Inuyasha Manga: 012 Hanyou

Notice that I didn't use the English translation given to the title this time around. I chose to leave it in Romanized Japanese, because I wanted to showcase it. This word was actually invented by RT for the purposes of her story. Apparently, while there's plenty of Japanese folklore that describes humans and youkai getting together and having children, there was no name for the half-youkai, half-human offspring. RT's word serves a similar purpose as "demi-god" would to us, and I admire her invention of terminology in order to tell her story better.

In any case, we don't start the chapter with any hanyou, but an army, one of the members of which says that they plan on joining with the main forces on the morrow.

That IS pretty impressive, but that guy on the right just ruined it with his gabby exposition. I'm not only keenly aware that he's speaking to an audience outside his fellow soldiers (who would already know this), but his boss just pulls this nonsense as a circus trick. Another dude on the left carries on the expository trend by laughing and saying their entertainment for the evening is just as amazing as ever. Entertainment mumbles about how he'll tear of the enemy general's head like the boars as he munches on another animal leg in his hand. I say another one, because it looks more like a chicken leg than a boar's, and if it were the boar's, he would be eating it raw because they haven't had time to cook that thing between panels.

I'd ask how HE likes having his head pulled off, but he actually looks pretty happy. He died as he lived; chewing on some animal's flesh.

The soldiers all scramble to their feet, shouting out Entertainment's title in shock and wondering who the bastard is that killed him. Clearly a bastard that loves irony! And boars.

Yeah, he needs the camp clear of soldiers so that he can set up pins and bowl with this guy's head. Or, the little imp he called Jaken just needs to tap a staff with two heads carved into the top of it on the ground. What is it with this chapter and heads? Both the heads, an old man and young woman, appear to sleep until the action from Jaken jars the young woman awake. She opens her eyes wide and screams, which is creepy as all get-out.

She promptly goes back to sleep, probably dreaming of having a proper body. Jaken informs his "lord" that the woman's screeching means that the grave they're looking for is somewhere else. Looking bored, Lord-Dude turns away from Jaken, asking if that's so. The army is still there, despite his command that they get out of their own camp, and they're holding their weapons as one of them recognizes that they're not human. No waaaaaaaaaay...

Lord-Dude's eyes are wide with surprise, and asks them if they didn't understand what he said to them before. Guys, do you WANT to have your heads torn off? If he could do it to your super strong Entertainment, he can do it to you too! They call him a monster, which is fair, but not very smart. Still manages to rally the troops to charge forward, talking about surrounding and exterminating Lord-Dude. Lord-Dude don't give a shit, calling the whole situation barbaric and telling Jaken to take care of them with arms crossed. Lord-Dude, you have no right to be judging anyone as barbaric when you just ripped off a guy's head. Just saying.

Jaken giggles, because he LIKES barbarism, and swings his staff around in a circle, telling the army to behold its awesome power. The old man wakes up this time, and opens his mouth, but not for a scream.

Certainly more effective than Yura's fire.

On a boat somewhere in what looks like maybe a swamp or something, Lord-Dude is riding along in the front, with Jaken sitting behind, end of his staff dipped into the surrounding water. Is he trying to use it as an oar or something? I don't know if that'll do much good. Lord-Dude is called Sesshoumaru-sama by Jaken, but I'm sure we won't need to remember that, nuh-uh... Sesshoumaru asks him what's up, and Jaken tentatively suggests that may Inuyasha knows where the tomb they're looking for is.

Sesshoumaru looks contemplative a moment as he repeats Inuyasha's name, then swings his hand around to knock Jaken straight out of their boat. Rude, but impressive how he did that without even looking. He has better aim than Inuyasha, so now I want Sesshoumaru and Kaede to compete in horseshoes to see who is the true champion of aim.

Sesshoumaru must have caught Nintoujou (the staff) on its way into the water, because he uses it now to hold Jaken under the water as he monotones that Jaken reminded him of the hanyou thing. Jaken begs for forgiveness, but he's ignored by Sesshoumaru as he talks about Inuyasha being dead and sealed anyway. To Sesshoumaru's eye-widening surprise, Jaken says that the seal's actually been broken. How did he know that and Sesshoumaru didn't? Guess Sesshoumaru isn't one of the Real Youkai Housewives of Feudal Japan.

Meanwhile, just outside a village, a dot hops along the panel, huffing.  He's been at it for days, apparently.

He's not resting for long when a bicycle tire approaches him from behind, but he doesn't manage to jump out of the way in time. Kagome, riding the bike with a first-aid kit sitting in the basket on the front, hums as she squishes the little creature. She thinks it felt like she hit something, but decides it was just her imagination. I don't know how she can determine that without stopping to check, but whatevz.

She's got more important things to tend to, like Inuyasha's wounds, as he questions in the next panel. He's laying on a branch in a tree, reclining against the trunk with legs hanging off either side as he drawls that he doesn't need treatment. Kagome tells him to stop acting tough, because she knows how badly he was hurt in the fight against Yura. She demands that Inuyasha come down, and when he scoffs, she shouts her special word to bring him crashing down to the ground on his face.

Kagome, if you REALLY believe that he's injured enough to need treatment, wouldn't your enchantment pulling him to the dirt from a moderate height make it WORSE??? What happened to your sense, girl???

Nearby, Kaede is using a bow as a walking stick, arm in a sling and surrounded by doting children. One of them asks if her arm is okay, and she says she's feeling better. Her eye widens when she sees Inuyasha and Kagome grappling on the ground, and with her straddling him like that and demanding that he take off his clothes, it kind of looks like... Kaede tries to shield the children's eyes from the scene.

Kagome and Inuyasha hear Kaede warning the children of their display, and both look over with confusion.

Yeah Kagome, no means NO! Seriously, why has she suddenly become so dumb?

She's not the only one who's acting stupid. I don't know why he was grappling with her anyway, because he could EASILY have pushed her off, given his level of strength. In addition to that, though, after refusing so adamantly to take off his shirt, he does so autonomously now, showing her his injury-free chest while declaring that his body is special. Are you kidding, dude? That's probably why she's so anxious to get up on it.

Kagome is mystified that Inuyasha's already healed, no overly aggressive womanly touch required. Flashing back to when Inuyasha was slashed by Yura, she notes that there's not even a scar left from the sword wounds. Inuyasha scoffs as he's pulling back on his shirt, while Kagome wonders just what the word "hanyou" actually means.

With a yelp, Inuyasha pulls back the collar of his clothes again to glare at a dot on his chest, Kagome leaning in for a closer look at what's bothering him. The little creature Kagome ran over before is alive and well and feeding on Inuyasha's blood. He stops to look up at Inuyasha and express how happy he is that he finally found him, only to get smashed by Inuyasha's palm like a mosquito. Inuyasha brings his hand up to his face to peer at the creature, and wonders out loud if he's a flea called Myouga.

Because fleas and dogs, get it? Kagome doesn't seem to, as she questions what it is. Back at Kaede's hut, a couple of villagers examine Kagome's bike outside while Inuyasha asks Myouga to confirm his stated purpose in coming to him. Apparently Myouga is aware of someone trying to rob Inuyasha's father's grave. Myouga admits he was too anxious to keep the grave, and Inuyasha asks him if he just ran off and abandoned it.

He's a teenager alright. "I don't care about my dad, he's dumb."

Myouga says that Inuyasha's father was an imposing youkai and his blood was the tastiest thing ever. I'll take your word for that, bro. Kagome asks pointedly for information about Inuyasha's mother, and Inuyasha tells her to shut up, because his mother died a long time ago. Despite Inuyasha's wishes not to talk about her, Myouga starts to wax poetic about her renowned beauty.

Everyone just needs to respect Inuyasha's boundaries. He doesn't need Kagome to wrap gauze around him, and he doesn't need to talk about his mom. Just leave him be!

Inuyasha storms out of the hut with a scoff, though Kagome tells him to wait. She worries that she said something to offend him, wondering what was so wrong with her asking about his mom. Thinking harder about it, Kagome recalls that Inuyasha's dad was a youkai, and that he's a hanyou, and so postulates that Inuyasha's mom was actually human.

Outside, Inuyasha is sitting in his tree again, glaring into the distance as Kagome wheels her bike nearer. Kagome continues to speculate on his lineage, thinking that if his mom was human, then that would make the other half to his half-youkai half-human. She suddenly feels a shudder and wonders what it was. Inuyasha jumps down from the tree to push her face into the dirt as he yells at her to get down. Payback.

Kagome stares at the woman in the carriage, but Inuyasha stumbles to his feet, dumbfounded. He must have really good eyesight, because he identifies her as his mother, and Kagome is shocked.

Wow, that is so weird, you guys were JUST talking about her!

So, what did I think about this chapter overall? I'm a little disappointed in how RT messed up characters in order to tell a joke. I know she's the comedy queen and everything, and this manga will continue to have ridiculous jokes throughout, even though it's a little more serious than her previous works, but... In order for Kagome to do what she did to Inuyasha during this chapter, she had to forget how much pain he was in when she just TOUCHED him at the end of the last chapter. She had to forget about her intelligence and practicality. She had to forget how much she wanted to start getting along with Inuyasha. She was essentially willing to humiliate Inuyasha and possibly hurt him even more in his already injured state to get some bandages on him. All for that one little joke to work.

It was funny, don't get me wrong, but within the context of how smart and resourceful Kagome was in the last two chapters, it was WAY inconsistent. The only thing that remained was her obstinate attitude and sass, which disappeared the moment Inuyasha showed her that he wasn't actually suffering from the cuts anymore.

This is going to be first of many rants I will have to make about how no one seems to respect Inuyasha's wishes or concerns. He gets a lot of undeserved shit in this story.

Speaking of undeserved shit, how about that Sesshoumaru, huh? I have to admit, I really like him. He's one of those reoccurring antagonists that has a lot of development ahead of him, but until then, he will reign as an unparalleled ASSHAT. As much as I love reading about him, he is not a good person in the slightest, though he does take on some good qualities in the future.

Besides, he's very pretty. ;)

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 070 Things That Don't Change

You know what they say, the only thing that doesn't change is that EVERYTHING changes. Something's gotta give and all that jazz. There's always some way that life throws you a curve ball and you've got to change in order to deal with it. So I don't know what this chapter means by referencing MULTIPLE things that don't change. Not in my experience, buddy, right down to this volume, which has changed to number 9.

But maybe I'll be proven wrong.

Maybe one of those things that don't change happens to be Jonouchi's skill level at this game?

Anzu cries out Jonouchi's name as Honda wonders aloud if there's any way their friend can win. Come on, guys, it's only the beginning of the match. Calm yourselves. Yami is keeping it together, mentally asking Jonouchi to do the same, because he's confident Jonouchi can still bring home the gold.

Jonouchi's points have dropped to 1610 against Mai's untouched points, and I wonder what complicated calculation the high-tech booth did in order to determine how many points he had to lose. His monster's attack was the same as Mai's when she attacked, but I guess she gets extra force because she's in the air and...? I got nothing.

Jonouchi is less concerned with his points, mind fixed on the question of how Mai knew her card was Harpy Lady. Dude, FOCUS, because Mai's trick really isn't important right now. Mai internally giggles at what she knows is Jonouchi's distraction with her card trick, and is convinced it will help her win.

Deciding to just move on, Jonouchi plays "Demon Hunter Kojikocy" which is also powered up on the plains. Yami grits his teeth, realizing that it's useless for Jonouchi to attack with just one card, because he sees Mai going for a combo. She has her eyes closed when she turns over another of her face down cards that constitute her hand, and reveals an Electro-Whip.

I'm picking up on a BDSM theme. At least I only peeked into the closet rather than walking full on into KT's porn collection this time though. Still uncomfortable, but not skin-crawlingly so.

As Jonouchi's life points go down again, the only thing he's thinking about is how she managed to read the card before she turned it over. It's just a slight-of-hand trick, Jonouchi, SERIOUSLY. Mai tells Jonouchi that cards like his last weren't going to be able to beat her harpy, which becomes more beautiful, elegant and powerful with every turn. What do those two former points have to do with anything? I dunno.

Jonouchi is visibly flustered now, telling her to take a look at his new warrior card, "Warrior of Gardna". Mai picks up another face-down card from her hand, and calls it "Cyber Bondage" before she flips it, turning out to be correct once again. The harpy is dressed in a leather bodice with extended metal nipples that I'm pretty sure she stole from Madonna's closet, which amps up her attack and defense points. Mai commands her to destroy her new opponent with her whip, and the harpy complies with relish.

Down to 810 points, Jonouchi winces at the blow. Mai asks him mockingly if he's learned that he's only prey to her. He's not paying attention, because he's still questioning how she manages read cards face-down. He speculates that she may have ESP, while Yami silently begs Jonouchi not to let the trick get to him. Too late, bro.

Why? Because you can't figure out her stupid trick that doesn't actually affect gameplay for you?

Anzu tries to cheer Jonouchi into bucking up from the other side of the glass, and Mai notices this, pointing and demanding Anzu's attention. Anzu blinks at her, so Mai attempts to repeat the words Anzu said about the duelist hearing the cheerleaders' feelings, and those feelings helping them to win. Mai turns her finger on Jonouchi and demands that Anzu help him to win, because he needs all the "feelings" Anzu has to give. Anzu looks embarrassed that her words were used to mock her friend.

Mai asks if they understand that feelings are useless now. She offers some more advice to Jonouchi that he shouldn't expect to be a successful duelist and play with his friends too, because friends easily turn to enemies in this game. Well, I guess if you believe that the words "opponent" and "enemy" are synonymous, which is fundamentally flawed.

Jonouchi looks down dejectedly as Mai continues her speech, claiming that the only person a duelist can trust is themselves and this is the lesson he should take from his inevitable defeat today. Jonouchi again looks like someone punched him in the stomach.

Anzu yells at the sky that Mai's monologue is making her super mad. After Yami sees this, he looks back at Mai, LIVID. Did he need Anzu to be mad before he could get mad too? What is anger to him, an orgasm? Yami shouts that he WILL make Jonouchi win, and he can do it with just one word too! Abracadabra? Mai stares at him after his outburst, but doesn't ask any questions.

Yami approaches the glass as Jonouchi and Anzu look on curiously, telling Jonouchi to answer a riddle he's going to give him.

That's... not one word. Did you mean the answer is one word?

Jonouchi repeats the riddle like a question in his head, looking surprised. Yami just gives him a small smile. Meanwhile, Mai is laughing at the prospect of Jonouchi beating her because he solved a riddle. She says that she wants to see this "strategy" in action and sarcastically encourages Jonouchi to go ahead and try. Jonouchi returns to his dejected face, thinking that he knows the answer to the riddle by looking back on when he was the one riddling Yuugi and the answer was friendship. He doesn't know how that answer will help him now, though.

Yami watches Jonouchi looking upset and almost looks exasperated. Give him some time, dude. Jonouchi sees Yami watching him and makes a silent apology, while thinking he's too dumb to figure out what else Yami could mean, not knowing what he's trying to tell him. Jonouchi closes his eyes and wishes he could see his sister and that she was there. He looks up out of the box and at the sky, thinking he's a bad brother for not being able to fix her eyes and remembering that heartbreaking moment when she said she wanted to see him one last time.

He curses out loud, squeezing his eyes shut. He wonders if the world of blindness is pitch black like he's experiencing now, and thinks he can't possibly let Shizuka go to that world.

After a moment, he notices he smells something, and his eyes snap open again as he asks what it could be. When his eyes were open, he had just thought the smell was Mai's perfume, but when his eyes were shut, he noticed that there were many different perfumes that were distinct from one another. Mai urges Jonouchi to take his turn, saying that she doesn't have all day. Somehow I don't think you have a hair appointment on this remote island, sweetie.

Jonouchi says that he knows what her card trick is, shocking Mai. He explains that she's sprayed all her cards with different scents in order to tell them apart by smell. You know what that reminds me of? Scratch and Sniff stickers. I miss those.

See? You weren't too dumb after all! Mai is just dumbfounded that he should be able to figure out her aroma-tactics, being a n00b and all. He has a NOSE, doesn't he? I don't know what his status as a newbie has to do with it. But, you know, Mai's got to mention irrelevant shit every five seconds.

Jonouchi stands wearing a huge grin as he says that he couldn't pay attention to the game because she kept him freaked out with what he thought was some kind of occult power. But now that he knows better, he's confident again and calling her a faker. She wasn't FAKING anything, Jonouchi. She was just pulling a fast one. Still, Jonouchi's friends cheer for his working brain. He looks at Yami with thankfulness.

Mai hunches over the table, fists raised and teeth grinding, saying she doesn't care that he figured it out because he still can't beat her. Jonouchi lets her know that he's not intimidated by her talk, telling her how it's funny that his friends watching over him have made him realize that she's not as tough as she first appeared to be. He's ready to take up her challenge of beating her in LESS than 100 years.

He finally takes his turn while Mai stares at him in shock, laying down Baby Dragon in defense mode. Yami recognizes it as a card he had given to Jonouchi while they were training. Jonouchi silently asks Yami to watch as he uses the special card. Mai is laughing again, saying the card is more appropriate for babies, but at least Jonouchi was smart enough to put it in defense mode so her attack on it won't take down his points. She decides NOT to attack it this time, though, instead playing a different card.

And thus begins her story of perpetual regret. Not that it's readily apparent, because...

Anzu laments that Jonouchi is already no match against just one harpy, because she's a jerk friend. Honda just encourages Jonouchi to hang in there. Jonouchi gulps at a winking Mai, who lets him know that she can't attack when she plays Kaleidoscope, so it's his turn. Jonouchi draws a card, sweating, and plays Garoozis, a Godzilla-looking monster that also gets a power-up from the plains. Mai commands her Harpies to all attack Garoozis and punish him for just existing, I guess.

Jonouchi's life points are all the way down to 120, and thinks he doesn't have a card that can beat all three of her monsters. Her laughter is back again with her statement that he just experienced her Harpy Ladies' 10 hit combo, a move that proves her previous statement about her the harpies always getting more beautiful and powerful. Jonouchi slumps, thinking he's backed against a wall and can't possibly win.

Yami has his hands up against the glass, thinking at Jonouchi not to give up. He knows that Mai's strategy is a simple matter of powering up a single monster with lots of magic cards, and its critical weakness is that there are no other monsters in the deck. If Jonouchi can take out the Harpy Lady, he's cleared for victory, so all has to do is draw another card that Yami gave him. Jonouchi remembers the riddle, and appears to simultaneously flash back to this giving of this special card.

Back in Yuugi's room, Jonouchi is holding the box for the Millennium Puzzle, which he says he recognizes. Yuugi confirms that the puzzle came from it, and Jonouchi repeats what Yuugi said was inscribed there, "something you can see but can't see." Yuugi opens it and shows Jonouchi that it contains some of his more valuable cards now, and remembers that he meant to give Jonouchi an important card that he should take to the island with him. It's "Time Wizard" which can be used in combination with Baby Dragon to turn it into and adult by fast forwarding 100 years, among other things.

Well, if it isn't a mighty coincidence that Mai told Jonouchi he couldn't beat her in 100 years...

Yuugi hands it to an eager Jonouchi, saying it's very reliable, while Jonouchi thanks him. Flashback ending, Jonouchi has now remembered that card too. I guess he must have randomly played Baby Dragon earlier, then, because I thought he planned to do it from the beginning. Mai sneers that Jonouchi only has one turn to live now, and asks him why he doesn't just give up and give her his cards right now. Girl, you want CHIPS, not cards.

Jonouchi doesn't have Time Wizard in his hand right now, so he puts a shaking hand over his deck to take his one last chance at drawing it. Yami mentally encourages him to trust the cards, but Jonouchi isn't looking too trusting when he squeezes his eyes shut. Looks more like he's waiting for the axe to fall. He picks draws, praying for the card he took to be it. The Millennium Puzzle glows, the wearer's eyes shut in concentration.

Boy you'd better not be cheating with that amulet...

Mai doesn't appear to recognize the card, so Jonouchi explains that it speeds up time by 100 years to turn his Baby Dragon into an adult. Yami chuckles as he thinks that Jonouchi forgot that the Time Wizard can do more. Jonouchi tells the wizard to do its magic and it grows the Baby Dragon into a Thousand Dragon with 2400 attack points. Why is it called "thousand" when it's only one hundred years that's gone by?

Mai isn't impressed, saying that the senile dragon isn't anything in comparison to her Harpy Ladies stronger attack power, and directs said harpies to attack. A moment later, she is shocked.

And sagging boobs. Such is the nature of time. Yami chuckles again in his head, because the harpies grew old and lost their powers just as he predicted. He thinks maybe the loss of beauty was too cruel to Mai, but with a smirk. Hey, she's going to have to face it at some point anyway, given that it happens to everyone.

Jonouchi cringes at the sight of the old hag harpies he created and admits he didn't know the card would do that. He recovers quickly though, commanding his dragon to attack with its nose breath. Nasty. Mai grimaces at her sudden loss as Honda and Anzu jump for joy at the miracle of Jonouchi's win. Jonouchi thanks Yami for his support, and Yami gives him a smile paired with a thumbs-up.

As he's leaving the table, Jonouchi tells Mai that despite his poor credibility as a duelist, he knows about something that doesn't change after 100 years. When Mai asks what it is, Jonouchi repeats the riddle of something that you can show but can't see. A much nicer sentiment than Yami offered Haga, that's for sure.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Mai reminds me very loosely of the teacher WAAAAAAY back in Chapter 7. Remember that? She too was obsessed with her appearance and vain, which annoyed me back then because that was her only motivation and personality trait. Everything that she was hearkened back to that stereotypical and flat point. Mai has definitely taken up that particular torch, with all her references to beauty and horror at wrinkles and grey hair. It's still annoying that KT can't seem to imagine a female antagonist who isn't so preoccupied with how she looks.

That being said, Mai IS more complicated than that, because she's not a straight-up villain like the teacher, and she has more in her head than looking good. Mai has mentioned more than once now that she doesn't think very highly of the band of friends cheering one another. Throughout the chapter she's sneered at the idea that support from friends can impact a person's gaming performance, and even expressed the sentiment that friends eventually turn on you if they end up playing as an opponent.

This is a perspective that directly opposes the theme of the manga, which is the power of friendship. I'm interested to know how Mai came to believe it, because that's probably a very interesting story. It's probably more interesting in connection with her obsession around beauty and using it as a weapon. Maybe this is a classic story of a woman scorned?

In other news, Jonouchi won a star chip! Not without some heavy suggestion from Yami, though, which will probably drive him into a depression after the initial high of winning wears off. Again, he's the type who needs to prove that he's capable of being the best, and his confidence will drop when he inevitably thinks of Yami's help as the crutch preventing him from standing on his own. Stand or fall, Jonouchi HAS to know if he's capable of winning on his own.

Inuyasha Manga: 011 The Transferred Soul

Hey, my BODY is being transferred soon! My husband finally got his orders, so I'm moving my ass on outta here! I just got the news, so it'll probably be a few days before I have to slow down on the reviews for a little while. Once I move, I'm going to have a lot less time due to job searches and such, so my everyday schedule is going to have to change.

I'll be sure to post updates as they come, but for now, I'm just going to keep it going as best I can.

Hey guys, remember that time Kagome snuck up behind Yura like a boss in order to climb her nasty ball of hair? Wonder WHY she would be sneaking up there? We're about to find out.

Yura is pissed off beyond belief, swinging her be-haired fingers up in Kagome's direction with a snarl. The hair bridge Kagome was crawling on sways and she hangs on for dear life. Inuyasha takes the moment not in Yura's sights to pull her sword out of his hand, groaning. He then takes the sword to her back, asking her what she's looking away from him for. The slash only makes her glare out of her periphery at him.

She turns back around to draw her hand up and slice him with multiple strands of hair, yelling at him to shut up. Inuyasha is cocky now, though, because he notes that while Yura was calm and collected when he drove a hole through her chest, she's really bothered now. He goes on to deduce that there must be something in the area that she doesn't want him or Kagome to find. Yura grimaces at him.

Kagome is still climbing her way up the hair bridge, grunting. She points at a particular skull with hair threaded through its mouth rather than the scalp, and shouts to Inuyasha that it's doing something peculiar. Inuyasha turns the word "skull" into a question as Yura curses. Yura pulls herself up and away, along with her sword, while Inuyasha demands that she stop running away from him. He's still bound with hair, though, so he's not able to follow. Probably hurting pretty bad too, what from all those stabs to his chest and back earlier.

Yura ignores his macho posturing and swings toward Kagome, who sees her approach with trepidation.

Well, maybe Inuyasha has more freedom of movement than I first suspected. And, on that note, maybe Yura IS a little disadvantaged when it comes to multitasking. She can't seem to hold Inuyasha in place AND focus on Kagome at the same time.

In order to stop herself from being shaken loose, Kagome grabs onto the skull she had pointed out earlier, whining that it feels creepy. Girl, you were just climbing on HAIR earlier, and you weren't perturbed by that?? Yura reassures Kagome that if she doesn't like the feel on the skull, it's alright for her to let it go. She won't think you're a wimp, or anything, Kagome, she swears. When Kagome doesn't let go at her prompting, Yura flings her sword at Kagome. It makes contact, and Yura thinks that she's gotten her, something Kagome thinks as well with a thought about her undoubtedly injured arm as she loses her grip and falls into a net of hair below.

Yura is confused and loops some hair around Kagome's arms to hold her up straight. With sword raised, Yura demands to know what Kagome is that she wasn't injured by the fine sword. After all, Inuyasha was hurt pretty bad by it multiple times. Kagome looks pretty flabbergasted by this fact herself, staring at her totally fine arm. She wasn't cut, and she wasn't burned, and realizes it must be the shirt Inuyasha lent to her as she remembers what he said about it being stronger than most armor.

Yura sticks her face up really close to Kagome's to examine her, saying that she doesn't look different than any regular human. She decides to try a new tactic in killing Kagome.

She already tried this out on Inuyasha, but I guess this is her test to see if Kagome is really human. Demonic Captcha Test. Yura doesn't get to finish, because...

Man, now her OTHER arm is missing. Tough break. Yura looks at her severed arm as though it's a mild inconvenience, as one does. Meanwhile, Kagome looks up at Inuyasha with one eye squeezed shut, a line of blood running from the shallow wound on her neck. This girl is going to need so many more bandages by the time this is over. Inuyasha tells her not to faint, because they're not out of the woods yet.

The hair nest completely collapses, taking both heroes with it. Inuyasha says it figures that she can't support it with both of her arms gone. Kagome shouts for Inuyasha to look out, but it's too late as Yura's sword plunges into Inuyasha's chest. Inuyasha and Kagome both crash into a bed of skulls, which must hurt A LOT, especially considering all those wounds. Kagome pushes herself up again to find Yura has landed atop her pile of skulls, sneering at Inuyasha and Kagome and telling them that their struggle is useless as her sword is held aloft by her strands.

Inuyasha curses, taken aback by the fact that her horrible condition hasn't diminished her power over the hair like he thought. But, Inuyasha, it HAS. Her nest is gone, isn't it? Still, Yura insists that she's immortal, and sends her sword careening toward Inuyasha once more. But suddenly, Yura is struck by a nasty feeling, if the lightning in the background of the panel is any indication.

Yura is furious, screaming that she's going to kill Kagome. Haven't you been TRYING? It hasn't really worked so far...

Yura sends her sword after Kagome now, but it stops just short of cleaving her skull and the skull Kagome is working her arrow into cracks in half. Within is a comb, which cracks at the grip. Yura freezes and Inuyasha identifies the object with awe. Yes, Inuyasha, a comb. Wild.

So much for being immortal, huh Yura? She has set the bar in this manga for youkai death: you only know it's dead if it DISSOLVES.

Inuyasha and Kagome watch Yura's clothes and sheath fall to rest atop the mountain of skulls, a feature that will puzzle all future archaeologists. Was this some sort of reburial project gone wrong? A strange ritual? WHO KNOWS?

Inuyasha curses Yura, having finally figured out that the reason he couldn't hurt her was that she had transferred her soul into a comb. Kagome is more concerned with the wounds Inuyasha is sporting. She takes off the fire-rat robe that he gave her and holds it out to him, feeling guilty that she benefited from its powers when he suffered. Giving it back now isn't really going to help him, though. Inuyasha says his condition isn't really as important as the Shikon no Tama.

Kagome finds the drawstring bag among Yura's clothes, wondering how long finding ALL the pieces will take. She SHOULD be wondering if every shard is going to be so much trouble. From behind her, Kagome hears her name in addition to a request to leave. Kagome looks at Inuyasha with mild shock, and he asks her what she's staring at. She says it's the first time he's ever used her name, and he doesn't see what the big deal is. Kagome speculates that maybe he's warming up to her, to which hypothesis he scoffs. He tells her not to read too much into it, because he's not likely to become friends with a stupid girl like her.

Kagome smacks his back, reminding him that this stupid girl DID just save his life. He twitches with the contact.

Kagome, you should just ASSUME he's in frikkin' pain! He was stabbed and slashed too many times NOT to be!

That tiny creature hopping from the left side of the panel above is perched atop one of the skulls, some distance off. It says that the search for Inuyasha has been nothing short of awful. Don't be dramatic, dude.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I was struck with how fast things are happening, just one event after another, and how satisfying that is. I have said in previous chapters that the pacing of this manga is really good, but in this chapter especially, it's nearly perfect. Very rarely is the action broken up with dialogue or pointless words, but when it is, those words are at least short and to the point. There aren't several panels in a row insisting on explaining every tiny little movement to the audience. RT assumes that her audience is fully capable of parsing what is happening from the pictures.

How Kagome and Inuyasha interacted at the end of the chapter was a toss-up for me. On the one hand, it seemed like Kagome was saying that Inuyasha was becoming friendlier with her to lead the audience to that conclusion. If there's one thing I hate when reading a story, it's being told what to think about a character or their actions. On the other hand, given how they've interacted before, I can see this also as Kagome trying to lead INUYASHA into feeling more comfortable using her name. She wants to get along with him if she's going to be stuck working with him, and if she can suggest that his actions are more amicable toward her, then maybe he'll start to see it that way too and stop being so antagonistic.

At the very least, she wants to believe that he cares about her in some capacity, and is asking for some confirmation.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 069 The Siren

Awwww, yeah, you know what time it is... Time for making inappropriate and childish jokes about mutual oral sex. It's that much more apparent that it is that time again because the title, "The Siren", is such an obvious reference to Mai. How much of this chapter do you think is going to be dedicated to how hot Mai is, how seductive she is, and how not-gay all of the guys are for drooling over her? I'm guessing at LEAST 40%. At LEAST.

But before that, a refresher on the rules! I'm not going to make fun of it this time, because I genuinely believe I'm going to need reminders of all the special new rules that get introduced every chapter. My old brain of 28 years can't keep up.

The first official panel of the chapter reminds us that it is a couple of hours into the dueling time allotted for the tournament. Really? Last we heard, it was only twenty minutes in. What have these kids been doing for the last hour and twenty minutes?? Apparently Yami and Jonouchi have been ruminating on how many more chips they need to enter Pegasus's castle while staring at their duel gloves. Yami repeats that he has three star chips and need seven more. Jonouchi admits he only has one, and incidentally the panel also says he got his glove from Haga before he called it quits. Anzu is standing in the background looking a little exasperated. What's wrong, girl? ALREADY done with this shit? I feel BAD for you, if that's the case.

Jonouchi announces it's about time they left that freaking forest, all while Anzu remains a few steps behind, sweatdropping and wondering if Jonouchi's actually going to be okay. Honda is also a little worried that Jonouchi's skill level is a tad low for the rest of the duelists on the island, and whether or not he can make it to the finals. Honda figures the only thing they can do is cheer Jonouchi, and leave the rest to him, and Anzu agrees, eyes downcast and sad. She hopes Yami will help him to win and save Jonouchi's sister from going blind. At least, I hope that's only hoping, because it came across a little like praying, which would imply that she worships her gaming friend and... well that's just weird.

Someone announces that they've come upon a grassy field, and I'm guessing it's Jonouchi, because he's in the next panel shouting about how great the view must be from the hill and encouraging his friends to come see with him. Anzu sweatdrops some more, mumbling that they're not on a field trip. Technically, you are, it's just not for a school subject, but fieldwork in card games.

Jonouchi stands upon the hill, taking in the great view he predicted would be there and smiling.

Yeah, but the concern for everyone else is whether you can KEEP that promise. The rest of the group catches up to Jonouchi and stands behind him in silence, until Anzu points out something off panel. She's just noticed all of the dueling booths that are set up all along the landscape. Yami chuckles about the other duelists finally having gotten over their initial fear and confusion. While looking at the closest box, number 7, Jonouchi says he's going to duel next with his deck and a determined fist raised.

Honda thinks Jonouchi should choose a weak opponent first and foremost, but Yami's advice is to be careful about where he chooses to duel. Jonouchi tells him that he understands the field affects the strength of monsters. After a demonstration like the previous chapters, you'd better have that lesson drilled into your head, Jonouchi. Yami says that the other duelists likely figured out the rules by now and staked out the booths that most benefit their monsters while waiting for other duelists to wander by.

Bakura asks Jonouchi what field best benefits his monsters, and going through them, Jonouchi supposes that the plains are best for his warrior and beast-warrior cards. Anzu figures right where they're standing is the best place for Jonouchi to be, with mountains on one side and ocean and the other. Bakura agrees that Jonouchi should stay right where he is.

Off to the side, they hear a shout about how someone is done and they want their opponent to leave their star chips on the table. Jonouchi looks a bit put off by this as Bakura recognizes the voice. He points out the booth it's coming from, which is now emitting obnoxious laughter.

Sure you don't wanna inappropriately hit on him before he does, Mai? She holds up her glove with four star chips placed in it as she giggles, and Honda identifies her with a blush. Jonouchi wears a tinge on his cheeks too, but he seems more upset by the fact that she already has so many chip rather than aroused.

The kid still sitting defeated in the box begins to exposit how it serves him right for going easy on a girl, but also for getting distracted by a trick she pulled with her cards. Well, at least you know enough to be ashamed that you're sexist and easily tricked. He asks how she managed to read her cards while they were still face down, but Mai's not talking, saying it's her secret.

She practically skips away from the box, singing that she's one step closer to that sweet, sweet cash prize. Something catches her eye and she stops, turning to a glaring Yami and friends, Yami and Jonouchi's particularly piercing. Mai is far from intimidated, and with a gleam in her eye dances over to Yami and Jonouchi asking how Yami's dueling is going and if he's double-dueling with his buddy. She giggles coquettishly, but Yami's not falling for it as he continues to glare and says that he's been doing fine.

Mai observes that Yami has three chips, so he hasn't been in a duel since the one with Haga, but Jonouchi only has one chip. She's staring conspicuously, and Yami stares back, daring her to say she wants to play him. She says she's decided that she definitely wants to have another duel now.

Oh, come on, don't tell me you're surprised! She was like a lion sizing up a warthog against a baby gazelle! But EVERYONE seems to be shocked that she would choose to pick off the weaker prey before challenging Yami. Although, Yami appears to be more worried than surprised, to be fair, gritting his teeth and giving Jonouchi a warning look. Mai calls him a little boy, asking if he's going to run away. Jonouchi sweats as he glares at Mai.

She begins to pontificate on how she REALLY wants to duel Yami, but she acknowledges that's a strategy she learned wasn't such a great one with the rules of the island, given how thorough a spanking Haga got for his trouble. She implies that she considers Jonouchi a weakling when she says the weaklings are the first ones she needs to beat in order to collect her star chips, to go up against Yami in the finals. She's a stereotypical villain giving away her plan before she's thwarted. Surprise.

Jonouchi balks at being called a weakling, but Mai just giggles. Yami is about to call her some name or other (which I'm guessing rhymes with "witch"), but acknowledges that she's right because the island rules seem to weed out the weak before anyone else. No shit, that's how all tournaments work, not just the one on this island.

Anzu, showing what a great friend she is, insists that Jonouchi won't be able to beat Mai, and urges him not to accept the challenge. Honda is only a LITTLE better of a friend when he reminds Jonouchi that if he loses just once, he's gone. Bakura suggests that Jonouchi have Yami accept the challenge for him, and Anzu supplicates him to tell Jonouchi that he'll fight in his place. Yami doesn't have anything to say at first.

Well, at least ONE of Jonouchi's so-called friends know what's up. Jonouchi says he knew Yami would back him up, while Anzu, Honda and Bakura start to protest. You guys need to BACK THE FUCK UP. Jonouchi explains to them that if he backs out of this challenge, then anytime in the future when he sees a beautiful view, he'd remember what a coward and wimp he turned out to be. A part of him is scared, but he thinks if there's another person inside of him like there is in Yuugi, Jonouchi wants him to be really cool too. He looks to Yami for confirmation, who just smiles.

Jonouchi, you are so cute looking up to someone like that. Even if it's a strange thing to say because Yami is so much shorter than you...

Anzu and Bakura mutter Jonouchi's name in apology, and Honda says he gets it, saying sorry he told Jonouchi to chicken out. You guys SHOULD apologize... Meanwhile, Mai was just standing there looking smug while Jonouchi gave his inspirational speech. He assures her that he will accept her challenge, holding up his cards as he does so.

He doesn't look too confident now, does he? What happened to all those other kids milling around after the referee's defeat? They weren't waiting to duel? Are they just spectators or something? How many other kids like Anzu, Honda and Bakura are wandering around this island just watching duels?? Sitting around with their popcorn like:

Let's face it, I would be that person.

In the next panels when they're facing off, Jonouchi looks a tad more comfortable in his dueling seat, even getting the guts to flex for the audience when his friends press their noses to the glass of the box as they cheer. Yami just says Jonouchi's name in his head, displaying a stoic glare. This kid takes himself too seriously.

Mai looks pouty as she observes again that Jonouchi only has one star chip, so she'll bet one too. She lays hers on the table, and Jonouchi dutifully removes his lone chip from his glove to set it down too, knowing that if he loses it, he's out of the tournament. Mai then points at the table as she explains that their field is 40% mountains, 40% grassland, and 20% wasteland, by which Jonouchi looks a little confused. Then he looks freaked out.

Oh, in that case...

THAT would be me. Yami wishes Jonouchi would calm down, because he has the grassland advantage for the monsters he'll play. Besides, he's being kind of embarrassing with his overreaction.

Jonouchi has a question for Mai before they start the duel, and Mai looks at him curiously. He asks her why she came to the island, for honor or prize money. She answers both immediately, fantasizing out loud about how she plans to spend the prize money, changing her plan midway from traveling the world to living in Paris for years and buying designer baggage.

Sorry, bags. I meant bags.

Jonouchi chuckles, telling her that's a weak reason to be there. She gets in a snit, asking how he dares to tell her that her reasons are weak. Well, I guess he probably has the same arrogance you had when you told him HE was weak, but a little more dignity in controlling his reaction to it. She demands to know why he's there if he's got a better reason, and he says simply that he's there to save a life. She looks shocked by this, but doesn't ask any further questions.

Anzu shouts from the other side of the glass for Jonouchi to show "that woman" who's boss. Yeah, that's right! Put her in her woman place!! Yami thinks that Jonouchi should just show Mai the strength of his convictions. Mai, no longer looking surprised by said convictions, announces the start of the duel.

Jonouchi draws his cards, but notices that Mai doesn't even look at hers, closing her eyes and holding her hand face down. He's baffled by this behavior.

Note the ACTUAL center of this panel. ;)

Jonouchi stutters out a question about why she's not looking at her cards, and she answers that she simply KNOWS what her hand is. Jonouchi is a little overly freaked out by this, but I guess that's his shtick in this chapter. The observers of the duel are also completely shocked, Yami wondering if she can tell what's on the other side of the cards while they're face down.

Mai declares that it's her turn first, and for her first move, she picks up the card in the middle. It turns out to be Harpy Lady as she turns it over on the field, and the monster gains points from the 40% mountainous environment. Jonouchi, still mystified as to how she could know what monster she was playing, plays Tiger Axe. It gets its boost from the 40% plains, and the attack points are the same as its opponent. He calls out his attack, but Yami knows the land monster's axe won't reach the flying harpy.

Mai laughs as her Harpy Lady gores the Tiger Axe with a "Scratch Clash", killing it instantly. Jonouchi's life points go down to 1610 as he mourns his dead tiger. Mai giggles in her head about how not only is her opponent distracted by her card trick, but he's an amateur to boot. Yami mentally begs Jonouchi not to be fooled by tricks, because there has to be a way he can win.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I don't feel like the title was very appropriate here. Sirens are mythological creatures that lure sailors to their drownings with their irresistible song. It's a metaphor for a woman who uses her feminine wiles to lure men in and kill them (figuratively or literally). That's... not really happening here. Yes, Mai's prior opponent admitted to going easy on her because she's female, but that's not the same as saying that she seduced him into distraction. What really distracted him was her little psychic card trick. While psychic powers are generally associated with women, Sirens aren't PSYCHIC, they're SEDUCTIVE; being alluring is their power.

This might seem like nitpicking, but to me, these are two different qualities that shouldn't be conflated because they work differently. I'm not saying they're mutually exclusive, though. Mai's mode of dress makes it obvious that she's using that as a distraction too, but that's not what the bulk of this chapter is about. Jonouchi isn't lured into dueling her by hip gyrations and a song - her strategy to get him into a duel was to offend him by calling him weak, get him riled up and ready to prove a point, and bamboozling him with her card trick. When she dueled Ryuzaki, the title would have been more appropriate.

Why am I so hung up on this? Because it's a little tiresome for every tactic a female character takes to be equated to sexual seduction and temptation. When it's just trash-talk and a mildly confusing psychic trick, it's especially irritating. Can we just call it what it is? A person with a vagina acting like any other scheming asshole competitor.

Nothing quite like an asshole competitor being backed up by asshole friends, too. Man, the way Anzu, Honda and Bakura talked about Jonouchi's abilities in this chapter really bugged me. I can see each of them doubting in their respective heads whether or not Jonouchi can compete in any capacity, and I would have understood that. This vocal and loud opposition to him actually taking part and TRYING, though? It's not only blatantly bad behavior, but a very obvious attempt by the author to jack up the feeling of Jonouchi being an underdog, even among his allies. KT is trying to make me think that Jonouchi's got even less of a chance than I thought by having his friends talk shit, but all I think now is that his friends are just douchebags.

He should know by now that talk is cheap.

Inuyasha Manga: 010 Distress

Damn right Kagome's distressed. She was covered in FIRE the last time we were with her. What's more, it's fire that has been transmitted by strands of HAIR. Anyone ever smelled burning hair? It smells like someone lit a joint full of dried Titan Arum. It also lingers something awful, so long after Kagome and Inuyasha defeat Yura, he's going to be leaning away from her fanning the nasty smell away from his sensitive nose.

Ugh... Burning hair... That is cruel and unusual punishment, Yura.

Kagome wishes someone would help her as she's curled up beneath Inuyasha's shirt, but the words don't quite come out. Inuyasha watches her burning with mouth agape while Yura says that even her bones will be burned. Inuyasha turns a nasty glare on her, calling her a bitch, and Yura asks him if he's sad. She lifts her sword again and tells him that she'll be kind enough to let him join Kagome in death soon.

Before she can slice him, Inuyasha dips his claws into his already existing cut across his chest, cracking his knuckles as he lets the blood drip a moment. He flings the blood at her, calling this move "Hijin Kessou", or as Yura acknowledges in the next panel, Blades of Blood. Most of the crescent-shaped red blades fly past her, but one of them takes off her sword hand cleanly, to her surprise. It flies off in a spurt of blood and is only held aloft by the many strands of hair attached to the fingers and hilt of the sword.

Inuyasha notices that his bonds have loosened as Yura has lost a little control with one of her hands. She just looks confused.

See, my reaction would probably be a bit more... passionate.

Inuyasha chuckles, mocking Yura for not being able to control her hair without her hand. She just holds her comb up in her mouth instead, and says he should be a bit more gentle with a lady. Why? Don't think you can win unless he's letting you? Behind Yura, the skulls hanging from her nest clatter and sway. Yura slides the strands connected to her remaining fingers past the teeth of her comb in her mouth, and this causes the skulls to fly at Inuyasha, knocking into him.

Against his initial shock, Inuyasha starts shattering the skulls with his fists, yelling at Yura not to waste his time. Looks like she grants his wish.

I guess she has more control than he thought. Inuyasha groans at the sword being pulled back toward a leaping Yura, as she talks about what a shame she wasn't able to get his head by just a tiny bit. She sends the sword back at him again, suggesting that she try it out once more. Yeah, maybe this time he'll just stand still for you to behead him. Instead of doing that, Inuyasha throws more of his blood-blades at her, only to be blocked by another wave of skulls and hair.

Suddenly, Yura's hand and sword stab Inuyasha through his shoulder blade from behind, skewering him. Yura mocks him by asking where he's looking while she emerges from behind her hair shield, then makes a downward swinging motion with her hand to knock Inuyasha against the rocks below. Bleeding over the edge of the rock, Inuyasha curses, and Yura lands to walk toward him with a cocky sway of her hips. She scoffs at him, saying that his being a hanyou wasn't good enough to take her on after all.

Yura tugs the drawstring bag she stole from Kagome out of her cleavage, pitying Inuyasha for wanting to use the jewel inside to become a real youkai. Inuyasha doesn't say anything out loud, though he glares at the bag. Yura, after having replaced the bag in its hiding place, draws her sword to her attached hand, while using the detached one to lift Inuyasha's hair out of her sword's intended path. She tells Inuyasha to hold still so she can get a clean cut and not stain his pretty hair with his blood.

As she swings the sword, Inuyasha lunges forward, requesting Yura spare him her big talk. A splatter of blood later...

You maybe shouldn't have shown where you were hiding the fragment to him, Yura. Just saying. He says too bad for her, but she's not quite as finished as he seems to think.

What in the world does it take to kill this woman??? Inuyasha is amazed that the hole he put in her chest didn't even faze her. It's even worse, she's making JOKES about it. As Yura pins his hand to the ground with her sword, she tugs the drawstring bag from his fingers and admits it was a pretty sneaky way to steal the Shikon no Tama, though. No, it wasn't. That was about as blatant a grab for the jewel as any.

Yura calls him a sore loser, catching the recovered bag. Inuyasha doesn't even look like he's listening to her as he gapes, wondering what Yura's weakness is. Luckily, while he's thinking, something else catches her attention, tugging on her hair from behind. She twists to look what's happening.

Yura, for the first time, looks disturbed, thinking Kagome should have been burned up. Funny that phrase, "should have". Ever notice how it NEVER reflects reality?

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Inuyasha took a BEATING, which is what kept the tension really high throughout the whole chapter. Though I don't think anyone was fooled into thinking Kagome was dead at the beginning (or at least very few were), it did successfully create the illusion that Inuyasha was all alone now, without so much as moral support. HE believed that he was alone now, and therefore the audience is free to believe it.

The chapter was also very successful in creating the illusion that Yura is invincible. Though Inuyasha's blows were significant, Yura's home turf and her continued flippancy in the face of her injuries makes her seem unbeatable. It's a very unbalanced battle, and makes the danger of the situation that much more potent.

Kagome's reappearance at the end is almost poetic, in how she disappeared at the beginning only to show back up unexpectedly to save the day. She's like a phoenix. A QUEEN PHOENIX.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 068 Demon Lightning

Otherwise known as Shoop Da Whoop.

Better than this would be a bug lamp that the moth is drawn to and gets zapped accordingly. Just imagine Shoop Da Whoop there in a bug light cage, firin' his laser on moths left and right. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for something similar that will keep me laughing all day long. Make it happen, manga.

Can I talk for a moment about how I really like Haga's acting his age? Remember, he's fourteen, and many fourteen-year-old kids are caught between trying to act like the sober and mature adult that they want to be seen as by this point, and the child that they're used to being by the time they get there. I think his dialogue generally strikes that balance, so that when he gets to this point, I can believe that his excitement just got the better of him here and he relapsed a little bit into child-mode.

Haga is still laughing as Yami glares across the table at him. Yami thinks about how he managed to destroy the cocoon before the moth reached the ultimate stage, but defeating the non-ultimate moth is still something he's questioning. Oh, so the cocoon DIDN'T just burst on its own like I thought in the last chapter? My bad.

Anzu tells Yami to look out, like he's not already looking right at the damn moth, and Bakura admits that the moth looks awfully tough. Mai thinks about how Haga managed to turn the tables on Yami. Thanks for that totally needed reiteration of the situation, Mai.

Haga demands for Yami to acknowledge who's laughing now, as he points and asks if the fear of his moth shrunk Yami's tongue into his throat. Yami smirks and says that he was actually just picturing how he's going to swat that overgrown mosquito. Moths aren't even KIND of similar to mosquitoes, Yami. Do you even entomology, bro? Haga, meanwhile, is so caught up in his childish high on successfully summoning his monster that he doesn't take Yami's cockiness as anything more than a bluff. He sardonically says that Yami's threat is soooooo scary, and that he'd like to see Yami try to kill the moth.

Haga's expression suddenly becomes angry as he shouts that it's time to battle, and Yami tells him to bring it the fuck on from the opposite side of the table. Haga says that his turn allows the Great Moth to take flight, and somehow, Haga's intention to attack from the air is surprising to Yami. Yami, the moth has WINGS. Were you not aware of this? Haga chuckles, because none of Yami's land monsters can attack the moth while it's in the air, and Yami's only flying monster doesn't have the attack points to beat it anyway.

First and foremost, Haga announces that he's going to take out the beaver warrior and knight on his next turn. Yami doesn't like how that sounds, because Gaia is his main defense right now, and if he's taken out, Yami will lose. Haga shouts that because Gaia is earthbound, he doesn't stand a chance against the flying moth. Why did we need to access Haga's thoughts with this sentiment in them before if he's just going to SAY it to Yami now?

Yami draws a card for his turn, saying his move rides entirely on it. The card turns out to be Polymerization, and as though Yami told Haga this, Haga declares that Yami's new card is useless. He proceeds to command his moth to attack Gaia and the beaver. Sounds like a weird sitcom...

How much you wanna bet that he used Polymerization on Gaia and his flying dragon to make him fly? I don't trust Yami is actually surprised by anything anymore. He continues to lie with his face as his life points go down to 600 and Haga laughs about Gaia being dead. In the next panel, Yami is wearing a smirk again, asking Haga if he really thinks so. Haga follows the script of being GENUINELY shocked.

Yami holds up the Polymerization card, saying that Haga must not really understand what it does. Haga's eyes BUG out (hehe) as he looks at the card like he's only seeing it for the first time. To be fair, the AUDIENCE didn't see Yami play the card either, but we're also used to crucial moments not being really clearly represented.

Now, everyone, go and buy that card!

Haga growls, infuriated that Yami managed to combine Gaia and Curse of Dragon. Yami explains that the Polymerization card increased Gaia's power to match that of the Great Moth, both at 2600 points, so they can enjoy an air battle between two equally-matched monsters. Haga suddenly chuckles again at the sight of the monsters facing each other in the air, and then laughs maniacally.

Yami glares at Haga questioningly, who says he wonders if Gaia's attack power is really higher. Yami wonders what's happening, because as he and Haga look on, Gaia's attack points are going down one hundred at a time, which just tickles Haga as he describes the phenomenon. Yami asks himself why this could be so, and Haga graciously offers to explain.

You see, when a knight and a dragon love each other very much... the Great Moth's Hurricane can't just blow away the knight anymore, so it affects him with its poison powder which takes down his attack points instead. Nature. Yami stares open-mouthed at Haga as Gaia's points degenerate from the pollen. Haga tells Yami that Gaia and the dragon's stats will continue to decay if something isn't done. Yami sees that the monster's attack has gone down to 2100, too low to attack now. As he draws a card, Yami knows that any further drop in points will let the moth's attack bring his life points down to zero.

So, Yami slaps the "Magic Mist" card down on the table.

That is totally going to fuck up his hair!! Haga was just pretending to be upset by this, though, and in the next panel is yukking it up once again. He thinks he's seen right through Yami's plan of washing away the poison pollen with the mist, asking if Yami thinks he's super smart. Yami's actually thinking that at least the drop in attack points has stopped at this point. Haga calls Yami's trick basic and makes fun of him for that being the only plan he can come up with. Of course, Haga has to have the honor of taking him our in one blow, so he assures Yami that the poison pollen won't outright KILL Gaia. Isn't that a relief?

 Yami glares, because when isn't he, and watches as Haga calls out his moth's ultimate attack, "Moth Burning Death Tornado". I know I've asked this before, but who comes up with these attack names? Anzu calls out to Yami, but it's too late to employ the power of her feelings. Haga declares that Gaia is burnt to ashes by that tornado of fire. Jonouchi, Honda and Bakura's mouths are agape as Bakura asks if this really is the end. Haga seems to think so, as he's laughing about having beat Yami.

But he stops mid-celebration with his signature dumbfounded expression. Yami, with just 100 life points to spare, is smiling at him, agreeing with him that it is INDEED quite funny. Haga actually starts crying and his nose starts running as he asks what's so funny to Yami this time. I... actually feel BAD for this kid. For all his brattiness, the kid JUST got here, and now he's the first one who's going to be kicked out. That must SUCK, especially when you're the winner of another tournament in the same game.

Yami tells Haga that he fell for his decoying Gaia, and Haga is flabbergasted that the monster could have been a decoy at all. Now that it's Yami's turn again, he plans to attack Great Moth with another card.

There is so much badassery in that card. Haga isn't so convinced though. Nose still running, he's at least relieved, because Summoned Skull's attack is lower than that of Great Moth's. It appears if Yami attacks with him like he plans to, he'll lose.

Yami asks Haga if he's figured out the real reason the Magic Mist card was used, causing Haga's initial relief to shatter. He realizes that Great Moth is now wet because of the mist, and Yami says that Magic Mist is a great stepping stone to use the demon's power to its fullest because its makes the target more conducive to electricity and gives Summoned Skull a boost.

Not quite Shoop Da Whoop, but it does the trick. Haga is crying over the burnt carcass of his moth as his life points lower to 0. Yami just frowns, looking a little bored. What's wrong, Yami? Too cool to celebrate with your friends in the next panel? You little dickweed.

While Yami's friends are jumping and carrying on in his place, Mai thinks about how perfect his victory is to her particular plans. As Yami stands up from the table, Haga is mired in disbelief that he could have lost. Yami talks down to him by reminding him that the rules of the game dictated his defeat, after all. He grabs the star chips Haga brought to the island, saying that he'll take them now, and then unceremoniously makes fun of him for being the first person to lose all his star chips, considering he was only a week before the champion of Japan. Haga pounds his fists on the table instead of into Yami's face.

Okay, you need to take your ego down a notch, Yami. Go take a fucking nap or something, shit.

The next panel shows that just twenty minutes into dueling, Haga's picture has an "X" drawn on it with the word "retired" below. That's a lot nicer than Yami is being right now. Yami glares indiscriminately as he clutches his new star chips in his fist, knowing he only has seven more until he gets to enter Pegasus's castle.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I liked how the decoy of Gaia was properly consistent with the moves Yami made before, and Yami's panic at Gaia's loss of attack points made sense to how few life points he had at the time. It wasn't just another conveniently well-done acting job, he really was at the end of his rope, and he didn't know if he was going to make it to summoning the monster he really wanted to summon. It was a risk he didn't think he was going to have to take, and therefore it made sense for him to look as shocked as he looked when Gaia's points started going down.

That being said, the beginning of the chapter still followed the pattern of KT trying to fool the audience into thinking Yami was out for the count by making a more convincing than was realistic expression of surprise when Haga attacked grounded Gaia with the moth. I think in this case, it was part of the red-herring strategy KT had to not SHOW Yami playing the Polymerization card, because the audience wouldn't know if he actually put it on the table or not. It's not an actual red herring as much as it is just flat-out lying though. KT isn't leading us off on the wrong path by adding misleading information to the narrative. He's withholding information and drawing character expressions in such a way to tell us an outright falsehood. It's annoying and insulting to think that Yami is going to have to think of a way around a new obstacle when he anticipated the obstacle all along, or his opponent is presented as just an idiot who didn't know any better.

I mean, Haga was the national tournament champion. Portray him as the child he is all you want, KT, but don't try to tell me that he doesn't know shit about a card that Yami has, because he HAS to have come across it at some point. It's not like it's one of Pegasus's brand new cards or something.