Magi 246th Night Review

Written by: Micha (OH YEAH.)

This chapter was interesting. A big dragged, but very interesting in some places. 

Hakuryuu led his troops of manipulated men in to the 9^th Supply Base. They claimed that they were there because they had sensed something suspicious. This of course, was their cover. One of the people in charge told them that there wasn’t anything suspicious, and they shouldn’t neglect their own duties which will shame General Kouen.

Mentioning of Kouen’s name was some sort of a trigger to them, which caused them to blow up their cover. Hakuryuu’s troops started chanting that Kouen was a usurper who killed the emperor and the royal princes. The soldiers of the Supply Base became shocked.

This is also how Tumblr feminists react when someone mentions cis-hetero males.

This is when all hell broke loose and everybody started fighting. Judar commented to Hakuryuu that they were all strong and asked him if he was manipulating them to fight the soldiers. Hakuryuu said that he cannot do that since Belial was only a Djinn that could show illusions and rewrite memories. Therefore, in the past 6 days, he had been showing them visions of Gyokuen and Kouen stealing the empire and killing their families. And those images has been embedded in their brains.

Moreover, he was using Zagan’s magic to stimulate their hatred and excitement with the plant circuits he had embedded in their heads. This was the cause of them becoming violent warriors. He had also restricted their hate only to Gyouken and Kouen, and the real strength of Belial was that he could activate both of the Metal Vessels at the same time.

Judar was very excited about this, and said that he should show more illusions to everyone in that place. Hakuryuu said that it was impossible since according to the tests he had done, he can only show illusions within a 10 meter radius of the Metal Vessel. This is also the reason Hakuryuu had gathered all the soldiers in one place.

Hakuryuu had obtained over 100 prisoners and managed to make them submit to him in 6 days. He also captured soldiers who came to attack the base, expanding his army to more than 200 men. And when it was time to go to the capital, he released the two Al Thamen clones he had been experimenting on.

The question is, why were there soldiers attacking the base in the first place?

Very worried, Judar asks Hakuryuu why he was letting them go since they could send rukh instantly to the other clones of Al Thamen. And when they get out of the barrier, Gyokuen would know their plans. Hakuryuu says that it was fine and walked away.

Hakuryuu thinks that it no matter how many times he had thought of killing Gyokuen, he was unable to do so since he lacked power. His attempts were all futile, but now he has power, plans. Strong allies. He was finally strong enough to kill his mother.

It was at this moment when a magic implanted in his brain was activated, and the Djinn Phenex came out. She introduced herself saying that she was the Djinn of kindness and meditation, and she was meditating the bloodlust in Hakuryuu under the orders of her King, Kouen.

She later goes on to advice Hakuryuu that he will stop wanting to kill his own family. And the ring around Hakuryuu’s head was the Ring of Admonition, which is an egg that responds to his bloodlust. As his desire to kill his family grows, the egg will be warmed and it will crack once his confidence and intentions become concrete.

And Phenex, the Djinn, was what is born from the egg who will isolate Hakuryuu’s bloodlust and prevent him from carrying out his plan. This of course, had thrown Hakuryuu way off balance as he had collapsed on the ground with Judar clutching him protectively. This of course, is one awesome panel.

My JudarXHakuryuu senses are tingling.

On the other side, we see Gyokuen who has received the information from the Al Thamen clones as she wonders what Hakuryuu will do about the curse. Kouen had implanted this magic inside Hakuryuu after the dead of Emperor Koutoku, which would prevent Hakuryuu from attempting to kill Gyokuen, Kouen, Koumei, and Kouha.

Kouen had decided that Hakuryuu going through hell was better than dividing the Kou Empire with a civil war.

But of course, this sort of event always calls for your average speech-powered rage. While clutching his head in pain, Hakuryuu says that Kouen had always caged him and his sister, only letting them live according to his wishes and to satisfy his selfishness.

Phenex continually kept saying to give up his wrath, but Hakuryuu counters saying that his wrath was the only path he could follow to live and his purpose of living. And it was impossible for Kouen to stop him with the chains of deception.

Judar and Phenex stood very shocked as Phenex was surprised that Hakuryuu was able to move while the “Ring of Admonition” was eating away at his mind. She always wonders what kind of agony he had experienced that he could forcibly move while she sealed his nerves.

This is your typical shonen rage that can overcome any powerful enemy.

Judar cheers him on inwardly but thinks that Hakuryuu could not yet win against Gyokuen with a body like that. And he’d have no choice but to test his secret findings on him. Judar then says to Hakuryuu that he was going to Rakushou (the capital) for some preparations, and he would bring Hakuryuu and his soldiers there later.

And in like half a day later, Hakuryuu stood in Rakushou in front of his troops as Judar brought his soldiers through Teleportation Magic. The people in the city were greatly confused and shocked since no one was able to use that magic in Kou except for Prince Koumei.

Hakuryuu was pissed that Judar had taken off without asking him first, which was a very wifely thing to say. Judar told him to chill and he did was Hakuryuu had asked him to do. The Long Range Clairvoyance Magic that is, which he has now activated.

Hakuryuu then gives a speech to the people in Rakushou, telling the story of how the Kou Empire was stolen from Hakuryuu’s family. And Hakuryuu was there to kill the traitor, Ren Kouen, who greedily devoured their country. And he was willing to cut down anyone who got in the way. He then told them if there was anybody else who felt the same way he did, they must raise their swords for vengeance.

Judar's like, "YOU GO, GURRL."

He then screamed saying that he was the legitimate king to the throne of the Kou Empire. The chapter ends here, where the two generals of Kouen looked at him with shock and Gyokuen only smiled. The next chapter is apparently gonna be the battle between Gyokuen and Hakuryuu.

My thoughts on this chapter: 

Most of this chapter was very interesting as I've mentioned before, although some of it felt repetitive. But that's okay. We're progressing, and in the next chapter we will hopefully see Gyokuen, my wife. So I'll just suck and swallow it all in this review without any complaints.

Firstly, Hakuryuu has finally managed to impress me in this chapter. When he oh-so nonchalantly said that he had been showing visions to the soldiers, of Kouen and Gyokuen murdering their families, I was genuinely impressed. One of the reasons why I didn't like him before was that he seemed so naive and I don't usually gravitate towards characters that don't have a bit of genuine evil in them. But now as we can see, he is very well capable of being extremely dark. 

He has a selfish goal and he's manipulating others in a gruesome way to accomplish it. Call me a monster, but that shit is awesome. 

Kouen is very clever, too. He had taken enough precautions that he implanted a magic in Hakuryuu's head in case he became wild. It's like putting a leash on him, but Kouen was unfortunate that he underestimated the power of shonen rage speech.

I still have mad respect for Kouen's intelligence. Nobody saw Hakuryuu's deviant personality coming, except for Kouen. Well, Gyokuen too, but that woman knows everything. What Kouen did to Hakuryuu might've been cruel, but he did what he had to in order to maintain peace in Kou Empire. His actions as a politician is completely logical.

This also reminds me that Kouen had implanted the Phenex egg in Hakuryuu while this manga was going on. This was after Emperor Koutoku's death, which would be around Chapter 146 if I'm not mistaken. We were never shown Kouen doing this to Hakuryuu, of course, but I do remember Kouen asking Hakuryuu if he wanted to become the next Emperor.

Ah, yes. There it is.

Hakuryuu, you little piece of shit. Why didn't he take up the offer to become the Emperor then? But now he goes around whining that Kouen stole the Kou Empire from his family. Kouen literally wasn't willing to fight Hakuryuu for the position. That was your chance, you little piece of shit.

Another thing I do like in this chapter is the Djinn Phenex. But come to think of it. I don't really hate any Djinn. They're impossible to hate. But what makes this one special is 1. Boobs. 2. While she herself looks like a bird, her magic includes laying eggs so they can hatch in to herself. Just like a  phoenix! 

While it isn't all that impressive since we see phoenixes in a lot of fiction, I do like these little details.

But let's talk about Judar. I am convinced that Judar will dump Hakuryuu once Hakuryuu fulfills whatever goal Judar has in mind. While I am enjoying Judar and Hakuryuu's odd marriage together, Judar just doesn't strike me as a person who would want to share power with other people. We've seen him talk about how Al Thamen manipulated him and how much he hates Gyokuen, but this doesn't guarantee that Judar will stick to Hakuryuu for life.

It is highly plausible that he has an ulterior motive. And I say this because in this chapter, Judar seemed skeptical of Hakuryuu and thinks to himself that he has to "test" his findings on Hakuryuu. Whatever the fuck that means. 

Finally, Gyokuen, you are one sexy motherfucker. I want you. 

Chapter rating:

3/5

For Hakuryuu's character development.

Bonus:

Somebody tell me this is Falan. SOMEBODY TELL ME THIS IS FALAN,

You showed your pretty face, baby.

Micha: [Co-founder]













Micha likes to broadcast her terrible drawing skills to the world on her DeviantArt account and talks about her life long ambition of making Yakushi Kabuto a woman, on her Skype; michasucks. Yes, with the dot. She will also respond to e-mails on her michamichamicha@live.com because Amber forces her to.

 Also, she now has an ask.fm and tumblr. Here's your chance   to harass her.