Sounds like another pretty straight-forward chapter. Although Rin's reaction to Sessh going fratiricidal might turn interesting.  Mental_Butterfly(Quote)

Yeah, why does that remind me of Bulma and Goku's rections to Vegeta in the Buu saga of DBZ when he lets himself get posessed but only goes after kakarot?  Yin-Yang Heart(Quote)

Yeah, go Rin, go! Tell Sesshoumaru what need to hear!!!

Ahem.

Anyway, about the sphere-platforms (or w\es)… I think it's have to do something with Kanna's mirror youkai… I remember something when Inuyasha fought with them, that something similar appeared – and that was which reflected back somehow Tessaiga's power… do you think it's the same? since the mirror fragment is in Sesshoumaru's possession now?
And sorry if I do not remember correctly, I'm lazy to check it out how things happened exactly^^"  Arvael(Quote)

Eeer… I mean… "Tell Sesshoumaru what he needs to hear!" … gomen, I'm getting tired xD  Arvael(Quote)

You know what, as much as I love sessy, I'm sort of hoping he dies, but that IY gets his tenseiga, along with healing powers, and in spite of it all, brings him back. or, if not that, I hope Naraku, himself will interfere with their battle, and since he absorbed his counterpart that witnessed the whole Kinka, Ginka stupidity episode, that that will be bought up and then IY says something noble and tries harder to reach Sessy.  Yin-Yang Heart(Quote)

It's getting there…..  Lucifiel(Quote)

What???

So… all that character growth for Sessh with protecting Rin, empathizing with Kagura, and then the whole deal with Rin's death to enhance the meidou — all pointless fluff?
I can't tell where RT is going with all this, but I hope it is towards someplace that makes some sense.  Pliny(Quote)

The title. "Successor". Is this foreshadowing who will be the successor of InuPapa or that Inuyasha will succeed Sess? Thoughts?  Tiger(Quote)

I hope he does'nt die, in reality; it would be stupid in RT did kill Sesshoumaru off! Why go through all that trouble to devolope his character if she plans to kill him off. Does'nt make sense.

What ever her plans are for him we have to wait and see. But one thing is for certain, this could bring a closure the dispute between the swords the brothers always had and it might bring a closure to the rift that they always had through out the series – among other issues these two have – in one way or another

Then again it might not…..

We just have to wait for the next chapter to see what happens.

Damn!!!  Rin's Faith(Quote)

Hmm, I'm thinking this could have a similair ending to the hell arc, only in the sense that Sess realizes something. In Hell Arc, it was "I didn't have to allow Rin to follow me and be in this mess, I could have found her a home in a nice human village" Also, he was willing to give the sword up for her. In the end of this arc, maybe he'll realize that what's done is done with the swords. That he needs to let go of the past and move forward. Maybe concentrate on his own empire, which could still be a possibility.  Yin-Yang Heart(Quote)

This isn't about Sess being juvenile – he is merely confirming what he has been told. He needs to see the true status of the swords with his own eyes before he accepts it, and that means pitting them against eachother.

The mirror shard, although clearly a trap, has "merit" because it precisely enables him to do this. If Tenseiga was capable of absorbing power like Tessaiga, would it be an equal sword? Or is it really just a "shard" of Tessaiga and not able to stand on it's own in a real fight. This is what Sesshomaru wants to confirm.

Remember this is something he has ALWAYS done, most of his appearances are about confirming what he's been told or overheard somewhere else. It's also obvious that he doesn't listen to words alone, and has to experience it before he realises anything (such as with Rin)

I hope the outcome does confirm everything for Sess and he is able to accept that his father didn't leave him anything tangiable like Tessaiga – instead he left him valuable lessons about life, death and responsibility – perhaps things Inupapa took a lifetime to figure for himself – so that Sess can forge his own destiny and surpass/succeed him. This is about closure for Sess, closure on his beef with Inu, and closure on the father's true intentions.  Effo(Quote)

**this is not to say Sess isn't being stubborn or childish about the whole thing, of course, natural reactions for someone with his mental state  Effo(Quote)

I really don't get why all the Inuyasha characters think Byakuya's evil. Seriously, would someone actually just go around covering demon slayers with poisonous snakes, spying on people, manipulating wolf demon children,or giving dog demons a strange mirror fragment to enhance their sword's power all on their own accord? Why doesn't anyone see this?!  shadow dragon(Quote)

Well said, Effo. Couldn't agree more, I think Sessh's problem stopped being specifically about Inuyasha a long time ago. I don't think he gives a damn one way or the other as far as Inu's concerned right now, he's just trying to figure out what craziness his father was thinking.  Mental_Butterfly(Quote)

Enh, I don't agree, Effo. It's not so simple as "confirming things with his own eyes"; you have to consider why he is confirming something, and how he is confirming something. And when you consider those two points, Sessho's character advancement looks like it's halted and backpedaled furiously.

So, why is he confirming that Tessaiga is the master and Tensaiga the servant, as he puts it? For closure? Yes. But it's also for pride. He has always felt slighted that he, as the older and more powerful sibling, was instead given the weaker sword. We finally see him get a better sense of perspective with the Rin arc, where he seems ready to abandon his sword altogether, and where he seems to realize that some things are more important than power. Now, though, that arc is right out the window. Sessho is clinging onto his sword and stupid pride as strong as ever. Everything he is doing now is for his own selfish pride. Call it closure, call it "seeing things with his own eyes" — call it whatever you'd like, but it boils down to pride.

So, next, how is he confirming things? By teaming up with Naraku. It doesn't matter that Byakuya may have his own agenda; we see Sessho's thoughts, and we see that he thinks this is all a ploy by Naraku. And he goes along with it without any visible reluctance at all. So, yes, perhaps Sessho's overwhelming angst is important, but the means he goes about dealing with it are pathetic, and severely out of character compared to the Rin/Hell arc.

I really like someone's theory about Inuyasha killing Sessho, and then bringing him back to live with the completed Tessaiga. That might knock some sense into him.

It's sad to see Rin react with such horror. Good for her. Naraku tried to kill Rin several times already, and Sessho teams up with him this late in the game? Please. Sorry, but I'm not buying this — it seems way too contrived this late in the game. Too rushed. Too out of character.  Shouki(Quote)

…and by "I'm not buying this," I mean that I think RT is doing one crappy job with this whole arc. I definitely believe Sessho has devolved into an asshole, and I'm very surprised, given how far he's come. It seems like a rush job to finalize the sword scenario.  Shouki(Quote)

Hmm, true……

However, it wouldn't be completly in his character to just give IY the sword without a fight. I just wish she would have found another way for his character to do it. From the summary, however, I don't think it's he teamed up with Naraku. I think he's just trying to use the trap to serve himsef, i'd hate to do this epspecialy since i never really read this for the most part in the DBz Manga and it's been ages since I've seen the series, but I'm going to compare the character of Sesshomaru to the character of Vegeta. So, I know they're different mangas and whatnot, but please humor me.

Both Sesshomaru and Vegeta are introduced as villians with a lot of pride, especialy in their family heritage. Both progress into, not exactly heros, but what I love to call the anti-hero/nuetral counterpart. Although both characters get relations. Vegeta gets Bulma, and then later Trunks. Sess gets Rin and I guess you can say he gets Kagura too for development purposes. Sure he already had Jaken but Jaken just supported everything Sess did, so….. Anyways. Despite the fact that Vegeta gets a `child with Bulma he still wants for ultimate power, so he leaves and trains hard just to gain what Goku already had. Then in battle he's still out more for himself then the team as a whole. Same with Sess. He seems to do many things on his own accord no matter what anyone else says or thinks. Vegeta even allows the evil in his heart to be resurected just to fight with Goku in the Buu Saga, but yet he isn't siding with babidi, cause he refuses certian orders from him just to use his new found, or found again power up for his own agenda. Which is what Sess is doing right now. He's using this power up, not to be an ally to Naraku, IMO, but to use it for his own agenda and stupid pride.

OK, I'm done. sorry again about the Sess vegeta comparison, but it was just on my mind, so I thought I'd share. So, I really do think RT is gonna go somewhere with this, we just have to wait and see where, though, exactly.  Yin-Yang Heart(Quote)

Plus, I just have to add this. I've been anticipating a Sess/Inu fight since summer of 05, the whole Kinka Ginka arc. I loved that fiasco. No matter what IY said to get them to stop the madness, they still just fought with one another. And in the end it got them both killed. So, to be honest, I don't feel RT has done a crappy job with the arc. I think she's secretly had an ultimate IY/Sess fight for the sword planned out since at least somewhere in the year 2005.  Yin-Yang Heart(Quote)

Shouki: So yes, Sess feels slighted, and has been told three slightly different stories about Tenseiga by three different people, and of course has his own theories. This is essentially the "why" he needs to confirm it, to quote your post.

People are arguing that he has devolved into his old selfish, prideful self when not taking this "why" business into account. Before he met Rin and his development started, all he did was act out of pride and selfish need. He wanted that sword, and he was going to get it even if it denied him, killing whoever got in his way, particuarly Inuyasha and his companions. I'm not going to go into it but after he physically got beaten (  Effo(Quote)

note) he slowly began to get the idea and additionally learn that other things matter. "Killing whoever to get me a sword" ceased to be an issue a VERY long time ago, and was made solid with the recent Rin arc. He decided his father's memento was not the most important thing to him. Because of this, we know Sess wouldn't CHOOSE the sword over Rin, but how does that relate to this situation? People seem to think that whole arc somehow taught him to be a good guy. It didn't, it just taught him something of the value of life.

This is to say, if Rin was put into real danger NOW, then that Rin-sword moral that he learned in the previous arc would come into play. But that doesn't relate to this fight right now.

What does relate to it is confirmation, heritage, and serious family business. This is something that Sess needs to do, and in his "we will fight until we die" state of mind, this is the only way to settle everything. This is between Sess, Inu and his father, and Sess wants to know the truth. It's about sword vs sword. It's your regular DBZ battle of "who is teh stronger and rightful owner of teh sword". That's it. It's shonen and it needs to be done. If things get more complicated (as they appear to be) then this will change. But as of now, Sess needs to see that Tessaiga is the "master" sword (lol zelda) and Tenseiga is indeed the "servant". It doesn't matter if the motivation for this is because he feels slighted.

This is why I made the ** comment, it is quite possible and often the case to act rationally or with purpose with a stubborn, jealous or doubting mind. Sess has had his pride injured and is being asked to believe that his father left him nothing when all this time he believed that Tenseiga was honestly his own. It's not rocket science, or necessarily the right thing to do, but it's rational. He will only accept everything once he has proven it by his own hand. That is the "how".

Secondly, at what point is there any indication that Sess has "teamed up with Naraku"? Just because IY thinks it, means nothing. We KNOW now exactly what Sess thinks of Naraku having been shown it several times, and thus the merit of taking the mirror shard is for Sess's personal use. He couldn't care less about Naraku or his plans.

When Naraku gave him the human arm initially, Sess was seen actually accepting the deal with a smile, here, Byakuya just dropped it into his hand. Sess only chose to use it for the reasons I stated in my above post, that much is obvious.

I'm not defending Sess here since I also hope he loses and understands his place in all this, but you are assuming things just on face value, discounting his development entirely and assuming that Takahashi has not planned this, when, as Ying-yang said, there has been a prelude to this battle with the ginka-kinka theme. This is essential writing, if somewhat badly paced, as Inuyasha's ties to his youkai heritage need to be completed just as much as anything else.  Effo(Quote)

I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking DBZ here at this fight. Seriously. I agreee, this just needs to be done. And even when he did accept the human hand from naraku last time, he didn't do it, I belive to ally himself with Naraku, I belive he did it so he could have another shot at getting the sword without it rejecting him entirely. He had no clue at that point that naraku was someone who was out to get him as well as IY. Otherwise, I highly doubt he would have accepted naraku's generoisity. He accepts it this time caue it's a great oppertunity for the ultimate test. Think about it, for the first time he has use of all Tessaiga's techniuques, including the Tensiega mediou attack. Personaly, I think it would be intresting to have Sess die and maybe a chapter featuring Inu no taisho. Not saying it would actualy happen. Just saying it would be intresting for Sess to have a little therapy session with daddy reguardless of the final outcome at this point in time. Cause seriosuoly, the father is the one really fueling Sess to battle. Without his respect for his father he probably would have been a lot like Sessmom, you know not at all in IY's life. Just a thought. Plus daddy seems to hold just as many cards as naraku, with this sword fight. And, I deffinaitly agree with what was said about the mirrior shard needing to be used as a plot device to get Sess to stop staring into space and come back into the plot.
And like i've said before, RT had to have been thinking up something like this final battle/resolution since at least around or even before the Kinka and Ginka arc. Perhaps for these brothers the ending won't be quite as bittersweet.  Yin-Yang Heart(Quote)

Wow, sorry, Effo, I so didn't read your whole comment, or missed some words. Wouldn't have mentioned the Kinka/Ginka thing again if I had seen that part, guess my mind isn't fully on this fourm right now.  Yin-Yang Heart(Quote)

Effo — I still don't agree. The Rin arc was more than just confirming that Sessho would save Rin over his sword. It was about Sessho valuing life. Did you forget that he purified 100 condemned souls when he had absolutely no reason to? It suggested that the mighty Sessho might actually have a bit of compassion — and not just for Rin. So yes, I'm sure Sessho would save Rin over his sword, but if that's all the Rin arc was about, then it's pretty anticlimactic.

I'm also not at all buying that this is "just something that has to be done." No, it doesn't. It's something Sessho has determined "has to be done" b/c he just cannot get over it in a healthy manner. It only "has to be done" b/c he refuses to simply accept the fact that his father left Inu a "better" sword. This battle is 100% fueled by Sessho's pride and angst; it does not "have to happen." Look at Kikyo — primarily animated using only the most hateful parts of her soul, and yet look how far she went. As for Sessho — where has he gone? Backwards.

"Secondly, at what point is there any indication that Sess has 'teamed up with Naraku'? Just because IY thinks it, means nothing."

As I wrote, we see Sessho's thoughts. Look again — he comments that this is all a ploy by Naraku, but he says that he is willing to walk into that trap b/c it has 'merit.' And your distinction b/n Sessho smiling when Naraku gives him something, and Sessho not smiling what Byakuya gives him something, isn't at all convincing. He is going along with an obviously Naraku plot for Sessho's own selfish ends, which involve yet another deadly encounter with his brother for, you guessed it, that damn sword. Slightly different script, same exact plot.  Shouki(Quote)

"I’m not defending Sess here since I also hope he loses and understands his place in all this, but you are assuming things just on face value, discounting his development entirely and assuming that Takahashi has not planned this, when, as Ying-yang said, there has been a prelude to this battle with the ginka-kinka theme. This is essential writing, if somewhat badly paced, as Inuyasha’s ties to his youkai heritage need to be completed just as much as anything else."

Of course I'm assuming things on face value. This is a message board for a manga focusing on a half-dog demon. I don't take it seriously, so I write comments based on my impressions. The author can come back next week and do a 180 on everything I have ever said. But I lose sleep if I'm proven wrong at all. It's not as though my impressions are at all important; so what if I jump the gun? At least this discussion is interesting. It's all for fun. Lighten up.

And I highly doubt the "battling brothers" arc was an actual prelude to this battle. It's extremely easy to draw parallels between ANY two angry brothers and Inu and Sessho. I agree that arc was meant to remind readers about the Inu-Sessho rivalry — it wasn't all that subtle, since Sessho appeared immediately afterwards to scold Inuyasha. But I don't agree that it had that much literary significance to this arc. If anything, the battling brothers arc ended with both brothers dead. Inu and Sessho at that point had something of a truce, so the arc could have been showcasing how much better off Inu and Sessho were, rather than hinting at a future conflict.

But who knows. I hated that arc, and neither of us can crawl into RT's head. If YOU can, then please ask her how many more chapters there are!  Shouki(Quote)

and thanks for your thoughts Yin-Yang. I'm not a DBZ fan, but I agree that Sessho's heart is likely not Team Naraku simply b/c his actions seem that way. But as I wrote before, it's still a big step back in maturity all the same.  Shouki(Quote)

I hope nothing happens to sesshoumaru….he can't die…I hope he doesn't…..  kenai(Quote)

I agree with you Shouki, it is a step back on the whole maturity thing. But what can i say. I love the immature characters with a grudge. They always tend to in the end be either my favorite character or at least in my top 5.

Oh, also, I can't crawl into RT's head either. If i could i'd give her even more twisted ideas then she already has for this manga plot, as well as, perhaps some other projects.  Yin-Yang Heart(Quote)

By assuming things on face value I meant discarding his developments and assuming the writer has done so as well. That's not about me taking things seriously or you not taking things seriously, that's just implying that RT would revert a character she has spent what, 10 years writing to his pre-development juvenile stage without reason other than "oh I guess he didn't learn anything". All I'm doing is finding reasons to go against this, and I think you need to have more faith in the writer, as well as keep an open mind before you assume something like that so completely – simply *because* RT can, and is able to come and do a 180 next week. That's all I meant. I can't crawl into RT's head either, but I've read enough of her work to know that, although she often has bad pacing due to her planning style, she doesn't simply revert characters. So no, it's not about lightening up, just thinking outside the box – i.e. the point of discussion. If people just posted literal impressions, then we wouldn't need to discuss it, we could just read the chapter.

Also, since she pretty much writes as she goes, there is nothing to say the ginka-kinka story *isn't* a sort of "prelude" (I believe I chose the wrong word there, I meant something that highlights an issue before it is tackled later on). It's a thought-provoking story to get the reader (and arguably RT herself) thinking about the two brother's relationship now that Sess is out of his juvenile "kill inuyasha" stage. Now the theme recurs again, so it's up to us what we make of it.  Effo(Quote)

Hmm, I think RT just needed a logical way for the sword thing to end. And niether Sess or Inu would just give the other their sword on their own accord. So, even if Sess is being immature, which i think he is. RT needed a way to start settling things, like with the sword issue. So, I really loved reading your commentary, Effo.  Yin-Yang Heart(Quote)

Also, only reason I really thought the Kinka/Ginka thing was a bit of a prelude is cause towards the end of that arc IY makes a comment about how brothers fighting like that is a nusence. All his friends sweat drop and comment back on how him and Sessh do the same thing. Then IY makes a statement of how Sess started all the fights. Someone, forget who at the moment says, That's what all brothers say. Then Sango makes a comment about how she bets sess is sneezing right now (Since it is rumored that when people talk about you behind your back, they sneeze.)

And to this point IY and Sess havn't really been together or in a situation where they had to fight, so that's the only reason I'm wondering if this fight was planned for a while, despite the fact she might not have known how it was gonna come about till more recently cause of her writing style. Just thought I'd defend my POV of that arc being a possible foreshadowing of things to come. But all have a right to their own opinions. I just feel I didn't explain why I thought that was a prelude well enough in any other posts.  Yin-Yang Heart(Quote)

I take that back, they could have went at it in the last arc. But instead Sess just walked off.  Yin-Yang Heart(Quote)

(whoops I forgot to say I was addressing shouki's pose in my last one!)

Anyways, that's exactly it though, ying-yang! Now there *is* reason for them to fight where there wasn't before (in Sess's opinion). The right circumstances (however contrived they may be) have fallen into place. All the more reason to support the argument that Sess is fighting Tessaiga/Inu to confirm everything he's just been told by Shishinki, Myoga and Totosai, not just for the sake of it. Sess is someone who needs to experience things to get it (such as with Rin), words do not work on him, and I agree with you that this is about ending the sword issue in a quick, logical way. Sess will lose or Tenseiga will lose and that will show him the truth.  Effo(Quote)

*post not pose!  Effo(Quote)

Thanks for your responses, Effo and Yin-Yang. Always nice to read. Hopefully tomorrow's chapter will live up to the discussion.  Shouki(Quote)

Yes, I hope so too. I am looking forwward to reading it tomorrow or Wendsday. All depends on when it gets posted and other things I have to do.  Yin-Yang Heart(Quote)

The part I'm actualy most anxious to read, though, isn't the battle. It's what the non brother people, as the preview put it, discuss. I'm thinking they might be trying to calm down Rin. but I have no clue.  Yin-Yang Heart(Quote)

Poor Rin. I feel so bad for her; she must be traumatized Sessho is at all linked up with Naraku.

Hopefully Sessho won't get her a pet wolf while he's on a roll playing the good father figure.

I'm actually most curious to see what happens to Kohaku. Will he be part of the Inu gang? I can't shake the feeling that he just no longer fits in with the Sessho crew. Sango has finally confronted him, and it looks like the gang has managed to dilute his kamikaze leanings. (Remember when he charged against Mory? He even managed to cut off his head.)  Shouki(Quote)

Yeah, I feel bad for Rin too. That's why I'm wondering if their group discussion is gonna at least be partialy to calm her down.  Yin-Yang Heart(Quote)

I believe they're going to be discussing wtf has gone on in Sess's mind and what he's trying to accomplish with him attacking Inu. Because to them, that was totally random.  np(Quote)

NP isn't anytime Sessshoumaru attacks the Inu gang totally random?  Anonymous(Quote)

shouki: Same here, I want to know what Kohaku will choose to do now. He's seen that Sango and even Kagome (with Kikyo's abilities) are very capable.. so his old excuse of whose the most pragmatic to be with doesn't hold anymore. Also, I mean, if he chooses to stay with Inu + co, Sess's group loses a big tie to the plotline and may indeed exit as a lot of people are thinking. (Also, I enjoy reading your responses too!)

NP: I agree, and most likely they'll be the ones to explain what's going on rather than the people involved themselves (as usual! XD)  Effo(Quote)

I think Kohaku and Rin are deffianitly the biggest keys to if Sess will exit. That, and naraku. If naraku gets the better of him this time, or does something very devious behind Sess's back,(Don't know how cause he was so injured, but this is Naraku) like (I'm so into thinking up possibilities at random these days) somehow drags his mother into this. Maybe some karmic payback fro what Sess did to IY in the begining of the series, now that we know mommy is alive. Then Sess will deffianitly stick around and kick major ass. Sess isn't on team IY or team Naraku. He's on the most "special" team of all…..

Team Sesshomaru-sama!!!!! Yes, he gets his own little catagory between good and evil. Let's just hope that won't bite him in the ass too hard in the end.  Yin-Yang Heart(Quote)

Anonymous: Now that you mention it….yep! XD  np(Quote)

bueno me parece que sess deberia aceptar las deciciones que su padre dio y si le quita su espada es por algo tal vez quiere que sess vea algo que nunca ha visto en el mundo es decir quiere que cambie su forma de ser para transformarse en alguien muyyyy bueno o algo asi, ademas quiero saber hasta que capitulo terminara inuyasha me lo pueden decir?  aome higurachi(Quote)

Hm… I don't believe Sesshomaru has taken any "steps back". I mean, it's impossible to change believes that's been gnawed into your skullbone for hundreds of years, even is the one gnawing is a wonderful girl like Rin. Sesshomaru's goal has always been to be the strongest- by defeating the strong ones – and to be the true Lord of the Western Lands. I don't really believe he'd give that up for love, peace and understanding in a whim, even if compassion now is a trait he's stuck with (don't whip me, Sess!). And, of course, we'll still have to see in pictures how exactly the brothers interact. Text alone can't completely tell us the story. Hatefilled eyes or not… that's what we'll see…  Sassa(Quote)

This is getting even more stale.  Beans and Cornbread(Quote)