Episode 177

Flowers Drenched in Sadness is the 10th episode of InuYasha: The Final Act.

Summary
Inuyasha's group comes accros a village where everyone is disturbingly happy. The reason behind this unnatural happiness is the Flower Prince, who feeds on their sorrow. Inuyasha is in danger of falling victim to the Flower Prince thanks to the grief he feels for Kikyo's passing.

Elsewhere, there is someone else besides Inuyasha's group that may be feeling sorrow. Kanna is thinking of Kagura and the freedom her sister desired. Could Naraku's emotionless puppet have developed a heart of her own?

Plot
Kanna walks through a misty, grey field, reciting a poem alone. She walks forward and picks up Kagura's fan. With emotionless eyes, she wonders aloud if Kagura really did became free and become the wind. As Kanna stands in the rain she continually repeats that she has nothing as she fades away in the distance; she takes Kagura's fan with her.

Rain is pouring down in front of Naraku's hideout. Inside, Naraku is regenrating himself rom Kikyo's final attack on him before her death. He thinks about how there is a small peck of purity deep inside the Shikon Jewel, which has defiled; as something of great annoyance, Naraku finds that he cannot banish this speck of light from the jewel, meaning Kikyo continues to defy him even in death.

Later, on a sunny forest path, Inuyasha and friends are walking, as as usual, quarreling, as they enter a small village full of beautiful flowers. Kagome, Sango, and Miroku find the scent of the flowers soothing, while Inuyasha find it sickening. Not to mention Shippo and Kirara who were beginning to fell sick, suffering from hayfever. So villagers invited them to stay the night. Inuyasha was apprehensive at first, but nonetheless, he joined in. The gang is then given a house that they have for travelers, to sleep in for the night. Kagome quietly reflects on how Inuyasha got over Kikyo's death After that, the villagers walk over to an ominous castle and report to their "Flower Prince" that they have brought new travelers. The Flower Prince smiles as he is happy to conclude that he has found a horribly injured soul in one of said travelers.

Back in the traveler's house, everyone but Inuyasha is asleep. He notices that the scent of the flowers is getting stronger and all the more sickening. Shippo and Kirara are getting much more ill as the night goes on. Inuyasha doesn't want to go to sleep because he knows if he does he will dream about Kikyo. Kagome wakes up along with Shippo, giving him a hankerchief to blow his nose with. When she mentions it's allergies, Inuyasha doesn't understand the word; most likely it hasn't been thought of yet.

Outside, the villagers are wandering around like zombies being controlled be someone. The flower's vines contract their bodies as they cry tears of blood, and say they are now, "at peace, finally." Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango and Miroku run out to rescue the villagers. Miroku uses a sutra at them and they reveal that all the beautiful flowers weren't real, as the humans turn into soil. The Flower Prince arrives and introduces himself. He claims that all he does for people is to give them "peace" of mind. Inuyasha yells out for everyone not to breath the toxins around them, but it is too late. Sango collapses into a dream about her lost brother, Kohaku. Miroku protects her, but the the Flower Prince tells Miroku about his fear of the Wind Tunnel injury. Inuyasha launches a Wind Scar, but the Flower Prince is gone; however, leftover blood suggests he's wounded. Kagome is given prayer beads by Miroku to protect her from the Flower Prince's spell. Inuyasha and Kagome take off after him.

Elsewhere, by a glistening pond, Kanna tosses Kagura fan into the water, bidding farewell to her sister incarnation. Byakuya of the Dreams arrives, informing Kanna that Naraku wants her to lure in Inuyasha's group and release her mirror. Kanna looks out to the pond.

Inuyasha and Kagome arrive at the Flower Prince's castle, where he says he's forgiven Inuyasha for his previous attack on him. The Flower Prince reads Inuyasha's heart and sees how much Kikyo's death has wounded him; Inuyasha and the Flower Prince vanish. Kagome realizes the reason she still feels pain and sorrow is because she is wearing the prayer beads of protection Miroku gave to her.

Meanwhile, inside the castle, Inuyasha is having artificial dreams about Kikyo as he too, cries tears of blood. Outside the castle, Kagome desperately tries to rescue Inuyasha, only to be repeled by a barrier. Kagome's pleas finally awaken Inuyasha, who awakens from his dream and fights the Flower Prince, who is confused by Inuyasha's refusal to be a peace. The Flower Prince takes on his real form, a mass of vines, to battle. Just then, Kagome shoots her arrow, with the payer beads attached to it, and manages to break through the barrier around the castle and gets Inuyasha out.

Now that Kagome is unprotected be the prayer beads, the Flower Prince finds that he likes the taste of her soul more than Inuyasha's, because he sees that Kagome is hurting much more than he is. Inuyasha is shocked. The Flower Prince tries telling Inuyasha what the source of Kagome's sorrow is, but she awakens and destroys all the flowers the Flower Prince is hiding in; she tells the Flower Prince that all the emotions she has are hers alone. The Flower Prince emerges from the flowers outside the castle. Inuyasha quickly slays the Flower Prince.

All the flowers disappear with the Flower Prince, and Shippo and Kirara are no longer ill as they sit in the traveler's house with Sango and Miroku. Kagome and Inuyasha stand together in the open field. Inuyasha explains his dream about Kikyo, realising that he was so focused on his own suffering that he couldn't see hers. Kagome explains that Kikyo's death was hard on everyone. Inuyasha wonders how she can be so stonger, but she retorts in anger that she is only being kind.

On a pond, Kanna slowly sinks beneath the surface water. Her mirror emerges and the whole pond shines.

Inuyasha and the gang leave the village as Byakuya's eye demon sees them. Byakuya tells Naraku of this, making him laugh. The group hears from villagers about the bright light caused by Kanna that happened that night. Inuyasha follows a trace of Naraku's scent, they are lead to a small pond. Kanna's mirror lays on the surface.

Then, Kanna and a huge mirror demon emerge. Inuyasha draws his sword and the mirror demon creates a copy of Tessaiga. Inuyasha attempts fighting, but finds the Wind Scar isnn't working; Tessaiga's powers have been stolen by the mirror demon. Wind Scar, Adamant Barrage, all of Tessaiga's attack have been stolen. Shippo uses his Fox Magic to get them away safely.

Kanna and her mirror demon walk through a forest at sunset. Kanna's demon picks her a small flower as she again recites the same poem from the beginning, while Inuyasha and friends run into the forest to find her. Kanna emotionless-ly crushes the small flower in her tiny fist.

Trivia

 * Kanna's scenes in this episode, just prior to Inuyasha's group running into her, are completely anime only.


 * In the manga, Kanna was sitting in a tree when she felt a gust of wind, and thought it was Kagura. In this episode, she performs some kind of cermony for bidding her good-bye.


 * Kanna has shown sorrow at Kagura's death, meaning she's not as emotionless as Naraku thought she was.
 * In a way, the Flower Prince helps Inuyasha overcome his grief over Kikyo's second death.