YuYu Hakusho Manga: 023 Hiei of the Evil Eye!

Uh-oh, time to grab an amulet to protect against that malevolent gaze! I've noticed those glass beads that are painted up like an eye are getting a bit more popular these days - I see them everywhere in trinket shops and metaphysical stores. I'm not sure if it's a coincidence, but it seems somewhat fitting regardless, given how the rest of the world is looking on my country right now. It's not difficult to feel the burn of that angry gaze on you, and I imagine that there are quite a few people who are willing to try any little trick to ease the discomfort of it.

Except, maybe, holding their fascist government accountable. That's a little too complicated. 

Partnering with demons isn't generally a great idea, but these mistakes are always being made, it seems...

Over a vow to make sure future allies are TRUSTWORTHY, a sword swings around, the sword that promises to create an army of monsters that will obey and listen to one guy.  

Kind of asking a lot, aren't you?

The next panel, a title panel in the style of a premonition, is a little terrifying - a premonition of a smugly menacing Hiei standing in front of a Keiko laying unconscious on the floor. I don't LOVE where this is going. 

Next, we're outside the school, where someone is saying their pain is gone, and cuts on their face are all healed. It can only be Yusuke speaking, who claims that Botan's "pneumatherapy" works wonders. According to a note beneath this claim, "pneumatherapy" is equivalent to the term "spirit healing". Botan is in her cleric era. She's sitting on the roof of the school, in full schoolgirl disguise, having to hold her skirts around her thighs to avoid an uncomfortable panty-shot. Meanwhile, Yusuke is standing, gushing some more about how he's good as new a mere two days after being beaten to a pulp by Gouki. He says that the pounding her got would normally have put him out of commission for two WEEKS. 

Botan says that a good assistant should be proficient in pnuemapathic medicine, which is just a simple western white magic, no biggie. Must be a nice break from her regular duties, which I imagine are WAY more demanding. Yusuke hesitantly asks her what the deal is with her uniform, as though he just noticed, because she's not a student here. She asks in turn if she doesn't look good, though, before telling him it's camouflage - she would come across as suspicious if she met him at school in street clothes. Once again, she cites some obscure guidelines dictating the behavior of a good assistant as requiring she think of things like this. While she plays with the ends of the scarf in her sailor uniform, humming some tune, Yusuke thinks about how she makes her living fortune telling, though he has no idea where she lives or even how OLD she is. She's more of a mystery to him than his foes. 

Does it really matter what the answers are to these questions? All that matters is that Botan is clearly having a ball pretending to be a schoolgirl assistant. There's definitely NO weird fetishes being served for anyone here, trust me!

Botan changes the subject, informing Yusuke that Kurama is up for parole, and he's clearly reformed, readily accounting for himself. Girl's singing a different tune about the guy now that he's actually been convicted of something. Oddball. Yusuke says this is good, and repeats that he has one more artifact to recover, and three days to do so. Consulting her little notebook, Botan warns Yusuke not to let Hiei's size fool him, having heard that he's particularly vicious, and will stick at nothing to get what he's after. Where are you getting this intelligence, and why can't you be more specific??

The door to the roof creaks open and a wild Keiko appears! She's got a bitter look on her, and says she knew Yusuke was here. He's a creature of habit, after all. She starts lecturing him on loitering around, not turning in his homework, and warning him that a really steamed Takenaka is looking for him. Yusuke appears annoyed, and eventually asks Keiko who cares about that, because he's busy. Then BOTAN leans around Yusuke to joke about the joys he's experiencing by being a hero. 

Oooooooh, I smell DRAMA brewing. 

Botan is suggesting to Keiko that they should get together over a cup of tea when Yusuke whacks her in the back of the head and yells at her to knock it off. When Botan turns to complain that the hit hurt, Yusuke asks her through clenched teeth if she's not forgetting about being inconspicuous. You know, that thing he was wearing the school uniform for, supposedly. Sweatdropping, Botan mutters that this is right, and makes her way to the door, nervously saying that she got carried away, she'll be leaving now, and urging Keiko to just forget she was here. With a farewell to Yusuke, Botan is gone.

Keiko is still in shock, but is coming out of it on the "later" comment Botan made to Yusuke, already latching onto it. Yusuke is also sweating heavily, side-eyeing Keiko while cursing Botan for an idiot who's done it now. He's undoubtedly in trouble, when with a carefully blank expression, Keiko turns to inquire if the girl who just left is a new friend of his. He flaps his hands in dismissal, though he's still sweating bullets, saying it's a LOOOOOONG story and he can explain... eventually. Way to NOT look guilty of an indiscretion, kiddo. 

Again, Keiko's face is CAREFULLY neutral when she asks if that's so, and turns her back on him as she says it's fine, he just needs to go see Takenaka now. Yusuke trots up behind her, telling her to wait, because he's very much aware that she's not happy with his answer. She forces a very unsettling wide smile at him over her shoulder, asking him what answer he's referring to. Yusuke drops Botan's name upon referring to his answer on her, Keiko asks if that's the girl's name, Yusuke points out that Botan told her herself and repeats that he can explain everything, but Keiko flatly declares that she doesn't care. Ah, kids in love. 

A transition panel shows us the city skyline, somewhere in which is a location 10KM away from the school.

He's got a weird third eye AND a minion? Hiei really is the quintessential villain right now, huh?

Hiei hums in thought, saying he COULD just kill Yusuke and take the treasures, but wonders aloud what the fun in that would be. He follows up with a vaguely sinister statement that the girl presents possibilities. 

Said possibility-presenting girl appears to be walking alone, deep in thought about Yusuke's insistence that it's a long-ass story about what his relationship with Botan is about. Crestfallen and moody, Keiko thinks to herself that it's fine, that she DEFINITELY doesn't care. She's failed to notice the silhouette in the path of her walk, she's so absorbed. Until Hiei is right before her with his sword drawn and a creepy little smile on his face. Keiko only has a moment to express shock before a crackle of energy strikes her.

Or maybe that was just the sword. 

The demon-detector compass on Yusuke's wrist starts beeping frantically, and he's alarmed to find that it's telling him a demon is about 5KM away. Yusuke starts to make his exit from the classroom, and when reprimanded by Takenaka, who reminds him they're in the middle of CLASS, Yusuke apologizes about something important having just come up. He's not about to ask for a hall pass.

In what looks like a track suit now, Botan meets him at the (strangely open?) gate to the school, and he asks if she saw the proximity of the demon as well. She confirms this, apparently shocked that Hiei has shown his hand already. It suddenly occurs to Yusuke how weird it is that his little wrist compass is able to detect anything farther away than 500M at his level of power, and Botan explains that this is apparently because Hiei isn't in hiding and WANTS Yusuke to know where he is, a trick that, according to Botan, takes some major demonic powers. 

And it gets worse - Botan says she got a telepathic message from Hiei, who has taken Keiko hostage and will only give her back in exchange for the other two treasures Yusuke has recovered from his former allies. Yusuke's expression is pure shock. 

Thankfully, he recovers quickly, and next thing we know, he and Botan have arrived at a warehouse setting, which looks fairly abandoned. Yusuke demands that this scumbag Hiei comes out, announcing to the whole place that he's here for Keiko. His demand is answered not by Hiei, but a bunch of dead-eyed men who emerge from behind shipping boxes to approach him normally at first, then holding out their arms in zombie fashion. Yusuke looks... less than impressed. 

A satisfying response to useful idiots.

Botan looks on the knocked-out people with dismay, telling Yusuke that they're just regular people under mind-control, but Yusuke is too busy yelling for the creep in charge to get his ass out there himself. He vows to pulverize whoever dares to challenge him, human zombies or demons. Meanwhile, Botan marvels at how many Hiei is controlling at once, asking rhetorically if he has the use of The Evil Eye. 

A little figure emerges off to the side, affirming that Hiei indeed DOES have that power. 

He's got SEVERAL minions. That is so fucking SICK. 

Yusuke and Botan call out Keiko's name, gaping in horror. Hiei drawls that he's surprised Yusuke got a look at his Evil Eye and is still sane, concluding that he must have SOME spiritual power to manage it, which must be what the Underworld was counting on. Yusuke yells at Hiei to shut it, holding up the two treasures he's collected over the past few days and barking his offer of them in exchange for Keiko, as was the original proposal. Hiei amicably says that it's no problem, and that the game is only worth playing if you follow the rules. No mention of who gets to MAKE those rules.

The orb and mirror have been tossed to the side, about halfway between Yusuke and Hiei, and likewise, Keiko has been laid on the floor on the other side at about the same distance. Hiei makes his way to the treasures and picks them up to examine them, determining with satisfaction that they're the real deal. Meanwhile, Yusuke and Botan have gone to Keiko's side, the former kneeling next to her to prop her up. She's still unconscious, though. 

Hiei chuckles that he was PLANNING on taking out Gouki and Kurama himself anyway, stealing their treasures for himself, telling Yusuke that he's saved him the trouble. It's not even a sarcastic thanks - he's very good about not giving anyone reason to think he's in debt to them. Yusuke is on his feet again, though, and wearing a jovial laughing expression that kind of makes him look a LITTLE like Kuwabara. Genuinely, for a moment, I thought Kuwabara had just showed up out of the blue, lol. Yusuke asks if Hiei really thinks that, and guffaws that he's a bigger moron than he looks, Hiei glaring at him out of his periphery.  

Why do I feel like it won't be that easy?

Maybe it's because Hiei's expression is listless when Yusuke comes at him with that fist. When Yusuke throws his punch, it's straight THROUGH a fading afterimage of Hiei, to his shock. For a moment, he's furiously questioning where Hiei is and where he went, then Hiei reappears on one side of him, snidely commenting that it was an easy dodge. Hiei asks if this is Yusuke's idea of a surprise attack, saying it wasn't much of a surprise for how sluggish it was. Yusuke curses silently about how he THOUGHT he had Hiei, while admiring the speed with which he moved that he's never seen before. Hiei asks who the moron is NOW, before he holds out a hand that appears to now be clawed, and opens his mouth in a wide malicious grin. He asks if Yusuke really thought he'd just give Keiko back in a straight swap, inviting the idiot Yusuke to look at her forehead. 

Suddenly, Yusuke is back by Keiko's side and casting a tense and confused glance where Hiei has indicated. There's a mottled fold of skin there that looks to Yusuke some kind of gash, with no blood. But then it starts to expand, revealing the whites and iris of what he now identifies as an EYE, much like the one Hiei has. Hiei laughs cruelly, claws raised in the air, as he says he returned Keiko like he promised, but her fate is in his hands. 

Well, that's inconvenient. 

Ask Yusuke expresses his horrified disbelief, Botan jumps into action and braces a hand over Keiko's forehead, projecting energy at the new eye. With considerable crackling effort, the eye starts to close again, and Botan grunts that she's going to TRY to hold this back. In the meantime, she urges Yusuke to take Hiei down. 

Hiei himself seems impressed that Yusuke's friend can suppress "demonification" without holy water, saying that he's rarely seen such sophisticated white magic. Lots of lore dropping in this chapter, lol. Anyway, Hiei explains that without holy water to help Botan, the toll taken on her must be immense, and she won't be able to sustain the effort for long. Sweating profusely already, Botan confirms that it's true, and her actions are sapping her spirit energy away. As Yusuke glares and grinds his teeth with Botan trying to hold off Keiko's transformation in the background, Hiei gleefully declares that they can REALLY get down to their life-and-death cat-and-mouse game. What a mouthful! He informs Yusuke that the antidote to Keiko's condition is in the hilt of the sword he holds, and all Yusuke has to do is take it from him. C'est facile? Hiei makes it clear that he's not convinced Yusuke could do that in a 100 years. 

Not that Hiei doesn't deserve that, but... the sword was right there, buddy.

Hiei goes spinning away, and quickly makes some cat-like maneuvers in the air to skip back onto landing crouched right side up. He is alarmed at how fast Yusuke was on him that time - in an instant - and asks who the hell he even is. 

He's also the type to stop making goofy faces when he's finally serious about the fight. Don't know which way on the hatred scale that slides Hiei's current feelings, but it might serve as a factor.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I'm not thrilled about Keiko being relegated fully to the kidnapped "damsel in distress" role here, but that should be easy to guess for anyone who's spent any amount of time on this blog in the past. It should also be pretty easy to guess that I'm not any more thrilled that their little argument before this kidnapping came down to Keiko defaulting to jealousy over Yusuke interacting with another girl. Romantic miscommunications are some of the laziest ways to introduce drama into a relationship in fiction, and in a genre that I already don't find very engaging, can become grating fast. In fact, these elements combined rub me the wrong way and give me an unfavorable view of the chapter as lazily written on the whole. 

There are a couple of solid attempts at making an effort to work around the cliches, though. It's established at the beginning of the chapter that Botan has been using a specific kind of magic to help heal Yusuke, which comes in handy at the end, so that's a fair setup and payoff. It's also somewhat satisfying that Hiei, whose suggestion that Keiko presents him an opportunity indicates that he's counting on Yusuke giving up and giving in through despair, has to contend with the fact hat his plan in fact had the OPPOSITE effect when Yusuke fights back all the harder. However it might have been better if we had SEEN Botan actively healing Yusuke a couple of chapters ago after Gouki's first beating, or if Keiko was given just a little more agency by being somewhat forewarned of the possibility of being targeted. 

I mean, has Yusuke talked to her about NOTHING that happened to him while he was "dead"? Hasn't mentioned Botan even ONCE? We know it wouldn't be totally unbelievable to Keiko, given that he's addressed her as a ghost in her dreams and in "person" (as Kuwabara) before - if it were me, I would be more than curious about Yusuke's near-death experiences and be asking all kinds of questions. Hell, if my husband were in Yusuke's shoes, he would basically tell me everything from beginning to end the moment he woke up. Do these kids have ZERO curiosity about each other and what's going on in the other's lives??? 

And that's not even getting into how convenient it is that there happens to be an ANTIDOTE to demonification...