#manga taisho

[animehouse-moe]

2024 Manga Taisho Award Winners Announced

In somewhat of an uncontested victory, Kimi to Uchuu wo Aruku Tame Ni walked away with nearly a 100 point victory. Following it in second place is Hiromu Arakawa's Daemons of The Shadow Realm. And only 1 point behind it in third place is Tales of Craftsmen From Kanda Gokurachou.

Though three series, it's really 1st and 3rd that are incredibly interesting. Kimi to Uchuu only has one volume out currently, with its second coming in May. Published under Kodansha, given their recent... "aggression" with manga licenses, there's a very strong chance to see an announcement for it sometime this summer.

On the other hand, Tales of Craftsmen is the first ever manga to be nominated, let alone place in the top 3, of the Manga Taisho awards from Leeds Publishing. It's a really incredible feat, and just another feather in its cap considering that it had recently won Freestyle's Read This Manga! award. Add on top that it's been nominated for the Osamu Tezuka Cultural prize, and it's a work that everyone should have their eyes on.

Though, many seem unaware of it, so I have a post in the works for this afternoon to detail its history and journey that led it to such commercial success and critical acclaim on only a single volume. The short of it though is that like with Kimi to Uchuu, manga readers should be making a lot of noise about getting it licensed over here.

[metalandmagi]

Romance Anime Starter List

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m sick and tired of seeing “Top ___ Best Anime of All Time” lists that are nothing but shounen. So, with "My Happy Marriage" getting a little attention from the anime community, I wanted to put together a list of some romance anime that I consider good “starters” for the genre. Because if I were just now becoming an anime fan, I’d think all there was to offer was shounen action series.

And by “starters” I mean basic stuff that’s not too…out there, and actually involves the characters getting together instead of just harems or using romance as a side plot (sorry Ouran High School Host Club and My Next Life as a Villainess). 

So if you’re new to anime and want stuff that’s not just guys beating the shit out of each other (which is also fun, don’t get me wrong), here are some basics.

Taisho Maiden Fairy Tale- When the pessimistic Tamahiko Shima loses all function in his right arm, his family sends him away to live in the mountains with the cheerful, hard working Yuzuki Tachibana…who was purchased by the Shima family to pay off her family’s debts and basically act as a caretaker/future bride for Tamahiko so they’d never have to deal with him again. It’s a more cheerful version of My Happy Marriage (without the supernatural stuff), except in this one, the guy is the one who has massive self-esteem issues and an abusive family. There are still very serious themes, but ultimately it’s not meant to make you cry every episode. I swear it’s so good, but nobody watched it!

Horimiya- A slice of life in which pretty and popular high school queen bee Hori, finds out her quiet, unassuming classmate Miyamura is hiding piercings and tattoos that could get him expelled. The two gradually find out more about each other and get together in the most realistic way I’ve seen depicted in an anime. It’s also fucking hysterical and genuinely emotional.

Recovery of an MMO Junkie- Another slice of life that focuses on two adults who meet in an MMO game without realizing they also know each other in real life. I don’t want to say much more than that. It’s adorable, and the main character is so relatable it hurts.

Love with Yamada-kun at Level 999- Speaking of MMOs, this is a newer series about Akane Kinoshita, a college first year who’s reeling from a bad break up. In an attempt to get back at her ex, she winds up meeting Akito Yamada, a popular gamer who happens to be in her guild in the MMO they both play at an IRL meetup. The two go from acquaintances to something more as they keep running into each other. Even more relatable main characters and just wholesome relationships all around.

Snow White With The Red Hair- A fantasy in which an apothecary named Shirayuki (meaning, you guessed it, “snow white”) runs away from her home in order to escape becoming the concubine of her town’s prince. While fleeing, she is rescued by Zen, the prince of a neighboring country, and she ends up becoming an herbalist to repay him. It's super cute with some genuinely swoon worthy moments and a couple that just works so well together. I have a habit of comparing this to Akatsuki no Yona, even though the two aren’t really that alike. This is more romance driven while Akatsuki no Yona is more of a serious historical fantasy with romance elements (Yona manga is amazing, but the anime barely scratches the surface, so that’s why I didn’t include it).

Sasaki to Miyano- When the shy, easily flustered Miyano meets Sasaki, a cool “delinquent” upperclassmen, the two end up bonding over manga…specifically BL manga. That’s right, Miyano is a fudanshi, but due to his small stature and somewhat feminine appearance, he’s constantly trying to convince others that he’s not interested in having his own love story where he’d be reduced to a stereotypical doe-eyed uke. But as Sasaki and Miyano spend more time together, they realize that what they have is more than friendship, and they have to come to terms with their own perception of gay relationships. This is my favorite romance of all time. It’s a slow burn, but boy is it worth it. Their relationship is so natural and realistic, just like Horimiya. Just two people hanging out and bonding over things the way people do in real life!

Given: The story of some boys in a band with trauma. Enough said. It's great. Go watch it.

Bloom Into You- Yuu Koito is a high school girl who’s been waiting her whole life for her own perfect romance to start…but when she receives a confession, she realizes she doesn’t know how to respond when she’s just not into the guy. And then she gets another confession…this time from the cool student council president Touko Nanami, who basically jumpstarts her lesbian awakening. Very cute story about how we perceive the concept of love vs actually feeling it. Also has a canonically aro/ace side character, so that’s a win for me. Another show like this is Adachi to Shimamura (but I honestly don’t remember much about it. It just didn’t stick with me as much).

Ore Monogatari- Takeo Gouda is a tall, bulky high school first year with a sensitive heart of gold. He wants nothing more than to find his own true love, but most girls are intimidated by his enormous stature, and they end up falling for his conventionally attractive friend instead. That is, until he meets the tiny, adorable Rinko Yamato. He falls in love instantly, but he’s sure she’s interested in his best friend like everyone else, so he vows to help get them together, even though his heart is breaking. Peak himbo behavior. Pure of heart, dumb of ass.

Yuri on Ice- Yes it’s the gay figure skating anime everyone knows. And yes it’s a fucking romance, okay? I will die on this hill. The romance between Viktor and Yuri is just as important as the plot!

Kaguya-sama Love Is War- Two insanely smart high school students both have a crush on the other, but since they’re…you know…high schoolers, neither of them wants to admit it first. So they come up with increasingly convoluted plans to get the other to confess first. This will go down as one of the best of all time. It’s a hilarious yet poignant modern classic.

Fruits Basket- I’ve talked about it before and I’ll talk about it again. A romance “comedy” that slowly morphs into a drama about a girl named Tohru who finds herself living with the mysterious Sohma family after her mother dies. Little does she know, the Sohmas are the victims of a  (somewhat silly, but ultimately tragic) curse that she must fight to break. Even though I’m more into it for the family drama, the romance is still top tier and plays an important role in the story. This is my second favorite anime of all time, and it’s a classic for a reason. If anyone hasn’t watched it yet, GO WATCH IT! IT WILL RIP YOU TO SHREDS!

Blue Box- A sports romance about an aspiring badminton player named Taiki Inomata who has a massive crush on the girls basketball team's star player Chinatsu Kano. Through a twist of fate, the two end up living together and having to hide it from the rest of their classmates, all while Taiki tries to work up the courage to ask Chinatsu out. It's so sweet and wholesome, and it's a great blend of sports anime and romance that can appeal to anyone who is more hesitant to get into the romance genre. The animation is also so freaking gorgeous!!!!

365 Days To The Wedding- A workplace romance between the two most awkward people you could possibly imagine! The story takes place at a travel company that is about to open a new branch in Alaska, but because our two main characters are...like I said...very awkward, they come up with a plan to avoid being sent to work at the new branch...by telling their boss they're getting married. Because they wouldn't want to split up a married couple by making one move away, right? As ridiculous as the premise sounds, hilarious shenanigans ensue, but there's also a surprising amount of serious discussions about romance and marriage. The main characters also have major autism coding, so if you're looking for a neurodivergent romance, this is it. (There's also an episode that involves a princess wanting to give up the throne to pursue a life with her girlfriend!)

And now for some honorable mentions that didn't quite fit into the regular list:

Ride Your Wave- A movie about a surfer who falls in love with a firefighter……and I’m not going to say any more than that. Go into it blind. If you like stuff like Your Name, this is a good one to watch.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun- A comedy about a high school girl who finds out the upperclassman she has a crush on is actually a shoujo manga artist, and no matter how she tries to confess to him, he just never gets it.

The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague- A slow burn slice of life that focuses on a guy with ice powers who has a crush on his coworker. That’s it. That’s the show. When I say slow, I mean SLOW. It’s perfectly cute and fluffy, but my god does it take forever to get anywhere with these two.

Skip to Loafer- A high strung, small town girl decides to go to high school in Tokyo, where she meets a variety of classmates, including the laid back Sousuke Shima. The unlikely pair become friends, and soon enough, she starts to feel something more than friendship. The only reason I didn’t include it in the main list is because they don’t get together by the end of the first season, but it’s still really cute (also canonically trans character for the win!?)

So that’s my starter list. And no, I didn’t include Toradora, even though it’s a classic. I know it’s blasphemous, but I like it more as a comedy than a romance. It kinda lost me with the ending. But anyway, maybe someone will find something they like. Or maybe you'll just want to roast me and my picks 😅

[demifiendrsa]

Jump j Books 30th anniversary shikishi

Riku Sanjo and Koji Inada (Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai)

Eiichiro Oda (One Piece)

Masashi Kishimoto (Naruto)

Tite Kubo (Bleach)

Hideaki Sorachi (Gintama)

Haruichi Furudate (Haikyu!!)

Yūki Tabata (Black Clover)

Koyoharu Gotouge (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba)

Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu (The Promised Neverland)

Taishi Tsutsui (We Never Learn)

Yoshifumi Tozuka (Undead Unluck)

Sana Kirioka (Taisho Otome Fairy Tale)

Yasuki Tanaka (Summer Time Rendering)

Yuji Kaku (Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku)

[iincogneeto]

- it’s time for a taishō era secret!

did you know that Jinsei is actually a very sweet guy? This is only known by one individual! Tanjiro! He’s the only one that’s seen Jinsei be a sweet person in real time!! Due to his tall frame and ominous face, Jinsei comes off as scary and mean! But he is one of the nicest people Tanjiro has ever met! ✨

( art by me - ref:: kny screenshot )

[autisticzenitsu]

Zenitsu: You betrayed the Corps by becoming a demon and made Gramps kill himself! Kaigaku: *whips out ukulele* Kaigaku: THE TOXIC GOSSIP TRAIN-

[twin-azure-dragon-wave]

Illustrations of young Sesshomaru and his parents from Takashi Shiina’s twitter account

Source

[deathberi]

best of 犬妖怪

[deilantha]

Family's portrait.

[ferwasfound]

— Inu No Taisho manga pfp !

[serexvu]

yuzuki tachibana from taisho maiden fairy tale

[deus-ex-mona]

anyways, in honour of 1 year of honeypre (rip) eos, what were your top stats like at the end of the game? i’ll go first~~~

[animehouse-moe]

Tales of Craftsmen From Kanda Gokurachou earns Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize

This is... really big news- for me, at least. Tales of Craftsmen from Kanda Gokurachou has netted something massive with their awarding of the New Life/Creative award with this year's Cultural Prize.

Akihito Sakaue has already had an incredible run of popularity and critical acclaim leading up to this, but this award is really the icing on the cake.

It places the manga in elite company, alongside the likes of Frieren, BEASTARS, and Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju- all of which we have in English print. Though, the point that pulls these series together is that they are a supposed "triple threat", having all won the same category of Tezuka Cultural Prize, and ranked within the top 3 for both Kono Manga Ga Sugoi, and the Manga Taisho awards.

That's not a guarantee by any means for Kanda Gokurachou, but damn if it isn't ever inspiring and hopeful. Really great news for both the series and Sakaue though, so I'm sure they'll be taking the time to celebrate the achievement.

[ashitakaxsan]

Please excuse me for being late,the business kept me way. i’m so glad with Maoanniversary.

Thank you so much Rumiko sama. for creating and keeping it going this great manga, which has been with me during these 4 years.I'm so thankful and I'm looking forward for this story.

るみこ先生、本当にありがとうございました。この素晴らしいマンガを作成し、継続させてくれて、この 4 年間私と一緒にいてくれました。とても感謝していますし、この物語を楽しみにしています。

[iincogneeto]

TAISHŌ ERA SECRETS!

(about everyone of my kny ocs)

Elliot: he really really likes building small scale models of things. He will make them out of glue and small pieces of wood! So far he’s made a small model of the Eiffel Tower, a shorter version of the Wall of China, and the Leaning Tower of Piza! (Even Kanan doesn’t know this!!)

Kanan: she really likes to draw!! The thing is, she only draws herself..like..ONLY herself

Jinsei: he knows how to do a double backflip but every single time he tries to show anyone he falls 💀 he just stopped trying after the 5th time.

Akemi: she smack talks people AL THE TIME in her head. She would 100% say it to their face but now that she is a demon she can’t say much 💀

Akane: her vision sucks so she has glasses, and she absolutely HATES when people take her glasses and go “idk how you see in these!!” (I hate people that do that too girl dw…)

Tae-Jun: he’s tried dance classes before..and he was like..really good at it..😭 (slay king???)

Xiaocheng: when he laughs he hiccups like “haha-HIC-haha-HICU-haha” but he doesn’t laugh very much so people don’t hear it 😔😔

Akira: he’s actually a really big cry baby when it comes to horror and scary things 😭😭 he will NOT show that to anyone tho..(gotta keep up that nonchalant act..)

Shūkūro: he’s Friends with Elliot because Elliot brings him nice aged red wine sometimes when he’s around. Sometimes he’ll even send a crow with a small canister of it for him to taste test! And shūkūro will even write a crow note to him of his opinions! (Elliot is a big wine drinker lmfao)

[bestanimecouples]

Best Anime Couple: Tamahiko Shima and Yuzuki Tachibana

Anime: Taisho Otome Fairy Tale

1 season: 12 episodes

Dub & Sub

[twin-azure-dragon-wave]

The Complete History of Tenseiga - Part 2

Continued from Part 1

Chapter 129-131

After his latest defeat at the hands of his brother, Sesshomaru is in an extremely weakened state and is left to recover in a forest near a human village.

The humiliation of being taken down by Inuyasha probably stings worse than any of the physical injuries.

While he convalesces, he meets a mute, orphan girl named Rin who attempts to care for him. Due to the extent of his injuries, Sesshomaru is barely able to move and thus has to deal with the unwanted attention after he fails to scare her off.

Sesshomaru: Are those gluten-free?

Despite his refusal to accept her help and his insistence that she mind her own business, Rin continues to visit him during his recovery. When she returns one day with bruises on her face, it sparks Sesshomaru's curiosity and he asks her how she got them. This a significant moment in his character development since it's the first time he's ever been shown expressing concern about another person. It also demonstrates that Rin's persistence has has paid off and has had an actual impact on him.

This simple inquiry about her bruises raises Rin's spirits and she responds by smiling at him. Which—completely baffles him, as in addition to asking about another's well-being, it's clear that being smiled at is also something Sesshomaru is not remotely accustomed to.

I wanted to say this is about Sesshomaru not understanding human emotions, but considering it's *Sesshomaru*, he probably just doesn't understand emotions in general.

Sesshomaru eventually returns to full health at the same time that a pack of yokai wolves lead by Koga attack Rin's village and kill her. He follows the scent of her blood and finds her dead body. After scaring the wolves away from her corpse he begins to leave when he remembers Rin's smile from earlier and turns back around.

I'm sorry, but can we talk about how Rin completely changed the entire course of this man's life just by SMILING AT HIM. Like, your fave could never. Rin is, low key, the most powerful character in the entire series and this is the proof.

For the second time (since demonstrating the blade's inability to cut on Jaken in chapter 126) Sesshomaru draws Baby Tooth Tenseiga. He feels a surge of power from the sword and then we see a group of tiny, horned creatures descend upon Rin's body. Depending on the translation, these beings are called either the messengers or pallbearers of the Underworld (Personally I prefer pallbearers since it sounds cooler, so that's how I'll refer to them.)

Jaken: Does Not Compute.

As the master of Tenseiga, he is the only one who can see the pallbearers (when he cuts them later, Jaken's remark makes it obvious that they're only visible to Sesshomaru) and this unique ability to see them is the reason he's able to use the sword effectively. The pallbearers will appear around a deceased character's corpse every time Sesshomaru is successfully able to bring someone back to life. The key word here being "successfully."

Interestingly, despite never using the sword before, Sesshomaru seems to instinctively know that he's supposed to cut the pallbearers in order to activate it's function.

Tag yourself. I'm the one in the gingham loincloth with the trident.

Sesshomaru's prepares to "test out" Tenseiga on the deceased Rin. Him framing of his actions here as a 'test' isn't exactly inaccurate; since he's never used Tenseiga in this manner before, he doesn't know what will happen when he does or whether he's capable of making it's powers work like they're supposed to.

But acting like he's only doing it as a way to satisfy his curiosity is also a way to rationalize what is likely an unconscious desire to save Rin. After all, it was the memory of her smile that had compelled him not to simply walk away and forget about her, so using the justification of, "I'm just testing put my sword, it's not like I actually care about her or anything" makes for a convenient way to save face. And honestly, Sesshomaru has to have come across a lot of dead bodies in his time, so clearly Rin was a special case if he was only willing to try Tenseiga when it came to her.

In the wideban, Takahashi explained that she created Rin's character because she wanted to create the opportunity for Sesshomaru's heart to soften, and if you remember at the end of chapter 129, Totosai stated that Tenseiga's destiny was "up to Sesshomaru's heart." Meeting Rin is the inflection point where Sesshomaru stops treating Tenseiga like a cumbersome burden and begins to develop the compassionate nature necessary to grow the sword to it's full potential.

Tenseiga University is in session, bitches.

Whatever his real reasons, Sesshomaru cuts down the pallbearers, destroying them with Tenseiga's power.

It's so on brand for Sesshomaru that he gains the power of resurrection and it still involves him getting to violently murder something.

His 'test' is successful and Rin comes back to life. This shocks Jaken, both because his master just raised someone from the dead, and also because he's probably never seen Sesshomaru save someone's life before, let alone a human's life.

Jaken is shooketh.

"That's totally unlike Sesshomaru-sama..." Again, Rin is the most powerful character in the entire series. Fight me.

Sesshomaru is pleased by the result of his experiment but, based on his reaction, I do wonder if he was aware before this that raising the dead was an ability Tenseiga possessed. It's stated he'd kept it because he knew that there was more to Tenseiga than just being a sword that can't cut, but given how familiar he is with Tessaiga's capabilities, it's notable that Tenseiga is a total enigma to him. Did he never witness his father wielding Tenseiga? Did he never bother to ask Toga what his other sword was for? Totosai probably would've been willing to explain at least the basics, but by then Sesshomaru's too resentful of the whole situation to hear out anything he has to say.

It makes me think that Toga's acquisition of the Meidou Zangetsuha and the separation of Tenseiga and Tessaiga into two different swords (Uh, spoiler alert) was something that probably had to have happened pretty close to when the Inu no Taisho died if Tenseiga is this much of a mystery to Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru: I'm sorry I called you dull and blunt and useless...

Tenseiga: Ah, that's alright, don't sweat it—

Sesshomaru: And weak and a burden and a stupid, ugly piece of worthless garbage—

Tenseiga: Okay, you can stop now!

So, there we have it. Tenseiga has been "activated" so to speak and now that Sesshomaru is aware of the power it possesses, he's able to start his journey toward mastering it.

Chapter 157-159

The next time we see Sesshomaru comes in the aftermath of Inuyasha's battle with a powerful ogre named Goshinki. Sesshomaru, now traveling with Rin in addition to Jaken, smells traces of Tessaiga (the blade that had slain Goshinki) on the ogre's fang. He takes the ogre's head and brings it to the forge of Totosai's evil ex-apprentice, Kaijinbo, a notorious swordsmith who fell out with his former master due to, among other things—using the blood of murdered children to craft his blades.

Sesshomaru asks Kaijinbo if he can forge a sword out of Goshinki's fangs and it's clear that he's still not satisfied with Tenseiga and wants a sword he can actually fight with. And since Totosai refuses to make him one, he's sought out Kaijinbo instead.

Kaijinbo: I'd need the blood of like, 20 extra toddlers.

According to Kaijinbo, a decent sword can't be made from "dead" fangs. This turns out not to be an issue as Sesshomaru demonstrates his ingenuity by drawing Tenseiga to resurrect Goshinki's severed head.

SKREE

Using Tenseiga this way is actually really clever and resourceful and it demonstrates how quickly Sesshomaru is figuring out it's workings. It's also notable here how he's initially not using it for anything close to a 'compassionate' purpose. He employs the sword's 'healing' power purely for his own selfish ends—to get a shiny new sword with the might to rival Tessaiga. By commissioning a remorseless child killer, no less!

It's clear he doesn't really understand Tenseiga yet. He's learning how to wield the sword in a functional sense, but he's still lagging behind when it comes the internal and emotional growth he's meant to be gaining from it.

"Chewed and snapped the Tessaiga" Is the Tessaiga a piece of gum all of the sudden?

Kaijinbo agrees to forge a sword for Sesshomaru, creating the blade Tokijin. However, Tokijin's evil aura is too much for Kaijinbo to handle and he is possessed by it's vengeful will, slicing Jaken in half and killing him.

When Sesshomaru comes across Jaken's bisected body, he revives him with Tenseiga, making Jaken the second person after Rin to be brought back to life by the sword.

Sesshomaru: Not my imp, you bitch!

Hilariously, Jaken's body still remains in two pieces after he's revived. Although we unfortunately don't get to see how he manages to "pull himself together," he's extremely grateful to Sesshomaru for reviving him and I do love how Sesshomaru doesn't hesitate at all to use Tenseiga on Jaken. It shows that no matter how he treats him, Jaken is genuinely important to him.

"Wind Beneath My Wings" begins playing from somewhere...

Chapter 296-297

Tenseiga is all but forgotten about for over a hundred chapters until the Band of Seven arc ends.

It's pissed it's not getting any screentime.

In chapter 296, we find out that Naraku's incarnation, Hakudoshi (who has the power to look inside people's souls), has been beheading demons in an attempt to "catch a glimpse of the land between this world and the next." One of the demons beheaded is the father of a river otter yokai named Kanta.

When Hakudoshi looks into the soul of a dead yokai, we get a cryptic hint of what the land between worlds looks like ("a world shrouded in a white mist"), foreshadowing that it's a location that's already known to the reader.

You can just see in Kagura's eyes how much she hates that little shit.

Sesshomaru comes across the headless corpse of Kanta's father. Since the last time we saw him he was looking off into the distance while remarking on Tenseiga's agitation, we can assume that Tenseiga had somehow lead him there.

The reason for this seems lost on Sesshomaru though, and his presence arouses Inuyasha's suspicion when he shows up with his group. Kagome and Shippo (who know about Tenseiga's supposed powers via Totosai's exposition from chapter 129) beg him to help Kanta's father but Sesshomaru declines, saying it's none of his concern.

Kagome: *Pretty* please?

It's here that we find out how far out of the loop Inuyasha and co. are when it comes to Tenseiga. Namely, that they have no idea that Sesshomaru has, or even can, use it to bring someone back to life.

Having not been witness to Jaken or Rin's resurrections, Inuyasha reveals that he's still under the impression that Sesshomaru is unable to use the sword, a misconception shared by his friends.

If side-eye could kill.

What I find surprising here is that Sesshomaru is okay with letting them believe that he's not just unwilling, but incapable, of helping them. I say it's surprising because, given his spiteful and prideful nature, I'd almost expect him to revive Kanta's father just to prove that he could and it's interesting that he's willing to let Inuyasha especially, get away with thinking that he's less powerful than he actually is.

But maybe, (like with him calling his resurrection of Rin a "test") he's content to let the assumption slide to save face. He still wants to maintain the image of an unfeeling, ruthless asshole and revealing that he can do something only someone with a "loving heart" should be able to suits him worse than the brief appearance of incompetence would.

Tenseiga, as usual, has other plans and before Sesshomaru can leave, the sword's energy becomes unsettled. Sesshomaru interprets this intense reaction as Tenseiga telling him to save Kanta's father, likely the reason why it drew him to the yokai's corpse in the first place.

Sesshomaru: My Tenseiga sense is tingling!

The reason Tenseiga compelled Sesshomaru to use it becomes clearer when Kanta's newly resurrected father tells an odd story about going to a strange place, "a world shrouded in white mist," after he died. His description matches Hakudoshi's from earlier, but he's able to give more specific details that reveal that the mysterious place Hakudoshi is attempting to locate is the tomb of Sesshomaru's father.

Home Depot?

Sesshomaru leaves confused about what Tenseiga was trying to tell him and what it had to do with his father's gravesite. This part is interesting because were seeing how strong Tenseiga's influence over Sesshomaru has become. He allows the sword to guide him and he submits to it's will even when it's contrary to his own.

Tenseiga: Pssst...tell Rumiko to give me more screentime.

Chapter 318-325

While Sesshomaru and co. are trying to find an entrance to his father's tomb (which we now know is in the borderland between the living world and the afterlife), they encounter Kagura, who informs them that the gateway to the borderland has already closed, but that Inuyasha and Naraku have managed to get inside. However, she tells Sesshomaru about an alternate, but dangerous way in.

Is that a challenge?

Sesshomaru arrives at the gateway, where he encounters it's two guards, Gozu and Mezu. Supposedly, the only way to enter the gateway is to kill the two guards, but even then anyone who tries to enter will be bathed in a strange light and turned to stone since only the dead are supposed to be able pass through.

Sesshomaru's attempt to kill the guards with Tokijin fails and Gozu and Mezu tell him that they can't be cut by a sword from "this" world.

Tenseiga pulses and Sesshomaru realizes that, unlike Tokijin, it can be used effectively against the guards. But after drawing the sword, the gateway begins to open and Gozu and Mezu kneel before him, telling him that he's allowed to pass because he carries the blade of the afterlife.

All hail Lord Fluffy.

This is the first we hear of Tenseiga being able to cut "those not of this world." We know it can cut the pallbearers of the underworld, but now we find put that it has the ability to apparently cut any being from other world, including Gozu and Mezu themselves. Tenseiga saves in the "living" world, but kills in the world of the dead.

Jaken's clinging to that Mokomoko like it's a security blanket.

Sesshomaru enters into the borderland to join the fight against Naraku and there's a part here with Inuyasha that I want to mention because, even though it doesn't have anything to do with Tenseiga, it's going to become thematically relevant later.

During the battle, Inuyasha is given the chance to strengthen Tessaiga by defeating Hosenki (the jewel maker who created the black pearl that was in his eye) but decides to shield his friends from Naraku's deadly miasma instead. At first, Hosenki derides this attitude as emblematic of his half-yokai nature, but it's later revealed to be secret test of character.

When Inuyasha uses the Kongōsōha (Adamant Barrage) for the first time, Hosenki tells him that the diamond spears would have killed him if he'd only cared about strengthening the sword. But because Inuyasha valued his friends lives more than increasing his power, Hosenki rewards him with the Kongōsōha.

Hosenki secretly replaced the diamond fragments with Folger's crystals.

Unlike Inuyasha, Sesshomaru is a pure demon, and doesn't hold back in his pursuit of power, even if it means putting others in danger. This mindset will later come back to bite him and that's why I find this part of the story illuminating in light of Sesshomaru's future trip to the underworld and what he'll have to sacrifice in order to strengthen Tenseiga.

Naraku: You're not like the other girls, are you?

Part 3 Coming Soon.