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Inuyasha: The Final Act | 19 - Kohaku's Shard
Um, okay. Lots going on in this episode, equal parts shipper-heart-melting and WTFery...
What the hell was up with sticking the "peaceful meal" arc at the beginning of this episode? That makes pretty much no sense at all, other than being played for a laugh. (Poor Jii-chan ~ Inuyasha's always destroying his valuables when he comes around...)
Though, okay, I did laugh when the pigeons nested in Kagome's hair. Her expression was priceless!!
The real heart of this episode is what came after the title cell, though - Magatsuhi took possession of Kohaku's shard, forcing him to wound his beloved sister and her monk all over again, going balls to the wall to steal the very piece of him that held his life intact. And, just to prove what a good minion he was, he was forcing Kohaku to relive the original murders of his father and comrades all the while, so that his soul would be so broken by the time he awoke, he would die immediately upon the shard leaving his body. [Way to follow canon there guys.]
This was a pretty good example of how Sango doesn't succomb to her Kohaku angst, though. The scene between her and Shippo in the forest, when she's changing clothes in spite of her wounds, was very powerful, showcasing her strength in the face of tragedy, her absolute refusal to give up in the face of overwhelming odds. Even after suffering a blow from her brother's weapon, even after watching her fiance fall ill from the effects of the poisons swirling in her body, she's ready to fight. How many of us (especially us girls) could say the same thing?
I like that there was some parallel between her and Sesshoumaru in this episode, showing him pursuing their shared mission to find and defeat Magatsuhi. (Hey, it's like you can see inside my head, LOL!) Unfortunately, he was drawn into a trap by Byakuya, and doesn't realize until too late the demon he was fighting was only a mirage. However, I LOLed for real when he took care of Byakuya's one-thousand distractor youkai with one swing of Bakusaiga. "PWNED" doesn't even begin to describe it. <3 ZOMG BADASS SESSHOUMARU ZOMG <3
The actiony bits of the episode end soon thereafter, with Kikyo's light repelling Maghatsuhi from Kohaku's shard as he falls into a bottomless pit, willing to risk his own life to help the two people left in this world that he loves. The episode ends on a cliffhanger, and apparently will pick right back up where it left off, with Sesshoumaru and Naraku joining the fray and the Shikon no Tama finally becoming whole again.
However, I have to have my shippy moment <3 This episode contains the Mir/San kiss, and it was really beautifully shot. I like how the lighting was suddenly soft, and there was a long, beautiful close-up of Miroku's face as Sango spoke to him. The closeups of both characters in this episode were really quite lovingly rendered - lots more bannering potential, for sure. And, there was a nice long close-up of the kiss, long enough for shippers to really feast their eyes on it =) Finally, RT throws us romantic hearts a bone, and the animators were truly faithful to the manga panels in rendering it for us. Absolutely beautiful <3
The rest of the episode was kinda jumpy, with the action not up to the par of past episodes. I'm still finding the comedy rather lacking, at least the visual aspect of it. I simply adore Rin's innocent jabs at Jaken, and poor, put-upon Jii-chan. When it's not forced, it's funny, but the animators got a little sloppy in trying to go for the big laughs, IMO.
Next week: The preview gave away the end of the Kohaku's-life-hangs-in-the-balance arc *eyeroll* but maybe the battle scenes will pick up from here *crosses fingers* We're only 7 episodes away from 'the end'!
PS: KISS CAPS because![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
aamalie is fucking awesome like that :D
What the hell was up with sticking the "peaceful meal" arc at the beginning of this episode? That makes pretty much no sense at all, other than being played for a laugh. (Poor Jii-chan ~ Inuyasha's always destroying his valuables when he comes around...)
Though, okay, I did laugh when the pigeons nested in Kagome's hair. Her expression was priceless!!
The real heart of this episode is what came after the title cell, though - Magatsuhi took possession of Kohaku's shard, forcing him to wound his beloved sister and her monk all over again, going balls to the wall to steal the very piece of him that held his life intact. And, just to prove what a good minion he was, he was forcing Kohaku to relive the original murders of his father and comrades all the while, so that his soul would be so broken by the time he awoke, he would die immediately upon the shard leaving his body. [Way to follow canon there guys.]
This was a pretty good example of how Sango doesn't succomb to her Kohaku angst, though. The scene between her and Shippo in the forest, when she's changing clothes in spite of her wounds, was very powerful, showcasing her strength in the face of tragedy, her absolute refusal to give up in the face of overwhelming odds. Even after suffering a blow from her brother's weapon, even after watching her fiance fall ill from the effects of the poisons swirling in her body, she's ready to fight. How many of us (especially us girls) could say the same thing?
I like that there was some parallel between her and Sesshoumaru in this episode, showing him pursuing their shared mission to find and defeat Magatsuhi. (Hey, it's like you can see inside my head, LOL!) Unfortunately, he was drawn into a trap by Byakuya, and doesn't realize until too late the demon he was fighting was only a mirage. However, I LOLed for real when he took care of Byakuya's one-thousand distractor youkai with one swing of Bakusaiga. "PWNED" doesn't even begin to describe it. <3 ZOMG BADASS SESSHOUMARU ZOMG <3
The actiony bits of the episode end soon thereafter, with Kikyo's light repelling Maghatsuhi from Kohaku's shard as he falls into a bottomless pit, willing to risk his own life to help the two people left in this world that he loves. The episode ends on a cliffhanger, and apparently will pick right back up where it left off, with Sesshoumaru and Naraku joining the fray and the Shikon no Tama finally becoming whole again.
However, I have to have my shippy moment <3 This episode contains the Mir/San kiss, and it was really beautifully shot. I like how the lighting was suddenly soft, and there was a long, beautiful close-up of Miroku's face as Sango spoke to him. The closeups of both characters in this episode were really quite lovingly rendered - lots more bannering potential, for sure. And, there was a nice long close-up of the kiss, long enough for shippers to really feast their eyes on it =) Finally, RT throws us romantic hearts a bone, and the animators were truly faithful to the manga panels in rendering it for us. Absolutely beautiful <3
The rest of the episode was kinda jumpy, with the action not up to the par of past episodes. I'm still finding the comedy rather lacking, at least the visual aspect of it. I simply adore Rin's innocent jabs at Jaken, and poor, put-upon Jii-chan. When it's not forced, it's funny, but the animators got a little sloppy in trying to go for the big laughs, IMO.
Next week: The preview gave away the end of the Kohaku's-life-hangs-in-the-balance arc *eyeroll* but maybe the battle scenes will pick up from here *crosses fingers* We're only 7 episodes away from 'the end'!
PS: KISS CAPS because
aamalie is fucking awesome like that :D
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I LOLed for real when he took care of Byakuya's one-thousand distractor youkai with one swing of Bakusaiga. "PWNED" doesn't even begin to describe it.
This was probably my favorite non-shippy part of the episode. Such a great expression! The more I watch this anime, the more I am convinced Byakuya seriously needs more love in this fandom...
PS: KISS CAPS because [info]aamalie is fucking awesome like that :D
LOL glad to be of service!
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He is, no doubt, my favorite of the incarnations - so pithy and sarcastic with his irreverent commentary. I certainly see how why he had such a cult shoot up around him during the manga years! :P
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However, I'm still kind of annoyed I missed this cult following. I was around - apparently I just didn't know anyone who wanted to fangirl him, lol!
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(And you wanna talk pretty? The shot of him in the new ending credits is just - WAT. Almost up there wit the new still of Sesshoumaru, which is so fanservice-tastic it makes me giggle with glee, LOL).
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Ahh, slashers. That's... probably why I didn't know or join them either. But then, there's always fic like this... But if you find a way to use him, I sure won't complain!
And you wanna talk pretty?
Pretty? You mean like this? Or maybe this one...
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*squee* ZOMG. YES YES YES MOAR PLZ...
LOL - see what a monster you've created?
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MY WORK HERE IS DONE.
Until, uh, tomorrow, when I take more caps, that is. :D
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Don't know what exactly the comic scenes at the start were for, except to highlight how much safer the present is compared to what the gang back home was going through, to highlight how Kagome still was thinking a lot like the schoolgirl she is when it comes to Inu, and maybe to show how much Inu does NOT fit into our era, all in a way that Japanese audiences would find amusing...it plays kind of flat to me, cause I'm just not that much into farce...or kawaii cute (and now you know one of the big reasons I don't do 15 year old Kagome very much...LOL).
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*sigh* Yes. If anything, this anime is only reinforcing my notions about the direction I'm taking all these characters in my fics, and that's really reassuring to know. It makes me feel like I'm getting them right, but touching on just enough of the canon story to make them feel authentic.
it plays kind of flat to me, cause I'm just not that much into farce
Yeah, this ~ I was just like, "Eh? WTF? I thought this was going to be left out...stop trying so hard." *sigh* Sometimes it sucks not being in the target audience!
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I thought the scene of Sango changing her clothes and Shippo coming in was very well done and very touching. A great lead up to the AMAZING kiss scene with Miroku. I liked that the scene wasn't rushed. It was a very heart wrenching moment.
The rest of it was pretty scattered. Nothing seemed to fit in the right place.
Overall, not a bad episode, and we finally see our 1st kiss in the anime. Now we hope and pray they give Inu/Kag a kiss at the ending...lol
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MS are supposed to be a few years older. I just got to hear their voices today. I really like the Japanese voices for them. Sango's song is so wonderful and adds so much to these scenes.
The kiss was well done and was worth waiting for.
Byakua is always paired with Sesshoumaru in the manga because of their varying styles. I was waiting for pwned which RT used in the manga to describe Byakua's reaction to Bakusaiga.
I liked the way Kikyou brought Kohaku to Sango and Miroku to wake him up. I thing this is better than the manga. I am sure that the Kikyou haters will ask why she can't just die, but Kohaku will always have a tie to Kikyou through the shard. Can hardly wait to see him brought back to life.