Ah, what villainous deeds are these? Cutting down character development in its prime! Patches came out with this gem on Starks' site, and only a couple of days ago did I see it. A spoiler for chapter 518:
"Sesshoumaru’s left arm restores grasping a sword. According to Toutousai who appears there, the name of the sword is Bakusaiga. He says the appearance of the sword means that Sesshoumaru has let go of his attachment to Tessaiga and stands as a youkai in his own right. Sesshoumaru uses Bakusaiga and eliminates Magatsuhi. Then Kagome wakes up. But is something wrong with Kagome?" ~Patches
Take the first sentence and place it on a pedestal, because that is what we are addressing here. I'm afraid, after this, I will no longer be able to respect Takahashi's writing. For what reason did she bring back Sesshoumaru's left arm? Nothing in the previous chapter had anything to do with Tessaiga vs Tenseiga, and it even had very little to do with swords at all; they had all been caught in a battle with Magatsuhi. So, how does Magatsuhi relate to Tenseiga, Tessaiga, or Bakusaiga at all? Furthermore, how does Magatsuhi relate to what happened about 500 chapters ago where we saw Inuyasha cut off Sesshoumaru's arm? How does Magatsuhi have anything to do with the lost limb and its regeneration anyhow?
One answer: he DOESN'T. Nothing to do with the sword problem, nor Sesshoumaru's disability whatsoever.
This has gotten ridiculous enough for me. This came out of nowhere, it can be classified as petty fanservice, and I've had enough of this. This is a disgrace to character development in all its forms and a blatant disregard for the character himself and what's good for him. That lost limb symbolized the beginning of a journey of self-discovery for Sesshoumaru, and I think he should keep the reminder that his little brother is stronger than he gives him credit for. What's more? Having a lost arm "regenerated" sends a message that says "mistakes you've made in the past are all cleared up now, Toutousai and your father have cleaned up your little mess for you." Is Sesshoumaru going to expect that he'll get any more limbs back if he loses them? Any normal character would relapse into a state of selfishness and carelessness and forget what he learned before. But you can bet Sesshoumaru won't because let's not forget, this happened before when his mother brought Rin back from the dead for a second time. Sesshoumaru continues to make mistakes, but for the amount of people covering for his sorry butt, it would seem that he might just sit back and let everyone else worry about his own well-being for him; he'll always just win back his health randomly on some bogus pretense that he has learned a lesson.
Never mind the fact that Sesshoumaru had said himself (albeit in a thought bubble) that his lost arm had made him stronger in the long run. What happens to that gained strength now? Has his entire time as an amputee been fruitless? Of course, what does it mean to Sesshoumaru, who retains life lessons as well as a paper towel retains running water? We've all seen him appear to accept the way things have been assigned and then go right back to being moody and disagreeable about it panels later. I would say, all the lessons he's learned so far could just as easily be forgotten over shiny new Mr. Bakusaiga
Again, this seems like a dose of unneeded fanservice to me. I mean to say, how long have fangirls been longing to see Sesshoumaru miraculously get his arm back, and that's in the U.S.A. alone. Imagine the fantasy rate in Japan! Next thing will be that Rin and Sesshoumaru will start a romantic affair, and we all know it could happen, given that the story's already broken the 500 mark. What are a few more thousand chapters going to hurt? It'll take that much for Takahashi to refocus the story on Sesshoumaru and Rin's budding romance and for her to grow up in the series.
Mark my words, it will happen.
So, here's to Sesshoumaru, once a beautifully developed and complex character, now a generic pretty-boy strutting about with a new sword and all the most powerful youkai cleaning up after his messes. And I thought that the Sesshoumaru I knew might stick around for a while. What a shame he has lost his life.
End rant.
jadehorse77
It's a catch 22. You have to keep the fans happy so they'll keep buying your manga...but those fans came to you to begin with because of your imagination and your characters. RT needs to OWN Sess, or not own him. By letting the fans own him, she's disrespecting herself and her own worth as a writer.
Lyssandra
I completely agree. What a waste of a precious 500 chapters of writing. It makes no sense to me; doesn't she know that no matter what, you NEVER listen to the fans? Listening to people who know the least about your characters....
And besides this, we all know she's been pulling this story out of her butt since day one. I'm beginning to think that VRap is completely right about the Kaou arc now that I've seen this... no, forget "beginning to" I've gone over to his side now.
VRaptorX
Hurray crap fanservice! First Kikyou/Kagome, now Sesshy....oh oh...I bet you Miroku magically heals and finally sleeps with Sango before the end of the series.
Lyssandra
And you can bet Sango will have at least five children before the end as well... or at least before she leaves Miroku forever for cheating on her.
jadehorse77
No, you guys are being too optimistic. There won't be that kind of resolution, everything will end up continuing on, with the group traveling together, just like the end of Ranma.
grrr
Lyssandra
Well, the only way of knowing for sure is knowing what the Japanese fans are thinking; judging by this much, we can guess that whatever they're dreaming up, we'll get.
Lyssandra
It seems that I was correct. I hypothesized that if the Japanese public was as angry about this as ourselves, then we wouldn't be having the plot problems we are now. So I asked Patches how the Japanese fans felt about chapter 518, and this is what she had to say:
"All the Japanese reactions I've seen have been positive, and when I asked one why they were so happy about it and why they weren't confused by its out-of-nowhere-ness and general corniness overall, they were just confused that I didn't "get it". I dunno, maybe there's some interpretive differences that I haven't been able to figure out yet. It was like:
'What did he do to deserve that new sword?'
'Didn't you see what Toutousai said? He surpassed his father and let go of Tessaiga.'
'Yes, but what did he DO that PROVED that?'
'Huh? I don't understand what you're getting at. Toutousai said...'"
Seems the only problem here is our interpretation of what Toutousai said. SO, if I can get a raw of 518 and give it to Erin, she can probably give us at least a second opinion of what's going on. Otherwise, Americans are pretty much in the dark about the whole thing.
VRaptorX
ok. but really, I wouldn't bother much.
Lyssandra
Why not? If it's worth regrowing a limb for, I think it's worth knowing about.
VRaptorX
OK...you can if you want. Just remember Japanese works in TTPOV structure (time, topic, place, object , verb)
I just think we'll end up with a sentence that can be translated into MANY different versions.
Lyssandra
Erin got the impression that the Japanese audience said the issue was whether or not Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's father loved either of them more, but Sesshoumaru let go of the notion that their father loved Inuyasha better.
I still wasn't sure what would indicate that, but I went back and looked at the chapters just before 518, and that part where Sesshoumaru tried to lead Inuyasha's crew to safety ("follow me"). I think that might have been a factor... I certainly saw it as significant when I read it.
