(Wounds of Shouki) |
|
| Original Release Date: 03/08/06 | Review Date: 03/07/06 |
| Summary | |
| Miroku refuses to close the Kazaana, even after absorbing Naraku's shouki, as he wants to destroy Naraku before Kohaku's life has to be sacrificed. He is able to absorb the Fuyouheki, however Inuyasha stops him from going further, and Naraku escapes. Kikyou offers to purify the shouki from his body, but she is only able to remove his exterior wounds, and can do nothing for his internal poisoning. Miroku decides to keep this a secret from Sango... | |
| Review | |
|
Miroku getting poisoned from the Kazaana: Not news. Miroku having actual lasting difficulty from this poisoning: News. Not really sure yet what this
will mean for him in the future, but hopefully it's not something that they can just build plot contrivances for him to get out of all the time. But,
hey, now that his right arm is pretty much fux0red, he can hang out with Sesshoumaru and they can bemoan that only together can they be whole... That
sounds yaoi-ish, and I know there's a yaoi following for the two, despite them, you know, never interacting.
Best Moment: The whole calvary's here! While Miroku's getting purified, the entire not-bad-guy main cast decides to camp out together, minus the aforementioned Fluffy. Kouga, Kikyou, and Kohaku all spend the night with everyone, making it the first time we've had such a joining of forces. Though, they'll likely all have split up again by the next chapter. So, once again, we've kinda closed off an arc and can go pretty much anywhere next week. My bet's on either Gendai filler or getting back to Fluffy. Though, with Miroku the way he is, I don't know how eager Kagome would be to return home. Maybe they'll focus on Miroku and Sango some more, having pretty much ignored them the entire past year. |
|
(Divine Protection) |
|
| Original Release Date: 03/01/06 | Review Date: 03/01/06 |
| Summary | |
| Naraku absorbs Kouga and the baby, so Kagome tries to shoot him to save Kouga. While her arrow didn't damage him, it gave the Yourouzoku spirits protecting Kouga enough spiritual energy to do their one-time "Get out of Midoriko's control free" card, allowing Kouga to escape in a flourish of wolfly ghosts. Seizing the opportunity Miroku unleashes his Kazaana... | |
| Review | |
|
Today's chapter, we were presented with nekkid Naraku through and through, aside from some flying diamond shards that were always conveniently
in a strategic place whenever the shot was snapped. One has to wonder how Inuyasha's group can even take the guy seriously when he keeps showing
up in front of them bum to the breeze half the time. Speaking of showing up...
Best Moment: Congratulations, Kouga, you have finally seen Naraku from the outside. And it only took you 400 some-odd chapters to do it, despite being after him for years and years. Granted, the guy is typically wearing clothes, unless he's switching bodies, in which case he always makes it a point to treat everyone to a peep show. So, now Miroku's finally said, "Hey, I haven't gotten to do anything in a year or so. Look at me!" As he... attempts to suck up Naraku, who is now very sharp and pointy. Yeah, that'll work. Either Naraku will just go "Psh, whatever" and leave next week, or something bad will happen to Miroku. Or both. The Kazaana has certainly lost its deadliness, both to Miroku and to anyone else. |
|
(Violation) |
|
| Original Release Date: 02/22/06 | Review Date: 02/21/06 |
| Summary | |
| The baby thinks Naraku can't break his barrier, but Naraku uses the tentacles he stole from Youmeiju to do just that. Naraku then basically steals Mouryoumaru's body as his own, witht the baby and Kouga still trapped inside. | |
| Review | |
|
Well, he didn't put on a top hat and tap-dance away, but other than that, this was pretty much the outcome I expected. Still pretty cool to
see it happen, though. Except now Naraku is the gigantic pantsless one. At least he seems to have gotten rid of the... oversized piece
up front that Mouryoumaru was always sporting.
Best Moment: And this... is the end of Mouryoumaru. Most likely. I mean, his head ripped open and Naraku's popped out in its place. And though he's gotten his head blown off a couple times before, I think we can safely assume he's dead for good this time. I wonder if Naraku is going to purty up the body even more, or if he's just going to stay looking like some Final Fantasy final boss. I mean, this obviously isn't the final battle, anyway, since Sesshoumaru has yet to master his sword, and Inuyasha has yet to get that final form of Tessaiga DS. Not to mention Kohaku's still milling about out there. And we probably need to kill off Byakuya and Kanna first, too. And, you know, have some sort of resolution with Kikyou. Or not, and we could have as anti-climacting and unresolving of an ending as the anime did. :P |
|
(The Baby's Miscalculation) |
|
| Original Release Date: 02/15/06 | Review Date: 02/14/06 |
| Summary | |
| Inuyasha tells Kouga to attack him with the Goraishi, so he can absorb the Goraishi's power with dragon-scaled Tessaiga and use it on Mouryoumaru. Even though Inuyasha can't see the youketsu, he knows that the place where Mouryoumaru is trying to absorb Kouga must connect to the inside of Mouryoumaru's body, so he strikes there, and is able to do damage. Mouryoumaru shoots out shouki to dissolve Kouga and repel Inuyasha, then tries to escape. Kagome and Inuyasha follow, and Kagome notices that Mouryoumaru hasn't absorbed the Shikon no Tama yet, despite having ample time to. Inside of Mouryoumaru, the baby wonders what's going on, when Naraku's face appears above him... | |
| Review | |
|
Gasp! You mean Naraku isn't dead? Who would'a thought? Hopefully the fact that Naraku has made it inside of Mouryoumaru indicates that Moury's days
are numbered. Then again, he's always done a helluva lot more than Naraku ever did. Still, if he dies now, it's a shame Secchan didn't get one more
pot shot at him, with all that sword-breaking and girlfriend-bashing and all...
Best Moment: Why, hi, Naraku! The last image on the last page of Naraku's face looming over the baby, with the baby looking like "Oh SH*T!" pretty much summed up the entire chapter. XD Dunno what Naraku's planning to do now that he's in there, but it's probably something Not Nice. And if he gets out, it could hail the first time Kouga's ever met Naraku. XD Since Mouryoumaru ate Naraku before going after Kouga before, he STILL hasn't ever seen him. Other than that, not much, aside from Miroku and Shippou, though absent in last week's chapter, decided to hang around for their usual job of running commentary this week, since Sango was off bonding with her lil' bro and Kagome was actually kinda doing something sorta. She's had her one shot for the year. That's always enough, right? |
|
(Dire Battle) |
|
| Original Release Date: 02/08/06 | Review Date: 02/07/06 |
| Summary | |
| Inuyasha can't scratch Mouryoumaru, and his combined attack with Kouga's Goraishi doesn't work anymore, either. Elsewhere, Sango and Kagome confront Kikyou and Kohaku, begging the latter two not to throw Kohaku's life away. Kagome and Kikyou then realize that Kouga's been caught, so Kagome goes back to help, despite Kikyou's assurances that it's futile. Back at the battle, Inuyasha thinks he may have another technique to use... | |
| Review | |
|
Yippee, looks like Inu's about to pull an attack out of his ass. Or maybe finally use those flames that Kinka gave him 20-some-odd chapters ago.
They combine well with lightning, after all...
Best Moment: Aw, she believes in him. Kikyou berates Kagome for leaving to help Kouga, when her plan calls for the inevitability of the jewel being complete. Kagome thinks, "Then what the frick were these past two years of upgrades for if Inuyasha doesn't get to beat Naraku?" Of course, since Kohaku's a minor, the fact that he decided for himself that he wanted to die for the cause doesn't seem to matter to anyone. ^_^* So, the fact that Kagome and Kikyou are still arguing about who gets to defeat Naraku, despite the fact that he was supposedly terminated two chapters ago, kinda leads me to the (obvious) conclusion that we haven't seen the last of him. I guess they've gotten too used to going "OMG Naraku sux0rz" these past many years. Next week there's a color issue, and we may or may not find out what Inu's been hiding up his ass until now. And "something unexpected" happens, and that could either mean the attack doesn't work, Kagome actually does something useful, Fluffy shows up and saves everyone's butt, Naraku pops out of Mouryoumaru and tap-dances away, or... it turns out Kaede is the real enemy! Dun dun duuun! |
|
(Naraku Annihilated) |
|
| Original Release Date: 02/01/06 | Review Date: 01/31/06 |
| Summary | |
| Mouryoumaru and Naraku's Shikon shards combine within Mouryoumaru's body, making him uber-powerful, and he blows up a mountain and finds Kouga. Inuyasha tells Kouga to lure Mouryoumaru along the ground so that he can use dragon-scaled Tessaiga on Mouryoumaru's youketsu, but when he tries, the youketsu is invisible to him. | |
| Review | |
|
Wow, quite an impressive title, despite it being 99.9% likely not to be true. Nari-kins is probably just biding his time in Moury's warm little belly
until Moury does all the shard-gathering for him, then will proceed to bust on out with his prize. Though, hopefully this could finally mean that
Kouga loses his shards, and it looks like perhaps Kohaku as well. And then once the jewel is completed, we'll have umpteen more chapters of them
fighting over it until it gets swallowed by a toad or something and they all go "aw, crap".
Best Moment: Kouga and Inuyasha working together without a whole lot of fuss. Inuyasha orders Kouga around, and he kinda backs off with an "okay, fine." At least they've finally learned that there's a time and a place for bickering, and this isn't it. Though, Kouga's been around a lot recently, so maybe that means he's gonna die. ^_^* They always spotlight a character a lot before they kill them off. So, Inuyasha's inability to see the youketsu likely stems from uber-Shikon power, or maybe Naraku's uber-melty tree power that he's yet to really put to use (which is kind of a surefire hint that he's got more to do. It's probably to melt his way out of Moury when the time comes). |
|
(Absorption) |
|
| Original Release Date: 01/25/06 | Review Date: 01/24/06 |
| Summary | |
| Mouryoumaru and Naraku do a lot of posturing, and Naraku reveals he released his heart in the form of a baby because he "knew" it would eventually betray him, and was just waiting for it to get so pissed at the other kids not playing nice with his new toy that he'd come running home to daddy. The two beat on each other for a bit, with Mouryoumaru managing to overpower Naraku and absorb him into his body. | |
| Review | |
|
Well, there goes the neighborhood. Or at least the main villain for the past 400 chapters. Naturally, nothing would be so easy, and I'm fully
expecting some Alien-esque stomach-exploding scene next week, or at the very least, Naraku taking over Mouryoumaru from the inside, going "hahaha,
you dumbass! You just stuck me inside your shell all by yourself!"
Best Moment: I guess seeing Naraku getting pwned a bit, but I doubt that's the last we'll ever see of him. That was way too easy. Kikyou mentioned that their Shikon fragments wanted to merge, so maybe Naraku will just pull a "yoink!" while he's in there. Other than that, um... Not much else to say, despite an apparently large plot development. Probably because it doesn't seem anywhere near the conclusion of anything, and we still have to wait on that. In the meantime, Moury can just hang out with a tummy full of bad gas. |
|
(Confrontation) |
|
| Original Release Date: 01/18/06 | Review Date: 01/17/06 |
| Summary | |
| Kikyou tells Kouga she wants his shards without killing him, but Kouga is more interested in chasing Mouryoumaru and avenging his comrades than fighting Kikyou, so leaves. Meanwhile, Inuyasha's group catches up to Naraku and find him facing off with Mouryoumaru. Both Naraku and Mouryoumaru boast to each other that they cannot be killed, and Naraku wants to test how true that is... | |
| Review | |
|
Wow, it seems like it's been so long since the last manga chapter. But, here we are again. With yet another anticlimactic confrontation, and a new
confrontation just starting. Thus... the title of "Confrontation". Nothing really happened in the chapter other than what we already know, but hopefully
it's a setup for better things to come.
Best Moment: Naraku vs. Mouryoumaru! Finally, the two big baddies actually meet and decide to have a slug at each other. My money's on both of them making it out of this alive once one of them goes "omgwftbbq!!" and buggers off, but they might actually pull one on us this time and have someone get killed off or absorbed or something. Surely Naraku absorbed Youmeiju in the last chapter in order to have his uber-corrosive power to eat through Mouryoumaru's shell. Or maybe not. Maybe he just wants to clean the lime off his bathtub. So, next week we actually have a chapter, which couldn't be said for the previous two times we've done this. If the series is gonna wrap up around chapter 500, it's about time to start pulling things together. Though Sesshoumaru still really has no point in anything, aside from maybe avenging Kagura. He needs to buddy up with Kikyou or Kouga or someone so that he can have justification for existing in this fight. |
|
(Youmeiju's Power) |
|
| Original Release Date: 01/04/06 | Review Date: 01/03/06 |
| Summary | |
| Naraku absorbs Youmeiju and flies off. Meanwhile, Kouga is tracking Mouryoumaru, but runs into Kikyou, who attacks him... | |
| Review | |
|
Happy new year! And welcome back manga! For now, since there's ANOTHER two-week break after this chapter, too. ^_^* So, I guess Naraku just
wanted to try out his green thumb by growing a tree, then picking it and making off with it. Mouryoumaru may have his questionable appendages,
but now Naraku's sporting wood. It was noted that Youmeiju had the power to break Naraku's barrier, so maybe he's just absorbing it before
Inuyasha can take that power instead. ^_^*
Best Moment: That bark has bite. Youmeiju traps Naraku and decides to chew on his head for a bit, while Naraku is just sitting there like -__-* And now Kouga gets his first official encounter with Kikyou. And Kohaku, if memory serves. And they decide to get friendly with each other right away with Kikyou trying to shoot him. XD Even after he tried to save her from falling off a cliff, too. I'd joked earlier that he might join the zombie troupe, but it looks like I might not have been too far off. So would that make them Kikyou-Kohaku-Kouga, or KKK? Maybe Kouhakyou. All the Shikon shards in one place sure makes things convenient. |
|
(Youmeiju) |
|
| Original Release Date: 12/21/05 | Review Date: 12/20/05 |
| Summary | |
| Kouga's wounds have healed, and he decides to set off on his own, despite Kagome's protests. Later, Inuyasha's group comes across a village terrorized by a demon tree, the Youmeiju. They go to investigate it, but Naraku appears... | |
| Review | |
|
It's Inuyasha vs. the Whomping Willow! Except this is more of the Spitting Willow. Seriously, though, Kouga's all like, "Meh, I'll look for Naraku
in my own way" and proceeds to go off on his own, and not ten pages later, Inuyasha's group runs into him. Ya should've stayed with 'em, stupid
wolf! Though, I guess he didn't facy having to service Inuyasha while in his company. Which brings us to:
Best Moment: Kouga's... interesting statement. "Yappa Inukkoro to tsurunde tabisuru nante, zotto shinee kara na." This line correctly translates as "I shudder at the thought of taking Inukkoro as a companion and traveling." However, "tsurumu" also means "to mate two animals", and given that the word wasn't specified in kanji, Kouga's line could also conceivably mean, "I shudder at the thought of mating with Inukkoro and traveling." So, now Naraku's given a shard to the Whomping Willow, and it's trying to eat him. Maybe he wants to absorb its uber whomping abilities. It's not like he needs to strengthen his toxins, though, so I don't really know what he could want with it. Won't know until next year, though, since Shounen Sunday's on a holiday break next week. |
|
(Kouga's Decision) |
|
| Original Release Date: 12/14/05 | Review Date: 12/13/05 |
| Summary | |
|
Inuyasha breaks through Mouryoumaru's armored shell and confronts the baby. Mouryoumaru makes a last-ditch effort to take Kouga's shards while he's
immobile, but Kai draws him away. However, noting that the baby is actually in danger this time, Naraku makes the shard he lent Kai pop out of his
leg so that Mouryoumaru can take it. Mouryoumaru then turns to shouki and escapes. Afterwards, Kouga tells Ginta and Hakkaku to leave and find Kai and Shinta a new Yourouzoku pack to hang out with. He states that Naraku has been killing Yourouzoku to get to him, and since Naraku is after his shards, it's too dangerous to stay near him. After some arguing, Kouga parts ways with his followers, and... apparently joins Inuyasha's group instead. o_O |
|
| Review | |
|
WTF, Kouga ditched the buds!! And joined Inuyasha's group?! Okay, this can't bode well. He just sent away the only thing ensuring his life. No one
in this series dies if they've got someone to visibly mourn over them (which is why Sesshoumaru is safe so long as Jaken and Rin are around). He's
got Kagome to worry about him now, but he likely won't hang out with Inuyasha too long, and will either get killed in the next couple of chapters, or
go off on his own kinda like Kohaku. Although, Kohaku eventually teamed up with Kikyou. Who's Kouga got? Sesshoumaru? Toutousai? Kaede? Maybe
he'll join the zombie troupe, too, just so all the straggling Shikon carriers are together. ^_^*
Best Moment: Um, not really "best", but... yeah... He sent the buds away. ^_^* This is probably the most major party change this series has had in years, so it's at least "noteworthy". The chapter itself is kinda vague about whether or not Kouga actually joined Inuyasha's group, but the blurb at the end of the chapter seems to indicate that he did. So, that wraps up this storyline, so where we go next week is anyone's guess. Or if Kouga really will be hanging out with them now. ... That'll just be weird. XD |
|
(Invisible Youketsu) |
|
| Original Release Date: 12/07/05 | Review Date: 12/06/05 |
| Summary | |
| Mouryoumaru attempts to escape by recombining his body into a solid mass of armor and Kongousouha spears centered around the baby and the Fuyouheki. Because of the Fuyouheki's interference, Inuyasha can't sense the youketsu around that part of his body. He tries blindly swinging at Mouryoumaru anyway, and when Kouga goes in to attack, Mouryoumaru pierces him through the leg. Mouryoumaru then reaches out his tendrils to try to grab Kouga, and Inuyasha is again able to see their youketsu because they're farther away from the main body. He then searches for the weakest youketsu, since that's where the baby is... | |
| Review | |
|
Oh, phew. From the beginning there, it looked like Moury was packing up and hitting the road again, but he stuck around this time. And I'll bet the
buds are silently cheering that Kouga now has a leg injury, and therefore can't run off and leave them behind. Moury seems to be on his last legs,
but he seems that way a lot, so that doesn't really mean anything. Though, it does make me wonder who's going to get Kouga's shards. Maybe Shinta
has been a decoy all along, and just as everyone does their victory dance, he'll whip out his chainsaw and hack out Kouga's shards.
Best Moment: "Kouga!" Guess who said that. C'mon, guess. It was Inuyasha! Ha ha, Sango still calls Miroku "Houshi-sama", but Inuyasha's on a first-name basis with the wolf now? Maybe he just said it because he was really worried. Awww. Next week, it's time for Inuyasha to stick his sword in the baby's hole! ... Because... yeah! This is a wholesome series! You know, if the baby gets killed, does that mean Mouryoumaru will just collapse into a lump of crap, since the baby's the one controlling him? Or will he go back to his *blank stare* look, and the Inu-tachi can keep him as a pet? If they thought they got weird stares when they went into villages before... ^_^* |
|
(Destruction) |
|
| Original Release Date: 11/30/05 | Review Date: 11/29/05 |
| Summary | |
| Kouga attempts to attack, but Mouryoumaru keeps regenerating after each attack. Inuyasha then decides to go for Mouryoumaru's youketsu, but since he's made up of countless youkai, he has countless youketsu. So, Inuyasha starts chopping away, anyway, and starts making dents in Mouryoumaru's body that don't reform. The others notice that when Kouga hits these places, they cause damage. After some bickering Inuyasha and Kouga strike at him together when Mouryoumaru tries to escape, slashing off his wings. Then the Saimyoushou appear... | |
| Review | |
|
So, Yasee Ookami and Inu-kkoro are finally working together. Kinda. Certainly more "together" than Inu and Sess ever have, though. And everyone else
is just kinda on the sidelines as usual. Guess Miroku and Sango used up their turn last week.
Best Moment: He didn't get away! Unlike the other dozen times we've faced Mouryoumaru, when he tries to escape this time, THEY STOP HIM! Be still, my heart, something different happened! Mouryoumaru's in pretty bad shape by the end, and the baby seems to imply that Naraku's got something nasty in mind for Mouryoumaru. Probably the same as that Kodoku thing that he did before, where he had all those youkai fight inside the mountain and absorb the losers, until the one that was left became his new body. So far, Mouryoumaru's been fighting and absorbing youkai, and has been getting stronger to match Inuyasha, but by this point is too injured to fight back against Naraku. Well, that's my guess, at least. This week, we had a color cover page and a few color chapter pages to mark 10 years of Inu in Shounen Sunday. Congratulations! Hopefully it doesn't go on for another 10 years, though. I dunno how many more sword upgrades I can take... |
|
(Midoriko's Will) |
|
| Original Release Date: 11/23/05 | Review Date: 11/22/05 |
| Summary | |
| Mouryoumaru tries to hit Kouga with his Kongousouha spears, but Kouga repels them with Goraishi. Mouryoumaru is impressed, but wonders why Kouga isn't moving. Kouga then realizes he can't even use Goraishi, since he might hit Shinta, so Kai goes to save his brother. Mouryoumaru realizes that Kai has Shikon shards, so Sango rushes in to pull him and Shinta out of Mouryoumaru's grasp. Kouga then breaks free from Mouryoumaru, able to fight without restraint, and it's unclear whether his sudden ability to move is due to the ancestoral protection or something else... | |
| Review | |
|
Not really a whole lot to say about this chapter. It wasn't boring by any means, but the summary pretty much says all there is to say. Lots of
flashing back to other chapters speaking of "Midoriko's will of DOOOoooOOoooOooOoMMM!!", and Kouga's stop-and-go legs. At least Shinta is safe
now.
Best Moment: ZOMG Miroku and Sango kinda do something! Haven't seen Hiraikotsu used in a while. Granted, all they do is team up to get little wolfy baby away from Mouryoumaru, but it's a noble cause! They've saved the cuteness! Um, other than that... I've got nothin'. I hope Kouga uses his "Get out of Midoriko's Will Free" card soon, so that he can promptly lose his shards after that, but... something tells me it's still not gonna happen this time around. Kai will probably lose his, though. Only next week will tell. |
|
(Goraishi's Power) |
|
| Original Release Date: 11/16/05 | Review Date: 11/15/05 |
| Summary | |
| Kouga whips out his magic fingers and makes mincemeat of the youkai thing in one fell swoop. He turns his attention to Byakuya, who nonchalantly escapes and shows them that Shinta is actually alive, but being held captive by a giant moth. Everyone follows, but the moth is snatched out of the air by... Mouryoumaru! Kouga vows to Kai to save Shinta and prepares to attack, but his shards stop working again! | |
| Review | |
|
Heeey, Mouryoumaru, long time no see! And, yay, Shinta isn't dead! At least... it appears he isn't dead! For all we know, this is just an illusion,
considering it IS Byakuya we're dealing with. And, heeey, Kouga's got a lightning weapon, and Inuyasha's got that fire weapon, and we've seen before
that lightning + fire = Mouryoumaru go owie, so maaaybe... Or maybe not. ^_^*
Best Moment: "Kagome, I love children." A-hahaha, he can even take time out in a serious moment to try to impress the girl. Of course, Ginta and Hakkaku are sitting in the background like, "Yeah right..." Amusingly, Sesshoumaru is the only guy in the series who has any way with kids. ^_^* So, will Kouga FINALLY lose his shards this time around? Please? He's still got his "Get Out of Midoriko's Control Free" card to use up, so, if he doesn't lose them this time, then NEXT time, Gadget, NEXT TIME. ... But we say that every time. |
|
(Sunset) |
|
| Original Release Date: 11/09/05 | Review Date: 11/08/05 |
| Summary | |
| Kai had been instructed by Byakuya to retrieve Kouga's shards by sunset, or Shinta would be killed. Kai is unable to defeat Kouga, though, and as the sun goes down, he runs back to Byakuya to get his brother back by force. Kouga follows, and Inuyasha's group arrives on the scene as well, to learn that Byakuya hasn't kept up his end of the bargain, and the youkai has apparently already eaten Shinta. Kouga goes into a rage and vows to avenge the fallen wolves. | |
| Review | |
|
Nooo! You can't kill the little fluffy thing with... with the big eyes and the little fuzzy ears hoodie! Stupid youkai thingy that sucks! But maybe
it's a ruse and the kid is still alive. Or maybe he'll be a zombie kept alive by a Shikon shard like Kohaku. Kai is already practically Sango the
wolf. Got his tribe killed by Naraku, got lent a Shikon shard to go after someone who was framed for it, lost their little brother... Looks like
Kouga's about to get a new party member, if things keep up. ^_^*
Best Moment: Hi, Byakuya! This means this is relevant to the plot, right? Or, likely, just a way to introduce a new regular character to the cast. At least Kai is kinda cute, but like Sango, lacks a distinct personality as of yet. Unless he'll end up like the Shippou of the wolfpack, and pick on Kouga all the time. Maybe he'll get to keep his Shikon shard, so he can actually keep pace with Kouga and kick his ass. But then, what would happen to the buds? Are they just becoming obsolete? They don't even have names. ^_^* If Byakuya and Mr. Ugly really did kill Shinta, they need their asses handed to them and shoved down their throats, big time. >:( At least Kouga looks about ready to whip out Goraishi on the last page, so maybe we can see what that thing can do. And Kai's got the spiky gear thing that he can probably take someone's eye out with, so... yeah, sorry buds, you're obsolete. But at least Kouga has a little family now that he can be happy with, since there's no way he'll ever get Kagome. :P |
|
(Kai) |
|
| Original Release Date: 11/02/05 | Review Date: 11/01/05 |
| Summary | |
| Yourouzoku tribes have all fled their caves and scattered due to increased youkai attacks. One group consists of elders and orphaned children who couldn't fight. Among them are two brothers named Kai and Shinta. However, the group is attacked by a youkai who kills everyone but Kai and Shinta. Later, Kai appears before Kouga, weilding one of the youkai's weapons, and demanding Kouga's Shikon shards... | |
| Review | |
|
Wait, what...? A chapter not about weapon upgrades? HOW CAN THIS BE?! Even moreso, Kouga who? Wasn't he that one guy who was kinda around maybe
50 chapters ago, before the series focused solely on Tessaiga? There's more to it than swords? Heaven forbid!
So, yeah, this is a refreshing change of pace. And Kai and Shinta are so damn cute! Though I'm not really sure why Kai thinks it's Kouga's fault that everyone died. Maybe because he simply wasn't there. This kinda reminds me of the whole filler story with Ayame, with the wolf tribes being attacked by youkai and being annoyed that Kouga was off on his crusade. So, I guess this is like a canon Ayame story, minus Ayame. The whole "fiancee" thing reeked of Mary-Sue, anyway. ^_^* On the bright side, maybe Kouga will get some new minions out of the kids. Not that Ginta and Hakkaku suck or anything, but... hell, they're not even NAMED in the manga, so the kids already have the upper hand on the buds. Best Moment: It's not about Tessaiga! That's exciting enough! Actually, aside from Kai's whirly-spiky-geary-thingie-of-death-on-a-chain, there's no weapons in this chapter at all! Just cute and fuzzy kids and lots of blood and death. ^_^* And next week, Ash vs. Steel! Who will be t3h winz?! I do kinda hope Kouga finally loses his Shikon shards. Now that he's got Goraishi, he can actually be semi-effective without them. On another note, this is my 100th chapter! Been a long haul, and there's still more to go. x___x At least it's looking up at the moment. ^_^* |
|
(Training) |
|
| Original Release Date: 10/26/05 | Review Date: 10/25/05 |
| Summary | |
| Inuyasha defeats the bull-oni, and everything returns to normal. It turns out Yourei Taisei was just faking the whole thing in order to train Inuyasha, to learn to rely on himself rather than beating on things indiscriminantly. It also turns out that Tessaiga is a sword that's meant to cut, not suck, which everyone has a "duh" moment about. Inuyasha's training is complete, but it seems that there's still an ultimate form of dragon-scaled Tessaiga that has yet to be discovered... | |
| Review | |
|
Yaaaaaaay. Just when we thought the sword upgrading story was over and could jump for joy, we're suddenly hit with an, "Oh, by the way, did you
know there's an even more POWERFUL form?!?!?!" Gee, I wonder what the next arc will be about. x___x And now Inuyasha's sword is infused with
Yourei Taisei's youki, too. Now he's got senki, flames, and youki hanging out in that thing. Where's the cream filling?
Best Moment: Yourei Taisei reveals his true form, which is... exactly like he was before, except he's not flat. Shock and awe! And at the end, Inuyasha gives Yourei Taisei a "good boy" pat on the head for giving his sword youki. Other than that, I'm just happy for this arc to be over, even though we're now threatened with another one. Can we focus on something OTHER than the sword for once? Granted, next week we'll likely go into filler or something so that Inuyasha can test out his spiffy new powers, and possibly inadvertantly unlock the ULTIMATE POWARRR!!!!!111 that Yourei Taisei mentioned. And Sesshoumaru's quip from befoe seems so obvious now. He was basically saying, "Um, your sword sucks? Dude, swords are supposed to CUT, man..." ... And how is it that everyone knows how to upgrade dragon-scaled Tessaiga? "Ohh, he absorbed the power of a demonic sword made from dragon scales that can suck youki in to his own sword made of a daiyoukai dog's fang? Yeah, I see that all the time! Here's what ya do..." |
|
(Scent of the Youketsu) |
|
| Original Release Date: 10/19/05 | Review Date: 10/18/05 |
| Summary | |
| Inuyasha whacks at the supposed youketsu, but ends up getting smacked with a backflow of youki like before he'd added the senki to Tessaiga. The youkai explains that this is because Yourei Taisei's sage powers are greater than Nikosen's. Inuyasha tries attacking again and gets a crack in Tessaiga. He finally stops for a minute to sniff around and realizes that the REAL real youketsu is actually hidden inside Yourei Taisei's body! | |
| Review | |
|
Fool me once.... shame on... shame on you... Fool me... I won't get fooled again. No wonder Sesshoumaru can't stand his dumbass little brother.
Hack first, think later. Still hasn't grown out of that. This chapter really didn't prove anything other than you can't always attack the demon
hole that smells the prettiest.
Best Moment: Er... well, at least it looks like he actually defeated the bull-oni, who will likely end up being a baloney opponent to begin with. Probably aaaaaalll Yourei Taisei's doing. Or Toutousai's. Or someone else who just likes to mess with our heads. This whole arc just reeks of WTF, and that stench ain't coming from any youkai holes. So, Tessaiga's cracked again. It's happened before, and it miraculously healed itself. And that kind of thing isn't really going to add tension anymore, unless the sword actually shatters completely again. Watch it just be back to normal next week. Or Toutousai will just randomly pop out of the bushes and go "HA HA!", and then conveniently be there to fix it for him. Either way, I want this arc to be ooo-veeerrr... |
|
(The Real Enemy) |
|
| Original Release Date: 10/12/05 | Review Date: 10/11/05 |
| Summary | |
| Inuyasha follows the scent of the incense back to Yourei Taisei's dwelling, where he finds Yourei Taisei wadded up like a used kleenex and a large bull-looking youkai looming over him. The youkai claims that he wants to prevent Inuyasha's dragon-scaled Tessaiga from becoming stronger, as it poses a threat to youkai everywhere. Inuyasha vows to kill the youkai for attacking Yourei Taisei simply for being involved with him, and at that point, the chain on Tessaiga breaks. Meanwhile, Miroku, Sango, and Shippou, who had all been blown away previously, regroup and wonder if something is amiss about this whole thing. | |
| Review | |
|
So, on to bad guy, part 2. Now we've got a youkai that's fulla bull. He actually looks kinda like Gyuuou from that one two-part filler episode with
the fake Shikon no Tamas. He's got no name at this point, making me wonder how particularly important he is to anything. Maybe he's really Moumou
in disguise, considering he already knows an awful lot about Inuyasha and what he's doing there.
Best Moment: This youkai actually has a point. He's not all about "Muahaha, I'm all-powerful and want to kill you all" sort of thing, he's concerned about Inuyasha swinging around some weapon of mass suckage like a five year-old with a machete. Granted, assaulting Yourei Taisei to keep him from training Inuyasha to make it stronger was probably a little out of line, but he's got a right to be concerned. Granted, this whole thing has likely been an act and training course from Yourei Taisei from the start, but it does bring up some points. Inuyasha's looking more and more immature by the day. ^_^* So, now Inuyasha's going for the bull's youketsu, this time with a Tessaiga DS to help him chop through it. Miroku has caught on that something is up, as Miroku is wont to do, but unfortunately, his voice of logic is over the hills and far away, currently trotting back to where Inuyasha's at. So, we wait to see how much of an ass Inu can make of himself next week. Fun fun. |
|
(Youketsu) |
|
| Original Release Date: 10/05/05 | Review Date: 10/04/05 |
| Summary | |
| Inuyasha tears at the snake with his claws, but the snake's body just reforms. Yourei Taisei tells him to aim for the "youketsu", but the snake blows him away before he can elaborate. Inuyasha gets caught by the snake's coils and is poisoned, while Kagome is held by Gennosuke, who was a youkai all along. Due to the poison, Inuyasha sees whirlpools of youki, which he takes to be the "youketsu". He sniffs out which one is the vulnerable one and hits it, causing the snake to disappear. But all that was making it smell different was an incense burner, meaning the real youkai is still elsewhere... | |
| Review | |
|
Well, la. Turns out the thing we were fighting all chapter was really not horribly important after all, or at least this seems to be the case.
What was that about hitting people who aren't involved? And now that the entire party aside from Inuyasha and Kagome have been blown away, Inuyasha
is learning the important lesson that friends are useless. Of course, we could have figured that out from the past 50 chapters or so, in which
none of them have done anything.
Best Moment: Sankon Tessou! Inuyasha hasn't used his claw attacks in a long time! Maybe the end of this story will have Inuyasha learning a new attack that does NOT involve Tessaiga, which would be kinda cool. At the moment, though, it's pretty much just a wild goose chase. If this battle is actually "training" in disguise, it's some pretty shoddy training. So far, Inuyasha hasn't been required to figure out anything himself, but has rather been explicitly told, "Don't hurt them, they're normal humans", "Don't use Tessaiga", "Aim for the youketsu", etc. Can't he figure out anything on his OWN? |
|
(Sealing Chains) |
|
| Original Release Date: 09/28/05 | Review Date: 09/28/05 |
| Summary | |
| Inuyasha plows through youkai villagers looking for the culprit, but each time he strikes someone who isn't involved, the chains on Tessaiga multiply. Finally, the group is led to a mansion by a boy named Gennosuke, who has not changed into a youkai. He says his mother has been sick, but Inuyasha and Yourei Tasei sense the youki from Yourei Taisei's guts coming from her, and she turns into a giant snake. Inuyasha tries to draw Tessaiga now that he's found the apparent true culprit, but Tessaiga burns him and prevents him from using it. | |
| Review | |
|
Today, Inuyasha is learning a very important lesson: Subplots are BAD. Stay away from everyone who has nothing to do with your goal. No more
fighting random water monsters or snakes or water monster snakes. So, hopefully this is the subplot to do away with subplots. In the meantime,
may the subplot commence.
Best Moment: Sango and Miroku, ever unused, attempt to make themselves useful for once, and are subsequently blown away by Yourei Taisei so that they don't interfere. Maybe they'll get to do something exciting in Oz or wherever they got blown off to. But it seems pretty obvious that no one wants anyone to hurt the snake lady, even though she seems to be the one behind everything. So, it'll probably turn out that she was really innocent or some other thing. Good thing that none of the people Inuyasha has randomly hacked up before ended up being innocent. Or maybe we'll just never know. Overall, nothing really happened in this chapter, other than Tessaiga getting even more sealed. But the chains will have to go away eventually, since I doubt he can defeat Naraku by just whacking him over the head. Or maybe he can, and that's the trick to the whole thing. And watch Yourei Taisei be all buff when he gets his guts back. Or, look exactly the same as he does now. There's gotta be a catch. |
|
(Yourei Taisei) |
|
| Original Release Date: 09/21/05 | Review Date: 09/20/05 |
| Summary | |
| Inuyasha's group goes to a human village to meet with Yourei Taisei, who lives under a bridge. However, he cannot train Inuyasha, because his guts have been stolen by a youkai, and he's as flimsy as a sheet of cloth. Turns out the youkai ate his guts and got indigestion, then proceeded to get sick all over the place and turn all the villagers into monsters. Inuyasha vows to drag out the culprit with his usual hack-and-slash method, but Yourei Taisei puts a seal on Tessaiga... | |
| Review | |
|
*blink* .......
Takahashi.... what are you smoking? So, let me get this straight. ... No, I don't think I want to get this straight. I think I'm just going to sit her and blink some more. This chapter was just downright WEIRD. "Someone's stolen my guts!" Guess that's one way to start out a new arc. If Toutousai knew this guy, I wonder if Inu-papa knew him, too. Makes me wonder just what kinda guy he was to fancy hanging out with this sort of crowd. Best Moment: Uhhhh... I dunno, the whole chapter was just really, really weird. The interaction between Inuyasha and Yourei Taisei when he refused to train him was kinda funny, though. "I don't really wanna be taught by some flaky old geezer." And we got TWO "sits" in this chapter, making up for not having any for a couple dozen chapters or so. So, is Inuyasha finally going to learn to not rely on his sword so much? Funny, I thought the whole point of the broken Tessaiga arc was for him to never throw his sword away. I guess he's supposed to be like Sesshoumaru and just always carry around his sword, but never use it. Gotta hate abstinence-only education. |
|
(The Sword's Growth) |
|
| Original Release Date: 09/14/05 | Review Date: 09/13/05 |
| Summary | |
| Sesshoumaru steps in and finishes off Numawatari with Meidou Zangetsuha, then tells Inuyasha that he doesn't know a thing about Tessaiga and has turned it into a useless weapon. So, Inuyasha goes to see Toutousai to see what can be done about this, and is sent to go see someone called Yourei Taisei... | |
| Review | |
|
Ani-ue is t3h winz!! Basically, Sesshoumaru stepped in today and let Inuyasha know what the fans have been thinking all along:
"You're going nowhere fast". So, in a move to make it look like this total deviation from the plot and uber sword upgradeage
with zero character upgradeage was actually intentional, Inuyasha screeches his current mission to a halt to go start over. I
suppose that's one way to do it.
Best Moment: Despite Sesshoumaru winning at life, Shippou and Miroku win at Sesshoumru. Sesshoumaru rants at Inuyasha for tricking out his sword with a bunch of useless accessories and not fully understanding the whole POINT of it all. And then just walks off. Shippou then wonders why he bantered so much if he wasn't actually going to tell them what to do. Miroku points out that it would be kinda freaky for him to be that nice. At least Sesshoumaru looked pretty shmexy while on his rant. However, Sesshoumaru's not really one to talk about not properly upgrading weapons. It turns out that while he's managed to get the Meidou Zangetsuha crescent bigger, he hasn't gotten it any wider. So, he still needs to figure out his own upgradeage before he rants to his little bro about his upgrade woes. Next week, we get a color page, as we go to figure out who the hell Yourei Taisei is and why we should care. As a final note, "Katana no Seichou" can also mean "The Sword's Sexuality". This made me headdesk muchly. |
|
(Transforming Water) |
|
| Original Release Date: 09/07/05 | Review Date: 09/06/05 |
| Summary | |
| Inuyasha throws his entire arsenal at Numawatari, but nothing works. Miroku tries to absorb it, but the water is too polluted. Finally, Sesshoumaru shows up and tells Inuyasha to stop being a dumbass. | |
| Review | |
|
Not a whole lot happened in this chapter, since it was mostly a fight. Yaah, Bakuryuuha, doesn't work. Yaah, Kongousouha, doesn't
work. Yaah, dragon-scale Tessaiga, doesn't work. Yaah, Kazaana, doesn't work. Yeah, pretty much as expected. Because, you know
no one ever thinks to shoot and purify it or anything. I guess it's because that always works, and they're not allowed to have easy
fights.
Best Moment: Sesshoumaru shows up and basically says, "For chrissake, Inuyasha, get back to the PLOT!" Or, I guess that's one way to interpret "You've lost sight of your path." I kinda figured he'd pop back up, though I'm not really sure how useful he'd be to this fight, either. The only way to defeat Numawatari is to get rid of the pond, and I doubt even the little sliver of a Meidou Zangetsuha could pull that off. Hopefully, this means some brotherly teamwork will come into play next week, letting the boys know that they really ARE stronger together. Or, that's just wishful thinking. Or maybe Papa will show up and... okay, that's going beyond the realm of probability. But I waaaants t3h Papa! |
|
(Numawatari) |
|
| Original Release Date: 08/31/05 | Review Date: 08/30/05 |
| Summary | |
| Inuyasha's group comes upon the remains of the oni that Sesshoumaru had been testing Tenseiga on, and decide to follow after him to see what sort of new power he's gotten. On the way, they hear of a man-eating pond, and find that the pond is actually a water youkai called Numawatari. Inuyasha tries to kill it with a Bakuryuuha, but wind can't cut water... | |
| Review | |
|
Hm, given the title page, I had hoped for a bit more brotherly action this week, what with all the "Daddy/swords/brothers/fate" stuff
it was babbling about in the opening caption. But, no, it's just Inuyasha coming down with a case of sword envy, then going off
to wet his sword down.
Best Moment: "I'M NOT FOLLOWING HIM!" Inuyasha denies his interest in Sesshoumaru's new ability multiple times throughout the chapter, then proceeds to turn around and try to track the guy down. Sesshoumaru's role in this chapter was fairly pointless, aside from introducing the new Monster of the Day. Although Jaken's line about Rin drinking the pond water would "break her stomach" translated somewhat amusingly. Not really sure what Sesshoumaru's doing back so soon, other than this could possibly be a parallel to Inuyasha trying to master the dragon-scale Tessaiga, considering Sesshoumaru doesn't seem to have made any progress with Meidou Zangetsuha. It'll probably end up being something like he has to be protecting someone in order for it to work, or some weird combo with Tessaiga or whatnot. Miroku had already said at the end of the chapter that normal attacks won't work on water, meaning he'll likely try to use his Kazaana on it next time, but I'm guessing Fluffy might be showing back up to show everyone who sucks more. |
|
(Tessaiga's Flames) |
|
| Original Release Date: 08/24/05 | Review Date: 08/23/05 |
| Summary | |
| Mouryoumaru tries to escape, but Inuyasha hits him with the Flaming Tessaiga (dear god, that's it's NAME), breaking Mouryoumaru's barrier and exposing the baby. Mouryumaru then emits shouki and escapes. Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru's been off practicing with Tenseiga on some hapless oni. | |
| Review | |
|
Sigh... there he goes again. Mouryoumaru has made more getaways in the past 50 chapters than Naraku has the entire series. Not
a whole lot happened in this chapter, considering Mouryoumaru got away right at the beginning, and the middle part was just everyone
talking and recapping that Naraku's basically driving everyone to do everything and that Inuyasha's attacks were just given to him
rather than something he won. And then Sesshoumaru's randomly back in a scene that doesn't really seem like it's going to develop
into anything. Just an "Oh, by the way, here's what Fluffy's up to."
Best Moment: When the baby gets exposed, he looks downright pissed! This is the first time we've ever really seen much emoting coming out of the baby, who usually looks bored and half-asleep all the time. This time Inuyasha forcibly gives Mouryoumaru a Cesarian section, and the baby decides he's not ready to come out yet. And then Sesshoumaru is just kinda... back. Randomly. And not doing anything horribly exciting. So... next week could pretty much go anywhere again. Maybe more Sesshoumaru, maybe back to Kikyou and Kohaku, maybe Kouga will show back up, maybe another powerup arc, maybe Inu-papa will make a cameo (I wish).... At least we don't have to wait two weeks this time. |
|
(Assimilation) |
|
| Original Release Date: 08/10/05 | Review Date: 08/10/05 |
| Summary | |
| Kinka attacks Mouryoumaru, combining his flames with Ginka's lightning, which injures Mouryoumaru. Mouryoumaru impales Kinka on his diamond arm and rips his body apart. Wanting to get back at Mouryoumaru for meddling with their business, Kinka uses his dying energy to assimilate himself into Tessaiga, giving it a flame power. Inuyasha attacks Mouryoumaru, and the combined flames and lightning begin to break down the baby's barrier... | |
| Review | |
|
Hot damn, now Tessaiga's FLAMING. I seriously hope this is just a temporary ability, though, since Kinka only gave Inuyasha his
power in order to defeat Mouryoumaru. It's not really his business to go swinging around Kinka's powers in affairs that Kinka had
nothing to do with. Though, at this rate, Mouryoumaru will likely still make a clean getaway and spend the next couple of chapters
sulking that Naraku led him into a trap as well. Naraku did wonder a while ago what Mouryoumaru would do when cornered, and with
the baby's barrier being broken down, he's about as cornered as he's gonna get. Meaning he'll probably pull some random ability
out of his ass and, as usual, escape.
Best Moment: Inuyasha apologizes to the dying Kinka for dragging the two of them into things, and vows to defeat Mouryoumaru for them. ... Not that he hasn't said this umpteen times before, but it was still sweet. ^_^* That and it wasn't Inuyasha who got them involved, but rather Kanna. They just happened to all meet up at the same time. Speaking of Kanna, she's still there, just kinda hanging out and watching as usual. It was sad to see Kinka and Ginka die, even though I'd predicted they would right from when they showed up, despite the two of them not being particularly evil. That would likely make them the first more-or-less "good" characters to get killed off in the series, despite the fact that they didn't last too long. Suikotsu and Kagura are runners-up, but I wouldn't really consider either of them totally "good" by any stretch of the imagination. Still don't know how long this battle's going to last, though I'd guess next week will be the conclusion. Or, rather, the week after next, since this week was a double issue, thus making next week a holiday. Sigh... the end of Mouryoumaru can't come soon enough. |
|
(The Death of Ginka) |
|
| Original Release Date: 08/03/05 | Review Date: 08/02/05 |
| Summary | |
| Inuyasha grabs Kinka while Mouryoumaru grabs Ginka and their two bodies separate. Mouryoumaru absorbs Ginka, and Kinka is angered that someone stepped in on their sibling rivalry, so attacks Mouryoumaru. Mouryoumaru tries to absorb him as well, but Inuyasha steps in and protects him. Suddenly, lighting starts coming from Ginka's body, even though he's been thought dead... | |
| Review | |
|
From the title of this week's chapter, was there any doubt what happened? Although, that pretty much already happened last week.
At least Kinka's still hanging in there. If he's survived this long, he'll probably make it out of this okay, unless they pull
some Kinka-Ginka-death-flamey-zappy-snake-asskick-final-attack thing, in which they both explode or something.
Best Moment: And I was so afraid it would turn out like "zomg i wanted 2 kill him and j00 killed him!" Thankfully, Kinka was more like, "Yeah, I would've done the same thing, but now he's dead and I get the body, so... okay. But you still suck!" And Inuyasha claims that Ginka let himself die and handed over the body to Kinka so that at least one of them could survive. And with a statement like that, it's pretty much more evidence that Kinka's gonna be okay. Kagome, on the other hand, needs some culture lessons. She's all like, "Noo, how could they?!" when Kinka states that he wouldn't have hesitated to kill his brother, either, if given the chance, simply because that's what he was born to do. They accept that of each other, and they're not hurting anyone else, so just let them do their thing. They don't need 15 year-olds from the future preaching morality at them, when they work of a totally different moral basis. So, wow, for once "Inuyasha" has some actual psychological depth. Whether it was intentional or not remains to be seen, but it's still interesting. |
|
(The Brothers Fall Into a Trap) |
|
| Original Release Date: 07/27/05 | Review Date: 07/26/05 |
| Summary | |
| Inuyasha tries to shoot down Mouryoumaru, but Mouryoumaru captures Kinka and Ginka in his tentacles. Kinka and Ginka retaliate with their fire and thunder attacks, and it looks like they've actually subdued Mouryoumaru when his tentacles let go of Ginka. Ginka seizes the opportunity to attack his brother, and Mouryoumaru in turn attacks Ginka. Inuyasha notices that they're still alive and rushes in to save them.... | |
| Review | |
|
Kinka-Ginka! ;__; I like them! And, seriously, I got a little upset seeing them all impaled and lying dead-ish like that.
I mean, they're normal brothers who just want their own rooms... 'cept they have to kill each other to get it... but still!
It's kind of hard to tell whether they're both still alive, or just Kinka, but it would still be nice for even one of them
to make it out of this alive. Then again, if Kinka is the only survivor, that means he gets the body, but he wasn't the one
who killed his brother to accomplish that, which probably won't make him too happy, anyway.
Best Moment: There were a couple good parts, actually. I was quite fond of Inuyasha pincushioning Mouryoumaru's wings, with Mouryoumaru subsequently going "Ah, sh*t" as he plummets towards the ground. And there was a certain amount of satisfaction in seeing him fried and electrocuted, even though his reaction was all an act. And, finally, it was just really cute seeing Inuyasha trying to rush out of the fray with Kinka and Ginka slung under his arm. So... Shounen Sunday's preview said something about Mouryoumaru absorbing Kinka and Ginka and undergoing a transformation, but I see no such thing. o_O Maybe that's next week's. Even so, there's got to be a reason for them to still be kind of alive at this point, so hopefully this bodes well for them in the future. |
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