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Inuyasha: The Final Act | 5 - The Great Holy Demon Spirit's Test
Lots of action this week, with two jam-packed battles and a little Byakuya magic in the middle.
This week's episode starts off with two small check-ins with secondary characters - Kohaku and Kikyo meet, to discuss the use of his shard, and Koga leaves his faithful comrades behind with Shinta and Kai, determined to find and finish Naraku on his own, without dragging the rest of the wolf-demon tribe into the middle of things.
Then we get to the meat of the dual stories this week: Mouyoumaru observes and battles with Ginka and Kinka, and Inuyasha takes the Great Holy Demon Spirit's test (gawd, that is *such* a clunky translation for this character ~ I'm really surprised they didn't come up with something a bit snappier).
First, the 'simpler' arc: Mouyoumaru watches Kinka and Ginka battling each other for supreme control of their connected bodies, and the Infant tells him that if he can absorb their combined demonic powers, it will heal his shell armor. That's all the big ugly demon needs to hear, and he sets off, trapping the brothers. At first, it appears they have the upper hand, using combined attacks to stun Mouyoumaru into submission, but it turned out to be nothing more than a trick - as soon as the bonds are loosened, Ginka goes after Kinka, proving once and for all that they do not wish to fight together, but still against one another, and that is their downfall. Mouyoumaru sucks them up with little effort after revealing the weakness of their binding betrayal.
Meanwhile, Byakuya is watching all this with an interested eye, only to be startled when Sesshoumaru swipes at his back. I LOLed at their little interaction here - Byakuya is true to manga form, with his smartass mouth. He informs Sesshoumaru he doesn't know what's going on, that's why he's there to watch, but Sess doesn't care - he has a few plans of his own. After Mouyoumaru absorbs Kinka and Ginka, Sesshoumaru provokes him, wishing to test Mediou Zangetsuha. The animation sequence was pretty awesome, I have to admit, and it's a great way to demonstrate the power of the attack.
Even more awesome was Byakuya's counter-attack, allowing his brother incarnation to go free - little paper swans surround and enfold Sesshoumaru, seizing his movements, while Mouyoumaru flees. Sess deals with them in his own way - another great, yet almost careless-looking, meidou attack, and the shot pans away from him as he contemplates this newest Naraku incarnation.
Meanwhile, Inuyasha has had a visit from Totosai, who informs him there's nothing wrong with Tessaiga. As per usual for him, LOL :P He tells Inuyasha to go visit the Great Holy Demon Spirit, and that being will train him on how to strengthen himself in order to wield the strengthened Tessaiga painlessly. So the crew treks on over, only to meet the poor spirit, who's had his guts stolen by another demon the night before, and thus, can't fulfill Totosai's promise of new training.
The subs bothered me a bit through this portion - I dunno, the constant repetition of "guts" seemed unnecessary and lazy - but the story itself had some nice twists and turns. I loved the way they animated the "demonic vortexes", and it was very compelling to watch Inuyasha learn how to distinguish between them in order to save himself and Kagome from a few tight spots. Again, it's bugging me that he's the one doing all the fighting here (and blowing Miroku and Sango out the door? Lame!)...I guess its because there doesn't seem to be the interaction with the rest of the group as there was in the old anime. I never thought I'd miss the screams of "Inuyasha!" "Kagome!" "Inuyasha!" "Kagome!", but it does add a certain...context to the battle scenes? LOL IDK.
So anyway, Tessaiga is chained down so that Inuyasha is unable to use it, until the final arc, when he discovers that the Great Holy Demon Spirit's insides weren't stolen, but where, indeed, the very source of their troubles. He cuts through the vortex hidden in the "dishrag" and wins the day, returning the strange little world to its normal state.
I didn't completely follow the long, drawn-out explanation about how this particular upgrade was pertinent to the story, nor did I buy the whole theory behind it. What I got from it was this: if Inuyasha was going to train himself in order to become stronger, then it only stands to reason that he would have to do it on his own, without his sword. He's been able to use Tessaiga far too much like a crutch earlier in the story, and it seems like this is the time when he's supposed to be overcoming that, raising his own innate levels of power to match those of his almost excessive sword. I thought he grasped this point well, especially when he was yelling at Tessaiga to hold on through the final cut, even though it was badly damaged - not to mention, he'd already made several references about the burns on his hands, which Totosai had told him were a warning from Tessaiga. The sword is becoming more than a piece of metal - its becoming a sentient being, and that's rather fun to watch.
The end was a bit chilling as well, for those who know the manga story - the Great Holy Demon Spirit intones that there is but one more technique to complete the Tessaiga...and that is, as we all know, Mediou Zangetsuha.
Ouch.
Previews for next week's episode: Naraku finally shows up, as all the groups converge to kill Mouyoumaru. I dunno what this means for the fate of my favorite arcs being animated, but I'm hoping they will be able to squeeze in the Hell Arc, since they're making such a big deal about Meidou Zangetsuha *crosses fingers*
This week's episode starts off with two small check-ins with secondary characters - Kohaku and Kikyo meet, to discuss the use of his shard, and Koga leaves his faithful comrades behind with Shinta and Kai, determined to find and finish Naraku on his own, without dragging the rest of the wolf-demon tribe into the middle of things.
Then we get to the meat of the dual stories this week: Mouyoumaru observes and battles with Ginka and Kinka, and Inuyasha takes the Great Holy Demon Spirit's test (gawd, that is *such* a clunky translation for this character ~ I'm really surprised they didn't come up with something a bit snappier).
First, the 'simpler' arc: Mouyoumaru watches Kinka and Ginka battling each other for supreme control of their connected bodies, and the Infant tells him that if he can absorb their combined demonic powers, it will heal his shell armor. That's all the big ugly demon needs to hear, and he sets off, trapping the brothers. At first, it appears they have the upper hand, using combined attacks to stun Mouyoumaru into submission, but it turned out to be nothing more than a trick - as soon as the bonds are loosened, Ginka goes after Kinka, proving once and for all that they do not wish to fight together, but still against one another, and that is their downfall. Mouyoumaru sucks them up with little effort after revealing the weakness of their binding betrayal.
Meanwhile, Byakuya is watching all this with an interested eye, only to be startled when Sesshoumaru swipes at his back. I LOLed at their little interaction here - Byakuya is true to manga form, with his smartass mouth. He informs Sesshoumaru he doesn't know what's going on, that's why he's there to watch, but Sess doesn't care - he has a few plans of his own. After Mouyoumaru absorbs Kinka and Ginka, Sesshoumaru provokes him, wishing to test Mediou Zangetsuha. The animation sequence was pretty awesome, I have to admit, and it's a great way to demonstrate the power of the attack.
Even more awesome was Byakuya's counter-attack, allowing his brother incarnation to go free - little paper swans surround and enfold Sesshoumaru, seizing his movements, while Mouyoumaru flees. Sess deals with them in his own way - another great, yet almost careless-looking, meidou attack, and the shot pans away from him as he contemplates this newest Naraku incarnation.
Meanwhile, Inuyasha has had a visit from Totosai, who informs him there's nothing wrong with Tessaiga. As per usual for him, LOL :P He tells Inuyasha to go visit the Great Holy Demon Spirit, and that being will train him on how to strengthen himself in order to wield the strengthened Tessaiga painlessly. So the crew treks on over, only to meet the poor spirit, who's had his guts stolen by another demon the night before, and thus, can't fulfill Totosai's promise of new training.
The subs bothered me a bit through this portion - I dunno, the constant repetition of "guts" seemed unnecessary and lazy - but the story itself had some nice twists and turns. I loved the way they animated the "demonic vortexes", and it was very compelling to watch Inuyasha learn how to distinguish between them in order to save himself and Kagome from a few tight spots. Again, it's bugging me that he's the one doing all the fighting here (and blowing Miroku and Sango out the door? Lame!)...I guess its because there doesn't seem to be the interaction with the rest of the group as there was in the old anime. I never thought I'd miss the screams of "Inuyasha!" "Kagome!" "Inuyasha!" "Kagome!", but it does add a certain...context to the battle scenes? LOL IDK.
So anyway, Tessaiga is chained down so that Inuyasha is unable to use it, until the final arc, when he discovers that the Great Holy Demon Spirit's insides weren't stolen, but where, indeed, the very source of their troubles. He cuts through the vortex hidden in the "dishrag" and wins the day, returning the strange little world to its normal state.
I didn't completely follow the long, drawn-out explanation about how this particular upgrade was pertinent to the story, nor did I buy the whole theory behind it. What I got from it was this: if Inuyasha was going to train himself in order to become stronger, then it only stands to reason that he would have to do it on his own, without his sword. He's been able to use Tessaiga far too much like a crutch earlier in the story, and it seems like this is the time when he's supposed to be overcoming that, raising his own innate levels of power to match those of his almost excessive sword. I thought he grasped this point well, especially when he was yelling at Tessaiga to hold on through the final cut, even though it was badly damaged - not to mention, he'd already made several references about the burns on his hands, which Totosai had told him were a warning from Tessaiga. The sword is becoming more than a piece of metal - its becoming a sentient being, and that's rather fun to watch.
The end was a bit chilling as well, for those who know the manga story - the Great Holy Demon Spirit intones that there is but one more technique to complete the Tessaiga...and that is, as we all know, Mediou Zangetsuha.
Ouch.
Previews for next week's episode: Naraku finally shows up, as all the groups converge to kill Mouyoumaru. I dunno what this means for the fate of my favorite arcs being animated, but I'm hoping they will be able to squeeze in the Hell Arc, since they're making such a big deal about Meidou Zangetsuha *crosses fingers*
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