YuYu Hakusho Manga: 016 Finding the Guts for Glory!!

I'd recommend visiting the butcher, of course, but there's little glory in those literal kinds of guts. Generally, viscera tends to have the opposite connotation, but that must be a relatively recent development, because somehow possessing the figurative kind can really earn you some cred. There must have been a transition at one point, between collecting the actual entrails of one's enemies or prey, and just containing more spiritual STUFF than the average guy. I might very well go on an etymological adventure to find out myself soon, because my interest has been piqued now. 

In the meantime, Matsuo is looking pretty PEEVED up there. He's jumping rope in the boxing club, surrounded by sweatdropping fellow students who shoot him nervous glances. In his head, Yusuke is STILL TALKING, asking him how long he's gonna sulk like this. Looking a bit on the irritated side himself, Yusuke admits to taking over Matsuo's body and starting a fight, and that it was stupid of him, but he also questions how long his old pal was gonna let those guys just pound away on him like he was. Matsuo repeats to Yusuke for what must be the hundredth time that he's a BOXER and not a STREET BRAWLER, and implies he's deeply offended by Yusuke beating the tar out of Tachikawa in the sacred ring. We're told that Yusuke ALSO used Matsuo's body to beat up the first years that tried to stop him, and Tachikawa's friends when they tried to run away. Ever since this incident, Matsuo complains of people walking on eggshells around him. 

This certainly does seem to be the case, with the continued furtive glances and buzzing whispers in his direction from the rest of the students. The moment Matsuo looks at them, they whirl around, trying to pretend they weren't doing this. And then, right before the title page proper, there is a random bunny-girl recapping the story of this particular arc so far, how Yusuke ended up in Matsuo's body, etc. As always, this is a little bizarre, but that's probably because I'm not the het male audience that YT is aiming for, lol.

Once we return to the chapter, someone calls Matsuo's name behind him, and he looks around only to start bowing and scraping to an adult man who he calls "Captain", apologizing once more for what happened yesterday. But, surprisingly, the response is that the Captain is happy he's FINALLY standing up for himself. Cue the record scratch at Matsuo's confusion.

Ehhhhh... I don't know about this either, but I suppose it's better than the irritating habit of teachers to punish someone defending themselves.

Matsuo is still speechless and sweating, despite this better-than-expected review of his behavior, but when the Captain assures him that he's still the pick for their second-year representative at the competition, Matsuo glows ad thanks him with enthusiasm. Don't get too excited, kid. You DID already acknowledge that the only two kids who could even do it were you and the guy Yusuke pummeled into a hole the previous day. The Captain walks away and encourages him to keep up the training, and Matsuo promises to do so. 

But once Yusuke claims that this is great and things are going according to plan, Matsuo scowls at his periphery as he's putting on his boxing gloves, and mumbles a sarcastic agreement. He doesn't elaborate, though, just starts whapping away at the hanging boxing bag, exclaiming that he's gotta practice, practice, practice! Yusuke interrupts, but only to compliment him on the nice right he has. Steadying the bag, Matsuo asks if Yusuke really thinks so.

It appears that Yusuke is thinking to himself rather than responding when he continues to acknowledge the punch he observed - it looks to him like Matsuo could K.O. just about anybody with it, but he never actually shows his stuff in a fight. Yusuke has to recognize that his passion for boxing does seem real, however, and is betting on him when he gets into the ring with a REAL opponent. He's got his money on Matsuo getting that "eye of the tiger" deal going, and showing the world the "killer beast" that lurks within the guy they've been calling "dud" this whole time. 

Just such a real honorable opponent coincidentally shows up to ask Matsuo for a spar, given that the match is just a few more days away and they could use the real practice. Matsuo agrees to this, but he doesn't seem too stoked for it. Next thing we get is the ring bell clanging, and, well... this. 

Huh. It's NOT "eye of the tiger" after all.

Even the current opponent, who is handily knocking Matsuo around, is encouraging him to strike back. Yusuke is sweatdropping as he watches the one-sided spar. He accuses Matsuo of barely even trying, telling him he's supposed to be a boxer instead of a living punching bag, and that this is no different than the beating Matsuo took yesterday. Well, at least Matsuo's sparring partner isn't trying to hurt him. He thinks at Yusuke that it's easy for him to say all these things, which has never been truer for anyone ever - Yusuke is currently hanging out in Matsuo's body and mind, occasionally taking it over in order to SHOW him precisely what he's capable of. No one has ever been in a better position to say any of this!

It appears that the whole exercise is over when Matsuo's partner punches him in the stomach, because the next we know, we're looking at a wide panel of the outside of the school, with Yusuke's unique internal speech bubbles from inside Matsuo overlaid. He's complaining about how pathetic that display was, how Matsuo closes his eyes every time the other guy throws a punch, asking why he even TRIES to fight. Seems to me he's not even doing THAT much. Matsuo trudges through the school hallway, explaining that he can't help but flinch when he sees a punch coming, and became a conditioned reflex after being bullied for so many years. Yusuke asserts that Matsuo could turn that flinch into a dodge, but he appears to have reached his limit in offering advice. 

He says he doesn't know why HE'S even trying, griping about how much Matsuo goes on and on about boxing only to shut down in the ring. Yusuke points out the boxing is still fighting, even though there are rules of engagement, but Matsuo just uses it as another avenue to get bullied. OUCH. While Matsuo listens to this assessment with a silent sigh, looking utterly defeated, Yusuke tells him that he's got good footwork and power, which are important, but what he really lacks is GUTS. 

Yusuke's voice becomes a throb in Matsuo's head as he rants on and on about Matsuo being the type to freak under pressure, which will sink him every time, predicting that he'll probably puke his guts out on the day of high school entrance exams and flub those too. Then, all of a sudden, Yusuke is back on the track of offering help, because he claims Matsuo needs it in the WORST way. He claims that all Matsuo needs is the right kind of experience. 

Yeah, Matsuo didn't speak at ALL in four whole panels. It was just Yusuke rambling in frustration. But now he pipes up, retorting that Yusuke means experience in Yusuke's kind of street brawl style, to which Yusuke asks what's wrong with that. He tells Matsuo it's not all about using one's fists, that there's a kind of "science" to it. He doesn't really elaborate on this, but he does repeat that Matsuo needs to get some guts, and this, to him, translates into learning to BLUFF as well. He draws Matsuo's attention to another student that is walking toward them in the hallway, hands in pockets, scowling. Yusuke characterizes him as a punk wannabe, too cool for school (sound familiar?), and suggests that Matsuo gives him control so he can show him what he means. Matsuo stammers out a request not to get him in trouble, but he seems to go ahead and step aside to give Yusuke the wheel. 

Yusuke knocks shoulders with the other young man as they pass, and the kid turns to grasp Matsuo's shoulder to halt him and demands an apology.

The facial expressions in this comic continue to be priceless, LMFAO!!

The kid high-tails it, renouncing the whole interaction as he speeds off in the opposite direction. Yusuke cedes control back to Matsuo, telling him how easy that was, and inviting him to try it himself. Matsuo stutters that he CAN'T do that, it's just brute intimidation. Yusuke calls him a fool, telling him this is exactly how fights are won. He lectures that you have to use your eyes, voice, and face, and if you do it correctly, intimidation settles fights before they even happen. 

But it's not long before Matsuo is walking along outside the school and a group of three approaching point him out, one of whom says HE'S the guy to someone called Samejima. Matsuo starts freaking out, realizing the guy Yusuke had bumped into deliberately in the corridor is back, and he appears to have brought friends. 

Did your bud go and cry to his mommy too? Get you some friends who don't whine whenever someone makes contact with them in a crowded space, for fuck's sake. 

Yusuke asks if Matsuo knows this guy, and as he's frozen in terror, Matsuo thinks at Yusuke that every boxer in the area knows him - Samejima of the Rinju Junior High boxing team. There are rumors that he drags guys he doesn't like to the gym and puts out their eye, or broken limbs and such. Seems like that wouldn't be something that a gym would allow to happen, but sure. Matsuo thinks that Samejima makes small-time-bully Tachikawa look like Mother Teresa.

Ignoring, of course, the ways in which Mother Teresa herself was a torturous monster. 

Meanwhile, Samejima is asking Matsuo if he's on the Imawano boxing team, his friends sneering about Matsuo sweating. Matsuo answers nervously that he is, and when Samejima says pointedly that there's a guy from Matsuo's team that's supposed to be his opponent in the upcoming competition, Matsuo is struck even dumber than he was before. He staggers back as Samejima tells him to tell whichever guy is to face him that he's not leaving the ring in one piece. Matsuo blanks out, thinking that this is just his luck, and he's gone completely unresponsive when Yusuke asks if he's even there anymore. 

Yusuke concludes with some exasperation that Matsuo is in a standing dead faint, and that it's his own show from here on out, with Samejima grabbing Matsuo's collar and offering to give him a sample of what's in store for the Matsuo he's supposed to face in a couple of days. Yusuke slaps Samejima's hand away and says HE'S Matsuo, adding that, Samejima or Sasquatch, a baboon-faced moron like this guy shouldn't be copping such a tough attitude. Shit dude. Fuckin' WRECKED. Samejima's friends are absolutely floored by the fact that someone dared to insult their ring leader's face. 

Yusuke, through Matsuo, asks what the hurry is anyway, given that they'll meet in the ring soon enough. He even offers to rearrange Samejima's scrunched up nose for him then. Call it a free cosmetic procedure. 

This isn't bluffing, Yusuke, it's antagonizing. And it's not YOUR neck on the line here. 

Skip to the day of the match, and to a big sports arena building. The Captain of the team asks a couple of the kids where Matsuo is, and they respond that he's still in the locker room and said he needed to be alone. In reality, he needs to scream at the voice of Yusuke in his head, asking him what he's done, and whining that Samejima is going to MURDER him. Trembling, he makes for the door, saying he's getting out of there when Yusuke asks what he's doing. 

Somehow, Yusuke yanks Matsuo's head backward and refuses to let him wimp out like that, Matsuo crying out in alarm. Yusuke reminds him that he's about to get his precious match, something that he's SUPPOSED to have always wanted. It's his SHOT, his chance to show his stuff, and it doesn't matter WHO his opponent is. Matsuo retorts that it DOES matter, because Samejima will take him apart, but Yusuke asks how he knows that, because he's never even fought the guy. Hell, he hasn't ever fought anyone, for that matter. But Matsuo just continues to sit there on the bench in the locker room, insisting that he has absolutely no chance in despair. He claims that he was never cut out for boxing, and it makes no difference how much passion or effort he puts into it, because nothing makes up for the lack of talent or courage he lacks. 

Yusuke asks if Matsuo would really rather quit than try to win one fight, and Matsuo clenches his fist. After a long, tense silence, he stutters that he can't help it. 

"Why are you hitting yourself?"

Matsuo goes down over the bench with a cry of pain. Yusuke says he's had it with him and is sick of being stuck in his body. As Matsuo sits on the floor next to the overturned bench (which looks like it's sitting in an odd position considering direction of the force that knocked it over), Yusuke gives him one last lecture about how he keeps thinking like Matsu the Dud, making excuses to avoid his moment of truth. He says that like it or not, Matsuo's moment has arrived, and he needs to start thinking like Matsuo the Boxer instead, unless HE'S the one who's an insult to the sport. He has to follow through, go out there and DO it, whether he wins or loses. BUT, Yusuke also expresses a hope that Samejima DOES murder Matsuo if he goes out there and gets all pathetic on him again, just so he can escape this body. 

There's a long silence as Matsuo looks contemplative, if not still a little sorry for himself. The Captain and another man come to call to him outside the door of the locker room, telling him it's time, and when the door creaks open, the Captain looks elated while his companion wears a slightly surprised gape. Matsuo wears his gloves and headgear, and tells them he's ready, calm and determined. 

I guess you just had to get fed up enough.

But Botan pops out of the ether to provide another explanation, that it's because Matsuo has FINALLY made a choice, scaring the shit out of Yusuke in the process. He gripes at her that she shouldn't just appear like that, but she ignores this criticism, further elaborating instead that with Yusuke in Matsuo's head, arguing against his self-defeating thoughts, he at last realized that he could no longer let his doubts hold him back. 

Out in the arena, with joyous and encouraging hollers surrounding the boxing ring, Matsuo is already well into his match against Samejima. The Captain of the team is flanked by gaping, disbelieving guys, who wonder aloud if that's really Matsuo, but he's just grinning and in open awe. They all observe that Matsuo isn't flinching like usual, but plowing right in, even against Samejima. Alright, I ignored all the references to Yusuke being INSIDE Matsuo, but the gay subtext is just overpowering here, lol! Matsuo's determined expression is overlaid with the exclamation that he and his opponent are trading blow for blow, and as he throws one of those powerful rights that Yusuke commented upon earlier, someone shouts that he's taking the offensive. 

Samejima is cursing, yelling that no one gets the better of him, but Matsuo is concentrating on not running, looking his opponent in the eye, and punching as hard as he can. He gets whapped on the side of the head by Samejima, but while he acknowledges feeling Samejima's blows, he's confident that his own punch...

This hit brings Samejima down, confirmed by the referee. Matsuo's team, Captain and all, cheer at how wild it is that Samejima has fallen. Samejima himself is looking sullen, raising his forearm to rub at his injured jaw with a bitter curse. As he glares up at Matsuo, he resolves to throw away all the rules, determined to take the fouls if it means that he can mangle Matsuo good. Bold strategy, we'll see how it plays out for him. XD

The start of the next round is shouted out by the referee, and Samejima is already thinking about how he can cause maximum damage. He settles on smashing Matsuo in the face with an elbow, and after a series of blows and dodges, he makes the move, announcing that Matsuo's comeuppance is on the way when his elbow is in prime position. Matsuo's eyes widen, and instead of leaning away, he literally leans into the blow, so it strikes the headgear protecting his forehead. Then he takes his own shot.

Training wheels are off now, kiddo!

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Yusuke comes across as weirdly intellectual in this one! He's expounding upon the politics of fighting, and I find it FASCINATING. You would think a guy who began this small arc by excitedly playing spectator to a fight would be much more amenable to starting a brawl whenever possible, but the advice he gives Matsuo is very practical in this regard. His acknowledgement that a lot of the behavior that might lead up to a confrontation is mere intimidation and bluff, most often curbing aggression before blows are ever exchanged, is particularly insightful when it comes to Matsuo's situation.

Because my conclusion about Matsuo valuing honor and fair play had proven to only be part of the story, and may even be chalked up to an excuse he uses for his inaction when assaulted. Deep down, it's just his conditioned response to curl up and take it whenever he's threatened. In every area of his life, he's so used to losing that it has LITERALLY become his identity, his nickname proclaiming as much. It's a very deep well of habitual failure that he's stuck in, but it IS largely a mental one, so Yusuke's prescription of "getting guts" is accurate, if not a little simplified. After all, anyone who has suffered a mental block and lack of confidence could tell you that it's not the EASIEST thing to just get up and over it.

Which makes the ending of this chapter somewhat jarring. In his match, Matsuo isn't shown hesitating, or struggling to maintain his decisive mindset when he gets hit. It's almost as if he flipped a switch and suddenly had access to all the confidence in the world. Inspiring, to be sure, but a little on the reductive side to the effort that goes into overcoming your own mental sabotage. No doubt the actual match had to be much truncated to fit it into the few pages that were left in the chapter, so that certainly didn't help. Given that this comic is only 16 chapters in and not fully established yet, putting the extended match into an additional chapter was probably not going to fly with the publishers either, so I'm sure YT had to make a couple of choices as to how the content would be presented. 

The thing that REALLY raised my eyebrows was how the random guy Yusuke threatened in the hallway just HAPPENED to be a toadie to not only a formidable boxer on another school's team, but specifically the one that was going to face Matsuo in his fateful match. That's one HELL of a coincidence, sir!