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cicerSo anyway. I was going to make a post about how I've started my spring semester, that I really like all my classes, and that I survived clothes shopping. I was even going to post some fannish stuff, for the first time in ages. However, all those plans just went out the window, because I just saw the new chapter of Saiyuki Reload over at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
radiofreebanri and I have lost the ability to make a complete, coherent sentence.
In conclusion, OH MY GOD!!!
Someone please come talk with me about this, because I am flailing all over the place and need to analyze this EXCITING NEW TURN OF EVENTS. And also flail more. Yes.
radiofreebanri and I have lost the ability to make a complete, coherent sentence. In conclusion, OH MY GOD!!!
Someone please come talk with me about this, because I am flailing all over the place and need to analyze this EXCITING NEW TURN OF EVENTS. And also flail more. Yes.
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Date: 2008-01-30 02:26 am (UTC)I agree completely.
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Date: 2008-01-30 03:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-30 02:39 am (UTC)I'm not sure I totally got what happened, because I have a tendency to breeze through raws, but omg. Ukoku's really kind of awesome and I MADE SOUNDS OF GLEE when he actually showed up to one of our boys! Poor Sanzo. I never really thought the connection of Goku getting the ever-loving shit blasted out of him was believably connected to Ukoku [because, uh, Sanzo seemed quite insane for that whole sequence of events and I'm not confident he's regained his composure/sanity/whathaveyou!], and so this is just really odd. I'm tempted to say Sanzo's delusional, but then again, Ukoku's crazy, too.
And I still don't get exactly how the hell Nii went back to Ukoku and was really tempted to chalk it up to a ghost or specter, seeing as how Hazel was the only one who'd said anything to him up until this point. But apparently Ukoku can still kick ass? [And oh man the sutra aldfjaldskfj!] I guess the newly-ideal scenario is the rest of the boys showing up to save their Sanzo, but I'm just itching for it, because oh man that's been a long time coming. The separation chapter came, what, more than a year and a half ago?
I think I'm mostly really confused and excited because this is the first Chapter In Which Things Happen that Minekura's done in a long time. *FLAILS REALLY HARD* I think I'm mostly really happy that Ukoku is around and being so cool about it.
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Date: 2008-01-30 04:31 am (UTC)I kind of love Ukoku, really, in a way that makes me want to stab him in the face a lot. He's so awful, but in a very sexy way! Ever since we found out about Nii's past, I've been really looking forward to seeing the inevitable confrontation between him and Sanzo, but I didn't expect it to come for a long, long time.
It's killing me that there's no translation for this chapter yet. *gnaws fingernails* Somebody here posited that the whole fight was nothing more than an illusion cast by Ukoku/Nii, which makes sense (which would be good news because it means the sutra is A-OK!) but I don't know if that's fact or just speculation. It would make sense to me for several reasons, though. It would certainly account for Ukoku showing up looking exactly like he did years ago, while Nii is supposed to be much older and miles away. Also, I was wondering how the sutra could possibly be destroyed, because as far as I understood, the things were pretty much indestructible.
Of course, this theory opens up a lot of other questions too, like the fact that clearly Ukoku/Nii is hella powerful if he can pwn Sanzo with an illusion like that. I'm also pondering the logistics of whether or not Sanzo knew who Nii is/who Ukoku became, or if he knew something else that caused him to have a grudge against Ukoku, since he reacted so violently to Ukoku showing up. Of course, the dialogue might account for that, I dunno.
Augh. It's been way too long since I read Saiyuki all the way through, and I haven't been keeping up with the Zero Sum scans properly, so I may be forgetting a bunch of stuff that would explain all this. So confused!
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Date: 2008-01-30 11:39 am (UTC)I thought it hadn't been destroyed, so much as the magic of it had been countered. It was back on Sanzo's shoulders aftrerwards, wasn't it? (I'm at work & can't check.) Which could possibly make sense, seeing as Ukoku has the sutra of nothingness / negation / etc.
It's the first time since Burial that I'v felt genuinely sorry for Sanzo. And Hazel as well, actually; he had such confidently strong opinions that are steadily being shattered in front of him.
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Date: 2008-01-31 01:48 am (UTC)I feel quite sorry for Sanzo too. He has such issues, and I think he was badly traumatized by what happened with Goku, and now Ukoku is poking at all his old scars regarding Koumyou, his childhood, etc. Poor thing. And yes, I feel some sympathy for Hazel too, which I wasn't expecting. But I think he was really taken in and manipulated by Ukoku, and now he's getting a rude awakening about that. Sigh.
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Date: 2008-01-30 03:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-30 04:31 am (UTC)WHAT DOES IT ALL MEEEEEAAAAN.
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Date: 2008-01-30 07:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 01:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-30 03:58 am (UTC)I'm just really startled that there's a confrontation with Ukoku at this point... I thought he was going to continue to carry on the feud with Koumyou through Hazel, as his current cats-paw. It seems too soon, somehow.
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Date: 2008-01-30 04:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-30 04:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-30 04:37 am (UTC)In the thread above, I linked to someone who is suggesting this whole turn of events is an illusion created by Ukoku/Nii, but I don't know if that's fact or just a theory. It makes the most logistical sense to me, though.
Yeah, I want the rest of the Ikkou to come save Sanzo's butt too, but on the other hand, I'd also kinda like to see him handle this on his own, since this is really his 'demon from the past'.
And I have a suspicion that Ukoku might be a certain team members dad and I'm hoping that's true, because that would make thinks really interesting!
...Oh my god, I never even thought of that. Holy cow. That...would really be kind of awesome if it turned out to be true. Cracked out and completely shocking, but awesome. :D
I know, I can't wait for more either! Eee!
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Date: 2008-01-30 04:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-30 05:19 am (UTC)I know, she does! I often think I've got something figured out in the Saiyuki plotline, only to be surprised again. I love that.
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Date: 2008-01-30 04:30 am (UTC)AND THAT JUST MAKES IT SEXIER~~~
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Date: 2008-01-30 04:41 am (UTC)S-seriously, what. What is this shocking new twist of events! I don't even know what to think!
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Date: 2008-01-30 04:52 am (UTC)Goku's my favorite character SO I'VE ALREADY SUFFERED MY CONFLICT OF INTERESTS and I can sit back and go, ".... o-omg Ukoku. ♥♥"
My pet theory is going VERY WELL. :D
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Date: 2008-01-30 05:18 am (UTC)I KNOW I CAN'T STOP KEYBOARD MASHING AND CAPLOCKING. AAAAAAH.
Oho? What theory is this?!
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Date: 2008-01-30 10:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 01:48 am (UTC)Translation!
Date: 2008-01-30 02:25 pm (UTC)(BTW, translation here, thanks to athena.)
Re: Translation!
Date: 2008-01-31 01:41 am (UTC)Re: Translation!
Date: 2008-01-31 03:54 am (UTC)Well, I can't figure out how he knew that Ukoku is involved in the project ... it may be from something Yaone and Dokugaku spilled earlier? But I can certainly see how he put the other business together - that this is the guy he met as a child, and Kami-sama's master, and also the one who told Hazel about Goku.
Yeah, I think he has broken Sanzo's arm. But he's after something more significant, like Sanzo's faith in Koumyou. I don't think the Sutra itself was actually permanently damaged, but I bet Ukoku's immune to it - his Sutra is the Yin to Sanzo's Yang. I think Ukoku was using his Sutra's power to un-make the bullets before they hit.
Hazel doesn't look too thrilled, though. Maybe he's finally getting around the idea that Ukoku is wrong wrong wrong, rotten to the core. Hmmm ... maybe the cavalry will come over the hill in Jeep, and Hazel and Gat will be on the boys' side?
Re: Translation!
Date: 2008-01-31 05:39 am (UTC)Oh, yes. I didn't actually articulate this to myself, but it's pretty much what I was thinking, and it makes the most sense. Ukoku has always struck me as the sort of person/sociopath who likes breaking and corrupting things. Destroying a person's faith in anything seems like it would be very gratifying for him. He seems to have some bitterness towards the whole concept of sanzo-hood too, or at least that was the impression I got from the Burial arc. So I think destroying other sanzo, or making them lose their faith in their religion, their masters, or themselves would be something he'd be into.
Re: Translation!
Date: 2008-01-31 07:12 pm (UTC)Yes ... and in this case, it's even more than that. Ukoku sees himself as carrying on a feud with Koumyou, even though he's dead. Remember that after Kami-sama's tower was reduced to rubble, Nii was wandering through it and picked up a little gold sanzo crown and said something like "Oh boy, you've left me a little treat, Koumyou! What shall we play next?" I had to go back and look at it again when I was reading Reload 6 and 7 ... he's definitely saying "Koumyou" and not "Koryouu." So to win against Koumyou, he has to destroy Sanzo - and killing him is not enough.
This actually makes me think of Chin Yisou with Hakkai, way back in the frist series - the aim is to destroy the opponent, mind, heart, and spirit - not merely to cause physical death.
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Date: 2008-01-30 06:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 01:42 am (UTC)