ITP: Amano is up to her usual tricks. That is, the ones that are completely insane.
Welcome, migi_47, melissa_42, tsunayoshi, ojuzu, portrayedas, and dismahboomstick! ETA: And welcome also to circles9 and ranty_rie! It's a pleasure to meet you all, and I hope many Reborny fun times are ahead. |D
So, apparently KHR 272 came out when I wasn't paying attention, even though there wasn't supposed to be a chapter this week! Which is good news, except that it also apparently means we'll have to wait twice as long for the next chapter. So now I'm not quite sure how to feel about this. I suppose it depends on how cliffhangery this chapter is.
1. ...Okay. So our cover page is, uh. Naked Ghost! MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM AMANO, EVERYONE. You didn't need those eyes anyway.
And I'm a little disappointed; it's not like IEM to screw up with text this way. ENGLISH IS NOT MEANT TO BE READ VERTICALLY. Especially not when the font is so screwed up that you can hardly tell where the word divisions are. It took me like half a minute just to read "In the midst of an..." That's thirty seconds of my life I'll never get back! All I can do is whine about it. :(
2. Leave it to Mukuro, when everyone else's attention is clearly diverted... elsewhere... to notice that the Byakuran tattoo was under the wrong eye. You gotta hand it to him; the man has a keen eye for detail. And I'm not sure if in this particular instance, that makes him straighter or gayer than I previously thought.
Interesting that even Bluebell and Kikyo are shocked. True, they'd seemed surprised in the last chapter, but I assumed that was just because of the timing. But they really don't seem to know much about him, and I'm not sure they were ever expecting him to show up at all.
3. For the record: Mukuro and Fran's relationship is still awesome. Especially now that they're actually in serious business mode. "What do you think of this, little one?" "My instincts tell me that this isn't an illusion." "Correct." It's such a short exchange, but it says a lot. You get the sense that Mukuro's question was both a way of testing Fran's knowledge, and part of a legitimate "Well now, what do you think of this?" discussion between two illusionists of considerable skill. I kind of got more of a Star Wars-ish master-padawan vibe than in the last chapter, when they were just bantering and stabbing each other in the head. Very nice.
Then Levi ruined the moment by being an idiot. XD
4. *AUDIBLE GASP* GOKUDERA AND RYOHEI HAVE A COMBINATION ATTACK???!! GASP GASP LEMME SEE OH GIMME GIMME LEMME SEEEEEE. :O :O :O
GASPO, LOOK AT IIIIIT. 8DDDDD WE DOIN' IT OLD SCHOOL POKEMON STYLE UP IN HERE.
5. OMFG YESSSS BIG!URI IS BACK TO KICK SOME CREEPY NAKED INVULNERABLE GUY ASS.
AND HOLY SHIT, MUKURO AND BEL ACTUALLY ADMITTED THAT IT WAS IMPRESSIVE! AND EVEN ZAKURO LOOKS SCARED OF IT. OH MY GOD LIFE IS GOOD.
I really hope that once they go back to their time, they'll still be able to do this combo using Yamamoto (WHERE IS HE??) and his box. Nothing against you, Basil, it's just... Yamamoto. You know? You know.
6. Something bad appears to be happening...? I really can't tell what the hell is going on. But it looks like Uri got hurt. :( SOB NO NOT MY URI. And Bluebell got hit by...
JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!!1!asdj!!K!1
I am so, so glad I didn't read this on Christmas. D8 WHAT IS THIS INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE SUDDEN HORRIFIC CORPSE BULLSHIT. EVEN MUKURO MADE A FACE. MUKURO!! Oh my God we're all going to dieeeee.
7. Holy shit he's drawing out their life energy from their dying will flames. I've actually wondered if it was possible to do that. And since the Funeral Wreaths' boxes are planted directly in their bodies for hardcore box steroid action... damn, poor Bluebell. If I wasn't so horrified, I'd be very intrigued. Amano keeps coming up with the coolest, most thought-provoking superpowers for her Byakuran twins.
8. Awwww. Again, if I wasn't so busy cowering in terror in my computer chair, I'd be even more touched.
...oh, the hell with it. These are like, the last circumstances in which I ever expected to see a really tender and sweet Mukuro/Chrome moment, but damned if I'm not cooing over the two of them here. ...And then Chrome had to faint. Sob. XD
9. BUT LOL AT THE LAST PANEL ON THIS PAGE. SO MUCH LOL. THE X-RAY SPECS MAKE THEIR TRIUMPHANT COMEBACK. And I can't remember the last time I saw such a hilarious expression on any character's face. XDDD And it's entirely his own fault--if he wasn't so smiley-bastard all the time, it wouldn't be such a hilarious character break for him to actually get serious. You brought this on yourself, Chuckles.
10. And, shock of shocks... Ghost is actually a Ghost? Somehow, I didn't actually expect that.
So is it possible he's a dead Byakuran from another universe or something? The potential creepiness of this guy just shot through the roof again, and I honestly did not think that was possible at this point.
Looks like it's gonna be Tsunaman to the rescue. GO DO YOUR MAIN CHARACTER THING, LITTLE BOSS.
So, final verdict... yeah, it's pretty cliffhangerish, but not as bad as it could have been. Tsuna's about to get in on the action now, so we're left anticipating awesome things, but not quite hanging on the edge of our seats. I think I can make it through the next 2-3 weeks like this. I can only hope. XD