Tsubasa Chapitre 121
Since it seems the scans might be delayed a bit due to the holidays, here's a summary of Tsubasa Chapitre 121 for those who are just desperate to know what happened (like me - I ran out to the nearest 7/11 in the pouring rain at an ungodly hour this morning to get this thing!).
The title page is of Fei Wong Reed looking sort of bored and irritable, nothing special. The chapter picks up right where the last one left off, with Kurogane taking in the situation as Syaoran swallows Fai's eye and Fai lies bleeding on the ground (it seems as though Syaoran just pulled the eye out of its socket, since Fai's face looks totally normal aside from massive amounts of blood dripping from his closed left eye). Syaoran's right eye turns blue as he takes his hand away from his mouth, and Kurogane looks absolutely horrified as he realizes what happened.
Syaoran hauls Fai back up by the collar and reaches for his face again, which finally snaps Kurogane out of it; he screams for Syaoran to stop it and lunges forward, grabbing Syaoran's wrist and pulling it back before he has a chance to tear out Fai's right eye. Syaoran turns around very, very slowly (this looks just terribly creepy, by the way) and stares at Kurogane with his blue eye. Kurogane confirms that Syaoran swallowed Fai's eye, and Syaoran delivers an incredible kick right to Kurogane's gut. Kurogane falls to his knees, coughing, but keeps his grip on Syaoran's wrist. Syaoran says that he's going to take the right eye too, and Kurogane, still wincing, tells him to hand Fai over. Syaoran looks unimpressed and says that the source of Fai's magic is his two eyes; once he takes out both of them, he won't need to keep Fai around anymore. Kurogane gets to his feet, looming over Syaoran, and once again demands that Syaoran hand Fai over to him. In response, Syaoran leans forward, still watching Kurogane with the blue eye, and, since he has Fai in one hand and Kurogane is holding the other, proceeds to very slowly lower his head to Fai's face and start to bite the eye out. Kurogane grabs Syaoran by the throat and flings him into the wall, somehow managing to catch Fai's arm in the process so the poor man doesn't have to fall face-first in his own blood again.
Syaoran hits the wall hard, landing on his arm at an awkward angle, and when he stands again, there's obviously something wrong with it. Kusanagi and Yuuto are looking like they wish they hadn't had lunch that day, and they comment that it sounded like the arm broke. Syaoran stands as if nothing were wrong, and Older Nataku says that it looks like he can't feel any pain in his body. Kakyou, who is never happy unless he can spout mystical-sounding clichés, adds that he can't feel the pain in his heart either. Little Nataku and Mokona are both shivering and crying, and Mokona calls out everyone's name.
Kurogane, crouching over Fai, comments that it isn't the kid anymore - or rather, his aura is wrong, but it's not a different person. Syaoran says that he will definitely return all the feathers, and a spark of light appears at his fingertips for a moment before he launches into the same spell Fai used last chapter, causing a massive explosion (in the corner, you can see Kurogane shielding Fai with his body. I'm pretty sure the explosion Syaoran just caused had nothing on the thousands of fangirls who probably burst from sheer overload at this point). Mokona calls out that it felt the same as Fai's magic.
As the smoke clears, Syaoran walks toward Kurogane, who is still crouching on the ground (and who, despite having taken absolutely no defensive measures, appears to have suffered no real ill effects aside from needing to take his shirt to the cleaners; we're going to assume Syaoran just doesn't know how to use Fai's magic very well, because otherwise, that really wasn't worth the buildup it got). Kurogane confirms that Syaoran swallowed Fai's magic when he swallowed the eye (with a closeup on Fai's face, which still seems to be bleeding), and Syaoran says that in order to return the feathers, he'll take anything he needs and destroy anything that becomes a nuisance. Kurogane is beyond angry at this point, and, still holding Fai's unconscious body, he shouts that Fai changed himself for Syaoran and Sakura's sake (in the background, there are flashbacks of Fai initially refusing to use his magic and then using it to save them all). Syaoran continues to look unimpressed, and Kurogane adds that, little by little, they had been able to smile again. He starts looking sort of desperate and, screaming, asks if Syaoran can even hear him. Syaoran's face seems to soften just a tiny bit, but a sudden swirl of magic in the corner grabs both of their attention (Kamui is apparently still just sitting around watching, by the way, probably wishing he had some popcorn. Or perhaps a remote control with a mute button). Other!Syaoran materializes, and there's a two-page spread with a closeup of both Syaoran and Other!Syaoran's faces, Other!Syaoran looking much more human at this point.
To which all I have to say is:
1) Darn, that was worth the wait.
2) CLAMP just seriously continues to amaze me; the art in this chapter is fantastic. Kurogane's expressions are great, and something about the slow, deliberate way Syaoran moves creeps me out no end.
The title page is of Fei Wong Reed looking sort of bored and irritable, nothing special. The chapter picks up right where the last one left off, with Kurogane taking in the situation as Syaoran swallows Fai's eye and Fai lies bleeding on the ground (it seems as though Syaoran just pulled the eye out of its socket, since Fai's face looks totally normal aside from massive amounts of blood dripping from his closed left eye). Syaoran's right eye turns blue as he takes his hand away from his mouth, and Kurogane looks absolutely horrified as he realizes what happened.
Syaoran hauls Fai back up by the collar and reaches for his face again, which finally snaps Kurogane out of it; he screams for Syaoran to stop it and lunges forward, grabbing Syaoran's wrist and pulling it back before he has a chance to tear out Fai's right eye. Syaoran turns around very, very slowly (this looks just terribly creepy, by the way) and stares at Kurogane with his blue eye. Kurogane confirms that Syaoran swallowed Fai's eye, and Syaoran delivers an incredible kick right to Kurogane's gut. Kurogane falls to his knees, coughing, but keeps his grip on Syaoran's wrist. Syaoran says that he's going to take the right eye too, and Kurogane, still wincing, tells him to hand Fai over. Syaoran looks unimpressed and says that the source of Fai's magic is his two eyes; once he takes out both of them, he won't need to keep Fai around anymore. Kurogane gets to his feet, looming over Syaoran, and once again demands that Syaoran hand Fai over to him. In response, Syaoran leans forward, still watching Kurogane with the blue eye, and, since he has Fai in one hand and Kurogane is holding the other, proceeds to very slowly lower his head to Fai's face and start to bite the eye out. Kurogane grabs Syaoran by the throat and flings him into the wall, somehow managing to catch Fai's arm in the process so the poor man doesn't have to fall face-first in his own blood again.
Syaoran hits the wall hard, landing on his arm at an awkward angle, and when he stands again, there's obviously something wrong with it. Kusanagi and Yuuto are looking like they wish they hadn't had lunch that day, and they comment that it sounded like the arm broke. Syaoran stands as if nothing were wrong, and Older Nataku says that it looks like he can't feel any pain in his body. Kakyou, who is never happy unless he can spout mystical-sounding clichés, adds that he can't feel the pain in his heart either. Little Nataku and Mokona are both shivering and crying, and Mokona calls out everyone's name.
Kurogane, crouching over Fai, comments that it isn't the kid anymore - or rather, his aura is wrong, but it's not a different person. Syaoran says that he will definitely return all the feathers, and a spark of light appears at his fingertips for a moment before he launches into the same spell Fai used last chapter, causing a massive explosion (in the corner, you can see Kurogane shielding Fai with his body. I'm pretty sure the explosion Syaoran just caused had nothing on the thousands of fangirls who probably burst from sheer overload at this point). Mokona calls out that it felt the same as Fai's magic.
As the smoke clears, Syaoran walks toward Kurogane, who is still crouching on the ground (and who, despite having taken absolutely no defensive measures, appears to have suffered no real ill effects aside from needing to take his shirt to the cleaners; we're going to assume Syaoran just doesn't know how to use Fai's magic very well, because otherwise, that really wasn't worth the buildup it got). Kurogane confirms that Syaoran swallowed Fai's magic when he swallowed the eye (with a closeup on Fai's face, which still seems to be bleeding), and Syaoran says that in order to return the feathers, he'll take anything he needs and destroy anything that becomes a nuisance. Kurogane is beyond angry at this point, and, still holding Fai's unconscious body, he shouts that Fai changed himself for Syaoran and Sakura's sake (in the background, there are flashbacks of Fai initially refusing to use his magic and then using it to save them all). Syaoran continues to look unimpressed, and Kurogane adds that, little by little, they had been able to smile again. He starts looking sort of desperate and, screaming, asks if Syaoran can even hear him. Syaoran's face seems to soften just a tiny bit, but a sudden swirl of magic in the corner grabs both of their attention (Kamui is apparently still just sitting around watching, by the way, probably wishing he had some popcorn. Or perhaps a remote control with a mute button). Other!Syaoran materializes, and there's a two-page spread with a closeup of both Syaoran and Other!Syaoran's faces, Other!Syaoran looking much more human at this point.
To which all I have to say is:
1) Darn, that was worth the wait.
2) CLAMP just seriously continues to amaze me; the art in this chapter is fantastic. Kurogane's expressions are great, and something about the slow, deliberate way Syaoran moves creeps me out no end.