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Inuyasha: The Final Act | 14 - In Pursuit of Naraku
*facepalm* Better late than never, eh? Running this on Mondays just throws me all sorts of out of whack....
So basically what we have here is the threads of all the different stories finally coming together, as we drive on towards the final battle. We start off with splits, of Sesshoumaru going to take out his frustrations on Totosai (in the meanwhile, confirming his suspicions about what his father wanted him to do with the technique he worked so long to perfect), and Kohaku, Jaken, and Rin, who are being chased by Naraku now that their protector is nowhere to be seen.
It's probably not a stretch to see why the short scenes with Sesshoumaru and Totosai were among my favorites here. This is the arc of Sess's story that I absolutely love, and I'm reminded again of just how much emotion he shows, even when he's outwardly "in control". Him going to lop off Totosai's head upon learning what his bond with Tenseiga is really about? That's so...him. Its like he can't admit to his feelings of frustration and inadequacy; they must be placed somewhere else so he can fight them or spite them. What I enjoy about Totosai - and something I tried to touch on in Allegiance - is that he's not afraid to employ a little straight talk with Sesshoumaru. He confirms that yes, it was always their father's plan for him to perfect the discarded technique and then get it back to Inuyasha...but not for the reasons Sesshoumaru expects. I loved his line, "Do you honestly think he favored Inuyasha over you?" because, well, yes, that's exactly what Sess thinks. It's amazing how one can be so self-absorbed and yet so clueless at the same time, no? His world begins and ends with how it effects him, and him alone; it honestly never occurred to him that this could be his father's way of separating him from his attachments. That little chat, threatening though it was to Totosai's life, was quite illuminating, and definitely helps explain why Sesshoumaru does what he does next.
Ah, I just love these bits with him, and I also kinda love how much its matching up with the stuff I'm working on in Fleeting. Watching these episodes reminds me that I'm not really doing anything new with his character in that universe; it's just telling the same story through different details. Which is really kinda fun, when you think about it :)
The other ultra-awesome scene in this episode was Sango's confrontation with Naraku. I really enjoyed the way she stood up for herself, drawing herself out of the Kohaku!angst and being blunt, admitting she knows that he avoids her because she brings back too many painful memories - and then she whacks Naraku with the reborn Hiraikotsu, and she manages to destroy him. That. was. awesome - like, I have-no-words AWESOME. And the little scene it led in - of each of the Inutachi characters fighting with his or her own strength - was great, because it was nice to see them all fighting as a group, in a "our powers combined" sorta way. Great foreshadowing for the final battle.
Naraku tries to take Kohaku's shard, but is purified upon touching it; that makes both he and Kohaku realize Kikyo's light is what shields the boy - and she put it there for that very reason, so that when Naraku took the shard, it would purify the entire jewel and him along with it (pretty nifty, I haveta say). So instead, he tries to make Kohaku take his own life, but fails when the Inutachi shows up in Sesshoumaru's wake to save his group.
There were some great, lighter moments as well - SO MUCH SHIPPY SUBTEXT FOR KOHAKU/RIN ZOMG - such as when Rin cuts Jaken to the core, telling him "there are many little things about you, like your height, your heart, and your personality" - OMG I just about died, LOLOLOL. From the mouths of babes, indeed!
All in all, this episode was really awesome :) I'm definitely rewatching the Sess scenes again (*sigh* it just puts me in such a mood, you know?), and again, I can't wait until its released in some form that I can own. The art direction wasn't as good as the last couple of episodes, but its starting to even out a little bit more.
Preview: The 'Black Tessaiga' OVA doesn't count, apparently, as Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha have it out over meidou zangetsuha and the meaning behind their father's ultimate plan.
So basically what we have here is the threads of all the different stories finally coming together, as we drive on towards the final battle. We start off with splits, of Sesshoumaru going to take out his frustrations on Totosai (in the meanwhile, confirming his suspicions about what his father wanted him to do with the technique he worked so long to perfect), and Kohaku, Jaken, and Rin, who are being chased by Naraku now that their protector is nowhere to be seen.
It's probably not a stretch to see why the short scenes with Sesshoumaru and Totosai were among my favorites here. This is the arc of Sess's story that I absolutely love, and I'm reminded again of just how much emotion he shows, even when he's outwardly "in control". Him going to lop off Totosai's head upon learning what his bond with Tenseiga is really about? That's so...him. Its like he can't admit to his feelings of frustration and inadequacy; they must be placed somewhere else so he can fight them or spite them. What I enjoy about Totosai - and something I tried to touch on in Allegiance - is that he's not afraid to employ a little straight talk with Sesshoumaru. He confirms that yes, it was always their father's plan for him to perfect the discarded technique and then get it back to Inuyasha...but not for the reasons Sesshoumaru expects. I loved his line, "Do you honestly think he favored Inuyasha over you?" because, well, yes, that's exactly what Sess thinks. It's amazing how one can be so self-absorbed and yet so clueless at the same time, no? His world begins and ends with how it effects him, and him alone; it honestly never occurred to him that this could be his father's way of separating him from his attachments. That little chat, threatening though it was to Totosai's life, was quite illuminating, and definitely helps explain why Sesshoumaru does what he does next.
Ah, I just love these bits with him, and I also kinda love how much its matching up with the stuff I'm working on in Fleeting. Watching these episodes reminds me that I'm not really doing anything new with his character in that universe; it's just telling the same story through different details. Which is really kinda fun, when you think about it :)
The other ultra-awesome scene in this episode was Sango's confrontation with Naraku. I really enjoyed the way she stood up for herself, drawing herself out of the Kohaku!angst and being blunt, admitting she knows that he avoids her because she brings back too many painful memories - and then she whacks Naraku with the reborn Hiraikotsu, and she manages to destroy him. That. was. awesome - like, I have-no-words AWESOME. And the little scene it led in - of each of the Inutachi characters fighting with his or her own strength - was great, because it was nice to see them all fighting as a group, in a "our powers combined" sorta way. Great foreshadowing for the final battle.
Naraku tries to take Kohaku's shard, but is purified upon touching it; that makes both he and Kohaku realize Kikyo's light is what shields the boy - and she put it there for that very reason, so that when Naraku took the shard, it would purify the entire jewel and him along with it (pretty nifty, I haveta say). So instead, he tries to make Kohaku take his own life, but fails when the Inutachi shows up in Sesshoumaru's wake to save his group.
There were some great, lighter moments as well - SO MUCH SHIPPY SUBTEXT FOR KOHAKU/RIN ZOMG - such as when Rin cuts Jaken to the core, telling him "there are many little things about you, like your height, your heart, and your personality" - OMG I just about died, LOLOLOL. From the mouths of babes, indeed!
All in all, this episode was really awesome :) I'm definitely rewatching the Sess scenes again (*sigh* it just puts me in such a mood, you know?), and again, I can't wait until its released in some form that I can own. The art direction wasn't as good as the last couple of episodes, but its starting to even out a little bit more.
Preview: The 'Black Tessaiga' OVA doesn't count, apparently, as Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha have it out over meidou zangetsuha and the meaning behind their father's ultimate plan.
no subject
Sesshoumaru is shown to be a very different person from the stoic ice prince that most IK and SK depict him as. In fact he is emotional and given to violent passions which has caused him to be defeated in several battles.
His emotional outburst put all his group at risk since Naraku could easily follow him.
Interestingly enough the light in the shard caused much anger among the Prokagome forces at the because they thought that Kikyou's power still being present in the shard detracted from Kagome
Sango comes into her own here. She is finally able to fight Naraku by herself. She does not have to depend on anyone else. Again the complaint at the time of this arc was that RT was wasting time upgrading weapons.
I assume that they are using the materials from Black Tessaiga to make the The True Heir episode, which is Sesshoumaru's rigged test to see if IY is the true heir of Tessaiga. Both IY and Sesshoumaru learn so much from this episode. IY learns to rely on his sword and his brother. Sesshoumaru learns that IY 's life belongs to him and discards his attachment to his father's sword.
After the True Heir, Episode 16 is Hitomiko's barrier and Episode 17 is the Birth of the Jewel.
no subject
*falls over* WAT - are you coming around to my side? I...don't believe it! :P
Sesshoumaru is shown to be a very different person from the stoic ice prince that most IK and SK depict him as. In fact he is emotional and given to violent passions which has caused him to be defeated in several battles.
What I like about the ice prince ideal and how Sess shatters it is just exactly that - the fact that he *does* have such a rich inner life, and he's not perfectly in control at all times. Writing a character with no flaws is boring, IMO.
Interestingly enough the light in the shard caused much anger among the Prokagome forces at the because they thought that Kikyou's power still being present in the shard detracted from Kagome
*facepalm* That's funny, I didn't realize Kagome was the main character in this story.
Sango comes into her own here. She is finally able to fight Naraku by herself. She does not have to depend on anyone else. Again the complaint at the time of this arc was that RT was wasting time upgrading weapons.
It was a bit excessive in the manga, with upgrade after upgrade with seemingly no reason; that's one of the things the anime's simplicity has helped, I think. By cutting up and splicing together the story as they have, even though the sword upgrades are noticeable, there's also a noticeable immediate impact.
I assume that they are using the materials from Black Tessaiga to make the The True Heir episode
The animation doesn't look quite the same to me, but again - I've only seen the ripped cam version. If it is, you certainly won't hear any complaints from me - that was *so* much blatant Sesshoumaru fangirl-service, LOL! I'm really looking forward to the Bakusaiga episode, after seeing how well they've handled the development of this arc so far.