Great, can't wait for the pop quiz on the landscape and inner workings of the borderlands between two worlds. If these gatekeepers are anything like the ones I've had to deal with, they'll be asking anyone looking to get through who the ten millionth youkai to come through was, and where all the hidden easter eggs are in the skeleton campaign. All in a condescending tone, too. And the moment Inuyasha questions what the point of all this checking and re-checking his credentials for belonging are, the guards will inevitably start browbeating him about how he's not a REAL dedicated visitor of the graveyard or some such junk.
Inuyasha and crew has my highest empathy in this one; the number of gatekeeping assholes I've had to interact with in this very fandom alone is ASTOUNDING.
Ah, has RT remembered Inuyasha has a super nose again? I feel lucky today!
Sango notes nervously that there are Saimyoushou flying in their periphery, and Inuyasha scoffs that he's betting they're there to make sure they make it to that fire country they're heading towards. Miroku says they seem to be guiding them to the gateway to the borderline between this world and the next, judging by how they're acting. You know, being behind and off to the side of them and all. That's definitely how you LEAD people where you want them to go and everything. Then again, they could be herding our protagonists like cattle to the slaughterhouse. Either way, Kagome agrees with Miroku, but she's wondering if the reason Hakudoushi went out of his way to invite Inuyasha to the gateway means that his power isn't enough to get through himself.
I don't know, I think I'd bet on my "herding to the slaughterhouse" interpretation.
Once the group reaches a cluster of what looks like fuming volcanoes, the Saimyoushou appear to have taken the lead they need to, and are diving down over a particular crater vent. Sango says they're heading down, but I hope it's not INTO that volcano. Not really sure how they'd be able to stand the heat of that one. Thankfully, the wasps coast over a flat, craggy landscape beyond that.
Inuyasha and crew follow them under this overhang on foot, Inuyasha and Miroku peering down into a crack that the Saimyoushou disappeared down into. Miroku trails in the assessment that they're meant to go underground, and Inuyasha observes that it sure looks like an entrance to a grave. Well, isn't that where you're SUPPOSED to be headed, genius?
A VERTICAL narrow blank transition panel, just to switch it up a bit, I suppose. Hakudoushi sits on the end of a rocky cliff, raising his arm to greet a Saimyoushou that could rival his own size, Kagura standing behind him at a distance. The giant wasp hovers over his arm as he turns to Kagura and tells her that Inuyasha's party has safely reached the entrance to the gateway. Kagura asks if he's SURE about letting them go ahead, because there's supposed to be a Sikon shard on the other side of it and all. Hakudoushi assures her that HE'LL be the one to snag that fragment first, of course, but he's clearly enjoying holding his superior knowledge of the situation over her head, so doesn't explain how that's supposed to happen.
But Hakudoushi DOES say he has work for her to do for that end. Kagura comments on how much he's like Naraku, getting the best bits for himself in the end, and he just kind of smirks about it.
Well how do you think your massive DAD got through there?
Wait, that sounded... Just get your mind out of the gutter, okay?? There's not enough room for both of us down here!
Shippou stutters out Kagome's name, looking with worry down from her back. She asks him what it is, and he points out that the rocks on the ground look like youkai faces/heads. She affirms his concerning observation, and adds that these strange rocks seem to be getting all the more numerous the farther they get into the cave. Inuyasha suggests they're just part of the path, like paving to indicate the way, which is... a generous interpretation, if I'm being nice.
He declares they've arrived.
This is somewhat ominous.
A view of the chained doors is shown, as well as a close-up of the left-hand giant statue. Miroku is in awe of the scene, trailing in a no doubt inadequate statement about what it is. Kagome is just expressing amazement at the fact that it's a literal gateway they found here. Inuyasha scoffs while drawing Tessaiga, sarcastically talking about how nice it is that this is an easy, straightforward task, with not ONE guard of the place to get in his way. Holding Tessaiga out in front of him, he tells everyone to stand back, planning to break down the door with Kaze no Kizu.
A voice out of the ether asks if he wants to pass. Inuyasha's friends are surprised, Shippou stuttering in disbelief that there's someone there.
Myouga insists that Inuyasha NOT answer this question, jumping up and down on Inuyasha's shoulder in agitation while Inuyasha says his name in disbelief. From Kagome's shoulder, Shippou expresses amazement that Myouga came with them at all, Kagome admitting that she thought he was LONG GONE by now. The shade they are throwing is FIERCE. Myouga ignores it, though, and declares they're all running away now, telling Inuyasha that it's not too late for them to retreat specifically. Inuyasha scoffs that Myouga MUST be dreaming.
Again, the question of whether they want to pass or do NOT want to pass is repeated. Inuyasha blurts that OF COURSE they want to pass, that being the whole reason they came all this way. The voice cordially invites him to TRY to pass, then, and left-hand statue's eyes suddenly come to life, swiveling over to lock onto the intruding group. Kagome and Shippou cringe, the former only getting out a terrified half-statement about the statue's newly revealed sight. A pair of cracking stone feet are shown to start pulling away from their posts at the side of the door.
Thanks to our translator for the little note on the bottom of the page, although I'm not sure it matters much which statue is which. All I really care about here is the fact that Inuyasha's response to them becoming fully animated is hilariously lackluster. His face says pure astonishment, but his words say, "huh, what do you know?" LOL!
Mr. Man-bun says that this is a door where only the dead may pass, and Mr. Ponytail follows up with the statement that those who wish to pass will be killed by them so their state of being is all right and proper and all that. Not too far off from the figurative gatekeeping I was talking about before after all. Sango and Miroku appear quite perturbed by this news, but Inuyasha just lets out another signature scoff. He says he knows why that brat Hakudoushi invited them there now, if the gate guards have to be dead for them to pass. Haha, Inuyasha, buddy, I don't think you've really understood what's being proposed here.
To start, how do you think you're going to kill a couple of STONES???
In his eagerness or ignorance, he lunges toward the giant statues with Tessaiga drawn and raised over his shoulder, saying he has no intention of withdrawing from the fight he's started. Both statues jab at him with their spears, and he easily dodges the points as they pierce the ground where he stood. Inuyasha evaluates their movements sluggish from those huge bodies, so he seems pretty confident that he's got the upper hand here.
Something tells me that's not going to be enough... Though Miroku and the others definitely dare to suggest otherwise out of pure hope.
But the smoke clears to show the door isn't open, and the statues get back to their feet again, damn near unscratched. Inuyasha is in disbelief that Kaze no Kizu didn't work. Mr. Ponytail tells him that it's futile, because they can't be slain by a weapon from the living world, which elicits a groan from Inuyasha, gritting his teeth in frustration. Miroku repeats the phrase they used about their inability to die by a weapon of this world in the form of a question, and Myouga, who has hopped on over to Kagome now, explains that it's because Gozu and Mezu aren't from this world, and Tessaiga is a weapon to mow down the youkai from their current LIVING world. Kagome stutters as she asks HOW these guys can be defeated then, Myouga answering that Gozu and Mezu don't stop moving until the gateway to the graveyard has been opened and closed again, so...
Oh, I GET IT! Do you want to pass? As in, AWAY?
It took entirely too long for me to notice that wordplay. Yikes.
Inuyasha hasn't picked up on it either, and internally curses, complaining that there's no point in him passing unless he's alive. Back outside the gateway chamber, past the smoking mountains of the fire country, Hakudoushi is still lounging and drawling at Kagura standing her comfortable distance behind him. He says that to pass the gateway between the worlds, one must fight the guards Gozu and Mezu, which Inuyasha is fighting in his place about now.
The way most everybody gets through there, no doubt.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? The designs for Gozu and Mezu are interesting, and the design of their armor is keeping me guessing. I'm wondering what those almond and circle shapes are inlaid into them - are they supposed to be ethereal eyes or gems or something? And the wavy, undulating way it goes over one half of their torso leaving the other side bare is a strange aesthetic to display. They don't really need armor, considering they are impervious to any weapons that are from the living world, so it has to be purely decorative anyway, but I'm not able to discern what significance the decoration has, if any.
Also, the toga-like one-shoulder pauldron is reminding me a little of Sesshoumaru, but I can't say I'm much surprised by that. Seems like a kind of obvious visual link.
Giant moving statues trying to kill the protagonists always being legitimately spooky aside, it is a very awful predicament Inuyasha has gotten himself and his companions into. This isn't an enemy he can just hit with its sword until it stops moving. They essentially just keep coming at him until HE stops moving. A very unstoppable force meets unmovable object kind of problem. This will require some creative thinking here, so RT might have to set aside her characterization of Inuyasha as a nitwit to help move along the situation, if she's not planning on giving that job to Miroku, who's become a bit dumb lately too.
But to be honest, it's been a while since I've read this arc, I don't really remember what happened... Probably a good thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment