And that guy pretending to be Kazuki? Seeing that it was Himiko he tricked, was that person acting like he/she him/herself would or was he truly acting like Kazuki would in those situations, aside from being a "traitor"? Kazuki is strongly reminding me of Kurama from YYH right now.

As for the fake Kazuki, I don't think they were together long enough for him to really perfect his act...not to mention, this mission is the first time Himiko met Kazuki, so she probably wouldn't have noticed. She says they were attacked three times since the gas incident (which was probably attack #1 also), so most of their time was spent fighting off goons, and then he reveals himself as a traitor...he probably just based his knowledge off of Kazuki would normally act, at least based on how Kazuki was when he was still an Emperor (they probably wouldn't have info about him since he left)...so as far as the thing about him not showing any mercy to the enemy, well, Kazuki as he is now is a little more merciful because he's so loyal to Ginji and Ginji hates killing...but back in the VOLTS days, he was (probably) that cruel. I know his nickname in the pre-VOLTS days when he ran his own gang was 'The Prince of Fear', and there are some brief flashbacks that show him looking positively scary, and this while wearing a dress very girly outfit. see for yourself. No spoilers, just look at his face. I've never been so scared of a man in a dress fancy clothing in my life.

Also, I lol'd at the he/she him/her thing. :P

I wish the whole 'Kazuki is a traitor' thing was the cliffhanger, though. Instead of revealing it on the last page...if you think about it, Kazuki is the only one of the former bad guys who was still so mysterious at that point. Jackal, though an ally, clearly hasn't changed his motives, but Himiko and Shido have come over to 'the good guy side' with their own development...Kazuki started being seen spying on the gang, being friendly with Ginji only to truly be working with Shido, spying some more, mysteriously not getting super involved, etc...it would have been a real shocking twist to convince the reader that he was with Makubex for a little longer, since it makes sense that he could have been spying on them all along for that reason. And then, reveal the truth next chapter. I dunno, just something I always thought would have made for a more interesting twist.

The thing with the Ginji clones made me think of Naruto. Especially since Ginji stands out pretty much as much as Naruto does. So that was kind of funny. And Akabane was just awesome when he figured out what was going on.

Finally we meet Emishi, even though Makubex only called him "The Joker".

And I like Ren. Ren is cool.

Haha, that's funny XD I've actually seen a lot of confusion when it comes to fanart, especially Yaoi, because without his clothes Ginji is hard to identify as being Ginji...and some people think it's Naruto where someone forgot to draw the whiskers ^^;

Yeah, Emishi's got a cameo XD he'll be introduced properly in the next few chapters, as will Fudoh (hate that guy), since they're the ones Makubex has sent to attack Ban and Shido. It's important that Makubex only referred to Emishi by his code name (The Bloody Joker, in full), though...kinda like the 'evil Kazuki' thing, in that it allows the reader to be tricked for a little while. Unfortunately you knew it was Emishi thanks to my avatar and signature ^^; but when he first shows up in the next volume, he's going to (briefly) look different, and since Makubex didn't address him by name, you'd normally be like 'oh, cool, new ally'. Then he puts his hair up and sunglasses on and he looks like the guy you saw with Makubex earlier. ...I don't think that's a spoiler, is it? You pretty much know he's on Makubex's side, and that the guy is Emishi, so I don't think the 'trick' would have worked on you...so I was pointing it out. :P

Ren...Ren ;_; fucking gender benders!! Just like Kazuki, I thought Ren was a guy when he was first introduced, and I thought 'he' was cute...and I was fangirling over the fact that 'he' essentially kissed Kazuki to give him the medicine, too. Of course there are plenty of hints that Ren isn't a guy ("Hey, you're not a chick!!" "Speak for yourself." or "You're looking more and more like a woman every time I see you"), but they were kinda vague to me and the first time I read it I was rather slow on the uptake...it's not until Vol. 10 that Ren actually says "hey, I'm a girl, you know!!" and I was like... @_X;;; I remember Karma laughing at me when that happened, because I was all 'Kazuki x Ren!!' for a while, and when it turned out that would be a heterosexual pairing (I hated het back in the day), I was upset ;_;

Stupid Ren ><

Makubex said he needed a Judas. Emishi pretended to still be friendly with Shido to try to kill him and Ban. But Juubei might be a better candidate, I'm kind of thinking it's going to be Emishi. Just because he's already done it once. Kind of like Kazuki and how you said it would have made more sense to prolong the belief that Kazuki had betrayed Himiko since Kazuki was already pretty ambiguous (lol, in more ways than one). Emishi seemed pretty upset that the Volts Emperors left to "be with Ban" (only Ginji really did that. . . unless I'm mistaken?), so my bet is on Emishi being Makubex's Judas.

And I find it very interesting that your avatar is Emishi, who tried to (and thought to have succeeded in) breaking Shido neck while my avatar is Shido. . . . I thin it's funny.

Actually, since those guys are all on Makubex's side, he's referring to a Judas among the retrieval team - someone who will betray their job and give Makubex the ingredient he needs for his Implosion Lens. Emishi and Juubei definitely have issues and may not be as 100% loyal to Makubex as they're trying to convince themselves they are, but since they're on his side already, they can't effectively betray Makubex to give Makubex the ingredient he needs, know what I mean?

In short, it's neither Emishi nor Juubei - it's one of the seven on the retrieval team. You can probably rule out Hevn because she wasn't supposed to even come inside the building, and was definitely brought there against her will, so that leaves you six guesses...Ban, Ginji, Shido, Kazuki, Dr. Jackal and Himiko. It's up to you to use the knowledge at your disposal to decide which one you think is the traitor.

Did Emishi say he left to be with Ban? I thought he was just upset that he left in general (or, that they all left, but specifically Shido). If you're referring to the part where he calls Ban a slut, I think he just means 'team up' as in team up together on the I.L. mission, especially considering Ban/Shido got split up together (accidental or not). I think his issue with Shido is more about leaving him behind in general than anything to do with Ban, who he wouldn't have even known about before the I.L. job (and Shido didn't really know that much about until the violin job, though he obviously knew of him). Kind of a 'why didn't you take me with you?' or 'why didn't you even say goodbye?' sort of thing.

And yes XD you're Shido, and I'm Emishi. Though that would actually mean I'm supposed to be fanatically devoted to you, neck breaking attempt aside... ^^;

Yay, I have someone fanatically devoted to me! XD

Aheh, well, avatarically speaking, at least. :P

So, lot of big secrets revealed in Vol. 8...thoughts?

But I totally picked up on how Juubei kind of thinks that Ginji is Infinity Fortress's Jesus. I mean, come on, when you say that following someone is like being guided by God's hand, who else are you talking about? Sure, there's Abraham, but the first person someone is going to think of in a story with Christian themes is Jesus.

And I still can't shake the idea that Kagami's a girl. It's the damn earrings!

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Actually, since those guys are all on Makubex's side, he's referring to a Judas among the retrieval team - someone who will betray their job and give Makubex the ingredient he needs for his Implosion Lens. Emishi and Juubei definitely have issues and may not be as 100% loyal to Makubex as they're trying to convince themselves they are, but since they're on his side already, they can't effectively betray Makubex to give Makubex the ingredient he needs, know what I mean?

Ah. Well, when he first said it, I thought he meant his side, because if he's the new leader of Infinite Fortress, then I though that meant he was saying that he needed a traitor in order to succeed, because in the Bible, while Judas did betray Jesus, which resulted in his death, he came back from the grave and continued his work for three days. In short, it was proved that he was who he said he was, the son of God. (Just looking at this from a literary POV.) I had thought that Makubex meant to say that in order for him to succeed, he'd need a Judas from his side, which I thought implied that the GB team was going to screw up somehow.

But if we're looking at the Get Backers team for a Judas, I'm still behind my idea that the team with the Judas is the team that's going to win. In the Bible, the Romans may have succeeded in killing Jesus, but he did rise from the dead and his following continued centuries after his death. The Roman religion has faded into history, so in the end, Jesus won. So if the Get Backers have a Judas, that means they're going to win.

Also, I like Juubei. I can't wait to see what his reaction to Kazuki being alive is.

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But I totally picked up on how Juubei kind of thinks that Ginji is Infinity Fortress's Jesus. I mean, come on, when you say that following someone is like being guided by God's hand, who else are you talking about? Sure, there's Abraham, but the first person someone is going to think of in a story with Christian themes is Jesus.

There are a lot of Christian themes and symbolism in GetBackers, and most of them are accurate and not just passing references like you see in many Anime and Manga series' where it's obviously not the author's religion, but themes are borrowed for the sake of atmosphere, and often there's evidence that they didn't do the research. I think that there's a good chance Aoki-Sensei (the 'author' of the story, though it's more like he created the outline for the GB story and left the actual script to Ayamine-Sensei, because it's clear in a lot of his character profiles and notes that Ayamine-Sensei has a lot of control over the characters and script) was a Christian, given the sheer prevalence of Christian references throughout the series...and contrary to popular Western belief, there are a lot of Japanese Christians, thanks to missionaries back in the day. I've never gotten proof on this, but I always assumed it was very likely.

The I.L. arc and Divine Design arc are particularly full of Christian themes, and as you said, Ginji is regarded by many characters as a would-be Jesus of Infinity Fortress...and given how he's referred to as 'the child of the heavens', there's a great 'son of God' symbolism to that, as well. Not to mention, tie that in with the whole 'Judas' situation, and the connection becomes stronger as the arc goes on. Divine Design...you'll see when you get there, but the main antagonist is a guy named Lucifer, his followers are the ArchAngels Sariel, Remiel, Gabriel, Uriel and Raguel (only 5 of the 7), etc...GB is loaded with this stuff.

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And I still can't shake the idea that Kagami's a girl. It's the damn earrings!

^^; Actually, he's only got one earring, but I'm surprised. I did think he was a 'handsome woman' type when he first appeared, like a mature woman in a suit, but then his design changed quickly. I don't think he looks feminine at all. Maybe you'll change your mind as the art continues to evolve. :P

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Ah. Well, when he first said it, I thought he meant his side, because if he's the new leader of Infinite Fortress, then I though that meant he was saying that he needed a traitor in order to succeed, because in the Bible, while Judas did betray Jesus, which resulted in his death, he came back from the grave and continued his work for three days. In short, it was proved that he was who he said he was, the son of God. (Just looking at this from a literary POV.) I had thought that Makubex meant to say that in order for him to succeed, he'd need a Judas from his side, which I thought implied that the GB team was going to screw up somehow.

I believe it was in Vol. 6, so you should have read it already...if not, I apologize for the spoiler, though it shouldn't be that bad. Makubex specifically tells Sakura at one point that a Judas was necessary to fulfill the prophecy of Jesus as the son of God, as without his betrayal and death, he couldn't have resurrected and ascended his human mortality. So if Judas hadn't betrayed Christ, 'the result would have been the same - he'd be a traitor for not fulfilling the prophecy'. Makubex fully recognizes that despite the 'villain' idea a lot of people put on Judas, his betrayal was essential to Christ's resurrection, which is why Christ, even knowing he was going to be betrayed, didn't act on it in any way (he could have easily called Judas on it or fled or something if he knew someone was going to betray him - he didn't, and accepted his death, knowing it was meant to be).

What Makubex is saying is that he needs an ingredient to complete the Implosion Lens - something from outside Infinity Fortress, where he can't go. In other words, someone has to bring it to him...someone who has already entered the fortress with the Retrieval team. Someone is going to betray them and give Makubex exactly what he needs. If Ginji is the Jesus in this scenario, then he, as the Lightning Lord, has reentered Infinity Fortress to stop Makubex from carrying out his plan. Someone by the side of 'Jesus' - the 'Judas' - will betray him, and hand him over to the 'Romans' - Makubex. Makubex gets the ingredient he needs from someone that the GetBackers thought was on their side, his plans succeed, and BOOM!!, Infinity Fortress goes up in smoke - the once prophet of Infinity Fortress, the Lightning Lord, is crucified. Makubex doesn't recognize himself as the 'Jesus' in this situation, so therefore, the Judas wouldn't be someone among him...it's someone among the retrieval team, who will betray them and give him what he needs. Make sense?

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But if we're looking at the Get Backers team for a Judas, I'm still behind my idea that the team with the Judas is the team that's going to win. In the Bible, the Romans may have succeeded in killing Jesus, but he did rise from the dead and his following continued centuries after his death. The Roman religion has faded into history, so in the end, Jesus won. So if the Get Backers have a Judas, that means they're going to win.

Well it's a given that they'll win anyways as the main characters, but from that standpoint, I wouldn't be so sure. As I said, Makubex knows full well and even quoted this prophecy himself to Sakura - so if he knows he is 'Rome' in this situation, he should know he's going to lose from the start, right? The kid's calculations are flawless and he knows everything that's going to happen before it happens. If he knew he was going to lose, he wouldn't be playing such a dangerous game...unless, of course, his plan was for something more than just the destruction of 'Jesus' and his followers (namely, anyone in Infinity Fortress who still longs for the rulership of the Lightning Lord, and doesn't want to accept the rule of Makubex...as Christ's followers wanted to follow him, and not the Roman standard)...so if Makubex knows he's going to lose by that logic...well, let's just say you shouldn't jump the gun so early on this, because what the end comes down to may surprise you...specifically, what exactly Makubex is planning to achieve in the first place. You'll even be running into a 'Noah's Ark' metaphor in the coming volume once you get closer to the truth.