What a vague title. Especially in a comic that has had multiple plots at this point about faces and how they change/alter/deceive others in their dynamic natures. We've seen faces get stolen, faces miraculously acquire war paint when their true identities are revealed to the protagonists, and hell, even our titular character Inuyasha's face changes to indicate a more feral and dangerous lack of sentience when he's been separated from his weapon. Surely there's a modifier that can be applied here, something more descriptive? Cool, kind, broken, anything?
We have one without SKIN right off the bat; Ginkotsu's skull half-augmented with primitive hardware lays there among the debris of his tank body as Inuyasha and Kagome walk among it all. They don't seem to notice, though, as their attention seems to be on Kouga, whose name Kagome utters with pity.
Two-Tone and Mohawk are sat on the ground next to Kouga's inert form, bemoaning how his legs were injured and he couldn't get away fast enough. I know THEY'RE also injured, but couldn't they, I don't know, TRY to dig him out from under all that crap??? You'll run around the earth after the guy, but you won't take the time to move some debris from on top of him?? What's the deal with that?
Kagome is in disbelief that Kouga was caught up in Ginkotsu's blast, despite the explanation given her right off the bat. Shippou, a bit more energized as an indication that they're a little farther away from the barrier (though I'm not sure when Renkotsu got some distance from it in attacking Kouga), is on his own two feet on the ground, asking if Kouga is dead. Inuyasha wordlessly steps up and does the obvious, tossing the big sheet of metal off Kouga before barking (heh) at the others that Kouga's a youkai who wouldn't just up and die so easily.
Kagome rushes to join Two-Tone and Mohawk to drop down beside Kouga, and they all call his name desperately with tears in their eyes. I REALLY think that Kagome should have gotten some modern first aid training by this point, but, then again, she barely has time to go to school let alone a CPR class. Kouga responds to the yelling, wincing and groaning that one of the bastards got away. Though relieved, Kagome and Kouga's subordinates all yell his name some more in continued concern. Inuyasha himself breathes a little sigh of relief himself that the guy is alive. Awwww, he cares.
And what of the one that got away? After this pause, he curses over not being able to move. That sounds familiar...
I sure hope there isn't a little orphan child comes by Renkotsu, though. I feel like he wouldn't be as... receptive for that kind of plot device.
Liar that Renkotsu is, proves he CAN move by lifting his arm to peer at a Shikon Fragment between his fingers. He says he JUST managed to get possession of Ginkotsu's fragment as the explosion commenced, and I'M the one blown away by this, because HOW??? In the chaos of flying debris, he caught Ginkotsu's tiny Shikon shard? I don't know if I believe that... Anyway, Renkotsu thinks that if he takes the fragment like this, Bankotsu will just take it off him in turn. He vows that there's no way that will happen, he's not giving it up for that kid, which confirms that Bankotsu is indeed much younger than Renkotsu, and he's feeling a little rankled by taking orders from a baby.
Groaning, he tugs the shreds of his shirt down, the fist in which the fragment is hovering over his claw wound.
He sits up with a scoff, muttering that the power of a Shikon shard is amazing. He goes on to think that Kouga must be in pretty bad shape, and promises himself that the fragments in Kouga's legs will belong to him. The definition of counting one's chickens before they hatch.
Back at that rickety-ass rope bridge, creaking in the WIND, Suikotsu takes a swipe with his not!Wolverine claw-cloves at a squealing Rin as she ducks out of his path, yelling that she's not getting away. On the cliff, Sesshoumaru is leaping out of the way of another wild winding blow from Jakotsu's sword, and it carves out gashes in the ground instead. Jakotsu warns him that he'll be beheaded if he looks away, not that this prospect doesn't clearly amuse the SHIT out of Jakotsu or anything.
Jaken stands protectively in front of Rin, thinking that if anything happens to her, Sesshoumaru will kill him. He raps the end of Nintoujou onto the planks below him, trying to convince himself that this is the only way. The old man head's mouth opens with a glow emanating from it. Suikotsu looks puzzled.
Wow, fire is probably the worst way to defend oneself in this situation, but you know what they say; when all you have is a hammer... well you're going to end up demolishing some walls to get rid of mold, among other things.
Jaken giggles, rather pleased with blowing Suikotsu away, as he puts it, even though the whole bridge before him is charred and straining to hold up on its chain holds alone. Rin worries that the bridge is falling, and Jaken snaps that he knows this, waving his arms at her to run back the way they came. They don't get very far before the not!Wolverine claws shatter up through the planks in front of Jaken, cutting off his escape. Jaken whines that Suikotsu is alive, observing that he's hanging on the underside of the bridge like some sort of shambling eighties horror monster punishing his victims for some moral transgression or something. He insists through clenched teeth that they will not get away from him so easily, but it's clearly a bit of a struggle for him to hold on.
This failing bridge twists. Rin slides screaming over the edge. the remaining rope frays and snaps away from the chain.
Gee, Sesshoumaru, is sitting around on a CLIFF waiting for enemies to come and get you and your little charges striking you as a bad idea yet?
His attention is certain drawn by the collapsed bridge, to Jakotsu's bewilderment as he yanks back his blades. Sesshoumaru turns and leaps away, further shocking Jakotsu, though the villain DOES acknowledge that the little girl is clearly Sesshoumaru's weak spot. He and Suikotsu HAD intended to take her as a hostage to constrict Sesshoumaru's movements, but Jakotsu had apparently never thought Sesshoumaru would full-on turn his BACK to him. He swings that sword, flinging out the blades straight at Sesshoumaru again, to take full advantage of his opponent's impulsive reflex to go to Jaken and Rin's aid. He shouts his assumption that he has Sesshoumaru now, watching the light flashing off the metal as it curves around the vicinity of Sesshoumaru's neck.
But Sesshoumaru parries with Tokijin at the last moment, deflecting the undulating sword.
... I guess you don't have him after all.
Jakotsu's first thought in the split second of his own attack grazing him is the shocked amazement that his sword was reflected back, something that I suppose hasn't happened before. Sesshoumaru isn't entirely checked out; he glares into his periphery, silently cursing in irritation that he missed killing Jakotsu by a hair. Jakotsu has collapsed onto his backside, a clutter of blades settling around him as he numbly admits how CLOSE that was. Not close enough, in my opinion.
Sesshoumaru jumps straight down the cliff, where a roaring river splashes over jagged rocks. He thinks Rin has been swept away, her scent fading with the water. Nearby, Jaken is lying sprawled on his belly, eyes closed, not responding at first when Sesshoumaru says his name. He winces when Sesshoumaru accuses him of playing dead, which is rich coming from a dog. This doesn't strike Jaken, because he immediately gets busy scrambling to grovel to Sesshoumaru, begging to be forgiven, promising to find Rin if his master will just let him live. Sesshoumaru just starts walking off wordlessly, leaving a perplexed Jaken to call out to him in question. I don't blame Sesshoumaru, since I'm getting some super strong secondhand embarrassment from Jaken's display, and I'd get the fuck out of there too to avoid the association.
Foggy forest transition! I didn't realize how starved I was for the slightest bit of variety in transitions, I'm not going to lie. Little Rin opens an eye with a groan.
This is so much worse than stranger danger. SO much worse.
Rin screams and scrambles out of Suikotsu's arms, pushing and slapping him away. He haltingly asks what's wrong, why she's running away, while she scoots against a nearby tree, gaping over at him. She's noticed that all that face paint and the murderous expression are gone, replaced by a rather doofy blank look and the drawn-out statement that he's a doctor. Rin makes a confused noise, remembering the clawed freak from before, and thinking that he's not the same.
They're walking through the forest later, because dad never taught her not to wander off with random dudes apparently. Again, crowdfunding parenting classes for Sesshoumaru. This needs to happen. Suikotsu comments on the fact that she has companions and doesn't just live by herself in the woods. Rin affirms this, and says she thinks they'll be looking for her, articulating her thoughts that they shouldn't move away from where they were so much. Good to know the kid has SOME sense, but unfortunately sense doesn't have a lot of material effect when up against a grown man who has a lot more power, socially and physically. Point of fact, Suikotsu points out that they're in the middle of a forest, as if that's some sort of logical argument, and tells her to follow him until her companions catch up to them. This weak assertion that he knows best isn't really something Rin is equipped to argue with, so she says okay, thinking that he really doesn't seem like a bad person.
As if she's trying to convince herself.
Giving off those PEAK predator vibes right now.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I'm pretty sure Renkotsu took that Shikon shard off Ginkotsu BEFORE he exploded? I mean, there certainly wasn't a lot of time for something like that, but it's far more plausible than the shard just coincidentally landing in Renkotsu's lap AFTER the guy blew apart. And given how obsessed he is with gathering Shikon fragments for himself, it's not too far beyond the realm of possibility that he would remorselessly take a shard off one of his buddies if he thought it might give him an edge over Bankotsu. Since it's Renkotsu's private thoughts that tell us how he got Ginkotsu's shard, with no other characters around to convince otherwise, I'm thinking RT meant for this to be taken as close to the truth of the matter as possible, but I'm still much more interested in the notion of Renkotsu (re)killing one of his friends in the pursuit of a coup. Seems much more in line with his devious resentful character as built so far, and doesn't rely on IMPOSSIBLE serendipity for him.
The dynamic between Sesshoumaru and Jaken is just forever going to be a bit weird to me. Jaken acts like he's in constant danger of being murdered if he makes even the smallest mistake, but Sesshoumaru has really failed to live up to that kind of cruelty for a long time. The closest I feel he got to this is in his first appearance, when he nearly drowns him because he mentioned Inuyasha's name. Since then there's been some near misses for Jaken just in being in the vicinity of battle, which is pretty normal for everyone in these things, AND Sesshoumaru brought him back to life with Tenseiga, which I feel like he wouldn't do if he didn't like having the little guy around sometimes. Sesshoumaru, as an effective nomad, doesn't really strike me as the type to just keep things or people around unless he actively wants to. But it's played for laughs that Jaken has this latent fear of Sesshoumaru killing him if he does anything wrong, because at the end of all the groveling, Sesshoumaru just fucking walks away? It's bizarre. I don't really like it, making light of abuse and trauma and all, but there's also so little actualization of these murderous attitudes toward Jaken from Sesshoumaru that Jaken kind of comes across as a hypochondriac most of the time. By no means am I saying that Jaken DOESN'T have a reason to fear any cruelty from Sesshoumaru at all, given that he HAS been beaten up quite a few times, just that he seems to think his whole life is forfeit entirely from the tiniest indiscretions.
Not that Rin falling into a gorge is at all a TINY indiscretion, but as I mentioned above, given his options, Jaken didn't have much else he could do.
And my inner nurturing mom personality is really anxious for the little thing right now, because she just found herself in that guy in a windowless van offering candy/a ride situation. Once again, I think RT is depicting this VERY well right now - the kid is, for all her happy-go-lucky attitude, not stupid. She is panicked at first, and wary the rest of the way, picking up on this indescribable sense that something isn't right. Rin sees this man that tried to kill her on the bridge somewhat transformed, wanting to believe that he's actually quite different, but her manner isn't as enthusiastic and bubbly as it is normally. She's hesitant, unsure, making suggestions that she shouldn't stray too far from where she was, and is clearly uncomfortable with this strange deadpan guy's presence. And it is the biggest fucking red flag that Suikotsu uses this authoritative stance to claim she's better off following him to who knows where instead of hanging out in a forest to wait for her friends. Kids face this kind of abusive use of authority all the time, especially when the adult is trying to take advantage, so it was a nice touch to the overall creepy feeling of the scene.
Also, a very stark contrast to Sesshoumaru's lackadaisical "you can hang out with me if you want" attitude. Makes the good doctor telling you what to do and to just trust him because of his unverifiable credentials look just a TAD suspicious, even if his mug is clean.
No comments:
Post a Comment