Inuyasha Manga: 279 Swirl of Youki

Is it weird that this title sounds DELICIOUS to me? Springtime is here, the sun is coming out more often, the weather is getting warmer, and I've been having a little hankering for ice cream cones lately. It's still just a tad too cold for me to partake without getting the shivers, but I can't help it, my mouth is watering at the thought of a chocolate and vanilla swirl cup, or maybe strawberry... I'll tell you, the moment I can go a whole day without putting on a sweater, I'm heading into town and getting ALL the ice cream.

It's such a strange craving to have in the midst of... THIS.

Naraku scoffs and holds up his arm, from which one of his bone spike armor thingies grows into an even bigger bone spike armor thingy. I'm bringing the technical terms today, as you can see. He slashes his arm at the oncoming blast, and it bounces back from his barrier bubble. Inuyasha is in horrified disbelief that it seems Naraku has knocked his signature attack back. 

Kaze no Kizu's jagged path carves through the tentacles restraining Miroku and Sango, who can only yell in terrified alarm. A couple of branches of the attack saw across the one holding Kagome and Shippou too, the latter calling out to the former in distress. Inuyasha hears this and yells for Kagome too.

He's able to snatch her (and presumably Shippou too) from danger just in time with a grunt, but he notices that Kaze no Kizu doesn't seem to be dissipating at all like it normally would. Kagome says Inuyasha's name, and he asks her if she's hurt - little Shippou is just kind of staring up at Inuyasha, nothing of his own to say. Sango and Miroku fend off the ricocheting blasts by Sango's use of Hiraikotsu as a shield, but she's already starting to consider it too damaged to keep up the task for much longer. All Miroku can do is ask what in the actual HELL is going on right now. 

Somehow, through the cacophony, Naraku's nefarious chuckle carries to Inuyasha, who glares as he's told that his Kaze no Kizu got itself all caught in the flow of Naraku youki. Naraku says that it will continue to circle around in here until Inuyasha and company are cut to ribbons. Dude, the only thing that's getting all ribbonized here is you, in case you haven't noticed. Although, his ability to play it cool when he's essentially got knives stabbing at every inch of him from the INSIDE is kind of impressive in a weird way. Total Black Knight energy.

Outside, Kikyou looks up at the mountain critically.

Oooh, so close to getting the spoken title accolades again! Missed it by a hair though.

Up over a jagged rock outcrop, Kikyou spots something flying, peering at it with even more concentration. She's able to make out "Naraku's offspring Kagura" atop her giant feather, and that she's carrying something wrapped in a furry little bundle after further squinting. Kikyou nocks an arrow and aims it at Kagura, shooting without any deliberation. 

Turns out poor Kikyou is missing a LOT of things by a hair, huh? How's she picking up Inuyasha's bad aim when they haven't even hung out all that much this arc? 

Kagura notes that it's Kikyou while she starts to open her fan for a fight, but a voice from the bundle she's holding tells her to stop, that Kikyou isn't hers to finish off. Kagura is a little stunned by how whatever is in there can talk, but doesn't ask questions. She just speeds off beyond the reach of Kikyou's arrows, much to Kikyou's irritation, given her glare after the fleeing enemy. She wonders furiously just what it is that Naraku is letting escape. 

A narrow mist transition panel with a rumble sound effect over it later, we see Naraku glaring into his periphery, thinking on Kikyou. Just a coincidence, I'm sure. Meanwhile, Inuyasha is guarding Kagome from the continually ricocheting Kaze no Kizu by keeping her behind his back while he and Tessaiga act as shields against the bombardment. He shouts over his should a question about if she's okay, and she stutters an affirmative, but she knows they've got to DO something about this, since it just keeps relentlessly returning. You'd think that would be the person with a BOOMERANG'S deal, but Naraku made sure to keep his ripoff legally distinct.

And who could make it out of this deathtrap to take him to court over it anyway? He's free and clear.

All right, so his thoughts are just A LITTLE different than I joked above. He's convinced that Inuyasha and company will die here in his mountain gut, and he's got a new body for himself, so there's just ONE fairly obvious thing left to take care of.  Naraku's bubble starts to float upwards, something Inuyasha notices right off the bat despite the utter chaos of Kaze no Kizu bouncing off the walls all around him. He yells at Naraku, accusing him of trying to escape, but Naraku likely can't hear him over the sheer NOISE in the place. 

Kagome encourages Inuyasha to go after Naraku from over his shoulder, causing Inuyasha some shock. Recalling what Naraku said about Inuyasha's Kaze no Kizu getting caught in the flow of his youki, Kagome suggests that she may be able to extinguish the flow that Naraku was talking about, since it's his evil energy, after all. She also tells Inuyasha that she can see something at Naraku's feet, two Shikon shards glowing there. Inuyasha takes no time at all to pick up what she's implying - this might very well be Kouga. Kagome agrees that this is most likely, given that Kouga is a full youkai and Naraku would have no compunctions about absorbing him. She declares that they have to save him, and Inuyasha scoffs that this only applies if the guy is still alive, of course.

Still, in the next panel, Naraku perceives out of his periphery the shape of Inuyasha leaping up toward him with Kagome on his back. At first Naraku thinks Inuyasha's lost it, to jump right into the middle of his own ricocheting attack like that. 

Well, what do you expect when you put someone in a position where they've got nothing to lose?

Kagome fires a purifying arrow that arcs upward in a wide arc, dissipating the bouncing wind attack on its way. Miroku and Sango are able to lower the Hiraikotsu when they note that the Kaze no Kizu is finally quitting. The arrow makes landing right where Kagome indicated before, making the portion of Naraku's bubble at his feet ripple with the impact. Kagome seems... surprised that she hit it, even though it was a fairly broad target.

... Gross. 

Kagome shouts to the unresponsive Kouga as Inuyasha makes a beeline for the descending, ahem, sac that he's be put in. Naraku chuckles about them being worried about their friends, even at a time like this, raising his hand. This seems to be some sort of self-destruct command, because suddenly lumps of the fleshy interior of the mountain start falling, chunks of innards collapsing on top of the Inuyasha gang. Kagome states this fact aloud in a panic, while Sango and Miroku cringe up on their ledge at another observation of miasma gushing from the sloughing walls of the cavern. 

There's a saying that you never accept a gift from an economist, but even THEY have to be better at presents than Naraku.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Frankly, I'm not sure how much of the implications and statement that Mt. Hakurei is part of Naraku's body I should really trust. He is reacting shockingly little to it getting torn to pieces by his own mechanism in this chapter, and his interaction with Inuyasha and company is happening mainly from a conventional form. It's also worth noting that he starts making off with Kouga fully UNassimilated, even though the walls of the cave absorbed Kouga into it a couple of chapters ago. I don't know why he wouldn't just take in Kouga from there, unless he's already separated himself completely from the flesh around him and was leaving it behind as a decoy - but he still has plenty of control over it, so he's not WHOLLY separate? It's a little confusing, but no matter to what degree Naraku IS the mountain now, I have to conclude that it's only a superficial one.

Because Naraku, and more importantly RT, HAS to remember that Kagome has more than enough power to fuck his shit up, right? She's totally owned his ass before, and no matter how much mass he accumulates, he has to realize that Kagome is always going to have the ability to purify his youki. It would be SUPREMELY dumb for him not to take this into account while planning for Inuyasha's crew to be trapped inside his mountain body, especially when the trick he's relying on would just be using his purifiable aura to move around/redirect Inuyasha's attack. It does seem a little like this consideration went by the wayside, and now there's a contradictory effort to indicate heavily that Naraku actually ISN'T attached to Mt. Hakurei that much, because otherwise it doesn't make sense that he's not in bigger pain, OR that his plan didn't include a contingency for Kagome doing what Kagome does.

Also, did RT start getting some criticism for Kagome's ability to shoot a bow? To be honest, I always thought it was just a LITTLE convenient that she learned how to shoot so well so fast, but I always chalked it up to necessity, combined with her past life being a bit of an expert and some that talent passing between lifetimes. But now it appears there's some attention being drawn to her shots actually HITTING, like this is something new. Is this another lampshade or something? 

We getting a tad uncomfortable that the reincarnate-girls' aim has been consistently better than our titular hero's?

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 337 Over the Nile!!

Okay, I have officially reached the final couple of episodes of a show I REALLY liked as a kid, and I'm kind of regretting buying it? I had the urge to watch it again, out of that nostalgic urge to recapture some greater sense of magic, and I couldn't find it on any of my subscription streaming services, so I ordered the series online. Thing is, it's kind of long, and I've spent weeks in my time by myself during work putting on the episodes in the background. I haven't really been paying all THAT close attention, and even if I could, I don't really want to. Whenever I've sat down to actually watch the thing, I've had a LOT of unflattering questions about how things worked in the story's universe, what happened to previously established facts that had been retroactively glossed over, and WHO WROTE THIS CRAP. I mean, I get I was a kid when I got into the show, but was my taste really THAT bad? 

I guess I'm over denying it (ahem). I must have been a bit of a dumb kiddo. XD

To be fair, I might very well still be.

Yuugi ponders the reason they came to Egypt in the first place, and because of that, isn't able to quite get into the "tourist" spirit. They're just kind of sitting there on some dunes or standing looking into the distance, too, so that might be part of it. Although, in the next panel, Jonouchi is on a camel with a guide on either side, his legs flailing out on either side as he tells one of the guys to beat it for telling him that he has to PAY to get down. This doesn't SEEM like much fun from my view, but it's over this image that Yuugi suggests that at least his friends are having a good time. The best indication that no matter how he's grown and changed over the course of this story, he's still a LITTLE WEIRD. 

As he watches some dudes pass by on camels, Yuugi thinks about his "other him", knowing that though it's not Atem's real name or anything, he's still going to call him that. Yuugi cradles the Millennium Puzzle in his hands, asserting that, for now, they're still two souls in a single body. He thinks about how Atem used to live in this land 3000 years before, and soon he'll be leaving. He wants to keep calling Atem his "other him" until that time, however.

I doubt Atem would be too annoyed by that.

Somewhat of a contrast to the more stereotypical imagery we were getting before, lol.

Just outside, the kiddos are looking at an open guidebook and a map, a spot on which Jonouchi points to and affirms that they'll be taking a plane to this place called Luxor, and Yuugi agrees, telling them that's where the Valley of the Kings is located. Ryoji is looking at the guidebook in Jonouchi's hands and looking a little perplexed, which is how I feel about his presence here. Not that I don't think he doesn't DESERVE to be with the gang or anything, but it's a little baffling to me that he'd have too many stakes in their little errand. Then again, that whole debacle with his dice game and almost burning Yuugi alive was fundamentally due to his clown!dad's vested interest in the puzzle, so...

They stand all grouped under an awning, opining about how late someone is, and Sugoroku asks Yuugi if he's sure this is really where they're supposed to wait. Yuugi holds up a letter to his grandfather and says this is the place they told him to wait in it, pulling out a photo they also sent in the envelope. Apparently this is the first time Sugoroku is seeing this picture of a stone with hieroglyphics carved all around an upper central carving of an eye, split right down the middle like it's a door, which it probably is. Seriously, Yuugi didn't show this cryptic photo to his granfather when he got the letter, on the plane, or anything? Really? I find that one hard to believe.

Sugoroku peers at the picture and says it's all hieroglyphs, and Anzu leans in for a look too, asking what it means. Yuugi says he's been thinking about it, but a boisterous Jonouchi complains loudly about how long he's being made to wait, and says he would have done more sightseeing if he'd known it would be so long. They'd only seen the pyramids, according to him. Bakura points off to the side and says they could see the Cairo Museum, something he'd LOVE to check out. Huh, not a little OVER museums for the time being since your recent experiences, Bakura? Oh well, can't change a kid's core interests, I suppose. 

Jonouchi and he start to walk off, but Sugoroku shakes his fist at them and yells not to wander, Yuugi saying his grandfather is right, given that they're on an important mission and can't be distracted. On his way to fetch the meandering kids, Sugoroku steps over Honda, who's laying on the ground with some sort of bedroll under his head. He groans, asking if they could all keep it down, as he has the runs from drinking the water here. I'm not familiar with the kind of diarrhea that's sound-activated, but okay Honda. 

We're shown a wheel VROOM VROOMING up at the curb, getting all their attentions. 

Cool bike, I assume you're not there to pick them up. And if you guys were all flying together then you'd have parked before coming over...

Yuugi gives Marik a friendly wave, but Jonouchi makes a gesture that suggests he REALLY wants to punch Marik, yelling that he's late. Marik pays no mind to Jonouchi's threatening demeanor, apologizing through an amiable grin. It doesn't really matter; Jonouchi drops it once he gets to Rishid and just pulls a fake play punch on his shoulder, asking how he and Marik are doing. Rishid responds that they're all good and were really excited to see them all. It's an overall friendly reunion between them, and very heart-warming. Almost makes you forget all the almost murder Marik and Rishid committed on these guys during Battle City.

Ahem.

Marik tells them there's been a change in plans, because the Luxor airport is closed due to a sandstorm, and there's no telling when it'll be running again. He assures them all that Ishizu is off using her government contacts to get them a ship, and it shouldn't be too much longer. A fair reason for being late, but Jonouchi might get pissy again if he has to wait much more. Thankfully, we skip the part where he's throwing more conniption fits to where they're at a river dock, where Ishizu is standing with two soldiers at attention behind her, a middling cruise vessel in the background. She wishes them a good day, saying she and hers were waiting for THEM, which has to be some sort of joke at Jonouchi's impatient expense, lol.

Someone calls to her affectionately, and Ishizu smiles, welcoming them to Egypt. She gets straight down to business, turning to Yuugi and suggesting that he must have the rest of the Millennium Items if he's here. He confirms this and tells her he got her message about the other two being here already. Ishizu says that some members of their Tomb Guardian clan have taken the Tablet of the Pharaoh's Memories back from the museum and returned it to the Temple of the Underworld. All VERY cool and important-sounding things. Anzu hangs her head a little at the mention of the Temple of the Underworld, thinking that this is where the pharaoh's soul needs to go. 

Yuugi reaches into his pocket to pull out the picture Ishizu sent him and ask her about it, but Marik is already at the top of the gangway plank to the ship and is urging everyone to come aboard so they can talk on the way. Wouldn't want to have to wait any LONGER, after all. The kids rush to do as he says, shouting in excitement about a cruise on the Nile. Jonouchi, of course, heads the pack with his fist pumping in the air. 

The boat gets going and they stand at the bow of the ship looking over the railing. Anzu has her arms raised with a declaration that this is great, Jonouchi is pointing of one side of their line and Bakura is waving on the opposite. Once they're all settled down, there's a sentiment shared that perhaps the sandstorm had a purpose, because ancient Egyptians believed that ships carried kings or people back to the gods from the land of the living to that of the dead. Remarkably not a particularly unique belief from a lot of other cultures. Again, Anzu is moody as she looks at Ishizu, who had expressed this information, not wanting to think about that despite knowing what she means. 

Once more, Ishizu turns to Yuugi and encourages his question about the picture. Remembering, he pulls it out and holds it up, where Ishizu tells him that what he sees are the Hieroglyphics inscribed on the door to the afterlife. Yuugi asks what they say, and Marik attempts a simple explanation:

Yuugi says he thinks he already knows what he needs to do - put the Millennium Items in the tablet and say the pharaoh's name. Marik is shocked that they found the pharaoh's lost name, and Jonouchi affirms that they did indeed, and I THINK he's the one who says it over the gaping faces of Marik and Ishizu in the next panel, but I can't be TOTALLY certain. In any case, when he recovers from the disbelief, Marik tells Yuugi that this isn't the ONLY think written on the door. It's now Yuugi's turn to be a little shocked.

Shit, does EVERYTHING have to have a duel incorporated into it???

Marik says that the pharaoh isn't able to make his homeward journey into eternal rest still holding his sword, and this statement is so cryptic that Jonouchi has to ask after a moment of pause just what in the hell Marik is talking about. So, Marik elaborates that the "sword" is a symbol for a tool to fight in this current world, which for duelists like them, would be their cards. He asks if they're picking up what he's putting down, and Yuugi hangs his head much like Anzu has been doing, thinking that Atem must have to put down his "sword" in order to find peace. With a somewhat concerned expression, he says that someone will have to fight his "other him"'s soul and win. 

As Yuugi's friends look at him with shock, Marik says that he interprets this particular part of the instruction manual on the door the same way. The ship continues along its way, the sun sinking on the horizon, and Ishizu philosophizes about the Land of the Dead being in the west where the sun sets, and how the pharaoh's soul needs the rise of a new sun. We get it, his opponent needs to take up his weird card-game mantle, the symbolism is a little on the nose there. Yuugi looks at the sunset with his poop-face on. Shit has once again gotten real, despite the woo-woo talk going on at the moment.

When night has fallen, it seems their cruise has taken on a decidedly somber tone. 

But this one's nerves just got turned up to eleven.

His cabin door is slightly ajar and Anzu is outside it, asking if she can come in. He just acknowledges her by name as she walks inside, informing him that they tell her they'll arrive at the Valley of the Kings in the morning. Yuugi just gives her a generic, short response, but Anzu doesn't really see this as a hesitation to talk, inquiring if he was thinking about the Rite of the Duel. He answers that he was actually thinking about the "other him" and how many duels he's fought, and Anzu remarks on how he's calling Atem his "other him", suggesting that it's easier to keep calling him that. Not as easy as NOT being having to engage in forced tense conversation when emotional turmoil is running high, if I had to guess.

But Anzu keeps pushing a discussion, asking if Atem has SAID anything for himself recently. Yuugi says that no, in fact, Atem hasn't shown himself from the depths of his heart. Anzu pauses and meekly says she sees, a pained look on her face. Then she stands, saying Yuugi's name once more in further question, to which he hums. Anzu looks all the more unsteady and devastated, leaning on the table for support for a moment, until she chippers up and claims she was looking for medicine for Honda's diarrhea and all. She tells him to never mind, making rapidly for the door again with the spoken assumption that he probz doesn't have any. She shuts the door behind her with a jaunty good night, slamming the damn thing by the sound effect, actually. Yuugi looks at the door in stunned silence once she's gone, and she leans on the other side in a very deflated mood.

It is all PROFOUNDLY awkward.

A brooding misery here, by contrast.

Yuugi walks through the door behind Jonouchi onto the deck, asking if he ALSO can't sleep. After a moment of mild surprise at the company, Jonouchi affirms this. They stand at the railing for a time silently, looking out onto the water, Jonouchi addresses Yuugi curiously. He confesses that sailing along under the stars like this reminds him a bit of when they went to Duelist Kingdom. Yuugi actually smiles at this memory, agreeing that this does feel a lot like that. Jonouchi talks about how WEAK he was back then, and how he's gotten just a little stronger since he met HIM. No need to guess who he's talking about here, despite the lack of a name.

Jonouchi asks Yuugi for a favor, and Yuugi looks at him askance.

Speaking of remembering their trip to Duelist Kingdom and all, lol.

Yuugi hugs the backpack he was wearing before to his chest, looking frazzled and sweatdropping MAJORLY. Jonouchi laughs that it was a joke, but Yuugi looks a bit resentful to be reminded of Haga. Totally with him on that one, I almost had blissfully forgotten that little twerp existed. 

They quiet down again and even when Jonouchi utters a request for confirmation that it's all going down tomorrow, Yuugi just quietly continues looking at the water. When he does speak again, he hesitantly confesses to Jonouchi that there's something he hasn't yet told his "other him". But Jonouchi smiles, taking on a sure tone when he says that "he" won't be able to rest until Yuugi shows him. Yuugi agrees, declaring he has to fight "him", and there can't be any holding back. Jonouchi's smile is turned to Yuugi in encouragement. He doesn't say anything more.

Dueling against a person sharing your body SHOULD be a pretty big challenge, for sure.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? The fact that Atem's true name was only uttered ONCE and then everyone avoids saying it afterward like the plague really gut-punches me. No doubt this is partly due to nervousness over Atem's name being the key to his entry into the afterlife - despite the other steps involved in the ritual, I can see how these kids might not want to say it before they have to just in case it opens that door too early. But a much bigger part is the avoidance of identifying Atem as wholly separate from them just yet. Yuugi has been thinking of Atem as part of him for so long, his friends also defining Atem in terms of Yuugi's identity, that the two of them aren't just difficult to untangle, but PAINFUL. Though it's obvious that Atem WILL always be a part of them in some way, right now the notion that Atem is in fact a whole person in his own right is tied to his leaving them, and that's really hard to come to grips with. All of them just want to hold onto him and his entwined identity with them just a little longer, especially Yuugi, who still clings so tightly to Atem as his "other him". Calling Atem by his name would break the illusion that they are inextricable from one another, and he can in some way "keep" Atem.

I'm reminded of a while back, just before Battle City, when Atem was trying to convince himself it would be OKAY to just share Yuugi's identity forever. That he didn't need memories, that it was fine going halves on a body with another soul, and he could be at least somewhat happy with that. The suggestion of stagnation had a tinge of depressive defeatism in it; Atem was nervous to learn who he actually was, so he considered the relative comfort of the status quo. Now from the other side, we see a depressive anxiety around the proactive movement Atem ultimately chose to pursue, because while stagnation is unsatisfying, saying goodbye and parting is sorrowful.

Man, where is Priest Seto when you need him, talking about his "heart prison" concept? 

Still, Yuugi is preparing in earnest to do what needs to be done to give Atem peace regardless. Heroes aren't heroes because they lack selfish impulses, but because they do the right thing to help everyone involved. Yuugi's sadness at the upcoming duel between himself and Atem is palpable, but he's also shown actively getting ready, going through his deck, keeping the Millennium Items safe and close by, declaring that he's going to win this fight because he has to, for his friend's sake. Just when you think he can't look any stronger, this kid shows ever greater emotional competency and fortitude. Yuugi is a BEAST. Of the cinnamon roll variety.

Jonouchi and Anzu's pain can't be overlooked either, and it's clear that they're really suffering here. But it's clear that they won't have to be the ones who are strongest throughout this ordeal, so I won't be surprised if we see some resistance to Yuugi winning during the duel from them - Anzu in particular. I think Jonouchi might get by with his sense of humor alone, but Anzu is bound to object at some point to Atem's inevitable departure. After all, she's been holding her tongue on this subject for quite some time, longer than any of them, save Yuugi himself. I'm anticipating a really big emotional outburst when she just can't take it any more. She'll be okay in the end, though. Girl's got chops.

I REALLY hope Honda is able to get over the diarrhea before the next chapter. Imagine missing the last duel - Atem vs. Yuugi - because you had to stay glued to the toilet. That would be the WORST.

Inuyasha Manga: 278 Reborn

Like my love of the library? I recently went there to read the last few pages of The Two Towers in the LotR series - for some reason those pages were all shredded in MY copy - and though they didn't have a physical book there for me to peruse, they did introduce me to the Libby app for my phone. When I tell you my mind was blown... Not only can I check out my library system's e-books without ANYWHERE at ANY TIME, but they also have audio books available for check out too! My husband has been voraciously consuming audio books on his commute to and from work, and I've checked out a couple of titles I've really wanted to read for an awful long time. It's the actual best, and I can't believe no one TOLD me!

I've in turn been telling everyone everywhere ever since I learned, so hopefully I reach a few people who were also in the dark like me. All you need is a library card!

But I didn't sprout tentacles and trap my (nonexistent) enemies in my body at this minor rebirth of mine, so I suppose it's not all that similar to the one talked about in this chapter.

Naraku praises Inuyasha and company for getting this far, as though his body is some kind of weird game show challenge. Which, from what I hear of Japanese game shows, actually wouldn't be too out of place. He does follow up that they didn't do quite well enough, because they're too late, and it's all over for them. Inuyasha questions that last statement, before rejecting it outright with a scoff and declaration that it's a load of bullshit. He says he'll tell Naraku when it's over - when he rips out this hentai freak's throat. 

Sango and Miroku fly by on Kirara, Sango having already thrown Hiraikotsu, after which she yells at Naraku to prepare to die. Naraku scoffs himself, even as the giant boomerang slices through one of the many tentacles/intestines throughout the massive cavern. The tentacle spews a load of acid everywhere, melting the wall of his own stomach (????) just about Miroku, Sango, and Kirara's heads, much to their alarm. 

That certainly backfired, didn't it?

Shippou and Kagome call out to each other in distress while Shippou is squeezed by another tentacle, and he is forced to pop back into his normal shape and size by its firm hold. Inuyasha yells Kagome's name, straining against his own tentacle bonds, and Naraku chuckles at him darkly, as always, calling him foolish. He asks if Inuyasha doesn't GET IT yet, elaborating the obvious fact that the whole of the mountain is his body now. 

Yeah, I don't think anyone was in doubt about that, dude. Pretty obvious. And yet he feels the need to further explain that all these "worms" are in his body. Surprised he doesn't make a note here to go out to the feed supply store later and grab some dewormer. Sango looks even more disgusted by the walls of flesh, now that it's official that they're Naraku's, directing a cringing expression at where the tentacle is coiled around her middle. Miroku sweats in silent distress, but he doesn't look any happier about it. 

Eyes watering, Shippou looks up from Kagome's arms at her and asks if this means that they really will be eaten like Kouga. This news of Kouga being consumed hits Inuyasha with some horrified disbelief, as Naraku laughs that they shouldn't be so conceited. He says there's no value in eating them - a weak little youkai (a phrase that Shippou bristles at in offense, asking if it means him), a measly hanyou like Inuyasha (who doesn't respond to the insult because he's too cool to care really)...

I don't know, man, I continue to be very suspicious of the claim that Bankotsu was ever a human. 

Inuyasha and Sango both from their respective bounds utter Bankotsu's name in alarm, while Miroku observes that he's actually dead now, tinged with some disbelief. Naraku giggles about how shocking it is indeed just how foolish humans are - even the criminal Bankotsu hung around this mountain to avenge his comrades and ultimately got GOT by Inuyasha. Inuyasha himself looks highly affronted that his win against Bankotsu is being spun in such a weird way. Naraku continues by suggesting that Bankotsu could have just run away once he had all seven of those Shikon shards Naraku handed him for the resurrection of the Shichinin-tai, and forgotten about revenge. He leaves dangling a statement about what happened instead, because the result IS right in front of them all on display.

I'm not usually laughing when I feel sick, man, I think you're experiencing another thing altogether. Insipid smugness, maybe?

Anyway, as Inuyasha watches Bankotsu's bones fall apart and tumble off Naraku's tentacle, he looks utterly scandalized now. He yells at Naraku that he's a bastard, but this, we already knew. Naraku asks what Inuyasha is so pissed about, since HE'S the one who killed Bankotsu in the first place. I don't know, perhaps it's your nasty habit of pretending that it's everyone else's fault when you take advantage of them and their relationships toward others. Just a guess. 

Naraku raises another tentacle and jabs Inuyasha in the chest with it, and for a moment it looks like Inuyasha's gotten run through. Kagome and Shippou watch in impotent horror, the former yelling his name. But when the tentacle pulls back again, it appears that Inuyasha's clothes are the only thing damaged; Naraku's curling appendage has ripped the Shikon fragments from under his collar. 

Like he's being offered an after-dinner mint or something.

The Shikon shards around him all pinwheel together an fuse, right where Naraku's chest should be, emitting a bright light as little bits of stray flesh start to gravitate towards that clearly defined center. Inuyasha strains against his bonds, but he's also keeping an irritated eye on the little transformative show Naraku's putting on.

... So, you thought putting one of the most vulnerable parts of ANY living being right smack dab in the middle of your chest was a good idea, huh Naraku? 

The new bod seems to be impressing Miroku and Sango, though, who gape in horrified awe while it continues to accrue the last of its meaty bits in a big glowing sphere. Inuyasha looks nothing but frustrated on the edge of the panel, however. Naraku chuckles at these cretins who hate him so much, taunting them for managing to get this far and being completely unable to lay a finger on him. Inuyasha clenches his teeth, but he scoffs, calling this whole show a disappointment, having been wondering for a while now what sort of incredible monster Naraku had become after holing himself up in the sacred barrier so carefully. 

A boy after my own heart, but Miroku thinks we're both wrong, blurting that Naraku's youki has gotten an incomparable amount stronger than before. He's sweating bullets too, so you know shit is bad. Inuyasha is dismissive about this "youki" argument, insisting that Miroku must be kidding. He finally tears through the tentacle binding him with his claws and bursts from it, declaring that Naraku's twisted ego and confidence just got a whole lot worse is all. He draws Tessaiga.

Don't aim for the eye dead center on his chest! Maybe a little off, you know, to account for your terrible aim and all.

Not that it's going to matter too much. The Kaze no Kizu rushes toward Naraku in his bubble of light, and he's not looking the least bit nervous. He scoffs that Inuyasha is a fool again, and says that the attack he made himself will end up killing his friends, smirking. The blow seems to bend and warp unnaturally.

Some kind of bullshit, no doubt.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Naraku is WAY cooler when he's just a face peering out of an endless void. The moment he opens his mouth in this one he does that thing where he says a lot without SAYING anything, if you know what I mean. Mostly it was just obvious rage-fuel about how everyone is way dumber than he is and they were all going to die because they're all stupid and sentimental. I can't necessarily blame Inuyasha for falling for it, given that the understandable impulse is to try and throw some of the shade back just to prove how unaffected you are by an gloating windbag in a MUCH better position, but it's still pretty cheap. 

Especially considering how... iffy Naraku's new design is. It follows that "slightly wrong" aesthetic that the youkai in this story tend to exhibit, but in a way that is very "2000's JRPG boss". While the eye on his chest forming around his chunk of the Shikon no Tama makes a certain amount of sense, it's also an EYE, and a very large one at that. It's no spoiler to state that this thing has nothing whatsoever to do with his eventual downfall, so the fact that something that is USUALLY a big target in game design has literally no purpose other than mild creepiness here is just a tad irritating to me. 

Nice overcoat though, I guess. *shrug*

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 336 He Who Inherits the Light

It's fitting that I should be covering this chapter around when I'll be celebrating the spring equinox, starting from when all of us in the northern hemisphere will be inheriting A LOT of light over the next few months. It's not as if I'm NOT looking forward to it, because I am so tired of being cold all the time. I just need to do a lot of work in the garden, even more than last year. I have these plans to transfer some herbs to a nice little herb spiral, but I'm still very unsure of where to put it - my yard is surrounded by trees, so there's not really ANYWHERE in it that gets sun most of the day. I also have to construct my last planter and figure out where to put THAT too, so I'm just generally behind on planning for the spring and summer months. 

Not that gardening isn't the furthest thing from these characters' minds at the moment...

Priest Seto kneels on their strangely intact dueling platform surrounded by rubble, in front of a blank tablet that once held the white dragon, wondering where the fuck he even IS. Atem calls out to him from across the way, and Priest Seto looks up in alarm at the pharaoh, and it starts to come back to him how his father chose to die, dragging his soul along for the ride into the shadows. A vision of Kisara's backlit peaceful face appears to him again, and he identifies her as his savior from the shadows. 

You know, for how similar I'm meant to view Priest Seto is to Kaiba, I can't help but get a little caught up in the most bizarrely glaring differences. If it were Kaiba in Priest Seto's position here, he DEFINITELY would be smacking that offered hand away. 

Priest Seto and Atem stand facing each other, but they're really looking at the rubble as far as the eye can see all around them. Priest Seto comments on how the darkness has faded, but left deep wounds in the now calmed earth. Atem remains silent as Priest Seto goes on about how many lives they've lost and how they have to keep a light for the fallen in their hearts, while working to build a new future. Hopefully those hearts are looking a little less like fucking PRISONS to these guys, at least. Otherwise that new future's going to seem a little bleak when all is said and done.

Atem glares down at his palm for a second, though it's not clear why. Afterwards, he looks up at Priest Seto and asks him to grant him the favor of inheriting the throne and becoming the new pharaoh. Priest Seto gapes in shock at the request, having to ask Atem to repeat himself, a sweatdrop at his temple. You mean to tell me that Akhenaden didn't even HAVE to permanently scar Priest Seto in order to get his stupid fucking wish??? Priest Seto starts demanding that Atem duel him again here and now, then, because he can only become pharaoh when he's defeated Atem, apparently. Ugh, men always have to make shit so complicated.

Atem grasps the string looped around his neck in his fist and softly asserts that he does NOT have the kind of time it takes to do a whole new duel for the throne.

The absolutely ABSURD level of trauma Priest Seto has to have after all of this...

And to add to the frustration, Atem starts going on about sealing Zorc Necrophades's and his own soul into the Millennium Puzzle 3000 years before, and the ending of the conflict is different now, but his body was lost beyond this point so he doesn't have any memories after this. Predictably, Priest Seto just kinda gapes in alarm, silently pondering the pharaoh. Probably not any wiser in the "what's going on?" department, unfortunately. 

Atem appears to have pulled the Millennium Puzzle from around his neck, and is indicating that it didn't have to be shattered to defeat Zorc this time. He holds it out to Priest Seto and tells him it's the symbol of the pharaoh, demanding he take it. Atem commands Priest Seto to become the pharaoh in his stead restore peace to the land most of all, but also to... ahem, "make Egypt great again". I guess this "make x great again" phrase wasn't pegged as the fascist dogwhistle that it is today, to be fair. And I would wear a purple MEGA hat LONG before I'd so much as touch a red MAGA hat with a ten foot pole, so...

Priest Seto goes ahead and takes the Millennium Puzzle, but it doesn't look like he's really got full command over that decision. He's just operating out of shock at this point, jaw still slack with astonishment. Just before Atem disappears completely, he says he's counting on Priest Seto. Then he's gone in one final wisp of smoke. Priest Seto looks down at the puzzle in his hand, then up at the ruined kingdom he's inherited. 

Goooooooooooood luck.

I kinda wish we could have seen asshole!Bakura completely implode before poor regular-sized Bakura passed out on the table. 

A beam of light emits from the top of Yuugi's head, signaling his transformation, and when he opens his eyes again they're sharp and angular. Atem is back to sharing a body with Yuugi once more. Roomies! Anzu starts to say Yuugi's name, but Jonouchi blurts out Atem's name before she can get past the first syllable. Atem grins wide, addressing them all with joy that they got back, and gets confirmation back at just the same level of happiness. 

Something catches Atem's eye and he glances off to the side where the coffins are still sitting all in a row, though empty now. He hangs his head, reflecting on how his friends' souls were trapped in the memory world while he was playing a shadow game with asshole!Bakura. He thanks his lucky stars that they all made it out of there okay. 

Yuugi appears in his mind and welcomes him back, to which Atem responds with even greater joy than before. Suddenly, Yuugi's expression gets serious as he recalls that they found Atem's real name on this adventure, adding that asshole!Bakura tricked them into the shadow game so he could find the great power that names, rather this specific name, affords. They both look across the table at the still passed-out regular-sized Bakura. KT missed a golden opportunity to draw a little line of drool out of the corner of his mouth. For comedy purposes. 

The group rounds the table to at last go check up on the poor guy, asking his unconscious form if he's okay. Honda assures everyone that it's all good, and he's just out cold. I don't know, guys, I'd still be getting him to the doctor ASAP if I were in their position. Jonouchi reaches for the Millennium Ring that is half-buried in the sand within the diorama, plucking it out of there as if it HASN'T been housing a malevolent spirit this entire time. No hesitation touching that thing whatsoever? Really?

But he turns to Atem and hands it straight over, saying it's best if HE hangs onto it. Atem glares at the artifact, thinking about how it housed all that evil for 3000 years, and he has to seal it away again to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. HOLD UP, WAIT, Atem STILL has to seal it back up? They didn't get rid of that asshole entirely with this? Dammit, should have known!!

Anyway, Anzu and Jonouchi have turned to the sarcophagus propped up behind the unconscious Bakura, Anzu telling them to take a look at it. Though Jonouchi is creeped out by it, he does look closely at it too. 

Brace for the next quest.

The group's moving right along again, examining the diorama and its ruined little buildings. Jonouchi muses on how the temples and structures are all just rubble now, expressing some disbelief that they were actually IN there. Honda eagerly points out where the palace used to be, and Atem gazes at the spot thinking of Priest Seto. He's sure Priest Seto and the other survivors have a long hard road ahead, but he's also certain that they'll build a new world from the ruins, the light of their souls being passed through the generations. 

Uhm, I seem to recall that this was a GAME world, and that the little people in there weren't actually the folks from the past and they're just projections from the memories in the puzzle...? 

Regardless, Atem thinks he can absolutely see it now, the light of glory that shines so brilliantly. It's a vision of Priest Seto standing with his own battery of priests in a line behind him, arm raised to a crowd of cheering people below the elaborate balcony on which he's standing. Life goes on, I suppose. 

Atem sees the puzzle also half-buried in the diorama sand, him and Yuugi both regarding it while the latter thinks at the former that it's almost time. Atem agrees, then pulls the puzzle from the diorama, looping its chain around his neck. 

Too bad the trip isn't for pleasure. 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? A fairly quick wrap-up, but not unsatisfying for the most part. Priest Seto kinda got shafted at the end there - as usual, he was just not given any time whatsoever to process what was happening. But at the same time it was just a little funny. Poor guy just gets the craziest shit dumped on him in some of his most vulnerable moments and no one sticks around long enough to take some of the burden off. It was probably just me, but after Atem disappeared on him, I got some major "well, this may as well happen" vibes off his expression, lol. 

The group examining every point of the "game room" at the end there was understandable, since I too would be more than a LITTLE curious about all the weird details of the place in which I'd been unconscious for the last few hours. It was done a bit awkwardly, though, coming across as almost systematic in some places in order to give Atem his final thoughts on each matter. It didn't flow in a natural way, for the most part, so I found myself anticipating the next stop on the tour the moment the one before started.

And there are a couple of things that I don't think were tied up all that well, as I probably expressed above. It's still not quite clear just WHAT asshole!Bakura is, and therefore I'm not certain why a seal on the Millennium Ring is necessary. Thief!Bakura appeared to be using the ability of the artifact to put a piece of his soul into stuff BEFORE Zorc came out. Also, thief!Bakura just seemed to be a pawn in the larger game that asshole!Bakura was playing before, and he was taken out the moment that he wasn't needed anymore, so I very much doubt that it's just HIS measly soul-piece still taking up residence in there at this point. How many pieces of asshole!Bakura are in there, and would he be capable of starting up another Zorc resurrection plan with so many pieces of him obliterated by his LAST attempt? I'm supposing that such a chance at further chaos might be what Atem is guarding against, but I would have appreciated it being worded more in that vein, just to clarify. 

Then there's Atem's fantasy of the game world continuing on through several generations as the real one might, which is kind of supported by the couple of panels that follow Atem's disappearance from it. It doesn't just collapse and end after he leaves, which has some interesting implications. Since the autonomy of the NPCs was established already, I get the impression that asshole!Bakura has created some sort of pocket dimension that continues to exist after the game based on Atem's memories is over. Asshole!Bakura ALSO established that this little game dimension is outside of time and reality, its inhabitants removed entirely from the cycle of reincarnation, and their souls going to oblivion after death in this world. Pretty dark consequences to asshole!Bakura's plan, even though Atem and company were ultimately able to defeat him and get back to their reality. I hate to know what might happen if they disassemble that diorama!

Also, can we talk about how completely callous these kids are toward regular-sized Bakura? Poor kid has been suffering under the tyranny of asshole!Bakura this whole time, has been put out more than once over all this nonsense, worked to the bone, and his own so-called friends just wave off his unconsciousness as though it's not the direct result of serious trauma? I mean, just because the guy LOOKS like the main antagonist doesn't mean that he hasn't been as much of a victim of that shit as the rest of them. 

Maybe his fan club should come in and bear him out of there instead. I'm still quite put off by the concept, but at least THEY would be a little more concerned for the dude's health!

Inuyasha Manga: 277 Wall of Flesh

Why do we build the wall? Why the wall keeps out the enemy, so we build the wall to keep us free! At least that's what I'm told by Hades. I don't think they built the wall out of FLESH, though, which is a rather soft, vulnerable substance that's notoriously BAD at keeping one's enemies out. But walls made of flesh are actually great at keeping certain things IN, whether that's to keep them nice and secure, or maybe even trapped. Perhaps an enemy too, if your flesh can incorporate a completely separate body.

Anyway, all my meandering musings about flesh walls is making me feel creepy. Enjoy this weird Inuyasha chapter!

Inuyasha is feeling a little creeped out too, but in a different way. He notes that the texture of the ground is different, or rather, the texture of the whole cave. Veins are beginning to form on every bulging, pulsing surface, and some of said surface is crawling over Bankotsu's inert half-torso. Inuyasha is real quick in identifying it as like a "wall of flesh", and saying the chapter title in record time! Unfortunately, his only confetti is whatever dust is left shaking down all around him and turning into stomach acid or something.

I have to imagine that this is like getting slobbered on by several separate Gene Simmons tongues. 

*Shudder**Retch*

As the tentacles bear him ever upwards, squishing in on him from all sides, he croaks a curse about how he can't move, adding internally that he's on the express train up toward a pinprick of light. Elsewhere in the mountain, Kouga is leading a charge inside another cave, following the pulsing that he observes has gotten louder. No chance that could just be because he's IN the mountain now or anything. He calls to Kagome to hurry along behind him, Shippou still riding the transformed Kirara bringing up the rear. 

Suddenly, Kouga twists to look down at his legs, which are sinking into the rapidly transforming substance of the cave. Kagome shouts to him in concern, because he's already waist-deep in the gross shit by the time we see him again in the next panel. He struggles against it like a quicksand, cursing and asking haltingly what this garbage is. 

But by the time she gets close enough, Kouga has already been swallowed up. Fast-acting. When her hand lands on the place where he disappeared into the floor, saying Kouga's name with alarm, she notes in confusion that it's not rock. Kagome sits up and looks above her at the rock that has been transformed, veins popping out everywhere, slowly coming to the conclusion about what the ENTIRE inside of this hole is. 

I'm going to refrain from making the obvious lewd joke here. There would simply be NO excuse for it.

As she stands, gaping and in mild shock, Shippou suggests that they're also going to be eaten, clinging to her blouse in fear. She admits she doesn't know, but says they're already inside anyway, so she starts to pull Kirara farther along into the cave with the stated intention of them going after Kouga. Shippou is NOT down with this making a noise of disbelief before he scrambles up to her shoulder instead, eyes watery while he asks where Kouga was supposed to have gone. Kagome says she cane feel him, or rather the Shikon shards in his legs. She can sense them moving through these walls of flesh, DIRECTLY toward the polluted jewel she's felt since they were outside the mountain. 

After a few steps, Kagome pauses at a sizzle sounding under her shoe. She hears the same noise when a drop of something falls from the ceiling and burns into her sleeve. With renewed alarm, she identifies the substance as acid, glancing around nervously at all the slimy film forming on the flesh around her. A drop of it falls onto Shippou's tail and he yelps in pain, and Kagome cries that it's dissolving while the sprinkle from the ceiling increases. Kirara acts quickly, seizing the back of Kagome's sailor blouse once again as she tries to encase Shippou in the protection of her arms. 

Best kitty.

Kagome twists to call up to Kirara, but she hangs her head again in a suppressed cough, learning that the noxious air going into her lungs is painful. Kirara's paws sizzle as well when they touch down to push to a higher speed. Next thing they know, Kirara is bursting out of the cave into a wider chamber in the big fleshy mountain, Shippou crying out in relief that they got away from the digestive tract. Kagome agrees weakly, throat probz still sore from the miasma swirling around in there.

Kirara sets down on a relatively level lump sticking out from the wall, one that apparently isn't secreting acid. Kagome thanks Kirara and looks around, trying to identify where they are. Shippou calls for her to look up where he is, at ceiling filled with what looks like a load of fleshy popcorn, slowly dripping out of a clear malleable amniotic sack. Gross. 

Shippou guesses that they're youkai, but Kagome says that this doesn't quite seem the right category to put them in. From the other side of the fleshy barrier, they hear someone commenting on their voices, correctly identifying them as Kagome and Shippou. Kagome makes another confused sound, watching the tip of something poke through the fleshy popcorn barrier of hell.

Well, the gang's ALMOST back together again.

Kagome's happiness at reunion is short-lived, as she immediately wonders where Inuyasha is, since she can't see him up there with her other friends. She asks them if Inuyasha isn't with them, and Sango responds with a confused sound. There's no time to clarify the situation - a sudden shudder shakes all of them. Kagome clings to Kirara's neck, Miroku and Sango jostled off the edge of their perch in the lumps of popcorn baby flesh. Kirara is fast to fly out and catch them, both landing sprawled on the back of the giant cat. Kagome is supported by Shippou, who strains to keep her aloft in giant balloon form, stuttering that he has her. She acknowledges this in a similar halting manner, too shocked to be overly grateful at the moment, I'll warrant.

She sees something over the side of Shippou's round form, alarmed to regard a wriggling mass of tentacles rising from the dark depths of the mountain, which she vocalizes in disbelief. It shoots up past her and Miroku and Sango in a HUGE hurry, giving Kagome a good view of its tightly wound limbs as it rushes ever higher.

He really passed out, didn't he? You think it's the G's those tentacles are pulling or the fact that he's lost probably a third of his blood? 

Either way, his eyes flutter open at the sound of Kagome screaming his name, then a voice that mocks his paralysis and being trapped inside the speaker's body. Inuyasha looks around to where he hears his antagonist, and no one will be even a LITTLE shocked to find out who it is.

Shouldn't you be happy? You've been trying to get to the guy for the last several chapters.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It escalated things really quickly, but in a very satisfying way. I always love it when this series returns to the horror elements that were more prevalent in the beginning, and we get a lot of really creepy moments in this one. Between Inuyasha and Kouga getting trapped in flesh-prisons, Kagome, Shippou, and Kirara almost getting dissolved by acid, or the general body horror in which they are all caught up in, the chapter pretty consistently made my skin crawl. Reminds a little of the more unnerving content of the "Mystery Flesh Pit" website: https://www.mysteryfleshpitnationalpark.com/ .

But the detailed mapping and thought-out design of speculative biology is missing in this chapter, of course. There isn't a lot of indication HOW the "landscapes" of Naraku's flesh mountain work as a body, and even less indication of what purpose the tentacle appendages serve on the INSIDE of it. Being a shapeshifter, I can imagine that Naraku has some control of the location of his organs and such, but there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. Just one more example of how RT neglects her world-building in very conspicuous ways.

At least Inuyasha and company aren't PAYING for this dangerous and deadly exploration of a massive body nobody (even the author) has any understanding of. If Naraku were TRULY evil, he'd be selling tickets to his victims like the capitalists interests of The Mystery Flesh Pit. XD

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 335 White Dragon, Black Magician

Ooh, that would be a really fun custom chess set. In fact, I think I've coveted that very thing some time ago, browsing the web for cool stuff. There's probably a plethora of chess sets out there that have a fantasy theme like that, replacing the classic characters with mythological creatures and figures, and maybe even a couple with a Duel Monsters as the pieces. I tried looking something up a moment ago, just for funsies, but I only saw folks dreaming up what their conception of one might be, along with others saying that it would be too niche of a product to get off the ground. I have to admit that I agree with the second camp, but I do like to imagine it - perhaps Atem as king with his classic monsters making up the black set and Kaiba/Seto as the king with his own classic monsters making up the white set. 

And you know he would be down with that arrangement, given Kaiba's background in chess, and white always going first in the traditional rules. 

Whatever. May as well duel over a gas station burrito for all the "king" title means at this point.

Priest "Seto" muses about how "they" say only a king has the power to summon a god, but declares he ALSO has a god at his disposal. I thought the god dictated divine right, not that divine right dictated over the god, but everything is going all topsy-turvy this late in the game anyway, why not this? Atem looks a little mystified by the claim on a god, so Priest "Seto" draws his attention to the stone slab behind himself and says a white dragon god is sealed inside it. This definitely rings a bell for Atem, whose eyes widen as he regards that white dragon, the god in the slab. 

Moving on, Priest "Seto" says Atem was able to defeat Zorc by combining all his gods into Horakhty, but he's very confident that the white dragon will surpass even THAT power. He offers to show Atem, with a classically creepy little smirk. Atem yells at him that they don't have time to fight one another, as the High Priest of Darkness is still alive. Ooooh, he hasn't figured it out yet? I mean, to be fair, Priest Seto normally acts like a bit of a jerkwad, so it's not really a surprise that he might not be able to tell the difference at a distance. 

I'm not really sure if the above declaration is out loud or not, but regardless, Atem appears to be getting the picture. He regards Priest "Seto"'s eyes, half rolled back behind heavy eyelids, much like someone ELSE we know, and can see in them that Priest "Seto" is just not himself. He considers the concept of Akhenaden's evil consciousness, so MAYBE he's getting at the very least some psychic vibes or something? I have no idea.

Priest "Seto", one track mind that he has, announces that he'll defeat Atem here and now and become the king of the shadows. 

Your wish sucks bro.

The real Priest Seto just kind of hunches over, staring at the void he's been thrust into listlessly, addressing his father helplessly. Akhenaden recounts that he removed the white dragon god from Kisara and put it in the tablet, all so Priest Seto could be king. Priest Seto squeezes his eyes shut and groans, but Akhenaden pays no attention to this; he demands that Priest "Seto", the body he's puppeting anyway, destroy the pharaoh with the white dragon. 

Priest "Seto" declares the start to his so-called duel, but Atem shouts at him to stop, that he's being controlled. Ignoring Atem's observation, Priest "Seto" bids him to behold the way his god's power makes the heavens shake. A column of light forming into a pair of wings erupts from the top of the steaming tablet, and Atem beholds indeed, eyes popping at the formation of that white dragon he knows so well by now.

Hmmmm... Is there a FEMALE version of Frank Sinatra? I feel like my whole "ol' blue eyes" joke just doesn't work anymore.

Priest "Seto" laughs maniacally, arms swung wide. An arm raised to protect against the wind, Atem grunts, thinking that the magic of the white dragon is pretty powerful. He's also convinced he has no choice but to fight, so he summons up Dark Magician in his own giant stone slab behind him. So nice of Priest "Seto" to set that all up for him. When Mahado pops onto the scene, he's immediately floored by what a monster he's facing, sensing the power to rival the gods. He also notices that Atem's ba has nearly run out from his battle with Zorc, so he can't even summon THOSE anymore. Mahado wonders just how much he can fight with what's left in him too. 

Atem advises Mahado not to aim for the dragon, but the stone slab behind it, to which little trick Mahado agrees. Priest "Seto" commands his dragon to attack the pharaoh's servant, calling the blast that issues from its mouth the "Reign of Destruction". I can't complain, it's not a half-bad name. As the blast barrels toward him, Mahado resolves to put all he has into his own ONE attack.

I feel like this is a BAD plan. He must be really tired from narrowly avoiding the end of the world. 

Mahado shouts at the white dragon to begone, his blast on its way straight to the tablet from which it's manifesting. Priest "Seto" lazily observes where he's aiming, but adding that he's a bit too slow through his creepy smirk. Mahado suddenly freezes, looking shocked and agonized, Atem also flabbergasted. The slab behind him explodes from the white dragon's blast, alarmed that the Dark Magician's tablet was destroyed first. Mahado dissolved while muttering about how Priest "Seto" aimed for him, his slab, so much faster, while Atem calls to him in desperation. 

Priest "Seto" chuckles across the way over how Atem has lost his last servant. But Priest "Seto"'s monster and tablet appear whole and undisturbed entirely. I guess Mahado's attack dissolved along with him. Seems cheap, but okay. Atem stands hunched, but still looking determined and glaring at the hissing dragon across from him. 

You guys seen that new meme where the stick figures are leaping off the cliff to ring the bell that owns the libs?

Yeah. Same energy.

Atem talks to Priest Seto, not Priest "Seto", asking if he can hear his voice. The real Priest Seto seems to stir in his weird mind headlock. Atem says that even if he's defeated by Priest "Seto", there's no way he can become a TRUE king as long as he's ruled by darkness. Priest "Seto" asks for clarification, and I have to admit that I too am very interested to know the logic behind this assertion. After all, there have been plenty of kings in the past that were definitely not directed by sunshine and rainbows. Atem yells at Priest "Seto" to take his light, and kill him if necessary sure, but the important part is to take his light. He adds that he wants Priest "Seto" to ask himself what kind of king he is, if he shines with pride in the prison of his soul. Man, it's just really sad that EVERYONE seems to view Priest Seto's heart and soul as a fucking prison, himself included. 

The real Priest Seto's eyes bulge at the call to... something, but Akhenaden is asserts that nothing Atem says can help, and yells at him to just die. Priest "Seto" demands that his white dragon go forth and kill the pharaoh. But the white dragon doesn't do it. The white dragon just stays still. Atem gapes, Priest "Seto" asks why in horrified bewilderment, and Akhenaden from within demands to know why the damn dragon won't attack. Priest "Seto"'s face further contorts with anguish as the next part comes. 

Looks like she doesn't want ANY part of this shit. And I do not blame her. 

As Akhenaden wonders where in the WORLD the dragon went, some new rays of light penetrate into whatever dark cavern of Priest Seto's soul he's got them both holed up in. He looks up and is bewildered by the light shining in, and Priest Seto manages to lift his head enough to give it a look as well. When Akhenaden begins to see the explanation for it, he's in utter disbelief.

Well that's one way to grab a guy's attention.

And another entirely to waste his shitty father. 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Yeah, there was definitely supposed to be more here. It has the distinct feel of something that WAS more epic and grand, but was cut off at the knees before it could walk out on stage. Still, it does make SOME sense that the battle is so short, given how little energy Atem has left after fighting Zorc. Since this particular part of the story HAD to be truncated so much, this is probably the best place to put it, given how limiting Atem's exhaustion would have been to his functioning in a long duel anyway. 

I do like how, once again, this ending kind of rhymes with what we've seen from the Blue Eyes White Dragon before - this monster has been known to refuse to work for those with which it's not particularly aligned. Or rather, for MOTIVES it's not particularly aligned. I recall criticizing the first instances of Blue Eyes taking itself out of the fight, when Kaiba had stolen it from Sugoroku first and when the ventriloquist had stolen it from Kaiba later, but I'm reconsidering that criticism. Maybe the card not working has LESS to do with the bond or loyalties it has, but the VALUES that it is enforcing - encouraging righteousness and denying lashing out in hatred, even when the wielder is in pain. It still doesn't explain why the Blue Eyes White Dragon doesn't refuse to participate in the duel SOONER; even here it destroys the Dark Magician pretty readily before it turns on Akhenaden. But it does make for sounder structural integrity of the whole connection between Kaiba/Priest Seto/Kisara/Blue Eyes. 

It's a shame that the only strong will and agency Kisara expresses in the story is only AFTER she's died though. And without precedent, it seems to come out of absolute nowhere. If she had been allowed to act on her own even just a LITTLE before...

Oh well.