Sunday, June 29, 2025

Inuyasha Manga: 330 Rat Swarm Runs Wild

A couple of weeks ago, we had a man come to our door several times in two days to talk to us about our supposed rodent problem. He was adamant that the mild signs of disturbance of insulation under the house was a sign that the mice were going to move into the house at any moment, and that it was going to be a serious problem later on when they started chewing on our electrical cables, for some reason. In all this scare-mongering, he carefully avoided talking about what it was he wanted to DO about this highly exaggerated issue, which I'm sure involved killing off all the wildlife in the yard. 

We took a flyer from him in case anything cropped up, and firmly told him he needed to stop knocking on our door every five seconds. Not only have we seen no droppings, had no electrical problems, and have a cat that would NOT be quiet if she heard rodents under the floor, but we've ensured the overgrown yard is an ample habitat for them. They have plenty of food and shelter out in the foliage that it wouldn't make a lick of sense for them to move in even CLOSE to us humans. 

A massive hungry population roaming a barren moonscape, on the other hand...

Miroku acknowledges that the rats are coming back after him, and wonders if the mayose charm has been broken as he rips the sealing beads from his right hand with a bitter curse. He points the Kazaana at the oncoming stream of rats, but despite it sucking in a great cloud of them, there's still a separate line of them streaming out of the Kazaana's range and right past him. He sweat about not being able to vacuum up all of them, since there's too many.

Meanwhile...

She reminds him that he's a youkai EXTERMINATOR, so he's kinda doing he OPPOSITE of what he's supposed to. Kohaku continues to defend against Sango's advance, though, noting once more that the Saimyoushou are hovering over his shoulder, watching him. At least they're too busy doing THAT to bother Miroku about his rat clean-up duty. Kohaku is convinced that if he shows Naraku even the SLIGHTEST hint of betrayal, he'll lose his chance to find out where that baby (or Naraku's heart) is. 

Sango forces Kohaku to leap out of the way again as she slams Hiraikotsu's end into the ground in the spot he was crouched. It's looking like she's far less likely to hold back here. She pulls a chain from one of the secret compartments at her elbow and throws it so its weighted end wraps around an alarmed Kohaku's ankle. After he skids to a stop on his knee, he responds in kind, throwing the weighted chain on his sickle at her, which she avoids by ducking behind Hiraikotsu as it wraps around the boomerang's tip. She declares he can't get away now.

At the sound of scrabbling on the rocks behind her, she looks around.  

That's looking pretty bad. They're both looking in disbelief at the advancing writhing shadow crawling across the ground toward them, and I can just HEAR Sango thinking that Miroku had ONE JOB. 

Meanwhile, back at the mayose tree, the burns from the slugs are exposed, a majority of the slugs themselves lying in shreds on the ground and being examined for devouring potential by the rats. 

The lump of slime falls to the ground among the rats, but they're still wandering aimlessly along the ground, and Shippou curses the fact that they're no longer showing any interest in climbing the tree. Kagome looks up at the damaged trunk and says that it's died, unfortunately. Didn't take much to kill this tool of unparalleled spiritual power. I guess Kikyou is showing us some weakness after all?

Nearby rats are starting to gain their bearings, and notice that the fleshy Kagome and Shippou are nearby, much to their panic. Inuyasha curses, descending from the tree in a hurry, his clawed fingers held up at the ready. He acknowledges that the rodents will just increase when he cuts them and laments how annoying they are, so he claws up some of the earth in their path to disturb it and buy a moment of time. He uses it to yell over his shoulder at Shippou to hurry up and transform rather than gaping, because they're leaving immediately. Shippou seems alarmed at the prospect of running away, but Inuyasha reminds him that the mayose tree is no longer of any use, and they're off to smash the zushi that's producing the little menaces. 

Wow, way to fat-shame Inuyasha, kid! XD

Meanwhile, as the rats advance on Sango and Kohaku, Miroku flies over the swarm to call to the former, telling her in a panic to hurry and smash the little box Kohaku is protecting. After a moment of dazed alarm at Miroku's sudden appearance with the rising tide of rats, Sango lunges once more for her brother with grunt. He fends of her fresh attack, even while she's trying to appeal to his reason by insisting he has to understand he'll be eaten by rats at this point too. He understands this only too well, and is also imagining Naraku to most likely give him the orders to protect the zushi even if it costs him his life. Talk about complying in advance. 

All the time, the rats advance on them, and start to leap at Sango's back once they get close enough. Kohaku watches in horror about to utter a warning to his sister before...

Oooh, this is an IMPRESSIVE panel! Look at that dynamic movement!

Kohaku jumps back, lands in a crouch, then quickly makes a break for it again, Sango hot on his heels. Miroku calls to Sango over his shoulder for her to get on Kirara, because it's too dangerous to be on the ground. She takes his advice, sitting astride the giant sabertoothed cat, but Kohaku is left the principal target of the rising wave of rats. Kohaku is outflanked, and the rats leap for him from seemingly all directions, teeth and claws extended. 

I want to offer a survey to Kohaku every five seconds asking him if this stunt is still worth it.

Miroku gapes over his shoulder in horror as Sango jumps from a circling Kirara's back and pulls Kohaku out of the pile of rats. The box falls from his back and she pauses in her efforts to drag her brother up from the little biting critters to raise Hiraikotsu over her head with the intention of breaking the thing so the rats disappear. But Hiraikotsu is repelled when it hits the zushi by a barrier, because OF COURSE Naraku/Hakudoushi put a barrier around the fucking thing. Still, Sango is SHOCKED that she can't break it. Miroku has now half turned to the scene, too invested in her task to not be splitting his attention, and recognizes the barrier protecting it. 

The rats are once again surrounding Sango, Kohaku, and Kirara, though I'm not certain why they were holding off for the few seconds it took for Sango to try to break the box. Plot convenience time-dilation, I expect. Miroku yells at Sango to get away now, but she kneels to cuddle her injured brother while the rats leap at them again. 

Nearby, Inuyasha announces he's going on ahead and jumps down from Shippou to touch down briefly within the sea of rats, against Kagome's protest. 

We all do, Inuyasha. We all do. 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Aside from the little time snafu toward the end there, I was very impressed with the action in this chapter. Nearly every panel was filled with movement and terror with the characters being pursued by a perpetually starving cloud of menace that wouldn't be sated even when the heroes are consumed. And underneath that surface of that desperate turmoil of fighting a fall to this pest, I can't help but think about how this relates to the setting. The basis of animistic spiritualities like Shinto is making relatable and impose personality and literal spirit into forces of nature that seem too big, eldritch, and indiscriminately cruel to comprehend. In the time period this story is set, it was a very real threat to suddenly have a rush of "plague" on crops, rampant disease, famine, and a surge of pests that could ruin everything for the year due to a chain of cause and effect that were not necessarily visible to your everyday person. In a way, youkai and other kinds of spirits, both malevolent and benign, were conceived to help explain these phenomena and provide a story basis for comprehending them on a more personal level. 

I'm still a little frustrated by how everything is about to go back to normal in record time despite how absolutely DEVASTATING an event like this would be on this small archipelago, since frankly, I don't believe for one second that RT had intended to make me think about all this when she wrote the arc. Still, it's interesting to consider how a plague of rats went from a terrible disaster in an ancient context, to the result of the whims of a malevolent spirit, to the set dressing of a modern story.

Can we take a moment to appreciate how SAVAGE Shippou is above too? Is he aiming to inspire an eating disorder in Inuyasha or WHAT??

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