( Dakki's Wielder ) |
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| Original Release Date: 12/08/04 | Review Date: 12/08/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Toushuu tells the Ryuujin that the sword doesn't like him, then tells Inuyasha to cut the dragon man where he's missing the scale that he donated to have Dakki forged. Inuyasha doesn't have time to go looking for a bald spot, so just hits the Ryuujin with a Bakuryuuha, and that settles that. But then Toushuu comes out of hiding and pokes the Ryuujin with it, thus completing Dakki. | ||
| Review | ||
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Ooo-kay, so was Toushuu being a total wimp just a show, or is he just randomly coming out ala Myouga now that the danger
is over? It probably has something to do with the dragon's brand on his face, since his bandanna fell off when he started
going, "Ahahahaha, I am t3h kewlies!"
Best Moment: Bakuryuuha! Man, if there was ever an underused attack in this series, this would be it. Well, second only to Kanna's soul-sucking, which she's only used, like, twice. Or Sesshoumaru's Dokkasou. Or Hijin Kessou. ... Okay, I guess there are a lot of attacks in this series that don't get used very often, but Bakuryuuha is the shiniest one. Now, Toushuu himself is not a terribly threatening opponent, so next week will most likely just be Inuyasha vs. Dakki. Or maybe Inuyasha will make some claim that it would be wrong to kill Toushuu, so has to fight the sword without hurting its wielder. Dunno. But the first page will be in color. And Inuyasha even gets to be on the cover of Shounen Sunday next week, in a picture of him and Kagome sharing a scarf. |
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( The Ryuujin's Shield ) |
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| Original Release Date: 12/01/04 | Review Date: 12/01/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Myouga tells Inuyasha to just cut the damn sword and be done with it, but since nothing can ever be that easy, Inuyasha says "Naaaah". To appease everyone smacking their heads, Toushuu also reveals that the Dakki is also not "charged" because it hasn't cut any youkai yet, so it doesn't have any power to take. Enter the dragon. Mr. Ryuujin has a spiffy new shield that has the same sucky powers as Dakki, so he's all like, "Can't touch this!" The Ryuujin tells Toushuu that he won't kill him if he just hands over the sword, and Toushuu has to decide how big a wimp he needs to be. | ||
| Review | ||
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Jeez, seems like everyone who meets Inuyasha lately sucks in some form or another. I think Inuyasha's starting
to feel left out. Kikyou said Inuyasha's sword sucks, and Inuyasha was like, "Hey, no it doesn't! ... But it WILL!"
There really wasn't that much exciting in this week's chapter other than "yay, battle", because, you know, it's a
shounen manga, so the hero isn't allowed to go very many chapters without kicking something's ass.
Best Moment: "Just take the damn sword!" "I ain't takin' no damn sword!" "Just finish this story arc already!" "It ain't over 'till I say it's over!" Thus, Inuyasha proves that he is the plot device that will ensure that this series goes on indefinitely. -_- Also, Toushuu is awesome, because he is such a wuss. He's all sitting in the temple like "omg waaah" while Inuyasha is duking it out with dragon man outside. Finally, a guy who has a sense of self-preservation. ^_^ |
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( Toushuu ) |
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| Original Release Date: 11/24/04 | Review Date: 11/24/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Inuyasha consults Toutousai about Datsuki, which I have hereby realized should probably actually be "Dakki", and it turns out they were actually fighting a prototype Dakki that only sucks a little. Inuyasha decides he wants the real Dakki, which sucks a lot, to be combined with Tessaiga so he can fight against the really sucky Mouryoumaru. So, they go off and find Toushuu, the swordsmith who made Dakki, and find him getting beaten on by a dragon guy who wants his skin back. | ||
| Review | ||
|
Today we learn that even if it looks like a Dakki and sucks like a Dakki, it
might not necessarily be a Dakki. So, it looks like that instead of being
made of Mouryoumaru, the Dakki was made of a scale from a Ryuujin. So, the
fandom heaves a collective sigh of relief that, no, Mouryoumaru's sword wasn't
off wandering around being wielded by old men posing as little girls.
Best Moment: Toutousai's back! Man, he hasn't been in the series since... what, when he told Inuyasha about Housenki? Granted, he didn't do much important other than impart the usual old man knowledge, like how Inuyasha actually has to fight against Dakki to absorb its power, but if he loses, then Tessaiga's power will be absorbed and it will be a small, limp sword forever. But I guess Inuyasha's taking the risk of sword impotence if it means getting a shiny new attack. And what is it with new guys having marks on their right eyes? First Mouryoumaru has his little blue patch, then Goryoumaru has his scar, and now Toushuu has his dragon scales. And the Ryuujin guy looks strangely like Rengokuki, who was an anime-only character. Toushuu is really nondescript-looking, though, kinda like sane Suikotsu, so he's probably not gonna last too long. And who the heck names their kid "Sword Autumn"? |
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(Datsuki) |
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| Original Release Date: 11/10/04 | Review Date: 11/10/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Mujina reveals that she wasn't absorbing power in order to avenge her father, but rather merely to take of the world. Inuyasha, who is so very shockingly not dead, asks Shippou whether Mujina should be allowed to live. Mujina puts on the act a little longer, until Inuyasha reveals her to be an actual badger, and destroys Datsuki easily, re-absorbing the power taken from Tessaiga. | ||
| Review | ||
|
Wow, that doesn't happen very often. I was right. About almost
everything. Mujina was just making up the thing about avenging her dad,
Tessaiga showed off its own ability to absorb the power of things it cuts,
Datsuki was revealed to likely be connected to Mouryoumaru, and even the chapter
title was "Datsuki". The whole thing about Mujina actually being
a Genma Panda-looking badger wasn't really on my list of predictions, but... eh,
that was random. ^_^* Shippou: "That old man smell... that
wasn't her dad... that was HER!"
Best Moment: Happy shiny Inuyasha! Shippou reluctantly apologizes to Inuyasha, and Inuyasha gets a big, sparkly, grin with happy bubbles, then proceeds to whack Shippou over the head. Yeah, it's pretty much the same as the thing between Inuyasha and Myouga in episode 7. But it was still cute. And Inuyasha's face on the cover image was just amusing, since it was Shippou being all angsty like, "Oh t3h noes, Inuyasha is t3h fux0red!", and Inuyasha is in the background looking all peaceful and happy. So, for the most part, this arc was totally filler aside from the introduction of Datsuki and the thought that it might have something to do with Mouryoumaru (actually, the chapter itself never mentioned Mouryoumaru, but the preview text in the margin of the last page did). But poor Shippou, the girl he was after this time turned out to be an old man. |
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(Justice) |
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| Original Release Date: 11/03/04 | Review Date: 11/04/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Shippou and Mujina run off, and Mujina says she's absorbing youkai powers to avenge her dead father. Naturally, this strikes a chord with Shippou, so the two team up against the "evil" Inuyasha. Mujina manages to absorb a good amount of Tessaiga's power, then decides to test her own sword on Inuyasha. | ||
| Review | ||
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Whelp, looks like Mujina might actually be something kinda important, since she turns all evil-y at the end. I'm guessing the "I'm avenging my dad" thing was just a ploy to string Shippou along. Either that or the sword is possessing her. ... Come to think of it, it seems a lot like that "Kenkon no Naginata" thing from the Sengoku Sandwich filler arc in the anime, if that's the case.
Best Moment: Miroku comes to the obvious conclusion. "You like her, don't you?" Man, Shippou gets all the girls in this series, it seems. Although, in this case, I think Shippou's desire for "justice" really is what's driving him rather than a crush on the new chick. Besides, when Mujina blasts Inuyasha, Shippou's all like, "OMGWTF!!1", since while pranking Inuyasha is certainly fine, KILLING him is kinda beyond the scope of their agreement. So, next week we'll likely either kill Mujina off or make her come to her senses. I still say her sword is connected to Mouryoumaru, mostly because it has the same powers. But, I've been wrong before. A lot. |
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(Mujina) |
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| Original Release Date: 10/27/04 | Review Date: 10/28/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Inuyasha defeats some youkai that were being driven out of a forest. Turns out they were being chased by a youkai girl named Mujina, who has a sword with absorption powers. She kidnaps Shippou as a hostage for Inuyasha's Tessaiga, but he just comes blasting in. | ||
| Review | ||
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Why, goodbye plot! It needs a break right about now. Granted, the last Shippou filler ended up leading into something kinda important, so maybe that will be the case here, too. But, for the moment, we've got the usual Inu/Shippou bashing, including Shippou uttering some lines that have, up until now, mostly been strictly used in the anime (especially the whole "I've gotta be the strong one" thing).
Best Moment: Mujina comments that as long as she has Shippou hostage, Inuyasha won't attack her. Then Inuyasha helpfully comes along and blows her entire hideaway apart without any regard for Shippou. ^_^* And Mujina has her special sword that can apparently absorb youkais' powers. How this is different from Tessaiga, I have no idea (other than Tessaiga generally only absorbs specific powers, and only if Inuyasha wants it). Since the sword is called "Datsuki" ("Plundering Oni"), it would be amusing if Inuyasha ended up getting ahold of it, so he could be just like his big brother and have a daddy sword and an oni sword. In any case, it's chapters like these that tell me that this series isn't ending anytime soon. ^_^* |
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(Goraishi) |
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| Original Release Date: 10/20/04 | Review Date: 10/21/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Kouga rescues his buddies from getting fried, and for that, the ancestors' spirits bequeath Goraishi unto him, and lo, he kicked three-headed lupine ass. The ancestors give him a "get out of Midoriko's control free" card, which can only be used once. | ||
| Review | ||
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I was wondering when there would be a chapter titled "Goraishi". Here it is! And it proceeded almost exactly like the whole Housenki thing! Thus, the lesson of today's story is that being modest gets you better stuff. Act like you don't want it, and it will be gift-wrapped and thrust into your hands. ... You do realize that this is practically Kouga's first bonafide good deed of the series. He got off to a bad start killing those villagers and Rin and all, but no one seems to care. -_-*
Best Moment: Oooh, toss-up. But I think I'm partial to when Kouga returns to Inu and company. He tries to hug Kagome, but ends up getting an armful of Shippou instead. The other one is when Kouga gives his speech about he'd rather give up Goraishi than watch his buddies die, at which point the two tear up and get all sparkly. I mean, really, Kouga just wanted to bring them along to make sure he had someone to save so he could impress the dead guys. And Kagome is STILL desperate for fresh meat, asking Kouga to join their group. This leaves Sesshoumaru and Kikyou as the only two non-villain characters she's not asked. And that's just because she hasn't gotten the chance yet. ^_^* But, man, Kouga, learn from examples. Kagome made the offer to Kagura, she turned it down, and then got killed. She made the offer to Kohaku, he ran away, then got manipulated by Midoriko to go sacrifice himself. So now that Kouga's turned her down, he'll probably walk into a bear trap or something. |
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(Guard of the Treasure) |
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| Original Release Date: 10/13/04 | Review Date: 10/14/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Kouga fights the three-headed wolf guard. ... That's pretty much it. ^_^* | ||
| Review | ||
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All work and no play makes Patches late to read this week's manga chapter. -_-* Ah well, at least I didn't miss much of anything plot-worthy. It was mostly a Kouga-Guardian slugfest. Pretty much the only piece of information given was that Kouga's shards were being controlled by Midoriko, but we knew that already (though why she suddenly decided to start intervening now in the storyline and not 200 chapters ago is a great mystery. :P).
Best Moment: Not really a moment, but a lack thereof. This is the only chapter in memory in which Inuyasha didn't appear at ALL. Kagome appeared once, in a flashback, but other than that, it was Kouga, Kouga, Kouga. I'm guessing that Kouga will beat this guardian through sheer dumb luck or by accident, since he's certainly not a strategist. The guardian's like, "Ha ha, you can't break me", and Kouga's like, "Yeah, whatever. *kick*". The guardian also mentioned that Kouga wasn't worthy to take Goraishi, so that means either something super speshul about Kouga will be revealed in the near future, or someone else will randomly show up to claim them. Watch, like, Hakkaku get it or something. ^_^* |
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(The Wolves' Graveyard) |
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| Original Release Date: 10/06/04 | Review Date: 10/05/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Kouga goes into the sacred lands of the wolves in order to retrieve a weapon, the Goraishi, while Inuyasha and the others stay behind and discuss Kikyou, Midoriko, and Kohaku. Meanwhile, Kouga runs into the grave guard, a three-headed wolf. | ||
| Review | ||
|
Wow, I was half-expecting Kouga to be randomly gone again this week, but no, it looks like he gets to become part of the plot, finally! Since mister Fang of Steel can't rely on his Thighs of Steel, he's going after the Fingers of... Thunder. No, really, "Goraishi" is like "Five Thunder Fingers", and looks like Vincent's claw from FF7 (minus the gauntlet part).
Best Moment: Inuyasha putting Sango in her place. Basically, they recount that if the jewel is completed, Kohaku will die, and Sango states that Kohaku wants to die. So then Miroku's like, "Well, do you want him to die?", to which Sango replies, "I don't know...", to which Inuyasha's all like, "Dude, don't say stuff like that, it's written all over your face that you don't want him to." Also, it looks like Inu's rooting for another sword upgrade. He remenbers Kikyou saying that his sword can't defeat Naraku, at which point he decides she's wrong and vows to make Tessaiga EVEN STRONGER!!!1 So, now it seems like we're in the "Ultimate Weapons" stage of the game. Maybe that means that Sesshoumaru will finally learn a new attack, having never gotten anything new since Toukijin. |
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(The Shard Incident) |
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| Original Release Date: 09/29/04 | Review Date: 09/29/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Kouga battles it out with Mouryoumaru's arm, which randomly sprouts an eye and some fangs. He does well until his shards decide to stop working, and the arm grabs him. Thankfully, Kagome and the others show up at that time and Kagome's arrow scares the arm away. | ||
| Review | ||
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.... DOH!! Man, I was all ready for Kouga to FINALLY lose his shards, but NO! Stupid, stupid Kagome has to run in and save him! BAD KAGOME! Just let him get eaten, for the sake of advancing the storyline! Midoriko's got the right idea! Yeah, that was pretty much the point of this chapter. Inuyasha and Kagome inform Kouga of Midoriko's desire to make the Shikon no Tama whole, to which Kouga's like, "So she must've been the one who messed with my shards so that I would get eaten!" Basically, this doesn't bode well for Kohaku, since it's more or less been shown that Midoriko doesn't give a damn if someone gets killed if it's to get the shards.
Best Moment: Inuyasha and the others find Ginta and Hakkaku, who complain that Kouga has gone off to fight and left them behind. As they're talking, Inuyasha and the others run off to find Kouga, leaving them behind. XD And now Mouryoumaru's arm has gotten the Orochi's venom ability, because it seems like you're not a true villain in this series unless you have some form of toxicity. I mean, Sesshoumaru's poison claws, Naraku's Saimyoushou, Naraku's shouki... I guess Mouryoumaru was feeling left out. This volume also had a two-page ad for the fourth movie, with a look at some of the original characters. ... Yuuuup, those "four gods", from their appearances alone, are obviously the four gods that are ALWAYS used in anime (Seiryuu, Suzaku, Byakko, and Genbu). The irritating thing is that the anime has ALREADY USED these names in their four-part filler episode. We also get a look at the hanyou children, who are all cute and normal-looking. Where are the Jinenji-like ones?! I thought HE represented the norm for hanyou kids! The worst any of these kids get is dark skin tones or odd hair colors. Oh, the horror! |
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(Den of the Orochi) |
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| Original Release Date: 09/22/04 | Review Date: 09/23/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Since the current goal is back to collecting all the Shikon shards, who should make a timely appearance but... Kouga! He finds a wounded snake man who tells him that his den was attacked by a youkai. And who was this youkai? Mouryoumaru! Or rather... Mouryoumaru's arm? | ||
| Review | ||
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Iiiiiit's wolf time! Heh, he got ditched in the anime, but now he's back in the manga, after a mediocre absence of... 36 chapters. Still not as long as the 50-some-odd chapters he was missing for before. Hell, he was gone for more anime episodes than that (42). Still, Kouga just likes to wander off the face of the planet for extended periods of time, it seems.
Best Moment: The usual post-Kikyou Inu/Kago banter strikes again, as Kagome mentions that really, she's not upset that he went off to see her, while Inuyasha's like, "riiiiight". Also... the snake dude stole Papa's hair. He got my hopes up, no matter how slightly. ... Sigh... I'm just hoping for the impossible in that case... I left the term "orochi" untranslated in the title, simply because it reminded me of the "Yamata no Orochi", a mythological serpent, so I figured I should give these guys the same "mythological" connotation rather than any ol' big snakes. ... Even though they're all dead and getting tromped on by Mory's arm. And Kohaku is now... MIA. So, we get to wonder about his fate for even longer now. This'll probably turn into some Kagura-like scenario where there's one scene where we're suddenly like, "OMG, s/he's gonna die!", and then s/he's okay for a while... until s/he randomly keels over a few volumes later. |
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(Mission) |
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| Original Release Date: 09/15/04 | Review Date: 09/16/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Kikyou tells Inuyasha that the only way to defeat Naraku is to destroy his soul. In order to do this, he needs to complete the Shikon no Tama and fuse with it, and then Kikyou can purify it. She leaves, but it turns out Kohaku was listening to the whole exchange. He rather happily announces that he'll go defeat Naraku, and runs off. | ||
| Review | ||
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Noooo, Frecklessss! Man, it's Really Bad Feeling time, now that Kohaku has pretty much sealed his fate. For Naraku to be defeated he needs all the shards, so that pretty much means Kohaku is screwed. He doesn't seem to care that he's screwed, and is all like, "I'm not going there to die! I'm going there to defeat Naraku!" (Cowboy Bebop, anyone?).
Best Moment: Kohaku cuts off a lock of his hair and leaves it with Inuyasha, saying that if Sango has this, then he can always be with her. Dude, this kid is, like, ready to die. Which really sucks, because unlike Kagura, he's actually got something to live for. Unless he really can't live with the fact that he was manipulated into killing his own father. C'mon, he can get over that. But, man. "I'm not going to die!" Famous last words, kid, famous last words. And Midoriko or the shard or something has put up a barrier around Kohaku, so even Inuyasha and his manly red sword can't get to him. Sigh... we're just killing off one character after another at this point. But now that it's been revealed that they need all the shards, hopefully that means Kouga will be back in the picture shortly. Maybe he'll die, too. |
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(The Same Soul) |
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| Original Release Date: 09/08/04 | Review Date: 09/09/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Kikyou absorbs Midoriko's soul in order to heal the wound given to her by Naraku at Mt. Hakurei, which had reopened since Kagome healed it earlier. Meanwhile, a voice in Kohaku's shard beckons him. | ||
| Review | ||
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Ooo-kay. The main question from everyone reading this chapter seems to be "Wasn't Midoriko's soul inside the Shikon no Tama?" I guess only part of it was, since Kikyou decided to make off with the rest. Or maybe this will actually be explained in a later chapter. Either that or it's like the end of the battle in Papa's grave where we're all left going, "Huh?"
Best Moment: I still get all squishy seeing Kohaku as part of the group, and seeing him included all snuggled up sleeping with everybody was just "Awwwww". And then his Shikon beeper goes off and he goes running. So, now I'm all worried for Kohaku again. I really hope he doesn't die, since unlike Kagura, he actually has something to live for. So, hopefully some of this will be resolved in the coming weeks, since this particular chapter made very little sense. And if Midoriko's gathering the remaining Shikon shards, maybe that means Kouga will finally come back! After his return getting written out of the anime, I'm almost starting to miss him. Almost. |
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(Hole in the Chest) |
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| Original Release Date: 09/01/04 | Review Date: 09/02/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Kikyou's hanging out on a mountain, but some monks are able to walk through her barrier, indicating that her strength has not returned. Meanwhile, the Inu group goes back to the taijiya village so Sango and Kohaku can pay their respects. Strange things are happening in Midoriko's cave, as one of Kikyou's shinidamachuu bursts out of Midoriko's body and flies off with a soul. | ||
| Review | ||
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Well, now that Kikyou's back, maybe she'll be the next to do something really cool and then triumphantly die. Though what the heck that soul she's taking out of Midoriko is, I have no idea, since I thought Midoriko's soul was inside the Shikon no Tama. Ah well.
Best Moment: Well, hello, Midoriko! Helluva long time no see. Up until now, she was the "apparently important plot element that Takahashi seemed to just forget about". Sort of like Kouga. And while I'd be inclined to believe that revisiting a plot element from earlier in the series was a signal for the ending, that's what I thought about Papa's grave last year (which is from even EARLIER in the series), but no, it's still going. By the way, where did Kochou and Asuka come from? I thought Kohaku killed them back around when Mouryoumaru first showed up. Ah well. Since they're just little paper messengers of doom, it can't be terribly difficult to make more. |
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(Wind) |
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| Original Release Date: 08/25/04 | Review Date: 08/25/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Kagura sits dying by herself until Sesshoumaru finds her. He considers helping her with Tenseiga, then realizes he can't. Kagura accepts this and dies in front of him, turning into wind. | ||
| Review | ||
|
o_O
Wow, now I'm worried about the rest of the cast, because Takahashi finally killed off a really main character. Funny, I was expecting Kagura to live and Kohaku to die, but no. Granted, if Kagura HAD lived, she probably wouldn't have been much better off, considering she's got nowhere to go (Fluffy doesn't count). At least Kohaku has Sango. Best Moment: Uh... ... I don't know, the whole chapter was pretty moving. I dunno, I was kinda partial to the part where Sesshoumaru appears saying he was following the scent of Naraku's shouki, to which Kagura tells him, "Well, too bad, he's not here." To which Sesshoumaru replies. "No, I knew it was you." Making Kagura all like, "OMG, he came looking just for meee!" But, man, she gets, like, a chapter-long death scene. Even Kikyou didn't get that. And Hakudoushi only got a couple of panels. I'm not really sure why Sesshoumaru couldn't save her with Tenseiga, though. Maybe because she wasn't actually dead yet, but once she did die, there'd be nothing left to save. Man, this chapter would have been gorgeous animated. Ah well, there's always hope for OAVs. |
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(Siblings) |
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| Original Release Date: 08/18/04 | Review Date: 08/18/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Inu beats on Mouryoumaru, who runs away. Sango confronts Kohaku about his memories, to which he finally admits that he remembers everything. Kagome gives him the offer to join the group, but he declines, only to accept five seconds later when they all realize that Kagura is in trouble. Meanwhile, Kagura angsts. | ||
| Review | ||
|
Well, that was kind of an anticlimactic way for the group to figure out that Kohaku has his memory back. "So, Kohaku, do you have your memory back?" "Yes." "Oh, okay. That's cool." And Kagome, eager as ever, makes the offer for Kohaku to join the part just as she did to Kagura a couple of chapters ago. At this rate, in two chapters she'll be asking Sesshoumaru or Kouga to join the party. -_- She must really be in need of fresh meat.
Not to mention that Sango really does have selective hearing. She figured out that Kohaku had his memories back because Kohaku protected her from Mouryoumaru, not because Mouryoumaru came out and said, "Kohaku, you have your memories back." -_- Best Moment: The last page. I mean, nothing was particularly going on other than Kagura angsting in a field of flowers and looking utterly pathetic, but... it was pretty. And makes me mad that the anime is ending where it is, because that scene would be awesome to see in color. There's always hope for OAVs, I guess. So, now the question for next week is, "Who's gonna find Kagura first?" Inu's group is headed that way, as is Sesshoumaru (supposedly), and Mouryoumaru... I really have no idea where he's off to. And Naraku's probably back in his little cabin going "Kukuku' at everything. |
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(Unending Suffering) |
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| Original Release Date: 08/11/04 | Review Date: 08/12/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Naraku returns Kagura's heart, then proceeds to impale her and pump her full of shouki, ensuring she suffers for the time she has left. Meanwhile, Kohaku goes against Mouryoumaru, who baby-gropes him and finds out he has his memories back. Mouryoumaru attempts to swipe Kohaku's shard, but Inuyasha shows up. | ||
| Review | ||
|
Naraku, you are... a very not-nice person. It was basically, "Oh, here's the freedom you wanted so badly, but I'll make sure it doesn't last very long and you'll be suffering through all of it." I guess now that Hakudoushi's gone, Naraku gets to wear the bastard pants in the family again. Well, considering that Kagura is against him and Kanna is MIA, he's pretty much the only one left who CAN, considering Mouryoumaru doesn't even WEAR pants.
Best Moment: The Kagura impale-ness. Not because it was anything good, it was just o_O. Unless Takahashi pulls something on us, there's pretty much only two things that can happen after that: Kagura dies or Sesshoumaru saves her. And either way, it would be a first. As for Kohaku, now Mouryoumaru knows he's got his memory back, but Sango must have selective hearing or something, because she didn't seem to notice Mouryoumaru announcing that Kohaku was free of Naraku's direct control. And when Inuyasha slices Mouryoumaru's tentacles away from Kohaku, he's all like, "Did I make it in time?!" Of COURSE you did, you're the PUNCTUAL brother! In Sesshoumaru's case, Kagura will shrivel up and die somewhere, and Sesshoumaru will happen upon her a few weeks later. He's just never in any hurry to get anywhere, it seems. |
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(Kagura's Heart) |
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| Original Release Date: 08/04/04 | Review Date: 08/04/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Naraku approaches Kagura and offers her her... freedom?! Thankfully, Kagura's smart enough not to leap into his arms and accept right away. Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru notices Naraku's scent and heads that way. Even meanwhiler, Sango's still searching for Kohaku, and ends up at the cave where Mouryoumaru was hanging out. He knocks her out, and Kohaku has to defend her. | ||
| Review | ||
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Well, now that the 'Doushi is out of the way, this chapter was more or less a set-up for a couple of major things that are nearly inevitable after this. Mouryoumaru's found Kohaku, so now Kohaku's gotta protect Sango and not let his Shikon shard get taken. Thankfully, the Inu troupe is headed that way. Also, Naraku's making some sort of shady deal with Kagura, and Sesshoumaru's off to the rescue again. Whatever happened to Kouga and Kikyou?
Best Moment: Ouch, Kohaku's on the spot now. He's gonna get his memory-full-ness revealed AND get his Shikon shard taken, it seems. But at least if he's going down, he can protect Sango while he's at it. Or so it seems. Also, Sesshoumaru's back for one page, and that's always something happy, even though he's had no purpose in the story in years. Looks like after Mouryoumaru escaped the last time, he went to pick up Rin and cart her along this time. Granted, when he left to follow Naraku, he didn't actively take either of his minions with him, but it's not like they can't follow him. So, in the end, Naraku is holding out Kagura's heart like, "Oh, you want this? Come and get it. C'mon, come and get it. I dare ya." Hopefully Sesshoumaru walking in on this exchange will mean he'll actually get to do something worthwhile this time around. |
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(Hakudoushi's End) |
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| Original Release Date: 07/28/04 | Review Date: 08/02/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Hakudoushi declares his independence from Naraku, and Naraku responds by taking down Hakudoushi's barrier and sending the Saimyoushou somewhere else. Seizeing the opportunity, Miroku sucks Hakudoushi into his Kazaana, and that's that. The group parts ways with Kagura, who runs into Naraku herself a few seconds later. | ||
| Review | ||
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Doooouuuusshhhiiiiiii!! What a sucky way to die. After being in the manga for nearly 80 chapters, the 'Doushi is no more. Or, at least, so it seems at this point. I mean, Kikyou came back and all, but we've never seen anything come out of the Kazaana before... Granted, if the manga is ever going to end, SOMETHING's gonna have to start getting resolved, even if it means killing off the only villain who actually does anything -_-. Although, now that the baby has Mouryoumaru, maybe he can go out and do stuff now.
Best Moment: Kagome's offer to let Kagura join the party. I dunno, I just went "awww" when I read that. I'm not really upset that Kagura turned them down, though, since I don't really see her tagging along with them and doing crazy filler stuff and having Miroku grope her butt... Plus she's too dead-set on getting into Fluffy's pants to care about any other offers that come up. And no sooner does Kagura leave their company then Naraku pays a visit. Kagura's probably thinking, "Oh SH*T, I SHOULD have stuck with them, because now I'm screwed!" Or maybe she was just trying to go against Inuyasha's declaration of "Don't die!", and is now like, "Ha, see if I'll ever do what YOU tell me!" So, now that Kagura's out of the frying pan and into the fire, I'd half-expect next week's chapter title to be an equally-blunt "The End of Kagura" or something. Or maybe Naraku's just there to tell her to make him coffee. |
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(Hakudoushi's True Intention) |
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| Original Release Date: 07/21/04 | Review Date: 07/22/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Hakudoushi attacks Kagura, but Inuyasha protects her. However, Hakudoushi absorbs her into his barrier. Kagura quickly tells Inuyasha about Mouryoumaru and the baby, and Hakudoushi informs them that he and the baby are trying to sever all connection between Naraku and his heart. Meanwhile, Naraku has Kagura's heart in his hand... | ||
| Review | ||
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Welcome back, manga! It seems like such a long time, even though it was only a one-week break.
But for one thing... hoooly crud, Kagura's in deep shiznit now. Granted, that's what I thought 15 chapters ago, and it sort of fizzled out, but now the nail-biting is back full force. They've been draggin on this "Kagura's gonna die!!1" arc agonizingly long, so it's gotten to the point that we need to either kill her off or save her completely. Best Moment: Inuyasha protecting Kagura. It just rocked seeing him standing at the ready with Kagura behind him. Aw, he's found yet another girl to cover up for. Hopefully Kagome won't get TOO jealous. :P And then when Hakudoushi pulls Kagura into his barrier, Inuyasha won't attack, and Kagura's all like, "Graaaah, oh NOW he doesn't want to kill me." But... gaah, as I thought, this chapter ended in a seriously bad place. And what's worse, I'm going to be rather late in updating next week since I'll be out of town at Otakon most of the week. Nyooooo, teh manga-ness! |
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(Kagura's Decision) |
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| Original Release Date: 07/07/04 | Review Date: 07/09/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Kagura confronts Kohaku, but after Kohaku recounts to her his reason to keep fighting, even though he'll eventually die, Kagura lets him go. Hakudoushi then appears on the scene, fully aware of Kagura's betrayal, and it sounds like Hakudoushi wants to take Naraku's place. He then attacks Kagura just as Inu-tachi appear on the scene. | ||
| Review | ||
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Holy Kagura! o_O We actually got, like, character development this week! Kagura finally said, "Ah, screw it all!" and refused to kill Kohaku! There's hope for you yet! Or it just means you're gonna die, since villains who do something heroic always die shortly thereafter.
Best Moment: Kagura sending Kohaku away on her feather. To me, that just seemed like the clincher. Save the kid's hide in return for her own, it seemed like. As soon as she did that, I thought, "Ah hell, she's gonna die". Granted, now Inu's on the scene, but... well, she can just die in front of him, then! Also, when Hakudoushi returned her wind blades to her, she made the comment that she can make better use of the wind than he can, so maybe she'll pull some kickass move out of her butt in the next chapter. Too bad the next chapter won't be for two weeks, since the manga is on hiatus next week. -_-. But, yeah. This one was good. Kohaku's being all angsty and talking about fulfilling his obligation to make peace with the people he's killed, and Kagura finally doing something for someone else for a change. Good good. Let's just hope this little segment doesn't end as anticlimactically as many of the ones before it. |
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(The Baby's Whereabouts) |
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| Original Release Date: 06/30/04 | Review Date: 07/02/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Kagura escapes with Mouryoumaru, at which point Mouryoumaru commands her to take Kohaku's shard, or else he'll absorb her. Kagura, being all into that self-preservation thing, agrees, and goes to beat up on Kohaku | ||
| Review | ||
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Well, as I thought, Sesshoumaru was just randomly gone in this chapter. So much for being after Mouryoumaru. "Oh well, he got away. Let's go stare off cliffs again." Either that or he'll show up late again in a few chapters, as he's prone to doing.
Best Moment: "Warui na, Kohaku." Kagura's apologizing to him?! Aw, maybe there's hope for her yet. A sort of, "I really don't want to kill you, but if it's to save my own butt..." sort of thing. Although, I'd probably do the same thing in that situation. I care about other people and all, but I'm also a big fan of breathing. Also, the baby's arms coming out of Mouryoumaru was just creepy. Noo, she's being tentacle-raped by baby fingers! Man, that's just nasty. At least now we know what happened to the baby. Now whatever happened to Kanna? Is she stuffed in there, too, or is she still hanging out with Naraku and letting him watch closed-circuit TV on her mirror? ... Where IS Naraku, anyway? Eh, maybe we'll find out next week. |
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(Container) |
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| Original Release Date: 06/23/04 | Review Date: 06/24/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Sesshoumaru fires attack after attack at Mouryoumaru, who just keeps absorbing them. Finally, Mouryoumaru canna take anymore, and he a-splodes. But, of course, it takes more than that to actually kill him, so in true Naraku fashion, he pulls an "OMGWTF!!1" and runs away. | ||
| Review | ||
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And so, the overwhelming question from last week was actually answered in this chapter:
Sesshoumaru's just stupid. XD So, the Best Moment naturally goes to Shippou for stating so explicitly. Man, Shippou's certainly gotten brave, since just about every single line of his in this chapter involved telling Sesshoumaru off. "He didn't plan ANYTHING, he was just being cocky." Heh heh, glad to see even Takahashi is starting to make the characters pick on teh fluffeh (fans have been doing so ever since he showed up). Naturally, my biggest gripe with this chapter is that it still resolved nothing, thus giving Sesshoumaru yet ANOTHER totally pointless battle. I mean, yeah, Mouryoumaru managed to make off with Kagome's shard, but... well, woo, Kouga and Kohaku still have theirs, so it's not the end of the world yet. We don't even know what Naraku wants to DO with the jewel. Also, if Sesshoumaru is just gone in next week's chapter, then, yeah, his appearance in the story now is beyond pointless. He actually hasn't had a real role in the plot ever since Inuyasha flattened him with the Kaze no Kizu. And, so the chapter ends with Inuyasha wondering, "Well, crap. If Mory IS Naraku's heart, then why the heck did he come prancing out yelling, 'ooh, attack me!'?" ^_^* I personally never thought Mory was Naraku's heart, but... I dunno, maybe he could be. But I still think these dogs are barking up the wrong tree. |
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(Vanished Youki) |
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| Original Release Date: 06/16/04 | Review Date: 06/17/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Sesshoumaru comes in swords a-blazin' but it turns out Toukijin's attacks don't work on Mouryoumaru, because he absorbs youki. So, Inuyasha tries his old and busted Tessaiga on him, and that doesn't work either. Inu ends up getting caught, so Sesshoumaru figures he can kill the two together. | ||
| Review | ||
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Ah, there's something nice about seeing Sesshoumaru fight again. The last few times he's shown up, it's been to get the youki crystal from Kagura, or save Kagura's butt, or arrive fashionably late to Goryoumaru's temple... finally he's actually DOING something. Something rather ineffective... but something!
Also, seeing Sess and human Inu together... I don't know why, but it makes me all happy and giddy. The cover page of the two together was just like.... :D. And, as I kinda figured, Sesshoumaru made little comment on Inuyasha's new look, other than he was ugly. :P Best Moment: Well, I said I really liked the cover image, but... actually, I kinda liked Sesshoumaru "standing up" for Kagura. Mory asked where they got the youki-radar crystal, and Jaken was about to say Kagura gave it to them, but Sesshoumaru shut him up. Granted, this could simply be because Sesshoumaru didn't want people to know he was getting help from her. :P
The end of this chapter was quite the cliffhanger, and it left everyone wondering, "Okay, Sesshoumaru, are you just stupid, or do you actually have a plan?" Going by his previous track record, I'm leaning towards stupid (has the guy EVER strategized before?), but... you never know. |
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(Transfiguration) |
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| Original Release Date: 06/09/04 | Review Date: 06/10/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| So, it turns out Goryoumaru is really Mouryoumaru! WHO WOULD'A THUNK IT?!?! Mory proceeds to make hash of everyone... until Sesshoumaru comes flying in with some pwnage of his own. | ||
| Review | ||
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Wow. For once I was completely right about what would happen, right down to Sesshoumaru showing up. That doesn't happen very often. Takahashi must be losing her edge. :P
So, yeah, as I figured from the moment he appeared, Goryoumaru is Mouryoumaru, though we have yet to learn the specifics as to why exactly. Mory still has no pants, but he looks a little different now, like he was blown apart and sewn back together. Plus he talks. Best Moment: Hi, Sesshoumaru! Man, hopefully this means he'll actually get to FIGHT again. He hasn't done such a thing since the battle in the grave last year. He hasn't even encountered Inuyasha since then, either. So, hopefully next week will be a double-whammy with Sesshoumaru laying a smackdown on Mory and then witnessing his baby brother as a human. ^_^ But before Sess showed up, it was Sango saving everyone. Kagome tries to shoot Mory, and Sango bodyslams her out of the way. Then Miroku tries to Kazaana Mory, and Sango bodyslams him out of the way. Then Mory bodyslams everybody. Then Sesshoumaru kenatsus him. Come to think of it, Sesshoumaru is starting to make Vegeta entrances. I mean, in DBZ, it's always ::ki blast comes from offscreen:: ::Vegeta theme starts playing:: ::pan up Vegeta while he tells everyone they suck::. The only problem with this is that, while Sesshoumaru is indeed getting in the habit of announcing his presence by blowing something up, he doesn't really have any theme music befitting that purpose. He's got his big, "I'M A HUGE DOG AND I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS" theme, and his "I'm dangerously contemplating" theme. The guy needs some new music badly, since he doesn't really do either anymore. C'mon, Wada, you gave Kikyou some new music a couple episodes back, you can do the same for Sesshoumaru! ... Not that theme music has anything to do with the manga. Let's take the arctangent of this conversation and get back on track. ... Although, I really have nothing more to say. ^_^* |
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(Goryoumaru's True Form) |
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| Original Release Date: 06/02/04 | Review Date: 06/03/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Miroku lays the beatdown on the bandits while Goryoumaru plays tentacle with Inuyasha and Kagome, and with Inuyasha currently human, he's even more useless than Shippou. Goryoumaru manages to swipe Kagome's Shikon shard and informs them that he is having a bit of an identity crisis. What identity, you ask? Find out.... next week! ... Maybe! | ||
| Review | ||
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Whelp, there goes the neighborhood. Or the Shikon shard at least.
Granted, Gory hasn't left yet, as he figures he needs to do the classic bad guy
"I've got what I want, but I'll just stick around and bug you some more for
the hell of it", which gives ample opportunity for Sesshoumaru or Kouga or
Kikyou to swoop in and save the day.
Best Moment: Man, Gory sure likes to break stuff. He like, just completely flattens the house with one swing of his arm, and blows it up for good measure, too. Thankfully, Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shippou's Main Character Shields(tm) prevented them from coming to any real harm, but at least it looked neat. The title page was also in color this week, though it wasn't a terribly exciting picture. Just human Inu scowling. So, regardless of what this week's title says, it looks like Goryoumaru's "true form" will actually be revealed next week. He said he'd met the group before, so that means he's an existing character. Mouryoumaru is the obvious choice, but for all we know Takahashi could pull a fast one on us and he'll end up being Nushi-sama or something. :P |
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(Jailbreak) |
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| Original Release Date: 05/26/04 | Review Date: 05/27/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Since Hakudoushi keeps pestering her, Kagura lets Goryoumaru out of the prison. In the meantime, the Inu troupe has found a town attacked by laser-wielding bandits. Why, the bandits have the Gyouja kids' aardvark jars! Too bad it's the night of the new moon and Inuyasha can't do anything about them. Enter the freshly-escaped Goryoumaru... | ||
| Review | ||
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Hi, Gory! So, he's finally off and doing something again besides rotting away in a cage drolling out, "Noooobody knoooows... the trouble I've seeeen...." And, gasp, are we actually someday going to learn the purpose of those darn Rakanzou things? ... Takahashi seems to like to tease us with a lot of these questions and then just never answer them. -_-
Best Moment: Human Inuyasha! God, it's been... well, it's been a long time since he's turned human. The last time was back in the Shichinintai arc, and that was barrier-induced. The last time he naturally went human was way back when Kagura found out about it. That was, like, three years ago. o_O And so now we've got the Grandpa Gyouja, with their anteater ray guns going around blasting holes in everything. Maybe they just found them at Gory's old hideout. Although, I thought the laser things only worked on youkai. ... Hm, maybe they've gotten an upgrade while we weren't looking. Or maybe the town is made from youkai! AAAAHHHHH!!! Anyway, next week, according to Shounen Sunday's website, we'll get a couple of color pages and a confrontation between Gory and human Inu! Though, what Goryoumaru has against Inuyasha, I'm not really sure. Unless he really IS Mouryoumaru, in which case he's lacking in people-skills in general. |
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(Hidden Feelings) |
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| Original Release Date: 05/19/04 | Review Date: 05/20/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Inuyasha, Sango, and Kohaku chase down the possessed Taichi and Sango uses her poison powder to expel the parasitic youkai. Sango and Kohaku confront each other, but Kohaku just runs off again, unwilling to let anyone (except Kagura, I guess) know that he's gotten his memory back. Meanwhile, Goryoumaru's making chum of youkai. | ||
| Review | ||
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So, this little Kohaku arc actually didn't end in tragedy! It just sorta... ended instead, with nothing new really being accomplished other than a couple people having a fleeting feeling that Kohaku's not completely under Naraku's control. C'mon Takahashi, if you're gonna end the manga this year, wrapping stuff up would be ideal.
Best Moment: Hakudoushi's big, kiddy grin as he exclaimed, "Haaaai!" ... Oh... wait... no, that was just in the stupid dream I had last night where I dreamt I read the chapter. You'd think that Goryoumaru turning into the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man would tip me off that something was wrong, but nooo... And, according to that dream, the title of episode 156 is "Abi-hime to THEM wa Koko ni Iru", or "Abi-hime and THEM are Here". ... Anyway, REAL Best Moment from the REAL chapter: Well, um... Goryoumaru. ^_^*. I mean, the whole stock ending to the Kohaku escapade left me feeling kinda down, so getting back to Goryoumaru, and the promise of something new and exciting, really made me happy. This guy's still one big question mark, so HOPEFULLY next week will shed a little light on him. |
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(Memory of Father) |
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| Original Release Date: 05/12/04 | Review Date: 05/13/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Kohaku has a dream about his dad and how he died, and all of a sudden it's replaying before his eyes as Taichi, posessed by the Hitoukon, attacks his own dad! Kohaku smacks him around a bit right as Sango arrives. Root-Taichi escapes while Inu, Sango, and Kohaku run off to save him. | ||
| Review | ||
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Today we learn that killing your father is bad and makes you angst a lot. So, now Kohaku has found a kindred spirit boy-possesed-by-youkai-and-goes-after-dad-with-a-kife. Feel the love!
Best Moment: "Tasukeru!" Or, "I'll save him!" for those of us with Japanese deficiencies. :P This leaves Kagome sitting there going, "WTF, is Kohakyun, like, a good guy now?" Welcome to chapter 314, Kagome! Of course, now that Kagome has a feeling that Kohaku's not under Naraku's control anymore, it'll take another year and a day for them to actually do anything about it. -_- But, you gotta admit, Sango's gotta work on her timing. She comes on the scene right as Kohaku tackles Taichi to the ground away from his dad, and then all she sees is Kohaku pinning down a kid and the dad with a big cut on his arm. I'm tellin' ya, the fates are out to make sure her perception of life sucks! That's why she's pining after Miroku ::ducks flying objects::. |
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(Hitoukon) |
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| Original Release Date: 04/28/04 | Review Date: 04/29/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| A mountain dog is making hash of village people, so Kohaku shows up and kicks its fuzzy butt. It turns out that, unlike every other rampant beast of destruction in the series, this was just an ordinary dog rather than a youkai. It was just being posessed by some nasty roots. Kohaku gets taken in by a family, but the little boy gets rooted. | ||
| Review | ||
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So, I guessed right that we'd get back to plot, but I was wrong about who we'd turn to. Eh, Kohaku's been absent for a while, so I guess it's his turn again to tease the main cast with his "Ha ha, I have all my memories back, but no one knows except me, Kagura and the readers! It's all so Sango and I can ANGST!"
Best Moment: Um... I don't know. I liked the dog. I thought that because it was a big, white, mythological dog, it would have some relevance, but nope. Off with its head and there goes the happy root to infect someone else. Poor dog. I'll bet if Sesshoumaru finds it, he'll be sad. In a "OMG, Kohaku killed t3h puppy, and now I will huntz him so I can stayz in t3h story!" sort of way. Speaking of whom, if Naraku wants Kohaku to hunt "the strongest type of youkai", why the shiz is he going after the Stick of Death? I'll bet that's what Sesshoumaru is really depressed about. Back when Hakudoushi was head-hunting "strong youkai" and now with Kohaku's little excursion, Sesshoumaru seemed to be left off both their lists. Of course, now that the Root of All Evil has posessed this very threatening random little boy, things are gonna get really scary! Help, he's going to gnaw on people's shins. Although, it's not like Kohaku's going to kill the kid like he did the dog, so I suppose it's the safest place. Anyway, that's all for this week. And next week. Something about this "Golden Week" holiday in Japan means there's no manga chapter for next week. :P But, now that the anime's back, I can use that to tide me over. Nice how that works out. |
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