HAPPY NEW YEAR, ALL YOU LOVELY PEOPLE. ♥
Merry Christmas, too! Belatedly! Since, you know. That's how I do things. XD
SPEAKING OF BELATED...
1. HIBARI, INCOMING!! That is the actual, literal title of this chapter! AND THE COVER PAGE IS HIBARI LEAPING TO THE GROUND FROM A HELICOPTER AND ADELHEID SHOUTING "HIBARI KYOYA!!" AS HE LANDS. Because Hibari's life is an action movie. AND HE DRINKS HIS MARTINIS SHAKEN, NOT STIRRED.
Now, then, before we get to anything else, I would just like to take a moment to clarify that I bear absolutely no grudge against Hibari Kyoya. I think he is hilarious, and also pretty damn sexy, and I really like to say his full name because idk, it's fun to say. That said, I am absolutely rooting for Adelheid to win this fight for several reasons: One, because it's Adelheid; two, because so far the Vongola have done a terrible job of being the underdogs in this conflict (HOW DARE THEY WIN OR TIE ALL OF THEIR BATTLES SO FAR, THOSE COMPETENT BASTARDS); and three, because the idea of Hibari in chains may or may not get me a little hot and bothered unf.
However, please do not take my rooting against him in this battle to be a sign of hate or dislike toward him! JUST TO BE CLEAR ON THAT. I don't really hate any of the characters in KHR, even the ones that need to die horrible deaths by falling off cliffs into seas of burning lava and scissors. That said, Spade, if such a fate were to befall you I would not be weeping any tears or anything, I'm just saying.
2. Anyway, I've digressed long enough, so let's get back to the important things in life, like Kusakabe giving a thumbs up while wearing sunglasses. Kusakabe my man, you don't even know it yet, but you are already as good as iconned. That pose is just too fantastic to pass up. When I look at it I swear I can hear Top Gun music playing in the background.
I wonder why after all this time, Reborn is still the only one that speaks Hibari. I thought it was pretty obvious he was referring to Enma, but then again, these are the Vongola we're talking about. When Tsuna finally does become boss he's going to have to hire a full-time exposition guy to stand in the background all the time and help him out.
3. OH NO HE DIDN'T oh snap someone's talking trash now! Adelheid, girl, are you going to stand for that? Hell no! IT'S PRIDE-STAKING TIME, OH MAN I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT ADELHEID'S PRIDE IS THIS IS GONNA BE SWE--
--OH, FOR FUCK'S SAKE. Jesus Christ, EVERY FEMALE CHARACTER, seriously?!
At least she didn't mention cooking too.
4. Lol, Hibari's pride, on the other hand, was arguably even easier to guess than Gokudera's. XD And speaking of Gokudera, POT, KETTLE, Mr. "I KNEW IT WOULD DEFINITELY COME TO THIS!!"
Oh ho ho something tells me this battle is going to get kind of physical. 8D HEY HIBARI, I KNOW IT'S AWFULLY HYPOCRITICAL OF ME TO GRUMBLE ABOUT THE TREATMENT OF FEMALE CHARACTERS IN ONE PARAGRAPH AND THEN MAKE OBJECTIFYING REMARKS ABOUT THEM IN THE NEXT, but seeing as I'm nothing if not a hypocrite, I'll say it anyway: I'M SO JEALOUS OF YOU RIGHT NOW.
5. To repeat: SO. JEALOUS.
Also, yay Glacier flames. We've known about the ice attribute for a long time now, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm super-psyched to finally see it in action. |D
BY THE WAY, AGENT 0018, MY GIRL ADELHEID DOESN'T EVEN NEED A HELICOPTER TO FLY SINCE SHE APPARENTLY BORROWED HER SUPERPOWERS FROM MR. INCREDIBLE'S BESTEST BUD FROZONE PLAYED BY SAMUEL L. JACKSON. WHAT UP. So far this chapter is delighting the 12-year-old boy in me.
6. Yeah, so normally these action panels bore me like whoa, but damned if this isn't one of the coolest fucking things I've ever seen. Gokudera's response here is absolutely correct and appropriate. Also loling at Reborn's casual mention of the fact that she is not-so-secretly the real power behind the Simon throne (at least when Daemon's not creeping around being his intolerable self).
And is it just me or does Hibari seem a little annoyed at the fact that Enma and to a lesser extent Gokudera have been hogging all the shippable Tsuna moments lately? Or at least, such is my explanation for that weird little "WATCH MY FIGHT. *BEDROOM EYES*" moment at the bottom of that page. That, or it's Amano's Christmas gift to us all (in which case she is being extra generous this year because I was satisfied with just the Kusakabe thumbs up).
7. Okay, Hibari? All that awesome stuff Adelheid just did with the arm-blades and the ice surfing and whatnot? YOU AND YOUR ADORABLE HEDGEHOG JUST UNDID ALL OF THAT.
Well, this landslide of giant spike-boulders and panel of blatantly exposed cleavage sort of makes up for it, but just barely.
8. Hey now, this is an interesting segue. Nametwin and Zombie!Chrome make their triumphant return by spying on the goings-on and making very nearly meta observations about the plot! For a moment I confess that I almost got excited because it looked like Chrome was pointing to Gokudera (IT DID, I SWEAR TO GOD), and I was like, "HAHA THERE'S NO WAY THAT'S CORRECT BUT CAN YOU IMAGINE IF IT WERE TRUE!" and I had all these fanciful thoughts about Gokudera as the final villain and wasted a couple minutes of my life giggling about it before I finally scrolled down and saw that she was actually pointing at Tsuna. Which I SUPPOSE makes more logical sense but you have to admit it's not nearly as fun. :/
Anyway, back on track, it appears that yet another character is outraged that Tsuna would dare to have Primo as a great-grandfather (or whatever). Spade, it's a testament to your dickishness that you can be that fucking hot and yet still make me dislike you as much as I do.
9. Seriously, this guy is pretty much just evil incarnate! It's amazing! He has no redeeming qualities whatsoever! Aside from his incredible attractiveness!!
--BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY HIBARI IS ABOUT TO GET HIS VONGOLA GEAR ON OMG OMG. DON'T LET US DOWN!
10. ...
...Okay, so. Whatever the opposite of a letdown is. Yeah. THIS IS THAT.
I mean, seriously. HIS VONGOLA GEAR IS AN UPGRADED NAMIMORI UNIFORM AND HIBIRD HAS A POMPADOUR JUST FOR SHITS AND GIGGLES. Sometimes Amano swings hard and misses bad, but this time? This is sheer perfection, and I mean that without the slightest bit of facetiousness. HOME RUN, LADIES AND GENTS. Perfect way to wrap up another year of KHR that I for one have by and large enjoyed, even if this arc has proven less than popular with a lot of other readers.
So yeah, 2010 has given us Enma, Adelheid, Shitt P, Coyote Nougat, the terrifying-yet-bizarrely-tantalizing combo of Yamamoto and Byakuran, and let us not forget, that one chapter where the characters all dressed up like vegetables, even if it was for Kaoru's benefit and fuck that guy. HERE'S TO ANOTHER HAPPY YEAR OF FANGIRLING. /o/
Oh, and Happy Birthday to katsumeragi! Hope you had a great day yesterday. ♥