(The Blood's Effect) |
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| Original Release Date: 07/20/05 | Review Date: 07/19/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Inuyasha wakes up Kinka and Ginka, but Mouryoumaru attacks them anyway and cuts open their tail, spilling their blood on his body. The blood hardens his shell where Inuyasha attacked it with his dragon-scaled Tessaiga, so Mouryoumaru decides to devour Kinka and Ginka completely to gain the entirety of their bonding power. Miroku tries to stop him with his Kazaana, but the Saimyoushou show up to protect Mouryoumaru, leaving everyone wondering just what Naraku is trying to do. | ||
| Review | ||
|
So, now it looks like all Naraku really wants is a really good cock fight. ... Given Inuyasha's sword and Mouryoumaru's part,
that is likely NOT the best term to use, but... whatever. He's powered up Inuyasha's sword and is now giving Mouryoumaru the
go-ahead to power up his armor... maybe in the end it'll just make Inuyasha and Mouryoumaru destroy each other. If I were
Mouryoumaru, I'd be wary about continuing my pursuit of Kinka and Ginka until I knew more about just what the heck kind of
effect they'd have.
Best Moment: Not really "best", but more like "head-meet-desk" moment. Mouryoumaru shoots off some Kongousouha spears to knock Kinka and Ginka out of the sky, so Miroku decides to use his Kazaana against it. ... Yes, let's suck some GIANT POINTY THINGS right at him! Thankfully, the Saimyoushou show up and save him the embarrassment of getting impaled on his own attack. So, now we've got Naraku apparently helping everyone out from behind the sidelines. Soon, he'll set up a covert children's charity and will send unsuspecting people to Africa to feed the homeless for him. What a thoughtful guy. Either that or Kanna is really the one behind all this and she's the one with control over the Saimyoushou. She's been the one looking through their eyes in the past, after all. |
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(A Strong Bond) |
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| Original Release Date: 07/13/05 | Review Date: 07/12/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Kinka and Ginka beat on each other some more and eventually leave. Inuyasha's group heads off to find their nest, but find Mouryoumaru and Kanna are already there. | ||
| Review | ||
|
So, it turns out that the reason Kinka and Ginka can't separate is because they're, like, super-glued together or something.
Mouryoumaru finds out from Kanna that if he eats them, he can obtain their super-sticky powers and bond his armor to his body.
Which... I'm not really sure how that benefits him in the long run, but oh well.
Best Moment: Jaken! Oh, Jaken, you are wonderful. When discussing sibling rivaly, Sesshoumaru inevitably gets thrown into the conversation, and Inuyasha insists that his rivalry with Sesshoumaru is nothing like Kinka and Ginka's fighting because "he started it!" Sango wonders if Sesshoumaru is sneezing somewhere, since they're talking about him behind his back, and instead it cuts to JAKEN sneezing. Jaken proclaims that since he is Sesshoumaru's underling, he takes care of everything for him, including sneezes. He gets a lump on the head for that. So, now we've got everybody after Kinka-Ginka's collective ass, and they're currently asleep and totally unaware of it. Inuyasha wants to turn them into hash, Mouryoumaru wants to turn them into glue, and Kagome wants to untangle them so that they can go off their happy ways. Who's going to win over in the end? Well, Mouryoumaru, most likely, since that's the only option that signals a powerup, and all potential powerups eventually happen. |
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(Kinka and Ginka) |
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| Original Release Date: 07/06/05 | Review Date: 07/05/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Mouryoumaru suspects Kanna of being a Trojan horse for Naraku, so reads her mind to see what happened to her. After seeing her attacked by the youkai, he decides her betrayal is genuine. Meanwhile, Inuyasha's group finds a pair of battling youkai brothers, Kinka and Ginka, who are joined at the tail. They cannot separate until one kills the other and takes control of the entire body. Elsewhere, Kanna says that Mouryoumaru's armor can become stronger if he devours Kinka and Ginka. | ||
| Review | ||
|
So, Kanna's got lots of circumstantial evidence pointing at her genuinely betraying Naraku, even though she has yet to give a
valid reason as to why. Seeing Mouryoumaru tap into her thoughts almost makes me think the youkai attack was staged just SO he
would see that and become convinced of Kanna's betrayal. But, she could actually be telling the truth. Who knows with that girl.
Though, just how Mouryoumaru could become stronger by eating the Kinka-Ginka is beyond me. Heaven knows he already has enough
snake-like protrusions.
Best Moment: I don't know why, but the image of the baby Kinka-Ginka was kinda cute... even though one head bit off the other head. It was just so tiny and squishy and coming out of an egg... Their names mean "Gold calamity, Silver calamity" sort of like "Red fish, blue fish". And they're trying to kill each other, and now Moury wants to kill them... man, those two just have "I'm gonna die!" written all over them, and they've just only shown up. The question, of course, is how LONG it's going to take them to die. Toushuu was obvious to die, too, and he took months. And Kinka and Ginka have been duking it out ever since they were born, and they're STILL not dead, so they may be around for a while, too. But, of course, nobody cares about the guys with their snakes twisted together, we just care about what's up with the girl with the mirror. But that likely won't be revealed any time soon, either. Ahh, the waiting, the waiting. |
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(Sage Energy) |
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| Original Release Date: 06/29/05 | Review Date: 06/28/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Inuyasha cuts through the Seimeikan with the dragon-scaled Tessaiga, and instead of getting hit with a backflow of youki, energy from the Seimeikan gets absorbed by Tessaiga. Byakuya comes in and explains that this is Nikosen's senki, or sage energy, which can purify the youki that Tessaiga absorbs, thus making it no longer prone to spontaneous discharges. The group wonders why Naraku would help Inuyasha master a new technique, except to help kill Mouryoumaru. Elsewhere, Kanna is attacked by some of Naraku's youkai and is injured. She makes her way to Mouryoumaru and tells him she is trying to escape Naraku... | ||
| Review | ||
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KANNA!!!!111 Holy crap, it's been, what, 60 chapters since we last saw her? She might almost be tied with Sesshoumaru for the
character with the most prolonged absence. And this certainly wasn't how I'd expected her to reappear. Heck, I'd figured Takahashi
had all but forgotten her.
Best Moment: KANNA! Okay, I already said that. But, seriously, it was nice to see her again. Not to mention she actually EMOTES to some degree in this chapter. The youkai knock her off a cliff and she goes crawling off to Moury, where she collapses. Kinda makes you wonder what Naraku's been doing to her during these 60 chapters to warrant her total absence, and for her to actually CARE what's going on. Changes in heart like this typically mean character death is on the way, though... Oh, and Inuyasha mastered the dragon-scaled Tessaiga, too, but we don't care about that. :P Looks like I was right in last week's guess that Naraku was trying to make Inuyasha learn the technique. Guess Naraku figures he sucks so much already, the attack doesn't pose any threat to him. So, now Inuyasha can suck on Mouryoumaru all he wants without fear of his sword erupting on him. I'm sure... that's a big plus. <_< |
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(Seimeikan) |
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| Original Release Date: 06/22/05 | Review Date: 06/21/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Kagome blasts off Nikosen's head again, but he just grows another. She decides to try to find his "Seimeikan", the source of his life, instead, and blows open his body, revealing a glowing root-like structure inside. She attempts to shoot it, but her holy arrows have no effect, because the Seimeikan is based off of Nikosen's sage powers. Nikosen captures Inuyasha in his branches, and Miroku and Sango arrive on the scene to save Kagome from them. Then, the sun rises and Inuyasha breaks free and tries using the dragon-scaled Tessaiga, but something isn't right... | ||
| Review | ||
|
KUKUKU!! Seriously, Nikosen, expand your vocabulary. He said that eight more times this chapter, sometimes twice in one page.
x__x He's got bark for brains, too, it would seem. And I hit the nail on the head in my prediction that "Seimeikan" would be
an upcoming chapter title. Seriously, if a new name or object is introduced, it will eventually get a chapter title all to itself,
if it wasn't already the title of the chapter in which it was introduced.
Best Moment: Hurrah, Kagome actually did something! Something useless, but at least the chapters weren't as centered around Tessaiga as they have for the past few months. Looks like next week's going to go back to more Tessaiga angst, though. It's also nice to see Inuyasha protect Kagome as a human, too, even though he's just as vulnerable as she is in that form. He's certainly more willing to just jump out and kick ass as a human nowadays. In the next chapter, I guess we'll learn just what Naraku's omg EVIL SCHEME was in sending Nikosen after Inuyasha and goading him into using dragon-scale Tessaiga. It probably has to do with the fact that the Seimeikan isn't youkai-power related, so we're seeing what happens when Tessaiga tries to suck something that isn't evil. Previously, Tessaiga has gone limp when exposed to holy powers, so if it absorbs holy power itself... Then again, Naraku may actually be trying to MAKE Inuyasha master the technique, and beforehand he was able to work it better when a holy power had disrupted the youkai power he was trying to absorb first. Dunno, we'll see. |
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(The Second Head) |
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| Original Release Date: 06/15/05 | Review Date: 06/14/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Nikosen's head runs into a spiderweb set by Byakuya, who wonders why Inuyasha didn't just kill the guy, since he could be brought down easily. Miroku and Sango wonder why Naraku would send someone so wimpy after them. Back at the body, Nikosen attacks Inuyasha and Kagome to absorb their energy to compensate for what he used to regenerate himself. Shippou tosses one of his statues to mush Nikosen for a while so that they can escape. Meanwhile Niko-head says that his body is already killing Inuyasha, so Miroku and Sango go "oh crap" and run back while Byakuya torches Niko-head and takes its shard. But Nikosen's body has already found where Inuyasha is hiding... | ||
| Review | ||
|
Not much to say about this chapter other than Nikosen is really, really ugly. And needs new dialogue. He said "Kukuku..." no
less than eight times this chapter. He also has some sort of life source called Seimeikan, which will likely be the title of
an upcoming chapter, which allows him to regenerate without a Shikon shard. So, Inuyasha's brilliant strategy is to poke it to
death, even though he has no idea what it is.
Best Moment: Byakuya, you just gained more love. "Well, if your BODY is killing Inuyasha, then YOU don't need this shard, now, do you?" *torch* The chapter also revealed an interesting tidbit that apparently Inuyasha's Fire Rat Cloak loses its power on the night of the new moon, too. I guess maybe that's why it can always restore itself, if it heals itself along with him or something. Though, I seem to remember a time he used his cloak for something on a new moon night, but maybe I'm just remembering wrong. Next week... Will Miroku and Sango make it back in time? Will Byakuya see Inuyasha as a human? Will Kagome actually do something useful? Will we learn what the hell happened to Kanna? Will Sesshoumaru finally show us some skin? ... Nah, they're all gonna die. |
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(Nikosen) |
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| Original Release Date: 06/08/05 | Review Date: 06/07/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Inuyasha's group follows after a youkai that has destroyed the plantlife on a mountaintop after Kagome senses a Shikon shard in the area. However, Kagome warns that they shouldn't get too close, since tonight is the new moon. Inuyasha reluctantly agrees, but the youkai, Nikosen, finds them anyway. He says that Naraku told him a person with a scaled sword was out to kill him, and if he killed that person, then he could keep the Shikon shard. Before Inuyasha can do much, night falls and he can't fight. Sango cuts off Nikosen's head, which contains the shard, but the head escapes, while a human Inuyasha is pinned under the body. Sango and Miroku take off after the head, which flees, while Kagome stays with Inuyasha. Suddenly, a second head sprouts from the supposedly dead body...! | ||
| Review | ||
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Wait, human Inuyasha? Wasn't the last new moon less than 50 chapters ago? I guess it seems like a quick month, considering nearly
three times that many chapters passed between the last two. I doubt Sesshoumaru will show up to save his butt this time, so
that must mean that... Kagome will actually get to do something! I can only hope. She's been put on the back burner for
months now, and it's almost become painful.
Best Moment: Inuyasha's started to lose his sense of smell because of the approaching new moon, and Shippou tweaks his nose to remind him of this. Not really hugely great, but cute. This chapter is more of a set-up for something else, I'd assume. Maybe more InuKag bonding, considering Kagome was all like, "Let's just stay here together until Miroku and Sango get back", so it's like "awwww". Nikosen himself is ugly as heck. He looks like some lanky wooden lion with a tumor on its back, and a skull for a head with ginormous bloodshot eyes. So an old guy sporting a lot of wood and an extra head goes looking for a guy with a scaled sword. But now that it's that time of the month, his sword doesn't want to work for him. ... Such a wholesome story arc. So, next week we get to figure out how human Inu, Kagome, and Shippou fare against old woody. He went down with just a swing of Hiraikotsu before, so it's not like they're going up against the uber end-all. They'll be fine. |
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(Nice Guy) |
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| Original Release Date: 06/01/05 | Review Date: 05/31/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Kagome and Inuyasha head back to the modern era for Kagome to treat the burns on his hands and so that she can go to school. While at school, she discovers that she needs to take a make-up test, and therefore can't return home early like she promised Inuyasha. Therefore, Inuyasha goes looking for her and runs into her three friends again, who have stayed behind to wait for her to finish the test. Kagome loses her concentration upon seeing Inuyasha at the window and proceeds to get all the questions wrong. Kagome groans about him always coming for her, and Inuyasha tells her he'll always be with her, which she thanks him for. But that still doesn't change the fact that he's bored out of his mind when she has schoolwork. | ||
| Review | ||
|
Wow, Gendai filler already? The last one was only 20 chapters ago, which is much shorter than the 60-chapter gap between the last
two. 20 chapters between Gendai fillers, and half of them involved Sesshoumaru. ^_^* No real complaints there, but fan of him as
I am, I think I've had enough of that guy for a while. Too much screentime, and he becomes a little tedious.
This week, however, despite it being another assault of randomness, I really don't have much to comment on it. Yeah, there was some funny stuff, but it was mostly re-used, like Inuyasha sporting the bandana again and following Kagome to school, meeting her friends, and making a mess of the house while Kagome's away. Jii-chan loses more precious heirlooms that way. However, there was ONE stand-out moment, which brings us to: Best Moment: .... Sango... what are you doing? The chapter starts out with Sango angsting and Miroku trying to cheer her up. After a heartfelt speech, butt-groping ensues. ... Except it's Sango groping Miroku. She defends herself by saying that she was just checking for a tail to make sure he wasn't Shippou in disguise. Next week will likely be more filler, if the other chapters following Gendai chapters are any indication. Usually some two- or three-part jaunt about fighting some random youkai that has nothing to do with the main plot, but vaguely pushes us in that direction. Once again, we've wrapped up an arc, so where we go from here is anyone's guess. But it'll likely be build-up for another power-up story. All the side characters have gotten power-ups now, so finally it should be time for the main characters besides Inuyasha to do something. But I could be wrong, since I usually am. |
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(Meidou Zangetsuha) |
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| Original Release Date: 05/25/05 | Review Date: 05/24/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Byakuya reports on the battle with Mouryoumaru, and Naraku doesn't seem terribly worried about anything bad happening, and seems to enjoy seeng Moury getting roughed up. Elsewhere, Sesshoumaru and the others have entered a field of restless spirits to await the completion of Tenseiga. Toutousai appears and hands it over, and Sesshoumaru wastes no time in unleashing the Meidou Zangetsuha on a convenient test oni. The Meidou Zangetsuha opens a rift to the underworld and sucks the opponent into it. Sesshoumaru "thanks" Toutousai by aknowledging his acceptance of Tenseiga, and Kagura's ghost parties up a wind to send him on his way. | ||
| Review | ||
|
I was cracking up at some parts of this chapter more than I really should have, simply because the new descriptions of Tenseiga
translate a little too closely to "BATTLE MODE TENSEIGA". Also, the little closing text in the margin was like, "The wind dances
up a blessing", making me picture Kagura partying in her grave for Sesshoumaru being so miffed about her dying. Sesshoumaru
once again flashed back to Mouryoumaru dissing her, and stated that he would decide himself whether or not Kagura's death was
in vain. Talk about one-track mind. Early series, it was just "Tessaiga, Tessaiga, Tessaiga", now it's "Kagura, Kagura, Kagura".
Best Moment: Jaken, you rock. XD Jaken gripes that Toutousai was just pretending to reforge Tenseiga and had really just swiped it and run off, and then Toutousai's cow drops on him. I also did like Sesshoumaru's line about, "Whether or not her death was in vain... I'll decide that for myself." The term "Meidou Zangetsuha" seems to translate along the lines of "Abyssmal Road on Dawn's Crescent Blast", which... I dunno, I guess it works. ^_^* Although, at least in black and white, Hell looks a lot like outer space. But I guess it's something fitting to use against Naraku. Send Hellboy to Hell? And now we've got yet another character with the ability to open a black abyss and suck an enemy into it. At least, from the sounds of it, Tenseiga retains its ability to restore life, so it hasn't lost anything with this upgrade. Something that I found interesting was that it seemed to be implied that Rin doesn't know that Sesshoumaru resurrected her, or at least if she does, she doesn't know he used Tenseiga to do it. Although I've been wrong multiple times in the past few chapters, it looks like this is likely the last we'll be seeing of Sesshoumaru for a while, and we'll head back to whatever Inuyasha's group is up to next week. Said group was, amusingly, not even IN this chapter at ALL, making this the second time in recent memory that a side character's powerup arc totally overshadowed anything the main characters were doing. ^_^* It's been a nice 11 chapters, but I think it's time for Sess to take a break. |
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(Divergence) |
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| Original Release Date: 05/17/05 | Review Date: 05/18/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Kikyou reflects on her reasons for wanting to complete the Shikon no Tama, and Kohaku states that he doesn't mind giving up his life for her cause. Inuyasha doesn't want her to go as far as sacrificing Kohaku, and hopes he can find another way before Kikyou fulfills her plan. Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru is recovering on a beach when Toutousai approaches him, saying Tenseiga had been calling. He says that Tenseiga is reacting to a change in Sesshoumaru's heart, that he has started fighting selflessly. To that end, Toutousai offers to reforge Tenseiga into a weapon... | ||
| Review | ||
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... Sesshoumaru? What are you STILL doing here? Ah well. Although, if THIS is all he's gotta do to get an upgrade, well... that's
kind of a let-down. Come on, at least let him fight for it! Or, for all we know, Naraku's taking advantage of Sesshoumaru's
current mental state and Toutousai is really a Byakuya illusion, come to swipe Tenseiga from him while he's not totally aware! ...
Not likely, but that would be kinda cool.
The end of the little Kikyou thing kind of had me worried, too, since Kikyou's like, "I don't like it, but I have to do this. Kohaku, I'm sorry." And Kohaku's looking all innocently at her. I'm half-expecting her to just swipe his shard right then and there. Nooo, BAD Kikyou! Best Moment: Once again, Sesshoumaru is a total moron but covers for it. Sesshoumaru wonders what the heck Toutousai is doing there, to which he replies that Tenseiga had been calling him, and didn't he notice? Then Sesshoumaru's like, ".... it was?" Ahahaha, the same thing happened when Toukijin broke. Someone obviously didn't play fetch enough when he was a kid, since he certainly can't seem to catch a clue lately. The preview for next week is all like, "DUHN DUHN DUHN, Tenseiga will be reborn at Toutousai's hands!" Hurrah. Though, I wonder if this means it won't be able to bring anyone back to life anymore. If that's the case, then Kohaku's pretty screwed. And it might also mean that it can't protect Sesshoumaru's life anymore, so if he ever gets into another situation where he's in mortal danger, he's pretty screwed, too. But, at least he got a shiny blowy-uppy thingy out of it, and that's all a guy could ever want to die happy. |
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(Escape) |
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| Original Release Date: 05/11/05 | Review Date: 05/10/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Inuyasha cuts at Mouryoumaru's armor with the dragon-scaled Tessaiga and manages to crack it. Sesshoumaru is also able to pry open the diamond arm a little, and it turns out Tenseiga's barrier had been protecting him. When Kikyou tries to shoot Mouryoumaru's Shikon fragment again, he retreats into a cloud of shouki. Sesshoumaru discards the broken Toukijin, saying that he'll search for a replacement. | ||
| Review | ||
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Ah, the stench of a cop-out. There was such a good set-up last time around, and I was expecting so much more out of it,
but alas, everything comes to a head and all that comes of it is a broken Toukijin, which no one really cares about. At least
Sesshoumaru's assertion that he'll look for a replacement kind of indicates we'll be getting a Sesshoumaru powerup arc in
the future. For now, though, it looks like he might be out of the picture.
Best Moment: Oh man, there were a couple, all because of Shippou and Jaken, who did their best to make this chapter more of a comical one. ^_^* First off, Jaken asserts that Sesshoumaru has been "squashed like a ripened persimmon", which gives a rather amusing mental image. Later, when Sesshoumaru turns out to be okay, he of course denies saying this. Also, when Kagome and Shippou see Sesshoumaru, they note that he's heavily injured and wonder out loud if they should risk tending to him. Sesshoumaru gives them a "no" in the form of a big, fat glare of doom, which sends Kagome and Shippou hiding. It was also nice to see Sesshoumaru kinda beat up, though it seems like he should have been more injured than he was. All he's got to show for the spear through the chest is a hole in his armor, which is amusingly identical to the one in Papa's armor in the grave, though on the other side. At the end, Byakuya's eyebat makes an appearance, I guess being the replacement for Kanna's mirror, since Kanna is still MIA. Also, Kohaku goes tagging along with Kikyou, who apologizes for not being able to kill Mouryoumaru, an action which she claims would somehow save Kohaku's life. Therefore, next week we could go to Byakuya land, Ki/haku land, Sesshoumaru land, Tessaiga powerup land... or somewhere totally random. This fight is over, and while the fight was good, the resolution was, as usual, completely meh. I hope this isn't an indication for the end of the series, but I have my worries... |
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(Sesshoumaru's Crisis) |
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| Original Release Date: 04/27/05 | Review Date: 04/26/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Sesshoumaru tries to push his sword into Mouryoumaru's armor, but still can't reach the shard. Mouryoumaru asks if Sesshoumaru pities Kagura, and if not, why he bothered to sacrifice his sword. To make his point, Mouryoumaru snaps Toukijin in half. Mouryoumaru then attacks Sesshoumaru with his diamond tentacles again, and with no sword force to defend against them, Sesshoumaru ends up taking one through the chest. Mouryoumaru immediately wraps him in diamond tendrils to crush him, at which point Inuyasha steps in with dragon-scaled Tessaiga. However, he still can't get the attack to work, and the resulting force knocks him back. Suddenly, Kikyou reappears and shoots Mouryoumaru's shoulder where Sesshoumaru had stabbed, then beckons Inuyasha to try again. | ||
| Review | ||
|
YESSSSSS! I feel kind of bad celebrating Sesshoumaru getting his ass handed to him, but oh man, he's had that coming for a LONG
time. Now that his godlike status has suddenly been dropped a hefty number of notches, I can actually sit back and kind of be
worried about him. This is currently reminding me a lot of the assault on Naraku's fortress way back when, complete with Sesshoumaru
engulfed in tentacles, but this time I doubt there's any way for him to come out of it unscathed. I mean, he's already been
scathed. His sword broke, and he got impaled on a diamond. But, meh, Inuyasha's survived worse. But Inuyasha also has the
Main Character Shield. Granted, Sesshoumaru has the If You Kill Me Off You Lose Half Your Fanbase Shield.
Best Moment: Okay, I laughed, in spite of myself. When Mouryoumaru wraps Sesshoumaru in his tentacles, all you can see is this poof of fluff hanging out the side, I guess to prove that Mouryoumaru caught him. Or Sesshoumaru actually DITCHED the fluff to make it SEEM like he was caught. But, I mean, he's got a spear through his chest, he's not going anywhere. Also, Jaken is randomly back today, playing Ginta and Hakkaku by arriving late and wishing his boss would quit leaving him behind. Jaken's presence kind of worries me, because I always figured that if Sesshoumaru DOES die, he'll do so in front of his minions, but Rin's not there, so he's okay. I guess someone's going to have to be there to drag his busted ass back home once this is all said and done. Kikyou's random reappearance at the end of the chapter was not totally unexpected, but it makes me wonder what the point of having her vanish last week was. I guess she just wanted a better vantage point and in the five minutes she was gone, everyone was like "omg where'd she goooo?!" What sucks is that next week is a break for the manga, so we're going to have to wait an extra week at LEAST to learn the fate of the beloved fluffy one. |
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(Anger) |
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| Original Release Date: 04/20/05 | Review Date: 04/19/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Inuyasha attempts to attack Mouryoumaru, but keeps getting blown out of the way. Inuyasha says that they know that Mouryoumaru is hiding Naraku's heart, and Mouryoumaru says that the only way they know that is because Kagura told them. He then proceeds to talk smack about Kagura for about half the chapter until Inuyasha has had enough and goes to whack him. But, apparently, Sesshoumaru has had MORE than enough and attacks Mouryoumaru angrily, aiming for the Shikon shard in his shoulder... | ||
| Review | ||
|
Amusingly enough, this fight is STILL pretty much a one-on-one between Sess and Moury. Although, come to think of it, the last
fight between them was pretty much the same way, but didn't last quite this long. Sesshoumaru has now been in the story for a
possibly record-breaking seven chapters straight, and I'd guess he'll be around for at least two more.
Best Moment: Sesshoumaru goes OMG RAWR!!1 on Mouryoumaru after he insults Kagura one too many times. ^_^* Though, one could argue he was pissed at Mouryoumaru's statement that "no one is capable of granting her final request", and he was just mad at being called inept, but... yeah. ^_^* I think the Sesshoumaru/Kagura fans will eat this chapter up, since he's apparently rushing in to defend his woman's honor. ... Unfortunately, when a semi-bad character has a sudden surge of emotion, especially over another person, and rushes into battle, they tend to kick ass for a while, then get utterly pwned. Sesshoumaru's already made his big explosions, and he's got himself nicely set up to get an ass-whipping by the end of the chapter, so we'll see how that pans out. ^_^* I'm going to guess the random disappearance of Kikyou and Kohaku is going to play a part somehow, unless they were just like, "Meh, Sesshoumaru's showing us up, we don't need to be here anymore" and just left without telling anyone. I mean, the last time Sesshoumaru and Kikyou kinda interacted, she ended up saving him, after all. ^_^* But, I think I'd prefer a brotherly rescue this time around, though I'd hope Kikyou and Kohaku's presence here turns out to be SOMEWHAT worthwhile. |
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(Rivalry) |
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| Original Release Date: 04/13/05 | Review Date: 04/13/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Sesshoumaru tries attacking Mouryoumaru, but his energy attacks from Toukijin can't break Mouryoumaru's armor. Inuyasha and the others arrive on the scene and just stand by to watch while Mouryoumaru fires a Kongousouha at Sesshoumaru, who simply shatters it before it can reach him. Inuyasha steps in with a wimpy Kaze no Kizu to end the stalemate, and Mouryoumaru turns his entire arm to diamond in an attemt to crush/pierce the puppy brothers. Mouryoumaru doesn't consider Inuyasha a threat, so wants Sesshoumaru out of the way first... | ||
| Review | ||
|
Wow, Sesshoumaru's sure hanging around for the fight this time. Granted, I'm still guessing that this'll go just like the
encounters with Naraku in his castle and in the graveyard, in which Sesshoumaru shows up, shows off, and Inuyasha ends up
showing off a new move to send the enemy running. First it was red Tessaiga, then it was Kongousouha, and this time he's got
his sucky sword to put to use, so Inuyasha'll probably step in at the last minute and show which one of the brothers sucks
more.
Best Moment: Well, most ridiculous moment, more like it. Mouryoumaru shoots the Kongousouha at Sesshoumaru, who counters with an energy attack, and then it just goes like a DBZ battle where the two attacks are pushing up against each other and breaking up the ground and everyone else on the sidelines is going "OoooOOoooOOoo". But then Sesshoumaru friggin' SHATTERS the diamond spears. With sword flatulence! Freakin'... maybe Mouryoumaru just installed the spears wrong or something and they became brittle. Either that or Sesshoumaru is in SERIOUS need of a good humility smackdown, because the guy is just becoming too godlike for my tastes. I liked him better earlier in the series, when he regularly got his ass handed to him, so there was some hint of weakness. Now he's practically deus ex machina. Granted, it's refreshing to see someone other than Inuyasha doing the fighting for once, since all the rest of the cast has done for the past couple of months is stand on the sidelines, which they continued to do today. Even Kikyou and Kohaku were relegated to the audience, but didn't make any sort of running commentary. Ah well, since Mouryoumaru seemed to have more interest in beating up the almighty fluffy one (whose fluff is consuming his body more by the minute), maybe next week he'll actually rough him up a little. |
||
(Mouryoumaru's Transformation) |
||
| Original Release Date: 04/06/05 | Review Date: 04/05/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Kohaku tracks down Mouryoumaru, who has completed adding all the various youkai parts to himself and is now Mouryoumaru v2.0. He threatens to take Kohaku's shard, so Kikyou steps in to shoot him with a holy arrow. However, Mouryoumaru shoots off a Kongousouha, leaving Kikyou too WTF-ed to do anything. Good thing the cavalry arrives to save them, but it's not Inuyasha, it's... Sesshoumaru?! | ||
| Review | ||
|
Holy crap, Mouryoumaru! He... he's... bguh... there's... it's... PANTS! Okay, so it's like body-armor pants with a codpiece like
nobody's business, but it's still a semi-pants-ish-looking thing! And instead of absorbing Meioujuu's shell, looks like he just
decided to wear it as a decorative shoulder piece. But, hoo man, watch out for his armpit spears. Seriously, it's like, WTF.
Best Moment: ... Sesshoumaru?! Given last week's chapter, I figured he'd do his usual "Gee, I'm so close, but... nah, I'm lazy" routine, but no! He's back! This has to be a new record or something, four chapters straight. Seriously, I didn't expect him to still be in play at ALL right now, since Takahashi tends to shoo him away at the earliest possible moment. But there's that random energy burst from offscreen that makes a big boom, and I was like, "WTF, is Sesshoumaru still around?!" and then on the next page, yup, there he is. Looking mighty prettyful, I might add. This doesn't really bode well, though, because the LAST time he made it to the scene before Inuyasha, someone ended up dying. -_-* This has the classic setup of "final battle against bad guy X", but it also has almost the same setup as the otherworld battle against Naraku, which ended up being a cop-out. So, for all we know, everyone's just gathering so that they can watch Inuyasha learn a new trick with his sword. |
||
(Stolen Kongousouha) |
||
| Original Release Date: 03/30/05 | Review Date: 03/31/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Inuyasha shoots Meioujuu with Kongousouha, which sticks in his body. Miroku realizes that Mouryoumaru is trying to steal the Kongousouha spears so that he can absorb that power, too, but Meioujuu gets away. Sesshoumaru follows after him, but his pursuit is disrupted by Byakuya. Meioujuu returns to Mouryoumaru, who begins to devour it. Elsewhere, Kohaku and Kikyou have caught on to Mouryoumaru's trail. | ||
| Review | ||
|
Wow, lots happened this week. We've got Inuyasha being an idiot, Sesshoumaru actually kinda doing something (but, as usual,
utterly useless), Mouryoumaru and the baby making a cameo, and Kikyou and Kohaku showing us that they're still alive(?). Actually,
Kohaku hanging out with Kikyou kinda worries me, since they're both in the same "half-dead" situation, so it might end up being
a double-sacrifice.
Best Moment: Looks like Sesshoumaru's gotten a new stalker. Ever the Kagura-wannabe, Byakuya heads after Sesshoumaru and tries to distract him from Meioujuu's trail with evil paper cranes. Sesshoumaru kinda sees right through it, and Byakuya is basically like, "Don't hate me, it's my job!" I swear, the guy's, like, Kagura and Jakotsu's lovechild or something. But, at least at this point it looks like Sesshoumaru and Byakuya may be out of the picture again for a while, but the end of the chapter really gave no indication as to where this is going. Kouga still needs to show up again, too. One really weird thing about this chapter is that the baby actually talked. The baby has never spoken a WORD since he separated from Hakudoushi. Maybe now that Hakudoushi is dead, the baby inherited his speech ability. Or maybe Takahashi forgot that he can't talke. ^_^* Next week's chapter is likely going to start off with the Inu-tachi starting on yet ANOTHER quest to pick up Mouryoumaru's trail. Which will, of course, be diverted into half a dozen sidequests before they get there and are informed they just missed him. And Naraku is off somewhere sitting on his butt thinking, "Gee, life is really boring now that they're not after me anymore." Although, judging by past story patterns, we're probably going to go into a Miroku/Sango filler arc or something. -_- |
||
(Mouryoumaru's Goal) |
||
| Original Release Date: 03/23/05 | Review Date: 03/24/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Inuyasha shoots Meioujuu with Kongousouha, but Meioujuu pulls into his shell and deflects it back at him. Inuyasha tries Dragon-scaled Tessaiga instead, but it heats up on him again and forced him to cancel the transformation. Suddenly, Meioujuu comes out of his shell, seemingly not of his own will, and tells Inuyasha to try Kongousouha again. At that point, Miroku and Sesshoumaru both realize what Mouryoumaru is trying to do. Unfortunately, they won't tell us until next week at least. | ||
| Review | ||
|
So, this week, Sesshoumaru is relegated to Shippou status by standing on the sidelines and keeping a running commentary of
what's going on. Fortunately, the Sesshoumaru/Byakuya commentary is almost MST3K style, since they're pretty much like,
"Okay, THAT was stupid." "Psh, he sucks." And the best one: "Well, looks like Tessaiga's gotten ANOTHER weird power."
Best Moment: Well, it was just a panel that made me snort with laughter when I saw it, and I'm not really sure why. Meioujuu deflects Inuyasha's Kongousouha all over the place, and Inuyasha is dancing around on the ground trying to dodge it. After the fun is over, it goes back to Sess and Byaku for their commentary, and there's a random Kongousouha spear sticking out of the roof between them, and they're both looking off like, "Yeah, whatever." This fight also makes me wonder why only Inuyasha is allowed to fight the bad guys anymore. The last couple of big fights have been just him, with everyone else just hanging out uselessly in the background going "INUYASHA!" whenever appropriate. I mean, come on, we know Meioujuu was defeated before by a human monk, so let Miroku in on the action, why don't ya? Or at least let Sesshoumaru fight a bit, now that he's here. Sesshoumaru already mentioned that Mouryoumaru's goal is to absorb Meioujuu's shell, which can deflect Kongousouha, but the implication that the "OMG NOO!" goal that everyone realized at the end was something other than this. My guess is that he's trying to get Inuyasha to kill Meioujuu's body so that he can take the shell, but that's kind of the same thing. So... I dunno. Mouryoumaru would look kinda silly wearing that shell, but hey, at least he'd be covered. Therefore, we knew it all along. Mouryoumaru's goal is to finally get some pants. |
||
(Armor Shell) |
||
| Original Release Date: 03/16/05 | Review Date: 03/16/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Meioujuu returns for his shell, but Miroku has put it behind a barrier. Byakuya intervenes by manipulating a guard into breaking the barrier, and Meioujuu retrieves the piece of his shell, making his armor complete. Byakuya figures he's done his part and goes to leave, but is stopped by Sesshoumaru. Meanwhile, Meioujuu goads Inuyasha into trying Kongousouha again. | ||
| Review | ||
|
"Am I not turtley enough for the turtle armor? Turtle, turtle!" Even though everyone else is prett much like
"Dude, what's Mory up to this time?", it's pretty obvious that he's just trying to beef Meioujuu up to become
resistant to Kongousouha, then absorb Meioujuu's power. Byakuya, and by association Naraku, seem to have a pretty
dumb plan going on right now. "Hm, we don't know what Mouryoumaru is up to, so we'll just let him do it and find out,
even if it's something bad."
Best Moment: The absolutely random appearance of Sesshoumaru. Seriously, that panel made me laugh out loud. I'd spoiled
myself on blogs, so I KNEW he was in this week's chapter, but it was still just an XD moment when he showed up. It basically
went like: And, Byakuya is once again Kagura Lite, as he's able to manipulate people's bodies, but this time while they're still alive, by putting little paper doll sticky notes on their backs. Heck, even his initial encounter with Sesshoumaru was kinda similar, since it was like, *swipe down tree* "Oh, you're Inuyasha's brother?" "You smell like Naraku, you suck." ... I smell Byaku/Sess yaoi. Next week, hopefully Sesshoumaru will actually, you know, fight, since he hasn't done that in quite a while. He probably won't make a difference, since he never does, but it's nice to have him around again. |
||
(Meioujuu) |
||
| Original Release Date: 03/09/05 | Review Date: 03/10/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Sesshoumaru's group comes across the remains of Meioujuu, a giant turtle youkai. After they leave, a piece of Mouryoumaru enters its mouth and revives it. Meioujuu attacks a castle where a suit of armor made from a piece of his shell is enshrined. Inuyasha drives him away with the Kongousouha, but Mouryoumaru's mouth appears on Meioujuu's arm and tells him to try taking the Kongousouha again. | ||
| Review | ||
|
Well, congratulations on chapter 400! And according to the little blurb
from Takahashi, she intends to go at least 100 more. o_O So... I
guess this is nowhere near over -_-. 100 chapters ago, Inuyasha was
fighting Gozu and Mezu to get through the gateway to the next world. Since
then, Kikyou's come back, they've gotten the final shard, learned Kongousouha,
did the whole Fuyouheki thing, and killed off Hakudoushi and Kagura.
So, now we've got Meioujuu, the "Darkness King Beast", though "Meiou" generally means the keeper of the underworld, like Pluto or Hades. He's this giant turtle thing with tiger paws and what I'm guessing is a phoenix tail, since he's got a dragon tongue, thus making him basically a combination of the four animal gods. He wasn't much to get excited about, though, since he got scared off after one attack, and his only attack was to shoot lightning bolts out of his shell. Best Moment: Hi, Sesshoumaru! I'm just happy he's back, even if it's only for a couple of pages and he didn't really do anything important and he'll probably go back into obscurity for the next 20 chapters or so again. Buuut, that's okay, because Jaken rocks. "Ah, I'm such a casual suck-up." Not to mention Sesshoumaru got the color page aaall to himself. Now that Sesshoumaru's back, hopefully that means Kikyou and Kohaku will make their returns sometime in the near future. Their plights seemed kind of pressing, but we've all but forgotten about them for the past 20 chapters. But now that Naraku and Mouryoumaru are back in the picture, and Byakuya is sending his bat-eye out to investigate, maybe things'll get back on track again. Heck right now Byakuya is plotting against dragon-scaled Tessaiga, and Mouryoumaru is plotting against Kongousouha, so Inuyasha's going to be running out of moves pretty soon. ... Which, of course, means that he'll have to get yet ANOTHER power-up or something. -_- Sigh... this series should just be renamed "Tessaiga". |
||
(The Most Powerful Sword) |
||
| Original Release Date: 03/02/05 | Review Date: 03/09/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| The others protect the unconscious Inuyasha from Byakuya, but Byakuya states that he was only there to watch, and proceeds to fly away in a paper crane. Inuyasha consults Toutousai about his sword, and Toutousai states that there was nothing wrong with the sword, it's just that Inuyasha needs to learn to master it without getting burned each time. Meanwhile Naraku and Byakuya talk of ways to use Tessaiga's new power to their advantage. | ||
| Review | ||
|
Wow, it's return of the minor characters! Hello, Toutousai! Long time no see, Naraku! Now if only we can figure out where
the hell Kanna went... And what exactly does Toutousai do for a living, anyway? He must make a fortune off of one sword, then
can just wallow in retirement until Inuyasha shows up and complains about his latest dysfunction.
Best Moment: Toutousai offers to heal Inuyasha... by licking him. o_O "Oh, you have medicine?" Slurp. Toutousai has a freakin' long tongue, too. Someone tie the old man down! And it calls into question just WHAT sort of guy Inu-papa was to be friends with a guy like this... So, Byakuya begins to show more and more that he's pretty much Kagura Lite. He has pretty much exactly the same exit strategy: pull object out of hair, cause a whirlwind, and ride off on it. And aside from Byakuya riding a paper crane and Kagura riding a feather, the only other difference is that Kagura's parting words were always "aba yo" and Byakuya's are "mata na". Byakuya was amazingly even MORE girly-looking in this chapter than he was before. The vote's still out on what I think of him, because so far he just seems like a Kagura-wannabe. |
||
(Tessaiga Backfires) |
||
| Original Release Date: 02/23/05 | Review Date: 02/24/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Inuyasha uses the dragon-scaled Tessaiga against the Doku-Mizuchi, and the absorbed poison energy turns Tessaiga black, and it begins to wildly overheat again as well. Not caring, Inuyasha strikes the Doku-Mizuchi and slices it in half with the poisoned Tessaiga. However, the poison still remains, and Tessaiga releases an explosion that knocks Inuyasha unconscious. | ||
| Review | ||
|
Okay, so when I first saw the title of this chapter, I literally planted my face in the keyboard snickering. Somehow, someway,
Takahashi just KEEPS GOING with the sword innuendo. I translated the title innocuously enough, but it's literally something like
"Tessaiga's Spontaneous Discharge". *snrk* I mean, jeez, his sword explodes, and wouldn't you know it, he's out like a light
five seconds later.
Best Moment: Well, it's kinda fun to see Tessaiga misbehave and go all weird and stuff, but honestly, that sword is getting more development than all the characters combined. Yeah, Inuyasha and Miroku are hurt, but they always get better. The sword, since it is an accessory, is ultimately expendable. It's still in one piece after this battle, but who knows what's going on with it. And Byakuya's just off on the sideline going, "Ooooooh, exploding hot black sword... me likes". So, now we've got the two fighters of the group more or less incapacitated, which leaves Kagome, Sango, and Shippou on their own against Byakuya. .... Although, so far the guy hasn't really posed a threat in and of himself. He's just provoked the Doku-Mizuchi and forced Inuyasha to use an attack that ultimately backfired on him. And he DOES use illusions like Shippou, so maybe he's just in it for the yucks, but can't actually do anything himself. |
||
(Byakuya of the Mirage) |
||
| Original Release Date: 02/16/05 | Review Date: 02/20/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Inuyasha tries to use Kongousouha against the Doku-Mizuchi, but a mist causes the serpent to break into phantoms of itself, disturbing Inuyasha's aim. The summoner of the mist identifies himself as Byakuya, and by his scent, is a new incarnation of Naraku. He tells Inuyasha that because the Doku-Mizuchi devoured a part of Mouryoumaru, it has his regenerative abilities and can therefore only be defeated by the dragon-scale Tessaiga. | ||
| Review | ||
|
Well, gee, a new bunshin. And because he has a title like Kagura and Kanna, my guess is that he's going to last for a while.
Even though Kanna has, like, fallen off the face of the earth (literally, since the last time we saw her she was going off a cliff
with the baby). So, since Kagura of the Wind became the wind, and Kanna of the Void kind of flitted out of existence, maybe
Byakuya of the Mirage really was never there in the first place. Although, I'm not really sure how an illusion can have scent.
Best Moment: Eh, not a whole lot really happend, since it was just introduction of the new character. He reminds me of a male version of Kagura, actually, and looks quite a bit like her as well. He's got the same sort of laid-back personality, but not quite as much "spunk". Then again, he's only been around for a chapter and a half, so I'm sure we'll see more of him. So, this chapter almost brings up the question of whether or not the whole Dakki thing was just a trap to lure Inuyasha into absorbing an ability that was harmful to Tessaiga. Now Byakuya is all but forcing Inuyasha to use it, and who knows what might happen. ... Why so much drama over a dang sword, anyway? Shouldn't we be more worried about what's going to happen to one of the characters? Miroku gets poisoned so much, it's gotten to the point that it's like, "Meh, he'll get better". So now all that's left to be concerned about is their accessories. -_- |
||
(Doku-Mizuchi) |
||
| Original Release Date: 02/09/05 | Review Date: 02/12/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Inuyasha finds a giant venomous water snake that smells kind of like Mouryoumaru, so goes to kick its ass. Unfortunately, snakes don't HAVE asses, so he has a bit of trouble, especially after his sword heats up on him again after trying to suck the snake. Meanwhile, a Mysterious Figure(tm) looms, giving them the eeeeevil eye. | ||
| Review | ||
|
Mouryoumaru who? Plot what? Oh my god, are we actually getting somewhere now? Say it isn't so, say it isn't so! I could've
been content with another couple of months of side-quests! Go away, Mory, we aren't done upgrading people's weapons yet! "Yes,
I found the plot! And I ATE it!"
... Yeah. I was very thankful for this, because it kinda looks like we might actually be headed somewhere again. I'm also rather thankful at the issues Inuyasha is having with his new sword upgrade, because the arc which spawned it was so... forced and anticlimactic. I've been kinda disappointed with the last couple of strings of chapters, so I hope this'll lead into something good. With the introduction of a new, yet-unnamed youkai character showing up, I'm guessing it'll at least go SOMEWHERE. Who is this mysterious beautiful man with his eye on a snake and fixated on Inuyasha's sword? Best Moment: Er, I'm just happy we're kind of back in plot-land and Mouryoumaru's name is back in the picture. And the new guy looks interesting, albeit a little creepy. The Doku-Mizuchi/Venomous Serpent looks to be kinda one-shot, though, and will probably get its ass-that-is-not-an-ass handed to it in the next couple of chapters. What is it with snakes eating pieces of Mouryoumaru, anyway? Snaaaaaake, snaaaaaake, ohhhh, it's a snaaaaaaake... Oh well. Looking forward to next week... for once. |
||
(Dragon-Scaled Tessaiga) |
||
| Original Release Date: 02/02/05 | Review Date: 02/04/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| The cat nun strikes Kagome, and the scent of her blood brings Inuyasha to the rescue. The nun is simply possessed by the spirit of the cat, so to save the real human nun, Inuyasha whips out his new sucky scaly Tessaiga and absorbs all the youkai energy out of the nun. However, doing so makes Tessaiga hot... | ||
| Review | ||
|
Oh Tessaiga, you're so hot. ... Seriously, the sword innuendo is getting a little out of hand here. First it pulses, then it
grows, then it gets fuzzy, then it turns red, then it shoots stuff, then it gets textured, and now it's hot. Maybe it's divine
retribution for sticking his sword in a nun's pu... okay, I'm NOT going to say it. -_-
Best Moment: Well, we finally get the first use of Ryuurin Tessaiga. I guess like "Kekkai Yaburu Akai Tessaiga", this one's just getting a descripitve term rather than a name. So... what, he just turns on the scales and it goes "sucka sucka sucka"? And I guess it's different from Tessaiga's inherint ability to absorb the abilities of stronger opponents in that it just absorbs the energy of opponents, but not attacks specifically. Or maybe the spirit cat was, you know, really hot or something. Regardless, looks like we've gotten off this little side-story and will HOPEFULLY get into the PLOT sometime in the near future. Is Inuyasha's hot sword another new ability, or is he just overclocking it? He's modded it like crazy as it is, that thing's about to blow a fuse... |
||
(Spirit Cat) |
||
| Original Release Date: 01/26/05 | Review Date: 01/27/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Inuyasha and Miroku discover that the bones of the spirit cat are just a fake, made up of the bones of slain humans. Meanwhile, Kagome, who's been left alone with the nun, gets attacked by more spirit cat nun things who beg for her help. | ||
| Review | ||
|
Well, with the Oni-Head Castle arc just finishing up on TV over here, I've come to notice how similar this
arc is turning out so far. Demon buried under the building? Check. Pretty girl really possessed? Check. Big
demon that appears is just an illusion? Check. Pretty much the only exciting information in this chapter is
the revelation that Kirara is apparently less than 300 years old. Woo, character development, sorta.
I'm still trying to figure out exactly how to define "bake-neko", though. I mean, Sesshoumaru and Papa's dog forms are described as "bake-inu", and Entei was described as a "bake-uma", so I guess it's like some sort of spiritual mutant animal thing. Or something. Really, the only way I can think of to define it is to give other examples. ^_^* Best Moment: Um, other than Kirara doing something other than sitting there and looking cute, nothing, really. Hey, maybe this'll be the Kirara powerup storyline! She'll become uber-kitty and can, like, turn into a nun or something. Because it's always useful to have a cat that can turn into a nun, let me tell you. In all honesty, though I still have no idea where this story is headed. Maybe they're just trying to kill time and do something cool for chapter 400. Maybe it'll lead into the next story arc. Or maybe it's just total filler and is an excuse for the dog to beat on some cats. -_- |
||
(Convent) |
||
| Original Release Date: 01/19/05 | Review Date: 01/21/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| The group takes shelter from the rain in a run-down temple which ends up being a convent headed by a young nun. The convent is being plagued by attacks from cat spirits, and the nun now has to deal with Miroku's usual advances. | ||
| Review | ||
|
So... what were we doing again? Naraku who? Mouryoumaru what? Kohaku and Kikyou where?
Yeah, that's pretty much how this chapter goes. It's kind of reminiscent of the Yadori
Sanagi story way back when, which also came immediately after a Gendai chapter. So, hopefully
this will turn out to lead into the next arc, rather that just being another pointless jaunt
into Miroku-land such as with the whole Nushi-sama thing. And even the Nushi-sama thing was
funny. This is just kinda... meh.
Best Moment: "Okay, all in favor of going into the creepy, youkai-infested temple?" Speaking of cats, this is actually the first time in canon that there has been any sort of demon cat wandering around. The anime fillers seemed to enjoy making use of them, such as with the Hyounekozoku, but up until now, cats were decidedly absent from the manga (well, besides Buyo. And you never know, maybe HE'S a youkai, too. :P). The manga has been kinda "Zzzz..." lately, and it's likely due to the lack of supporting cast members showing their faces for the last ten chapters or so. Really, we see so much of the main cast, it's the supporting cast who really make the series at this point. I just really hope they return post haste. I miss them. |
||
(A Peaceful Dining Table) |
||
| Original Release Date: 01/12/05 | Review Date: 01/13/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Kagome takes Inuyasha home with her so that he can rest up in peace, and finds out that her mother has a cold. While Kagome is out at school and shopping, Inuyasha wakes up and proceeds to go stir-crazy. Kagome comes home to prepare a meal in her ailing mother's stead, and Inuyasha, as usual, ends up making a mess of things. | ||
| Review | ||
|
Well, it hit that 1 out of 6, in that it's a totally unrelated filler! But
you know what? That's okay! Because it's Gendai filler, and Gendai
filler is always fun and weird, like the previous "Chiisana Shiawase"
60 chapters ago. It does seem kinda weird that we're taking a break NOW,
but this kind of break is always welcome.
Best Moment: For once, I'm having trouble coming up with a Best Moment, not because the chapter was lackluster, but because it was PACKED full of good stuff. Like Miroku has Shippou pretend to be him so he can sneak off and flirt, but Sango catches them. Kagome wants to make dinner, so Inuyasha catches some pigeons for her to cook (and proceeds to have one ride around on his head for the next few panels). Kagome inists that Inuyasha stay in the house while she runs errands, so he goes stir-crazy and just runs in circles around a table. And finally, Souta finds a cockroach and is about to hit it with a rolled up newspaper, but Inuyasha smacks it with Tessaiga instead. If I recall correctly, Gendai chapters tend to be put between major story arcs. There were ones immediately before and after the Shichinintai arc, then one preceding the start of the whole Fuyouheki and Mouryoumaru thing. So, HOPEFULLY this means we'll be getting back into something important next week.... although I have been hoping the same thing for the past few weeks. -_- |
||
(Bonded) |
||
| Original Release Date: 01/05/05 | Review Date: 01/09/05 | |
| Summary | ||
| Inuyasha beats on Toushuu some more and ends up getting Tessaiga sucked completely. But, because he's bonded with Tessaiga or something, he insists his sword won't die and smacks Toushuu again. Toushuu ends up going "explodie!" and Dakki snaps in half, giving Tessaiga the quick fix it needs, plus some hot new scales! | ||
| Review | ||
|
*beats head against keyboard repeatedly*
Man, because of the holidays, the international shipments of Shounen Sunday were delayed, and once we finally do get it... this is all they've got to show us? ... Man. I mean, I'm happy and all that Tessaiga did go limp, but it was only for, like, four pages, and then it got all happy and shiny again like nothing ever happened. Jeez... Best Moment: The arc is over. Really, that's what excited me about this the most. Yeah, Tessaiga got some sucky new power, but all it's shown for it so far is its sexy new texture. Not to mention they rehashed Toutousai's "Tessaiga will be impotent FOREVAH!" warning AGAIN, just like they have MULTIPLE TIMES for the last, like, four chapters. If they felt the need to tell us that half a dozen times, you'd think it would result in something that lasted longer than 30 seconds. So, next week.... That's the kicker, because since this is FINALLY over, we get to do SOMETHING ELSE next week! ... Hopefully. Dear god, I hope. And the only places we CAN go are back to Kikyou, Kohaku, Mouryoumaru, Naraku, Sesshoumaru, or, god forbid, another filler quest. But there's hope, since there's a 5/6 chance that it'll be something important! |
||
( Preparation ) |
||
| Original Release Date: 12/22/04 | Review Date: 12/21/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| The cracked Tessaiga surrounds Inuyasha with a protective wind, but even that doesn't last for long, as Dakki manages to absorb it. Toushuu fires off a Kaze no Kizu which Inuyasha counters with another Bakuryuuha, but even THAT gets absorbed. Though, not without a price, as Dakki begins to crack as well. Toushuu also starts to turn even more into a youkai dragon thing. Inuyasha decides to bet it all on one final strike... | ||
| Review | ||
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Graaaah, the Duck vs. Dog battle STILL isn't over! And there's no chapter
next week, so we have to wait even LONGER for this to finish up! Ohhh, the
waiting, the waiting, how I hates the waiting... especially since, like, nothing
got resolved in this chapter other than Tessaiga pretty much dried up
totally. I'm hoping that it won't have a quick and easy resolution like,
"Yay, Tessaiga broke Dakki, now it got all its energy back and is all happy
and shiny once again", but I wouldn't be surprised if it really WAS that
sort of cop-out, sort of like the end of the otherworld battle.
Best Moment: Um... I dunno, there wasn't really much different in this week's chapter as last week's, and even Bakuryuuha got used again. Heck, we even got yet ANOTHER flashback to Toutousai going, "Ooooh, if you lose, Tessaiga will be impotent forever!" Hopefully the fact that this warning comes up approximately once every ten pages means that something will actually come of it, and Tessaiga actually WILL break down. Man, and it's been, like, 17 chapters since we've had a run-in with an actual major bad guy. I'm beginning to miss the mighty pantsless one and the man in the monkey suit. If they don't come back after this arc is over, I swear... Or at least switch over to Kohaku or Sesshoumaru or someone we actually, you know, care about. -_- |
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( Fracture ) |
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| Original Release Date: 12/15/04 | Review Date: 12/15/04 | |
| Summary | ||
| Toushuu lets everyone know that he was really trying to make an uber-powerful sword and was just using the Ryuujin all along. Not to mention using Inuyasha to weaken the Ryuujin enough so that he could absorb his power into Dakki. So, Inuyasha and Toushuu square off, and Dakki's force ends up cracking Tessaiga. Dakki's energy starts turning Toushuu into some sort of dragon monster thing, and each successive attack cracks Tessaiga further, until it starts leaking energy from its fractures... | ||
| Review | ||
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Well, there goes Tessaiga. Almost. The preview text said something about "Is this emission of energy Tessaiga's final
breath or its idea of a counterattack?" We'll have to wait until next week to see whether or not Tessaiga sucks or shatters.
Toushuu will obviously end up destroying himself, but how Tessaiga's going to get over itself looking like a windshield that
just had an encounter with a wayward buffalo is anyone's guess. Unless next week Inuyasha is going to reveal his "Crack Attack".
Best Moment: Not really "best moment" but more of "most sweatdrop-worthy misinterpretation". When Toushuu was giving his whole monologue about forging the Dakki, he mentioned that all his prototype swords were infused with "in no ki". Not being familiar with this term, I hit the dictionary and checked what it meant by itself and how it was used in combinations. ... Unfortunately, "in" is very prominently used in words that deal with the... genital region... so I almost interpreted it as Toushuu declaring, "So, once I infused the sword with my MANLY ENERGY...!", and the Ryuujin showing up later and saying, "Hey, I noticed all that MANLY ENERGY you were emitting and decided to check you out!" ... However, there were some combinations where the term meant "negative", so I finally decided that "negative energy" was probably more along the lines of what the term was going for. ^_^* Of course, Toushuu swinging around his scaly sword infused with MANLY ENERGY would be the last straw for all those people obsessed with Inuyasha's red, pulsing, growing sword with fuzz on the hilt. There were some color pages this time around, too, which did little more than show us that, look, Toushuu has blue pants. Hooray for Toushuu's blue pants. Inuyasha also graced the cover of Shounen Sunday, sharing a scarf with Kagome. But, regardless, this chapter has finally gotten around to making me actually CARE what happens next week, which many of the recent chapters have failed to do, so I guess that's a plus. Unfortunately, next week is a double-issue, meaning there will be no chapter the week after, so hopefully something gets wrapped up before then. |
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