest Seto gazes at her through the bars of her not!cell, thinking about how the white dragon resides in her, but the dragon is her very soul. He reiterates the revelation from the last chapter that this gives her body animation and life, so to remove the dragon is to kill her. Just for the potential new-comers of course. He recalls how Akhenaden suggested a bit too eagerly that if Priest Seto sacrificed the girl, the dragon would be his. As he contemplates that Akhenaden ACTUALLY advised him to kill the girl and take her god-soul, not to mention become pharaoh, the bars are drawn a bit translucent where they would hide his shoulder and the Millennium Rod. The latter I can maybe understand, but who needs an unobstructed view of his shoulder? Those bars are still faded when we get a view of him just over Kisara's sleeping form, too. It's very weird? Did KT just forget to fill them in once he'd drawn the guy behind them or what?

Anyway, Priest Seto closes his eyes, trying to puzzle this out - Akhenaden is the highest priest who has always shown mercy to even the worst of sinners, but Priest Seto has now seen how hateful Akhenaden's eyes can be recently, with a close-up panel of them for effect. He looks almost forlorn when he wonders why, unfocused gaze on the floor now. He goes over all the values that Akhenaden personally taught him when he first rose to the priesthood as a child: morality, philosophy, the eternal order, the law of Ma'at, just to name a few. Wow, he took a special interest in your education and is now taking one in a possible path for you to become the next pharaoh? Seems like you should have suspected the obvious VERY early on, my dude. 

Suddenly, Priest Seto's brief consideration of the word "pharaoh" makes him chuckle. He thinks he's just an orphan whose father died on the battlefield (lol) and that his duty is to protect the pharaoh, the true heir to the throne. He's now pretty sure that he wants to be the heir to the protector of the palace and throne, AKHENADEN'S heir. 

Just... waiting for the other shoe to drop. Any minute now. 

As he continues to stand there staring into Kisara's not!cell, failing to put two and two together, a guard runs up to him, calling out his title. His message is that the pharaoh has been found, and he's alright, to which Priest Seto responds with a little disbelief. 

Just to drive home the obvious fact that he's fallen apart in the past twenty seconds for no discernible reason, Priest Seto stops laughing abruptly and spins on his heel, cape flapping. As he strides off, he orders the guard to move the woman to another room, and tell no one except him where. There is no arguing or question, the guard just gives his affirmative. 

Elsewhere, Akhenaden tenses up, grinding his teeth, before falling to his knees in front of the alarmed guard who gave HIM the news. He is looking downright agonized as he repeats in his head that the pharaoh is alive. So much for putting your dense-ass son in his place the easy way, huh? 

In the throne room, the throne itself is still empty, but the priests and a horde of guards have gathered in front of it to share in the positive update. Siamun announces to everyone present that Isis's ka Spiria spotted the pharaoh in a canyon outside the city, a little banged up, but alive. A cheer roars in the chamber, as Isis tells Siamun that she's sending Shada to rescue Yami, since he's the closest to him. Siamun says it's good to know that Shada is well too, but the Isis drops the bad news that it's possible Yami's Millennium Item was stolen. Everyone settles into an alarmed silence, Isis using this opportunity to close her eyes and hover her palms around her necklace again, before she looks back up and tells everyone that Shada's men have found thief!Bakura's lair. Siamun practically demands to know where it is. 

When Shada confirms that Kul Elna is indeed the place, Yami thinks on thief!Bakura with a determined expression, and concludes that he can't return to the palace WITHOUT the Millennium Puzzle his father had entrusted him with. He invites Shada and his men to come with him and take back what belongs to them now that they know where thief!Bakura is hanging out. Gonna go over there with blood still smeared all over your face from the last time you two crossed paths? Think that'll be a good look? Shada yells that he CAN'T do that, as if he's not talking to a LITERAL king right now, citing Yami's wounds as the reason Yami should be returning to the palace. 

Yami retorts that thief!Bakura is planning his next attack even as they speak, and may even be on his way to the palace with a plan in place already. He insists that they have to take the battle to thief!Bakura instead, and not let him use the people and city as a shield like last time. Shada begins to protest, perhaps to remind Yami that home field advantage is a thing, but Yami has made up his mind. He announces that the final battle will happen in Kul Elna. 

After a slight impotent pause, Shada looks up and calls to Spiria, hovering over them, asking if Isis hears them. In the palace, Isis IS listening in, eyes closed and hands poised around her necklace. She tells her audience to send the priests to Kul Elna at once, to fight alongside the pharaoh in the Valley of the Kings. Akhenaden recognizes the name of the village as he sweats in the wings, but he DOES manage to keep his footing this time, which is good, I suppose. 

Yami, Shada and the men are next seen racing through the canyon on horseback, the former gritting his teeth and grimacing. They eventually reach an abandoned town, all the buildings half-crumbled away, and with wisps of breeze blowing in and out of what's left of doors and windows.

Oh, shit, never mind, those are definitely ghosts.

They watch the spirits float and stretch about, Shada complaining that this place has a pretty sinister aura. The guy who made it that way is heading down - you might want to tell it to HIM. Yami is preoccupied with finding wherever thief!Bakura is, so he doesn't appear to be listening.

Can't be too terribly far.

Thief!Bakura has fit the Millennium Ring in its impression in the tablet beneath him, and a couple of the cones decorating its edge are standing up, possibly drawing energy from the ghosts flying around, based on the jagged outline extending from them. Thief!Bakura comments on these needles stirring, and asserts that this must mean the priests are in town. He says he would LIKE to welcome them to the village, which I very much doubt, but they'll soon see the reason he can't.

You're going to charge them admission instead, right? That's been my experience with ghost towns.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? To be honest, I'm not sure what to think quite yet at all. This one is mostly focused on getting all of the characters on the same page, so there wasn't a LOT happening except the mass regroup. A big exchange of what little information that is available, although, Yami never gets an answer to his question of how long it's been since thief!Bakura stole his puzzle.

Not that it matters much - he's still banged up enough that it's probably one been a couple of days at most. His eagerness to go meet thief!Bakura where he is in this condition is understandable, though, even if it IS a risky move. It makes sense that Yami is anxious about the safety of the city's inhabitants being put in danger again, which turned out to be an insurmountable liability in their last scuffle. But the fact that they're meeting thief!Bakura on his own home turf at the end of the chapter makes me a tad nervous, and Yami's ragged appearance will probably only instill MORE confidence in thief!Bakura. What else are you supposed to think when your opponent shows up half-dead except that you've got this thing in the bag? And yet, the urgency of the situation is undeniable.

This is a really good sign for the upcoming confrontation, all-in-all. Usually I can kinda guess where things are going, but KT has managed to keep things rather unpredictable with all the little variables at play here. 

I should also mention that Priest Seto's reaction to the news that Yami was alive and well was utterly HILARIOUS. I couldn't help but laugh along with the lunatic, it was THAT ridiculous. Possibly this is him expressing relief, considering he was just silently expounding upon how he wasn't really interested in becoming pharaoh, and was more into the idea of being his secret dad's heir. I'm not quite certain, though, because this little monologue was a little unclear. Regardless, his reaction is even better in contrast with Akhenaden's who has an actual breakdown for a minute, lol.

Serves that jerk right.