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Inuyasha: The Final Act | 23 - Naraku: Trap of Light
Better late than never, eh?
There was a nice little recap of the end of the previous episode, and you know I'm not gonna object to seeing Sesshoumaru being all badass again :P And, finally, they incorporated the Inu/Kag catch and purification sequence, though in the manga, he was purified, not sent back to normal. I liked the effect as Kagome purified him (and everything else inside Naraku, it seems) - very impressive. And, of course, just as in the manga, that catch was ripe for a kiss, but alas...the anime teased instead.
Sesshoumaru sets off to find Rin (as was his original intention all along) and there's a useless cut scene to the Three Stooges (aka Jaken, Shippo, and Kohaku). I get why they're there, but the middle of an intense, life-or-death battle is not the place for cheap shenanigans, which is about all they offered. (I'm glad my viewing was interrupted so I could see Roger Federer accepting some ATP awards live from Indian Wells, CA, at this point, heh heh.)
There was a bit too much telling instead of showing in this episode for my taste - did we really need to see Naraku having a grand ol' chat with Inuyasha and Kagome, followed by Miroku and Sango having long inner monologues detailing their plans to hasten his demise as they fled towards the fraudulent lights? It was way overkill and it slows down the burst of energy that followed Magatsuhi's destruction. It really felt like they're dropping the ball in order to sustain/justify dragging this all out over two or three episodes (especially considering how much they constricted the material that preceded this precisely so they would have all this time to detail the final battle).
There is some makeup for this, by having Miroku's and Sango's dilemmas play out in "real time" against each other, with an interested party headed their way in order to stop them. It was pretty awesome how Kagome's arrow penetrated Naraku's real body, all of his allusions, and Byakuya at the same time. (Byakuya totally owned in this episode, too ~ I can see how he's developed a cult following!)
The only thing I was disappointed in through that entire sequence was how the Sess/Sango confrontation played out. I do not recall Sesshoumaru displaying pity for Sango after she confesses to attempting to kill Rin, especially not advising her to "hurry" towards Naraku's night because "you will find the monk there". Come on guys, part of the terror that lingers in Sango's life after all this is that she doesn't know what Sesshoumaru has planned in retaliation! This was pretty much his way of telepathically gift-wrapping the notion that he wasn't going to seek revenge on her. It totally deflated the moment, which had been going perfectly up until then, with him just staring her down in total, abject silence. Ugh.
Again with the telling at the end of the episode, explaining in great detail just exactly how the group is going to defeat Naraku (and just how Naraku is going to capture Kagome in his final blaze of glory, using Byakuya). I think even if you didn't read the end of the manga, it'd be crystal clear from the boulder-sized hints they're dropping, just what's ahead.
But still. Byakuya owns. I feel like I need to do more with him now, LOL.
Tomorrow's preview: we're finally (almost) at the end ~ Naraku's poised to die, but the twists aren't over yet!
There was a nice little recap of the end of the previous episode, and you know I'm not gonna object to seeing Sesshoumaru being all badass again :P And, finally, they incorporated the Inu/Kag catch and purification sequence, though in the manga, he was purified, not sent back to normal. I liked the effect as Kagome purified him (and everything else inside Naraku, it seems) - very impressive. And, of course, just as in the manga, that catch was ripe for a kiss, but alas...the anime teased instead.
Sesshoumaru sets off to find Rin (as was his original intention all along) and there's a useless cut scene to the Three Stooges (aka Jaken, Shippo, and Kohaku). I get why they're there, but the middle of an intense, life-or-death battle is not the place for cheap shenanigans, which is about all they offered. (I'm glad my viewing was interrupted so I could see Roger Federer accepting some ATP awards live from Indian Wells, CA, at this point, heh heh.)
There was a bit too much telling instead of showing in this episode for my taste - did we really need to see Naraku having a grand ol' chat with Inuyasha and Kagome, followed by Miroku and Sango having long inner monologues detailing their plans to hasten his demise as they fled towards the fraudulent lights? It was way overkill and it slows down the burst of energy that followed Magatsuhi's destruction. It really felt like they're dropping the ball in order to sustain/justify dragging this all out over two or three episodes (especially considering how much they constricted the material that preceded this precisely so they would have all this time to detail the final battle).
There is some makeup for this, by having Miroku's and Sango's dilemmas play out in "real time" against each other, with an interested party headed their way in order to stop them. It was pretty awesome how Kagome's arrow penetrated Naraku's real body, all of his allusions, and Byakuya at the same time. (Byakuya totally owned in this episode, too ~ I can see how he's developed a cult following!)
The only thing I was disappointed in through that entire sequence was how the Sess/Sango confrontation played out. I do not recall Sesshoumaru displaying pity for Sango after she confesses to attempting to kill Rin, especially not advising her to "hurry" towards Naraku's night because "you will find the monk there". Come on guys, part of the terror that lingers in Sango's life after all this is that she doesn't know what Sesshoumaru has planned in retaliation! This was pretty much his way of telepathically gift-wrapping the notion that he wasn't going to seek revenge on her. It totally deflated the moment, which had been going perfectly up until then, with him just staring her down in total, abject silence. Ugh.
Again with the telling at the end of the episode, explaining in great detail just exactly how the group is going to defeat Naraku (and just how Naraku is going to capture Kagome in his final blaze of glory, using Byakuya). I think even if you didn't read the end of the manga, it'd be crystal clear from the boulder-sized hints they're dropping, just what's ahead.
But still. Byakuya owns. I feel like I need to do more with him now, LOL.
Tomorrow's preview: we're finally (almost) at the end ~ Naraku's poised to die, but the twists aren't over yet!