YuYu Hakusho Manga: 060 Knife-Edge Sudden Death!!

It's always been a little funny to me that the term "sudden death" in sports has neither been particularly sudden, nor involved actual death. The one in this chapter might just be the first time I've seen the second part of the phrase fulfilled, though. As for the former part, I very much doubt any of this will be sudden. Knife wounds are kind of notorious for being a slow and painful way to die, and even when more vital areas are targeted, expiration can take a minute or two. Faster depending on where a competitor gets hit, sure. Sudden, no. 

Thanks for reiterating the title, Chu. I knew I could count on you.

Instead of giving Yusuke a knife, Chu stabs it straight into the platform below, them turns and does the same with the other one a short distance away. Observing this, Kuwabara wonders aloud what the guy is up to. Chu instructs Yusuke to take his shoes off and put his right heel against one of the knife edges. When Chu does the same, THIS is the result:

I don't LOVE the look of that. 

Chu tells Yusuke that they are now at the border of life and death, and the only rule is to stay within those bounds, the one who falls outside of them paying with their life. Sounds like the only difference between this and the whole tournament in general is just the smaller amount of space. Chu defers to Koto to give the signal for them to begin, and she hesitantly accepts, no doubt wondering how this dude ended up telling her how to do her JOB. 

Yusuke and Chu are smiling at one another, neither looking the least worried or uncomfortable. They appear to BOTH be in their element. Chu clenches a fist all the tighter, reiterating that this is a brawl of sheer physical strength, and he who beats the shit out of the other wins. I really don't think it's complicated enough to need multiple explanations, man. Either fight or make out already!

The next two pages are dedicated to presenting the results of a character popularity contest with little chibi representations of the characters involved - Hiei was the winner. That's not so surprising, but I'm rather surprised at Suzaku getting sixth place over Koenma and Keiko. WTF fans? Suzaku shouldn't have even been on the list, but if he was, HE should have gotten the honorable mention instead of the Toguro brothers. I mean he was several places ahead of the TOGURO BROTHERS. 

There's no accounting for taste, I guess. 

Rinku is super excited, chirping that Chu is unbeaten in knife-edge sudden death, having a surefire edge in hand-to-hand combat. Which, you know, DUH. Kuwabara is clenching his jaw and fists, but remains uncharacteristically silent, Kurama looking worried on his left, and Hiei downcast on his right. Strangely, in the stands, Atsuko is grinning in anticipation, saying that this reminds her of her SALAD days. Uhhhhh, what the FUCK does that mean??? And ma'am, that's your SON down there. Keiko is smiling nervously at her, sweating bullets in response. 

Koenma glares in silence, the "mystery" team member remains as mysterious and quiet as well. The sponsor of Chu's team nervously calls for him to nail Yusuke, since he's got a lot riding on this match, while Sakyo smokes placidly next to him. A couple of shadowed silhouettes hang out in a doorway, ones I'm not sure I'm supposed to recognize. 

Koto calls for Chu and Yusuke to begin. 

Well, at least I don't need a lot of explanation for THIS. 

Chu punches Yusuke squarely in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. His heel presses into the blade behind it and spurts blood. Chu roars and swings again, but Yusuke ducks out of the way.

This brawl turns into a clouds of blurs, cracks and whacks issuing from them. Off the edge of the platform, Kuwabara watches with teeth grinding with tension, mumbling his horror as the insistent sounds of fists connecting with flesh stream from the scene. He laments that they just keep on pounding in their absolute insanity. Hiei silently disagrees, thinking that both competitors are just waiting for an opening. He estimates the ending will be quick. 

Another roar from Chu as he punches Yusuke across the face. Yusuke wobbles backward, teetering on the edge of collapse, his heel spurting yet more blood as it drives farther onto the blade. Kuwabara cries out in protest against this turn, while Chu throws his head back and announces that opening Hiei had suggested. He rams his head down toward Yusuke with a yell for him to take this, and Rinku identifies this as Chu's signature head-butt in excitement, convinced this will end the match. 

Yusuke freezes, watching Chu's face close in on his own, grimacing for impact. 

That guy wasn't even CLOSE to being this much of a meathead. 

Yusuke and Chu remain like that for one heartstopping moment, all onlookers looking various degrees of tense while they wait to see if the battle will continue or one of them will fall. The two competitors glare at one another, but Yusuke's expression looks vastly more ALERT than Chu's. Chu starts to tip over.

Given the cracks spreading out from Chu's forehead, I'd say it's a safe bet that he's down for the count. 

Kuwabara almost looks disgusted as he wonders aloud if Yusuke really LIVED through that. Yusuke is not just alive, but grinning, telling the unconscious Chu that he forgot humans INVENTED the head-butt. Uhhhh, did they? Are we certain about this claim you've pulled straight from your ass, Yusuke? 

Koto dutifully counts out the seconds Chu has been down, and when she reaches eight, Chu's fist clenches. He's still down when she calls out a ten, though, and declares Urameshi the winner of the match. She also announces his team the winner overall, with a score of 3-1. Kuwabara lets out an aggressive celebratory shout, shaming anyone in the audience who might have thought their team would fold at the start, as if HIS wasn't that match at the beginning that might have given the crowd a false impression of weakness. The rest of the team remains silent, much more dignified, but also strangely tense. 

Rinku runs to Chu's side, calling to him, only to remark that he's out like a light. He puzzles over his unconscious teammate, claiming Chu's head is hard as a rock, and wondering aloud how a mortal's skull could knock him out. 

Not trying to yuck your yum, buddy, but... what the fuck? Rinku stutters in the affirmative, thinking that the "combat junkie" label Koto slapped on this guy doesn't BEGIN to cover it - Yusuke defies description according to this kid. 

Meanwhile, the crowd is PISSED. They're characterizing the Jolly Devil Six as bums who were all talk, angry that they had the audience rooting for them. Are these demonic dudes seriously being Tyra Banks right now??

Awkward.

The stadium is buzzing with angry shouts from demanding blood to a refund. With a disgusted look, Kuwabara calls these fickle, fair-weather demon hordes, but Rinku seems to be taking it in stride, saying they should let these cowards who haven't got the nuts to fight themselves vent. This kid is pretty based. 

Not sure about that reaction, though. 

Surrounded by his surly, mute team, Yusuke yells at the crowd that if they want a piece of any of them, they can come on down. He promises to knock every one of their heads in, one-by-one, asking who's first. Kuwabara amends this promise to include the REST of them, but otherwise remains stoic, which is somewhat out of character for him, lol. Though there are grumbles, no one from the stands takes up this generous offer. Rinku seems in awe of this human, Urameshi, the barely conscious Chu whose arm he's holding stares into nothing. 

It's not long before the humans down in the arena are advised not to get cocky, and save their ferocity for the next round. This coming from the cowardly crowd is truly hilarious. The unfamiliar silhouettes in one of the tunnels leading to the stands are watching the commotion. One of them tells his companion, Karasu, that the braggart screaming at the audience is Yusuke Urameshi and they'll be facing him before long. Karasu asks if that's so, and it seems to him...

Ohhhhhhh, it's the Toguros! Don't know about this guy with the mask and tiny glasses, though. 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? There's really not a LOT to say here. Yusuke and Chu's battle narrowed down to just regular fisticuffs, and that doesn't present us with new information about them. We already knew that Yusuke was a bit of a nut for fighting, and it was absolutely something one could infer about Chu based on his bar-brawler affect. I will say that it seems like Yusuke is really energetic here despite draining his aura in the first fight he's done for the tournament, but that's probably just because he had that LONG nap beforehand. Refreshed and ready to go!

I suppose it was a good introduction to the new character up in the last panel, and any new readers who might be happening upon this comic late. The scene where the team was all assembled in one place again was fair too. I imagine these mangaka get pretty decent at reiterating basic biographical and plot information in new ways as time goes on, just enough to keep anyone jumping in at odd times. An interesting skill, to be sure. 

Those demonic spectators don't seem as indiscriminate about their gore as they looked at first. Here I was thinking that they would be gunning for any and all killing, but the FOUR deaths on the Jolly Devils' side isn't satisfying to them at all! Interesting that they were so disappointed that it wasn't the humans in particular splattered all over the ring.