He's probably going to transform himself from a giant spider into his real true form: a gargantuan weasel.

Man I hope they rock this guy bad.

Also when are we going to see the repercussions of that slash of Kagome by the now deceased Byakyua?

  

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Death  

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-sigh-  

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I'm so excited… I think i'm going to pee!!!! PLEASE JUST KILL THE BASTARD, this has drug on way to long…..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH
  

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It would be so funny for Naraku to just like murder everyone because no one would expect it  

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OMG, Takahashi! Don't pull the old trick of "fight, talk, fight, new transformation/power up, fight, etc." I just want to see Naraku die, Inuyasha go with Kagome, and for all this to end! I love the manga, but if you say "The manga is entering its final arc.", then don't put fifteen "mini-arcs" in the story!  

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OOOOOO! Sounds Exciting! Thanx, Patches!

Naraku will transform into something new…again…

  

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what could be more awsomer than a gigantic spider?
only RT knows  

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Greyfox38: 'OMG, Takahashi! Don’t pull the old trick of "fight, talk, fight, new transformation/power up, fight, etc." '

Heh, I'd put money on that happening. You have to consider Kagome getting hit with Byakua's sword,  and how that's going to play off in the fight.

 And judging by his "I've accomplished my purpose" remark I'd say it's going to be a pretty important part.
 

  

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I'm thinking he may transform into one of them, I'm not sure Sesshoumaru, if any, will be fooled however because of his sense of smell, though it fooled Inuyasha in the beginning. Who knows! It would be kinda cliche "choose the real one and kill it!"

About the whole sword thing, I am also curious as to what will happen with that. Hmm…

  

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Oh my God I am at the edge of my seat. Can't wait to read what happends. Hope they kill Naraku and Kagome and Inyuasha live happly ever after.

  

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here we go again, another SUDDEN achievement coming out of no where. Where exactly is Naraku getting all this energy? He should be like, half dead… RIGHT!?

Well I shouldn't complain. I enjoy reading Inuyasha. I just want Naraku to die. now. But can't wait for the chapter!

  

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I doubt Naraku will just be killed and Inuyasha and Kagome will be together that's just not Takahashi's style.  Someone said something about the final battle being between souls (jewel of three souls, did I get that right).  What might make sense is Kagome dying (so to speak) to fight Naraku soul to soul maybe Inuyasha too, three souls. When Naraku is defeated (and I'm sure he will be) I'll bet Kagome finds herself back in her time at her house. I think she and Inuyasha will end up together in her time but perhaps in reincarnation form.  It will be interesting to see what happens: I can't wait!!!  

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  Why sesshoumaru cant keep hiting Naraku with bakusaiga? If just one hit caused a great damage, if he just keep doing this, the batle will end soon( it may be the reason for sessh forget bakusaiga for a long time).  

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It's the jewel of Four Souls, not three. ^_^

And I don't think Kagome would meet Inuyasha in his reincarnated form in her time…because in a chapter wayyy wayyy backawards she said something like, "I'd never thought the time would come when I would have to choose between the two worlds." Or something like that..

But, yeah Naraku is gonna die. OF course it will not be just one swing with a sword kind of simple. Like some people said it might invovle some soul fighting.

I think at this point only Kagome can truly kill him…with the help of Kikyo and Midoriko's (forgot how to spell her name) souls. But, then again…that cut is something to look forward to. I love this manga. I hope it don't end just yet! I wanna get a good long story out of this after so many years of following it. =)

  

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Yeah,i support ADT, i got a feeling that Kagome that was pierced by bakuya (wrong spelling) in the previous issue will come to USE for Naraku in the next issue…

OMG! I am super duper excited for the NEXT ISSUE !!! (wanna see why naraku wanted to pierce the sword at dear kagome)

at first i thought that the issue this week will be the FINAL Issue concerning Naraku … ;(

  

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i think they might get james brown chaka khan and arethra franklin to help them battle naraku… 

it sounds like they gonna need SOOUUUUUUUUUUUL Power!!! 

  

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Lol…soul power…

  

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So, since the title this week is "Collapse" I presume Naraku's body will do as such. 

I wondering if it's night or day outside, and how many days were they actually in Naraku's body? 

  

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What if Byakuya's Meidou ends up splitting Naraku in half and killing him? That would be funny. I think someone on Inuyasha's side will get hurt.  

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I love the Tsubasa manga! It is sad…  

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INUYASHA_PASSION:  So, since the title this week is "Collapse" I presume Naraku’s body will do as such. 

Maybe Naraku is not the one that collapses, well eventually it will, but in this case maybe Kagome will be the one to collapse due to whatever Byakuya's swipe with the Meidou does to her.

  

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Ok, how come everyone here is all like "blah, blah, and then I want this to happen and blah, blah and then Kagome and Inuyasha will be togerther! xD" omg. Miroku and Sango r a couple too people, and all you guys say is "I want Inuyasha and Kagome to go to her world and get married!" What about all the other characters?? jeez.

Sorry for that but it just bugs me that everyone here only cares about them two. There are others to hope for too.

Well in this chapter I just wanna see what that damn sword did to Kagome. Probably an arc. Oh, well.

Go Miroku and Sango!!!

  

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Naraku:  Kukukuku, with the dark Jewel I have transformed myself yet again into something even Kikyo's strong spiritual powers cannot touch.  There is nothing you can do to stop me now!

Kagome:  Inuyasha, this isn't working–I've lost my spiritual powers.  If only we had weapons from my own time, like guns or grenades…

Inuaysha:  That's it, Kagome!  Gimmie your stupid hand, Monk–I'm gonna cut it off, poke a bigger hole in it, and throw it at Naraku!

Miroku:  Gah, no wait…

Kagome:  Well, at least this way he won't grope anymore women.

Sango:  For that, you need to cut something else off.

Shippo:  Uh, do we also throw that at Naraku?

– FLING –

– THUNK –

Naraku:  What the…OMIGOD EWWWWW!!!  Alright, alright, I give up already!  I can't believe you guys threw that at me–you guys are sick!

  

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Nice point you got there, M84Dani! That is definitely a possibility… 

And I think Dr.Sesslove has just gone insane…  

  

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I agree with Dani – I think it may be Kagome who collapses because of Byakuya's slash. And in the end, I also believe it will be a battle of souls between AT LEAST Naraku and Kagome – maybe more people, I don't know. Because back in Chapter 548, Naraku thought, "That's right, Kagome… In the end, it's a battle of souls.."

So yeah. Should be good, I think. But to all those who keep saying "OMG I'M SURE THAT NEXT CHAPTER IS THE LAST!" – it won't be. Don't get your hopes up. Takahashi-sama will likely have to AT LEAST finish this volume (which has just begun with.. this chapter or the last one, I forget). So we've got a couple chapters to go, at least. (:

Looking forward to it as always. Thanks again to Starks and Patches.  

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Katisango4ever you make a very good point.  I for one am most interested in what happens to Sesshomaru when this is all finished.  Alas I doubt we will get any satisfaction from Rumiko on this matter in fact there is a very good possibility she will not resolve Kagome and Inuyasha either and there are many ways that story could go.  As far as Sango and Miroku I hope she doesn't kill one of them it would be nice if at the end we found out they lived a long happy life together and spawned half of Japan. I would also like to know what happens to Shippo.  Oh well we will see, we will see.  

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Given Rumiko Takahashi's track record with shonen mangas (namely Urusei Yatsura and Ranma ½), I doubt Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship will be settled.  

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Well I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of the characters risked their lives to save everyone, and died in the process.  It's a great way to showcase how much Sesshoumaru has changed and come into his own.  He will probably bring them back to life.  Don't forget he noticed Sango risked her life to save Rin!   

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Onivid: 

DON'T SAY THAT!! 

  

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Does anyone think that some of Inuyasha's concepts may have been copouts from the earlier manga and anime Blueseed? They really are very similar… The Blueseed manga was, in fact, thought of years before Inuyasha. Keh whatever, I don't care if the ideas were similar; I just wanted to put the idea out there… 

  

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Ok. I'll try to be more optimistic about it.  

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"I doubt Inuyasha and Kagome’s relationship will
be settled."

I have absolutely no problems with this so long as the fangirls are eternally pissed off.

  

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Blueseed seems to have a strong basis in Japanese mythology.  Other than that I don't really see any other similarities and certainly not a cop out.  Any series based on a national mythology such as let's say Celtic mythology is going to have some related themes just because they are both based on the same thing.  Inuyasha draws strongly on Japanese mythology so yes there are similarities to Blue seed but none that would be suspect.  

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Starks: I would be one eternally pissed-off fangirl, indeed!!

Iolanthesong: 

But remember, Blueseed had a main character who was a hanyou; and he even acted tough like Inuyasha. And they had the seeds, which were kinda like jewel shards…

But you know what? To be fair, some of the differences between both shows are very drastic. And the universal themes that occur in both stories are very common throughout the world. So, I'm not surprised how both authors came up with the hanyou and shard-like narrations. And, of course, all of us here know Takahashi-sensei turned Inuyasha into a fantastic manga and anime. I really didn't mean to sound horrible by using "cop-out". I sincerely love and respect Takahashi-sensei's wonderful series which I dearly love. I guess it's just the time frame which concerns me… Anyways, I hope I'm not contradicting myself too much!! Ahahaha…I probably am…   

  

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Starks, as usual you make a very good point.  There are so many stories that have similar themes sometimes in fact it is hard to actually come up with something that is absolutely original.  I guess you've heard the theory that there are only a limited number of stories in the world and all stories are a variation on this group of stories.  If you really think about it there is alot of truth to this.  I'm a music teacher and sometimes when I'm teaching about Wagner the similarities in his stories with Lord of the Rings and even Dragon Ball Z are amazing!! I think when we look into it, it tells us something about being human since all cultures share these stories and themes even Inuyasha. Last night my daughter and I were watching "Medium" and suddenly she said about a character on the episode "he's Kira!" (Death Note) and you know, she was right.   

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LOL @ Starks.

Iolanthesong: I think you're referring to the theory of the collective unconscious. It's pretty fascinating stuff.

For those of you who don't know, it's essentially the idea that all humans, regardless of race or social circumstances, share similar ideas about certain central concepts. The term "mother" for instance is generally depicted around the world in similar terms, often encompassing sentiments such as one who is nurturing, caring, warm, loving etc.

Obviously there are individual variations to this concept, but the theory itself is pretty interesting nonetheless. This is apparently how we ended up with similar myth stories thousands of years old from nations that never interacted with one another until closer to the modern era.  

  

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Kagome: I should be able to purify the shouky around myself but whenever I try to draw my bow Naraku stops me. If I coul shoot and hit him…

Naraku: I wont let you shoot not yet..

Naraku begins to move to Kaede's village while spewing powerful shouki and of course he is in the middle of collapse. And not allow Kagome to shoot, after she was cut by the meidou blade. Just imagine what should happen if she fires with the holy arrow. An instant apocalipse or something Meidou open a path to hell, holy arrow purifying, and the fate of the comrades witch is connected to the shinkon no tama which is do not want to disappear from this word.

  

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 Naraku's body will colapse and then, the figth will be betwen souls. It will take the last chapters.   

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Langus, absolutely right and it is facinating isn't it? Peel the layers off most stories and you'll find a universal core story like; The Odyssey, Gulliver's Travels and the Wizard of Oz get to the core and they are all the same story.

Here's a little sidebar more on the subject at hand.  A battle of souls seems like the next logical step and would make for a spectacular ending.  I wonder what Rumiko's going to do and what universal story this ends up being?

  

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Dragonslayer: Way to spill the beans…

Iolanthesong: I'm going to go with the archetype hero journey. There's 12 steps to the journey if I remember my grade 10 english class correctly.

Kagome is most definitely the hero but I can't quite pin Inuyasha…maybe the tragic hero? In which case he'll meet an untimely end not at Naraku's hands but because of his own character flaw/bad choice?

Either way RT seems to be at about step 11 of the hero journey: The Resurrection (where the hero faces off against the greatest evil in a life or death battle, using all the skills they have learned during their journey).

After that there's just the "Return with the Elixer" step, the last one, where they hero returns with whatever gains/lessons they've claimed as a result of defeating the evil in battle.

Should be an interesting ride if we are indeed near the end

  

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