Stray Saiyuki thoughts

[louiselux]

Stray thoughts about the latest Saiyuki chapters:

The last time someone nearly got them all killed it was Gojyo, and Sanzo punched him for it. It was Hakkai and Goku at risk back then as well (I'm thinking of the gourd).

Also, Gojyo does CPR! You have to wonder where he learnt that.

Why *does* Sanzo run away - is he in shock?

Hakkai's actual youkai weapon is his vines. I love this idea hugely, but not sure why. Maybe because it's such a surprise? It's better than centipedes at any rate, as emungere pointed out. Also, has he been secretly been practising?

The echoing of Be There: Hakkai lying face down with his face hidden in his arm, just as Gojyo first found him and then later with the two panels of them looking at each other. Gojyo's hair covers his face, which has the effect of cutting everyone else out and making his smile into something intensely private between the two of them, which is possibly why it's so affecting.

Comments

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

Also, Gojyo's (admittedly questionable) CPR technique is a nice inversion of V4, where Hakkai used chi to restart Gojyo's heart after Sanzo shot Chin Yisou's seed. And now we know Chin Yisou's "plant" was a parody of Hakkai's own power.

[kintail.livejournal.com]

Oh, good point. And it ties in nicely with Chin Iisou's over-confidence from his belief that he knew Hakkai better than Hakkai knew himself.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

That is a really interesting point about V4.

Speaking as a former CPR instructor, Goyo's technique is actually a whole lot better than one typically sees in movies or TV-- he's got his hands set up correctly and in the right position, and his arms are straight. Since you only give one breath every... yikes, obviously I need to renew my certification... ten or fifteen seconds, I assumed that (alas) he was doing the rescue breathing offpage. Also, if you want to actually have CPR re-start someone's heart without the use of an AED, the most likely scenarios for that are drowning or electric shock such as by lightning. In fact, particularly lightning.

I haven't been following the "Even a Worm" arc before now, so I am not sure (and also, I am very confused as to who the hell Gato and Hazel-the-guy-in-the-Flying-Nun-hat are) but I think that has got to be the most we've ever seen Goyjo lose it in the entire series. In that close-up on his face when he's doing CPR, he looks absolutely hysterical. And yet he keeps on doing something useful, and even though he feels like it's "all he can do," it's the one thing he really needs to do...

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, I'd almost forgotten that.