Chapter 133 continues to drive the plot of the final volume of the series. As we inch closer and closer to resolving the story and finding out the true nature of Kaiman's identity, Hayashida continues to display little nuggets that long time fans of the series will appreciate. The first portion of the chapter gives us a bit of what is going on with Aikawa/Kaiman (who is now carrying a tired Dr. Kasukabe) and "Curse" Risu. Along their path, Aikawa (whom btw currently bears a Kaiman, lizard head but seems to have donned the Aikawa personality) discovers what he believes to be a wrapped gourd. He uses the wrappings to wrap up store's kitchen knife which was beginning to cause his hand pain. Upon unwrapping the "gourd," Aikawa comes to realize that the wrappings actually belonged to a human head. Recognizing him as En's associate Shou, Dr. Kasukabe asks Aikawa to take the head with him as he wishes to conduct research on it later. This is really cool as fans finally get to see (although not completely) a bit of what Shou's real face actually looks like. With Chota's face recently being revealed, the only unmasked member of En's family left would be Turkey. Perhaps Hayashida will also allow us to see his face in an upcoming chapter.
Lastly, it's worth mentioning that the trio also encounter an entire "city" at the end of their segment. While Risu is confused at first by where they are, Aikawa ends their portion of the chapter by telling Risu, "You of all people should know this place Risu." I can't wait to find out what they've encountered next chapter. My guess is that it's the magical school they both attended in the past.
The next major section of the chapter highlights Asu/Kawajiri's struggles to free himself from Kai's cords. While Asu recently has been screwed over, with his blinding, binding, and inability to use his magic, I find it interesting that Hayshida has made him both useless as of recent to the plot and exclaiming that his, "pride as a devil" is on the line.
This portion of the chapter also gives us more of what's occurring with Fujita's, Chota's, and Turkey's heads bobbing around. While they successfully remove the hammer that is lodged in Noi's head, Noi seems to be dead at the current moment; an element that may prove vastly problematic later on when the gang tries to repair their bodies. It's also worth mentioning that during their dialogue, one of the crates in the background breaks. I believe these crates (which have been shown many times in previous chapters) are supposed to represent the different times Kai is able to regenerate one of his heads (something I will get to shortly). This very same process has been shown before when Kaiman's head got lodged off by Shin and when En killed Kaiman. As such, the number of heads that Kai can utilize are becoming more and more limited, unless he's discovered a new way to add more to his original nine.
The chapter's last major segment involves the plot between En, Ebisu, Dokuga, and now Shin. Last chapter En turned Shin into 326 mushrooms. In order to later dispel the curse and restore him back to normal, En needs all 326 mushrooms to be collected. While Ebisu has managed to collect 323 of the mushrooms, the last three are being hidden by Dokuga. Dokuga recognizes that Shin will identify him if he's returned to normal, thus Dokuga would be killed. So he's decided to run off with the last three mushrooms. The chapter ends with Dokuga running into his "boss" (aka bat shit insane devil Kai) who currently is carrying a naked Nikaido and the heads of Dokuga's comrades Saji and Ushishimada. Kai is also shown here regenerating a new head to Nikaido's surprise.
*One thing notable is that on the very last page Dr. Kasukabe, in his weakened state, drops Shou's head on the ground, leaving it behind. Whether or not this will be important later on is left to be seen.
With the slue of side plots occurring simultaneously to the main plot, I look forward to seeing just how Hayashida intends to end this series and tie up all the loose ends. Overall it was an enjoyable chapter and I eagerly await the next!
-Nights Off
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