Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 147 The Lost Cards!

What did they go and lose them for?? Kaiba's renewed presence in this story indicates a heavy card-slant in this new arc, and I can guarantee that any cards that can be grabbed will be useful. Otherwise, whomever doesn't have a card to spare isn't going to get one iota of time in this one. I hope that the person who lost those cards wasn't hoping to have a part in the manga for a while, because they're screwed now.

Either that, or some Egyptian artist predicted the most mundane thing ever - cowlicks.

Kaiba becomes somewhat upset, demanding to know how Yuugi's image can possibly be on a so-called "ancient" Egyptian artefact. Isis admits she doesn't know anyone named Yuugi, but HAS always thought that the engraving of the pharaoh on the tablet had almost appeared to be alive throughout the years. She drones about how her home country was a glorious kingdom that lasted through more than three thousand years, and how the pharaoh depicted on the tablet in front of them is from the 18th Dynasty. Kaiba's shock appears to extend to the description of what he sees as Yuugi as a pharaoh, and Isis confirms this tablet is supposed to depict a pharaoh.

She explains that the name of this pharaoh was originally carved into an ellipse on the tablet, but the picture of the ellipse looks like that name has been chipped out of there. Isis says that someone carved it out, in addition to everywhere else in the tomb where the name was recorded. This has resulted in this pharaoh having been erased from Egyptian history, something that has ACTUALLY happened to real historical figures in Egypt. Isis stares intently at this particular anonymous king from three-thousand years ago as Kaiba's expression turns angry.

He refuses to acknowledge that the person on the tablet is a pharaoh, insisting that it's Yuugi, and that Isis's talk is all foolishness. Yeah, sure, challenge the expert on her area of expertise, and call HER the foolish one. So rational. He asks Isis how Yuugi could possibly be a pharaoh from three-thousand years past, despite the fact that she STILL doesn't know who the hell Yuugi is, and rants about how she can't prove the tablet is three-thousand years old because the DNA from the people who supposedly carved it would be long gone by now and she can't use carbon dating on the rocks.

Isis, please smack the shit out of this stupid-ass mansplainer for me, won't you? I would do it myself, but you know, I'm three-dimensional and everything.

She does me one better, calmly telling Kaiba that there's really no need for him to be so emotional over this, especially since he hasn't even calmed down and looked closely enough to realize that this tablet ALSO concerns him personally yet. Maintaining professionalism AND shutting down a hysterical Kaiba. She could call HERSELF a queen and I'd totally see it. Anyway, while she stands in quiet dignity, Kaiba peers at the tablet again and puts back on his shock, because no one told him that EMOTIONAL rollercoasters are the kinds that aren't fun.

He's taken more notice of the priest in the mural, and Isis begins to explain that that young man facing the pharaoh looks an awful lot like Kaiba before he shouts at her to shut up.

Neither is your screaming, Kaiba. Stop throwing a fucking tantrum, you gigantic BABY.

But as we all know well enough, Kaiba has no sense of proportional response, and declares that Duel Monsters existing three-thousand years before is just ridiculous. Isis fires back at him that the Tarot was created by someone who based the deck off Egyptian hieroglyphs, which would be a perfectly valid point about a little thing called "inspiration" existing, except she goes on to imply that it, and Pegasus's creation of Duel Monsters, was fate. For some reason, Kaiba doesn't object to the obvious leap in terminology and logic here and just thinks Pegasus's name as though it has him actually considering Isis's talk on fate. Make up your mind, Kaiba. Do you believe her or not? Stop waffling.

After a moment of gazing at the images of both Yuugi and Kaiba on the stone, Isis suggests that fate is also what led the young priest and pharaoh all the way into the present. Kaiba turns his back on her to leave, stating that the Minister of Egyptian Archaeology is wasting both their time on talking about fantasies and magic. Kaiba states he's a very busy man and could be using this time to work on his holograms. Isis says that she understands only to have Kaiba rudely snap at her to make her point. Isis complies, asking if he knew that Pegasus left behind a legendary Duel Monsters card.

NOW it seems believable that Kaiba whirls around, disbelief on his face as he repeats the phrase in his head, probably because he's astounded he didn't inherit it when Pegasus bit the big one. Isis points up at the tablet again, telling Kaiba to look, and Kaiba gapes at where she's indicating.

This boy is such a spaz...

Isis explains that Pegasus created three cards based off the god carvings on this very tablet, and Kaiba looks at her with an almost wary awe, like he knows he's going to be freaking out again REAL soon. She continues with the names of the three gods depicted; Obelisk, Osiris and Ra, and this time with FEELING! Isis goes into philosophy mode when telling Kaiba all about how each one represents a different duality of the universe, such as Obelisk's light and dark, Osiris's good and evil, and Ra's sky and earth. I can sense that an affinity will be shared with each unique wielder of each card already.

Describing the hypothetical owner of all three of them as unbeatable, a defeater of all duelists, and earner of the title of "King of Games", Isis sure knows how to get Kaiba's attention. He's looking pretty hungry right now, and I don't think it's for a meal. Kaiba asks her who has the cards now, and Isis doesn't appear to answer. Instead she talks about PREVENTING someone from owning all three at once by borrowing Kaiba's power. He's shocked by this, as per usual, as Isis explains that Pegasus considered the god cards his biggest mistake because their owner wields the immense power of a god. Kaiba repeats this phrase in his head, and it's awfully surprising that there's no boner sound effect accompanying it.

Isis just drones on about the cards' owner being able to cause much good or evil, the latter kind of heart being able to take away lives, and the cards themselves becoming the ultimate weapon. Meanwhile, Kaiba is silently interpreting the droning to mean that these god cards can possibly do direct damage to an opponent, as the LEGENDS say.

Oh yeah, I forgot this card game is basically a religion instead of an invention, the rules of which are the whims of some corporate douchebags looking to sell a card for a shit ton of money. Unless, of course, the legend Kaiba is referring to was the rumor started by Pegasus that some cool cards would be coming out that new rules said would be able to attack player points directly and they never came out. I'm guessing it's the former explanation, though.

How can you fail at destroying a card? What did he make the things out of? Titanium?? I mean, holy crap, I knew Pegasus was garbage, but not THIS much garbage.

Isis exposits that Pegasus entrusted the cards to the Ministry of Egyptian Archaeology, and they put them separately in three different places throughout the Valley of the Kings, presumably because they thought the white idiot who presented them with trading cards to protect was a bit touched in the head and decided it would be kind to humor him. How nice. Isis tells Kaiba someone stole the cards from where they were put, which Kaiba is strangely quiet about, though there IS another exclamation point above his head. He's not even screaming anymore when he presumes out loud that even Pegasus was afraid of their power, so it stands to reason that not many people should know of their existence. Except those who listen to LEGENDS, apparently. He asks who stole the cards.

When Isis says that ghouls stole the cards, Kaiba's face goes right back into horror-mode, even as Isis says he should know about them. Kaiba immediately launches into a description of said "ghouls", an organization with members all over the world dedicated to stealing Duel Monsters cards. That sounds like the least threatening gang in the whole world to me, but Kaiba is looking like he's shitting his pants when he asks for confirmation that THEY'RE the ones who stole these things. He immediately calms his shit, though, explaining further that the cards are stolen by these ghouls, then resold underground for large profits. Why... would anyone sell CARDS underground? THEY'RE CARDS, NOT MILITARY GRADE AUTOMATIC WEAPONS OR COCAINE!!

Kaiba has even heard that they counterfeit cards to sell for money too! The scandal! The nerve! He muses on how these card thieves are like the real-life version of the Muslim folkloric creatures they've named themselves after, who were said to feast of dead flesh and rob graves. Okay, first, the stealing and robbing are the only thing that those two types of ghouls really have in common here. Second, how the fuck does Kaiba know ANYTHING about Muslim folklore?

He decides he can't forgive them for stealing three god cards that he suddenly believes in, despite the fact that he was questioning everything ELSE Isis was saying earlier. Your are a pillar of logic, Kaiba, truly. Isis informs him that the power of the ghouls is the reason she needs his help, and he gapes back at her like he only just realized she was talking. She claims she needs to get those cards back for Pegasus's last wishes and the sovereignty of the Egyptian government. Not sure what the latter has to do with this. Is it going to be occupied if you don't get those cards back?

You know Yuugi's poop-face? This is Kaiba's version of that. I'm just surprised he has any shit left up there, with how big a dump he took when he heard about the ghouls.

Isis says the Ministry of Egyptian Archaeology chose Domino City to house their exhibit because they want people to know the true origin of Duel Monsters, and believe that the tablet has the power to bring duelists together. Kaiba smirks, asking if he's correct in assuming she wants him to turn the city into a dueling stage. Before she answers, he starts contemplating aloud how it could actually lure the ghouls who would want a tournament participant's rare cards, like his Blue Eyes White Dragon.

You guys remember he has the Blue Eyes White Dragon, doncha??

Isis pulls out a card, holding it out to Kaiba as she says that all his musing is exactly why she wanted to give it to him. Yet again, he's freaking out, exclamation points on the end of his unfinished thought about what this card is.

Is... Is he CRYING?

Such a spaz, that boy!

Isis explains that only two of the three cards were stolen, and she's willing to lend him the third in order to get back the other two. While holding the card up in front of his face, Kaiba thinks something that I can't really read, then he lowers Obelisk to smirk at Isis again, asking if she trusts him. He says he might just decide not to give Obelisk or the other two cards once he's got them all. Nice of him to warn her how much of a piece of shit he is, but she takes the warning in stride, saying she trusts him with all her heart. Awwwww, sweeeeeeeet! Not sure if Kaiba deserves that, but Isis is being cute here.

Kaiba scoffs as he turns to leave again, boot-heels clacking as he strides out of the exhibit. He gets in his car again, door held for him by his own secret service servant, and as the car speeds out of there, Kaiba cackles about his new acquisition. Spaz.

Back at the hospital, Yuugi is leaning on some railing lining the roof, totally stoked he gets to leave the hospital today. He states that Jonouchi and the others had to go to school in the morning, but they'll come back to play with him in the afternoon. A nearby nurse whispers to another about how that weird kid has been talking to himself for quite some time as they gather the washing from the lines on the roof. Yuugi don't give a shit, because Yami IS actually hanging out with him there as they stare at the horizon.

After a moment of quiet contemplation of the skyline, Yami tells Yuugi he has to thank him. Yuugi is confused by this, so Yami explains that Yuugi had put his life in danger trying to put the puzzle back together in the fire. Speechless for a moment, Yuugi tells Yami that the one who actually saved them was Jonouchi, in dragging their sorry asses out of there. Yami says that's right and they have some really good friends, which Yuugi agrees with, but with a somber expression. He asks for Yami's attention, Yami granting it with a mystified look, and tells him that asshole!Bakura said the one who solves the Millennium Puzzle has a responsibility to awaken the pharaoh's memories. With some hesitation, he asks Yami if he is indeed a pharaoh.

Yami stays silent as Yuugi looks to him for an answer, but all Yami can tell him is that he doesn't know who he is or where he came from. Yuugi is shocked by this, while Yami says all he really knows is that he exists because Yuugi put the puzzle together, and that in the Valley of the Kings is a tablet that supposedly holds some information. He doesn't get to finish before Yuugi starts throwing a fit, shouting that they should just stop talking about it. Jeez, what is with all these characters and their tantrums today? Yuugi swings around, forcing a jovial tone as he shouts that they should get out of that hospital and go play with Jonouchi and the others.

Yuugi is stopped dead by Yami continuing patiently, saying that he wants to stay with Yuugi forever, even if that means never recovering his memories at all.

Man, I'm getting DIABETES from all the sugary sweetness going on here!

After a beat, Yami draws Yuugi's attention to their friends running into hospital below, and Yuugi immediately dries his tears, excited that they showed up early. They call Yuugi's name, and he beams at them.

Diabetes I tell you!

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? The end definitely resolves the only problem I had with Anzu's revelations at the beginning of the last chapter. Now I know Yuugi is having the same painful realizations around the vague issue of Yami's inevitable departure, and that he's even MORE torn up over it than Anzu is, which is understandable. His way of testing the waters of the subject and then immediately trying to back out of the conversation was typically childish too, and justified in that I can't be sure I wouldn't be doing the same thing. It's a delicate subject, and Yuugi didn't like the way Yami's answer sounded like it might indicate finding Yami's lost identity might mean their separation.

And it seems like Yami might not like the thought of that outcome either, given how he indicated he would forego finding that identity if it meant he would get to stay with Yuugi forever. While this is kind of adorable on its surface, it indicates a couple of more obscure issues. One is that Yami is actually quite scared of figuring out who he is, presumably because he's afraid Pagasus was correct and he's an "evil" in the puzzle. Recovering his memories means risking finding out some rather... unsavory information as well. Another is that he's grown comfortable being here, attached to Yuugi and the life he has with him, and selfishly wants to cling to that. He also risks learning that he has a responsibility to return to his old identity and won't be able to reconcile it with the new one he's now built. We'll have to see if that's an issue.

As for the beginning of the chapter... You know, people often joke about how a damn card game would be so important to the world in this series, and I DON'T think it's such a difficult element for me to swallow in the story. There's plenty of things in our universe that are massively important and I will never, for the life of me, understand why. I mean, football/soccer is a big enough thing that the players can get away with MURDER a lot of the time, and that is also just a game, so it's not such a stretch for me to believe that Duel Monsters might rise to a level of fanatic following that fans of, say, the World Cup has amassed over the decades. I could TOTALLY see Pegasus or Kaiba as a sort of Sepp Blatter of Duel Monsters.

That being said, no one has ever formed gangs around stealing rare soccer balls and selling them on a black market for soccer balls. No one, to my knowledge, has ever prayed to, or seriously invoked, a god of football at games or matches. There aren't legends about a goal that will do something special for the team during the game that don't fall in for regular rules. My suspension of disbelief is kind of cut down when a religion appears to be BUILT around a central game, unless it's set up as a form of worship early on, which this one most certainly has not.

Speaking of religions, how DOES Kaiba know anything about Islam? I thought he was all about technology and the future, so what's he doing carrying around random mythology in his head? He just knows whatever the plot NEEDS him to know, doesn't he? Just like how he reacts and believes however the plot needs him to. Just slap him with the expressions and dialogue no one ELSE wants and watch him go!

*Note on the strike-throughs: Read below for further discussion on this topic, where Kailyn Mei elaborates on why card counterfeiters and underhanded dealings in the trading card and gaming world isn't as unbelievable as I thought.

Inuyasha Manga: 088 Inside the Fortress

Oooh, fortresses are always full of cool stuff when you infiltrate them! There's not only bound to be some Shikon shards around, but probably some other valuable loot. Armor, weapons, money, or rare texts regarding a special spiritual enlightenment hidden from the masses by the elites that want all the knowledge and power for themselves! If they manage to get there and survive their trials, perhaps the enlightened will bestow upon our characters their own universal knowledge.

Unless the spiritual knowledge is for us, the audience, to parse from the hints and clues assembled throughout this manga.

Woah. Inuminati.

It looks like you guys arrived a bit too late to do anything about those demons you were chasing, huh?

Yeah, a little slow for this one, huh?

Kagome holds a hand to her mouth, gazing in horror at all the carnage. Even Miroku and Inuyasha are in awe of this as well, Miroku haltingly commenting on how the villagers fought the youkai, and Inuyasha on how most of them lost. Badly. Looking at one of the corpses dressed in armor, Inuyasha trails off in a statement about how there's no mistake, finishing the thought in his head that this must be the village of the youkai exterminators that they were searching for.

Off to the side, Kagome hears a noise and immediately takes cover behind Inuyasha, who responds to her cry that there's something over yonder by grabbing Tessaiga's hilt.

I hate to be nitpicky here, but those fangs are popping out pretty high up on the nose there, aren't they?

Inuyasha draws Tessaiga, shouting that this is a surviving youkai. Not just surviving, dude, THRIVING. That thing doesn't have a scratch on it, almost like it wasn't even IN this huge epic battle that we never got to see. It appears the giant cat-thing says that the voice it heard belonged to Inuyasha, so Inuyasha and Kagome are both at once flabbergasted by this thing talking. However, the voice speaks to the giant cat next, telling it to calm down and that these people are not enemies. Kirara nods its head and with a hiss shrinks down to the size with which Sango was greeted a couple of chapters ago, fluffy and compact. And without oversized fangs protruding weirdly from the mouth.

With a confused sweatdrop, Inuyasha gapes at the now tiny kitten, and Kagome peeks around his shoulder to comment on Kirara's new cuteness. Kirara scratches at its neck with a hind paw, and a speck of something leaps out of its fur right toward Inuyasha's face, with a joyous cry about how long it's been. After landing on Inuyasha's nose, Myouga proceeds to drink up his blood with his cone-like sucker. Inuaysha immediately smacks his own face, smashing Myouga before staring down at him with his sustained confusion. Kagome asks Myouga what he's doing in a place like this. Since he's never met Myouga before, Miroku is a touch mystified by him as well, asking if he's a friend of theirs. Shippou makes it a short explanation - Myouga is Inuyasha's retainer. Of a sort.

While Myouga exposits about how this is indeed the village of youkai exterminators, who have lived and worked in this spot for many generations, Miroku is shoveling a gave while Inuyasha pulls a dead man over to it. Inuyasha says he's not surprised that the youkai would resent the exterminators, and shoots Myouga a questioning glare as Myouga expresses some suspicion over how it's strange the youkai all decided to attack now. He's aware that the strongest slayers in the village were called to Saru Castle, so the village was somewhat vulnerable when it was attacked the previous night. Sweating, Myouga admits he has a bad feeling about all this, which is a gimme given how literally EVERYONE in this village but for a demon cat was killed. You SHOULD have a bad feeling about it, Myouga, especially since it happened right in front of you.

He expresses some worry for the people that went to the castle last night as well, wondering if they're alright. Ironic that Myouga can confirm 100% that the demon cat is still alive, but some both dead and alive people are holed up at Schrodinger's Castle.

At least, according to his side of the experiment. Our omniscient view allows us a peek in there, where someone is thanking goodness that at least one of those exterminators survived.

Yeah, grandpa, mind your business before you start telling her to smile more and shit. She has every right to be pissy right now.

The Young Master must agree with me, because he orders grandpa and everyone else to leave, having had enough of their shit. Grandpa starts to protest, but the Young Master tells him he'd like to speak with Sango alone. After everyone skedaddles, the Young Master attempts to confirm Sango's name. When she doesn't say anything one way or the other, he must assume he has it right and continues with an apology for the fate that befell her family and other village companions. Silently, her brain is on a loop, asking why this happened. She continues to glare, however, seemingly suspicious of the Young Master who is being so hospitable after her terrible ordeal.

He's just in awe of her crazy enormous life force despite all that tragedy, because she's bearing those wounds without so much as a cry. The Young Master is taken out of his thoughts on this by a voice calling to him from behind some screens blocking the outside.

Hey, Young Master - you would save everyone a whole LOAD of trouble right now if you did to Naraku what you did to your poor possessed dad. Just do that. Just do it.

But, he doesn't, and Naraku feeds him some bullshit about going to the exterminator village as soon as he could at the Young Master's request. Question: how do YOU know where the fuck this secret exterminator village is when no one ELSE does? Does Young Master over here know where it is too? Man, if I were Sango, I'd be SUPER suspicious about this whole conversation she's picking up right now.

And she is picking up on it from beyond the screen, eyes widening out of shock when she hears Naraku say that it was attacked and destroyed. Her glare has a certain panicked quality to it when she wonders what the hell is even going on here. Probably a lot of things, but not least of all, your life is falling apart sweetie. Sorry.

Back at the destroyed village, Miroku is praying over a couple of the villagers' bodies before he covers them up completely with soil, Inuyasha standing dutifully in the background. On the already finished funeral mounds, Kagome is laying down flowers with a solemn air, Kirara watching her. Miroku says this is a tragedy, immediately followed by the complaint that he wanted to ask these people so many questions. Yeah, how RUDE of them to die before they had a chance to hear your pithy little inquiries, Miroku. That's just such inconvenient behavior.

Let it be known that I'm rolling my eyes HARD right now.

Inuyasha looks down at his shoulder to where Myouga is sitting, making a subdued assumption that Myouga knows something he's not told them yet. Myouga is perplexed at first, but then asks if Inuyasha is referring to the Shikon no Tama. Kagome asks Myouga if he came to the village to investigate the jewel and Myouga confirms this, having been wondering for quite a long time what the origins of the jewel are. After all, whomever is influenced by the jewel meets a horrible fate in the end, and Myouga claims that his concern evolves around what would happen to Inuyasha if he got proper hold of it. Just like the last time, I imagine.

Not in the least fooled that Myouga really cares, Inuyasha admits that he always thought Myouga would just run away, given all the danger having the whole jewel would generate. Stuttering and incredulous, Myouga demands to know how Inuyasha can say such a thing, after they have been reunited in such a fateful way. Inuyasha apologizes, but still questions why Myouga didn't ever hop on back to the group on his own, and Myouga is speechless. Kagome guesses he didn't think to look for them, Shippou that he couldn't have been bothered, and Inuyasha just assumes by Myouga's continued silence that either one of these suggestions hit the nail on the head with an exasperated look.

The scene switches back to the Young Master's castle yet again, where said Young Master is ordering Naraku to give him all the details of what he saw in the exterminator village. Naraku describes a high villager body-count, because the best lies start with a kernel of truth, and then presents the fabricated part.

How's THAT for alternative facts? Eat your heart out, Kellyanne Conway.

The Young Master asks about this hanyou, and Naraku explains that Inuyasha has been going after those who hold pieces of the Shikon No Tama ever since it was shattered. A contemplative Young Master says that he has heard of this jewel, before Naraku tells him that Inuyasha wants to become a full youkai with the dark powers of the Shikon no Tama. Glancing into his periphery, the Young Master asks if Sango's village had a piece of the Shikon no Tama, and Naraku presents an "hypothesis" that Inuyasha likely attacked the village to get his hand on a shard a village full of Youkai exterminators were likely to have. As if you don't KNOW why the attack happened...

Looking depressed, the Young Master states the facts that not only has Sango lost her father and brother, but also her whole village in one night. Suddenly, the screen behind him rattles and falls.

Just don't look too far for that culprit, girl.

So what did I think of this chapter overall? The structure could have been executed better, because it was definitely jarring to be jumping between each location TWICE within the same installment. I think the actions and dialogue of Inuyasha and company could easily have been rearranged so that all of it took place in one chunk, and then the bit at the castle could have done the same. It certainly would have made the pacing a bit smoother and less choppy. Of course, there might also have been a bit of space to fill if it were the case too, given RT's economical style.

That being said, the dramatic irony in this one is HEAVY; it's basically carrying the chapter. We as the audience know that Sango's village was destroyed by a horde of demons, none of which included Inuyasha, and at this point we can have a reasonable suspicion that Naraku is the one that sent them there, though it's not explicitly stated in the chapter. The way that he's familiar with this young lord in the castle suggests that he was involved in getting the strongest of the slayers there as well. Even when first reading this chapter, Naraku's mere presence (as well as his readiness to blame the whole thing on Inuyasha) is enough to have the reader jump to the conclusion that he's definitely the mastermind behind the slaughter of the village. Considering we've only really met the guy during ONE arc so far, that's a pretty impressive speed on setting up the gut-reaction for the audience.

I'm just a tad wary of the young lord as well. He didn't react emotionally to killing his own father, he's in league with Naraku, and his conversation with Naraku outside Sango's room felt just a little too scripted for him to be entirely innocent of knowing what Naraku is up to here.

Plus, there's something about him that creeps me right out.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 146 Stones of Old

Once again, our chapter title isn't being terribly specific, is it? Pick up any given stone, and it can be anywhere between fifty thousand to a couple million years old, with the oldest being in the BILLIONS. They're all really old, even compared with the three thousand year history of this particular tale, so I don't think "Stones of Old" is too great a descriptor here. I can guess that they're from the three-thousand-years-ago period folks are always going on about, but that's no surprise. Tell me something cool, chapter!

That old man in the corner throwing those little bastards shade? Me. That's me. KT knew I would read this and represented me as a crotchety old fucker who is too jaded for this shit.

Yuugi indicates his Duel Monsters spread on his blanket as he announces that he'll sacrifice two monsters during this turn to summon his Dark Magician. Wait a moment there, he didn't have to do that before for anything but that Black Luster Bro. Why is he doing this for the Dark Magician now? This has Jonouchi just as bewildered as I am, plus up in arms, because he shouts an attack here too? This whole exchange is kind of confusing.

Jonouchi flails about, devastated that his monster was destroyed and his life points are down to zero. Yuugi throws up his arms and cheers that he beats Jonouchi continuously. How long have these two been playing? I don't know, but it's been a continuous time! Bakura quips that Jonouchi is super weak, which strangely isn't a statement about if he even lifts, bro. Head in palm, Jonouchi curses and wonders aloud why his hand is so unlucky. Anzu winks at him and tells him it's not that the luck of his hand. Jonouchi glares daggers at her, asking her what THAT'S supposed to mean, because he presumably realizes that the statement could very easily be turned into a masturbation joke. Anzu merely points out that his skill level is still far below par, and Jonouchi curses again.

He recovers from his disappointment and bad mood quickly, though, suggesting to Yuugi with a huge grin that they play again. Fiftieth time's a charm? Winking, Yuugi accepts this challenge, but Anzu has to be the mom who tells them to grow some self control and that Yuugi is at the hospital to rest. Yuugi insists he's not tired, and Honda backs him up by insisting Anzu not worry - Yuugi forgets all his troubles and pains when he plays cards. How this is not a sign Anzu should worry more in the absence of his own sense of well-being is beyond me, but Anzu is on board with this excuse to stop fussing. He's got a mama for that, after all. One with a ladle she's just dying to whack someone with.

That wasn't Anzu's assessment, by the way; I take ALL the credit. No, Anzu is too busy thinking about how great it is that Yuugi's wounds weren't too severe, and that's the REAL luck at play here. Her expression is morose when she recalls the flames shooting out of the Black Crown and a smoking Jonouchi emerging from those flames cradling the unconscious Yuugi. What's this, KT? No thought-dialogue telling us exactly what's going on? Are you unwell?

It turns out to be a one-off thing, because Anzu silently thanks Jonouchi for saving Yuugi in the next panel, watching them play their cards demurely. Jonouchi soon shouts in dismay that he lost AGAIN, and Anzu mocks him for being only slightly injured and dense. Not too dense to be a fucking HERO, I see.

Yuugi asks Jonouchi if he's still using the deck he used in Duelist Kingdom and Jonouchi answers that it has quite a few good monsters so he'd like to keep using it. Yuugi gently advises him that he should reorganize his deck instead, because Yuugi can tell exactly how Jonouchi is going to strategize with his current set of cards. Jonouchi is flabbergasted that he could be so obviously predictable, and is driven to being pissed off by Honda's comment that's Yuugi need not say more - Jonouchi is the kind of guy who is always stuck in a moment of glory. Jonouchi whines that Honda is mean, which just shows how far he is from the days when he would have punched someone for saying shit like that to him.

He asks Yuugi if he reorganized his deck, and Yuugi confirms this. Yuugi says he kept all his key monsters, but the rest of his cards are new. He believes that monsters shouldn't fight in duels forever, and besides, he and Yami have spent the last three boring days in the hospital reorganizing their deck so it's much stronger. Anzu looks a bit speechless and strangely bothered by this, for some reason, before she asks sunnily whether Yami is alright. Yuugi confirms he's just great, thanks, and Anzu blushes a bit as she looks at the puzzle pendant Yuugi cradles in his hands. He hums when she says his name again, and she recalls he said the Millennium Puzzle grants a wish when it's put together, asking what he wished for this second time he put it together.

Jonouchi starts to enthusiastically interrogate Yuugi, enchanted by the idea that the puzzle has benefits to its solution, and asking what Yuugi wished for the first time. A fabulous prize? Money? A small glimpse of Anzu's anatomy? Yuugi claims it would be embarrassing to say, and he would really like to keep that first wish a secret.

And you think telling them about this would jeopardize the friendship because...?

Yuugi continues to stare lovingly at the puzzle in his palms while Anzu smiles at him. He says that in the fire, he could only think about getting that puzzle together, not making wishes. However, his heart did have a deep desire to see Yami again, and now that he considers it, that must have been the wish he made at the time without even realizing it. He mutters that something is really unbelievable, and I wonder if that's the fact that he thought his FIRST wish was too embarrassing to reveal, but his second was not.

No, it's actually the fact that Yuugi put the puzzle together so much faster than the eight years it took him the first time, and he says it's almost as if it put ITSELF together. Honey, if it had done that, you wouldn't have those freaking BURNS. Anzu looks quite alarmed by Yuugi's statement before declaring that Yuugi's second wish came true as well. Yuugi makes a confused noise, so Anzu winks and elaborates that the puzzle might have been so much easier to put together BECAUSE of his wish, and if the puzzle has a conscience it must have also wanted to see Yuugi again. Yuugi holds the puzzle up before his eyes, looking pleased with this assessment, but Anzu looks strangely depressed again.

That is until she stands abruptly, announcing she's going to buy drinks. Wow, don't be so eager to find happiness at the bottom of a bottle, girl. Just kidding! She's headed for the vending machine soft drinks, and is barraged with requests to get Yuugi a Coke and Jonouchi iced tea. She appears somewhat annoyed with this, but what do you expect when you're heading to the vending machine anyway?

Why? It's obvious to anyone with ANY of your and your friends' experiences with the puzzle. Why NOT say it?

But Anzu thinks that Yami has been in Yuugi's heart from the very beginning, echoing what Shadi said about it back in his arc. She believes that it's only that Yami can appear through the puzzle, so assumes that the true Yuugi must be a combination of these two personalities. She tries to convince herself that she's not wrong, but she just becomes all the gloomier for it. Eventually she wonders if Yami is really the consciousness inside the puzzle, and comes to a rather unpalatable conclusion if it happens to be true while standing moping in the hall. If ancient Egypt is really where the puzzle belongs, then eventually Yami will have to return to it.

Back inside the hospital room, the crotchety old fart that clearly represents me glances over at Yuugi and co from the cover of his newspaper. He sees Yuugi giving Jonouchi advice on how hinging his whole strategy on a card that steals cards from the other player can be turned against him if that card is taken away, and Jonouchi dismayed at the fact. At this point, the old fart calls out to Yuugi and Yuugi points at himself in surprise that this stranger is talking to him. The old fart waffles at first about the thing Yuugi has, backtracking a bit and saying it doesn't matter before explaining that the eye on the necklace Yuugi is wearing is very similar to the one on an ad in the newspaper he's reading. Yeah, dude. It's the Eye of Horus. It's a really widely-used symbol in Egyptian-themed art.

Nonetheless, the old fart holds out the newspaper to show Yuugi.

After the fashion of the immortal Wizard People, Dear Reader: "Well, bless my nippers! Bless them all day long!"

Yuugi gapes at the small newspaper panel, and of course the number one Millennium fan Bakura is staring at it too in a hot second, trailing off in a statement of what that necklace must be. Yuugi already knows that he's not mistaken anyway as he looks closer at the picture of the necklace, as it's surely a Millennium Item. Yuugi scans the page for information on who the woman wearing it is, and finds the name "Isis" there. The old fart says that Isis is the curator for the Egyptian government's collection of artifacts being hosted at the Domino Museum. All Yuugi and Bakura really take from this information is the Egypt part, because who cares about all that other shit??

Speechless, Yuugi half gapes at his blanket a moment, getting the distinct impression that something is about to happen. I sure hope so, otherwise this wouldn't be much of a story.

Elsewhere, a black car speeds along the road, coming to a stop at which the shadowed driver says they've arrived. Where and when these mysterious folk have arrived is revealed in the next panel - Domino Art Museum at 10:00 pm. The mystery of who is stepping out of the car in the panel after that remains a mystery for scarcely longer.

Where you been, Sleeping Beauty? Down for another of your naps?

Kaiba's security dude, who looks suspiciously similar to one of Pegasus's Secret Service Servants, recaps for him the fact that this meeting their having is very late and at an art museum. Honda might have some competition for his job of stating the obvious in here. The security dude asks Kaiba if the businessman they're meeting with is an important figure, and Kaiba immediately corrects him on the point that the person they're meeting is in fact a woman, followed by the information that she's important with the Egyptian government. Security Dude seems to have the same reaction to the word "Egypt" as Yuugi and Bakura just did, but I'm fairly certain he's more bewildered than shocked.

Kaiba is joined by yet another security dude as he climbs the steps to the museum, greeted at the doors by the woman whom Yuugi had identified in the paper as Isis. She says it's an honor to meet Kaiba, and praises him on how his business has developed the games industry incredibly fast. After this, she introduces herself as Isis Ishtar, the curator of the current Egyptian exhibition hosted at the museum behind her. Kaiba doesn't say anything, for once, and is invited into the building by a polite Isis.

As they walk the halls of the building, Isis informs Kaiba about the Ministry of Egyptian Archaeology, founded in 1858 to stop the looting of burial chambers by treasure hunters and robbers. However, now their scope has widened to monitoring all kinds of archaeology dig sites around the world. What kind of business they have monitoring digs outside of Egypt, Isis doesn't say, and Kaiba takes advantage of her NOT expositing this by asking her to talk to someone else if she's looking for a mummy-collector or something. He tells her his only interest is state-of-the-art technology, and several-thousand-year-old stuff don't strike his fancy any. Isis stays quiet a moment, before promising to show Kaiba the mysteries of Egypt in just this one night, because she's a gossip who just has to tell all of Egypt's dirty little secrets.

Like the fact that Kaiba's precious Duel Monsters cards actually originated there. Kaiba's reaction is crazy over-the-top alarm, which is just weird. He's a weird kid. Isis explains that though Pegasus was the designer of the card game, his inspiration for his invention was found in his trip to Egypt. She says she's about to show Kaiba some images on a mural from the tomb of the 18th dynasty pharaoh, wondering aloud what sort of reaction Kaiba will have to them and if it will be at all like Pegasus's. As she leads the way further into the exhibit, Kaiba ponders what she's on about. Isis gestures at a dark doorway, telling Kaiba that the images she mentioned are inside. He steps in because light is for babies, as Isis asks him to view the origin of Duel Monsters. She flips on the lightswitch, and Kaiba's expression turns to instant gaping awe.

Well, to be fair, that does look AWFULLY familiar.

Wide-eyed and sweating, Kaiba stutters questions in his head about how these appearing to be Duel Monsters cards. Yeah. Isis said Pegasus got his inspiration here, didn't she? Why is this a big deal?

Isis continues to gossip away, about how the ancient Egyptians believed natural disasters were caused by evil monsters living in the hearts of men. Priests apparently sculpted the likeness of these monsters onto stone tablets in order to seal them away and keep the world at peace. The monsters pictured in the tablet possessed evil powers, and the priests would unleash them on each other and fight behind the pharaoh's back. These guys sound like total dicks, so... glad they're dead?

Drawing Kaiba's attention to another tablet, Isis says it's the one she wanted him to see, and one that depicts one of these fights. Kaiba is REALLY freaking out now, because he believes he recognizes one of the actual people depicted on the tablet.

I... suddenly GET the crazy hair. It all makes sense now.

Isis identifies the young pharaoh as the one controlling the Dark Magician, who apparently decided to fight someone behind his own back. She also points out the high priest standing opposite this self-defying pharaoh, controlling a white beast. Kaiba continues to gape, realizing that this white beast she speaks of is actually the Blue Eyes White Dragon, his own signature beast. Though I'm not sure Kaiba's really hearing her at this point, Isis's lecture goes on to impart that this mural is "The Engraved Stamp of the Duelists' War" passed down through the generations. She creepily concludes that the battle continues.

Spoopy.

So, what did I think about this chapter overall? It had an introduction of a new character and two major revelations for two side characters, giving us readers quite a bit to think about. Isis is definitely an interesting addition to the cast, seeing as she's the first foreign person to show up who's not a complete ass. Although she does have that kind of "mystical brown person" narrative going on so far, so I can't say I'm too stoked about that. Still, she doesn't appear to be particularly antagonistic, just smug and a bit on the preachy side. That I can deal with.

The first revelation kind of killed one of my pet hypotheses about this series, that Anzu put quite nicely, as a matter of fact. She's worried about Yami one day having to go away, trying and failing to convince herself that he won't because he's an intricate part of Yuugi. She's unwillingly realized that if Yami is actually a part of the puzzle instead of Yuugi, then he and the puzzle will have to go back to Egypt eventually, which breaks her heart. These emotions are conveyed pretty well for how she appeared in the previous chapter, and I'm impressed with how natural it felt for her to be swinging from happiness for Yuugi to sorrow at the possibility of losing Yami for good one day. It was understandable and relatable.

Not sure how she's the only one considering this, given how Yuugi is far closer to Yami and this issue than she is. Perhaps he's just TOO close? Yeah, let's go with that.

Then Kaiba has his revelation about his favorite card game coming from Egypt and maybe there's some connection to Yuugi there. This one was a bit of a let-down, because it's obvious that a lot of this information isn't actually for Kaiba's benefit. It's for the benefit of us readers. Clearly Kaiba was approached by Isis, and he doesn't appear to have any interest in anything she has to say at first, so why did he even show up to this meeting without a clear motivator? It was pure plot-contrivance, because for as selfish a character Kaiba is, he really has no reason to be here other than be a conduit for information to the reader. Even after he starts listening to Isis, he gets too excited too soon and I had a moment of mirth at how protracted and ridiculous his reaction was to a tablet that showed what Isis had said about Pegasus getting his inspiration from Egypt was true. I mean, why should he be surprised when the tablet pretty much showed him exactly what it was supposed to?

Yes, his involvement in the past will become somewhat important to him as a character, but as of this chapter, he's really doing nothing but overacting his alarm at information Isis is REALLY conveying to the reader. In particular, the ancient inspiration for Duel Monsters being a real magical battle technique in which priests would seal monsters from men's hearts into tablets and use them to duel each other. It's a fairly interesting concept to be sure, and it strikes me as very much like the idea of a spirit guide or spirit animal that grows from you and helps you. Or hurts and hinders you, depending on how it's nurtured, of course.

My only question is: why doesn't this sort of thing happen in the present day, now that priests are no longer sealing away peoples' evil spirits?

Inuyasha Manga: 087 Trap

Yeeeeaahhhh, you probably saw that coming because I'm pretty predictable with my use of memes. You know what's also pretty predictable? That most of the horrible things that happen to the main characters in this whole story are the result of a mastermind trap from one particular person. Bet you can't guess who!

Seriously, MOST of the chapters of this manga could be called "trap" after this point, and with around 500 chapters left, I'm not certain that the title doesn't come up again.

Something I don't think I've mentioned yet is how much I admire the watercolor on some of these pages. I wish I had half the control over a pen as RT appears to have, let alone how much control she has over a brush. And the colors here, with the red dominating Sango's side and the blues Kohaku's side, are simply masterfully placed. Really draws the eye across the page.

Okay, now that I've got that bit of cunnilingus out of the way... HOLY SHIT THIS IS HORRIFIC!! How did this manga come to have the reputation of being girly trash again?

Kohaku throws his blade at Sango and it barely misses the line of her jaw as she leans out of the way. She falls into a kneel on the ground, Kohaku pulls back the sickle by its chain, and it occurs to Sango that he doesn't recognize her for some reason. I would ask why she's coming to that conclusion, given he's not addressing her as a stranger, but then I wonder what other conclusion she could draw from his cold persistence in trying to kill her. He's not exactly acting like he knows and loves her either, so...

A couple of guards for the castle stutter and stammer at the exterminators, apparently not sure what to do, bewildered beyond coherence. I can't really blame them, but maybe they should try to restrain the boy? Fair idea, yeah?

Well, okay, looks like SOMEONE was born in the wrong century. If he just had access to HBO, maybe some people could have been spared the Colosseum treatment. 

But the two guards are further flabbergasted by how flippant the lord of the castle is being, which suggests that this isn't exactly normal for him, so what do I know? Meanwhile, Kohaku throws his sickle at Sango again, which she greets with a drawn and ready sword. The chain on the sickle wraps around Sango's blade as she backs up in a hurry, though Kohaku keeps a firm hold on the weighted end of the chain. He draws a sword as well, looking on in heartless malice while charging at Sango and bringing it down on her. Though with his own sickle AND Sango's sword guarding her from the blow, it was a tad useless. So, possessed!Kohaku is a super efficient killing machine, except when he isn't. Got it!

Sango shoves him back with the force of her blade on his, yelling at him to wake up. Being in close proximity to him reveals to her the tiny spider clinging to the back of his neck, silk extending from it. She follows the shimmer of the thread straight to, DUN DUN DUN, the lord of the castle! And he's not looking quite so mundane now.

And exactly ZERO people were surprised!

Sango, in a fit of rage, flings her sword o push Kohaku and his various weapons away from her, and makes a beeline straight for the lord, much to the further bewilderment of the guards. She curses him, calling him a youkai as she raises up her boomerang for a shot at him. He looks completely normal again when he says that she must have gone insane and orders his perpetually confused guards to kill her. They're ready to comply, though, pelting her with spears before she can release the boomerang on their lord's ass. She's propelled backward by the force of the assault, but another, more shocking blow comes from behind her that rattles her to her very core.

She turns to look behind her, which must be AGONY, by the way, and sees Kohaku trembling as he hunches over, collapsing onto his knees. His shaking fingers pull the mask from his face, and he looks back up at Sango with wide tearful eyes, stuttering at her. Sango has also fallen to her knees, haltingly saying his name as well, and surmising that he's back to normal. What a time to be conscious of your surroundings, amirite??? He lets out a wail and lunges forward, tears flying, to tend to his injured sister and make SOME amends, but unsurprisingly, the guards see this as another threat. Arrows fly, sticking into Kohaku's chest on the way, throwing him back much like the spears did Sango. She stares in horror.

The lord blandly asks why the Perpetually Confused Guards (TM) have stopped firing arrows to gape at the mortally wounded siblings; the guards should keep lobbing them with ammo because they've clearly gone insane, obvi.

WHY IS THERE ALWAYS A PAIR OF SIBLINGS THAT SHATTER MY HEART AND STOMP ON THE PIECES IN THESE THINGS???

I'm beginning to see a pattern in the things I enjoy, and it does NOT say good things about me.

The Perpetually Confused Guards throw a few more spears into Sango's back, and Douchebag Demon Lord (TM) snarks about how the siblings have made up and they'll live happily ever after. Hey, Dildo, I'M the only one around here allowed to make insensitive jokes about horrible things. Get yo ass up outta my job!

And, just as I make my demands, off comes his smirking head with one clean swipe.

Hey, it's the person from behind the curtain before! How goes it, PFBC?

The Perpetually Confused Guards stutter some about how the "young master" cut off their lord's head, so now the PFBC has been gendered. Hooray! They ask what the hell the young master is doing as he stands over the lord's headless body without any sign of remorse. He tells them to look closer, because whomever he just murdered is NOT the lord. After a moment, the head of the lord sprouts eight hairy legs and a spider's head with the lord's face as its back, creeping the Perpetually Confused Guards right the fuck out. Their stammering gets worse as they identify the thing as a youkai.

Wow, you don't say!

So, the young master stabs directly into the face of the lord, killing the youkai. He hangs his head as he gives a soliloquy about how he had noticed his father's appearance was odd lately, and how it seems he was possessed by a youkai all along. So now would you like to explain how it was so easy for you to just stab the fuck out of something that looked like your DAD? Not going to show one tiny iota of emotion? Some smidge? Not even going to question if your father was in pain or anything?

He even has more sympathy for these complete strangers lying sprawled in his garden, dead. The young master, now the only master, it seems, says that it's such a shame that this had to happen to them, and orders that they be buried. The Perpetually Confused Guards are for once not stuttering and agree to the task. Sheesh, you'd think he was looking for an excuse to murder his old man to gain complete control of the castle and the servants.

Headcanon.

That's where they point the Bat Signal anyway - the mountains.

Shippou asks Inuyasha if he plans on stealing whatever Shikon shards they have in the village upon arrival, and Inuyasha answers that OF COURSE he is. An exasperated Miroku hopes Inuyasha won't be exterminated in the process, and Kagome gives that possibility some serious thought based on the pro job they saw back at the village with the centipede. But that's not all she's giving thought to, also wanting to know why the Shikon no Tama exists in the first place. She imagines that Inuyasha is just as curious as she watches him giving the wilderness around them a determined stare.

A strange atmosphere swirls in the sky, Kagome and Miroku's eyes drawn to it right away. Kagome remains speechless while Miroku remarks that this wind feels a bit bad. As she gazes at the sky where a rumble starts to sound, Kagome thinks that something is coming, even a great number of somethings. Across the moon, a great cloud makes a rapid pace, and on closer inspection, it's a great horde of youkai, as Inuyasha remarks after Kagome lets out a little scream. She puts a hand over her mouth, nauseated by the huge amount of youki she's feeling come off the swarm, and says that it doesn't feel like regular old youki. Miroku agrees that it feels like something awful is about to happen, Inuyasha just staring speechlessly at the sky.

After a moment, Inuyasha comes to a realization that he shares: those youkai are out to kill a certain target. Miroku prompts the rest of the group to get after those bloodthirsty youkai, but he needn't have bothered, because they were already jumping into action without so much as a squeak.

Back at the castle, someone is talking about how Sango actually had a pretty cute face if you took a good look. Wow dude, thanks for the boner update on the topic of a dead girl. Some tact you have there. He's walking with another guy as he mutters about what a shame it is, and the other guy asks if he was the one who buried her. I guess, since he's the one who took a good enough look to determine she was a hottie.

Oh, no, wait! STILL a hottie! Oh, and also kind of a motherfucking badass, crawling out of her own grave like that.

She continues to drag herself out of the ground, grumbling that she won't just lie down and die. As she's shuffling and sliding along the ground, the young master meanders around some upright stones, only to see her and express some genuine surprise that she's still alive. So he has EMOTIONS. Good to know. Sango just glares up at him.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It evoked the same emotional reaction in me as the end of the last one did, but turned it up to eleven. Sango and Kohaku's actions, movements and expressions were so moving in a fundamental way. Their feelings in the situation were fluid in the sense that they were all understandably changing from moment to moment, flowing from reaction to reaction by each passing second, and yes, it was all THAT fast. RT's momentum was at its very best here, where her characters were going through a rollercoster ride of pain and emotion and it was ALL in real time, synced PERFECTLY and with minimal dialogue.

This is a masterpiece of balance between showing and telling, and if it doesn't move you, I don't know what the hell will.

That said, all the beauty I mentioned before gets a little undermined by the fact that the young master murders HIS father too, soberly and without any remorse. It's such a jarring contrast to what happened with the loving family before that I was shaken out of the story for a moment by it. Yes, I understand that the story has to move forward, and it really can't if we spend inordinate amounts of time watching this insignificant dude mourning HIS dead family too, but a LITTLE emotion might have made this alright. Or at least a confirmation on my headcanon.

Get on that, RT.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 145 Escape from the Fire

Yes, please do. I can't imagine how this manga would continue with the main character burned to death, unless we're pulling some sort of GRRM shock value move here. Imagine that - Yuugi's funeral attended by all his friends, and claim to the Millennium Puzzle falling to a plotting Sugoroku, trying to deny access to the artifact to asshole!Bakura. Asshole!Bakura teams up with Shadi to study that tablet some more, to figure out who REALLY deserves the Millennium Puzzle, and they find a previously undiscovered passage on it regarding some Father of Dragons.

... Nah, that's stupid as fuck. Forget it.

Well, pulling against the slant of the peg is generally going to make yanking it out a lot harder. May I suggest trying to pull from the OTHER side of the table?

Apparently Yuugi didn't even notice that the peg existed until the next panel, because there's an exclamation point followed by Yuugi's astonished realization that there is indeed a peg holding his chain to the table so he can't get it off. Maybe smoke is clouding his vision, though unclear from the way this is drawn? I shrug in this page's general direction. Yuugi curses and huffs in pulling as hard as he can on the chain, but the peg just won't budge. Yuugi turns to find that flames are creeping toward him from behind and the side, and frets that the PUZZLE will be burned up if this goes on.

What are YOU, kid? Chopped liver?

Yuugi stares at the puzzle in distress, fiddling with it a bit before noticing a whimpering behind him. Clown!dad is still clawing that that secret door that just won't open for him, crying that he doesn't want to burn to death, and that's a real possibility, given that his giant ass is actually on fire. Yuugi actually looks kind of irritated as he rushes over, muttering that this is all really something that he trails off before he can name. Stupid? Ridiculous? Asinine? All of these are accurate descriptors. He urges clown!dad to stop, drop and roll to put the fire out, while clown!dad continues to cry. Yuugi assures him that the fire on his clothes is already out, and this indiscriminate kindness from him is enough to make clown!dad look genuinely quizzical at the "brat" he was such a piece of garbage to before.

Next, Yuugi wastes no time in telling clown!dad to hurry and open this door so he can call someone to put the fire out. Don't you think he would have if he COULD have by now, Yuugi? Apologetically, clown!dad admits that the door won't open, and Yuugi is all kind of flabbergasted by this information. I guess he DIDN'T think about that...

Well at least SOMEONE is using their head - er, shoulder. I suppose that's the closest to their brains that any of these characters will get around to using in this arc, and at least it's close in PROXIMITY.

And after this... Uhhh, is it just me or are they missing page seven and replaced it with a duplicate of page five? Nope, that's not just me at all! And there's no complete copy of the chapter that I can find online either! Well isn't that just peachy! Meh, this is what I get for trying to find free copies online because I'm too cheap to buy them.

Anyway, Jonouchi presumably busts down that door with gusto and he and Yuugi share a passionate kiss as reunited lovers do. That's just a wild guess. On the next page, Jonouchi is telling Ryoji to hurry and get his clown!dad out of there, while Ryoji already has a guiding arm around clown!dad to lead him from the fire. Honda is telling Yuugi that the fire is spreading really fast, and he needs to leave too. Yuugi, however, twists to stare at his beloved puzzle, still pegged hopelessly to the table that's already surrounded by flames. Honda and Jonouchi ask Yuugi what the hell he's hesitating for and yell at him to get his ass in gear, but Yuugi hesitantly shouts back that he can't leave the puzzle.

Jonouchi gapes at the revelation that the puzzle is in here and presumably that Yuugi would risk burning alive to save it, but I recall a certain someone a while ago playing a deadly game to get it back himself. Yuugi runs for the table to grab the puzzle, against the desperate calls of his friends nearer the door, but almost immediately winces because, surprise surprise, metal is a GREAT conductor of heat and the puzzle its shaped into really burns now. Maybe if the teachers in his school showed up from time to time, he might have known that by now.

Yuugi is still clutching the chain of the puzzle though as Jonouchi comes over to try to pry it away from the table, realizing the same as Yuugi that the chain is stuck to the surface with a seriously sturdy peg. Yuugi decides that he has to reassemble the puzzle right then and there, trying to fit a piece into the top hanging off the chain as he says so. Jonouchi calls him stupid, yelling that if they don't get out of there right now, they'll burn to death. Gigantic tear in his eye, Yuugi shouts back that he would NEVER leave without his other soul, informing Jonouchi that Yami will never come back again if he leaves now.

Jonouchi, aghast and sweating, calls his name again, clearly not sure what to say otherwise. Yuugi begs Jonouchi and Honda to leave him there to reassemble the puzzle, if only to see Yami one last time. My eyes must be just as wide as Jonouchi's right now as he contemplates Yuugi's request.

Yuugi is insistent, though, ignoring Jonouchi while he fiddles with the puzzle, expression so serious that it cannot qualify as a poop face even one bit. That's how real this is right now, guys. Jonouchi grits his teeth and stares at Yuugi, watching him painstakingly try to fit those pieces together. It really is painstaking too, because it's LITERALLY painful for him at this point.

Sugoroku has now entered the room, and comes armed with the reasonable suggestion that Yuugi can't possibly reassemble the puzzle in such a short period of time, so he should leave there with the rest of them. Anzu calls Yuugi's name, but Jonouchi is close enough to see that Yuugi isn't listening to ANYONE, too preoccupied with the puzzle to even pay attention to the fact that it's still burning him and he's shedding tears over it. After a moment of staring at Yuugi with what looks like a combination of pity and despair, he shouts at the others to get the hell out of there. They argue, saying that the fire will only put them in further danger, but as Yuugi continues to try pieces despite those creeping flames, Jonouchi knows how it has to be. He tells Honda that Yuugi is never going to let go of the puzzle right now, and they should leave the task of getting Yuugi out to him now. Honda says Jonouchi's name skeptically, pauses, then says he's going to do just that. He insists that Jonouchi has to bring Yuugi back out, and Jonouchi soberly agrees, telling him not to worry.

Honda urges an uncertain Sugoroku to leave, because Jonouchi will take care of Yuugi after all, pushing him out the door despite his reaching back for his grandson.

Sounds like a plan. I would say that getting everyone to help carry the whole table out of the building would have been a better one, but honestly, I don't know if it actually would have been.

Yuugi coughs and huffs, continuing to work on the puzzle despite the flames licking all around him, and actually seems to be making some headway with it. A piece here and there clicks into place, while Yuugi is apologetic in his own head. He thinks it's his fault that the puzzle shattered into pieces, and asks Yami to wait for him to definitely reassemble the puzzle so they can see each other again and he can apologize properly. Jonouchi stares at the exit stoically, his own thoughts on what he'll have to do crowding his mind. He knows he'll have to leave Yami behind if he needs to save Yuugi, but he's also aware that the bond between Yuugi and Yami can't possibly break now that it's so strong. He questions what he should do.

Meanwhile, outside:

Well, if Jonouchi doesn't get them out, then those firefighters are bound to drag the BOTH of them out by their hair if need be.

Ryoji takes this opportunity to shame his father, because this whole mess was caused by clown!dad's vengeful heart. Clown!dad actually looks broken up about this, and while I think he should be, this might not be the most... sensitive time to broach this discussion. It's like Ryoji is rubbing his giant dog's face in the lake of urine it just created while someone is literally DROWNING in it, which is a misplaced priority if you ask me.

Shortly after clown!dad has sads over how this whole mess is all his fault, a firefighter comes barreling between he and Ryoji to get at the fire, and clown!dad attempts to meekly tell him that there's a boy still inside that he should save. He and the rest of the firefighters assemble to try and drench those flames, but after a while it becomes clear that the fire has already reached the second floor and there's no way for the professionals to get inside. Honda is appalled and horrified as Anzu shouts Yuugi's name again, tears in the corners of her strangely angry (?) eyes. I think Takahashi might have been going for a devastated look here, but didn't quite pull it off?

Inside, a severely weakened and exhausted Yuugi has reassembled the puzzle to that same exact spot that he had the last time, with only that piece on the face with the Eye of Horus on it. Unlike last time, he has that piece in hand and is preparing to insert it into the final gap, but he's being super slow about it. A support beam above he and Jonouchi crackles dangerously, and this is the point at which Jonouchi realizes the room they're in has reached its limit. Flames at his feet, Jonouchi turns and sprints toward Yuugi, whose head is resting on the table now that he's passed out.

Honestly, smoke-inhalation should have gotten them LONG before this.

Jonouchi shouts at Yuugi to brace himself as he notices that Yuugi completed the puzzle again. Still, Jonouchi hoists Yuugi up to lean on his arm, realizing that they can't stay there any longer or it'll all be over for them. Yuugi's vice grip on the puzzle's chain doesn't release though, keeping the both of them tethered to the table even as Jonouchi tries to drag Yuugi from the room. Jonouchi tells Yuugi to let go of the puzzle, and goes to far as to pry Yuugi's fingers from the chain, but no dice (haha, you get it??? Speaking of insensitive timing...), Yuugi just won't let go. Panicked, Jonouchi begs Yuugi to let go of the damn thing or they'll both die. He curses Yuugi quietly, wondering what he should do, and weeping while he cradles Yuugi under his hunched back. Both the fire and the knowledge of impending death is getting to him now, as well as the notion that they'll be yet another couple of gaming teens that never QUITE made it to adulthood in Domino.

But all of a sudden, a vision of Yami flashes across Jonouchi's mind. He stands in shock a moment before having a revelation; seeing the board for the cursed game clown!dad was going to make Yuugi play before, he grabs it. There's a creepy hand attached to it, grasping the air, so Jonouchi sticks one of the curled fingers into the loop at the top of the peg holding down the puzzle. He intends to use it as a lever to pry the peg out when he kicks the face of the board back. The peg shoots up out of the table as Jonouchi yells that they CANNOT die there.

Outside again, pieces of the building are crumbling into ash within the fire and the firefighters are even shouting at each other to stand back as the building prepares to collapse. Yuugi's friends and grandfather all stand in various states of panic, or weird anger, in Anzu's case. When she's covering her mouth in the next panel, though, her expression looks a bit more like the others as they stare at the disintegrating Black Crown. Something is emerging from the doorway.

Holy SHIT.

The rest of the gang rushes to greet Jonouchi while he staggers further from the building, trailing their sentences asking about the very unconscious Yuugi. Jonouchi assures them that he's fine, though doesn't call for an ambulance in order to ensure that Yuugi CONTINUES to be fine or anything. Instead, he tells everyone about how Yuugi managed to put back together the Millennium Puzzle in the midst of the fire, and not let go of it through the whole ordeal. In fact, Yuugi is still clutching the chain in his unconsciousness, and all of them note how Yuugi and Yami's bond is strong as a chain.

Or maybe the peg that holds the chain to the fucking table.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I felt like I should have been criticizing the characters for all their stupidity a lot more than I did during the chapter, and yet... this time, more than any other, I GET IT. Yuugi wasn't just hanging out in a fire to put back together some OBJECT that may have had a lot of sentimental value but ultimately meant nothing. He was saving a friend, a companion, and someone he wanted to spend his last moments with if need be. He was willing to risk his life to save that friend, and die with him upon failing. It spoke to just how much Yami really MEANS to Yuugi that he was willing to do all that, regardless of risk.

And that also speaks to the wider attachment that the puzzle has to Yuugi too, in a purely emotional sense. Other Bakura mentioned that Yuugi was the ONLY heir to the puzzle, the only person who could solve it, having been chosen long before he was born to carry that responsibility. There's something intrinsic to Yuugi that allows him to have and hold the puzzle, and the bond he and Yami share is definitely part of it, both as a cause and result of their shared experiences in the present time. The fact that Yuugi was willing to stay behind for a friend while Ryoji's father WASN'T willing to stay behind for a relic that would have given him power is telling. Yuugi's vision of the puzzle is far deeper than that of all the others who have coveted it because HE doesn't see it as a powerful object. He sees YAMI in the puzzle, his friendship with him and the others he's built relationships with over it. He sees a part of himself and another being he wants in his life, or he'll have no life at all.

It's no surprise to me that Jonouchi reflects this attitude when he stays behind with Yuugi to give him a chance to complete the puzzle. He doesn't want to leave either Yami OR Yuugi, but is able to distance himself from the puzzle as he doesn't recognize it as a BODY or human necessarily. He's one step removed from Yuugi's own issue in the chapter, creating another kind of chain of emotional support through the narrative of the chapter. Yuugi's the middle link, with Jonouchi on one end and Yami on the other. ALL of the links are strong, and NONE of them are going to break for any of them.

Although for not having much of a direct link to Yami, that flash of inspiration from Yami DID manage to allow Jonouchi to save all of them from the fire. I'm reminded of my silly little hypothesis from a while back again in which Jonouchi contributed a little something to the manifestation of Yami, and Yami is giving a little back now.

But, now I'm reminded of Other Bakura's little "contribution" of his own in the last chapter. Oh snap, hopefully that doesn't screw Yami up majorly...

Inuyasha Manga: 086 Taijiya

I find it a tad strange that this chapter title doesn't have a translation right under it like they normally do for easily translatable words - even for no-so-easily translatable words. Nope "taijiya" is all on its own up there at the title spot, without the slightest indication as to what it might mean. We even had an English translation for Tessaiga's name, and that was a NAME that doesn't necessarily NEED a translation. Did our translators just feel like it was unnecessary this time around or that a translation would somehow take away meaning?

Because I'm pretty sure just saying "exterminator" is just as good.

Inuyasha doesn't do introductions - just runs into a circle of gossip, fists flailing, demanding information. He would have eaten high school ALIVE.

The two dude cleaning up the centipede's body whisper about how after its slaying, there's been one weirdo after another, but Inuyasha shouts at them to answer his questions. They continue to talk about him in hushed tones, though, determining that he's a youkai alright. Miroku steps in front of Inuyasha, pushing him aside to ask the villagers for his forgiveness - Inuyasha is merely his pupil in Buddhism.

Wow, that is the WORST lie that has ever been told, Miroku. Because these people are stupid, though, they start asking each other (still whispering) about what exactly a "pupil in Buddhism is supposed to be, and one of them answers that he thinks it's a servant to a priest. Yeah, go ahead, create bullshit answers out of thin air as to what that's supposed to mean instead of pointing out that it makes not a lick of sense and Miroku's a bad liar. Why not?

Inuyasha is taken in by this bullshit interpretation of the bullshit lie and gets in Miroku's face, asking him who's supposed to be his servant. Miroku tells him to back off, because he'll only cause more confusion if he keeps talking. Or make all their ears bleed with his incessant barks. Either way, it'll be no good.

Miroku eventually gets the villagers to open up about a youkai exterminator that had visited them, but when asked where the exterminator's home is, the villagers are clueless. One of them says they only meet when the exterminators come to them looking for monsters to slay. Didn't she ask you guys to call her if you had any more trouble at the end of the last chapter? How do you do that if you don't know where she lives? Smoke signals?

Kagome and Shippou sit on a log nearby, listening in but not actually participating in the conversation, which is uncharacteristically antisocial of the former. She's pulling the tab on an aluminum can as she marvels at the fact that there are people here who actually make a living off slaying youkai. It's not a really surprising thing when you think about it - youkai cause a lot of damage and it's not too much of a stretch to imagine that someone came up with the idea to capitalize off of their talents in the area of getting rid of the pests. Still, I didn't manage to think of the idea, so it would have been news to me too, I suppose.

Miroku asks one of the villagers if the exterminator is collecting the Shikon no Tama's pieces, and he answers in the affirmative, referring to a jewel that he's not quite sure on the name of. Much to Inuyasha and Kagome's mutual surprise, the villager says that he remembers the exterminator saying that this jewel originally came from her village. Kagome even twists around to give the man a mystified expression. Miroku turns to Inuyasha to ask if he knew about this information, and Inuyasha answers that he didn't, only having learned of the Shikon no Tama's existence once it was already in Kikyou's care. He never even THOUGHT about the origin of the jewel or where it came from.

Meanwhile, behind a massive log fence atop a rocky cliff, two men in one of two watchtowers call out that someone is back - someone named Sango.

Okay I know I need to unpack how she's brought back parts of the centipede for forging armor and the like and that's super fascinating and all but... LOOK AT THAT PRECIOUS LITTLE KITTEN THING!!! I just want to snuggle it! Look at its adorable FAAAAAACE!!!

Ahem, sorry. I got a tad carried away.

Oh yeah, and this little bastard shows up, but you don't need to pay any attention to him. I'm sure he's not AT ALL important. Nope. #tryingnottorevealreviewerbiasforawesomefavecharactertooearlykthanx

Someone congratulates Sango on her well-done job of obtaining a Shikon fragment, and presumably having placed it all nice and pretty in a little offering dish. The source of Sango's praise is her father, who claps in his prayer in front of the shrine they've put the shard on, while Sango asks if this shrine is enough to suppress the evil the fragment has accumulated. Sango's father admits that it probably won't, and Sango says that she thought that would be the case. He tells her that it's said the jewel was given to a miko who had the power to purify it fifty years before, but she died in a battle over the jewel. As if we needed the visual to remind us of who that miko could possibly have been, this story is overlaid with a picture of Kikyou on her funeral pyre. I don't know how I would have figured it out on my own, chapter, thanks. *eyeroll*

Sango's father states that until they can find someone with purifying powers to take on the jewel again, they'll just have to collect and protect the shards they come across in the village. He then tells Sango that she should get some rest, since they have more work to do later that evening. Sango stretches and pops her shoulder, not putting up any fuss, but her little brother isn't so cavalier. He's told that he too should go sleep, because he's already turned ten and it's about time he had a real battle. The boy, Kohaku, sweats and I have a feeling that he'll find it hard to follow any advice on resting.

Later, Kohaku addresses his sister again, hesitantly asking for her attention as a line of small ceramic dishes on fence posts shatter with the pass of a swift blade. Seems a waste of good dishware, but okay guys. Kohaku catches a small sickle attached to a chain as he questions whether youkai really breathe fire and poison. Sango lays on her belly over the porch behind where he's sitting, kicking her legs in the air while she pets Kirara, answering that sometimes that's the case. Kohaku sighs and sullenly gazes at his sickle, Sango sitting up to squat down beside him, asking if he's scared. He insists that he's not, but Sango can see right through him. She smacks him on the back, telling him not to worry, because all they ever fight is giant snakes and spiders and stuff like that.

Yeah, he shouldn't worry about THAT at all!

I'm itchy again.

Sango says that their father once told her the scariest youkai are the kinds that can pass as humans, and if any of those kinds ever got hold of the Shikon no Tama it would be devastating. What do you mean "she's not actually being reassuring?"

Anyway, after dark and in the rumbling spooky atmosphere of a big castle, someone explains that every night a giant spider attacks them. On a sprawling porch, a man seated on a cushion with men seated on either side of him says that many of the inhabitants of the castle have already been eaten, and asks if the slayers kneeling in front of the stairway can kill it. Sango's father says that he and those backing him up are the most experienced in their whole village. The man on the porch, who looks kind of sickly with those bags and rings under his eyes, seems unconvinced.

"Yeah but FEMALE and CHILD. Clearly because the full-grown dicks on either side of me couldn't get the job done, there's no way experts could do it if their age and/or genitals are not sufficiently manly. Biotrufs and all that."

Sango turns to Kohaku and encourages him to do his best, while Kohaku quietly calls his father a liar. I don't know, kid, you sure showed those dishes a thing or two back at the homestead. A strange noise echoes through the air and some of the castle guards inform the slayers that this is usually when the thing shows up, so they'll leave it to their team of exterminators.

That's what they're inheriting, huh?

The men of the youkai slaying group rush to surround the beast, like it ain't no thing. Meanwhile, down a dark hallway of the castle, an old attendant sits before a screen behind which a person sitting up on a futon can be seen. This person asks if the spider showed up again and the old man confirms this, assuring him that they called the youkai exterminators, and this will hopefully be the last time they have to deal with the creature. He also proposes a hypothesis; the person behind the screen has been ill a long time and the spider may have been the cause of prolonging that illness. If that's true, the old man expresses hope for a swift recovery after the slaying is all done and over with.

A close-up on this ill person's face in profile still doesn't really reveal what sex they're supposed to be, so I guess they'll just remain ungendered for now. They say that they've been waiting for this day while wearing a little smile.

Back outside, the giant spider spits a whole load of spider silk from its mouth and the n00b Kohaku gets himself all tangled up in it right off the bat. One of the other exterminators comes to his rescue, cutting him out of the ropes of silk then reminding him to stay sharp when they're both safely back on the ground. Kohaku, shaky and flushed, agrees to do just that. Another guy smashes a morning star on the spider's big ol' head, and Sango's father pins it down with his crescent blade, all ready for a finishing blow. Sango leaps in with her boomerang at the ready.

I don't see how she could be the most experienced when she's a teenager in a village full to the brim with other (older) exterminators, including her father, but whatever rando.

The dudes all gather round to finish it off, morning star guy offering to smash its head again, and Kohaku realizes after some hesitation that he should get in there to help. As he's jogging to assist the rest of the team, a tiny spider wisps onto the back of his neck by a silk thread and Kohaku freezes in place. The rest of the exterminators aren't impressed with their examination of the giant spider, commenting that its size was the only thing of note about it. That's what she said.

Actually, what Sango said is that this was all way too easy and that the spider's evil powers seemed somewhat diminished to her sensibilities. She has barely enough time to contemplate how suspicious she finds the whole thing when a familiar blade flies through the air, slicing the heads of the two other exterminators clean off and embedding into the collarbone of Sango's father. She is taken aback and horrified, mostly the latter. Obvi.

You'd think the castle's lord was just watching a Marvel movie or something.

"This hyper HD picture sure is something, innit?"

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I had kind of forgotten how incredibly brutal and horrifying those final images were. I remembered what happened (they don't really let you forget it), don't get me wrong, but there's something of a visceral feeling to the way those heads looked as they were being separated from their bodies. The expressions of almost-shock, like in that split second before dying they had ALMOST registered that something horrible had happened, was very well done. You know, for a cartoon in which almost all the characters look exactly the same.

Kohaku's setup is also very satisfying in how Murphy's Law was employed. Kohaku is meek and inexperienced - the very picture of innocence though he appears very adept at handling his weapon, because he hasn't yet used it on anything living, unlike his star sister who has done this work so many times that it doesn't faze her. So, not only is Kohaku nervous about the danger of the work, he's nervous that he won't perform to expectations, especially since his father's exaggeration to the lord of the castle to justify Kohaku's presence.

And since he's the weakest member of the team, he's the perfect candidate for possession - weak, but trusted and skilled enough to get kill the rest of them. Man, RT sure knows how to torture her darlings, doesn't she?