Inuyasha Manga: 285 Suggestion

I have a few of those, for sure, but they don't have much to do with this chapter. Mostly they're directed at the American health care system (if you can really call it that) at the moment. I had to go to an urgent care center recently to get a little help for the pinched nerve in my back, since it wasn't healing very well on its own like it usually does, and it was, as always, an experience. I'm sure I can expect the same for the procedure I'm having at the beginning of this next week too, if not even MORE frustrating, since it's an expensive ultrasound that my insurance will probably not bother to cover. I swear, it's getting harder and harder to justify going to the doctor when there's something wrong, because I wonder if it's really worth it to get BETTER when it costs so much to do so.

Still, the pharmacist that filled my prescription was nice, and got me a hefty discount on the meds, even though THEY didn't take my insurance. Go figure.

Yeah, it seems awfully easy to trick you into being separated from your group these days, buddy. Maybe think twice before listening to zombie vacant-eyed strangers next time?

When Inuyasha jumps off a rooftop part of the castle complex, he notices immediately Sango and Miroku standing protectively in front of a huddled mass of travelers, in defense against the castle staff. One of them has a whole row of archers that he commands to fire on these damn people DARING not to just roll over and die. As the other defenseless travelers herded to the castle stutter to be spared, Sango and Miroku grimace at their attackers, looking thoroughly exhausted.

Just how many of these murder-guards ARE THERE in this castle, exactly?

Miroku and Sango gape at Inuyasha, saying is name in alarm, as if they really didn't expect him to show up at all. Oh ye of little faith. The man who was ordering the arrow volley curses at the "youkai" Inuyasha, but in a stuttering, nervous tone. Inuyasha seizes him by the collar and demands to know if he's the boss, not waiting for the answer before driving his fist right in the guys face. The other travelers announce their intention to flee the scene at this point, running toward the gate, Sango looking at them out of her periphery with a somewhat scandalized look. Not a WORD of thanks for her, I guess.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha is regarding the castle staff lying in the dirt out cold, realizing that they're just ordinary humans. But then he picks up a smell that alarms him. Miroku tries to inform him that Kagome is inside the castle, but Inuyasha is already running for the porch, shouting that he already knows. He sweatdrops, because he recognizes the smell as Kagura's.

Guess Shnooky didn't need HER anymore.

Inuyasha also spots the half-dissolved priest corpse on the floor there and correctly identifies him as the one who told him the fake news about Kikyou being alive. Or, rather, a miko being alive, in any case, because Inuyasha and crew drew the conclusion themselves. Knowing now that this was definitely 100% a trap, Inuyasha yells Kagome's name, only to be answered with silence. He internally curses, thinking he was just a MOMENT too late.

Meanwhile, Kagura's giant feather is zooming through the air, toward a temple supported on the side of a hill by stilts. 

Hmm, interesting choice, to lop off the heads of the statues around the place. Amps up the creep-vibes for sure.

Kagura enters the door to the place, greeting Kanna in a casual way and being greeted back blandly. Kagome remains quiet behind her, still holding Shnooky. Kanna holds out her palm, with a Shikon shard in it, and Kagura leans over it in offhand curiosity. 

And be quick about it, because apparently this kid is just itching to retire already. He says that his job will be over after this, and his body will be hidden. Kid really spent five minutes alive and is already like, "yup, I'm done, put me in the fucking ground."

Kagura scoffs about the prospect of Kagome being degraded to a mere underling of Naraku as she holds up the black shard, then lifts Kagome's chin with her other hand, gazing at her a moment. It's both ominous and vaguely romantic? It surprises me that a popular ship didn't emerge from this tiny wellspring. 

Kagome is still conscious enough to worry about not being able to move her body. She wonders if it's because the baby she's holding in her arms has grabbed onto her soul. It's obvious to her that she has to let go of this kid and get away from him, but since she can't move her body... Shnooky tells Kagura to hang on a moment, because he's noticed that the IMPERTINENT Kagome has regained her consciousness. Probably the massive desperation in her mental begging for Inuyasha to come and save her. Shnooky tells her this silent prayer of hers is futile, and that she knows full well help won't be coming for her, since Inuyasha has chosen Kikyou over her. 

What does it matter that everyone knows that it's a RUMOR of Kikyou manufactured by Shnooky's team that couldn't possibly have kept Inuyasha occupied for long before he figured it out?

Inuyasha in fact is on his way, running through the forest, presumably in the direction of Kagome and her captors, berating himself for being a massive fool. He's also mentally begging - for Kagome to hold out until he can get to her. Meanwhile, Shnooky is trying to convince Kagome to give up consciousness again. He urges her to remember the moment when she knew Kikyou had died, how she had actually felt a little happy, that her rival in love was no longer an obstacle. He points also points out that Inuyasha went running to Kikyou the moment they heard she was alive, and concludes that Inuyasha's heart belongs to Kikyou, whether she's alive or dead. 

Funny you have to CONVINCE this girl to hate people, right? Kinda wrecks your premise about how easy it is for people to hate each other, lol.

Shnooky assures her that it's good for her to hate, that she's doing the right thing, and tells her to fill her heart with hatred again so that he can get a good grip on her soul again. Her eyes squeeze shut slowly, and Kagura assumes she's fallen into unconsciousness again. Kagura holds the polluted Shikon fragment up to Kagome's forehead, in an attempt to press it into her skin. But Kagome is THINKING AUTONOMOUSLY again. She questions the assertion that she has a grudge against Inuyasha and hates Kikyou, and decides it is true, but there's something else to her complicated feelings over these people too. 

After a moment, Kagura asks what's going on here, because the Shikon shard is being repelled from Kagome's forehead. Shnooky looks surprised, or as surprised as a sleepy-looking infant can, anyway. Kagome forces out a statement about Shnooky being wrong, who appears annoyed that the girl has rejected his suggestion that she's a creature of pure hate or something. Again, Kagome asserts that what Shnooky said is totally wrong, aknowledging that the fact Inuyasha being unable to forget Kikyou is still depressing to her, even if she can intellectually accept that it's natural. She slowly says that her having a grudge against Inuyasha and being jealous of Kikyou are normal feelings that ANYONE would feel in her situation, and they're not the same as wishing someone ill or whatever. 

She struggles at first to say this next part with full gusto:

Great timing.

As the nervously sweating Inuyasha lands in the room, Kagome starts to sway, muttering his name in her relieved realization that he came to help her after all. All this being too much, Kagome falls into a dead faint, at last releasing Shnooky from her arms in the process. Inuyasha yells out to her, lunging forward to catch her before she collapses to the floor. It looks like Kagura was the one to snatch her baby boss out of the air, because in the next panel, she's holding him while she drawls that this must be the reason why Naraku can't stand that Kagome girl. Because she's not so easily manipulated into thinking that she hates everyone and everything as random castle staff.

They're certainly not NICE.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It's been a minute since I've read over this arc, so I didn't remember it too well, and I was afraid there would be a lot of blatant congratulatory nonsense for Kagome being the most special and pure girl in the world. When people remember Inuyasha these days, I do see a lot of whining about how Kagome is a Mary Sue, or at least lacking in many relatable flaws, so in taking in some of that net talk, I came to expect that was actually the case.

But this chapter contradicts that popular notion pretty thoroughly. Not only does Kagome have pretty big jealousy and pettiness flaws, but she has to face them more than once, this being one of those times. The previous time was when she was sulking around about seeing Inuyasha and Kikyou together and had a long, hard think about how much pain it caused her, and she eventually came to feel better about it when she found a sort of kinship between her and Kikyou over their shared love for Inuyasha. During this "shadow work session", she has to take that observation a bit further and conclude that her jealousy and resentment ultimately stem from a place of LOVE, not HATE, and even when it hurts her, she doesn't wish the people causing that hurt any kind of harm because they are also important and special to her. Therefore, in this chapter, she refuses to let her negative feelings eclipse the positive ones she feels for Inuyasha and Kikyou, all by out loud acknowledging the positivity that those complicated emotions come from. They wouldn't exist without the love. They didn't spring forth fully formed from a vacuum. They are fundamentally good, normal, and manageable without being a liability to her or her friends. 

It's a fairly good message, but I still resent the fact that we don't know more about the context of the amplified hatred of the castle staff, because that context might have been used to bring into sharper focus why THEY gave in so thoroughly to Naraku/Shnooky brainwashing. Did they not have the practice at self-reflection that Kagome had? Were they just riddled with too much fear around the chaos happening in the area? Why did they make the DECISION to fully turn their efforts over to pure hate and murder? I maintain that shit is a CHOICE people make, and it's very conspicuous when RT leaves out motivations like this, because she's usually so phenomenal at characterizing even very minor short-arc characters we never see again. 

It's entirely too easy to see when she's getting sloppy, is all I'm saying. Tighten it up, lady!

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 343 The Journey of the King

I... I'm not going to lie. I'm kind of freaking out a little.This chapter is labeled the FINAL DUEL. The next chapter on the Viz website is just a small afterword from KT. I still plan on covering both Transcend Game chapters and Dark Side of Dimensions, as well as writing up an overall impression/final thoughts/general overview (including impressions from that afterward I just mentioned), so I'm not DONE with Yu-Gi-Oh just yet. but there's a finality here that is hitting me HARD in my sentimental core. Things might get emotional.

... Here we go.

Yuugi doesn't look the least alarmed faced with Slifer. Not even a little uncomfortable. In fact, this just validates what he knew all along, that if he were Atem, he'd summon a god. Granted, given what he'd been theorizing before, no doubt he thought it would be Obelisk, but validated he is nonetheless. Yuugi announces that he's now breaking the seal on that Sarcophagus card he'd played before. Atem seems taken aback at the comeback of that card, implying he'd forgotten about it, but I won't fall for THAT trick again! 

The box pops open to reveal it was holding inside Monster Reborn all along, bathed in light, much to Atem's sweatdropping amazement. Yuugi explains that because he put that card in the Sarcophagus, neither of them is allowed to use it in this duel, so since Slifer was brought back with it, its attack is negated entirely. Atem's own Monster Reborn card, the projection of it on the field anyway, starts to disappear in tendrils of digital smoke, while Jonouchi and Honda draw attention to what's happening to Slifer itself, mouths agape.

Not to mention he's defeated two out of three god cards with nary a problem. Frankly, it's the far more impressive feat here.

Jonouchi is aghast, commenting on how Monster Reborn could have helped Yuugi, but he sealed it away instead, while Honda reiterates how Yuugi COULD have used Slifer for himself and Anzu just stares with a hand over her mouth. Ishizu, however, looks on with a mild expression, secure in her certainty that Yuugi's message to the pharaoh is that the souls of the dead must not linger in this world. Yeah, tell that to the ghost on my ceiling, buddy. Ishizu thinks that at last, the king must travel to the afterworld, adding to herself that Yuugi's trump card was also his way of saying goodbye. 

With Yuugi at 1000 points, Atem at 2500, and Silent Magician still sporting 3500 attack points, Yuugi hangs his head slightly, mouth screwed up in a trembling expression. Atem, however, is looking straight ahead, the slightest of encouraging smiles on his face. Ryoji remarks on how "the other Yuugi" doesn't have any monsters for defense, Bakura adding that the duel is over if the Silent Magician attacks. Sugoroku is speechless, intent upon whatever will result. Anzu stares with overflowing sympathy to Yuugi, who is growling frustration over a tear emerging in his eye just out of frame. 

But Atem is still smiling at him, urging his friend and partner either aloud or mentally, to strike that final blow. Yuugi at last looks up, determined eyes brimming with tears, and commands Silent Magician to attack the other player directly.

During the flash, Anzu squeezes her eyes shut to block out the final move. By contrast, Jonouchi's eyes are wide open and his teeth clenched. Honda and the others are in various iterations of gaping, save Ishizu and Rishid, who are either more than prepared for this eventuality, or they're just a little bored. 

After a few more wisps of smoke clear around Atem and he stands up straight again, his life points have dropped to zero. He looks placidly on, but Yuugi dropped to his knees, sniffling miserably.

I'm not too far behind him, truthfully.

Atem walks over and gently says that Yuugi did it, he won, but Yuugi remains hunched and gurgling through his tears, not even replying. Kneeling next to Yuugi, Atem tells him to stand up, because the winner shouldn't be on his knees. He smiles, his hand on Yuugi's shoulder, and says he wouldn't CRY if he were him. Of course you wouldn't dude, because if YOU won the duel, you wouldn't be saying goodbye to anyone!

At last, Yuugi speaks up, stuttering that he's too weak, that Atem was his HERO, his GOAL, and he wanted to be strong just like Atem, and that's all there is to it. Atem assures him that he NOT weak, and he's always had a power that no one could beat. Giving Yuugi a soft smile (with the reader looking back at him through Yuugi's eyes, it should be noted), Atem informs him that he learned the power of kindness from HIM, his partner. 

Oh, I knew I wasn't too far behind Yuugi - the tears have begun. 

But Yuugi's tears seem to have stopped for the moment, as he looks up at Atem with astonishment.

HE'S SO BRAVE WHY CAN'T I BE????

Yuugi calls Atem his "other him" again, but Atem at last corrects him; he tells Yuugi that he is no longer the other him, and that Yuugi is no one else but himself. Atem declares that Yuugi Mutou is the only Yuugi Mutou in the whole world. They're two separate people, and they may as well acknowledge it. Though Yuugi still has tears in his eyes, he's no longer bawling, and he agrees with pep that he is his own individual person distinct from Atem. I wish I could say the same for myself. 

Atem turns now to the door next to them, and the eye on it glows in response. Ishizu explains that the Eye of Wadjet guards the door to the afterlife, and it's seen the truth of the pharaoh's soul through the Rite of the Duel they just did. She says that he's finally going to be welcomed into the next world after being lost in the living world for the past 3000 years. As if this is news to them, Jonouchi, Honda and Anzu are gasp and gape at this declaration. Guys, I know every moment of this process is a fresh knife in your guts, but come on, it's hardly SHOCKING at this point.

Ishizu instructs the soul of the pharaoh to say his name to the Eye of Wadjet. Atem looks up at the glowing carving, silent a moment. 

The door slowly opens, casting a bar of light from the great beyond over Atem as he regards it seriously. He's about to take a step forward when his friends call out to him, as YUUGI again, though he just got done with a speech about how he and Yuugi aren't the same. He stops dead anyway, looking a little shocked. 

Honda is now the one bawling, trying to stem the flow of his tears with clenched fists as he asks Atem if he's really going to go, if he REALLY has to go to the afterlife, and ending with a plea not to leave them. Jonouchi grunts through clenched teeth, he and Anzu both have their eyes closed as if not wanting to watch. Ryoji and Bakura look on in grief, one of them calling out to "Yuugi" once more. Yuugi's waterworks have started back up, Anzu is also starting to cry, while the Tomb Guardian siblings regard the scene with varying degrees of acceptance. 

As Atem continues to stand in the doorway's light with his back to them and Yuugi wipes his fresh tears with a sleeve swiped over his eyes, Jonouchi at last starts to cry too. Anzu hangs her head, but speaks up, first calling Atem "other Yuugi" before correcting herself. She says she knows he has to go to the other side of the light facing him, but she frets that he won't get to come back once he does.

Oh, sweetie, as long as there is a corporation that can profit off of him coming back, that is NO guarantee. ;)

Anzu wants to know WHY. She opines about how they've been friends for so long and now Atem is just going to leave, and she just doesn't GET IT. With his eyes shadowed by his hair, and a thumb in his waistband to insert some casualness into his grief, Jonouchi tells Anzu she doesn't HAVE to get it, she just has to ACCEPT it. And he wisely advises her to burn these memories of the time they've spent with Atem, the feelings, so that she never forgets. Anzu's head continues to hang, but there's an exclamation point coming from her - perhaps she's surprised at how sage Jonouchi is being at the moment, because Jonouchi encourages her to see him off to his future right with the rest of them. 

Atem's chin hangs low too, and he thinks on Anzu and Jonouchi. Anzu promises that she'll never forget anything about Atem. Jonouchi shouts "Yuugi" again at Atem's back, declaring with a grin and eyes brimming with tears all in one that Atem is always "Yuugi" even if he's king, and they'll still be friends even if a thousand years pass. Not even death does friendship part, apparently! 

Atem's eyes widen, and finally, he twists to look back, smiling in shared affirmation. Yuugi also smiles, also declaring that they'll never forget him. 

Hitchhiking for the afterlife.

As Atem walks, he silently thanks his partner and his friends. His jacket transforms into a cape, ankh earrings appear on his ear lobes, and he is decked out in the attire he wore inside the Memory World. Although, it strangely looks like he has socks on too...

Otherwise, a perfectly respectable outfit to meet all his former buds in the thereafter. 

The door shuts completely, and everyone kinda stands around for a moment, wordless in their grief. But a crack resounding through the chamber comes from beneath the Millennium Tablet and shocks them out of their momentary stupor, Jonouchi and Yuugi gaping at the tablet in alarm and the former wondering aloud what's going on. They all follow an encouraging cry to look at the tablet, deep cracks spreading into its heart from the edges. 

The group recoils when the tablet breaks apart entirely and caves in on itself, the golden items in it tossed out of their crumbling beds. Ryoji exclaims that the slab is falling into the depths of the earth, and Bakura motions for everyone to get the hell out of there. Indeed, the priceless Millennium Items fall into a pit beneath the chamber, and Yuugi hesitates for a moment, trying to draw attention to them as they disappear into the dark. Jonouchi and his granfather both grab him by an arm and urge him to get going, but Yuugi takes one more split second to bid farewell to his Millennium Puzzle. 

Ahh, how fitting that Shadi should be left behind at the crumbling door to the afterlife. Should I feel good or bad about the fact that he's staying in the living world? I mean, on the one hand he's not in there mucking up Atem's afterlife, and on the other he's free to keep mucking it up for the living characters...

The group runs up the stairs and out of the chamber as a couple of the columns around where the tablet was collapse as well, sending up a cloud of sandy dust. Once they're outside, they all stare at the entrance to the chamber, which has a little dust issuing from it in a somewhat final manner. No one's going back in THERE. Ishizu explains that since the pharaoh's soul has been delivered to the afterworld, the role of the Millennium Items is done, and the door to the beyond has closed for good. Imagine your purpose being opening a door for a ghost, lol.

The gang just zones out, staring out across the Eyptian dunes, Honda breaking the silence just to marvel about how that was it and Atem's just gone now. No one says anything in answer. They all gaze at the distant horizon, sun high over them as if Ra himself is looking after them. What do you know? We saw him one last time after all. 

Hold up, what are the Kaiba brothers doing here? Did they just show up, or what?

... Was a sequel coming all along???

So, what did I think of this chapter over all? Honestly, I'm finding it difficult to fully articulate my thoughts about this one, given that it's the final chapter. I definitely feel some melancholy, the water-works were going for most of the goodbyes, and the rest of the chapter was full of sniffles. But this was a very gratifying ending to me as well, because not only was the mourning vibe you got from the characters dealing with the departure of their friend palpable and REAL, the reactions were of a varied solemnity, but also there was a note of hope and wisdom in all of them that made it easier to process. 

Jonouchi was the best at expressing this; death isn't something you COMPREHEND so much as ACCEPT. It's difficult to wrap your brain around never seeing a loved-one again, but it's a reality for all of us that must be faced sooner or later. This is why cherishing those memories, again as Jonouchi said, is so important - they help us hold onto that person we lost while we process their absence, and even though we never quite get over it, it becomes easier to live with as time goes on with those comforting memories there to make us feel like the crossed-over are never REALLY gone. They've just gone on to exist in our minds and hearts exclusively, almost, in a much less overt literal way, sharing our bodies as we continue to go through life without their physical presence. Because Atem was always technically a spirit in Yuugi's body, this was already some part of the reality for Yuugi and friends, so it might be a little easier for them to cope knowing that their relationship with Atem already spanned many centuries and miles. That's part of the reason why Jonouchi's final assurance to Atem that they would still be friends no matter the time elapsed or castes between them rang so true. If they already touched each others' lives over thousands of years and enormous distance, what's a little more?

I'm not sure how to feel about most everyone continuing to refer to Atem as "Yuugi" through the chapter. He asserts that he is not the "other Yuugi" anymore himself, but other than Anzu, no one really corrects themselves when they're referring to him as "Yuugi", and Atem still answers to the name. I'm not saying that Atem should be offended by this or keep correcting them or anything, because we know they mean well, and "Yuugi" is how he was known to them for so long that it's understandable for them to keep using the name. Still, it seems to undercut the will expressed by Atem to assert that Yuugi proper is the ONLY Yuugi Mutou in the world now. He no longer has to share an identity with Atem, as Atem and he are separate and whole people in and of themselves. I don't know, it's not grating on me, just makes me cock my head in question as to what the point is in asserting this when everyone is still just going to call Atem "Yuugi" until the very end, lol!

I think Ishizu's analysis of how Yuugi was communicating the message that the dead must not linger in the living world by putting Monster Reborn in the sarcophagus was just a tad blunt for my tastes. It's kind of like having to explain your own joke and making it not funny in the process. But maybe that's just because I've made it my business to read into these things myself and I get a little annoyed when I'm not given the chance to come to my own conclusions. I think audiences are a lot more capable of interpreting a story themselves than is believed, especially nowadays, and handing them a blatant explanation holds something of a patronizing air. But, again, this is just me, and I don't think that the message conveyed is a bad one on its own. I just think it could have been conveyed with more subtlety is all. 

But it wouldn't be possible for me to gush enough about how PERFECT the goodbye between Yuugi and Atem was. Atem is gentle and encouraging as he implores Yuugi to stand proud in his victory, displaying the very power of kindness he tells Yuugi that he learned from HIM. It's not hard to believe, either, because we all remember that murder!grin he used to wear regularly - the guy seemed to kind of get off on being cruel to people who had shown Yuugi and company cruelty before. But he got mellower and more compassionate as time went on, nabbing himself great relationships with once-enemies like with Kaiba and Marik. Without Yuugi's influence, his strength of kindness, there might never have been reconciliation with these characters. Atem acknowledging that and SHOWING Yuugi just how powerful an influence he's been on him was a thing of pure beauty. I couldn't think of a better way for Atem to reassure Yuugi that he was going to be alright without him, and express the strength Yuugi possesses to be a positive force in the world. Just... wow. 

I'm only really confused on ONE thing: why was Kaiba in the desert there in the end? Was that just a projection of one of those with their stories regarding Atem, to imply that Kaiba was kind of there in spirit, or did he really just... show up at the last second? I don't have a CLUE. 

Anyway, stay tuned for the first chapter of Transcend Game!

Inuyasha Manga: 284 Darkness in the Heart

You're telling me. My personal view of the world and current events is getting darker by the day, and it's taking a serious toll on me, extending even to my physical health. At the risk of oversharing, I've got a whole host of aches, pains and, *ahem* irregularities in my bodily functions that I'm almost certain a doctor's visit scheduled for the end of the month won't turn up a single treatable cause for, because it is almost certainly due to enormous and growing stress around my job and the state of the world. I COULD just try to take a break from the news for a little while, but my issues with work still affect me every weekday, and a dry summer is already giving me MAJOR climate anxiety. 

Sometimes I wish I could just drop into a regenerative sleep that would allow me to stop all input while I heal my overstressed constitution...

But if that happened I wouldn't get to enjoy color panels. So I GUESS being awake and aware has its perks. 

Kagome seems to have cottoned on to the fact that this little bundle of... something was born at Mt. Hakurei. She demands to know what the baby intends to do with her, and he answers that he already said, repeating that she's the only one now who can see the Shikon fragments. Ominously, he says that he wants her eyes, a statement that Kagome is understandably alarmed by. His host Okugata-sama stands to walk over to her.

Abruptly, we're outside the castle again, where a guard had lifted his sword above his head in preparation to bring it down on Sango's skull, bidding her to go to heaven. I suppose he can't bring himself to wish a shitty afterlife on the pretty lady he's slaughtering, at least. She's not looking too worried about going to ANY afterlife, because in the next panel, one of her hidden wrist blades pops out and slices straight through the ropes tying her arms behind her back. 

The onlookers stutter about her being a wench or something, because how DARE these people they rounded up just to murder DEFEND themselves?? The NERVE! While they're gaping at her utter audacity, Sango goes to cut Miroku's ropes real quick too, receiving a hurried thanks in return. A group of identical guards rush them with staffs, declaring that they be stopped. Because these aren't bladed weapons, Miroku is able to catch and wrench one out of the hands of an attacker, jabbing him in it chest with it instead. Sango slices through the middle of a staff with her wrist blade too, demanding these suspiciously under-armed men get out of her way. By the next panel, she's slid into a doorway, grabbing both her Hiraikotsu and Miroku's staff, but still holding that wrist blade aloft and at the ready, much to the alarm of the men inside the room. 

Outside, there's still a group of "suspicious travelers" that are getting up to run at the encouragement from each other, but one of the executioners with swords lunges at them with weapon raised, calling them bastards. May as well be attacking a MIRROR, this one. 

Sango is running back too, knocking a couple more dipshit fascists off their feet with her reclaimed Hiraikotsu while she's at it. When she reaches Miroku and hands over his staff, she comments on how UNREMARKABLE these dudes are. Miroku acknowledges the truth of this, but says their attackers are just humans following orders from higher up. Yeah, so were the fucking Nazis, but I suppose they should have just gotten a pass at the Nuremberg Trials because they were too chickenshit NOT to be war criminals? Miroku insists that not only CAN'T they kill the fascists, but they're also up against quite a few of them, so it might take a minute to defeat them by other means.

Back inside the castle, Kagome is still being approached by the Okugata-sama puppet and her little infant puppeteer, who giggles that he's going to make use of her eyes. He orders that Kagome's rope binding her arms to be cut, and Kagura looms over Kagome from behind, fan raised, but asking if he's sure about this. She receives no answer, but directs a small wind blade down to Kagome's wrists to snap the rope holding them anyway. Okugata-sama sits down again, and Kagura pushes Kagome farther toward her by the shoulders. 

Kagome recoils from the grasping baby, but Kagura holds her in place, despite her protests. The baby teases Kagome, asking what exactly she's afraid of - that he'll take out her eyeballs and eat them? What, like being touched by your creepy little clammy hands wouldn't be enough for ANYONE to flinch? Kagome doesn't reply, and just has the little devil baby deposited into her arms. Her disgust is palpable, though she still doesn't speak. 

She's understandably not inclined to punch this demonic infant in his little soft spot, so he's allowed to just zone out against her chest and, I suppose, examine her soul? It doesn't take long for him to think about how he can't seem to find any darkness in there (probz part of the reason he's not getting punched in that soft spot).  He's sure it shouldn't be possible, because there's darkness in ALL human hearts, like anger and hatred. 

Meanwhile, Kagome is wondering in alarm just what this creepy feeling is, describing it as like the inside of her heart is getting scanned. 

Besides that, Inuyasha shouldn't NEED to save you, girl. You can totally take this thing out. It's a fucking BABY. 

But that isn't her biggest concern, strangely - it's that Inuyasha is out searching for Kikyou. The extreme closeup on her eye in profile shows her eyelids have lowered a bit, and her continued rumination on Inuyasha is tinged with a depressed implication. By contrast, the baby's eyes are wide now, and he declares to himself that he's found it. Kagome appears to receive some sort of shock, and in the next panel the baby says he's grasped the darkness in her heart, nestled comfortably on her chest. She stares blankly at the floor in front of her as she's told she can't escape now. 

The baby instructs her to hold him carefully.

Weird little calculating monster. I'm gonna call him "Gorkspace Sergeant Shnooky".

That's his name now. :)

Kagome closes her eyes, still considering Inuyasha, in a clearly painful way. This leads us, after a narrow sky transition panel, to Inuyasha, standing on a river bank presumably nearby Mt. Hakurei again. He's frustrated because he can't smell Kikyou, no one in the area has seen a miko, and he's wondering what's going on. Couldn't POSSIBLY be that the stranger you met randomly in a decimated village wasn't being truthful with you! Suddenly, his nose twitches and he looks up, curiously observing the far-off flying shapes of a few youkai among the clouds.

Cut to Shippou, heart thumping loudly as he rustles through some tall grass, muttering about finally managing to get away. He opines that he got separated from Kirara and can't find Inuyasha anywhere, sweating profusely. He holds up an acorn, supposing he'll have to use it after all, before he's scared close to death by someone grabbing and lifting him by his poofy tail. 

I'll tell you what he's NOT doing: getting taken in by a half-baked story about how his ex-girlfriend is totally alive and thirsty for revenge somewhere. 

Shippou yells at Inuyasha in a rage not to sneak up on him like that, a rage that Inuyasha regards with boredom, at best. He turns at a shuffling through the grass behind him and identifies Kirara walking through the thicket toward them, remains of a minor youkai in jaws. Then Inuyasha hears and repeats the news that Kagome and the others were arrested and taken to some castle somewhere. He starts to piece together that given this was while he was looking for Kikyou, this might very well be some sort of plot. 

YOU THINK???

Meanwhile, Sango and Miroku are smacking down castle guards left and right, only to have to hide behind Hiraikotsu as a shield as a volley of arrows descends upon them, looking haggard AF. Kagura observes the fight from behind the screen walling off the porch, commenting to the others inside that the priest and slayer are still alive. I mean, Kagura, if your shitty BOSS hasn't been able to murder them yet, what made any of you think that a few human fascists could do it? Kagura adds that the two of them seem to have no desire to kill any of the castle guards either, which she characterizes as "carefree". I don't know if it's particularly "carefree" to be fighting for your life while being particularly careful not to take the lives of the people trying to kill you, but if you insist, my girl.

In the depths of the room, Shnooky chuckles that they'll WANT to kill before long, because the castle guards want to kill THEM, and eventually that malice will be reflected, causing the humans to slaughter each other. Over an image of the rapidly exhausting Sango and Miroku, he says that peoples' hearts are fragile and hatred is born easily, claiming that Kagome, the girl he's possessed, is the same. What kind of armchair psychology bullshit is this? 

Inuyasha, you have GOT to stop being so ready to leave behind your group to run sundry errands every five seconds. That's like 90% of where your current issues come from, dude. 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I realize that I'm coming across as somewhat BLOODTHIRSTY in this one, and there's something of a POINT in that about what "Shnooky" said at the end of the chapter - malice begets more malice and hatred comes pretty easily between people when they've been convinced that the "other" is a threat. Yes, it was easy for me to say "fuck it, kill all the fucking fascists".

But that's because I live in a moment in history where fascism is making a comeback in a BIG way, and people are finding themselves fighting for their right just to LIVE. When I FIRST read this story, I was nodding along with Miroku and Sango, agreeing that since their attackers were human their lives should be preserved, but that was a time when Nazis were still considered to be the bad guys and the struggles of marginalized groups were still largely invisible to my privileged white ass. It's not the "fragility of human hearts", it's the MANUFACTURED contexts that people with power create to sow discord among regular folks for their own selfish gain. I don't think that Shnooky is WRONG necessarily, because hate is extraordinarily easy to spread when you know how to speak a certain community's language, know the specific ins-and-outs of their lingo and ideology, but where does that hate come from? There is a part of this scenario that has been suspiciously left out of the narrative we're given, and that's HOW this whole castle of people became so zealously devoted to taking orders to murder random people they don't know. I've already put forth a hypothesis about Mt. Hakurei's collapse and the youkai roaming around killing whole villages making communities much more paranoid and vulnerable to the suggestion that any out-group might be causing the chaos, but that's just it - it's a guess. RT isn't really bothering to mention HOW this castle was taken over and manipulated by Naraku in a matter of days to produce the amount of zealotry needed for THIS level of animosity, and if she did... well, as I mentioned before, this whole mini-arc might have an entirely different message.

Abandoning one's humanity to actively hurt and eliminate other human beings is actually quite a complicated calculation some people make, usually to save their own skins and ally themselves with the strongest authoritarian in the room. When Miroku cites their orders from higher up, he's refusing to acknowledge the DECISION that they made to be murderous pieces of shit because they're fucking cowards. He refuses to hold them accountable for their active choice to hurt others, even in his own mind. By all means, they should go after the man (youkai) behind the curtain, remove the dear leader that is behind the paranoid ideology, but never forget that there are some people who see the writing on the wall and decide that they can stand to murder strangers if it means they might not be on the chopping block themselves. 

And never forget that "moral high-ground, killing people is wrong even in self-defense" perspective is a naive, privileged one that allows for the demonization of victims of bigoted violence when they fight back. 

OKAY, now that I've gotten THAT off my chest, I will say that I really like Shnooky's concept as a villain. Having what would normally be the most harmless kind of person, an INFANT, be this dangerous manipulative monster is clever. Not only is it the last thing you would expect to be able to hurt or control you, but we all have an aversion to doing violence to infants. Everyone is going to hesitate hurting a poor defenseless baby, even when they KNOW that it's not REALLY a baby. The built-in counter to the inherent vulnerability of an infant form is a very powerful asset to something that clearly has to initiate physical contact with a host in order to appropriate the power of others. 

Of course, Kagome was probably the least likely to hurt Shnooky out of course - she's not a trained fighter like most of the rest of her crew, and she's much less likely to take a defensive stance or attack first. He's lucky the one with the eyes for the Shikon shards is also the one who isn't used to putting up much of a fight herself. Not that exceptions to this rule don't exist, of course...

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 342 The Last Gamble!!

Taking a leaf out of Jonouchi's book, are we? Not that there's much choice after a certain point - Yuugi and Atem only have the cards they've drawn, and as the saying goes, you've got to make the most of the hand you're dealt. I can imagine that being left with little choice but to take a large risk is a quite frequent occurrence in this game. Being left with several cards that simply don't work very well together would be MY luck, but then again, I've never been much of a strategist in the traditional sense. Not like these two, who literally built these specific card decks around what they imagined their mind twin would do. 

Took a while for one of them to have the other on the ropes like this, for how well they know each other.

Jonouchi curls up a fist in front of him, hunched and tense over how even Yuugi's secret weapon Gandora couldn't beat DM, and now Yuugi doesn't have any monsters to defend himself. Honda is standing a little straighter and looks more subdued in his disappointment when he says that when the Dark Magician attacks on the next turn, it's all over for Yuugi. Anzu just thinks about Yuugi with a worried look. 

An observation is made by one of them that Yuugi and Atem each have one card left in hand. Not sure who it is, but Yuugi speaks next when he pulls the final card from his fingers to play face down and end his turn, naturally. Not really much else he can do. Atem updates the observation from before - now Yuugi has NO cards in his hand. Does he have no cards left in his DECK, since he didn't draw a new one? Or is he just voluntarily making this is last turn? I can't really get a good look at that Duel Disk, so I'm not sure.

Atem, however, DOES draw a new card, and assesses the two face down cards Yuugi placed, as well as the gold sarcophagus box that contains the secret unusable card from the last chapter. 

 I should HOPE not. What, do you expect him to go to the afterlife in your place if he loses or WHAT??

Atem declares (whether silently or out loud is a little unclear; I'm guessing the former) that he will ALSO fight to the end, as if he has ever NOT done that. Then he plays a card face down as well, and Yuugi notes the single card left in Atem's hand with a sharp look. Still has a pretty fat stack in his deck to draw from, though, from what I can see. 

Throwing out his hand, Atem orders DM to attack Yuugi directly, much to Jonouchi's distress. As the Dark Magician approaches Yuugi with staff raised, ball of energy charging at its tip, Yuugi poop-faces the coming attack head-on, but Sugoroku and Ryoji are kind of freaking out about how bad this is and declaring it's all over, respectively. 

If you smirk on the next page, Atem, I'll... well I can't actually do anything, but I'll be very displeased!

Yuugi says that this card allows him to summon a magician of his very own when a magician attacks HIM, and Jonouchi cheers that he's not out of the game just yet, Honda looking astonished in the background. The gears are turning in Sugoroku's head, though, and he's wondering if Yuugi KNEW that Gandora wouldn't destroy the Dark Magician, if his grandson is really thinking THAT far ahead. Pretty impressive, if so. 

Yuugi slaps down Silent Magician, Level 0. Atem scoffs, but he doesn't SMIRK, at least not that we can see, so I guess I can't get upset with him, technically.

What is this POSE??? 

You know what, it's time I just accept I won't ever get it. I'm not a het dude, I just won't ever get it. 

Although, het as Yuugi has been established (to an extent), he's not looking pleased, but rather a little horrified. Atem asks if Yuugi WASN'T aware that Magician's Circle applies to both players when it's played, so he also gets to summon a magician, and says he's glad for it. From just the eyes that we get to see in his extreme close-up, Yuugi is quite alarmed. Atem reveals his own face down card, "Magicians Unite", the card text stating that Atem's two magicians can combine their power for 3000 points of attack when more than two spellcasters are out and about. 

Now it's YUUGI'S turn to wonder if ATEM was thinking so far ahead that he knew Yuugi would be playing a magician of his own, given that Magician's Circle only works when MORE than two spellcasters are on the field. Can't share a head with a guy for a few years without him being able to pull one over on you at the most inopportune time! Jonouchi and Honda are blown away by the 3000 points between DM and DMG, the former lamenting that Silent Magician just has 1000 points of attack. He says the two against one odds are too unfair and he can't watch. His eyes are wide enough that he may not have a choice, though. 

The Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl fly at Silent Magician, but Yuugi throws out his hand to put a halt on the attack, activating another of his face down cards called "Card of Sanctity". Atem gapes at the announcement, trailing in a thought about what that means, and Yuugi finishes that thought by stating plainly that they both draw cards until they have six in their hand. So I guess Yuugi DOES still have cards, he just wasn't drawing them on purpose? I'm focusing on entirely the wrong part of this, because Atem looks almost mortified while Yuugi continues to explain that Silent Magcian's attack goes up by 500 for every card they draw, and they have to draw quite a few. He invites Atem to look at Silent Magician now, with the card power-ups they gave her. 

Oooh, buddy, that hat is fucking SICK. I said it before: conical hats are best hats. 

Silent Magician throws out her arms and a sphere of power radiates out from her, which blows away Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl. Atem's magicians are defeated, as Yuugi notes from the spectral smoke they leave behind, and Atem has his jaw clenched while his points go down by 500. Everyone stands in silent awe as the rest of the smoke clears. Atem, in particular, looks a bit miffed. He ends his turn. 

Yuugi announces his turn and draws a card at last, thinking at Atem that this is it - their last turn. Atem himself appears moody, noting the six cards in his hand, then smiles a little, declaring mentally at Yuugi that this is his final gamble. Ooooh, SO close to getting that title.

The tension isn't anything to scoff at. 

With an expression of determination, Yuugi orders Silent Magician to attack Atem. Honda's the only one who can pry his jaws apart enough to declare the obvious, that if this attack works, then Yuugi wins. Atem doesn't seem very worried at all, not so much as a sweatdrop to indicate nervousness. Sugoroku thinks that there's only one thing that Atem could do to block this upset, and wonders if Yuugi did anything to prepare for it.

Yuugi is still considering what he would do if he were Atem, while Atem has to admit that Yuugi's Card of Sanctity/Silent Magician combo was just about perfect, with just the TINY little flaw that it filled ATEM'S hand too. He makes an apology to his partner, while we get a good look from a low angle at the card he has face down, an ankh with a brilliant backlight. 

Atem orders something back to life. 

... Do you though?

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? First and foremost, I have to ask, can it be a part of one's strategy in this game NOT to draw a card at the beginning of a turn? I had to go back to the previous chapter to see if he had stopped drawing cards and I just didn't notice, but he seemed to be drawing them like normal, so this was something of a new development in this chapter. And one that didn't have ANY attention drawn to it too - none of the characters comment on this or say anything referring to it, except to state how many cards are currently in Yuugi's or Atem's hands. I certainly don't have anything against this being treated as normal, considering that as a part of the strategy it IS pretty subtle and so comes off as an interesting surprise if you're not paying attention (like me, lol). Still, I can't recall if I've seen this before in duels leading up to this one, and it seems to have come a little from nowhere for me. Let me know if I'm just a little blind in the comments! I can totally see something like characters quietly NOT drawing at the start of their turn totally escaping me before because it just wasn't really part of the resolution of the duel or something. Scratch that, it turns out that I had completely failed to register that the chapter started in the MIDDLE of Yuugi's turn, after he had already drawn his card! See comments below!

That aside, I think it's interesting that Yuugi did some overlooking of his own here; he assumed that Atem wouldn't put more than one god card in his deck because they require too many sacrifices, but failed to remember that there might be OTHER ways gods can be summoned. And I went back a few more chapters still just to refresh my memory - I had completely forgotten that Atem had indeed put a card in the graveyard before summoning The Tricky on his first turn. The audience even got a pretty clear view of Monster Reborn in his hand at the time. GREAT setup and payoff, in addition to the fairly solid logic from Yuugi to throw us off the scent a little. Is it weird that I like being deceived by writers when it's done well? 

But more than that, Yuugi's little mistakes in reasoning and strategizing are really compounding at this point. His use of Magician's Circle, his assumptions that Atem wouldn't put more than one god card in his deck, his lack of caution around Atem's face down cards, have all allowed Atem to gain a prominent lead in the duel. It's keeping the tension high, but at the back of my mind, I'm still not trusting that all of these are necessarily "mistakes". After all, Yuugi has referred back to his "if I were you" train of thought many times, and there's still that sarcophagus box to contend with. There's obviously no doubt in my mind what the ultimate outcome of this duel will be, but I'm just anxious to see how Yuugi makes the turn-about happen. 

Finally, I just want to point out the universal loser's declaration that Atem makes at the very end of the chapter there. Always a mistake to declare a win before its time in a story. But he certainly doesn't look happy about it, and that's very striking to me. When he thinks that he's won, his reaction to this thought is at best stoic. There's no emotion behind it, not even smugness, and you just get the impression that his winning has become so uninteresting, even to himself, that he's almost uninvested. It's another day ending in "y".

Further driving home why this "sword" of his needs to be TAKEN from him. It's his instinct, nature, to use his deck not just to fight obstacles, but to reinforce his own place in the grand scheme. It may be holding him back, but he can't let it go willingly because of how integral to HIM that it's become. So, though it's not helping him, hindering him at this point, he's just kind of going through the motions. The lack of JOY at his thought of winning, though it would mean him getting to stay with his friends, is fucking BLEAK. 

Shit dude. Making me depressed.