Inuyasha ch. 494 – 495 review

*images courtesy of MakiMaki*Volume 50, chapter 494 The Two Worlds, chapter 495 Further Thought

Sorry, I know I’ve been falling behind on the IY chapter reviews. Blame it on too much school and work XP I still want to continue writing them though, I just can’t get them up immediately after the new chapter is released. Anyway, I decided to cover 2 chapters in this review in order to help me catch up…

Ch. 494: I always enjoy the chapters that take place in Kagome’s world. They give us a much needed break from all the fighting, intensity, and complex fantasy of most other chapters. Takahashi-san is able to show more of her comical side and there’s always a lot of cute moments between Inuyasha and Kagome. I honestly can’t remember the last chapter we had like this, but I know it’s been long overdue. Also, as I said before in many previous IY chapter reviews, it’s been long overdue since we had any chapters dedicated to Inuyasha and Kagome’s relationship. I hope this chapter leads to something more that’s coming up between them and isn’t just a short, filler story. Anyway, the only real problem I had with this chapter was where it was placed. It seriously would have been perfect right after Kikyou’s death arc and not randomly in between the Sesshoumaru/Tenseiga arc, but oh well. I thought that Kagome’s comment about not being able to call her friend’s cell phone because she didn’t have one was hilarious XD (proof that she’s been spending waaay too much time in the Sengoku Jidai =P)

The last panel of this chapter gave us some good foreshadowing – the fact that Kagome might one day have to choose between the two worlds. I’ve had some speculation about that as well. The whole reason she was able to come to the Sengoku Jidai was because of the Shikon Jewel. If the jewel is indeed destroyed in the end (along with Naraku perhaps?), then there would no longer be any connection between the two worlds. I’ve always had the feeling that in the end, Kagome would have to choose which world to stay in, and also, without the connection of the Shikon Jewel, she might even be forced to return to her world and/or be unable to go through the well anymore (for example, the time slip through the well being sealed once the Shikon Jewel is destroyed). Well, this is just more of my future speculations. It’s up to Takahashi-san to decide what happens ^^

Ch. 495: So after the brief “sigh of relief” from the previous chapter, we’re suddenly thrust back into the aftermath of the last arc’s conflict between Sesshoumaru and Tenseiga. LOL, I don’t know why Byakuya appears on the cover page of this chapter. He was only on one page! XP Speaking of Byakuya, maybe I’ve missed or forgotten something, but do we even know what his story is? As far as I remember, he just suddenly appeared one day working for Naraku, but do we even know why? Well, hopefully his character will get a chance to develop and he won’t be just another throw-away villain like Shishinki was. BTW, since Inuyasha and Kagome weren’t in this chapter, I don’t know whether they’ve come back to the Sengoku Jidai since the last chapter or not…the way chapter 494 ended it was hard to tell. But I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

Anyway, I felt like this chapter was just wrapping up what happened in the last few chapters. Sesshoumaru seeking out Toutousai and trying to find out whatever’s left to find out about what his father’s intent was about leaving him Tenseiga, having him learn the complete Meidou Zangetsuha, etc,. It’s hard to tell if we’re gonna see the end of this whole conflict anytime soon or not. But what really caught my attention was the end of this chapter, where Naraku suddenly appears the f*** out of nowhere! 0_o I could be wrong, but I’m getting the feeling that we’re finally going to start seeing what fate awaits Kohaku and his jewel shard!