That sounds... oddly familiar. Isn't that uncomfortably similar to a fiction within a fiction by the illustrious Mel Brooks? I hope this doesn't indicate that YT is trying to write a flop for a theoretical larger payout like the protagonists of that movie. Granted, I've never seen The Producers, but it's a rather beloved comedy, and I'm not sure YT could pull off that kind of a thing like Mel Brooks can. He's got a kind of finesse as a combination of comedic timing and gentle conscientiousness of identity/sensitive subjects that I'm not sure YT has developed, at least not by this early point.
Keiko appears, asking after the video tape, and scolding Yusuke for bringing it to school because they're not allowed. Yusuke says he doesn't give a shit about that, and no doubt since he's so flippant, Keiko asks what's on it. She suggests "T2" and by Yusuke's disgusted reaction, I assume it's something dirty, but I couldn't really find any slang pertaining to that term after a cursory search. Feel free to educate me in the comments if you know what the hell these kids are talking about!
Yusuke recalls with some discomfort Keiko demanding his promise to tell her her first and foremost whenever he's dealing with a new case that could be dangerous. After a short pause, he goes ahead and lets out that it's his next "Underworld" assignment, though he hasn't seen the tape yet. Why put "Underworld" in quotes? Because Keiko's question is what he means by that word, and he falls over in his alarm.
From the floor, Yusuke looks up at her with confusion mixed with irritation, saying he THOUGHT Botan had told Keiko all about this business he's mixed up in. Keiko says Botan told her he was working for a private detective, and assumes "Underworld" must be the name of the agency. Again, Yusuke is struck with absolute shock. For a smart girl, Keiko isn't really questioning the MANY questionable things in this claim.
Later, at Kuwabara's house:
Botan's excuse is that she was trying to explain things to Keiko without giving too much away, and despite how undercooked this "explanation" was, Keiko seemed to buy it. It's apparently well-known by Yusuke that they have to be discreet, because the details of his little job are top secret, and she puts on a distracting (per the note in the panel next to her) cat face and paws to insist that it's TOO DANGEROUS for Keiko to know about the Spirit Realm. But she already kind of... DOES? None of them remember all the affirming experiences that she had interacting with Yusuke's spirit when he was dead at the beginning of the comic, do they?
Whatevz, Yusuke says that he can't argue with that, the unspoken part of that statement being that it's because he's just not the debate-bro type. Kuwabara is sitting cross-legged in front of a tube TV, his impatience coming out when he asks if they can go ahead and WATCH this fucking tape already, because he's aching to know what's on it. It's fine for HIM to be in the know about the Spirit Realm, I guess...
Yusuke points out that this has nothing to do with Kuwabara this time, but puts the tape in the VCR anyway, muttering in annoyance that it doesn't matter anyway. Botan and the boys lean closer in interest as the static at the beginning of the tape hisses. Kuwabara in particular utters a word of amazement, because a big image of the binky-sporting Koenma fills the screen and starts speaking. He says his dad is off being a "BIG DEAL"(TM) again, so he's back to being the Director of Underworld Investigations. DUI sure is a title, guy!
Koenma reaffirms that the tape concerns Yusuke's new mission, appearing only as white noise to normal humans, so he doesn't have to worry about eavesdroppers. What about people who think he's a little loopy for staring at static for several minutes? Kuwabara asks if THIS is really Yusuke's boss, this OTHER shrimp boat, no doubt referring to Hiei as the first.
Yusuke actually agrees with Kuwabara, sweatdropping in embarrassment, and somehow Koenma on the prerecorded tape calls for them to pay attention. Is it actually more of a streaming thing? Who knows.
Neither boy says anything to this, continuing to stare at Koenma and his clasped fingers as he begins to describe the target for rescue: she's a non-human girl, though he clarifies that she's not entirely INhuman. Over a panel containing a mountainous, hilly region, he says that this girl is being held prisoner in a place called Bone Ulcer Village. Demons sure know how to name shit. Koenma cites reliable Underworld messenger birds as the source of this information.
Koenma goes on to tell the boys this girl is an "Ice Maiden", a member of a specific clan of winter spirits that are known for the beautiful jewels they produce. In fact, it's the reason she's been kidnapped, forced to make these jewels for her heartless human captor. The boys remain silent so Koenma can elaborate that she produces these jewels through her tears.
Botan says that these jewels must be pure rare crystal, worth hundreds of millions on the black market. Kuwabara is starting to look a little miffed as he suggests that this villain holding her is making her cry to get them. Koenma confirms this, and further dispenses his intelligence, telling them that the girl's captor is a gem dealer named Gonzo Tarukane. The picture Koenma shows them looks NOTHING like the beloved Muppet, instead a balloonish man pinching a cigar between sausage-like forefinger and middle finger, with a lumpy bald head and substantial pouchy jowls. YT wonders in a note under this guy's portrait why he's always drawing pug-uglies. I don't know, bro, it's YOUR comic.
Koenma says that Tarukane has always earned his living through unscrupulous means (as ALL rich people do, I'll add), but the Ice Maiden's jewels have made him pretty enormously rich even on top of all that. At this point, all three of Koenma's audience members appear to be eating popcorn from a bag in Kuwabara's hand, like they're watching a regular movie or something. They're essentially watching TV, to be fair.
After Kuwabara says through a mouthful of snack that this guy seems like a major sleeze and Yusuke affirms with the a similarly full mouth that he's worse than any demon, Koenma presents a slowly emerging image of the girl herself that he says is telepathically relayed by their birds.
Koenma says that she's being held in Tarukane's summer mansion. Nowhere nicer to spend the summer than in a demonic township called BONE ULCER VILLAGE. XD XD XD. That barrier of talismans is there to keep her restrained, by Koenma's estimation, which is fair.
Suddenly, Kuwabara stands up, trembling in every limb, disturbing Yusuke who makes a questioning noise. Kuwabara says he's in love, then suggests they go to that mansion with gusto. Yusuke asks if he means NOW, and Kuwabara says OF COURSE he means now. He's a teenager after all, and nothing drives him faster than his out of control hormones. In mild alarm, Yusuke points out that they haven't watched the whole video yet, but Kuwabara demands that Yusuke hustles or he'll be left behind. I WOULD ask how he plans to get there by himself, but I don't expect Kuwabara OR YT to have much in the way of plans for conveyance. He asks what more they need to know, because they already know this poor girl is suffering and needs their help. More intelligence on the location? Dangers? HER NAME???
Kuwabara calls for his sister, demanding enough money to get him to Bone Ulcer, and Shizuru calls it by the name Honedatare, which she says with some shock is all the way over in the next prefecture. HOLD UP. You're telling me that a place in the HUMAN REALM is named BONE ULCER???? Are you fucking KIDDING ME right now??? Who the fuck named this place???
My complete shock aside, Shizuru comes into the room with a tray full of mugs and a cigarette hanging in her lips, looking back toward the door where her brother has stormed out and asking what's got him so fired up. A sweatdropping Yusuke is also flabbergasted enough to ask what's going on here, and only Botan seems to be aware of the symptoms. Taking a sip from her mug, she says it's springtime for Kuwabara. Congratz on saying the chapter title girl!
The entrance hall to the mansion is lined with columns, and also a line of butlers on either side, one of which is bowing in the front and informing Tarukane that they've been waiting for him. Yeah, no shit. Tarukane asks how Yukina is, and if she's shed any tears since he's been gone. Oh good, we only learn her name from the villain. That's good. The butler hesitantly tells Tarukane that she hasn't, because her emotions have "flattened out" as of late. The disassociation is probably REAL.
The next panel shows Tarukane from the front, and extremely TALL man stands behind him, hand sweeping aside the tails of his long duster coat to shove his hand in his trouser pocket. On his shoulder is what looks like another guy, much smaller with long lanky dark hair, hitching a ride. They're a weird pair. Tarukane is complaining that Yukina has become indifferent to his needs. His NEEDS. What a STRANGE use of that word... He says he's brought a couple of specialists (the two behind him) to rekindle Yukina's interest in what's good for her kidnapper. The butler sweats as he asks who they are, glancing nervously at the men, who stare back. The former's expression is indifferent, though his eyes are hidden behind sunglasses. The latter seems to have a creepy smile. They're introduced as the Toguro brothers, brokers of darkness.
Yeah, try not to cut yourselves on all that edge.
The butler is rather intimidated, though, and sweats all the more, clarifying for no one other than the reader that this means they're demons in the business of providing monsters. Tarukane smiles, adding that the monsters are for everything from sideshows to assault forces, and these guys KNOW how to deal with freaks. In that case, I'm sure they have HIM figured out, at the very least. The tall brother quotes a saying about setting a thief to catch a thief, and then tells them to leave the girl to them.
The next couple of panels scan the side of the mansion, to the general area where Yukina is sitting in a chair, surrounded by a few fluttering silhouettes.
Yukina reaches out for the window and the fencing over it, which crackles in warning as her hand approaches. It's a demonstration for the birds, and she vocalizes as well how SHE'S trapped by subtle but effective traps. I disagree; there is absolutely NOTHING subtle about the fencing littered with paper charms like it's surrounding a fairgrounds with years of fliers plastered over it.
Hearing an approaching footstep in the hall, Yukina snaps at her bird companions to go. While they fly off out the window, a cold wind is shown pushing out from around her feet. It rushes out over and underneath the door, producing a crust of ice over even the outside of it, where paper charms are strung back and forth across the door.
Though Tarukane hums in question over the icy blast, he appears to have come prepared, having put on a fur-lined hat and jacket. He concludes that "the freak" knows they've arrived, likening the cold air to a warning from a rattlesnake's tail. However, within this cage of tangled charms, she has no bite, and Tarukane says the warning won't do her any good. They open the door and she's sitting expressionless in her chair in the center of the icy room, and Tarukane jokes to his associates that she's as expressive as a glacier.
The tall Toguro walks over and performs a slashing motion at her face that is fast enough to blur.
Tarukane tells his associates that "physical coercion" won't work, as she's been resisting crying, screaming, and even twitching her eyebrow for FIVE YEARS now. Koenma, why did it take you so fucking long to launch a rescue mission????
At this moment, the worst possible one, the birds Yukina had been socializing with before flutter back toward the window. Instead of staying at the pinnacle of stoicism, Yukina immediately reacts with concern, then shouts to them to fly away again. The tall Toguro snaps at his brother on his shoulder to "go", who scoffs, extending his fingers like tendrils out past the paper charms and chain link fencing. Why can HE step over this barrier with no trouble, but SHE can't? No idea.
The two visiting birds are flanked by the tendrils, each tipped with a barb or claw, which quickly wrap around the little critters and draw them back into the room. The shoulder Toguro giggles gleefully at their terrified chirps, his brother remaining silent and inscrutable. Yukina holds out a staying hand, begging for the birds not to be hurt, but Tarukane tells two OTHER men, faceless, to restrain her and they rush into the room. The tall Toguro, asks if these little twittering friends of Yukina's help her get through her lonely days, and without any deliberation, the shoulder Toguro squeezes the birds and stabs them in their little heads with the barbed tips of his tendril fingers. YT is doing a phenomenal job of making me hate these guys.
Yukina screams out in protest, then pleads for no more, tears flooding from her eyes over her cheeks.
As Yukina is held in a T-pose by Tarukane's faceless goons in the background, Tarukane sits on the floor staring at the shining jewels in his cupped hands, elated that he's holding at LEAST another billion, and he's rich. Or... MOAR rich. I mean, the guy has a summer mansion, I feel like he should be FAR beyond this level of happiness at having another billion. But hey, rich people are just a whole other category of loopy. He's literally DROOLING while he thrusts his triumphant face in Yukina's and lifts her defeated chin with his sausage fingers. He says the thoughts of "freaks" really baffle him, because he just can't fathom being so sad over a couple of wild birds. Cute, coming from a guy who is over the moon because of a few shiny rocks he can sell to other people who are into shiny rocks. Somehow, he claims the former is pathetic, but the latter seems perfectly rational to him.
As Tarukane strides off out of the room again, he promises Yukina that she'll dine exclusively on roast robin starting tomorrow. The lengths he's going to be a complete dick are impressive, I've gotta hand THAT to him at least. He calls out that it's time for an auction, and demands the bidders be rounded up. Does he have bidders just wandering free-range on his estate or something? XD
The tall Toguro offers her his advice before he walks out of there; to learn to cry on demand, because at least then she'll be free of him and his brother, if not free in any other sense. I THINK he's got the leg of one of the birds his brother killed in his mouth and is CHEWING on it, but I can't be 100% certain, since it's a little difficult to make out. Once he slams the door behind him, he leaves behind Yukina with her face cradled in her hands as she sits on the floor. She's surrounded by more birds, which seem not to be super concerned for the future danger next to her.
Out in the hallway, Tarukane thrusts off his fur-lined coat at the butler and laughs that the spectacle he just saw was WORTH the exorbitant fee the Toguro brothers charged. He barks at the butler to check on Yukina in a little while to see if she's created any more jewels, but when said butler leans down and mutters something of concern to him, his jauntiness is replaced by enraged disbelief.
Tarukane sucks on his cigar and supposes that these kids have been sent by one of his competitors to discover the secret of his jewels. He must be DOMINATING the jewel market if he thinks his competitors can only afford a couple of babies in school uniforms to infiltrate his home. Or, more likely, he's not doing much THINKING at all, since he doesn't seem to have two braincells to rub together. He says the boys will have a bit of a gauntlet to run, given basically the whole village has been made into his fortress. Bring on the Resident Evil! The tall Toguro says he already has a few men on security, and the intruders won't get anywhere near them.
As Yusuke and Kuwabara stroll down the drive in FULL view of anyone who looks, they talk about how amazing it is that they're able to reach the mountains after only an hour trip by train and bus. Sure, rub your robust public transportation system right in this American's face. The conversation drifts into how there's plenty of countryside outside the city, but only the rich get to enjoy it much. As if they even LOOK outside for more than half a second at a time. The boys reckon the tire tracks they're following should lead them to the mansion.
Suddenly, Kuwabara yells to the "Lady of the Snow" to be patient, and he's on his way to save her. Yusuke sweatdrops at him hooting and hollering, marveling at how this girl really got into his head, and thinking it's a good thing he didn't see the rest of the message from Koenma. He told Yusuke to pay special attention to that part in fact, because it involves a personal debt he owes; he gives Yusuke Yukina's name (at last) and reveals that she's Hiei's sister. Drama bomb!
They cross paths with a guy in a suit standing in the middle of the road, with sleepy-looking eyes and a protruding smirk. He tells the boys to buzz off, because this is private property. They feed him the lamest motherfucking excuse I've ever seen in my life, and they must realize this, judging by their grimaces as they deliver it: it's late, they missed their train, and they thought they'd be able to stay at the rich douchebag's mansion.
The sentry says there's no chance of that, accompanied by a ripping sound as his suit shreds. Yusuke and Kuwabara gape in shock as he gives them a verbal shrug.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? There's actually quite a bit to this one, considering we have a whole new set of villains, as well as a new victim of them. I very much like Yukina so far; we don't know a ton about her yet, but her resistance to Tarukane for a number of YEARS, developing the ability to shut down so effectively that she doesn't even react to physical harm, is pretty impressive. But more than that, it's a horrible thing to think about, because this is a strategy for resistance that no doubt takes a lot out of her. It HAS taken a lot out of victims in similar situations. Dissociation that hardcore leaves a mark, and all to survive captivity while giving as little to her captor as possible.
Because even though the tall Toguro advised her to learn to cry on demand, I doubt he doesn't know that this isn't a skill issue for her. She's actively REFUSING to produce for her capitalist master. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a better representation of the true core of capitalism in a cartoon before. Tarukane is fabulously wealthy, has multiple homes for multiple seasons, because he has turned LITERAL SUFFERING into profit. It's not a subtle metaphor for the diamond industry by any stretch. And Yukina has been trying this whole time to deny him her labor, deny him her suffering, and deny him access to the product of her body.
Girl is an anticapitalist icon. I LOVE her.
But I have just ONE little issue with how she and the chapter overall is framed. The chapter title highlights Kuwabara's feelings about her, rather than HER situation. HER suffering is framed through Kuwabara's interest in her, which is not the most delicate choice when it comes to how female characters are presented to the reader. It gives the impression that YT didn't think anyone would find her compelling in her own right unless one of his main boys had a crush on her, and that her value in the story is only higher outside of a damsel in distress if she becomes a love interest. Weird, considering she's already displayed a handful of traits that have a lot of potential to stand on their own.
Something else weird: the decision to make the time Yukina has been in captivity so LONG. I wouldn't have gone over a year for this situation, because any longer kind of makes a couple of crucial characters look SERIOUSLY bad. What excuse does Koenma have for sitting on this to that extent? Did Hiei KNOW his own sister was being used and abused by a rich asshole for such an extended period? If he did, why has there been no indication that his motives ran deeper than self-interest this whole time? Yeah, sure, dude doesn't easily let on emotions, but there should have been SOME kind of hint before this point. Was his inaugural scheme part of a wider attempt to break his sister out of her prison?
I hope there's at least a little bit of an answer to this later, because while I know Hiei isn't meant to be a HERO, he is a main protagonist, and I should hope his care for a family member might act as a balancing agent to his sour disposition.
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