A new incarnation springs forth from Naraku without a face, but before long, he finds a great one and steals it. How many episodes before Inuyasha stops him?
Original Air Date: 13 May 2002, Streamed on: Hulu
A demon incarnation escapes from Naraku’s body through his arm, off a cliff, and into a valley. Some men at a camp encounter the purple, fleshy lump and poke it with sticks, but they are only slightly more fortunate than Can Man from The Blob (1988). Instead of the shapeless mass climbing the sticks and consuming the men, a faceless, chiseled specimen of a man bursts forth and screams despite having no mouth with which to do so. All of the men are dead, their faces stolen.
The naked, faceless demon is trying on the faces, trying to pick one he likes when a cute monk tries to eliminate him. The demon steals his face, celebrates, and immediately brags about how good he looks to the first person he encounters.
A true demon of chaos, he steals that guys horse and armor and then completely razes a nearby village all by himself.
Outside of Kaede’s village, the demon recalls memories from Onigumo as Inuyasha rides out to stop him. This incarnation of Naraku is utterly insatiable. Even Naraku thinks he’s the most abominable creation yet. The Adonis demon decides to take the name of the monk whose face he stole: Muso.
Inuyasha removes Muso’s arm with Tetsusaiga, but a swarm of Naraku’s bees shows up and turns into a new arm. The battle quickly escalates, and Muso handles the gang without breaking a sweat.
Muso recognizes Kagome, who just returned, from Onigumo’s memory of Kikyo. He dodges attacks from Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku to grab her.
Episode Score Card:
- Iron Reaver Soul Stealers: 0
- Wind Scars: 0
- Backlash Waves: 0
- Wind Tunnels: 0, not the bees!
- Swarms of Naraku’s Bees: 1 bee, then 1 swarm that turns into Muso’s arm.
- Butts Grabbed: 0
- Jewel Shards Recovered: 0, but at least they looked for some this time.
Did you miss it?
The entire opening segment in modern Japan was great. Kagome is finally doing poorly in school. It’s remarkable, really, that she was able to hang so long since she’s always running around feudal Japan fighting demons. Her friends still hate Inuyasha, but they have a lengthy and funny talk about all of the guys she’s been running around with in the past.