Shonen Beam

[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.