YuYu Hakusho Manga: 033 Challenge From Demon City!!

The existence of a demon city implies demon civilization, and my anthropologist-brain is intensely curious about this. I have so many questions: What kind of social organization is there? Cultural traditions (aside from the victimization of humans/mortals)? Architectural and artistic design? How about government and the organization of power? Since I'm familiar with this series, I know some of these questions have actual answers, but I also know that the depths of demon civilization isn't really touched upon, which is something of a shame to someone who can't help but wonder about how a fictional society can be built from a fundamentally malevolent unit. 

It's good to know your apathy has overcome your trauma at almost losing your son, Atsuko. She says that Yusuke is caught up in some kind of training, further emphasizing how she just doesn't know what's actually going on with that kid, lol. 

Anyway, Keiko mumbles something about being there just so Yusuke doesn't forget about his homework. On her way out of the neighborhood, Keiko wonders just what Yusuke is up to now, but she doesn't have to wait long to at least literally learning what he's up to at that very moment. Her eyes widen as he comes into view, crossing her path on his way in the opposite direction, with a rucksack slung over his shoulder and a grin on his face. She calls out to him in surprise and he asks her what's up. 

But by the next page, that reunion is already over, and we cut to the one that is REALLY important, lol!

Why go to a doctor when your local spiritualist will mutter over your wounds for an hour for a better result? *Insert eyeroll here*

Still holding his fist up, he asks Yusuke if he'd like a demonstration, but Yusuke turns him down with the suggestion that it would just put Kuwabara out of commission again. Kuwabara does not respond to that, asking instead how Yusuke's training with Genkai went, pointing out Yusuke doesn't LOOK any different. Yusuke puts on a sour expression, saying it was no picnic. He begins by recalling an exercise that involves a finger places against a spindle while Genkai instructs him to concentrate his aura into one point between the two.

This is far from all. In another memory, Genkai stands in front of Yusuke with her palm held out to him, and he's got both of his out, knees bent in a defensive position, She says that the exercise will teach him defense against a reiki attack, and that if he gives an inch, he'll die. So no pressure or anything. But when a flash of energy bursts from her palm, Yusuke goes flying backward immediately and is too dazed to be paying "strict" attention (according to the arrow label pointing to him in the next panel) to her saying they'll repeat the exercise until he can stand against any such assault. 

In the present, Yusuke is listing off other things he had to do while he was at Genkai's special training camp, such as meditating on hot coals and sleeping on a bed of nails. What does all the pain and discomfort do except ensure you don't get enough rest to actually learn and retain the techniques? Kuwabara grimaces and tells Yusuke that's enough already; he's got the idea. He complains that it makes him cringe just hearing about it. 

Yusuke admits that he DID learn some cool stuff, and Kuwabara asks if there's anything Yusuke can show HIM. Yusuke doesn't answer, though, going quiet. When Kuwabara hums in question at him, Yusuke informs him they're being followed. 

Another day ending in "y".

Yusuke says he hasn't seen them before, and casually asks if Kuwabara wants to take them on. Kuwabara answers that he's got nothing better to do, and it might be a fun time-killer. Getting the snot knocked out of you is one hell of a hobby, lol. The boys turn to face their pursuers, Kuwabara asking if they know who they're dealing with. He thrusts a thumb at his own chest and introduces himself as the muscle at Sara Jr. High, an title Yusuke can't help but chuckle at, muttering that Kuwabara WISHES that were the case. 

A couple of JoJo-looking motherfuckers pull out knives, one of them labeled with "15-years old" on his forehead. I'm not sure if this is a note on the panel or meant to be a tattoo, but it's fucking hilarious because he does NOT look 15. Regardless, both our boys balk, Kuwabara remarking on how these guys are whacked out for already pulling shivs. Maybe another indicator is the copious amounts of drool dripping over one's chin, as he grunts and grumbles, then shouting, tripping over a single word: "kill". 

He lunges at Yusuke and Kuwabara as if he's being pulled by his knife rather than thrusting it, and he misses them as they both step to either side. The rest of the gang advances with inarticulate growls and grunts, unless they're bidding them to die. Yusuke swears he's never seen a bunch of guys this out of it, and indeed they're looking downright FERAL as they grin menacingly with drool leaking out from between their teeth. 

They break out in a run at them and Yusuke says he can't mess around. He squats, holding his right forearm terminating in a fist, that Kuwabara notes in amazement is glowing. 

Nice and clean. So contrary to his usual style. XD

Kuwabara is impressed with the demonstration he asked for, in awe over how Yusuke mowed down those guys without even touching them, like he had a machine gun. Yusuke doesn't brag, and says it's just a basic reiki technique. I guess it speaks for itself, but humility looks a bit weird on Yusuke. Of course, it's less humility than it is his desire to find out who these guys even ARE. Kuwabara says he doesn't know, but almost immediately tells Yusuke to wait a moment, and looks around. He states that he senses a weird aura around the area, and is pretty sure it's not human. 

He points out a trenchcoated figure half concealed around a corner as the source of this aura, and yells as the dude to freeze. Whoever it is scoffs and runs instead, but doesn't get too far before he's whacked in the face with something and is propelled back out from behind the corner, in full view of the boys. 

Girl doesn't mess around. 

Botan is asked if she knows this weirdo and affirms that she does, saying he's a resident of Demon City, which is the subject of Yusuke's new mission, as it turns out. I'm sure it's no coincidence, anyway. Yusuke repeats the name of the place as a question, and Botan answers that it's a haven for otherworld outlaws. Damn, what a title THAT would have made!

Gotta hand it to them, that's some interesting architecture. 

Yusuke asks what demands these guys are making, and Botan says bluntly that they want access to the human world. Kuwabara and Yusuke look taken aback. I'm just asking how this resident got there in the first place, especially when Botan explains that they set up a force field to prevent that access some time ago, but the demons want it taken down. Trenchcoat!Demon can apparently get through a barrier but can't take a bat to the face. 

Arms crossed in an obstinate pose, Yusuke asks who cares what they want, and suggests Botan and company just ignore them. Botan informs him that it's not so simple as that, telling him to take a look at the guy who attacked him. Yusuke twists to observe one of the ruffians, who lies unconscious on the ground where he fell from the reiki assault. A long and creepy insect crawls out of the youth's open maw. 

Ew, that's gonna end up in my nightmares for sure.

Against a backdrop of a busy metropolitan area, people walking here and there, Botan says that the people these bugs infect are driven to violence, destruction, and murder, and the Four Beasts released thousands into the city. Alarmed, Yusuke insists they have to warn everyone, but Botan tells him it's useless. She says that normies can't see the bugs, and the ones who are affected just seem psycho to everyone else. 

... Did... Did the Four Beasts release these insects into MY country? Because you know...

Botan says that they can only exterminate the bugs, which means destroying the "enabling whistle". Yusuke questions this term, so Botan further explains that the bugs can't normally survive in the human world, but the whistle enables them to do so... somehow. She says that the Four Beasts have offered to hand over the whistle if the barrier is taken down, but this is obviously out of the question. When asked what she means by that, she drops the bomb that the residents of Demon City could kill everyone here in a DAY if they were allowed in. Gracious, she's less a "Grim Reaper" than an exposition machine.

Sweatdropping and looking a bit ill, Yusuke begins to guess what this means, and Botan interrupts to affirm that they need to steal the whistle and destroy it. Yusuke amends her statement to what she REALLY means - that HE has to steal and destroy the thing, and is a little incensed that he has to jump into a nest of demons all by his lonesome. Kuwabara asks what HE is, and uses an expression I've never heard before: snake spit. Usually the suggestion is "chopped liver" but I'll give him points for creativity. 

Botan looks at him with a sweatdrop and wide eyes, then freaks out with bodily flails and everything that he was listening this entire time. She didn't bother to check if Yusuke was alone before she started dumping the exposition, so her own fault. Kuwabara says he couldn't really HELP overhearing this not at all private conversation, and since he can see these insects too, he figures he's in this with Urameshi. He asks for confirmation that their mission is to grab this whistle rather than let his precious home town be overrun with crazy guys. 

Apparently, he got all his info straight. 

As they jump down out of the tree (no word on how they even GOT there to begin with, let alone why they were in the tree specifically), Yusuke asks Kuwabara if he's SURE he wants to come along, since he may not get away with just a few broken bones this time. Kuwabara retorts that he's not leaving it just up to Yusuke to save their town. My guy, I hate to break it to you, but Yusuke has a better track record in saving things than you do. 

A giggle sounds from off-panel and the boys turn toward its source: a group of cloaked figures that have raised their clawed hands as they surround the newcomers, muttering excitedly about how fragrant the humans are amidst continued giggles. An information bubble labels them as "Gutter Imps", which isn't a good descriptor, but at least would make a good insult if you wanted to use it on an enemy. According to the signage, these are the lowest class of Demon City residents, who subsist mainly on carrion but are fond of human flesh, and are desperate to rise in rank, so serve the Four Beasts pretty zealously. I'm eager to learn more about this system of stratification, and the mechanisms for class mobility. 

Anyway, these imps advance on the boys much like the infected humans did back in town, screeching about their presumed feast, and inviting each other to eat. Yusuke and Kuwabara punch a few of the crowd of them, but complain that they keep coming. We're given a wide overhead shot of the many little cloaked guys encircling the two kiddos, one of whom compares them to ants in that there are far too many of them, and the other warning that they'll be overwhelmed by the imps soon. 

Another voice sounds from off-panel, asking how the boys expect to tackle the castle if they can't even handle THESE lowlifes. Two more figures in cloaks come zipping into the fray, knocking the imps left and right, and eventually taking them all down like bowling pins before standing before Yusuke and Kuwabara. The boys are told they wouldn't get very far on their own anyway, which I guess seems pretty obvious now.

How much time do you have, Kuwabara?

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I'm struck by how the chapter begins with Keiko complaining about Yusuke not being around, and then just kind of drops her the moment they see each other. No real reunion or anything, just a "hi how's it goin'?". Not only did it not contribute to the content of the rest of the chapter, it placed Keiko in front of us for no real reason. Did YT just want to remind us she exists? What was the point of that? I know she plays a role in the rest of this arc in the anime, but her brief appearance here doesn't actually speak to that. 

Demon City is an interesting concept, and I hope the manga elaborates more on it than the anime did, the little note about the social stratification that is occupied by Gutter Imps being a good indication. I'm not expecting MUCH more than that, given I know this is still just a tournament/fighting Shounen, but I would be satisfied with a few more tidbits like that. It's a wonderful opportunity to flesh out this general demon world and show us how it functions, even if it's just in small ways. So far there doesn't seem to be much of a "city" here so much as a curiously constructed castle, though. In particular, I hope there's more evidence of other buildings/dwellings later on.

It did jar me how suddenly Kuwabara and Yusuke just SHOWED UP on the outskirts of this city/castle. If there's a barrier or force field keeping these worlds apart, there should be a mechanism that one would have to employ to get through it, not just for the boys, but for the resident that wound up on the human side. Botan, who is so fond of dropping blocks of exposition like she's constructing a brick house, failed to mention a single detail about this mechanism, and both boys just APPEAR there. It gave me a bit of whiplash, and gives the impression that YT couldn't be bothered to come up with a quick explanation for the journey there. Reminds me a bit of the lack of a method for Inuyasha and Kagome's return from their first trip to the Border Graveyard. Not the BEST look, I have to admit. 

Also not the best look to have Botan just BEATING citizens of a sovereign city with a bat. I know we're supposed to view whoever this individual is as a criminal who came over a border illegally, but that's literally the justification MY country is giving for putting thousands of people a day into inhumane detention centers and deporting them to foreign work camps. It's not just an uncomfortable reflection of a current reality, but also a depiction of a horrible injustice with all the decorum of...

... well, a bat to the face.