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Inuyasha: The Final Act | 4 - Dragon Scaled Tessaiga
This is the part of the manga that I mostly skipped, so I have no idea how accurate things are. Either way, this was a rather enjoyable episode, for my fellow swordophiles. And, for fans of Byakuya - he makes his debut!
The episode opens with another demonstration by Sesshoumaru of his new meidou zangetsuha technique, with the caveat that he has not yet mastered it, because he can only form cresent moons. When the technique has fully matured, he will be able to unleash perfect moons with with to dispatch his enemy to the underworld. This was a nice tie back to the last episode, but considering the rest of the content here...completely irrelevant o.O
The next scene cuts to Inuyasha and Totosai discussing the Dakki sword Inuyasha found/broke in the last episode. Totosai tells Inuyasha that the blade was made with a scale from Ryujin, and that if the attack hadn't failed, Inuyasha would've lost, for sure. This isn't *the* Dakki sword, merely a pale imitation, to which Inuyasha is shocked ~ after all, it sucked up most of Tessaiga's youki! And so, we're set to learn all about this new technique that he must conquer, the dragon scaled incarnation.
This episode also contains an arc with Koga, fighting alongside young comrades, Kai and Shinta. These two storylines are intertwined with each other, which actually made me go a little WTF. Byakuya appears out of nowhere and offers Kai a shard, in exchange for protecting his younger brother from a youkai that's attacking them. Kai is sent to find & steal Koga's shards, but this is definitely a moment where, if you are coming to this cold, you're like, "who the hell is this and why does he have shards to give away?!" instead of realizing its ~*~ Byakuya ~*~ LOL. And he isn't named until the end of the episode, which I also found rather jarring. I dunno - I just think if you were an anime-only fan coming into this, you'd be way confused.
Meanwhile, Inuyasha and crew have happened upon the human swordsmith Toshu, who has been forging the Dakki blades. Unfortunately, Ryujin finds him at the same time, so they are battling when Inuyasha intercedes, capturing Ryujin's attention for the moment. Inuyasha realizes this new foe is the one who can steal youki, and they battle for supremacy, with the Inutachi providing color commentary the whole time. It was compelling stuff, if you enjoy swordplay and the dynamics between a master and his blade, but otherwise - snore city :-/ And it didn't help that they kept cutting back and forth between Inuyasha and Koga, either. Definite whiplash, on that front.
So eventually, Inuyasha bests Ryujin, but there's Toshu, ready with his "real" Dakki to suck up Ryujin's demonic energy. Toshu turns on his savior, possessed by Dakki, which desires Tessaiga's power. This is where it's most powerful, as we see Inuyasha and Tessaiga pushed to their limits, and Inuyasha declares that as long as he's still alive, so is his blade, for they are one in the same...Tessaiga protects Inuyasha with a swirling wind, not wishing to engage the Dakki, but when the blades clash, it is Toshu who is sacrificed, for the Dakki did not wish to break. Tessaiga takes the Dakki's power, now having the dragon-scaled technique...and they look up to see Ginta and Hakkaku huffing and puffing straight past them.
Since the Inutachi can't mind its own business, apparently, they follow after, coming upon Koga, Kai, Byakuya, and the kidnapped Shinta ~ who was taken by Mouyoumaru in disguise. Koga has been captured by the disgusting shapeshifter, who is in need of the shards in Koga's legs, and Inuyasha intervenes, unable to live with the idea of Koga's blood on his hands (as it was the stolen adamant barrage which ensnares him). They battle with Mouyoumaru, reopening the wound Sesshoumaru caused when taunted about Kagura's death, and eventually the power of their combined attacks makes him turn tail and leave. Inuyasha has been using his newly-acquired dragon-scaled technique, which heats up to the point of pain as it steals demonic energy, and he's eventually knocked out cold...which leads the rest of the group to Byakuya, who finally gets around to introducing himself. I prefer his title Byakuya of the Mirage (as opposed to 'Dreams' in the subs here) because it's a better fit to his later appearances. At any rate, he leaves, quite in the manner of Kagura, whipping out his little origami swan before taking flight, noting that he was merely there to observe the fight.
As the Inutachi revive Inuyasha, Byakuya meets with Naraku to give his report, like a good little incarnation. Naraku takes great pleasure in the idea that Tessaiga might destroy Inuyasha, if it causes him so much pain to swing it (and in swinging it), and seems not to care very much if Inuyasha manages to off Mouyoumaru before his sword destroys him, which I found odd - but, again, not being familiar with this particular portion of the manga *shrug*
Overall, this episode was about as boring as the multichapter arc its based on ;) though, as I said, I did find the growing relationship between Inuyasha and Tessaiga compelling. That he sees it as an extension of himself instead of an heirloom from his father is quite telling. It feels like they're setting up the whole Tessaiga and Tenseiga stuff a little bit, which is nice. The battle sequences themselves were okay, though not as impressive as some of the other action-packed efforts.
I was REALLY ANNOYED by the fact that Miroku and Sango were relegated to in-house narrators here; I can see why the Mir/San fans were so frustrated for the duration of this arc during the manga. There's nothing for them to do except give play by play, and it feels like a total waste of character face time. Blah. Boring!
The setup for the next episode at the end was nice, though, as we're left to wonder if Inuyasha will be able to find a way to control dragon-scaled Tessaiga's youki-stealing ability. Its definitely a twist on the whole power upgrades thing, as this one seems to be working against him as much as for him. Eh, we'll see.
Next episode previews: we move backwards on the timeline again to pick up the Kinka and Ginka arc; Sesshoumaru battles the freshly-re-wounded Mouyoumaru, and Inuyasha visits "the great holy demon spirit" (according to the subs) to learn how to master the new Tessaiga.
The episode opens with another demonstration by Sesshoumaru of his new meidou zangetsuha technique, with the caveat that he has not yet mastered it, because he can only form cresent moons. When the technique has fully matured, he will be able to unleash perfect moons with with to dispatch his enemy to the underworld. This was a nice tie back to the last episode, but considering the rest of the content here...completely irrelevant o.O
The next scene cuts to Inuyasha and Totosai discussing the Dakki sword Inuyasha found/broke in the last episode. Totosai tells Inuyasha that the blade was made with a scale from Ryujin, and that if the attack hadn't failed, Inuyasha would've lost, for sure. This isn't *the* Dakki sword, merely a pale imitation, to which Inuyasha is shocked ~ after all, it sucked up most of Tessaiga's youki! And so, we're set to learn all about this new technique that he must conquer, the dragon scaled incarnation.
This episode also contains an arc with Koga, fighting alongside young comrades, Kai and Shinta. These two storylines are intertwined with each other, which actually made me go a little WTF. Byakuya appears out of nowhere and offers Kai a shard, in exchange for protecting his younger brother from a youkai that's attacking them. Kai is sent to find & steal Koga's shards, but this is definitely a moment where, if you are coming to this cold, you're like, "who the hell is this and why does he have shards to give away?!" instead of realizing its ~*~ Byakuya ~*~ LOL. And he isn't named until the end of the episode, which I also found rather jarring. I dunno - I just think if you were an anime-only fan coming into this, you'd be way confused.
Meanwhile, Inuyasha and crew have happened upon the human swordsmith Toshu, who has been forging the Dakki blades. Unfortunately, Ryujin finds him at the same time, so they are battling when Inuyasha intercedes, capturing Ryujin's attention for the moment. Inuyasha realizes this new foe is the one who can steal youki, and they battle for supremacy, with the Inutachi providing color commentary the whole time. It was compelling stuff, if you enjoy swordplay and the dynamics between a master and his blade, but otherwise - snore city :-/ And it didn't help that they kept cutting back and forth between Inuyasha and Koga, either. Definite whiplash, on that front.
So eventually, Inuyasha bests Ryujin, but there's Toshu, ready with his "real" Dakki to suck up Ryujin's demonic energy. Toshu turns on his savior, possessed by Dakki, which desires Tessaiga's power. This is where it's most powerful, as we see Inuyasha and Tessaiga pushed to their limits, and Inuyasha declares that as long as he's still alive, so is his blade, for they are one in the same...Tessaiga protects Inuyasha with a swirling wind, not wishing to engage the Dakki, but when the blades clash, it is Toshu who is sacrificed, for the Dakki did not wish to break. Tessaiga takes the Dakki's power, now having the dragon-scaled technique...and they look up to see Ginta and Hakkaku huffing and puffing straight past them.
Since the Inutachi can't mind its own business, apparently, they follow after, coming upon Koga, Kai, Byakuya, and the kidnapped Shinta ~ who was taken by Mouyoumaru in disguise. Koga has been captured by the disgusting shapeshifter, who is in need of the shards in Koga's legs, and Inuyasha intervenes, unable to live with the idea of Koga's blood on his hands (as it was the stolen adamant barrage which ensnares him). They battle with Mouyoumaru, reopening the wound Sesshoumaru caused when taunted about Kagura's death, and eventually the power of their combined attacks makes him turn tail and leave. Inuyasha has been using his newly-acquired dragon-scaled technique, which heats up to the point of pain as it steals demonic energy, and he's eventually knocked out cold...which leads the rest of the group to Byakuya, who finally gets around to introducing himself. I prefer his title Byakuya of the Mirage (as opposed to 'Dreams' in the subs here) because it's a better fit to his later appearances. At any rate, he leaves, quite in the manner of Kagura, whipping out his little origami swan before taking flight, noting that he was merely there to observe the fight.
As the Inutachi revive Inuyasha, Byakuya meets with Naraku to give his report, like a good little incarnation. Naraku takes great pleasure in the idea that Tessaiga might destroy Inuyasha, if it causes him so much pain to swing it (and in swinging it), and seems not to care very much if Inuyasha manages to off Mouyoumaru before his sword destroys him, which I found odd - but, again, not being familiar with this particular portion of the manga *shrug*
Overall, this episode was about as boring as the multichapter arc its based on ;) though, as I said, I did find the growing relationship between Inuyasha and Tessaiga compelling. That he sees it as an extension of himself instead of an heirloom from his father is quite telling. It feels like they're setting up the whole Tessaiga and Tenseiga stuff a little bit, which is nice. The battle sequences themselves were okay, though not as impressive as some of the other action-packed efforts.
I was REALLY ANNOYED by the fact that Miroku and Sango were relegated to in-house narrators here; I can see why the Mir/San fans were so frustrated for the duration of this arc during the manga. There's nothing for them to do except give play by play, and it feels like a total waste of character face time. Blah. Boring!
The setup for the next episode at the end was nice, though, as we're left to wonder if Inuyasha will be able to find a way to control dragon-scaled Tessaiga's youki-stealing ability. Its definitely a twist on the whole power upgrades thing, as this one seems to be working against him as much as for him. Eh, we'll see.
Next episode previews: we move backwards on the timeline again to pick up the Kinka and Ginka arc; Sesshoumaru battles the freshly-re-wounded Mouyoumaru, and Inuyasha visits "the great holy demon spirit" (according to the subs) to learn how to master the new Tessaiga.
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I'm turning into something of a sword fan(atic), so that angle on this episode I did find interesting. It was great to see Inuyasha interacting with Tessaiga in this way - and, I think down the road when they get into the whole Tessaiga vs Tenseiga and father's ultimate plans and all that, this setup will help support that nicely.
It was just seeing so many characters relegated to the sidelines here that rankled my nerves.