IY 514: Crisis
MakiMaki has the scanlation up here.
Well, the title of the chapter is "Crisis," and boy was there ever a crisis.
Or to be more precise, crises. We've got multiple perils going on here all at once. You've got Sesshomaru almost getting his arm shredded off, you've got Kohaku's Shikon shard being tainted, and you've got Kagome's powers being mysteriously drained. Three characters are pretty much incapacitated right now.
I love it when the stakes are raised like this. I love it when the characters' limits are tested.
All I could think during Sesshomaru's fight was that I was glad that he gave up the Meidou Zangetsuha so we could see an awesome, old school fight like this.
Back when Inuyasha and Sesshomaru were battling in the Meidou several weeks ago, I remember joking about what if Inuyasha took Sesshomaru's arm again and then he'd be left with no arms. XD
And then we get a villain who is actually after Sesshomaru's remaining arm! Scary.
Ole Pointy Arm (still hasn't been named in the manga) sure turned out to be the most formidable villain we've seen in a long time. To take out Sess, Kohaku, and Kagome in the course of one chapter... wow.
Well I may as well go back and highlight my thoughts page by page.
Page 1 - nice cover of Sess and Pointy Arm.
Page 3 - it was really cool when Sess got the hit on Pointy Arm like that...
Page 4 - And Jaken's line ("You'd best spend your time in Hell repenting for calling Sesshomaru-sama weak!") was so cute.
But then the panel of Sesshomaru's arm being drawn into Pointy Arm's body like that (and the disturbing look of glee on Pointy Arm's face) was so creepy.
Page 5 - All of a sudden all these giant spider-like pincers burst out of Pointy Arm aiming for Sess's head... yowch...
Page 6 - Sess jumps out of the way (and I really like the stance he makes on the bottom panel) but...
Page 7 - his entire arm is singed badly.
Page 8 - Pointy Arm wounds the mokomoko-sama! Oh noes!
Kohaku realizes P.A. is after Sess's arm, and he takes out his kusari-gama. I thought this was really sweet of Kohaku trying to save Sesshomaru for a change. Brave kid.
Page 9 - Who says violence isn't funny? That image of P.A. with Kohaku's sickle sticking out of his head while he looks mildly annoyed is hilarious. That'll leave a headache. ;)
So then P.A. goes after Kohaku, while Sesshomaru thinks "That idiot!" Heh, I've said it before, but as we all know, whenever someone in an RT series calls someone an idiot, that means they love them. ;)
Page 10 - Kohaku jumps off the safety of Ah-Un into the battle thinking that P.A. can't touch his shard since he's Naraku's detachment ("thanks to Kikyo-sama's purification powers").
Page 11 - Whoops. Not only can P.A. touch the shard, but he's tainting it.
Sesshomaru jumps up to save Kohaku while pretending to be annoyed ("Tch.")
Page 12 - Sess reaches out for Kohaku (yay) but then P.A. sends THREE GIANT TENTACLES SHOOTING THROUGH SESSHOMARU'S ARM!! (oh noes!) They look like giant spider legs and one tears a hole through his palm, another above his wrist, and another around his elbow. His arm is practically shredded, it's lucky it even held together.
We get a panel of Jaken and Rin crying out in concern. Jaken has a tear in his eye.
Page 13 - It really looks bad for Sess (and Kohaku) right now. P.A. says "It's over for you..."
Page 14 - I've never been so happy to see Inuyasha. XD
He leaps in, cutting P.A. tentacles with Tessaiga while yelling "You bastard!" He is PISSED. The cavalry's arrived to save the day, heh.
Page 16 - Sess stands there with his shredded arm. Jaken's in tears saying how painful it looks. And it does look horrific. There is even a chunk torn out of the mokomoko-sama.
Shippo and Miroku whisper about how this happened because Sess "handed over Meidou Zangetsuha to Inuyasha".
Meanwhile Sango and Kagome tend to Kohaku. Kagome decides to purify Kohaku's Shikon shard, but she's confused as to how Naraku's detachment could have tainted it...
Page 17 - Kagome realizes he's different somehow.
And then there's a giant panel of P.A. giving her a huge creepy look...
Page 18 - Kagome falls over, her strength sapped.
DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUN.
So yeah. Our characters are in a world of trouble right now. Sess and Kagome are out of the fight (for now), and Kohaku's shard is tainted.
I still think this arc will culminate in Sess getting a new attack (and since he was the one attacked originally and he's getting the cover page, I think this is his fight.) But I have to wonder if Inuyasha won't end up using Meidou Zangetsuha on P.A.
I will be surprised if P.A. ends up taking Kohaku's shard and getting out of this alive to deliver it to Naraku.
Maybe Kagome will get her upgrade too by the end of the arc? If her spiritual power was unsealed, would she be able to overpower P.A.'s power-sapping effects?
Heh, double upgrades for Sess and Kagome. XD Well, they're the ones who need it right now.
Love how this arc is turning out.
Well, the title of the chapter is "Crisis," and boy was there ever a crisis.
Or to be more precise, crises. We've got multiple perils going on here all at once. You've got Sesshomaru almost getting his arm shredded off, you've got Kohaku's Shikon shard being tainted, and you've got Kagome's powers being mysteriously drained. Three characters are pretty much incapacitated right now.
I love it when the stakes are raised like this. I love it when the characters' limits are tested.
All I could think during Sesshomaru's fight was that I was glad that he gave up the Meidou Zangetsuha so we could see an awesome, old school fight like this.
Back when Inuyasha and Sesshomaru were battling in the Meidou several weeks ago, I remember joking about what if Inuyasha took Sesshomaru's arm again and then he'd be left with no arms. XD
And then we get a villain who is actually after Sesshomaru's remaining arm! Scary.
Ole Pointy Arm (still hasn't been named in the manga) sure turned out to be the most formidable villain we've seen in a long time. To take out Sess, Kohaku, and Kagome in the course of one chapter... wow.
Well I may as well go back and highlight my thoughts page by page.
Page 1 - nice cover of Sess and Pointy Arm.
Page 3 - it was really cool when Sess got the hit on Pointy Arm like that...
Page 4 - And Jaken's line ("You'd best spend your time in Hell repenting for calling Sesshomaru-sama weak!") was so cute.
But then the panel of Sesshomaru's arm being drawn into Pointy Arm's body like that (and the disturbing look of glee on Pointy Arm's face) was so creepy.
Page 5 - All of a sudden all these giant spider-like pincers burst out of Pointy Arm aiming for Sess's head... yowch...
Page 6 - Sess jumps out of the way (and I really like the stance he makes on the bottom panel) but...
Page 7 - his entire arm is singed badly.
Page 8 - Pointy Arm wounds the mokomoko-sama! Oh noes!
Kohaku realizes P.A. is after Sess's arm, and he takes out his kusari-gama. I thought this was really sweet of Kohaku trying to save Sesshomaru for a change. Brave kid.
Page 9 - Who says violence isn't funny? That image of P.A. with Kohaku's sickle sticking out of his head while he looks mildly annoyed is hilarious. That'll leave a headache. ;)
So then P.A. goes after Kohaku, while Sesshomaru thinks "That idiot!" Heh, I've said it before, but as we all know, whenever someone in an RT series calls someone an idiot, that means they love them. ;)
Page 10 - Kohaku jumps off the safety of Ah-Un into the battle thinking that P.A. can't touch his shard since he's Naraku's detachment ("thanks to Kikyo-sama's purification powers").
Page 11 - Whoops. Not only can P.A. touch the shard, but he's tainting it.
Sesshomaru jumps up to save Kohaku while pretending to be annoyed ("Tch.")
Page 12 - Sess reaches out for Kohaku (yay) but then P.A. sends THREE GIANT TENTACLES SHOOTING THROUGH SESSHOMARU'S ARM!! (oh noes!) They look like giant spider legs and one tears a hole through his palm, another above his wrist, and another around his elbow. His arm is practically shredded, it's lucky it even held together.
We get a panel of Jaken and Rin crying out in concern. Jaken has a tear in his eye.
Page 13 - It really looks bad for Sess (and Kohaku) right now. P.A. says "It's over for you..."
Page 14 - I've never been so happy to see Inuyasha. XD
He leaps in, cutting P.A. tentacles with Tessaiga while yelling "You bastard!" He is PISSED. The cavalry's arrived to save the day, heh.
Page 16 - Sess stands there with his shredded arm. Jaken's in tears saying how painful it looks. And it does look horrific. There is even a chunk torn out of the mokomoko-sama.
Shippo and Miroku whisper about how this happened because Sess "handed over Meidou Zangetsuha to Inuyasha".
Meanwhile Sango and Kagome tend to Kohaku. Kagome decides to purify Kohaku's Shikon shard, but she's confused as to how Naraku's detachment could have tainted it...
Page 17 - Kagome realizes he's different somehow.
And then there's a giant panel of P.A. giving her a huge creepy look...
Page 18 - Kagome falls over, her strength sapped.
DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUN.
So yeah. Our characters are in a world of trouble right now. Sess and Kagome are out of the fight (for now), and Kohaku's shard is tainted.
I still think this arc will culminate in Sess getting a new attack (and since he was the one attacked originally and he's getting the cover page, I think this is his fight.) But I have to wonder if Inuyasha won't end up using Meidou Zangetsuha on P.A.
I will be surprised if P.A. ends up taking Kohaku's shard and getting out of this alive to deliver it to Naraku.
Maybe Kagome will get her upgrade too by the end of the arc? If her spiritual power was unsealed, would she be able to overpower P.A.'s power-sapping effects?
Heh, double upgrades for Sess and Kagome. XD Well, they're the ones who need it right now.
Love how this arc is turning out.