YuYu Hakusho Manga: 058 Drunken Master: Chu!!

Being drunk seems like a distinct disadvantage in fighting. As someone who had a large margarita over the weekend to get a good buzz going, it seems like a distinct disadvantage in EVERYTHING. Speaking, coordination, WALKING, it was all off enough to make these regular activities a little more challenging. Usually, that's part of the point, feeling weird and funny and having your inhibitions steer you into silly behavior to a degree. I certainly wouldn't want to rely on my body under the influence of alcohol when coordinated and deliberate movements were a life-and-death situation. This is why we don't drive drunk, and presumably, why we wouldn't FIGHT drunk. 

If we were inclined to fight at all, of course. 

That's not saying a lot. There are lots of things Yusuke doesn't notice.

Kuwabara takes this observation as a good sign and grins as he strokes his chin, agreeing that Yusuke looks ready, and boasts that they're kicking so much butt at this point that it's almost a joke. Hiei glares silently at Kuwabara, no doubt no where NEAR suggesting that they're doing so well. Kurama thinks it's hardly a joke, considering Zeru having been a GENUINE threat. It didn't look that way to ME in the last chapter, but Kurama's logic is that Hiei had to bust out a move that he hadn't yet perfected just to beat him. The flames from Hell that Hiei had summoned to incinerate the master of fire would undoubtedly have a hefty price tag, and Hiei certainly didn't come out of the act unscathed. Kurama recalls what Hiei said about his right arm being enough to do the job, and knows that while Hiei still HAS his arm, he'll never be able to use it the same again. 

Well THAT should be an interesting obstacle for Hiei to work around in the future. 

Kurama shifts his gaze to look at Chu, thinking he's not Zeru, but somehow he seems WORSE. He doesn't elaborate on this like all the other stuff, but he does silently bid Yusuke to be careful as Chu and Yusuke stand face-to-face. Chu expresses some indignation that Yusuke called what's coming up LIGHT exercise, then straight up disappears from where he was standing, to Yusuke's surprise. He reappears again with Koto's mic in his hand, demanding that she let him borrow it as she examines her empty hands with bewilderment. He's doing that "testing" repetition into the mic while she asks aloud with a shocked meow how he even DID that. 

No one would mistake you for a "lightweight" dude, calm down. 

There's a moment of awkward silence after this announcement, after which Koto raises a spare mic and explains that the Jolly Devil Six (now reduced to two) determined their alternate and fight order by Rock-Paper-Scissors. I think that much was fairly obvious, but if it makes her feel more in control of the situation, she's welcome to exposit to her heart's content. And so she does, spelling out for the audience in and out of universe that Chu is saying he's an alternate by PROCEDURE and not by degree of prowess. She even presents it as fact that he's the deadliest of his entire team. How does one come by this fact? By kill count? In any case, Chu of course agrees with vehemence, though Rinku decries the fact that Chu is drunk AGAIN. Kurama presses a finger into the center of his forehead with his eyes closed and an exasperated expression, as though he's trying to put pressure on an acute headache in that spot. Kuwabara just calls Chu a moron, looking disgusted. 

Yusuke throws off his jacket as he saunters into the ring, saying he gets it and is ready to go, but Chu puts a pause on things once more. He insists that Yusuke doesn't QUITE get it, and since Chu isn't interested in beating down an opponent that has their guard down, he gets into full disclosure mode - he uses a move he calls "The Drunken Fist". Sounds like a drink in a shady dive bar. 

That little hat down there at the bottom of the panel above is Rinku's, popping straight off his head as he falls over comically and declares Chu hopeless. Grinning, Yusuke accepts Chu's explanation, but he doesn't consider this "Drunken Fist" to be the big deal Chu is making it out to be. He suggests that Chu has something much more SPECIAL up his nonexistent sleeve, otherwise this fight would hardly be worth the trouble. 

Yusuke wears a sly little smile. Chu mirrors it. He sways as he calls Yusuke a likable sort of cool, slurring that you don't get opponents like him too often. He weaves swiftly in front of Yusuke, talking about how fun their match could be. Oh, just make out already.

While Botan and Keiko stare speechlessly, Koenma reflects on how Yusuke has completed two training regimens as Genkai's apprentice, so he thinks the boy should have by this point a good grasp on reiki techniques. 

Chu moonwalks and slides here and there, seemingly unable to stand still while Yusuke watches him, a chant of "KILL KILL" from the spectators behind him. Koto, seemingly inspired by the crowd's bloodlust, calls for the killing to begin. 

I'd probably be hard to follow in speaking Spanish, too, but I wouldn't say that says anything good about my skill level, lol.

Chu continues to shift all around Yusuke, who stands stationary in the center of Chu's erratic orbit. Chu swings his hands out and as the "mystery" member of Yusuke's team assesses the start of the battle as very hard, Yusuke manages to block the blow with his teeth on edge. At least, the FIRST blow. A fist swings upward from below and Yusuke notices it too late. 

That fist is a fucking TIME TRAVELER. 

Chu slams Yusuke straight into the platform below, and Kuwabara exclaims that Yusuke didn't even have a CHANCE to strike back. Gaping, Kurama reiterates that Chu's appearance seriously belies his ability. 

But suddenly, Yusuke pops back onto his feet, like he's just been offered ice cream. 

Impressive, but he's not landing any hits. With a chuckle, Chu zips out of sight again, and while Yusuke stares open-mouthed at the spot he used to be, his figure pops back up to the side. Chu delivers a powerful kick, which sends Yusuke skidding off the platform entirely, across the ground around it, and straight into the wall, leaving a cloud of the debris his body has dug up in its wake. Kuwabara looks absolutely shocked and appalled, mouth wide in a silent yell. 

Chu balances on one foot, keeping the one he kicked raised and his arms crossed, the crowd continuing to scream for murder and Koto staring in complete amazement. She calls it a brilliantly executed combo, and says she's at a loss for the words to even describe it, which seems rather convenient for her. I had to do it, after all. She does manage to say that Yusuke was caught by surprise and was knocked straight out of bounds, though. Chu asks the presumably K.O.'d Yusuke what the deal is, if he still wants to see his ACE move, because it's not going to happen if the kid folds this quickly. 

The wall separating the stands from the battle arena area has a big hole in it where Yusuke punched through, and those seats near it have cleared, though the spectators are still chanting for blood at large. Kuwabara yelps about how Chu's kick crumbled the stone wall, estimating it to be about 10,000 times more powerful than the moves he suffered from Rinku. 

Koto suddenly remembers to COUNT, since Yusuke is out of bounds, which is okay. It's only her ONE JOB, lol! But she doesn't even get the chance, really. She whirls around at a small explosion of debris on the platform behind her, and Yusuke has appeared there, a little scratched up, but his limbs look loose and nimble. He breathes a mock sigh of relief, admitting that the kick would have shattered him if he hadn't blocked it. Blocked it with WHAT? Atsuko doesn't care; she's just yelling for her son to show those wimps what he's made of. 

I can't really say I relate, boys. 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? This chapter felt so much shorter than usual because it went quite fast. In addition to the fast-paced action in the second half of the chapter, Chu's manner of speech and the way holds himself up (barely, that is) are extremely unique and entertaining. So much more interesting that lame Zeru, who was just the most generic of stoic wooden dolls. I definitely empathize with Chu's frustration at luck making HIM the alternate, when he was so clearly designed specially to be the main event. 

There's also something very likable about him, just in general. In part it's of course his initial warnings to Yusuke, the repeated attempts to make clear to him that he's not to be underestimated, because it shows that he has an acute sense of fairness and wants a good sporting fight. Part of it is also the joviality in his presentation and somewhat friendly manner, the peacock-like eccentricity of dress. He's striking me as a demonic Jack Sparrow, because a lot of the things that made that character so appealing to audiences back in the day are the same ones Chu has here. He's GREAT fun. 

I really do hope we get to see a bit of a struggle from Hiei using his arm in the future, because I think there's a lot that can be said regarding hubris and his imprudent act of just firing off a move that he didn't quite have full control over. Although, if I'm honest, I am SKEPTICAL that it will end up being too much of an obstacle - in serializations, it's far too easy to forget about these things when there's no VISIBLE injury that needs to be drawn as part of a new character design. If it were me, I probably WOULD have taken off Hiei's entire arm so I didn't just space and continue giving him full use of it later on, or feel tempted to just hand-wave a miraculous heal later on. 

That one should have gotten the Sesshoumaru treatment. 

Inuyasha Manga: 357 Medicine Seller

Should there be quotation marks around the word "medicine" in this title? Because when I think of a legitimate dispenser of medications, I think of an apothecary or a pharmacist. We have a term for anyone outside of those kinds of professions peddling cures for whatever ails you, and it's not the most flattering. There's a couple of big ones skulking around in the highest offices of my homeland right now, and one thing is for sure, "medicine" isn't even close to what they deal in. You can tell by the lack of credentials, and the promotion of poison as ancient remedies to everything from a toothache to cancer. It's what they do when they can't manage to pick up more complicated grifts. 

Like whatever the fuck THIS is. Can't make heads or tails of it. 

Indeed, as she's looking in at the slumbering Goryoumaru, Kagura asks Naraku what the meaning of this is and just WHO this guy even happens to be. Naraku tells her all she has to do is shut up and watch over him. He's just MOCKING her curiosity at this point, isn't he? 

Goryoumaru opens an eye to glance with ire at the grate, then rolls over on his side to face it. His youkai arm blooms open, predictably. 

This is what you get for digging up a guy just to put him in jail, douchebag. 

But, ALSO predictably, Naraku floats there in pieces with a smug smirk on his intact head. He informs Goryoumaru with an evil chuckle that he doesn't die, who just kind of glares silently back at him. Kagura wonders if this means Goryoumaru is Naraku's enemy, more confused than ever, and she's not the only one. The relationship seems STRAINED at the very least. 

Naraku tells Kagura to be careful not to let the guy in the prison get away, leaving the declaration that this shall be her final job unspoken. Not that she could really do much about it if he HAD said the ominous line aloud. 

Ah, our heroes are back on their feet and in default formation once again. 

Kagome calls to Miroku that it would have been better for him to rest in Kaede's village, but he insists that the Saimyoushou's poison is mostly gone by this point. "Mostly" is doing a lot of heavy lifting in this statement. Inuyasha says that the rumor they're following up on really stinks though, which he would know a lot about, I suppose. He's having a hard time believing that there's a universal antitoxin as the rumor claims. 

Wow, Inuyasha is smarter and more incredulous than like 40% of US Americans. Go figure. 

Sadly, Kaede doesn't seem so discerning, because SHE'S the one who told them about the rumor in the first place. Come on, Kaede, you work with herbal remedies, you should know better than this! Regardless, she spreads to them the too-good-to-be-true word that there's an antitoxin that works almost as soon as you drink it, but it's not all that easy to get ahold of, given that it's being sold by a strange wandering medicine seller. No one knows when or where he'll appear next, and he disappears immediately after the transaction. 

You have GOT to be fucking kidding me. 

Kagome asks for confirmation on the info they heard that the "medicine seller" was in the neighboring village two days ago, but Inuyasha just says he's probably not around anymore. Sango turns to assert that it's worth it to try and find the guy, because Miroku won't have to suffer from the Saimyoushou again if they can get ahold of this medicine. Ah, hope springs eternal. As well as gullibility. Miroku seems impressed she's willing to go to all this trouble for his sake. 

You should have tied him to a post and left him behind. 

Narrow sky transition panel, and a shot of the fields of the aforementioned neighboring village. A woman confirms that the "medicine seller" was definitely there two days before, but when Sango asks if she has any idea where the guy went, she admits not knowing. Inuyasha asks what sort of guy he was, probably looking for a more concrete description than he gets, which is a vague claim that he was certainly the most handsome man the woman had ever met. She cradles her cheek in her palm, her eyes closed and a little blissful smile on her face. Inuyasha makes a noise of interest, genuinely seeming somewhat intrigued, contrary to how I THOUGHT he would take this statement. 

Kagome reiterates to Sango that the woman said this was a fine-looking man, as if she didn't JUST hear it. Sango asks if that's really a clue, and Miroku looks to the side as he mutters that this whole story stinks. He rushes to grab their interviewee's hands, asking her if the "medicine seller" did anything indecent to her under the guise of giving her the medicine, but the woman just laughs at the forward question. 

Sango ends up dragging him away from the woman, having put a lump on the top of his head, and grumbling that the "medicine seller" isn't HIM. You know you've made a shitty reputation for yourself when even your FRIENDS trust that a shady disappearing peddler is far less likely to take advantage of young women than you. Although, Shippou seems to consider that the two might be surprisingly similar from his perch on Kagome's shoulder. 

Crouched on the ground a short distance away, Inuyasha calls to the rest of his group and urges them to follow him that way. 

Honestly, I would be surprised if the guy WEREN'T a youkai at this point. 

Miroku looks wary about the news, but Sango suggests with a smile that a youkai's medicine might be more effective, and that they should continue rooting out the medicine seller. Kagome thinks it's sweet how much effort Sango is putting into getting this medicine. This almost CERTAINLY not real medicine. 

Elsewhere, a scream rings out through the forest, startling a flock of birds into flight from the trees. A snake slithers away from a woman who sits on the ground, voicing her pain over the fang wounds in her ankle. She looks up when a voice nearby tells her not to move, because the snake may have been venomous. The voice offers to give her his all-purpose antitoxin, and begins to suggest a payment as his ethereal form materializes through the trees. The woman gapes wordlessly. 

Inuyasha hums, nose twitching as he informs the others that he's closing in on that scent of herbs. The woman from the previous page is lying by the side of the path, her basket standing next to her, also recovered from the forest. Kagome immediately hops from Inuyasha's back when they reach her, kneeling next to her and asking what happened and if she's okay. Miroku and Sango watch her carefully while she recounts what happened when she encountered trouble in the form of a snake bite in the woods. 

He must be super dreamy. Even Sesshoumaru fangirls don't swoon like this. 

Once again, Miroku is so suspicious that he also rushes to her side, asking if the medicine seller made her do anything indecent in exchange for his medicine. And again, he gets hit over the head by Sango, who tells him to stop repeating himself. Miroku insists she's mistaken in reprimanding him, urging her to look at the back of the woman's neck. Indeed, there's a crescent of a bite mark there just visible beneath the woman's ponytail. Miroku must have some STELLAR eyesight, or else read the script. 

Kagome cries out about the fang wounds in the woman's neck, as opposed to the ones in her ankle, and Inuyasha asks her if she got bitten. Apparently, she's good at attracting bites. The woman herself makes a noise of confusion, raising a hand to feel the spot indicated by the strangers. She admits that she can't really remember, and her head feels rather fuzzy. Miroku declares that, leaving aside this supposed antitoxin, it's become important to ascertain the medicine seller's real identity, and Inuyasha agrees that the guy seems to be up to no good. 

Miroku tells Kagome and Sango to help the poor woman home, and when Sango asks why he's asking HER to run this errand too, he says he and Inuyasha will be going after the medicine seller, because he seems to be doing something to GIRLS in particular. An entirely fair assessment, but Sango argues that if that's the case and she goes along, she might be able to draw the youkai out. Miroku fires back that she shouldn't take youkai spells so lightly, asking what if her mind is controlled. She counters that HE'S still recovering from some serious poisoning, still not well enough to do any youkai extermination himself.  

Kagome leans over to excitedly whisper to Inuyasha that this is a good mood. He and I BOTH are quite confused, so she explains that Miroku appears not to want Sango to meet the good-looking medicine seller. 

Yeah, it's not as if there's any risk of actual injury, like a nasty bite, or anything.

Miroku and Sango are looking more and more irritated with each other, the former asking if she's not going to listen to him at all, and the latter saying it's useless to try and stop her. Sighing that there's no helping it, Miroku pulls out a familiar looking beaded bracelet. Sango puts it on pretty much immediately, but has to ask if it's for protection. Or perhaps for concealment, like the last time? Miroku says it breaks illusion spells, and she probably won't be affected by whatever the medicine seller is doing while she wears it. Probably. 

So, when is Miroku going to open up his Etsy witch shop with his cute bracelet charms? I might be interested in buying a few. 

After this little negotiation, Kagome is waving goodbye, Shippou on her shoulder. Miroku has turned to request seriously that Inuyasha take care of Sango. The woman stands silently in the background, and I wonder if anyone ASKED her if she really needed help getting home. It's a nice gesture, but hopefully splitting up is worth it... Inuyasha carelessly calls over his shoulder that he'll sure do what Miroku asks, and Sango in turn asks that Kagome watch Miroku to make sure he doesn't do anything to that woman. You know, this reveals a lot about why Sango wouldn't feel threatened by the behavior from other men, when she's already always looking out for Miroku's bullshit. Kagome happily assures Sango she's on it, and Miroku grumbles that he's actually REALLY worried about her. 

As they wander further into the forest, Sango asks where the medicine seller's scent is, and he tells her which way. 

Maybe Miroku SHOULD be feeling a little threatened romantically by this guy.

While Sango looks around, Inuyasha continues forward on all fours, sniffing right up to the edge of a rocky overhang. After a confused silence, Sango asks Inuyasha if this is really the way to their target. He lifts his head at last, revealing a dazed, flushed expression, which Sango likens to a drunken stupor with even more puzzlement. A couple of butterflies flutter over Inuyasha's head, and he flings himself mindlessly off the edge of the high overhang after them, leaving Sango to watch him fall and thump on the ground below from over the side. Hands-down the funniest shit I have ever seen in this comic. 

Sango goes over the side after him, sliding down the steep slope and calling his name. The bracelet Miroku gave her snags on a bramble as she passes and snaps, which she seemingly doesn't notice. She lands in a heap of snarled brambles at the bottom of the slope, yanking her arm up out of the twisted foliage with a groan, face scraped. 

Bad news, he's got the shoujo sparkles around him and everything.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It's a cute little diversion from the current arc, and considering how confusing said arc has been, refreshing in how straightforward it is. Sango and Miroku's relationship may not be my personal cup of tea, but I do feel like it deserves some more attention, especially since Inuyasha and Kagome have finally broken out of their shitty argument loop that severely overstayed its welcome. As the secondary couple in the group, Sango and Miroku haven't had a ton to do but comment on the ups and downs of the main couple, so whenever they get a few chapters dedicated to their own relationship's maintenance, it's at least a nice change of pace. 

I believe Miroku when he says he genuinely cares about Sango's safety, but I also believe that he is potentially a little threatened by the glowing description given of the youkai they're seeking out. Two things can be true at once. Still, knowing Sango, it's ridiculous that Miroku tried to convince her to sit this one out to begin with. Confrontation of youkai is her profession, and they only went on this quest to find the "medicine seller" to begin with on HER insistence for his sake. He really should understand by now that he's involved with a competent and determined girl, much more so whenever the well-being of a loved one is involved. She's not one of the flings he's engineered through sweet nothings, so she's automatically going to be on the more stubborn side. Obviously, if she still likes him after all the garbage he's pulled, she'd have to be.

More power to her, because it couldn't be me. I wouldn't have even a fraction of the patience necessary. 

And more power to Kagura, because her position is looking more precarious every second. Sure, she's been appointed warden of the prison, but she's still IN the prison, and it doesn't take a genius to see that keeping her cooped up in there watching Goryoumaru serves the primary purpose of restricting her opportunities for more snooping. As for this being her final job, that could mean any number of things, from the innocuous statement that this is the only position she's suited for if she can't be trusted with anything even remotely in the wider world, to the more threatening one that he's planning on killing her when this assignment is over. What counts as "over" isn't quite clear either, but then again, what HAS been clear in this entire arc? 

I find it funny in a depressing sort of way that Kagura identifies so heavily with the free wind, but she is further and further restricted from expressing that identity. Such a shame. 

YuYu Hakusho Manga: 057 The Fearsome Hell of Blazing Heat!!

Ouch. This title stings me right in my climate anxiety. This summer has already been oppressively hot, and it's only just the beginning of August. Europe has been experiencing UNPRECIDENTED heat waves, and wildfires have been popping up in places where they've never been experienced before. Where I live in the Pacific Northwest, my boss went to his regular military reserves drill in Spokane, Washington, only to be asked to help fight fires there when they started practically overnight around the city, and he doesn't know when he's going to be able to come back. The world is fucking BURNING, and all the people in charge only care about spectacle and profit. 

At least I can feel good about the fact that this comic seems to accurately portray that attitude. 

As Kurama exits the platform, Hiei informs him that the familiars took off once their master expired, his eyes closed and his fingers touched to the band around his forehead. Clearly he's been using his special talent to keep an EYE on Roto's underlings stalking Kurama's mom. Kurama mumbles about Hiei having noticed, and Hiei that the idiot had NO idea who he was dealing with. The glazing is pretty blatant here. 

Koto shouts for the next contestants, and Kurama and Kuwabara look around in alarm. It appears the other team's already offered up their next member, Zeru, who the crowd seems to be convinced will trash whoever's next. Koto impatiently demands that Team Urameshi send up their next contender. Kurama says he thought Zeru was the team captain, and Kuwabara suggests this means that he other two team members are tougher than him. I don't know, Kuwabara, does the fact that you went first suggest you're the weakest in your group? 

... Let's not answer that one, shall we? 

Smirking, Hiei denies Kuwabara's conclusions, affirming that Zeru is definitely the powerhouse of his team. It's his guess that the members of the opposite team just drew lots for fight order, like most other groups. Hiei pulls off his cowl/scarf thing and volunteers to take Zeru, to get back at him for making fools of them yesterday. 

I'm sure there's never been anything in the history of ever that has ever fallen short of that kind of assessment. 

As he approaches Zeru, he voices his observation that Zeru uses flames, bragging about how he checked the cup that had been sliced in half by what seemed to be some sort of blade, but the edges appeared melted. He accuses Zeru of lacking refinement, but Zeru doesn't think that matters at all, since he doesn't take criticism from "belly-crawling evil-eyed rodents". Points for creativity, I suppose. 

The moment Koto declares the match begun, she cringes against the sudden fiery aura that flares out from Zeru. He says that Hiei is basically ALREADY cinders, and Kuwabara shields himself from the flaming aura with a raised arm, in awe over its killer energy. Zeru rotates his hands, asking if his opponent is impressed, because he should be. He's sure that a mouse like Hiei could never in his whole life summon so much aura. Hiei himself actually looks rather UNIMPRESSED, demanding that this be the end of talk, and for Zeru to just MOVE already. 

Be careful what you wish for.

Hiei's eyes are wide, his jaw slack, and his smirk is GONE. The hit launches him backward, and while he's in the air, Zeru punches the air between them, his fist flaming. Hiei's silhouette is surrounded in flames and burns as he flops on the ground. Kurama is in speechless horror, but Kuwabara manages to voice his shock at how QUICK this match has been. Even the demonic audience is blown away by the record time in which Hiei seems to have been laid out. 

I say "seems" because, while Zeru turns his back on Hiei and scoffs that this was hardly worth getting out of bed for, he's struck dumb by the voice floating over his shoulder from the place the burning figure had landed. That figure is standing again, admitting that Zeru is good, and it's a shame he has to kill him.

Is that worth a "rejoicing" really? 

Kurama recognizes the name of this attack, saying that it's FORBIDDEN in the human world, only meant for the demon plane. There are an awful lot of RULES for demons, I'm noticing. A little odd for creatures of malevolence and violence. 

With a little manic grin, Hiei says that he hasn't fully tamed this move, but he's confident that he will in short order. Heh, did he just make a short joke? Anyway, he's holding his clawed fingers aloft, which are surrounded in dark fire, and Zeru notes this through his massive gape, asking just HOW they've been summoned from the demon plane. 

Gotta get in that practice! You know, to gain more control. 

As Hiei steps forward his shirt continues to burn away, but his trousers must be made of tougher stuff, because they're perfectly intact. He tells Zeru that this is TRUE pyromancy, actual evil that Zeru's "match-play" lacks. Fighting fire with fire never seemed like such a sure thing. He says that while Zeru laughed at his Evil Eye, but he's going to regret it. Looks like he's already starting to do so, wearing a horrified expression and stuttering that somehow, Hiei CAN'T do this. Why not? There's really no answer. Koto is running, shouting into her microphone that it's getting so over-the-top in the ring that even she's been forced to take cover. 

Hiei declares that this is it. 

There's a great WHOOSH as Koto crouches by the side of the raised platform, rushing over her head. A quiet follows, and she remains in her position for a moment before peeking over the lip of the platform to check on the damage. The area in front of Hiei's outstretched arm is completely clear, no Zeru to be seen at all. Kurama looks much more serious when he states to a grimacing Kuwabara that it was over in a flash. Yusuke remains slumbering peacefully. 

Koto turns, presumably to ascertain Zeru's whereabouts to start the count, and is alarmed by what she sees on the wall below the stadium seating. 

Well, it WAS a fast match. Just not AS fast as everyone thought at first. 

Zeru's remaining team members are gulping from the sidelines, mumbling about how NOT GOOD this is. Hiei has his hand raised again while he tells Koto that he incinerated Zeru's human world aspect and to start the count. Oh, so he's not actually dead? Might come back? I'm neutral on this news. Koto stutters that she's inclined to just skip that part, letting out a relieved breath. I mean, even if he DOES come back, he's not going to make it within the limits of a ten-count. No way no how. Koto declares Hiei the winner. 

Kuwabara shakes his raised fist at the opposite team, pointing out that they're behind two-to-one even after he himself got swindled in the first match. SURE, buddy, whatever makes you feel better about your loss. Though Kuwabara goes back to his grimace when he realizes this isn't a big comfort to him knowing now what Hiei is capable of if he decided to turn on his own team now. He even gulps a bit when Hiei walks past him with his fists shoved in his pockets. Hiei turns to him to offer his assurances that he sticks with a side once he's picked one, and the move he just used needs way more work anyway. I'm sure his wide eyes and small smile are MEANT to be reassuring, but he still looks pretty unhinged, especially when that last part of his statement could be taken as an admission that the reason he's not going HAM on the whole stadium right now is because he doesn't think it would be as spectacular as he wants, lol.

Across the way, the two remaining teammates of Zeru are sweating bullets, stuttering over how he was zapped just like that. These large, grown-ass "men" (or rather, demons) are shaking like leaves while their CHILD team member just sit's on the ground resting. He seems alarmed by their cowardice as they moan that they came to the event to kill for fun, and they're not having ANY of that fun they wanted at all. They declare that this is it, they're OUT. 

A flitting sound effect and a blurred panel is all that's left for them.

I don't think this is quite the out they had in mind. 

Hiei looks around from his distance to see the two decapitated bodies spurt blood, and a pair of feet darting toward the ground near them. 

Who... who the FUCK???

This seemingly random stranger slurs his way through a statement that a little danger is a lot more fun, and the cowardice of his victims ruined is buzz. Rinku identifies this guy as "Chu" with some excitement. He must not have been particularly attached to those other two guys. Chu goes over to Koto and informs her, as if she couldn't have seen the reality herself, that the team has two deaths "by accident", asking her what the rules say about that. Koto isn't about to CHALLENGE this blatant lie, and sweats bullets as she rattles off the rules about each team getting a single alternate in case of deaths, and the circumstances don't matter. She stutters a little as she informs him that they'll have to go on with whoever is left, no forfeits allowed. 

He stomps past her, grossing her out with his overpowering BO, mumbling that it's fine, as well as how interesting it is that the last two being his opponents now. Kuwabara says that he's getting a bad feeling from the guy, presumably too far away for it to just be the shit smell. Apparently, though his aura isn't much, but there's something about him that just doesn't sit right with Kuwabara. 

Kuwabara looks around in shock and alarm at a grunt, seeing Yusuke sit up groggily. AT LAST. Yusuke digs a pinky finger in his ear and asks who's been boozing it up, because there's a stench on the air that would wake the dead and kill them all over again. And no doubt he would know, in multiple different ways. Kurama is placid while he notes internally that Yusuke has noticed the odd aura. 

Chu hiccups that Yusuke has FINALLY woken up. Up in the stands, Keiko and Botan stare wide-eyed at the scene below, the former muttering over how it's about to start. Atsuko yells at her son to kill the guy. Because of COURSE she does. Hiei thinks Chu may actually be the worst of the opposing team, noting that he sensed no bloodlust at all, even when Chu killed his teammates. 

Chu cuts off Koto as she calls for the sub-captains to come forward, shouting to get the ball rolling, because he wants to beat these guys quick so that he can get down to some serious drinking. That's definitely what you need dude. MORE drinking. 

Radical rest AND promoting exercise? Since when did HE become a healthy king? 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I had to go back and make absolute sure that Chu wasn't among his teammates when they were all introduced, because his design certainly stands out, and I really would have been disappointed in myself if I hadn't spotted him before. I'm supposing, as an alternate, it wasn't necessary for him to be with the rest of the team at the introduction. After all, he might not have needed to be there at ALL if they were all as good as they pretended. I find it hard to believe that he would have stumbled onto the scene just now to hear his cowardly teammates try to make a break for it, given that it's implied he's been in his cups this whole time. I assume he had to have been informed of or saw that Roto had been killed and ambled his way down to take his place, only now actually arriving.

Because Hiei really cleaned up Zeru EXTREMELY quick. Kind of shocking, given how much Zeru's aura and power were hyped from the moment our protagonists met him. I actually appreciate how fast his defeat was, though, because it just further emphasizes a theme that has been developing for a while now: appearances aren't always reflective of reality. Someone's skills can be rather minimal, even if they put up an impressive front. I'm guessing Chu is going to be demonstrating the opposite truth as well, that someone can SEEM rather unimpressive while having much more ability than is first visible.

What I'm not appreciating is this Black Dragon Hell Fire attack for Hiei that YT seemed to pull out of his ass. This was never mentioned before, not so much as hinted at, let alone the apparent forbidden quality of it. Introducing a supposedly forbidden technique on the spot, having characters gush about how no one is ALLOWED or hasn't been ABLE to use it outside of a certain realm, is not really impressing upon me how badass the technique is. It's impressing upon me how the writer hadn't bothered to come up with a plausible established defeat for the opponent, or introduce a new method at least a LITTLE ahead of time in a setup. 

Again, I'll chalk it up to the on-the-fly nature of serializations, but it's still a little irksome to me. It would have been MUCH cooler with a setup.

Inuyasha Manga: 356 Evil Presence

Do you ever get that feeling in your gut, when you first meet someone or they're pointed out to you, that you REALLY don't want to be around that person? Just something about them immediately sets you on edge and there's no reasoning yourself out of the immediate dislike? I've never really believed in "evil" per se, but I have had a couple of those experiences where I seemed to know immediately that I didn't want to be around someone, being that something about them was just OFF. I won't go into detail, due to the semi-traumatic nature of both these instances, but suffice it to say, I was correct 100% of the time, and I had to suffer the consequences of ignoring the little voice inside my head that told me this person was bad news. 

If Kikyou had listened to her own gut, or at least her sister's, none of this shit would have been a problem. 

As Kanna stares blankly over the infant she's holding, Kikyou thinks about how he was tracking a completely DIFFERENT presence all the way here. She clearly isn't going to let this opportunity go to waste, aiming an arrow at Kanna and the baby. But she shoots a glance into her periphery just as a strike comes down from the sky and explodes the earth at her feet, forcing her to leap away. 

Gee, I wonder where YOU'VE been all this time. 

Kikyou identifies Moryoumaru as the one she'd been tracking to begin with, the evil presence that guided her here, and points her arrow at HIM instead. Moryoumaru sees this and his body breaks up into curls of disconnected flesh so the arrow sails straight through it. Kikyou notices that there are spheres that the flesh is rotating around, and recognizes them as haku after a moment's squint. 

A coordinated swarm of the flesh slams into the ground, and again, Kikyou has to jump backward. While she draws another arrow, she sees Kanna's form fleeing the scene through a cloud of dust. She yells at Kanna that she won't get away, firing the arrow. 

Oops! Infants can survive a fall from a cliff, right? 

Kikyou curses and runs to the edge of the cliff, as Kanna is caught by one of the pieces of flesh from Moryoumaru's cloud. By the time she kneels to peer down into the chasm below, Kanna and the infant have disappeared. She notes that not only has she lost sight of those two, but the evil presence as well. Observant as she is, Kikyou recalls the jewel that the infant was carrying when she saw him, and what Inuyasha related to her about Naraku getting ahold of a stone that erases youki. She puts two and two together, identifying that stone as the Fuuyouheki, but she does wonder if she just came across the heart that was supposed to be protected by the stone's youki-erasing powers by accident. It DOES seem awfully coincidental, doesn't it? 

Cut to Kaede's village, long time, no see. Kaede enters her home announcing that she's boiled some herbs.

I'd say it'll leave some nasty scars, but I don't know if RT could remember them at all beyond this point, let alone draw them with any consistency when relevant. 

Kaede asks Sango in the background how Miroku is doing, and Sango tears her eyes away from him to confirm that he doesn't seem to have shaken off the Saimyoushou poison quite yet. Inuyasha being missing, Kagome asks where he is, and Kaede looks over toward the mat hanging over her door, saying that he seems to be brooding sullenly about something out there. It's not clear if they can see him sitting hunched on the fence from where they are, but we're shown the image anyway.

Shippou suggests that Inuyasha might be worried about how he lost to the corruption of the Shikon shard, which looks like it's news to KAEDE, because she's shocked by this information. Wow, you guys told her damn near NOTHING, huh? Kagome admits this is the case, but adds that they were all saved because of it. Shippou corrects the oversimplification, crediting Kagome with jumping in to purify the fragment so Inuyasha didn't turn full youkai and lose himself. She hangs her head in melancholy as she acknowledges this is true. 

What would you know about it? What are you, like six? 

Inuyasha doesn't even bother with the sarcastic response that I would go for, opting instead for his usual whack to Shippou's head as he requests Kagome come out and hang with him a bit. She makes a confused noise, but it's not long before they're outside and Kagome is asking him what's up.

Oh, that won't matter a lick to the foot fetishists now drooling over this chapter.

Kagome doesn't answer his question, just says his name. He sighs and hangs his head, admitting the very thing that he hit Shippou for saying earlier: he has a long way to go. Toward what goal, I'm not certain, but there seems to be some agreement here that the journey is long. Inuyasha apologizes to Kagome for causing her to have a painful memory, if not the literal pain in her feet. It's a straightforward sorry, which is more than a lot of internet personalities are capable of, anyway. 

But Kagome assures him that this isn't true at all, and that it was because he was there that any of them survived at all. Of course, they wouldn't have been IN the oni stomach to begin with if he weren't there either, but we'll gloss over that. Kagome adds that she was actually really happy in the moment that he asked for her support for just a little longer, because she was glad to be by his side. It's Inuyasha's turn to say her name in a trailing statement. 

Awwwww! So sweet! 

Isn't this SO MUCH BETTER than watching them have the same fight over and over again???

Cut to yet another remote building perched precariously on the side of a mountain. This one looks a bit bigger than the one Hakudoushi was hanging out in, and stands out against the bare rock, not a tree or bush in sight. Inside, Kagura is descending a set of L-shaped stairs, a healthy distance between her and Naraku. He seems to be leading her somewhere, and on some sparse information, because after a moody pause she asks him what this "important job" he's mentioned to her is. 

Naraku looks up over his shoulder at her, accusing her in no uncertain terms of poking around too much, and asking her what it is she's even looking for. OH SHIT, no more coy bullshit, he's just flat out telling her he's noticed her sticking her nose where he doesn't want it. Though the exclamation point in her speech bubble implies that she's shocked, her expression remains on the more irritated and defiant side. Inside, she's freaking out in disbelief that he might have noticed she's searching for his heart. NO, YOU THINK??? 

She's not saying anything out loud, though, so he continues without her answer, suggesting that she just wants to find things out because she doesn't know anything. Typical harmless curiosity, no biggie. He says this is why he'll put some IMPORTANT work in front of her. He's led her into a dark dungeon built into the side of the mountain, where metal grate is set into an opening leading into another roughly carved chamber off to the side. Sweatdropping, Kagura recognizes the same Rakan statues that were on Goryoumaru's temple grounds sitting outside the grate. 

So he's not in a grave anymore, and not out there flying around as Moryoumaru. What's the DEAL with this dude?

Kagura is SURE that Goryoumaru's head was cut off, but here he is, head still attached and laying there in a cell. 

My dude, did you think this would make her LESS curious?

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Well here we are! Right at the point where the first anime ended, having caught up to the manga yet again and not being prepared to produce even more filler content while canon material built back up. This was quite the place to do that, because this arc has been difficult to parse, and I think a lot of viewers of the show might have been left scratching their heads rather than anticipating a possible sequel series. It's a cliffhanger, but in more a confusing, frustrating way. Not only has the series itself become more repetitive and homogenized, but there's this sense that no explanation for the latest events will be truly satisfying because the pieces just don't make a lot of sense altogether. 

For example, the supposedly human and totally innocent of knowing shit about Naraku Goryoumaru showing up in a prison with his head attached firmly to his body, no new scar to speak of, just increases my bafflement. Trying to reconcile that with the state he was in before and the information we had at that time is futile in my case. That's not to say that a good explanation CAN'T exist, but if it does, it's extremely opaque. That alone might persuade a lot of viewers against coming back if things are going to be so oddly murky. 

It also brings up some questions that seem to be glossed over within the chapter. For instance, how long has Kikyou been following around Moryoumaru? Has she been at it for this whole arc? Is that why she and Moryoumaru have been sort of MIA this whole time? Otherwise I would have expected Kikyou to be drawn instead to that creepy temple and Goryoumaru. And yet, there is no indication from Naraku or Hakudoushi that Moryoumaru (and thus Kanna and the infant) was being pursued by Kikyou. In fact, the only concern that they discuss is how Kagura is being a nosy Parker and how to deal with that. 

How appointing her Goryoumaru's warden is supposed to solve this problem, I have no idea. I feel like Naraku is losing his touch a bit. 

I will say that it was nice to see Inuyasha and Kagome at last able to have a conversation that isn't dripping with resentment and jealousy. No doubt that's because Kikyou wasn't involved in this incident, so it was a little easier for Inuyasha and Kagome to talk about what happened without slinging blame around. On the contrary, Inuyasha puts all the blame on himself for the incident, which isn't exactly WRONG, given he led them into the situation in the first place. Of course, since none of the rest of the group challenged his reckless leadership and asked for a slow-down so they could think for a second whether it was really the best idea to fly into a giant mouth is an important factor in this as well...

Inuyasha taking responsibility for this incident isn't necessarily bad, but I do worry about his and Shippou's statements that "he has a long way to go". In the context, the implication is that the goal is for Inuyasha to be stong and capable enough to single-handedly get them out of any emergency situation. That's an awful lot of pressure to put on a SINGLE member of their team, and kind of goes against what he's been learning about the benefits of having friends this whole time. 

Which is why I hope he's listening closely to Kagome when she says she was happy to be able to offer him support. She's not just saying that it was a pleasure to help. It was a pleasure to be there so that he could draw on her strength where his was lacking. That's the point of having relationships, because NO ONE can do everything themselves and they are going to need help when the gaps in their abilities show up. 

Inuyasha has spent a long time believing that he had to do everything for himself and refuse reliance on others, so his habit is to assume that if he wasn't able to solve a problem alone, he's still not good enough. There's probably also an element in there of the guilt over Kikyou's death, seeing it as his failure to save her from Naraku. It's helpful to have Kagome around, demonstrating support, reliability, trust, and respect, so that he can slowly start to understand personal strength can always be supplemented by great connections and teamwork. 

YuYu Hakusho Manga: 056 Blood-Stained Flowers!!

The established pattern of using two exclamation points at the end of every title can be a bit discordant at times. I feel like the imagery this title is evoking is more somber than the punctuation would suggest, unless it's coming as a horrible surprise, and even then I'm not certain this would be the best presentation. Of course, I'm not a comic artist myself, so who knows what decision I would make if I were drawing/writing something to do with blood-stained flowers, and to be fair, I'm thinking of a bouquet splattered with viscera and someone stumbling upon it when they come over for a visit. This is most certainly NOT the context, so we'll see what it really is and if my irritation with the exclamation points is at all warranted. 

Maybe a bloody bouquet is just something winners get as part of their prize in this tournament. XD

Kurama, looking so much more invested in this than Hiei, puts forth his own awed commentary that both opponents took clean hits, and this match could end in a draw. But Koto only get to the count of two when her attention is drawn to the edge of the ring, where a set of fingers grip from below the edge. It's Rinku who pulls himself up, grunting, and leaps back onto the platform. His shirt has a rip in it where Kuwabara pierced it with his Aura Sword, but there's no visible wound there in the flesh beneath. It would probably be distasteful to show the child bleeding out. 

The crowd cheers that Rinku is back up, and declares that the Jolly Devil Six will be winning this one. Rinku puts his hands over his smarting belly, complaining that he had a LOT more trouble with this battle than he had anticipated, and he has to focus his aura now on patching himself up. 

Kuwabara stumbles to his feet, still off the platform, but he's still causing Rinku some anxiety with his tenacity. Rinku can't help but yelp about Kuwabara being back on his feet, asking what the hell this guy is MADE OF. Throwing out a hand toward Kuwabara, Rinku grunts in effort again, and Kuwabara is confused at first. 

Well, that's that.

But Kuwabara is having trouble accepting it. He asks who cares, roaring that he can still fight and straining against his yo-yo bonds. Rinku recoils, shivering as he thinks that he BELIEVES Kuwabara, because he's never seen anyone so stubborn in his life. Meanwhile, Kurama is praising Rinku for being so masterful as to be able to control his yo-yos even when he's not connected to them. Hiei scoffs that they lost by the rules, seemingly only really concerned with the outcome. 

The scoreboard announces both in print and by speaker that the first round goes to Team Jolly Devil Six. Finally free of the yo-yos Kuwabara points to Rinku and vows that they'll finish this later, though Rinku grumbles that it's not likely. 

Kurama volunteers to go next, and his opponent, a guy with short hair standing at a spiked angle and black scleras, says straight up that he's not an honest fighter like Rinku. He prefers the EASY WAY. 

Kuwabara's act must be easy AND difficult to follow at the same time. 

Hiei calls out to Kurama, and when he looks back, tells him not to pull any punches out there because the opposite team have got to start thinking twice when fighting them in the future. Kurama assures him that he knows. Kuwabara appears to be standing tall and perfectly well again when he says to his remaining teammates that there's something he's been wondering about; where Kurama keeps his Rose Whip. Hiei says that it's contained in a simple little rosebud, and smirks as he exposits that ANY plant is a weapon in Kurama's hands, a simple weed on the street liable to turn into a razor sharp blade stronger than steel. When are they going to make out?

The match between Kurama and his black-eyed opponent Roto is begun, and Roto IMMEDIATELY starts in with some trash-talk. He sneers about hearing that Kurama lives with a human, and says that's hard for him to figure, asking if it's some sort of "family" thing with a chuckle. Not sure what he's getting at there, and perhaps Kurama isn't either, because he just... doesn't say anything, looking off to the side. Probably a smart move. 

For a single panel, we go to the stands, where Shizuru drawls that the long-haired kid isn't a human, and Keiko seems amazed that she can tell. Wait, hasn't she MET Kurama before? At LEAST when he was in the midst of training Kuwabara for a couple of months? I have a hard time believing that this is an assessment she's made just in the past SECOND. 

Anyway, Roto leans down, bracing one hand on the ground while he curls the other out behind him, the middle finger of which stretches and morphs into a long scythe-like extension. He asks if Kurama would be real sad if the human he lived with died, but Kurama just mutters that Roto is a weasel with a sickle. 

Roto swings and swings that blade-like finger, Kurama continuing to dodge and leap out of its way. Hiei says this is all a waste of time because Kurama is WAY ahead, and tells Kuwabara that luck was just against him. Well that's... uncharacteristically nice of him, lol. Kuwabara thrusts his thumb in his own direction and asserts that he would have taken his opponent out best out of three. Sure you would have, buddy. Sure. 

Kurama zips behind Roto and murmurs to him that he's adequate, but not much better than that, and he'll end this whole thing quickly. Roto's bewildered expression flips back to a smirk when he tells "Suichi Minamino" that his mother's life is in his enemy's hands. Kurama freezes in his chopping motion at the back of Roto's neck in alarm, then leaps backward once more as Roto swings the finger-scythe back toward him. He hasn't escaped - he looks up again with a thin gash dripping blood down his cheek. Hiei looks up at this with mild surprise, but Kuwabara clenches his teeth in his tension, asking through them why Kurama has slowed down. 

Oh wow, no easier strategy than extortion. 

Roto suggests that Kurama wouldn't like this development, given he's such a devoted "son" and all. He really did his research, huh? Kurama drops his defensive stance and just STANDS there silently, looking a bit put out. Roto chuckles, retracting that massive scythe-like claw, because he thinks he sees what that silence means. He darts over to Kurama and punches him square in the face, voicing his interpretation as Kurama the HUMAN LOVER picking up what he's putting down. 

While Kurama's face remains snapped to the side by the hit, he flicks something at Roto's face, that seems to bounce off quite harmlessly. He looks over at where it's landed on the grid drawn on the platform, identifying it as a pebble, the most modest show of defiance from Kurama. Roto raises the fist holding his precious extortion button to make it as visible as possible, and declares that Kurama won't show even a pebble's worth of defiance anymore. He demands that Kurama clasp his hands behind his back and act as his punching bag. 

Dude wants to push the button so bad that he's hallucinating defiant behavior. Even Kuwabara recognizes that Kurama is leaving himself wide open and wonders with horror just WHAT it is he's doing. The crowd erupts in cheers for Roto's supposed hypnotizing of Kurama, and calls for him to torture and tear up the compliant opponent. 

Roto's smirk is a sharp, jagged gash in his own face. He chuckles that Kurama WON'T fight, because he's such a good little mama's boy. He gets right up in Kurama's turned-away face to suggest he COULD sever his arm with his Rose Whip, but the fingers on that arm might twitch just enough to get the job done on dear mommy. He outright laughs, hitting Kurama in the gut.

Kurama lets out a muffled grunt, but that's all. It's enough for Roto to declare he likes, though, and Roto continues hitting Kurama, this time across the face, saying beating on a guy who can't fight back is what he really calls fun. Can't relate, but I'm someone who likes a bit of a constructive challenge in my leisure activities. 

Roto suddenly pauses, frowning, calling Kurama scum. That was a real heel-face turn, huh? He re-extends the finger-scythe to poke at Kurama's cheek and complains about not liking the LOOK in his eye. He demands that Kurama look SCARED, but I don't know how THAT'S going to be any more satisfying. 

Great, now he just looks like another popular anime character. Good job, dipshit. 

Roto finishes the slash so hard that Kurama's face is whipped to the side again, demanding that Kurama stop LOOKING at him like that. Like what? Like he's been scrolling through Netflix for 20 minutes without finding a single thing to watch? Though Roto's smirk is back, he says he's in a real bad mood now, and is putting the responsibility of doing something about that on Kurama. He's just being a stereotypical abusive boyfriend at this point. How lame. 

Lifting his foot demonstratively, Roto commands Kurama to bow down and lick his shoe. He offers to cut Kurama's head clean off once it's clean, and then maybe he WON'T press that button. It's a wonder to me that Kurama's eyes don't roll straight out of his head when Roto asks jokingly if he can refuse, and then answers himself in the negative, because Kurama's precious mommy's life is on the line. 

But the answer that comes from Kurama is the opposite - he absolutely DOES refuse. After a pause, Roto asks for him to repeat that, and as he dusts off his jacket casually, Kurama says that's enough, and gives Roto permission to go ahead and push the button. Sounds to me like Kurama has some INSURANCE now that he didn't before, but Roto interprets this differently. He giggles madly that if he heard Kurama correctly, his hypocritical ass told him to press the button, and that makes him not any different than any of the OTHER low-down bloodthirsty demons in this stadium, if being asked to lick a boot is all it takes for him to go demonic again. Kurama just coldly repeats his dare to push the button. 

So Roto agrees to push the button, given that they're all death-hungry demons here anyway. 

Your lips are still eternally flapping though. SADLY. 

While Kurama snatches the button out of Roto's immobile hand, he prepares to repeat what he, apparently has said so often before: if something seems like an EASY course of action, it's usually the most DANGEROUS. I don't remember him saying this at ALL before this moment, but it IS real rich coming from the guy whose introduction was his quest to trade his life for his mother's health in the simplest little bargain with a hand-mirror ever. 

Kurama explains that he countered the coercion that Roto had tried on him by planting a DEADLY VETCH seed on him. I don't know what that is, but it sounds pretty bad when Kurama further exposits that its roots have spread through Roto's body and immobilized him. Roto strains to look down at his chest, where a red bump has raised on the left side of it, just beneath the lapel of his jacket. He recalls the pebble bouncing off his face and realizes it was a distraction from Kurama planting the seed. Always keep them watching your left hand while your right does the real work, as they say. 

That isn't even the whole deal. Kurama says that he can say a certain word that will make the plant grow at an EXPLOSIVE rate, no doubt much like how cyclospora is currently affecting a chunk of American colons right now. Kurama says he LIKES facing low-lives like Roto, because then he gets to be as brutal as he wants. And apparently he wants to be REALLY BRUTAL. Roto cries for him NOT to sink to his level, that he LIKES nice guys, and he was just a kid. Already referring to himself in the past tense? That's fucking BLEAK. 

Kurama just says "DIE" in response.

Cliche as it is, remind me not to get on this guy's bad side. 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Before I get to the proper analysis, I have to say I was a little preoccupied by the resemblance between Kurama here and another very popular manga/anime character. I won't be actually STATING that name here, partly because I'm sure everyone reading this knows which character and story I'm talking about given the aforementioned popularity, but also because I refuse to support even in the smallest way the artist behind that character, even by having the name of the work here on my blog where it can be scraped by Google and other search engines. The reasons for this should be clear, but if anyone happening upon this somehow hasn't heard of the controversy behind this person, I would just steel yourself if you're liable to try and look it up. It's not pretty. 

ANYWHO, my curiosity about this resemblance I consider to be suspiciously close was piqued, and I decided to look up known influences between the two serializations. So, having done that, allow me to correct my previous statement that Kurama now resembles that character; this depiction of Kurama with the X-shaped scar on his cheek actually PREDATES that character by about two years. The artist actually stated his character was modeled after Kurama. My bad, lol. 

Now that we've gotten past THAT, Kurama is showing a MUCH scarier side to him than he has before this point. He's been mild-mannered, demure, and occasionally on the cheeky side, but he's always struck me as containing whole OCEANS of patience and empathy. Case in point, he trained Kuwabara, and that COULDN'T have been an easy task for someone who was any less than perfectly zen most of the time. 

But here he is downright MENACING, and while that quiet, patient quality to him carries him through the abuse intended to humiliate him throughout the match, he is only TOO eager to dispatch Roto when it's possible to do so. I'm surprised he even bothered to explain himself beforehand, though I suppose if he didn't, the audience wouldn't have much of a clue as to what happened there. Of course, he DID allow Roto some final groveling, which does speak to the pleasure he implied when he said he gets to be as brutal as he wants. Clearly Roto made an emotional impact on Kurama with his abuse, even if Kurama was VERY good at refusing to show it. Dude wanted Roto to SUFFER. 

Really puts into perspective Hiei's little gloat at the beginning about how Kurama can turn any plant into a deadly weapon into sharper perspective. Because anyone dumb enough to piss him off wouldn't even see that shit coming. Spooky.