[Mizuno]

Originally Posted by Shinova

In the Gyukki arc, there's a few pages that show the grandfather and his band of youkai from back in the day and I can see what looks like a younger version of one of Rikuo's bodyguards, and there's also a yuki-onna. Do you think she's the same one looking after Rikuo now or a descendant?

Chapter 16 page 12, correct?

I think that's probably the mom of Tsururu, she's definitely more developed in her physique.

I also found something interesting about Yuki Onna in general, apparently they age much slower than human. I got this assumption from the flashback in ch42 when Tsururu was playing hide-and-seek with Rikuo. You can see the Tsururu 5 years ago is basically the same as the Tsururu of the present while Rikuo grows up normally like any human.

Originally Posted by Irenicus

None of the protagonists are unlikeable, and Rikuo especially actually gets developed (and not just training arc powered up yadda yadda) from a nice and optimistic but rather weak character into someone more assertive and likable. Oh, and Yuki Onna is the best. Although this may be my bias talking, I seem to have a weakness for girls with long straight hair...

Of course, that makes for quite a shipping war within my schizophrenic selves between Rikuo x Yuki Onna and Rikuo x Kana, since both girls have the hair and both are nice characters that look good with Rikuo.

The only problem really is that the art can get *really* messy at times in the action scenes: pretty, but very hard to figure out. The mangaka might have taken a little too much influence from traditional Japanese art and forgot that manga is in "moving" panels and shades of black and white.

I liked how Rikuo defeated Tamazuki while in human form. I wonder if it was just a one-off desperate measure thing.

I'm also cheering for Tsururu. She's too cute but sometimes she gives me the impression of a caring sister instead of a love interest.

Yeah, I agree the art sometimes become a bit over-stylish and the transitions in battle aren't as fluid as you'd normally see...

Originally Posted by Yaluen

so...I have a reason to suspect that it's very likely that Yura has caught on to Rikuo's identity as Master of the Youkai (for lack of better translation thus stealing what's available on wiki). No matter how you look at it, Yura was there during the entire conflict and it's possible that she also witnessed Rikuo's transformation back to his normal human self from his youkai form. The fact that she more or less disappeared after that may suggest a few things...

It might be possible she's away to seek guidance from her master or something. Seeing how helpless she was in the previous battle, she might be going back to training.