At last, another chapter of Ryuu. This time, the match against Ishikawa reaches an exciting conclusion.
Thanks to Penchan for the cleaning and typesetting.
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Tathagata, as I mentioned previously, is an epithet referring to the Buddha. In this case, it refers to Bhaisajyaguru, the Medicine Buddha. The 12 Heavenly Generals' purpose is to protect the Medicine Buddha, so it makes sense that the end of this arc is named as such.
So in the end, Ishikawa was no match for Ryuu and his monstrous luck. So monstrous, in fact, that even a bullet fired at point blank range simply grazes him. This isn't the first time this has happened (he came out of the assassination of Sakurada with only a small cut even though he was closer to the gun than Sakurada was), and it certainly won't be the last.
Even though he wasn't around for long, I came to really like Kitajima. Noujou-sensei manages to make him a surprisingly complex and sympathetic character with very few lines, which I think is quite a feat of characterization. And with that, we have another character that Ryuu views in a positive light, the other one being Kai. Technically there's also Tetsu and the mahjong parlor master, but they're from early in the series when the whole thing is wildly different. Speaking of which, remember when I said that there wouldn't be any more awkward sex scenes? Well, I looked ahead, and there's a couple more. Sorry.
Anyways, now we're done with the Ishikawa arc. There's two more chapters in this volume that are the beginning of a new arc, and thus a new naming theme. This theme lasts almost the entire rest of the series, so look forward to new explanations and also some new credit pages. Seriously, shout-out to Penchan for making new credit pages every chapter. They look awesome.
thank you very much for another awesome job on Naki no Ryuu :)
ReplyDeleteThank you.
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ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheartedly with Denji’s assessment on Kitajima. His sudden demise was surprisingly emotional. The unraveling of his identity throughout the series (chapter 15-20) was exciting. First, he appeared as an unexpected Ishikawa’s henchman in the mahjong parlor. There, he refer himself as Hitman. He opened up himself about his relationship with Ishikawa to the disinterested Ryuu in the car. Then, we later learned his name through a spectator, Hiramatsu.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, Kitajima became quasi-guardian for Ryuu because he dared to defy Ishikawa and consequently Ryuu get to walk away. Kitajima’s unwavering loyalty to Ishikawa crumbled at the point of his suicide.
I was shocked that Ishikawa wasn’t remotely angry after Ryuu said that his back was covered in soot. I was expecting for more explanation of this. Ryuu have little respect to Ishikawa, but what makes Ishikawa so different from Kai? The two were highly persistent on getting Ryuu onto their side. Ishikawa was so ambitious that he became murderous. I hope Ryuu will elucidate his thoughts on Ishikawa in volume 3.
On the last paragraph, I meant to write volume 4, not volume 3.
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