by Takehiko Inoue, based on the novel Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa, 204 pages
The Yoshioka attempt, with questionable success and some loss of life, to persuade Kojirô to fulfill their wishes. But with a cowardly, crazy, greedy Matahachi pretending to be a.) decidedly NOT the guy who almost burned their school down last year (although nobody's buying it) and b.) Kojirô's best buddy and only means of communication with the hearing world (although Kojirô's not helping him sell it at all), things certainly go in interesting directions, if not exactly according to the Yoshioka's (or Matahachi's) cleverly laid plans.
Matahachi, Matahachi, Matahachi. What are you doing, you stupid boy? If I weren't cracking up so much, I'd be sad for him and angry at his once again failing to do the right thing out of his deeply ingrained fear of not being good enough. Then again, I think I am sad and angry, too. His habitually self-defeating behavior is clearly rooted in guilt and an inferiority complex, particularly when it comes to Musashi, and he can't seem to give himself the chance to prove himself wrong. He sees powerful Kojirô as a way to start over, but he doesn't do it on the right foot or for the right reasons. And until he can tell the difference and act on it, I don't think Kojirô's going to look at him twice...and Matahachi's not going to be happy with what he sees when he looks at himself.
And just a couple of little details that illustrate why I love this series. In the course of ticking off the wrong people, Matahachi gets a little chunk of his bangs yanked out, and you can see the spot in every close-up frame he's in after that for the next 100+ pages. Also, the snowman. Hilarious and true to character and just more proof that Musashi and Kojirô are kindred spirits.
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