The battle with the Man-With-No-Face called Muso becomes a stalemate as every signature move of Inuyasha's is tried on him, but even though the newest incarnation of Naraku is ripped to shreds, his body is able to reform. Inuyasha mutilates him again and again but no attack seems able to finish him. Inuyasha and company are shocked to learn that this mysterious enemy is actually the part of Naraku that is Onigumo, the burned bandit that gave his body for lust of Kikyo decades ago. Naraku, in a rare sign of weakness, sends out Kagura to hunt down his human half. It seems that even he cannot control Onigumo. Later, Inuyasha's band has to help rescue a half-demon girl named Shiori from the clutches of her ogre bat grandfather. A problem develops when Inuyasha realizes that in order to strengthen Tetsusaiga enough to kill Naraku, he must take the life of the kidnapped little girl.

Volume 22 is all about characters both good and evil, accepting or rejecting parts of themselves they might not like or be proud of. Naraku is always trying to rid himself of the human Onigumo whose original body he sprung out of. Mainly because Onigumo's love, or more precisely, lust, prevents Naraku from killing Kikyo. Naraku sees this part of himself as one of the only weaknesses in his otherwise perfect demon existence. Inuyasha too, experiences some memories he would probably rather forget when he finds out how Shiori was always discriminated against by the villagers because of her half demon heritage. This happened even though her parent's relationship was what stopped the ogre bats from attacking their village for years! Sometimes the humans in Inuyasha come off much worse than the demons in terms of cruelty and baseness. As usual, this series is a great read with simplistic but iconic artwork and sitcom- like plot development that never fails to grab while not carrying any of the main characters very far from their starting place.

My grade: A

Podcast Episode 78: Anime DVD review of Tekkonkinkreet. Directed by Michael Arias. Screenplay by Anthony Weintraub. Sony Pictures, $29.95, 100 minutes.

Black and White are two kids that have always lived on the streets using their wits and fighting abilities to survive in Treasure Town. But now their romanticized life of adventure is about to end when some Yakuza thugs arrive. Their arrival is just the beginning of a plan by Snake, a developer who wants to turn Treasure Town into a gaudy amusement park. Only Black and White stand in his way, striving to save the soul of their beloved town.

My Grade: A+