Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 153 Duel of Vengeance!

May as well be called "Duel of Wasting My Time" if you ask me. Why did this need to happen again? Is this necessary for the plot of the story in any way? Jonouchi and Yami are already buds, we don't need more proof of that. The wider narrative is being put on hold for Yami's side-track to get the card back now. This duel basically has no stakes because Jonouchi doesn't NEED to participate like he did back in Duelist Kingdom. Someone give me one good reason as to what relevance this has to ANYTHING going on right now.

Oh boy, Yami is talking to Jonouchi as if he's a child running out into traffic and Jonouchi is talking to Yami like he's the father who won't listen to whatever excuse he had for hitting his sister. Can't possibly see what's wrong with THIS dynamic.

I am going to hate this duel so fucking much.

Yami starts to define the term "Ghoul" as it applies to card counterfeiters and thieves as though the guy he's growling at doesn't already know what he is, and then he drops the fact that Cloak-guy and his friends have chosen Domino as their next target like small-talk. Cloak-guy all but says "duh", pointing out that all Japan's best duelists are gathered in one place and ripe for the picking. His next sentence is NEW information, if you can believe that; he says that Rare Hunters are actually a subset of Ghouls that are sort of like their combat division. His words, not mine. Then he declares that they will be taking this tournament and ALL the rare cards in it.

Livid, Yami calls Cloak-guy scum and shouts that he'll crush every single one of the Rare Hunters, pointing at his first target. Cloak-guy just smiles, wondering if Yami thinks he can beat his ultimate Exodia deck. Jonouchi tries to interject with the fact that, yes, this guy has ALL Exodia pieces in his deck three times, but Yami doesn't want to hear it. Yami just tells Jonouchi to shut up and not worry, because he'll get his Red Eyes Black Dragon back. Ever wondered what it's like to be a woman, Jonouchi? Because you got a real good taste of it just then.

Yami insists that he and Jonouchi are entering the tournament together, which might have been sweet if this shit wasn't so unnecessary. Jonouchi looks touched anyway, though, as well as a little shocked. He slips pretty seamlessly into frustrated anger, though, when he thinks at Yami that this isn't a guy he can beat just like that. The Rare Hunters have decks full to the brim with rare cards, real and fake, so they're the best in the world. Jonouchi insists he HAS to warn Yami about this guy's particular deck, but Yami cuts him off again, holding out his palm, much to Jonouchi's shock. Yami tells Jonouchi that no matter what unfair bullshit Cloak-guy has got up his sleeve, Yami himself has no right to get an unfair advantage of knowing Cloak-guy's strategy. Two wrongs don't make a right, kids!

Cloak-guy does this hilarious thing where he starts to ask Yami if he has a name, but then decides he doesn't care and tells Yami to come at him, bro. I'm not sure if this is actually funny or if I'm just trying to find SOMETHING to like about this chapter already. Regardless, I giggled. Jonouchi tries in vain to get another protest in, but Yami is already pulling his deck from his belt. Why does that sound wrong?

Yami holds it up and declares that it will crush Cloak-guy, not matter what, and Cloak-guy just grins while Jonouchi looks defeated and tired. Cloak-guy says he admires Yami's fighting spirit, but Yami is going to learn that it takes more to win a duel. He adds a mental aside that he'll take Yami's best card in the process. Yami and Cloak-guy turn their backs to one another for some reason while they insert their decks into the machines on their arms, and the plaza clock ticks closer to 9 am. Another duelist kid points out that the first duel of the tournament is already starting by the clock tower and that guy Yuugi is in it. Another kid calls it the first duel of the tournament thoughtfully, and yet another runs to go watch.

At least tournament rules actually apply this time.

As their machines whir to life, I notice that they each start out with 4000 life points, which twice the amount they had in Duelist Kingdom. This is the first rule listed on the LONG list of Battle City rules that I didn't even bother to read all the way through because I am the worst. I'm also having trouble remembering if Kaiba mentioned that during his spiel in the last chapter. Oh well, it says it on their Duel Disks, so I suppose it wasn't the most important of things to mention.

Yami says that he's first, demanding that Cloak-guy draw five cards. He complies and chuckles when he sees his hand.

Sure, yeah, whatever.

Yami glares at his opponent as Jonouchi wonders if he can figure out Cloak-guy's strategy. Well, it's not THAT difficult a strategy to wrap one's brain around. After a moment of letting the wind blow around their feet dramatically, Yami decides to actually start his turn, setting two cards on his Duel Disk. One of them is face down and the other is Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts in attack. When Yami announces he's done, Cloak-guy draws another card and he's pleased to see it's Graceful Charity. He plays it with a flourish, drawing three cards and discarding two, as you do. His hand now has three of the pieces of Exodia instead of just the two. Looks like things are going well for him right off the bat.

Yami peers at Cloak-guy, defining Graceful Charity as a hand exchange card in his head. Wasteful panel is wasteful. Jonouchi prays that Yami manages to beat Cloak-guy before he builds Exodia, but he doesn't have to worry about that just yet. Cloak-guy summons Statue of the Aztecs in defense, which surprises me because it's amazing that he has any cards other than his multiple copies of Exodia and Graceful Charity. Yami classes Cloak-guy as a "turtle" style player, meaning he's got to get through his defenses (2000-defense-point wall monster and all) to hurt him.

Cloak-guy mentally chuckles again, urging Yami to concentrate on fighting the monsters while he collects Exodia's pieces at his leisure. Yami draws a new card after declaring his turn, and does some science all in this game.

Oh snap, that's actually kind of dope.

But Yami totally ruins this moment by referring to "super expert rules" as the reason he can't attack on the same turn his creature has been Frankenseined up. Who in the WORLD thought it would be cool to call these rules "super expert"? Kaiba?

It was Kaiba. I know it.

Yami threatens to destroy Cloak-guy's monster on his NEXT turn, though, who just smiles and silently tells him to keep talking to the wall. It's his turn so he draws a card, and it's another Graceful Charity card, which he uses to draw three cards and discard two. Yami looks somewhat disgruntled that Cloak-guy changed his hand out again, and Cloak-guy is disappointed that he got another right arm of Exodia in his new cards, despite drawing the head as his fourth piece. He pouts, though he knows there's a chance the card will turn up because he has three of each. Cloak-guy perks up though, reminding himself that all he needs now is the left arm and he'll be set.

He looks up at Yami glaring at him and smirks, wondering if a little boy like that really thought he could beat the Rare Hunters. He seems proud of the fact that he's a grown man picking on children as he recounts mentally that they have developed a ton of techniques to pull one over on duelists, like the x-ray contact lenses he's wearing right now that are JUUUUUUST strong enough to see through the back of his next card printed with special ink that can be detected by them. So, he has contact lenses that can detect a special ink on HIS cards, but they can't do shit to detect what's on anyone else's cards, making it so that he just has a slight foreknowledge of what he's going to see on his next turn anyway. Is that about right? Do I have a good grasp of the situation?

You are quite possibly the most pathetically useless person Yami has ever faced, Cloak-guy. And that was a LOOOOOOOOW bar to clear.

Good. Then maybe there will be STAKES to Yami's next duel and I'll actually care again.

Jonouchi nervously assumes that Cloak-guy has to have at least a couple of Exodia pieces by now, silently urging Yami to figure this out and stop Cloak-guy somehow. Cloak-guy drawls that it's his end phase and it's time for him to summon another monster, so he plays Gear Golem the Moving Fortress in defense at 2200 points. Yami gapes at yet another high-defense wall monster, wondering what exactly it is that Cloak guy is trying to do, since he's not trying to attack at all. Since Cloak-guy will never even scratch his life points this way, Yami is confused as to how he plans to do it, thinking back on the hand-shuffling Cloak-guy has been doing thus far.

Yami snaps his fingers when he figures it out, smirking at Cloak-guy. He points and shouts he knows what Cloak-guy is planning, which is met with another smirk, though this one is less confident. Cloak-guy assumes that Yami is bluffing, but Yami tells him that he won't summon Exodia. Cloak-guy is taken-aback that his see-through strategy was so transparent, and Jonouchi cheers.

Great, fantastic. Can we get this over with in SOME fashion? I'd like to get to the real story sometime, please.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I think I may have made that abundantly clear all throughout the recap, but in case you missed all my snide remarks, I thought it was boring as watching paint dry. There's a ticking time bomb here, to be sure, but there's just no suspense attached to it. Partly because we keep getting exclusive knowledge of just what cards the cloaked guy has and when he has them, so we always know exactly what each of his expressions mean when he makes them. If we were left as in the dark as Yami, it might have been a little scary KNOWING the guy would eventually get all the pieces of Exodia, but sitting on the edge of our seat not being able to figure out when.

But even THAT wouldn't have made this chapter good. It would have been BETTER, but not good, because in the end, I have to ask again, WHAT DOES THIS MATTER? If there were even a remote chance of Yami losing, it would be different, because he would end up losing his best card and be worse off for his impulsive move. Since we know he's going to win, though, that tension is just not there. So what happens if he wins? He and his hetero-life-partner get to skip off toward more matches in the tournament? The whole deal is about getting Jonouchi into the tournament, which isn't necessary or important in the first place. They just want to hold hands while they play cards.

I suppose this is what passes for a dramatic start to the tournament for KT, but I'm unimpressed. Tying the characters in knots just to engineer drama isn't clever.

Inuyasha Manga: 094 Birth of the Jewel

No, it doesn't have anything to do with a mommy and daddy jewel loving each other very much. That would be far too cliché. Also it would be kind of weird for Sango to give her new friends "the talk" for a multitude of wonky reasons. Although, from an audience standpoint, that would be comedy GOLD. Just imagine how Inuyasha and Kagome would react to ANYONE giving them a rundown on all the nasty shit they won't admit they want to do to each other. Hell, just imagine MIROKU, nodding along, even trying to correct Sango at some points because he's had more sex than my 29-year-old ass.

Someone draw a comic of this. Please and thank you.

Wow, Inuyasha is being awfully considerate carrying Sango. I thought he would have refused to do such a thing, considering in the last chapter he thought she should have been up-and-at-'em already.

Sango confirms that he and she are talking about the same thing, but as they approach the massive mummy lump in the back of the cave, she draws his attention to the fact that all the youkai were merged into one to increase their powers. Everything from dragons to spiders all formed one massive youkai in the mummified pile, and Sango says it was all to destroy one single human. Kagome repeats the human bit, encouraging Sango to go on, and she continues by stating that the human was eaten.

Miroku looks up at the desiccated person sticking out of the top of the formation, vindicated by Sango's assessment. He assumes by the age of the armor on it that this used to be an ancient general, but Sango corrects him on this.

Meh, I'll just keep on calling them priestesses. The reference seems like gratuitous foreign language to me.

Inuyasha doesn't act surprised by this, because it makes sense to him that a priestess would be a hundred times more effective an opponent to youkai than any samurai. Kagome's lost in her head, making comparisons between this woman's long past life fighting youkai and Kikyou's. She looks rather sad about this.

Sango says that the woman lived in a time when the central government of Japan was still intact, but there were still a ton of people who died in wars and famine. The corpses and near corpses of all the wretched humans were eaten by the youkai, increasing their already strong population.

Not having any eyes clearly did not get in the way of HER job.

With her immense spiritual power and handy sword, Sango explains that Midoriko could destroy up to 10 youkai at a time. Kagome asks if this was driving out their souls and purifying them, and Sango says Midoriko could do that with literally ANYTHING, not just youkai. She lists off the things in the world that had four souls Midoriko could purify; humans, animals, trees, and rocks. One of these things is not like the others, and it's confusing to my stupid Western brain. Kagome, however, is more alarmed at the fact that Sango said that there are four souls, or SHIKON.

Miroku begins to exposit on the Shinto mode of thought around "Shikon", which is made up of Ara-mitama, Nigi-mitama, Kushi-mitama, and Saki-mitama, coming together to form one whole spirit that lives in the heart. Sango, Kagome and Shippou were staring at Miroku before, but it's nothing to how Inuyasha is looking downright lost at Miroku in the next panel as he continues to drone on about what each of these "mitamas" mean. They are courage, kinship, wisdom, and love respectively, maintaining human nature between all of them.

Y'all for real right now? I'm surprised he even had to explain this, what with the culture being STEEPED in this kind of lore and everything.

Inuyasha leans toward Miroku expectantly, asking him to go on, and Miroku tells him simply that if one does evil, their shikon falls down into evil. Sweatdropping all over the place, Inuyasha is speechless for a moment, before exploding that Miroku should stop changing things around. Miroku calmly asks Inuyasha if he should start his explanation all over again, but Sango cuts him off to condense it into the statement that souls can become either good or evil, depending on one's actions.

Once Miroku concurs with this, bowing his head, Sango continues her story about super-priestess Midoriko, who exorcised shikon and had a LOT of experience transforming youkai powers to nothing. They, in turn were afraid of Midoriko, and started waiting around corners and in back alleys to shank her. Or trees to bite her eyeless face off. But they were never able to get the jump on her in any way, because they all ended up being purified.

So, they decided they needed a soul of massive evil in order to take on her gargantuan spiritual powers. Kagome understands at this point why the youkai fused, but asks how. Since they're sitting on the ground due to Sango's healing needs, Sango is able to lean forward and point out something on the bottom of the mummy that no one noticed before. One more feature that Kagome's eyes widen at.

Kagome asks if that is also a human over a close-up on the face, and Sango answers by telling her that there was a man who secretly loved Midoriko, and this weakness allowed the youkai to take possession of him. Using an evil human heart as an anchor is apparently the easiest way to allow the youkai to merge, so that's how it happened. Kagome has a revelatory look on her face, because she seems to have heard this story before. Inuyasha is speechless again, looking just as enlightened as she, but Miroku has a somewhat dark look as he says Inuyasha's name.

He's the one to say out loud that this story sounds a lot like that of Naraku, bearing a strong resemblance to the tale of the wild-thief Onigumo who submitted his body to youkai, allowing Naraku to rise in their place. This is news to Sango, and she begins to ask for more details on Naraku's story, but Inuyasha encourages her to go on, wanting to know if the priestess won or lost against these youkai. He's staring up at the shadowed face of the mummy.

EPIC. Can you draw out THIS manga RT? I would really like to see this whole situation fleshed out in more detail. It's so BOSS.

Midoriko looks like she's being impaled by a tentacle, and where have we seen that noise before, as Sango says it seemed like Midoriko's own soul was absorbed. At the moment that happened, Midoriko gathered the last of her power and seized the soul of the youkai. Her own soul was taken into the mix and forced from her body, killing both her and the youkai with a blast from both her front and back.

Her heart popped out of there too?

Metal.

Sango says that even though both bodies were destroyed and abandoned, the battle between Midoriko and the youkai in the jewel continues. Kagome looks bewildered by this, but Sango goes on, telling her that it seems the person who holds the jewel tends to get better or worse depending upon their own soul, purified if good, corrupted even more if evil. Hundreds of years later, the jewel has passed between numerous humans and youkai on several occasions, and her grandfather managed to bring it back to the exterminator's village. Kagome repeats the words "brought back" like a question, and Sango elaborates that he got it on an extermination mission, and died from the wounds he got in the fight soon after.

By the time it got to him and the village, though, it was already corrupted badly. Inuyasha automatically makes the connection to how Kikyou came by the jewel to purify it. Kagome seems to have come to the same conclusion, and taken it a step further by suggesting tentatively that because Kikyou purified the jewel, Naraku was born. Miroku agrees with this, stating that Naraku wanted the jewel corrupted, and wanted to corrupt Kikyou's heart with hatred so he could suck up malicious blood with the Shikon no Tama. Sango says that would mean the cycle starts all over again.

Kagome thinks about how Kikyou died holding the Shikon no Tama, going to her funeral pyre with it, and that SHOULD have ended the cycle entirely. Keyword "should". She looks somewhat guilty when she realizes that it managed to make it's way back in time with her.

Inuyasha ain't nobody's patsy, you hear???

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? First let me express how difficult it was to choose certain panels to feature in this review. This whole chapter was downright BEAUTIFUL. There were a couple I could have left out, but for the most part I really had to hold myself back from putting nearly every single page on here without so much interjection. Not just the art, either, but the way the story was told was so natural and believable - this is a legend passed down from generation to generation, and it showed. From the little detail about how long the battle took to, well, what I have to jump to next.

I made fun of Midoriko not having eyes here, but in reality, it serves the tone of the story as Sango tells it very well. This was so long before our current tale that no one in that cave could know what Midoriko looked like, and so her most identifiable features, those windows to the soul so to speak, aren't filled in. They are as vague as the scant information that makes up her legend, and seeing this nondescript individual battling a giant monster in such a legendary sense adds a sort of mystery and awe to the whole thing. Not to mention all the creative ways RT came up with to avoid showing key features of Midoriko is to be applauded. Well done.

I'm side-eyeing Miroku's explanation of Shikon, though. Not because it's so prevalent throughout Japanese culture, mind you, because my culture has a lot of Christianity built into it and I couldn't tell you anything specific about the Bible, so that's not all that unbelievable to me. The unbelievable part is that Inuyasha, Kagome and Shippou were so confused by it. It's actually not that difficult of a concept to understand; four attributes to a spirit that can fluctuate and depending on their balance affect the whole state of the soul doesn't take a lot of brain power to absorb. I'm not sure who RT was trying to appeal to with this assurance that it's okay if you don't get it, because your favorite characters don't either, but it's a little on the strange side of pandering.

What I'M struggling to understand is the definition of good and evil here. We begin with a simple base idea that, depending on the balance of the four essential souls, a spirit can become good or evil. According to Sango's story, youkai are subject to this as well, because this is how Midoriko vanquished them, by changing up the balance of these souls, right? But the same thing wouldn't vanquish a human; purifying them just makes them better people instead of destroying them altogether. Why? Because youkai are born of suffering and all those negative nasty things surrounding humans? But we know that's not true, because Shippou appears to have been born like any human would have, and he's also not a monster hungry for blood. But because he's a youkai, he would be disappeared as well? Because youkai are just naturally in a state of evil no matter what good characteristics they exhibit? Like that man who secretly loved Midoriko. Was it the love itself that was weak/evil or was he taking it too far; obsessed with this woman to an extent that he would hurt others in order to be with her? What do these terms of good and evil mean if they're only tied to action or actor when it's convenient?

There's something inherently unfair to this weird little system that I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around, and I'll probably have even more of that trouble when I reach a certain very popular arc in the future. Stay tuned for that huge nuclear meltdown.

For now, I'll just focus on Inuyasha's little declaration at the end as another really solid point to this chapter. However the mechanics of the Shikon no Tama function, it really comes down to the fact that the jewel has the effect of magnifying the basic nature of a person, and that leads to it recreating the circumstances of conflict under which it was manifested. I love how Inuyasha interprets that as conscious manipulation and because he's so hard-headed and contrary, he refuses to play along with it. I can think of no other thing that's more "Inuyasha" than trying to stick it to someone or something telling him what to do.

Fuck you, Shikon no Tama! You're not Inuyasha's REAL dad!

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 152 Battle City Begins!

Are we certain this city isn't a bit too chaotic to house structured battles? Ever since readers were introduced to this hellscape of limited adults and children committing all kinds of havoc on each other, I've been considering Domino to be a setting befitting a Lord of the Flies tale - consistently revealing man's brutal nature in a series of over-the-top violent acts that kids just end up engaged in, like it's their job or something. Sure, we've been getting away from that with more current storylines, but Duelist Kingdom and our previous arc have revealed ANOTHER violence that Kaiba seems all too ready to invoke upon Domino now; the economic kind.

But before we dive into that...

Oh yeah, this completely unnecessary duel happened. It was such a forced and contrived conflict that I was hoping it didn't really happen for the sake of the story, but, there it is.

Jonouchi is aghast that his opponent in the cloak managed to draw all five pieces of Exodia, and Cloak-guy chuckles as he explains that they ghouls are master counterfeiters, capable of replicating even Exodia. He doesn't explain why Exodia would be more difficult to produce than any other cards, instead opting to mention that he has three of each of Exodia's pieces in his deck, and that no duelist can beat him. Jonouchi growls, starting to describe Cloak-guy with some choice adjectives, but Cloak-guy smacks him upside the head with the Duel Disk still strapped to his arm.

Why did Jonouchi let this guy get close enough to hit him? Furthermore, why is Jonouchi not defending himself?? He's an experienced street-brawler! He should be wiping the floor with this guy! But for some strange reason he's brought down to his knees when he stayed on his feet while being beaten with an array of crazy things back in the early chapters of this manga. Maybe he's gone soft?

Cloak guy commands one of his cloaked homies to steal Jonouchi's Red Eyes Black Dragon and the homie reaches for it, successfully pulling it off a weakly protesting Jonouchi on his hands and knees. The cloaked homie admires his new acquisition and how it shines in the moonlight - you know, BEFORE that whole tournament thing. He looks forward to the morning when the town will be overrun with little dueling kiddoes, meaning a good hunt is in the cloaked gang's future, and a particular tasty morsel that has the God of the Obelisk card.

Yeah, I think you'll have to work a bit harder for that one, guys.

As the cloaked gang walks off, they exposit that they already have the Sun Dragon Ra card and Slifer the Sky Dragon, and if they get Obelisk, they'll have all three of the invincible god cards. That sure is how math works, mmhmm. Jonouchi has collapsed all the way onto his belly now, cards scattered around his face in the pavement as he mumbles uselessly that Yuugi should watch out, because they're coming.

When the sun comes up outside Sugoroku's game shop, he's standing outside, holding a broom above his head horizontally as a salute to the sun and laughing that jolly old elf's laugh of his. He looks back at the building and comments on how Yuugi's light was on all night, meaning that those "two" boys must have been up all night putting their tournament decks together. Is he under the impression that Jonouchi is still there, or is he referring to Yuugi and Yami as different too, now?

You made a pile! Good job!

Yuugi peers through his blinds, astounded by the fast arrival of morning, while Yami holds their new deck up to examine. Uhhhhh, how is this happening? They've shown up separately before, but one has to be spectral since they share the same body - so each of them manipulating physical things with two bodies is super impossible here. They ARE holding the cards and pulling at the blinds with opposite hands, so maybe it's really the one body represented as two for the picture?

Yeah. We'll go with that.

Yami fits the deck comfortably in it's loop on his card utility belt, addressing Yuugi as he does so. Yuugi asks what's up and Yami admits that this isn't just any tournament to him, but a battle to find himself. Yuugi appears confused by this statement, wondering what that means. Yami doesn't elaborate, saying instead that he'll need Yuugi's help to win the fight. While he holds up the belt with the cards inside, he tells Yuugi that no matter what he'll keep faith in the cards they chose together in every duel, and that Yuugi should keep his words in his heart. Yuugi happily agrees, no longer looking confused, though Yami is being more vague than ever. He knows better than anyone that Yami would never duel just to get a rare card, but he won't ask what Yami is fighting for or what he wants either. Yuugi's cool just riding along to find the answer.

You two are so adorkable.

There's a scattered crowd hanging out in Domino City Plaza as of eight in the morning, most of them examining the cool doohickeys they purchased just yesterday. I say most because one older guy slouches through the crowd, adjusting his glasses and wondering what's going on with all these weird people with their fancy arm-fashion. One of these weirdos tells the old man that "NORMS" like him better keep their distance. Instead of following this up by claiming he's from Newgrounds, his friend states that the town is about to become a battleground.

Close enough.

Cut to Yami wearing his jacket like a cape again while he stands around in the crowd. He worries about Jonouchi's tardiness, but his attention is immediately diverted by Mai approaching him with a friendly shout and wave. Yami greets her too, just before she affirms that this is the place and it's almost time, with everyone gathering under the big clock in the center of the plaza. Yami agrees that it's almost time for the tournament rules to be announced, because KT doesn't know how to write small talk.

Mai makes their meeting less awkward by bringing the subject back around to Jonouchi, asking if he shouldn't be entering. Yami confirms that Jonouchi should be there any minute and Mai all but squees in response. She's genuinely happy that he seems to have made the cut, before Ryuzaki and Haga make their appearance nearby, commenting on how long it's been since they've seen Yami and Mai. Mai is obviously LESS happy to see them, saying their names in a somewhat biting manner. Ryuzaki points his finger, demanding attention for his declaration that Mai and Yami are going to pay for what they did on the island. I understand making Mai pay, since she was a total asshole to him in Duelist Kingdom, but what the fuck did Yami do?

Haga jumps into the bragging ring to warn Mai and Yami that it won't be as easy to beat him this time, because his insect cards are many times as powerful now. Ryota (Otherwise known as fun ocean bro) pops up to laugh at the insect deck of Haga, because his Fortress Whale is bound to swallow him whole once he sets his eyes on it. Ryuzaki shouts that if they're going to compare sizes, his dinosaurs are massive.

First of all, please don't, because we all know what you're compensating for with those "dinosaurs". Second, whales would still win that size battle by their sheer tonnage alone, boy. Better recognize.

Mai is already tired of these clowns and their petty bickering, so she suggests to Yami that they walk away. Yami complies without so much as a peep of protest. Elsewhere, it looks like Cloak-guy is sitting outside a coffee shop holding a steaming mug and tapping on a little laptop, much like I'm doing now. Unlike me, he's pouring over the tournament roster, muttering that #312 has quite a nice rare card as well, basically picking out his victims for the tournament to come. Pshaw, I picked out MY victims ages ago.

An speaking of picking out victims...

His corporation determined the eligibility of each duelist standing in the plaza by their ranking in this completely subjective database, and all their Duel Disks are proof of that! Kaiba is very methodical about picking his victims. Yami holds up his arm sporting the Duel Disk as though Kaiba can see this as Kaiba continues, stating that their tournament will take place in the entirety of Domino, which he has okayed with the civic authorities of the city.

This place has POLICE??? Oh yeah, I remember those ineffectual bastards from the card bomber fiasco. Of COURSE they agreed to this nonsense.

Kaiba says that no matter where any two duelists are within city limits, they may duel if they meet up. He specifies the more mundane aspect of the tournament of 40 cards per deck, just in case someone was thinking of pulling a fast one, I guess. Then, when he mentions that the winner gets to choose which of their opponents rare cards they want, I'm a little surprised. I thought the ante was discussed BEFORE the game? Whatevz. Kaiba describes the effect that winning has on your game, making it stronger and stronger, but losing makes it hard to catch up. He doesn't mention taking cards out to keep their decks at 40 cards for the tournament, but maybe you're SUPPOSED to play with extra or fewer cards the more you win/lose?

Yami muses on how the ante rule, players at risk of losing or gaining rare cards, will make this tournament as cutthroat as it gets. Meanwhile, Kaiba says that according to his reports, there are 48 participants in the tournament as a whole, but only eight of those will make it to the finals. This is quite the shocker for the crowd, but Kaiba presses on about the location of the finals, which is a secret, but within the city's limits, just like the rest of it. Yami looks astounded at this development, and I'm not sure why. He SHOULD be saving that shit for Kaiba's next reveal, which is that HE doesn't even know where the finals are out of fairness, because he will also be participating in his tournament.

But everyone is still hung up on the fact that they don't know what this secret location means, and someone shouts a question about how they're supposed to find it, then. Maybe Kaiba can see them, because in answer to this, he asks them to look at the underside of their Duel Disks, which has a transparent card stuck to it.

Kaiba is holding his own card up to his face when he describes it as a puzzle card. He says that all 48 of them will reveal a map of Domino when stacked together. Yuugi understands that each card has one piece of the map, but bumps up against the fact that there are only eight finalists. Not to mention the fact that being able to see a whole map through the different layers of 48 cards would probably be impractical as shit. Kaiba rescues this failing idea with the information that each card comes equipped with a special prismatic coating, so that when any six cards are stacked together, a light shines on the location, which will be their finals location.

He confirms that yes, indeed, all of the puzzle cards of the loser go to the winner of each duel. Kaiba grins as he tells the audience that only those who collect six puzzle cards will be able to reach the finals. We get a panel focusing on some of the more memorable duelists from Duelist Kingdom, Mai and Yami getting their own, and then the crowd throws up their arms in celebration and a collective cheer.

Over the backdrop of a blimp flying over the city and the clock, Kaiba announces that the tournament starts at nine, so they should all probably scatter. One of the nameless duelists panics about the less than half-hour he gets to move to his preferred spot, while another just stands in the middle of the plaza threatening to duel anyone who so much as looks at him. Ryota runs toward the ocean and Haga heads perpendicularly away from him.

Mai peaces out, telling Yami that they'll go head-to-head the next they come across one another, and Yami agrees eagerly. However, as the time approaches nine, Jonouchi tears into the plaza, and specifically the coffee shop where Cloak-guy was enjoying his hot beverage a couple of pages ago. He still is, as a matter of fact, and Jonouchi is pointing at him with menace. Yami wonders where in the hell Jonouchi's been all this time, but Jonouchi is still facing the unconcerned Cloak-guy, sipping from his mug. Jonouchi shouts that he's been looking for Cloak-guy, who is good at disappearing in the crowd but not hiding his snake-like eyes. I don't see how it's not the other way around, given that cloak should make him pretty distinctive in a crowd, but shrugging it off now.

Cloak-guy takes a big obnoxious slurp from his mug before telling Jonouchi that since he has no rare cards, that should mean he doesn't get to enter the tournament.

While you flopped around on the ground like a dying fish.

Yami asks Jonouchi what happened, and Jonouchi finally notices that his friend is there. He warns Yami that there are Rare Hunters in this tournament and to be on his guard. Yami's thoughts reflect Kaiba's when HE heard about the ghouls from Ishizu, calling them a crime syndicate that rules the gaming underworld. I still can't really believe something so dumb exists, sorry comic. Cloak-guy continues to sip at his mug and giggle at the same time, giggling at the same time. I'm expecting him to choke at some point?

Finally, Yami asks the question he should already know the answer to, if that doesn't mean they took Jonouchi's rare card. He looks pissed, glaring at Cloak-guy, and Jonouchi tries to talk him down from dueling this guy, claiming that NO ONE can beat him and his homies with the cards they have. Cloak-guy grins, and Yami decides right then and there that he won't forgive him OR his homies. He informs Cloak-guy that anyone who steals a duelist's cards has to answer to the almighty card master that is Millennium Puzzle Spirit. I may have exaggerated that last part. Maybe.

Jonouchi shouts Yami's name, more desperate for him to take sensible advice, but Cloak-guy is already standing to egg Yami in the other direction, asking if Yami wants to duel him. In his head, Cloak-guy adds that Yami would be facing his Exodia deck. Jonouchi urges Yami to hold up a minute, but Yami shouts at him to stay out of the way as Yami gets his card back.

Hey, Yami's reminding me of someone close to him right now. Who could it be...?

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? The beginning just reinforced my irritation over the Jonouchi's treatment in the last, but here it was even more blatant. The Jonouchi in past chapters would not have gone down nearly as easy as he did here. It took one hit, when in the past, it took a lot more from better weapons. I'm not by any means saying that Jonouchi should have won this particular fight and not lost his card (although I SHOULD be, given the bogus setup of nonsensical happenings that led up to the moment), but he should have at least put up the fight I know is in his character.

It's even worse at the end of the chapter, when he's just standing there while the guy who robbed him is sitting there. As impulsive as he's been shown to be throughout the series, it seems out of character for him to be hanging back. And deferring to Yami so quickly and easily even as he's trying to convince him not to fuck with this Rare Hunter is just bizarre. Everything about the interaction between the three of them seems unnatural and wooden, because this in not how our two main characters normally act.

It seems like the story is trying REALLY hard to convince me that Yami is not only good and just, but also powerful. The thing is, it takes ACTUAL development in order to convey that power to the audience, not contrived plotlines that go against core character traits. All KT has done here is convince me that he doesn't know how to pull off his own plot ideas without characters being bent all to hell in the process.

Inuyasha Manga: 093 Puppet

Perfect! I've had puppets on the BRAIN ever since Netflix announced that they'll be releasing a prequel to one of my favorite movies growing up, The Dark Crystal. That film was so beautiful and moving, but it didn't skimp on the creep-factor either, which made it a little conflicting to love and have nightmares about when I was a kid. Kind of how I feel about this series too, come to think of it.

Though not Naraku specifically, who is the master behind the puppet of the title. He's no Jim Henson; rather he's an internet troll who can't help but make sock-puppets to attack all the people he wants to fuck with.

Aren't you being a little premature in your relief there, Inuyasha? You should know by now not to believe someone is dead until they're disintegrated.

Still, Kagome tells a speechless Sango that Naraku is dead, while Shippou looks on in shock as well. Miroku is the only one who is skeptical, thinking that it was FAR too quick to be the death of the Naraku HE'S been chasing after all this time. Inuyasha appears to be under no such suspicions, growling as he thinks about the Naraku who killed and made so many people suffer, including himself and Kikyou. He kneels down next to Naraku's head so he can unmask him, eager to see his real face in a grim sort of way. When he does, he and Miroku's eyes widen in confusion and surprise.

Woah, no wonder he would rather wear a baboon's face...

Suddenly, the presumed corpse of Naraku moves again, standing up on its newly reanimated tentacles just behind Inuyasha and Miroku. They both look around at the sound of the body flailing around and Inuyasha jumps away just in time to avoid a couple of tentacles shooting down upon his head. They shred the ground he stood on instead.

Kagome and Shippou gape some more, Kagome's confusion keeping her speechless while Shippou shouts that the body is moving without a head in shock. The head itself sits up on the tip of its severed neck and Naraku chuckles, saying he hasn't died. Despite the obviousness of the statement, Miroku is still flabbergasted that the head is still alive and talking to them. He asks himself what's going on, recalling that Naraku's appearance was nothing like this the last time they met, given that Naraku definitely had a complete head, full of luscious locks to boot.

He doesn't try to contemplate for long, because he and Inuyasha simultaneously charge with determination toward the tangle of tentacles, because alliteration, that's why. They're both successful at hacking limbs in pieces as they dodge blows from them, but each of those limbs reforms quickly in the wake of their destruction. Sweating, Kagome despairs that the tentacles are growing back fast, wondering if this is a result of the Shikon shard he's holding. However, taking a closer look, she rules this out as a possibility, because the fragment hasn't dissolved in Naraku's body at all by this point.

Sango questions how she could have been so blind as to miss that Naraku was a vile youkai as she was traveling with him. She hadn't felt an evil aura, and still doesn't, even now. She struggles to determine just exactly what Naraku is since that lack of an evil presence is bugging her at the moment. Peering intently at the wriggling limbs of the body up against Inuyasha and Miroku, she has a revelation, shouting at them to attack the unmoving portion of the chest, still covered in baboon fur. Inuyasha and Miroku look back at her questioningly, and Naraku's severed head isn't smirking anymore as it curses them for figuring it out.

Inuyasha grunts as he runs Tessaiga right through the part Sango instructed, and just like that...

Does... Naraku have two right hands in that picture? Awkward.

Naraku's severed head sinks into the ground, and all the tentacles Inuyasha was fighting so hard before just crumble and fall around him. Shippou, more savvy to the way youkai go, much more appropriately says that Inuyasha got him this time. Kagome is gaping more for good measure as Sango remains in her pained bitchface in her lap. Miroku stares at the crumbled tentacles around him, stating in some disbelief that they turned into dirt.

Naraku WOULD be the first to invent a doll that defecates all over the place.

Inuyasha repeats Miroku's phrase as a question, prompting a kneeling Miroku holding the doll in hand to draw Inuyasha's attention to the fact that it has a strand of hair wrapped around it. Miroku explains that this is the puppet art, speculating that the hair is Naraku's own. He looks back at the discarded baboon mask and says that the Naraku they were fighting was a fake, being controlled by the real one from a safe place.

Meanwhile, back at the young master's castle...

What a piece of garbage! Send it back!

An old man bows next to the screen in front of his master's room, asking what that strange noise was. Young-master/Naraku assures the old guy that it wasn't anything, then looks over to where the Shikon fragments he gathered into a nice little pile lay in the middle of a piece of paper, congratulating himself for stealing them from the exterminators' village. He also internally gloats about he's assumed the leadership role in this castle, and now he has status backing him up. He assumes that THIS time, all his efforts should be enough. Enough for what, you may ask?

Well young-master/Naraku isn't talking about that. He's thinking instead about what further use Sango the exterminator can have for him and his mystery cause.

We rejoin Inuyasha and company at the exterminator village where Inuyasha is pissily asking what is up with Sango. He's complaining to Miroku that Sango couldn't remember what the young master looked like while he shoulders a big log burnt at one end, and Miroku tells him to just shut it and keep tidying the place up. He then reminds Inuyasha that since it's Naraku they're talking about, they can't go back until they detect more of his crimes or Inuyasha has any bright ideas. Besides, Miroku points out that Sango still has all those wounds and shouldn't be moving around a lot, even if she DID remember.

Inuyasha gets all up in Miroku's face about letting Sango stay in bed for ten days, because Inuyasha would have been up in three. Miroku says with some annoyance that if it were him, he'd be in bed for a whole month.

Kagome enters a barely livable hut in the village with a smile, greeting Sango and offering some medical attention from the first aid kit in her hands and a bucket filled with cloths. She's surprised to find the bed in there unoccupied, and Shippou lets out an alarmed shout that Sango is indeed gone.

Kagome finds Sango pretty quickly, running up to her to convince her that she shouldn't be up and about like this. Sango looks around with an almost bored expression rather than mournful, pointing out the graves. Kagome makes a questioning noise, also looking strange (happy instead of confused) and none of these expressions look right to me. Luckily, they're right as rain again by the next page, when Sango, hanging her head, mumbles her surprise that Kagome and the others dug graves for her fellow villagers. Kagome leans down, hands on her knees, confirming this with some hesitation.

She peers at Sango, speechless a moment before fretting that she's not really sure what to say, knowing that telling a woman who is now all alone in the world to cheer up wouldn't do at all. This gives Kagome an exciting idea; that they and Sango join forces once Sango is all healed up. Sango contrasts Kagome's excitement for the notion with continuing to blankly hang her head. Kagome continues by trying to sell the deep down virtues of Miroku and Inuyasha, and Shippou can't help but question her use of the term "deep down".

Sango wears a glare when she asks Kagome if she has a Shikon fragment. At first confused, Kagome pulls the chain holding her fragment from beneath her blouse, reiterating that they had recovered it from the fake Naraku's remains. Just in case you didn't realize that happened or something. Sango says that this means Naraku will come after it again, then turns her glare on Kagome and accepts the offer to go along with Kagome and her crew. Kagome gives her a sidelong stare, asking if she's planning on avenging everyone. She all but says, "well, DUH," and begins a statement about the Shikon no Tama that Kagome finishes; it was born in this village. Kagome explains that they heard about it, but trails off when she gets to the part about all the carnage they encountered when they came to the village.

When Kagome looks up, Sango is walking away, hunched. Kagome asks after her with an honorific attached to her name, but Sango tells Kagome she can call her just "Sango". Then she says she's willing to give Kagome and the others some information, since they were nice enough to bury the dead.

Just don't tell the youkai. You know what HORRIBLE gossips they can be.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I'm conflicted about Sango's realization that the imitation Naraku was a puppet after all. At face-value, it was a great way for Sango to be useful outside the fight. It shows that she's not just competent in combat and techniques against certain types of youkai, but she also has a wealth of knowledge about the obscure ways youkai can range an attack. In this way, she's kind of like a human Myouga, but specifically with battle knowledge rather than overall history.

But when you think about the WAY in which she came to her conclusion, it doesn't make all that much sense. Sango's unique in the group from this point on because she's the only one of them that doesn't have supernatural powers (kicking just as much ass as any of the rest of them too). Sensing that this imitation Naraku didn't have youki, or even the correct scent as Inuyasha might have noticed, should have been the domain of one of the other youki-sensing characters. Specifically, I would have thought Miroku would have noticed this before anyone, being as experienced as he is in feeling out energies.

Not that Sango CAN'T have youki-sensing abilities, because perhaps that's something you can learn rather than an innate ability. Still, it seems to me that someone ELSE should have figured out that the imitation Naraku didn't have any youki before Sango really gave it much thought. After all, she wasn't expecting to feel youki from Naraku for a long time, so it makes sense that it took her a long while to realize that she didn't feel it. The others don't have an excuse.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 151 Rare Hunters!

The internet, arbiter of all useless bullshit knowledge the world over, tells me that the Rare Hunters are the mythically inspired "Ghouls" discussed a couple of chapters before by Kaiba and Ishizu. Despite how the thematic element to their name was revealed by the most inappropriate character in that room, I still think the thematic tie-in was a good one. Why did the official translation, which I am apparently presented with today, decide to go with this non-thematic name instead?

I mean, this just makes them sound like poachers instead of card-thieves.

Sure don't LOOK like people who like killing rare animals, but I'd keep my endangered species locked up just to be safe, Japan.

Speaking of Japan, we must have missed the part of the conversation where they told Lord Marik here what country Domino is even IN. Otherwise, I'd have to conclude that KT didn't think to mention it because Japan is the only country in this world aside from Egypt that matters, and that's just SILLY.

Lord Marik chuckles about how convenient it is when all your prey gather in one place. So convenient that you'd think he'd be a bit more cautious about going through with exploiting them. But NOOOOO, he thinks this is going to be oodles of fun and commands his Ghouls to unleash the Rare Hunters. Wait, so the Rare Hunters AREN'T the same thing as the Ghouls? They're just underlings? YOU LIED TO ME, INTERNET!!

Anyway, Marik tells them that the Rare Hunters should target Domino City, with no reservations about this at all. He sure is a CUNNING foe to our main characters!

At the school no one ever learns in, someone shouts about Battle City in disbelief. It turns out to be Jonouchi, demanding confirmation from Yuugi that starting tomorrow, there will be duelists getting their game on in the streets. Yuugi says that it's true to his halo of friends, and there's a lot of great duelists in town. Jonouchi clenches his fists and grinds his teeth over Kaiba not telling him, thinking he should have gotten an invitation being the #2 duelist in all Domino City. There's a poop joke here, but I'm not sure how to make it.

Honda asks Jonouchi if he's going to enter with an air of incredulity, and Jonouchi yells at him that OF COURSE he'll enter because why WOULDN'T he? Jonouchi turns to Yuugi to ask if he'll be entering and Yuugi affirms this, thinking he wants to challenge Kaiba fair and square, and this will be his big chance at that. Jonouchi is also thinking about Kaiba, but viewing his motivations for hosting a tournament with suspicion. He internally vows to stop Kaiba, whatever he's up to.

Yuugi warns Jonouchi that they can't lose a single match in the tournament, at least at first, because it has an ante rule. Jonouchi is confused by this, so Yuugi explains that you have a bet a card before you start a match, and the winner gets the loser's card, specifically a RARE one in this instance. Jonouchi is alarmed that the card has to be rare, looking sick at the notion of losing his Red Eyes Black Dragon in a duel.

Honda, being a douchebag once more, asks Jonouchi if he's sure he wants to risk having to give away the only thing of value he owns. At first, Jonouchi blindly affirms that his Red Eyes Black Dragon is a family treasure, then blurts in anger that Honda better watch what he says about him. He suddenly gets a sly, confident look when he says that it's actually great, because if he wins he'll get a whole BUNCH of rare cards. Honda warns him flatly not to be greedy. Yuugi tells Jonouchi hesitantly that there's one more condition to entering the tournament, an admission that Jonouchi regards warily.

Jonouchi appears to remember when he LAST had to handle the prototype of that machine, and he's again alarmed. Yuugi says his grandfather's shop doesn't sell the Duel Disk, but some card shops are already selling it and he's thinking of buying one. Aren't you already committed to entering the tournament that REQUIRES you to buy one, Yuugi? Jonouchi, looking determined now, tells Yuugi he's going to buy one as well, since he'll need it for the tournament.

Honda asks if Jonouchi has money and Jonouchi shouts that he doesn't, but he'll get it with willpower. Somehow. Honda wishes him all the sarcastic luck in the world. Jonouchi suggests they head back to Yuugi's place after they buy their Duel Disks, because he wants Yuugi's opinion on the new deck he's built. He put it together yesterday, but he's still not sure about it, so Yuugi agrees to have a peek once they've gotten their tournament requirements all met.

Walking down the street, Yuugi admits he's kind of lost since he's never been to the store they're heading to. Anzu points to a corner where a card shop is (the one she and Yami went to on their date?) and asks if it could be that one. Yuugi is sure that must be the one and asks Anzu how she knew about it, and sure enough, it was the one she and Yami went to yesterday. Yuugi is excited to hear it, then thanks Anzu for the previous day, because Yami appears to be feeling a bit better now. Anzu says this is good, but gets conspicuously uncomfortable when she asks what Yami told him about what they did yesterday. If you're all weird about it, Anzu, he might draw some pretty weird conclusions...

Or not. Yuugi, still all smiles, tells her he was only informed about the tournament. Anzu says a little "oh," figuring that they must not have talked about Ishizu or the stone tablet. Yuugi breaks into her thoughts about this by mentioning that something IS rather weird here, because Yami has a policy about not playing tournaments with an ante. He would say he couldn't part with his precious cards like that, along with a few other choice words...

Sheesh, I get it, I get it. I'll take good care of my fucking trading cards, manga. Shit...

Yuugi says this is why Yami never wants to take cards from other people. Though Yami could potentially end up with a ton of rare cards winning the tournament, Yuugi is convinced he must have another reason entirely for entering. Anzu was only listening in curiosity to the monologue before, but gapes in shock at Yuugi now, remembering how Yami said this is actually a battle to regain his memory.

They've finally arrived at the store they were looking for by the next panel, Anzu pointing it out a little too eagerly. As they go in, she's convinced that Yuugi will figure out what Yami is up to before too long, because their hearts are too close for them to keep secrets from one another.

Someone in the shop yells that they'll be right with the group walking in, but Yuugi takes the initiative to go right up to the counter to ask if the man behind it has any of the new Duel Disks. The man surmises they must be duelists entering the tournament tomorrow, which Yuugi and Jonouchi confirm. The cashier looks on a shelf behind him, chatting away that he's been busy with customers like them all day long, but he JUST happens to have five left. He wants to know their names, which isn't suspicious at all. Yuugi freely gives his name, but Jonouchi looks really sick about giving his, wondering if the cashier is checking some sort of blacklist.

The cashier does indeed type Yuugi's name into the computer, and confirms it's there, Yuugi with a confused question mark over his head. He's even more confused by the cashier's shout that what he's seeing on his screen is excellent. Yuugi asks what the cashier means, and the cashier says that he's only looking Yuugi up in a duelist database, which WOULD exist. Kaiba Corporation apparently went out and collected data on all the duelists in the country and sent it to hobby stores like the cashiers, data that encompasses deck-type, level, tournament record, and social security number number of rare cards. This seems like it should be illegal since Yuugi is clearly surprised and therefore didn't VOLUNTEER this information, but hey...

The cashier informs Yuugi that his level is the very tippy top, at eight stars. That's a weird number to top your scale. Yuugi blushes, all bashful at the high value placed on his skill.

"I'm proud to be able to remove another obstacle from your path, young main character!!"

Yuugi is just ecstatic that he's been given this expensive piece of equipment for nothing but being himself, as the cashier explains that Kaiba Corp sent a memo to he and the other shops selling his device that only duelists of level 5 and above are allowed to get Duel Disks. Kaiba continues to be a terrible businessman who makes terrible decisions that will only LOSE him all the money he spent developing these fucking toys.

Asking if Kaiba really said that, Yuugi realizes that Kaiba must actually be weeding out the unworthy participants of his tournament. Meanwhile, Jonouchi is frantically asking what HIS level is, and the cashier types in his name to see. Seeing the screen, the cashier apologizes, because the level shown to him is a measly 2. Jonouchi is grinding his teeth at the fact that he's been appraised so low and he's ineligible, while the cashier lightly suggests that maybe he'll get into the next tournament. Until, of course the cashier looks closer at Jonouchi's entry on the screen, specifically the rare card section. It shows the Red Eyes Black Dragon, and the cashier is practically frozen solid at how rare of a card that is.

Jonouchi continues to growl about what a low-life that Kaiba is, Yuugi giving his condolences to his friend, when the cashier comes out of his shock. He somehow easily changes that 2 to a 5 on Jonouchi's page and then cheerily tells Jonouchi he made a mistake, and that Jonouchi is a level 5 after all! Oh happy day!! Jonouchi is immediately overjoyed, darting to the counter with a grin as he's presented with a Duel Disk. He lifts it high in celebration over how he's in the tournament and his Duel Disk is free too.

The cashier thanks them as Jonouchi cackles on his way out, but the cashier's face is decidedly sinister while he watches them leave.

Okay, Mordecai.

Sometime later, when night has fallen, Jonouchi leaves Yuugi's place with his Duel Disk tucked under his arm, waving and thanking his friend for giving him a whole slew of tips. He promises Yuugi that he'll do his best at the tournament the next day while they each hold up their respective decks in a sign of solidarity. Jonouchi turns and leaves with a casual goodbye.

Jonouchi's walk through the streets is lonely, and he comments on how late it is, suggesting that the time just flew by while he was playing cards with Yuugi. Someone in a barely familiar cloak enters Jonouchi's field of vision just around a corner, and Jonouchi looks a little worried. I don't blame him, because I would be, but for decidedly different reasons.

Who are actually totally different from Ghouls! Despite how indistinguishably they dress from one another. This is confusing.

Jonouchi has heard of the Rare Hunters, a gang of thieves who steal rare cards from duelists, and Jonouchi has FEELINGS about gangs, guys. One of the Rare Hunters holds his arm, sporting a Duel Disk, up as he asks Jonouchi if he's ready. Jonouchi suddenly has his own Duel Disk out of its box and on his forearm as well, vowing to take the Rare Hunters down like the crooks they are. With that, they announce their duel and boy does this take me back to Duelist Kingdom, friends. Nostalgia is a distinctly unpleasant feeling in this instance.

His opponent summons a monster called "Hannibal Necromancer" which sounds like a certain cannibal learned how to continue feeding on his victims forever or something. Jonouchi summons Panther Warrior, which he uses to slice the top of Hannibal's skull clean off. He taunts that one swing was enough to bring Hannibal down, and asks sardonically how his hooded opponent likes them apples. Said opponent doesn't answer, just playing Graceful Charity, allowing him to draw three cards and discard two. He follows up this move by playing Three-Headed Geedo in defense and grinning creepily. Jonouchi doesn't seem to notice the warning signs, though to be fair he never does, and commands his Panther Warrior to attack the Three-Headed Geedo.

It lunges forward to slice up the monster and with no obstacles. Still the hooded guy grins. Jonouchi asks if this is all he has, silently celebrating that he's totally in the lead. The hooded guy plays Graceful Charity again, and Jonouchi wonders what it is with this guy and always changing the cards in his hand. We get a peek into the hooded guy's head while he mentally encourages Jonouchi to get playing with his defensive monsters until he's prepared his hand. Because he truly IS evil, the hooded guy plays Death Hand as a pun and a card in defense. Jonouchi wonders why the dumb chicken won't attack, but apparently doesn't really concern himself with it, because he immediately makes a play of his own. A big one.

Just what the hooded guy wanted to see, I'm sure.

He asks Jonouchi if this is his rarest card, snarking that Jonouchi's arm must be heavy with the burden. The hooded guy promises to lighten that arm up real soon though, drawing a card. Then he grins even wider, freaking Jonouchi out as he says he wins.

Are Ghouls and Rare Hunters the same or aren't they?? Make up your mind, chapter!

Also, Exodia is still a boss, even when counterfeit. That is all.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? The whole thing was pretty much a joke at Jonouchi's expense. First he's unknowingly making fun of himself, then Honda is making fun of him, Kaiba's having a good laugh from behind his easily editable database, and then he is targeted as a weakling by the new villains before the tournament even starts just to fuck with him even more. It was a series of escalating jabs at Jonouchi, half of which didn't make much sense within the context of the chapter.

First, Kaiba's give-away of his new technology that he spent time and money developing only makes sense if he's SELLING it to everyone who doesn't make the cut for the tournament. Then he can at least be making SOME of his development money back, but the cashier says that the ONLY people who can get it right now are tournament participants, and for free to boot. If it were really ONLY available to this small subset of the public, then Kaiba would be marking up that price like a motherfucker, but he's not. Why? Because the Duel Disk can't be out of Jonouchi's reach for the next scene to be as visually engaging as Duelist Kingdom

If you think about it, it wasn't even necessary for the cashier to give him a Duel Disk in order to inform his Rare Hunter pals that Jonouchi was walking around with a Red Eyes Black Dragon. The tournament hadn't even begun when he was accosted by the Rare Hunters, so it's not like Jonouchi HAD to be in the tournament in order for him to be a target. Kaiba giving away the Duel Disks and the Rare Hunters getting to him before the tournament started were in the chapter for the purposes of making the small part at the end look cool and of making Jonouchi lose a part of his qualification to get into the tournament to begin with.

Which basically just GIVES AWAY the future plot point where Yami gets the Red Eyes back for him, because he's incapable of getting it back himself after the tournament starts. All of this, the nonsensical business practices and attack outside tournament hours, was just so Yami could LOOK COOL WHEN HE GETS JONOUCHI BACK HIS FUCKING CARD.

I can't even with this. I wouldn't be surprised if that whole speech of Yuugi's regurgitating what Yami says about taking and losing cards wasn't just an allusion to this whole thing too, and that was the only good part of the chapter in my eyes. It delved a little into how well he knows Yami and how all of this looks kind of suspicious to him, but he also never ASKED Yami outright why he wants to join the tournament. It was kind of brilliant, but now I'm getting a little queasy wondering if it's just a front for Yami to play hero again.

You know what's really infuriating, though? Since this happened before the tournament, there was no ante, no stakes, and therefore, Jonouchi isn't bound by tournament rules to give up that rare card of his. I bet that's all conveniently forgotten by the next chapter though.

Inuyasha Manga: 092 The Scheme

Oh no. No... I knew this day would come, but... I never thought it would be so soon. Surely I haven't been figured out in less than 300 reviews! It's absurd! Impossible even! I was so close to the destruction of the internetz with my plan, but here the chapter is, exposing me! My only consolation is that it's TOO LATE! You'll never stop me now! We're past the point of no return!!

Unless the chapter title is talking about Naraku's scheme to have Sango attack and kill Inuyasha with false information.

Ahem. Forget you read that first paragraph.

Be distracted by the adorable picture of Shippou wearing Sango's mask on his forehead like a dork! Also Sango being completely flabbergasted by Inuyasha carrying her around.

She leans forward, presumably to give him a piece of her mind, and Inuyasha asks her casually if she's awake now. Sango demands he put her down and to know what he's going to do to her, when the better question is probably where he's taking her instead. Inuyasha looks a cross between confused and annoyed as he glares at Sango out of his periphery. Kagome, whom Sango looks at in shock as she realizes she's been riding Inuyasha's back right beside her this whole time, lets Sango know that they're headed to confront Naraku, who took their Shikon shard from them.

Inuyasha asks for confirmation on Sango's name, but doesn't wait for it, assuring her that if she tries anything funny, he'll drop her. Sango is indignant, and Kagome whines at Inuyasha that if he's overly hostile, Sango will misunderstand. She then turns to Sango, a hand on Inuyasha's miffed head, telling her that Inuyasha may act brash but he's also got a nice side. Inuyasha trails off in a perturbed protest, while Myouga hops on Sango's shoulder and explains that Inuyasha and company COULD have left her behind in her injured state, but didn't. Sango appears to recognize Myouga, which rules out the idea that he was secretly skulking around the village trying to find out information through spying, which is what I had thought before.

Having no more patience for all this talk about how generous and kind he is, Inuyasha barks out a suggestion that they fly, thinking that he won't let Naraku escape. Yeah, you WISH this series were that short, Inuyasha.

Cut to Miroku, whom Naraku is hovering over, many intestine-tentacles whipping around with malice while Miroku and Kirara stand their ground tenuously. Naraku asks Miroku why he's surprised, chuckling. Miroku gapes, realizing half aloud, that Naraku's body is a fake. Seems real enough to throw you off your game, Miroku. Naraku has a similar sarcastic retort, telling Miroku that whether or not it's fake won't make much of a difference in Miroku's experience of it. The tentacles lunge at Miroku, eager to impale Miroku. Guess they weren't satisfied with just feeling him up like before.

Miroku grunts, shredding the tentacles with a thrust of his staff. The pieces fall to the ground but come slithering back together again like they were never torn in the first place. Miroku complains internally about the futility of his strikes, and dives out of the way when a particularly large tentacle tries to smash him, carving a hole in the ground where he once stood instead. One of the tentacles forms a clawed hand again, latching onto Miroku's ankle to keep him from escaping. Then...

I'm guessing just through the clothes, because if it were through his stomach, he wouldn't likely be having many thoughts before just outright keeling over.

He doesn't have long to worry about if the tentacle is going to probe any further, though!

Hey Naraku, what was it you asked Miroku earlier? "Why are you surprised?"

Deposited behind a tree by Inuyasha only seconds before, Kagome, Sango and Shippou peer over a mound of earth beside it at the scene. While helping keep the weak Sango steady beside her, Kagome gapes at the amalgam of tentacles that Naraku is, baffled by it. Sango is just speechless and wide-eyed.

Inuyasha turns to mock Miroku for sleeping on the job, crouching where his forceful attack landed him. When he sees that Miroku is still laying prone on the ground, severed tentacle standing were it struck his chest, Inuyasha recoils in horror as Myouga haltingly says Miroku's been struck through. Kagome and Shippou wail Miroku's name, as does Inuyasha, rushing to get to his side and asses the damage. On his way, Naraku's tentacles move to strike him too, and he's only just able to grab Miroku and dodge them. He yells at Miroku not to die, but he's pessimistic, already lamenting that he didn't get to Miroku a bit sooner.

Suddenly, Miroku starts hacking up a lung, managing to croak that he thought he had died himself. Inuyasha gapes, completely taken aback by Miroku's unexpected return to consciousness. I am a little bit too, because I'm not sure how the tentacle just knocked him out by nearly running him through. That's... not how impaling works...

Miroku grabs the tentacle supposedly sticking out of his stomach and throws it, Kagome and Shippou looking on in awe. Inuyasha examines the place where the tentacle was, noting that there's not even a hole, while Miroku milks how close of a call that was. Inuyasha knocks him upside the head for looking as dead as he looked, and Miroku grumbles that Inuyasha was the one who jumped to conclusions and overreacted. Nah, Miroku, I'm with Inuyasha on this one. You could have been less dramatic about the whole thing; you didn't even get a SCRATCH, you dick.

Uh, YEAH, Inuyasha's not the one you failed to impale, Naraku.

But Naraku wasn't talking about HIS attacks - he observes that Sango failed to bring Inuyasha down. Inuyasha calls Naraku a bastard for sending a swarm of youkai to the exterminators' village to kill them, but Naraku scoffs at this. He admits that all he did was call the best exterminators to the castle and send a little message to the youkai that the village was vulnerable. The bystanders at the tree, Sango in particular, gape at the confession.

Inuyasha spits that Naraku is a bastard again, and Miroku asks if Naraku was after the Shikon fragment in the village. Naraku says that Miroku is awfully well-informed, apparently not realizing that he's just transparent as glass. Naraku claims that taking the shard was easy in the chaos of the fighting between youkai and villager. Inuyasha cannot stop labeling Naraku a bastard, seemingly in mild disbelief, but greater anger.

Naraku's attention is drawn to Sango shouting his name, and he acknowledges her with a smirk under his mask. Sango asks for confirmation that the extermination job at the castle was also just a trap, though she already knows the answer to that judging by her rage-face. He nonchalantly says it was an excuse to lure the exterminators out so he could deal with them before they became a nuisance to him.

Sango would fuck a bitch up... IF the Shikon shard in her body didn't pop out on her way to Naraku and she didn't start feeling all that horrible pain it was suppressing. She collapses to the ground grinding her teeth, and Kagome runs to her side to hover over her uselessly. Sango realizes the Shikon fragment is gone and curses haltingly, squeezing her eyes shut against what must be a multitude of sensations, all of them in the agony range.

Naraku taunts her by saying that if she had continued to believe that Inuyasha was her enemy, she would have died peacefully thinking she had completed her revenge. That's only if she managed to kill Inuyasha in her ignorance, and I think it's safe to assume that her blood loss alone would have worn her down before that happened, dude. No matter how good she is, she's not hanyou tough.

Naraku is taken aback by Inuyasha lunging at him, which has me scratching my head. You should expect to get some retaliation when you're talking smack like he is. Inuyasha starts ranting about how Naraku ALWAYS pulls this crap, taking peoples' hearts and... he doesn't finish before Naraku starts talking even MORE crap about how this whole situation must remind him of what happened with Kikyou. Oooooh, Naraku done it now...

Inuyasha brought his A-game with the puns today, didn't he?

Holding the pain-wracked Sango, Kagome lets out a shocked noise while Shippou gapes, muttering that Inuyasha got Naraku. Naraku's head falls to the ground, Inuyasha and Miroku watching it speechlessly as it starts chuckling.

Even that terrible pun wasn't enough to murder Naraku...

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I'm torn on the exposition of Naraku's plot against Sango and the exterminators. On the one hand, this wasn't a blatant bad-guy monologue where he's just really excited to talk about his evil plan even though no one asked him in the first place. Naraku didn't say anything until Inuyasha and company invited him to, and he only gave enough detail to imply that he couldn't DIRECTLY be held responsible for what the youkai did with the information about the exterminators being away he gave them. In fact, in true manipulative style, he pulls the familiar excuse of all violent instigators that words are only words and he can't be responsible for what others do when he says things.

At first, anyway. Then when he starts blatantly taunting Sango for not CONTINUING to believe his lies to her so she could die peacefully, he gives her his entire motivation for killing everyone she knows. It was implied, didn't need to be said, and was simply clunky within the flow of the rest of the chapter. Besides, it's a little weird that Naraku would admit so brazenly that the exterminators were, or would become, a threat to him. His style strikes me as an insecure trickster type, trying to convince everyone he fucks with them for shits and giggles.

Taunting Inuyasha about the similarity between this incident and the one with Kikyou was a kind of relief for me, because it's much more fun to hate Naraku when he's just being a shitlord, as opposed to being your stereotypical mustache-twirler.