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Kekkaishi 327
[scanlation by A-Team]
Mahora keeps wordlessly lashing out, and Tokine keeps phasing out. This interplay oddly reminds me of the relationship between Grineed and his assistant from Beet the Vandel Buster; this dynamic, with the powerful one pounding away while the invincible one tries to calm him down, feels quite similar. In any event, Tokine definitely seems to be showing a bit of stress despite her invulnerability as Mahora continues to throw wild attacks at her.
Making it a little hard to concentrate
I do like the way this confrontation is being set up as a mental battle of attrition, with Tokine trying to avoid snapping until Mahora decides to stop attacking and listen to her. This kind of struggle fits her character quite nicely.
In the course of trying to persuade Mahora, Tokine’s arguments turn towards Karasumori, and her thoughts turn towards her late father. Going virtually unmentioned for 300 chapters or so, the way her emotions are shown at the bottom of page 8 is absolutely perfect. One of the ways that Kekkaishi really hooked me was its unique approach to showcasing grief; it’s never something Tanabe hits you over the head with, and it’s rarely at the forefront of anything, but that makes moments like these so greatly impactful.
Cue up the Mother 3 love theme
Souji’s back up and about. Far more interesting than that, though, is Zerogou, coming to him with a job offer and making a roundabout allusion, which Souji misses, to a coup d’état. He’s clearly attempting to overthrow, or at least stop, Nichinaga. How he plans to do so should be interesting.
Prisoner #536’s transparent attempt to get away from Ichigou is a nice little bit of light comedy. I did not expect he’d be this fun when he was introduced two chapters ago.
It's important to put ranks in Bluff
Tokine’s continued speeches are getting a reaction from Mahora. Unfortunately for her, he’s not talking, but rather bringing to bear a raging tempest that gets felt by every powerful character in the Shinyuuichi. You have to wonder if she gets found out because of the tangible commotion her negotiations are causing.
Nichinaga waking up to find himself alone has the potential to go in very interesting directions. He may be a strong villain, but his ability is entirely people-dependent; all he himself can do is brainwash, which is meaningless without subordinates to play with.
Final Flash: This chapter continued to deliver with Tokine, and introduced an interesting new element with Zerogou’s plan.
The World God Only Knows 119
[scanlation by Red Hawk Scanlations]
Oh, it’s that one Gokult lady again. I would like to see more of Haqua’s partner. As an old-school dating-sim buff, the concept of a buddy who operates on the town-map system of the 90s is immensely promising. That said, Gokult lady will likely stay as a side character for a while yet.
Just as Elsee is taking Kanon’s place using a magic disguise, Haqua now is using magic to disguise herself as Elsee. Now all we need is Kanon to sub in for Haqua once this whole cursed dagger thing clears up, and the cycle will be complete.
Not that it would ever fool these eyes
Haqua wastes no time getting tsundere on Keima. That routine could do with a little more variety, but I think that them being partners for the duration of the arc is a good opportunity to take the chemistry beyond that of a standard tsundere relationship.
The logic behind deducing where the other goddesses are is vintage Keima. It still seems he has some deeper reason as well, but he continues to cite games as his number one precedent for pattern-recognition. Good to know that part of him is still as strong as ever.
Kanon’s public confession seems to have had wide-ranging consequences. Now the whole school knows, and the fans are raging. Fortunately, Keima seems to have integrated even this into his grand master plan.
Possibly the lamest protest group ever
We’ve been getting really mixed signals from Chihiro. She’s been ambiguous about remembering things whenever asked directly, but her actions, both passively and now actively taking an interest in Keima, suggest she does remember. I would not mind her being a significant cast member at all. That said, hopefully the ambiguous “Does she remember me or not?” teases will all be settled by the end of the dance festival.
Haqua is definitely a more interesting sounding board for Keima’s explanations than Elsee. The exposition of Keima’s plan was made way funnier by her deadpan comments afterward. This is the kind of chemistry I was hoping for.
The makings of a perfect partnership
Ayumi seems to be acting more aggressively towards Keima as well. She is another prominent and enjoyable character, but her and Chihiro both having goddesses would be a bit of a reach. It would be kind of lazy, just going with characters who have gotten the most post-conquest screen time, and would leave little room for potentially interesting but less prominent characters to play a role.
Keima’s final internal monologue of the chapter is yet another bold statement, but it differentiates itself from other similar statements made in the past in that it’s made with him lying upside down against the wall. Classic.
Final Flash: This chapter had some decently entertaining moments, and did its part to advance the arc forward.
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