Hibari Kyoya can cut scissors with paper!
So, after last week's translation issues (oh Spade, why does everything that comes out of your mouth cause trouble?), I was going to wait until IEM released KHR 323 instead of going with MS/BT's version again. But wouldn't you know it, here it is, 8 p.m. on a Sunday night and still no sign of it! So I will just go ahead and bite the bullet, because like hell if I have the willpower to wait another whole day to read this.
1. For anyone who wasn't paying attention last week or simply forgot everything that happened in the previous chapter for some reason, this cover page serves as a reminder that Hibari recently got his bite on by killing 500 ice chicks without breaking a sweat. Hibari! Oh, you~!
And now to press forward toward the conclusion of this fight, which will hopefully answer one of the great questions of our time: What pumps you up for a fight more, watching your beloved boss suffer horrific fever dreams from the traumatic memories inflicted on him by your current enemy, or flying to the scene of said fight in a motherfucking helicopter?
2. Dude, what. The ice clones regenerated? Well, that takes some of the satisfaction out of it. I like Hibari's little :/ face sans-eyebrows in the center panel. It's like, "Maaaaan, are you kidding me?" And then in the bottom right he's all, "WELL THEY DON'T COUNT ANYWAY." Sure they don't, Hibari, WHATEVER MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER.
Hello again, Adelheid's boobs! I see you so often these days, I feel like you've become almost like another member of the family.
3. Okay, as far as translations go, the sentence "HE IS A STRONG MAN, BEARING THE SADNESS OF THE SIMON!" goes a long, long way toward making up for all of that reincarnation confusion last week. Especially given Enma's Eeyore-esque personality. Idk, I just cracked up.
However, Hibari, I hardly think it's fair to apply the "CRY MOAR" argument to Enma here. I'm just saying, no one murdered your little sister, dude. Back off!
Or else you are going to have a crowd (a crowd!) of angry fangirls on your heels, and do you really want to deal with that? Do you?
4. Apparently he does! Damn you, Hibari, you continue to be a character who lives as he pleases without fear of consequences. No wonder I never know what to do with you in fic.
Though Amano certainly knows how to make the most of your unique qualities. Spiky tonfa, goddamn! It's like Ganauche and his exploding gun all over again! PURE SHOUNEN, MY FRIENDS.
5. Tsuna's eye at the bottom of this page is just so, so sad and pretty that... what? There's other stuff going on? Whatever, get back to me when the urge to hug this little man subsides.
6. "It didn't budge!" Yeah, Gokudera... that's why she said it was impenetrable. I know you guys are used to Hibari doing the impossible on a regular basis and all, but damn it, you're shocked when he does crazy things and shocked when he doesn't? MAKE UP YOUR MINDS.
7. HOLY SHIT, HE FINALLY STOPPED AND TOOK A BREATH FOR A SECOND. DUDE YOU ARE A MACHINE. And Binktopia made Reborn say "Yikes"! I LOLED.
And between Tsuna, Gokudera, and Adelheid, the number of pretty shocked face panels in this chapter is so deliciously high, it's starting to make me giddy.
See?! Just look! And ignore the part where this time the reason they're shocked is because Hibari is waxing poetic about small animals. As previously mentioned, anything Hibari says or does elicits awed reactions.
8. Like breaking Adelheid's unbreakable defense! From the inside! Somehow! Everyone is so astounded, as if Hibari hadn't long ago made implausibility his bitch. Come on, guys, one of these days you're just going to have to start shrugging and blindly accepting it.
9. I, by contrast, have no idea how in the fuck he managed to pull this off, but do you see me pulling my hair out and permanently affixing my jaw into :O mode? No, indeed!
Instead, I'm going to go sit in a corner and sulk over the fact that Adelheid lost. 8(
10. "YOU TRULY ARE A FLOATING CLOUD UNCONTROLLABLE BY ANY BEING..." Okay, Amano, seriously, this doesn't count as character development. You are just repeating statements we've been hearing on and off since the Varia arc! That is lazy and cheap! What I was hoping for was some sort of backstory at long last, or at the very least, the slightest hint that Hibari has since the beginning of the series grown in some way, shape, or form as a person!
...
...oh, fine, I guess I can settle for that.
WINNING ME OVER WITH SHINY PANELS AND THE VAGUEST HINTS AT SOME SORT OF UNSPOKEN SHOUNEN BOND BETWEEN TWO CHARACTERS AGAIN, AMANO! BUT ONE OF THESE DAYS I'M NOT GOING TO CAVE SO QUICKLY... damn it. XD
ETA: Also, Happy Birthday to caddles, jote_jote, daigranon, and makemegray! ♥