YuYu Hakusho Manga: 003 Time for Departure!!

Wait a minute, I thought the goal was to stick around the living world, but we're leaving? Where to??? I hope it's not back to that crowded office full of bustling ogres directed around by a precocious toddler. Whether to hang out or intern, I feel like Yusuke would just be pissed off being cooped up in there, and that CANNOT be good for the vibe feeding his egg. It would be akin to an act of sabotage, because there's no possible way Koenma could not predict the massive attitude Yusuke would cop when forced to hang with him in the spirit realm. 

Yeah, I just hope wherever the destination is, it's somewhere CHILL. 

I mean, I guess he IS sleeping. NOW. 

Atsuko, strangely nose-less, chuckles that the doctor's baffled and says it shouldn't be possible, but here Yusuke is, sure enough. NOT in a hospital. According to Atsuko, for all the doctor could tell, Yusuke IS just sleeping and he could wake up at any time, but apparently it's also possible that Yusuke will just stay like this and not wake up ever again. Yeah, did the doctor happen to also advise you to put Yusuke in a medical facility to make sure he's able to get nutrients and fluids while he's in this Sleeping Beauty phase, so he doesn't STARVE to death in the interim?? No word on that - Atsuko just talks about how she BELIEVES her son will wake up, she KNOWS he will, mentioning that he did after all make the effort to visit Keiko in her dreams while his mom was completely trashed. 

Keiko is silent for a moment, before she starts to express doubt that it was a genuine message from Yusuke, admitting that it COULD have just been a dream. But Atsuko says that it was too much of a coincidence that Keiko was told in her "dream" to look for the evidence that she just happened to stumble upon at the same time. Keiko still looks a little doubtful, but she agrees after a pause. As she leaves the house, Yusuke floats with Botan behind her, a bit miffed. He's annoyed that she's questioning his personal message to her, and says that he might just have to visit her again to make the reality of his presence sink in. 

Botan asks if he'll have his "last words" ready for this communication he's talking about, and he begins to confirm that he'll make a believer of her yet, but as Botan gives him an affirmation and begins scribbling in a notebook, the phrase "last words" finally hits him with full force and he has to ask her to repeat herself. 

The inference of what you actually DID say might be enough to stop a weakly beating heart regardless, Botan.

Yusuke questions this sudden reference to "rules" and Botan confirms in a huff that he's not allowed to continuously communicate with people he's close to while he's taking the test, but this rule isn't effective until tomorrow. Yusuke's attitude is palpable when he suggests to Botan that she bring up these little details SOONER, but she's dismissive. She thinks (with some smugness) that she knows how he works now, and he wouldn't have gotten around to this until the last minute anyway. Suuuuure, I totes believe that this wasn't just a contrived rule made up at the last minute to impose some tension on the plot...

Yusuke asks how he should go about the message this time, asking if he should just wait until Keiko is asleep again. Botan says she doesn't see much sense in it, considering Keiko might just think it was a dream again. She suggests instead that this time around, he BORROW SOMEONE'S BODY to actually talk to her. She even does it with a little grin, as if possession isn't an ethical nightmare for someone in Yusuke's position. Yusuke, of course, doesn't see any red flags with this, even reiterating what Botan is suggesting to show that he follows, and even asks if it could be ANYONE. Botan tells him no, that the rules again dictate some strict perimeters, and asks Yusuke if he knows anyone who has a really strong sixth sense. Yusuke sweatdrops as he considers the question. 

This is a PERFECT reaction picture. I can just see the versatility.

Kuwabara's friends turn to regard him when they notice that he's stopped in his tracks and they're leaving him behind, asking him what's up. He tells them that he feels a chill, to which one of them inquires incredulously if he's caught a cold, but another of his small gang asks if it's THAT again. Quivering and shaking from that chill apparently still passing through him, Kuwabara answers in the affirmative, stating that nothing good ever happens when he feels like this. He lists all the things that he's experienced - will-o'-the-wisps, sleep paralysis, getting chased by ghosts - all of which are recreated in his imagination in... less-than-terrifying detail. The first friend simply says he doesn't get it, but the second whispers to him that Kuwabara has a really intense sixth sense, and receives an exclamation of disbelief in response. 

There's more disbelief from the Yusuke hovering nearby, but it's more the kind of "is this some sort of joke" disbelief. He mutters about how this is really TOO much, and as if in response, Kuwabara proclaims in all seriousness that he feels a ghost behind him right this very moment, which is of course a mildly annoyed Yusuke. When Kuwabara suggests that the ghost he's feeling is probably one of a lower life form like a racoon or monkey, Yusuke lashes out and tries to punch him in the back of the head, which of course doesn't work. 

Yusuke turns to Botan to complain about the prospect of taking over the body of this goon, but Botan tells him that she didn't say he HAD to do it. True, it was just an idea, and one that it seems Yusuke was kind of depending upon. He growls in frustration at Botan, who after a pause asks in a chipper tone if he's gonna go for it. Kuwabara freezes unnaturally, his friends wondering what's going on with him now, but he's completely unresponsive to all of their concerned questions. Botan tells Yusuke that he can go on in now, but he only has about 30 minutes as she holds up three fingers, because it's all Kuwabara's body will be able to take. Yusuke looks over at the sinking sun and estimates he'll have until about sunset then. 

Me when I'm daydreaming but I suddenly hear my name in a Zoom meeting. 

Kuwabara's head turns side to side, where his friends hum in confusion and suppose he's back, they guess. All of a sudden, Kuwabara BOLTS, sprinting off while one of his friends calls out to him in utter confusion, and Yusuke from within thinks that she should be home right about now. No points for guessing who "she" is, of course. 

Cut to where Kuwabara('s body) is running up alongside the fence outside a building with a big placard on the outside written on in kanji, so I'm rather useless in reading it. But, when Kuwabara('s body) bursts in calling for Mr. and Mrs. Yukimura to ask if Keiko is there, a guy in the background almost chokes on the ramen he's slurping from his bowl, so it must be a ramen shop. The Mr. and Mrs. referred to sweatdrop at the unknown young man who has barged in, asking who he is after a moment of bewildered silence. Kuwabara('s mouth) says he's in a hurry, and again expresses his urgent need to know where Keiko is, and her mother hesitantly answers that she's not at home, and is out shopping. Her father asks the unknown boy if he's a friend of Keiko's from school, and Kuwabara('s mouth) replies in a hurry that yes, he's Yusuke Urameshi, and he wants to know what STORE Keiko's at. 

The name he gives at first receives a dumbfounded pause, and after that Keiko's father is up and shaking a whole-ass MEAT CLEAVER in Kuwabara's face, telling the greasy thug to hold it. Before long, Yusuke has Kuwabara high-tailing it out of there as both Keiko's mother and cleaver-wielding father chase him from the shop, yelling about the audacity of trying to pass his ugly self off as Yusuke, the boy who has passed from the world, something they think is an awfully insensitive trick to play. They are throwing knives and china at Kuwabara while Yusuke insists that it's not what it looks like, although he also acknowledges he doesn't have time to explain. 

Shortly, he's back on the street and looking around in desperation, wondering aloud if he's going to have to search every store in exasperation. You really should have thought a moment about what name you were going to use there, bud. A figure shuffles up to him with a sarcastic little surprised remark, and a guy who is very unremarkable looking compared to the strange gang-members hanging out behind him identifies Kuwabara as coming from Sarayashiki High School, and someone who's apparently been raising a lot of hell lately? If by "raising hell" they mean "wailing about the death of a dude he had a very complicated relationship with". 

Kuwabara('s mouth) says that he's NOT Kuwabara right now, and demands that this nameless thug get out of his way. The nameless thug tries to be intimidating by cocking his head in Kuwabara's face and saying he shouldn't be like that, because he might have to get his teeth knocked in. 

And that about does it for him. And two other groups of hooligans apparently - the next panel carries a label of "Three Fights Later", Kuwabara('s body) looking left and right while Yusuke complains about the waste of his time, and how Kuwabara hasn't been particularly choosy about his fights. As if HE'S one to talk. He spots the tall blonde girl and the bespectacled one that hang with Keiko some distance away, laughing together, and is stoked that he's finally found a lead to Keiko's whereabouts. The girls look over curiously when he calls out to them, then scream and run in terror when he comes running at them. He's frustrated once again, demanding that they not run away and asking what's wrong with them, because he hasn't seen the absolute MESS Kuwabara's face has become during the last few scuffles.

Kuwabara('s face) glares after the cloud of dust the girls left behind in their flight, growling. Yusuke notices the sun has sunk about halfway down the horizon, and curses that it's just no use, because even in the even he finds Keiko, there won't be any time to explain, let alone in a convincing way. Just as he gets done internally despairing of finding her, he hears a familiar voice wondering aloud where "they" went in a bewildered way behind him. Kuwabara('s body) turns to see Keiko looking puzzled, and in a TERRIBLE cardigan, no less. 

As Kuwabara sweatdrops, Yusuke is suddenly struck by the fact that he hadn't really thought about HOW he was going to convince Keiko it's him when he looks like someone else. The sun is pretty much set, and Yusuke knows his time is pretty much up, so he desperately tries to think of a way to clue Keiko in fast. 

Coincidentally, behind Kuwabara, a man sneaks up behind a woman he knows and covers her eyes, playfully asking her to guess who he is, and she guesses correctly. It's precisely the idea Yusuke needed, and he directs Kuwabara through the public crowd to position him behind Keiko, thinking it's the only way, that she knows he's the only one who could possibly have the AUDACITY. Oh boy. I think I know where THIS is going, and I'm pretty pissed about it, to be honest.

Indeed, Kuwabara('s voice) calls to Keiko to guess who, and reaches around under her arms to squeeze her breasts. Keiko is ALSO very pissed, growls, and swings around, yelling. 

That's one hell of a reflex you Pavloved her into, Yusuke. 

When the red fades from Keiko's eyes, she is alarmed to find that she has smacked the shit out of someone other than the boy she should be aware is lying in his mother's house in a coma. It's real confusing. She stutters that it wasn't, but from Kuwabara's mouth, Yusuke chuckles dumbly that it is, in fact, him.

REAL CONFUSING.

Keiko is still haltingly asking if it's actually Yusuke in the next panel, so Yusuke points Kuwabara's finger at her and insists that it really is. I'm not sure if the boy he's in is shaking because of his strong emotion or if he's just fighting to stay in there at this point. He tells Keiko all about the kitchen knives he's dodged and all the fights (feuds that belong to another guy entirely) he got into to find her, so the least she could do is believe him. Keiko asks how she COULDN'T believe it's him, given that only HE could dare to be as big of a jerk as he just was. She also silently clocks the way he talks and his gestures to identify him, as Kuwabara('s finger) scratches nervously at his cheek and sweatdrops. Keiko starts to tear up, realizing that all these things point straight to the Yusuke she knows.

Kuwabara('s face) balks, and Yusuke holds up his hands in a gesture of discouragement, telling her to hold the waterworks until after he's gone. Keiko starts to question WHY he's... here, I suppose, and Yusuke hurriedly spits it's all the rules, for all the sense they make, that required him to use this guy's body or nothing else, then he starts panicking all the more at the sun's position being almost fully sunk below the horizon. He curses that he's got no time to explain, so Keiko's next question is if he's going somewhere. 

Yusuke begins by saying that of course he has to leave this body that's not his, to start, and then he's not allowed to talk to anyone he's close to, her and his mother, until he's back in his OWN body. He admits that he's just here now, behind Kuwabara's face, to emphasize what he already told her in her dream.

Keiko lets her tears flow now, agreeing to always wait for him. We get a zoomed-out view of her standing close in front of Kuwabara, indicating what the next panel confirms with Yusuke's spirit sitting in the sky above the scene, looking down at it with a distracted expression. Botan has appeared too, asking if he's all done, and he says he is after a short questioning hum. She says cheerfully that's it, and the rest is up to him now. 

Yusuke firmly responds that the promise he made to Keiko is one he's going to keep. He raises a fist and states that if he can come back to life, he could also start over and swear off all his vices, a resolution that has Botan staring in surprised silence for a moment.

Another link in the chain of confusion has been forged. 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? On a level, this little rule that Botan drops on Yusuke makes some sense. When you're taking a test, there are always certain guidelines about what resources you can use while you're taking it. I can easily see how having unlimited contact with your loved-ones might be a little bit of a cheat for Yusuke, if he can so easily seek advice or prioritize focusing on their issues over those of strangers. Besides, spending all his time poking in on Keiko's dreams might be too great a distraction for Yusuke, whose first concern should be putting good vibes into that egg of his. 

But Botan not telling him until the last possible moment, making the excuse that he wouldn't have done anything with the information until then anyway, smacks of the author realizing a bit late that the character's trial needs some restrictions to be interesting and meaningful - specifically restrictions that will keep him from hovering too close to his mom and girlfriend. I don't think the beginning of this chapter was necessarily a terrible place to inform the AUDIENCE, but if it were me, I might have implied that Botan told Yusuke before, but he wasn't really paying attention at the time, so she had to put the fear of God in him by referring to the whole ritual as "final words" this time, so to speak. 

I thought giving Kuwabara some extrasensory perception powers added a little more dimension to him in the interest of contrast. It was clear from how he reacted to Yusuke's death that he was emotionally far more sensitive than you might have expected, but sensitivity to the supernatural/spirit realm helps to define him as more of an ally. After all, Yusuke said in this chapter that he's not able to communicate with Atsuko and Keiko, and there doesn't seem to be much of a reason why he couldn't communicate with the sensitive Kuwabara - they weren't depicted as particularly close before Yusuke's death, and Kuwabara's meltdown at the funeral kind of indicated a one-sided idealization to the rivalry. 

It's very touching the lengths Yusuke went to to ensure that Keiko was reassured that he would be returning, sooner or later. He acted like he was annoyed when she started to express doubt that her dream was a real message from him, but there wasn't nearly that level of irritation when he actually got in front of her. In fact, he expressed much more enjoyment at being able to speak to her directly, and any anxiety he was showing seemed to be more about the time-crunch than anything. Since he doesn't say anything to the effect, and there have been no incidents in that vein, I very much doubt he's particularly worried that she'll become interested in or be approached by another guy. His actions do seem to be driven purely by the fact that he hates seeing her upset and worried, especially over him.

But I suppose it doesn't hurt that she might spurn any outside advances until he gets back now. ;)

Inuyasha Manga: 302 Princess Abi

Royalty is a crappy concept to begin with, but divine right with the added ability to control blood-sucking pterodactyls? That's a true menace. It's bad enough when people with an inflated sense of their own importance are given control of the finances and well-being of entire empires. Those guys ALREADY dole out some serious injustices based mostly on whim. Nobody needs a jerkwad feeding their population to a hungry pets too. 

Come to think of it, that must have happened at least a couple of times in actual human history, which just makes me sad.

I swear, the Inuyasha group comes across a village that has been wiped out in some fucked-up way every other chapter now. This is wildly unsustainable.

As Inuyasha and his friends stare at this scene with varying degrees of alarm and sadness, Inuyasha reiterates that this is not the first time they've seen this, and Kagome gasps that this is cruel. More like exceedingly WEIRD - my first thought upon finding a bunch of people spontaneously mummified despite being fully exposed to normal decomposition conditions doesn't suggest malice so much as a freak localized event. But, then again, I don't live in a world with an abundance of demonic forces. At least, none that manifest in this manner.

Miroku and Sango kneel next to one of the bodies and Miroku confirms it's drained of all blood, just as they all expected. Sango suggests that this is the work of youkai, and Inuyasha agrees, saying that some nasty fucking thing has gone absolutely bonkers while they were dicking around in the fire country. What a shame they missed the new Naraku puppet dancing onto the stage.

Narrow blank transition panel. We cut to that "nasty thing" Inuyasha was referring to: Princess Abi sitting on a small outcrop of rock jutting out from a wider gentle cliff side, right next to a gaping cave. She's addressing Naraku, who hovers out in front of her in his bubble, barely bothering to confirm his name before she asks what's in it for her if she helps him with her particular powers. Naraku in turn asks her what she's using her "birds" to collect massive amounts of human blood for. 

Cue the insensitive "yo mama" jokes. 

Naraku just asserts that this mother of Abi's is dying, but Abi counters with a statement that her mother is NOT dying. She just ate a poisonous youkai and diluting the poison with human blood. Uh, not how that works, but sure. Naraku, in his infinite arrogance, encourages Abi to continue collecting all that human blood so Mommy Dearest can get well soon, and promises to make it possible for her to gather even more blood if she helps him out, making it so no one else can get in the way of this important work. 

As he says so, a branched tendril folds out from his back and he slashes in her direction with it, his expression blank. Abi catches what looks like a long pole as it's about to pass over her head.

Uhhh, bro? You still haven't mentioned HOW she's supposed to help you out with her powers?

Nah, he just fucks off, disappearing into the sky with a trail of weird flesh/miasma in his wake. Abi scoffs that he's a fishy guy, staring into the sky after him, when her mother suggests that they can use him. Abi looks over her shoulder at the cave, from which her mother croaks that Naraku has a powerful youki, but he's a hanyou. Ah, the root of like 90% of the mistakes made concerning this guy. Abi says she noticed the hanyou thing, and her mother tells her it's not a problem, since they can just suck him dry if he makes any funny moves. Ew, the innuendo there is giving me the ick. Abi agrees, but she resolves to get all the blood she can first. Yeah, why worry about what this suspicious guy benefits from you taking this precise course of action, especially when he so carefully avoided saying so? 

Cut to a village that is NOT decimated for a change! Hooray! We zero in on a particular house in which people are presumably discussing the nearby villages having been attacked by youkai, and if their village is likely to be next on the list. 

So, Miroku would prefer to just LIE to them about the odds? That's politician shit, dude.

Miroku asks the men they're speaking to not to worry, since THEY'LL slay the youkai, and the men are practically overjoyed with the prospect of these teenage strangers killing the incoming horde for them, but no one criticizes MIROKU for inflating their hope in a situation literally NONE of them have faced before. Thankfully, he's still liable to get a Hiraikotsu to the back of his head when he suggests that the only payment for protecting the village is food, beds, and a couple of pretty girls. Sango gives him a chance to repeat this tasteless request, and he says it was a joke. Kagome flatly says that he doesn't have to say that shit out loud, and the village men finally begin to question if they should leave the safety of their village in the hands of these weirdos. Odd place to draw the line, guys.

Inuyasha's dog ears twitch at a screeching noise outside. He stands and states that they're here, Miroku agreeing, and the village men make nervous noises. Too late to rethink this whole teenage demon-vanquishing team deal.

Why do people keep calling these BIRDS? They look nothing like birds!

Whatever the fuck they are, Inuyasha scoffs that they REEK of human blood, and lets loose an all-time-classic Kaze no Kizu on the flock, tearing at least the first wave of them apart. As the tattered remains of them fall out of the sky, the Inuyasha crew can see a fresh wave on the way down, Kagome announcing the obvious fact that more are coming.

Suddenly, a glow starts to emit from the oncoming flock, and upon closer examination, it's clear that flames are flickering over the skin of the creatures. Shippou stutters that they're burning as they start landing on the VERY FLAMMABLE roofs of the village dwellings.

So much for staying inside and away from these monsters...

A group of non-flaming hot "birds" descend upon an old man and a little boy, the latter of which bawls in terror, before Inuyasha smacks the foremost creature with Tessaiga at the last moment. He comes pretty close to hitting the poor almost-victims as well, honestly. Sango rushes forward with Hiraikotsu raised, shouting that the villagers are being forced from their homes to be attacked, which... more DUH moments, but whatevz. She takes out several "birds" with a sweep of her giant boomerang. Another wave descends, and Miroku complains what a pain all this is as he rips his sealing beads off his right hand and points the Kazaana at the offending flying menace. And they say INUYASHA is unfairly annoyed when he has to help people, lol.

He vacuums up a few of the "birds" when another cloud of entirely different flying menace comes up behind the creatures in their support, but it's one they're all familiar with. Saimyoushou buzz for Miroku, identified in alarm by Kagome as she pauses in drawing her bow, and Shippou hangs off Miroku's shoulder to shrilly warn him that he's got to put his Kazaana away lest he be poisoned. Miroku is already groaning in frustration and wrapping the beads back around his hand. 

Inuyasha gapes up at the sky in shock, faced now with the commander of this composite flying army.

I love that she gave the spear to one of her "birds" and it's awkwardly holding it in its beak like it has no idea what to do with it, lol!

Inuyasha asks who the hell she is like he's a stop-motion Barbie doll fighting over bathroom turf, suggesting that she's an agent of Naraku. I guess Abi tries to play dumb by parroting Naraku's name back at Inuyasha in the form of a question, so Inuyasha adds that the presence of the Saimyoushou are the best proof. Abi says she doesn't care about them, she didn't call them, and admits she has no idea wheat happened between the plucky band of adventurers below and Naraku, but she's a bit cross that they killed her "birds". 

Just a bit cross.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Abi is turning out to be shockingly credulous and incurious. This could be chalked up to worry over her mother and the time-sensitive issue of getting her better making her a bit single-minded, but she seemed plenty relaxed when she was talking to Naraku earlier in the chapter. There's the implication with her multiple ellipses that she wants to remain tight-lipped due to distrust, but she shows Naraku all her cards anyway, corrects him to insist that her mother is getting better, and is a little too receptive to the idea that she can gather a ton more blood with his help. She asks virtually NO QUESTIONS before Naraku leaves her with a new weapon, not even when she comes across people who seem to know and hate Naraku. I would be just a LITTLE curious to know why there's a whole group of the buggers that seem to hate the guy I just teamed up with, but she just shows ZERO interest, even where her own alliances sit. 

It doesn't even read as arrogance as much as just plain stupidity. She's absolutely spoiled for choice and hasn't even been successfully challenged in her efforts to collect blood yet. What POSSIBLE reason could she have for teaming up with Naraku at this point? It doesn't make any sense. At least the villagers were DESPERATE and it was believable that they would rely on a group of barely pubescent little nerds to help them out because they had no other choice. Abi is just going along with Naraku because... the plot demands it, I guess.

I'm pleased with how that strange mottled glove ended up useful at the end of the chapter and turned into talons, because I was quite perplexed by its purpose in her design in the last chapter, but everything else about her is one-dimensional and frustrating in its simplicity. Frankly, it should be HARDER for Naraku to convince potential allies to team up with him at this point; he should be struggling to convince people it's worth it, and it would have spruced up his evil shtick just a tad if his reputation of betrayal and manipulation were starting to catch up with him. One of the frustrations people have with Naraku is that he tends to use the same tricks over and over, and in the course of a 500+ chapter story, that starts to get repetitive, so it would have been somewhat refreshing for him to have to adapt as well.

But the gods forbid we see new challenges arise from Naraku's repeated bad faith. That would make things a little interesting, and we can't have that. No, just stick a cardboard cut-out of a character in there for Naraku to use and throw away like he always does, because RT couldn't be bothered to use her one of her more notable talents and make Abi a believable person. Seriously, was she sick when this arc started, because I can't think how else she would fail to work her characterization magic on a more interesting-looking character. 

Disappointing.

YuYu Hakusho Manga: 002 Test for Resurrection!!

How about that! I would often make fun of the multiple exclamation marks in the Yu-Gi-Oh chapter titles, and I didn't think I would miss them, but this title really hit me with that nostalgia bug for when I was riffing off them. What a strange thing to strike me! But I suppose it's the little things that you end up remembering with the most fondness. Nevertheless, it is rather strange that I should be reminded so strongly of the manga I've only just finished a few months ago by one so VERY different in tone and content. It's a very odd feeling, like it's been forever and a moment ago all at once. How does time work?

Uh-oh, that "however" is looking a little ominous...

In the next panel, Yusuke has one hand in his pocket as though he's trying to act casual while his other hand has gripped the end of Botan's flying oar, dragging him along behind her as she flies off. He asks where they're going now, and she tells him they're going to the Afterlife. I thought they were specifically trying to set up a test so he WOULDN'T go there, but whatevz. Botan tells him they're going to meet the person there who will explain the test to him. Yusuke raises an irritated fist, which I guess he didn't need to use to hang onto Botan's oar in the first place, and argues that if this guy wants to talk to him so badly then he should meet Yusuke where he's at. He asks who this armchair test proctor is anyway, and Botan answers that it's King Enma, the Lord of Hell (TM). Through nervous clenched teeth, Yusuke begins to protest, but Botan has already twisted in her seat to warn Mr. Rude behind her that he'd better be nice, or the king might just forget all about the test and drop him straight into Hell. 

Yusuke is so THRILLED about this prospect that he tries to fly the other way again, suggesting that they just forget the whole thing then and he can just go home. Botan grabs him by his sleeve to restrain him as they enter a growing spiral of clouds, demanding that he stop being an idiot, pointing out the entrance to the afterlife, and telling him to hang on. 

It really does look like it goes from here to eternity. 

They end up on a raised path, sheer on both sides and looking like it's a cliff path with all of the excess carved away underneath, leading in snake-like curves up to a massive outer wall and gate with a pagoda roof topping the central pillar. Yusuke marvels at how big this place appears, Botan calling to whatever guards there may be that it's her and they're coming in. She must have her own key. Meanwhile, Yusuke is considering this King Enma guy (introduced as the dude who judges mortals and sends them to either Heaven or Hell in Japanese mythology), imagining him as a big, bearded, burly man with lower fangs jutting out from his broad jaw, and supposes that he'd be screwed if he tried to fight him. Or, at least, this is his initial thought, until he starts strategizing; he begins to put together a possible plan of landing a quick jab on his mug, then pull a sleeper hold while he's stunned. 

Yes, Yusuke really IS planning to fight GOD right now. He even rounds out his strategy with the idea that he can use his left hand to grab King Enma's TESTICLES to hold him helpless, stroking his chin in malevolent glee. I'm not sure how much of this Botan overhears or understands, but it's enough that her eyes are wide when she turns around and asks him what he's mumbling about behind her. 

When she reaches a door, there's a keypad/call button next to it, and she presses it to announce that she's brought in Yusuke Urameshi, immediately receiving a response to come in. The moment the door cracks open for their entry, there's a cacophony of noise, tapping, stomping, ringing, rumbling, and shouting, which just gets louder when Yusuke and Botan step inside. They have walked straight into what looks like a busy crowd of ogres, horns and teeth and pointed ears galore, scrambling this way and that. They yell at each other about "Gen on block two in critical condition", "he's early??", and giving each other rushed directions. Yusuke asks in alarm if this is some sort of stock exchange, then looks around when someone answers with a suggestion that it's quite a sight. Yusuke is bewildered by what he sees, while Botan snaps to attention and greets His Majesty with deference. 

Talk about defying expectations.

Yusuke has a hearty laugh at the small child who has greeted him, and when Botan asks what he's giggling about, Yusuke points at what he calls a "shrimpboat" to ask if that's really Enma. He says that he was really freaking out about meeting this king of theirs, only to be in disbelief that this is all there is to the guy. With a supremely annoyed expression (sweatdrop and popping vein combined), the small toddler says that he's actually King Enma JR., which should have been obvious by the label on his hat. He informs Yusuke that he's called Koenma by some so-called wits, but he's also 50 times older than the bad-tempered teen, and so warns him not to get too uppity. Immediately, Yusuke smarms that Koenma looks like he's barely out of diapers and earns a smack to the back of the head from Botan for it, but he doesn't seem to react at all. 

Koenma demands to be revered and bowed down to, but an ogre drops stacks of paper on the desk for him to sign, interrupting his attempt at intimidation. He sighs and complains that it never ends, then draws his guests' attention back to the fact that they're busy as HELL down here, heh, so he's going to get to the point. Koenma reaches into a pocket, and pulls something out to show Yusuke and Botan, introducing it as the test Yusuke must face.

But we don't get to see it.

Wow, this comic can stop on a DIME, can't it? Ouch. Whiplash.

Keiko's friends watch her walk away from them in awkward silence, her posture not exactly reflecting cheer. The bespectacled one eventually says that Keiko puts on a good act, and the tall blonde agrees, commenting on how long Keiko and Yusuke had been friends and how suddenly the guy had died. They seem to have had a change of perspective on the two of them since we first saw them in the last chapter. At the very least their opinions seem to have softened on Yusuke.

Meanwhile, Keiko is dwelling HARD on the last thing she said to Yusuke as he teetered away from her after she slapped him: "Just die, why don't you". Yeah, that would stick in my head like glue too. She goes somewhere that she's thanked for stopping by, and she responds with an affirmative and promise that she'll be back tomorrow. Yusuke's mother Atsuko stands outside the door and advises Keiko to stay strong, and observes the girl brightly, TOO brightly, state that she will and wish her good night, only to slouch in her grief again as she's walking away. 

Back inside the house, Atsuko clinks some ice cubes around in her tumbler glass, telling the absent Yusuke that Keiko is really heartbroken. She takes a sip from the glass and jabs a finger at Yusuke's picture, calling him a charmer fondly. I'M NOT CRYING, YOU'RE CRYING. Atsuko tries to recall the last time she saw Keiko like that, and remembers a time some years ago in the dead of winter when Yusuke fell in a river and came down with a fever. 

Flashback to a littler Yusuke bundled under a blanket on a futon with a steaming towel on his head, a bead of snot poking out of his nose and a frustrated, furious expression on his face. He coughs while Atsuko and Keiko sit by his side, the former good-naturedly calling her son an idiot. Keiko sniffs, a tear in her eye, and Atsuko tells her not to worry, advising her to go home before it gets dark. The little girl shakes her head vigorously, intending to stay until Yusuke's fever breaks, because she blames herself for Yusuke falling the the river in the first place. 

So he's always been a little pervert, huh?

Atsuko is seeing mini-Keiko out, assuring her that mini-Yuksuke will be fine by the next day. Keiko doesn't seem super sure, but she's going home as instructed, while Yusuke lays there with his steaming forehead and snotty nostrils, looking absolutely miserable. Indeed, the next day, Atsuko asks Yusuke if he's SURE he wants to go to school, since he's still burning up. She complains that he usually takes ANY excuse to skip school, so it's kind of unusual that he would be so insistent. He's flushed and has ropes of snot hanging from his nose as he tells his mother that if he stays home, Keiko will just stop by like the previous day. Atsuko gives him a bewildered look, and he further explains that he doesn't want to see THAT LOOK on Keiko's face again. 

Keiko meets them at the door while Atsuko continues to give her son a wide-eyed stare and he greets her simply. She seems very happy that he's up and about, asking if he's feeling better, and he lies that he's good as new, snot ropes swinging. Atsuko watches them turn to go, Keiko stating firmly that she won't waste her time worrying anymore and Yusuke muttering that she's asking for him sticking a snotty finger in her hair while her back is turned (his forefinger is poised and ready in one of the snot ropes for the task). His mother chuckles in amusement at how macho he's behaving despite how small he is. Hopefully she's referring to his powering through an illness so as not to worry his little girlfriend and NOT his tendency to exact petty revenge on said girlfriend when she states her intentions to just that end. They might be two sides of the same toxic masculine coin, though. 

In the present day, Atsuko sniffles into her hand, still talking to her dearly departed son; she says Keiko isn't just SAD this time, but DEVASTATED. She's certain that nothing would bring Keiko more joy now than for Yusuke to reappear to pull one of his nasty little pranks on her. Atsuko asks the gone Yusuke how he could DO this to Keiko, then leans on the table in front of her, sobbing. A soft thumping sound comes from inside Yusuke's coffin. 

Meanwhile, back in the afterworld...

Well, probably not going to get an Easter chick from it. 

Koenma says that it's the Spirit World beast egg. He tells Yusuke that he doesn't have to sit on the thing or anything, but he does have to keep it with him at all times. When Yusuke asks how long it takes to hatch, Koenma elicits an outburst of disbelief from Yusuke by casually stating that it USUALLY takes about 120 years. Yeah, that would probably defeat the entire purpose of the thing, for sure. Koenma tells him to relax, that his is a SPECIAL case, so he should have a little patience. Later, as Yusuke and Botan are hanging out in the sky above the mortal world, the former tossing the egg up and down to the latter's silent distress, Koenma's final words that Yusuke's heart has already started beating and it's up to Yusuke how his soul returns to his body hang over them.

Yusuke incredulously repeats the summary of his situation, that he comes back to life when the animal hatches from the egg, then turns to Botan to tell her he doesn't get it, and doesn't see how this is much of a TEST. He asks her if she knows, and she responds a little TOO quickly that she has no idea. 

Oh the dramatic irony. 

Koenma further explained that being a ghost, Yusuke is pure human soul, so that's the reason the beast will develop quickly, and it won't be long before the creature emerges to show them precisely where they are. Botan asked if Yusuke won't be let back into his body if the beast comes out a monster, but Koenma said that he'll let Yusuke reclaim his body, so that's what will happen. But Koenma did speculate that both Yusuke and his body would probz be made a quick meal by the monster in that scenario. Devoured by one's own son - like the opposite of Saturn. 

As present Botan thinks nervously that they'll just have to see what happens, Yusuke smacks a fist into his other palm, remembering something pretty important: if nobody knows his heart has started beating again, they'll just go ahead and cremate him the next day. A worthy thing to be anxious about, but he knows so little of the real depth of his problems... Yusuke asks if he can tell someone living about the situation, and Botan tells him it's indeed possible.

Sounds... EASY?

Cut back to Atsuko's place, and a bottle shattering a window. She's sitting there yelling at her deceased son for being an idiot, being such a tough guy and a bad-ass, and then promptly dying in traffic. She calls this a wimp's death and yells that she didn't raise no wimp, all as she's banging yet ANOTHER booze bottle on the little altar like a drumming primate. Hoo, boy, she is just TEARING through those stages of grief. 

While Atsuko mumbles into another glass of alcohol that he's a moron, Yusuke's spirit floats behind her with the flat assessment that it's no good. Botan asks why, because she's pretty sure that in this state, Atsuko will pass out any minute, but Yusuke informs her that his mother once went on like this for three days straight, and he's betting that she's going for a new record at this rate. Sheesh, hate to know what set her on the three-day bender before. Must have been one hell of a breakup. 

Yusuke admits that he doesn't like it, but he's starting to think that Keiko might be his only shot. He zooms on over to her place, which he muses on not having been at in a while, sticking his head in through a large window into a narrow bedroom. Inside are a neatly organized desk, some stuffed animals, and a bed in which Keiko is slumbering. Yusuke is in some awe at how much cutesier her room has gotten since he was last there, even if he considers her to have gone the mean and nasty route, glaring at her sleeping form in the bed. 

Suddenly, in the dim light of her room, he's struck by the sight of a tear rolling down her cheek. Once again, he seems bewildered by the fact that she's CRYING. In the haze of her dreams, she's apologizing to him.

Guilt is a helluva thing, I gotta say.

Keiko is laying there slumbering in despair when a weight compresses her on her bedspread and she hums in discomfort. It's Yusuke's spirit, sitting cross-legged on her abdomen, strangely NOT lighter than air like he has been so far, and glaring down at her with his signature annoyance. Keiko mumbles in her sleep while Yusuke tells her how it is - that she's getting all depressed over nothing, that he's not fragile enough to be killed by words, that his soul has got business in the afterlife but he's coming back after that and if she needs proof of that, she should open his casket and listen to his heart. Keiko murmurs some more, and Yusuke adds that she should tell his boozy mom that he's actually alive. Supposing awkwardly that this is all he wanted to tell her, he reiterates gently that she should get a grip, because it'll all be okay. 

I was wondering why Botan wasn't around, but this explains it. Yusuke would NEVER live this romantic gesture down. 

Keiko sits bolt upright in bed, calling Yusuke's name, and spends a moment in confused silence as she fully regains her lucidity. She lifts a trembling hand to touch her cheek where Yusuke had wiped away her tears in her dream and finds that they've been wiped away for real. Don't know why that couldn't have just been the pillow, but who am I to suggest alternatives to a grieving girl? Keiko decides that it wasn't just a dream, and next we see her, she's run all the way to Atsuko's place in the middle of the night, calling for her to open up. 

When Atsuko has made it to the door, she seems pretty shell-shocked, saying Keiko's name as if she doesn't quite believe it's her. Keiko says Atsuko isn't going to believe this, but tries to get it out anyway that she saw Yusuke, her words all coming out in a jumble. Atsuko hears Yusuke's name in there and points over her own shoulder into the house, maintaining that expression of pure wide-eyed shock. Keiko asks her what's wrong, and Atsuko stutters that she opened her son's casket to bop him on his stupid head one last time, and saw there was color in his face. Keiko gapes in blank awe as Atsuko adds that she heard Yusuke's heart beating. Tearfully, Atsuko declares that Yusuke is alive. 

Hospital? Hospital.

Yusuke looks on the touching scene thoughtfully, expressing some amazement that they're glad he's actually alive. He admits that he can't say when he'll revive entirely yet, almost apologetically. Then, as if out of reflex against the discomfort of seeing his mother and Keiko so vulnerably happy that he's alive, he says it might be funny for him to break the egg on purpose so he fails his test and never returns to life. Botan is less than amused, sarcastically pondering the word "funny" and wondering if he's going to pass this test.

Basically just a clone of Yusuke, then? 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Koenma is a fun character, especially in opposition to Yusuke, who of course CAN'T bring himself to respect let alone revere someone who looks like a literal baby. It immediately brings down Yusuke's guard, makes it hard for him to take this seriously, but also serves the purpose of taking the fight out of him. He was SO READY to actually fight the ruler of the afterlife because that's how he's used to handling conflict with people who are a threat to him - but a toddler isn't a threat. It puts him in a much more relaxed frame of mind when he feels like he's not grappling for dominance over his soul, which will inevitably put him in a more relaxed frame of mind over his test. That could either be a help or a hindrance, depending on how he feels about behaving with something as fragile as an egg in his pocket, so we'll just have to see how this goes. 

The full nature of egg test itself was made known to Yusuke in the anime as far as I remember. I'm not sure exactly which I prefer, because I think both paths of the narrative have a bit of value. If he knows, that adds pressure for him to be on his best behavior, which he can try to improve consciously to have a genuine shot at EARNING his way back to his body, a little like with one of my other favorite shows, "The Good Place" (which I had to start watching again because reacquainting myself with this series put me back in the mood for that one, lol!). But if he DOESN'T know, like with the comic here, Koenma and the egg can get a much more honest picture of how he functions without the motivation to not be a jerk. Since he surprised them all so thoroughly with his sacrificing his life to save a kid in the street, you almost get the impression that Koenma and other powers in the afterlife are trying to determine if Yusuke is just an asshole out of social habit, or if his self-sacrificial behavior was a fluke. Some insecurity with the systemic categorizations of people is implied here, but I'm not sure how much stock to put in it yet. Time will tell.

I was surprised to see that the scene we switched to in the middle of Yusuke receiving his test from Koenma was helpfully illustrative, despite how abrupt it was. We get yet another instance of Keiko feeling guilty over something that happened to Yusuke, and his adverse reaction to the expression of that guilt. The current situation is just a more pronounced version of that, so we get another important layer of motivation for Yusuke's future efforts, which is making sure that Keiko doesn't make that FACE again. He's showing that he's HIGHLY sensitive to Keiko's and his mother's emotions, and it's a source of anxiety to him if he thinks he's made them upset, but in order to deal with that in a way that doesn't make him vulnerable, he'll pull the classic move of dismissing and trivializing the whole situation with jokes and pranks. I appreciate the emotional and behavioral complexity of our protagonist, even if I think the return to the living world and flashback was a bit like slamming on the brakes, narrative-wise.

It was just a tad disappointing that there wasn't much of a struggle to get the dream communication thing to work - Yusuke having trouble picking up how to communicate through dreams would have added a little more urgency to the situation, especially since Atsuko ended up finding out by accident in the end. I recall there being a little more tension in this exercise in the anime, but I don't think Yusuke had much difficulty getting the hang of it there either, and I really believe an added struggle would have been a benefit to the story here. After all, Yusuke has been established as a character that doesn't communicate well in any language but physical violence, so he just doesn't seem like he would get the hang of getting into peoples' dreams well at first.

Also, I was just a TAD disappointed that Botan wasn't hovering over Yusuke while he was trying to connect with Keiko. The cock-block would have been a little funny, and it would probably add to the struggle that was missing altogether here. But that one is a bit less of a gripe, because I have to admit, I just want to see Yusuke squirm some more. What can I say? I love it when the darlings are tortured, as a writing nerd first and foremost. 

I would NEVER pass this test.

Inuyasha Manga: 301 Beyond the Gateway

In my experience, places that are THIS much of a pain to get into are rarely worth it. I mean, we already know the place is just full of bones and mist, and the two protagonists that have already been there are only really interested in going back for the shot at keeping a Shikon fragment away from Naraku. Seems to me like everyone involved in this breaking-and-entering scheme are in for a real drag, and that's putting it lightly. 

After all, the reality of the situation is becoming quite heavy enough without my own hand on the scale.

The crumbling youkai horde drops like the rock it is, while the shocked Inuyasha group gapes in disbelief, Miroku narrating the fact that the horde is turning to stone. He observes the rays of intense light shooting through the gaps in the youkai, and throws his arm up in front of Sango, shouting a warning to avoid letting it hit them, since that appears to be what is making everything so rapidly fossilize. Kagura starts to fall out of the sky, no doubt because her feather is quickly solidifying. Inuyasha throws his arms around Kagome as the rest of the horde falls and the light from the doorway to the world beyond is unobstructed, trying to protect her from becoming a statue as well.

Too bad naysayer Myouga isn't still around to hear the "I told you so" that he so richly deserves. 

Gozu and Mezu appear to still be moving around, unfortunately, walking out in front of the door, apparently to survey the weird destruction the door has wrought. Ponytail's glare lands on a rattled Kagura, who balks at his glower, and he takes the opportunity while he has her attention to ask if she wishes to pass or not. Kagura looks absolutely pissed.

Maybe you should be grateful these dudes are throwing some shade, Kagura. It seems to be the only thing keeping you from becoming stone. 

The gate shuts with a bang, and by the time it does, Gozu and Mezu are back on their pedestals, statues once again. While Inuyasha holds Kagome and they sit tight, in tense astonishment as they cautiously wait to see if the ordeal really is over, Miroku approaches Gozu and Mezu to confirm that they are indeed just massive inanimate carvings again. Sango steps forward to ask where Kagura got to, and Miroku says she must have escaped with as little concern as is possible. Kagome and Inuyasha are back on their feet again, the former wondering out loud if Hakudoushi knew that if you try to force your way past the gateway you'd be turned to stone; with special attention paid to the bits of rock that were once youkai littering the floor beneath them. Inuyasha suggests that Hakudoushi was probably using them and Kagura to test it. Who KNOWS where the kiddo learned that this might happen - I wonder if he employed that dude with the MASSIVE earlobes again, because he's the only guy I can imagine cared to talk about something this... removed from the interests of living people.

Hakudoushi is still hanging out on the edge of his angled cliff edge with a few hovering saimyoushou when he looks around at the sound of a step behind him. Kagura, looking haggard and in a trauma-fueled rage, calls him a bastard. Hakudoushi mockingly asks her what's up, and she asks a question I think she probably already knows the answer to: whether he gives a flying shit if she dies. He drawls that he had heard it was a gateway the living can't pass, but he didn't know exactly what that meant. Kagura scoffs through clenched teeth and as she slashes her fan at him, demands that the brat not fuck around with her. 

Hakudoushi's eyes shift into his periphery in a glare at Kagura, and she doubles over, dropping her fan when she clutches her chest where her heart should be. She falls to her knees in speechless agony, while Hakudoushi asks sardonically if her heart hurts, his dismembered parts swirling and reforming in a little protective bubble. He informs Kagura that Naraku is squeezing her heart right now, as if she isn't duly familiar with that sensation and can't figure out what it is in the moment, the little boysplaining shit. He adds, conspicuously, that this is from wherever Naraku is, which seems to strike Kagura, most likely by how keen he is on claiming that he doesn't know Naraku's location, or wouldn't tell her. 

Almost entirely reformed, Hakudoushi tells Kagura to remember that he and Naraku are connected, and she should think about that before she acts next time. She glowers at him as he adds that he's not someone the likes of her can kill. It only makes me very eager for the moment he IS killed, because it's no doubt going to be satisfying. 

Though the exclamation to Kagome is set over an image of that fire-country smoking volcano, we see our protagonists are no longer in the smokey, barren area, and have moved to a flowery site next to a stream. Kagome confirms to Miroku and Sango, sitting next to a campfire they built, from where she and Inuyasha are seated by the bank of the stream, that there's no doubt about it. She recalls the light beaming through the open gateway and what she saw from the other side of it.

Well, at least it's not in question now. 

Over a panel in which the massive skeleton of Inuyasha's father features heavily, Kagome concludes that SOMEWHERE in that world is indeed a Shikon shard. A little redundant, but fair, since Myouga pops back up on Inuyasha's shoulder to express his surprise that there really is a fragment in that place he insisted pretty hard couldn't have one. After identifying Myouga, Inuyasha squeezes the flea between his fingers, glaring and accusing the bastard of knowing about being turned to stone when Myouga asks in distress what he's doing. Myouga wails in response that he wouldn't have even gone with them if he'd known, and Inuyasha supposes that's true, but doesn't apologize, because fuck that old jerk, lol. Kagome hangs her head in the middle ground. 

From fireside, Sango says that since they now know there's a Shikon shard over there, the excursion to the gateway wasn't a complete waste of time. Miroku agrees, and adds that Hakudoushi and Naraku are both living beings themselves, and can't pass the gateway any easier than the rest of them. 

Good luck figuring out what that path was, because if there's one reason why that light from the gateway would turn intruders to stone, it's that rocks tell no tales. 

Cut to smoke wafting across a night sky. Dead villagers lay in the burning wreckage of their town. One of the bandits that presumably set it one fire, on foot next to another mounted on a horse, complains that the village was awfully poor. Another one one the other side of the horseman whines that there's no rice or booze. I'd tell them to cry me a river, but that would probably put out his lovely flames. The other guy says this seems like a pointless kill, as if they aren't ALL pointless, and the horseman suggests they leave. 

In the sky, a solid-looking pale cloud is approaching them, which the bandits notice with confusion. The cloud is made up of what look like a mass of odd pterosaur-like creatures, except with much smaller heads and beaks. The bandits think these might be birds, still hanging around in puzzlement. It was a bad idea. What they call "birds" are nearly man-sized and upon them in an instant, going straight for their necks, poking sharp beaks through their flesh to get at their screaming victims' blood. They suck the men dry of ALL their blood, practically MUMMIFYING them, as a curvaceous figure walks through the newest carnage advising the "birds" to not to fight because there are plenty of bodies to go around. 

There's a princess of demonic falconry? What is this, Adventure Time?

Anyway, Abi herself turns to the person identifying her in question, which is of course Naraku encased in one of his protective bubbles. 

Ugh, the entitlement is real.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Well, at least it kind of makes some sense why the chain on the gate would just be a regular chain; it appears to be less about making it difficult for folks to get in so much as an extra little latch on the secondary source of death to anyone who manages to get around the first. This checkpoint on the border is REALLY dedicated to making sure you're a proper resident before you go inside, and you gotta hand it to them - at least Gozu and Mezu are providing some legitimate pathways to residence. That's certainly more than you can say for the checkpoints on MY country's southern border.

I am a little confused about what counts as this light hitting you. It certainly looks like ALL of the named characters, including Kagura, got a dose of this Medusa-radiation, and Kagome was able to look directly at the doorway in order to see the Shikon shard on the other side. Kagura in particular ended up on the ground where she was SURROUNDED by the stonified horde she brought with her, her feather turned to rock beneath her, but she didn't lose more than part of her sleeve. The best explanation I can come up with is that she was shielded by the long-boys flying in front of her, who were exposed directly to the light and turned completely to stone while she was still technically behind them and not being hit in full. Perhaps even the big chunks of them surrounding her still put her in their shadow so she wasn't completely bathed in it? But it's a very flimsy explanation, and convenient for all the characters very clearly getting an unhealthy dose of that light all throughout the first half of the chapter. 

I'm not complaining too much - I like Kagura and want her to stick around, not least of all because I thought her confrontation with that little brat Hakudoushi was very badass of her and she continues to be a fun character to follow. Also, it reveals that Hakudoushi, being very much like Naraku, has clearly externalized his vulnerabilities, so Kagura's just serving a mini-version of her obviously hated master. Naraku doesn't want her around him in particular, but he still wants to use her in his service and considers her a useful pawn, at least for tiny Hakudoushi to play around with.

I don't know about Abi's character design. I kind of like her wild, feathered hair, but what's with those holed, incomplete gloves? Those wouldn't protect her from the sharp talons of her "birds", and they don't seem to serve much purpose beyond evoking the idea in a distant kind of way. It's just a strange design choice, and it would have been better if they'd been regular gloves. I couldn't say what RT was thinking with this, but it's kind of distracting in how it detracts from the rest of her appearance. 

I swear, her character design has been running out of steam pretty badly as of late.

YuYu Hakusho Manga: 001 Goodbye, Material World

*Sorry it's been a while!*

Don't panic - Madonna has not abandoned us mere mortals yet, although I very much expect to see this headline (or an approximation thereof) all over the internet the moment she does. No, another kind of main character altogether has bitten the dust, and in somewhat backwards fashion, this is the BEGINNING of his story.

I spent a good long while pondering over which manga I wanted to choose for my next project, so I apologize for that! There was an awful lot going down all at once for a little while and I was juggling a lot, so continuing with just Inuyasha for the time being was all I could manage. I'm excited to dive into the YuYu Hakusho manga, however, because it's one of my classic anime favorites, and I'm curious to see how the manga differs, because much like with Yu-Gi-Oh, I haven't read it yet. But unlike with Yu-Gi-Oh, I have seen the anime at least a little recently. I think my husband and I put it on for something to watch near the beginning of the year, since nothing coming out was catching our interest. 

And what put it back on my radar for consideration of the manga on the blog was a bit of disheartening news - Netflix has apparently decided to produce another live action, ripping this series screaming from its grave to do it. I didn't even hear of it until a mere DAY before its premier, which just goes to show how little they cared to advertise the thing. My guess is it's another tax-write-off one-season bore. I enjoyed what I saw of the One Piece live action, but that series is still very much active and POPULAR AS HELL, whereas I haven't seen a single soul outside of my husband and I talk about YuYu Hakusho lately. It'll bomb by design, and Netflix will collect their "Springtime for Hitler" hack money, as usual.

The capitalist machine keeps chugging along!

I am once more using my VIZ subscription to grab manga caps, so thankfully we should have some fairly good quality panels to gander at. But my, does Yusuke Urameshi not have tiny baby ankles or what??

The lounging youth above is in the following two panels lying on the pavement, head lying in a puddle of blood, while a crowd gathered around him shouts in concern and horror. The driver of a car parked right next to him insists he didn't see the kid, that he came out of nowhere. Another boy off to the side nervously whines that this doesn't look good at all. A man kneeling at his feet calls for someone to call an ambulance. 

Pro-tip: if anyone is ever in a situation like this and emergency services are needed, it's better to point to a SPECIFIC person and tell them SPECIFICALLY to call - because of the general shock of an emergency, sometimes people assume that services have already been called or that someone else is or will do it. If you're otherwise engaged in helping the injured party and can't do so yourself, definitely delegate, because being bossy can save precious seconds and lives. 

Just a public service announcement, in case anyone didn't know! :)

He seems to be taking it well, at least. Or, petulantly, maybe.

I spoke too soon; Yusuke's spirit looks down on the scene in confusion and growing concern, asking no one what the "hey" is going on, and observing that it looks like HIM down there on the pavement. The emergency personnel shout at everyone to move aside so they can get through, one of them diagnosing a small child crying nearby with nothing more than a few scratches, and the other gravely saying Yusuke is sadly a goner. Yusuke's spirit has descended to the level of the man examining his body and waves his hand, telling him to wait a minute, but he's ignored, the man talking about taking the little one with them just to double check his injuries. Yusuke runs on the air after the men carrying his body off on a stretcher, yelling at them to hold up, insisting whatever the body is, it's not him, and he's right behind them. He continues to be ignored, and after a moment of making what I assume is an annoyed face (he's been given whiskers and a curling smile as well as the more recognizable sweatdrop?), he pulls back his fist for a punch and shouts for them to listen up. 

His fist passes completely through the paramedic's helmet and head, and he's caught no attention whatsoever. He's spun upside down from the force of his failed punch, watching the ambulance scream away with his body inside, speechless for a moment. He squints, a finger jabbed at his own forehead as he wonders just what is happening to him. He tells himself to calm down and think about this, trying to reconstruct his day, which must have been strange to begin with because he went to school for the first time in ten days. 

Flashback to three hours before, at a school building like any other, where a pigtailed figure is stomping up a flight of stairs. At the top, on the roof and against a wall, Yusuke is sitting and absently smoking a cigarette, listening to a faint announcement for him to report to Mr. Takenaka in the student guidance room. He does NOT seem in any hurry to heed the call.

Dude, did you come to school just to smoke on the roof? Can't you do that, like, ANYWHERE?

Keiko yells at HIM to shut up, arguing that smoking kills and it's disgusting too, but is exasperated by the fact that he clearly thinks it makes him look cool. I mean, at 14, the primary motivation for doing MOST things is that you think it makes you look cool in some minuscule way. Keiko also criticizes his street shoes, asking if he can't behave himself better the few times that he DOES bother to come to school, and predicting he's going to flunk as it is given how much he plays hooky. Yusuke sits there with a squashed expression at the lecture that's being leveled at him, not saying anything as she continues. She reiterates that Mr. Takenaka is looking for him, and she's the "class officer", so she's the one going to get in trouble if he doesn't go and see him. Sounds like a... weird system of accountability, to be honest. Getting kids to police each other like this smacks of laziness at best and outright sadism at worst. Creepy.

Yusuke finally yells back at her that he gets it already, and his tongue is doing some impressive loop-de-loops and jagged Zim-like acrobatics, which is just the best. He stands and agrees reluctantly to go, expression full of disdain as he calls her a regular pain. As he follows her down a hallway, she snaps over her shoulder at him that she doesn't enjoy getting on his case like this, and she's been dealing with his crap since kindergarten. He mutters a sulky "jeez", looking the other way, and her ire spikes again, but she admits that there's no use and just urges him to get a move on. 

Totally out of nowhere, Yusuke reaches out a hand with clawed fingers. 

What the actual SHIT, dude? She gives you a frustrated lecture on your shitty behavior, so you punish her by violating her in the fucking corridor??? 

Yusuke hyuks it up as he saunters off with a bruised cheek and bloodied nose, Keiko yelling at him that he's an idiot and a pervert and he should just die already. Careful what you wish for, I guess. I GUESS. She's distracted a moment more by the shock and embarrassment, grinding her teeth in frustration while she gripes that this jerk hasn't grown up even a little bit. Then, after glowering down the hall, the fog of indignation finally clears and she realizes that he's disappeared again. 

Keiko stands with her fists clenched, rage building again, but around a corner behind her, a couple of girls call to her. She immediately diffuses, looking curiously around, to find a pigtailed girl and bespectacled girl asking her if it's over, both of them nervous. She asks them what they're doing over there, assuming they're not supposed to be in class right now or something, and they tell her that they were hiding from scary old Yusuke. Not that I blame them, if they're scared of getting their panties peeped by the creep.

Spectacles looks over at Pigtails and asks in wonder where Keiko gets the guts to talk to that kid, and Pigtails says it beats her, since there are plenty of TEACHERS who are scared of him. Keiko, who is still here so it's a little weird they're referring to her as if she's not, is surprised by this, claiming Yusuke is harmless despite his foul temper and vulgarity. With their conception of a dark and dangerous-looking Yusuke in the background, the girls recall the rumors they've heard of punks from high school and junior high alike wanting Yusuke dead, and three different gangs wanting his membership, or that he even has 2000 underlings to command around like a delinquent army. Keiko flaps her hand and dismisses this as nonsense. She does admit that he's antisocial, gets into a lot of fights, and that there are plenty of shady people that visit his house on a regular basis, which the girls basically take as confirmation of Yusuke's dark nature. But Keiko tells them that Yusuke barely knows how to control HIMSELF, let alone 2000 other bodies, and says he has very few friends. The girls are left speechless, and Keiko starts walking off, calling over her shoulder that it's really no wonder the guy is so badly misunderstood with all the wild rumors they're HELPING to spread. They look a little cowed and ashamed by this, half-heartedly trailing an excuse for their gossipy shit. Keiko is the master lecturer, it's no fucking wonder she's an honorary teacher, lol.

Again, an announcement sounds school-wide for Urameshi to report to the student guidance room, NOW. Yusuke is trotting along, complaining that Takenaka just won't give the fuck up, and swears that the guy's one joy in life is harassing him. He's coming upon a corner, around which he hears a conversation over a whopping 15,000 Yen that intrigues him. He comes out from around the corner to find two boys sitting against the wall smoking, just as he was on the roof. One of them holds the lighter for the other one while explaining that some punk tried to hassle him downtown, so he said he was Urameshi's cousin. The other one is impressed with how said punk just GAVE the first kid his wallet, which is clutched in the kid's fist, calling this pretty slick. The second kid exhales cigarette smoke and warns the first that he's dead meat if Urameshi finds out though. The first says he's not worried about it, because he's not the first kid that used that little trick, and it's become a bit of a survival skill among the weak but smart. 

This is when Yusuke walks right up to them, behind the first kid who is still mouthing off regarding what they say about idiots and scissors, all about how you use them, blah, blah. Yusuke is fully visible to the second kid, though, and he is trembling is utter TERROR. When the first notices this and looks around to find Yusuke hovering over them ominously, they both jump to their feet and flail at the jump scare. After a couple of exclamations of horror, the first kid immediately starts tearing up and warbling out a plea to not be hurt. Yusuke wordlessly slams his right palm on the wall next to the kid, bracing himself as he appears to ball his left hand into a fist.

Wow, that's a pretty small fee, in comparison to what the dude got for name-dropping.

The first kid flails some more, this time for his pockets, so he can put a single coin in Yusuke's palm. Yusuke flips his fee into the air, thanking the two boys and beginning to walk off, and leaving the both of them to sigh in relief that they're still ALIVE. But Yusuke doesn't go very far at all before a voice calls out to them from the opposite direction, demanding to know what's going on here. The two nameless boys identify a man in a pinstriped suit as Mr. Iwamoto, who has some deep hollows under his cheek bones that are heavily shadowed when he grumbles about Yusuke being there again, calling him "dirty scum". 

Yusuke ANSWERS to this title, turning to glare over his shoulder at Mr. Iwamoto. Iwamoto looks to the other two boys, though, asking them to tell him what Yusuke did to them, urging them to snitch because he can't do anything to them now that HE'S there. He voices his assumption that Yusuke took something from them, but the boys deny this, sweating under the increased scrutiny. Mr. Iwamoto makes even MORE assumptions, telling them not to be afraid of telling on Yusuke, offering his assurances that he doesn't look the other way like MOST of the teachers at the school, and he's committed to booting any scum he finds right out of the school. He's not committing to his metaphor very well, is he?

Yusuke's face is once again squashed in extreme annoyance, grumbling a question of whether Iwamoto is talking about HIM. The first boy says that Yusuke REALLY didn't do anything, while Iwamoto directs his sharp glare down at the ground, where there's a cigarette still smoking at the kid's feet. Iwamoto identifies it out loud and once more, this first kid is having a damn heart attack at the prospect of perhaps getting caught fucking around. But, as is typical of your standard asshole teacher who has it out for certain students, he mutters about how he's not surprised and immediately attributes this particular butt to Yusuke. Then he starts outright screaming at Yusuke that people like him who can't follow rules are pond scum and they don't belong in any school, let alone his. The two boys behind him wince. Yusuke tells the old guy to shut it, because he does what he wants, so Iwamoto yells at him to get out, and Yusuke starts walking again, saying he's already on his way. 

He's sauntering out of the gate, grousing about that Iwamoto grump and how much a load of shit that was, and lighting up another cigarette, when he takes a hit to the back of his head by yet another older man. He drops his cigarette and falls to his knees, so that must have been one hell of a HIT! He whines about it, beginning to ask who the hell had the balls, and immediately recoils when he sees who it is. 

Oh great, it's the person he's been avoiding all day. No wonder he's actually affected by his appearance and not the other hostile teacher. 

Mr. Takenaka holds up a pack of cigarettes and lighter - which he must have snatched straight from Yusuke's pocket, so mad respect - asking where he gets the NERVE to light up right outside the school. With a massive lump growing on the back of his head, Yusuke sulkily demands that Takenaka leave him alone. But Takenaka isn't giving up on having that little talk he's been so desperate to have with Yusuke all damn day. He grinds his knuckles into Yusuke's skull while he criticizes him for being absent ten straight days and then leaving before noon on the first day he decided to attend school, asking sarcastically if Yusuke thinks he's some sort of corporate president. Surly, Yusuke informs him that he's not "taking off" and was rather kicked out. Takenaka guesses, correctly, that Yusuke had a run-in with Mr. Iwamoto, but Yusuke says he didn't do nothin'. Shockingly, Takenaka says he's willing to listen to his story, and then starts to haul Yusuke off by his ear to WHERE he wants to hear it, the student guidance room, over a cup of tea. Yusuke yells at him to let him go, yelping that it hurts, very much NOT putting out the tough-guy persona he's somehow cultivated. Takenaka refuses to let go, certain he'll go skipping off the moment that his ear is released. Yusuke seems to go quiet, and when Takenaka looks over, inquiring if Yusuke hears him, he finds he's holding the ear of a weird, life-sized Yusuke DOLL. Where the fuck did THAT come from???

The real Yusuke is squatting on top of the wall around the school, waving at him, with smug laugher behind that squashed expression he so loves to put on. Takenaka is incensed that Yusuke would pull ninja stuff on him, but Yusuke is already off the wall and trotting off down the road, saying he'll be seeing Takenaka. SOMETIME, who knows. Takenaka yells after him that he'd better be in school tomorrow, but is distracted by the sound of the bell ringing on school grounds. 

Yusuke is once more hunched and irritated as he walks along, fists shoved in his pockets, mentally complaining that the one day he chose to go to school and everyone decides to chew his ear off. Or yank it off, as he acknowledges Takenaka tried to do. He's convinced he has better ways to waste his time. Like at home, what looks like a run-down kind of row of small motel-like apartments, one of them with a sign up displaying the names Atsuko and Yusuke Urameshi. 

Atsuko appears to be a young woman sitting in a black lacy number, cigarette in her lips and looking somewhat listless. 

Guessing she has a night job.

Suddenly she realizes that her son should be in school and asks him about it, and Yusuke casually tells her that he got pissed off so he ditched while putting the kettle on the stove. Atsuko scoffs that he's always doing this, and encourages him to just quit instead, because school isn't free - she herself had to earn tuition herself when she was his age. It's not a public good covered by taxes? Damn, never thought I would give the USA's broken school system a point. It certainly gives new dimension to Miss Kagome Higurashi's truancy issues too, doesn't it?

Atsuko groans about her head as she massages it, and Yusuke mutters that his day is complete for the new lecture she has bestowed upon him, pouring the hot water from the kettle into a cup. He's told by Atsuko that he can just move his lazy ass out if he's so opposed to lectures, having turned to lounge on her hip while watching TV. Yusuke makes another squashed face and makes half-hearted agreements to this, not long afterwards stomping out of the house again, complaining about what a rotten day this has been, and how he wants to kick something. He's certainly going to connect those flailing legs with SOMETHING, and he probably won't even have to try!

As he walks down the street, there are mutters surrounding him on both sides, a shopkeeper glaring at him while he passes with arms and legs spread out to guard his merchandise, another outright slamming the door until he's gone. That squashed expression is back again, he's now peeved about his reputation being so bad that he can't even go anywhere, because everyone blames ALL the shoplifting on him. He does admit to himself that it's MOSTLY him, so at least he has some level of self-awareness. 

Four other boys in what looks like the same school uniform surround him in every direction, and he hunches in a defensive pose, glowering over his shoulder at one in particular.

Damn kid, you look like you already got your ass beat today. Clearly he hasn't had enough yet.

And that suits Yusuke just fine. He gives Kuwabara something of a shadowed, predatory look and says he's got a really swell bad mood going, so this will work out great. He grinds his fist into Kuwabara's face, yelling for him to take that, then screams that he should take a few more rapid punches as well, which he doles out without care for a response. He delivers another blow as he soars past Kuwabara spitting blood in a squat, almost childlike form, and lands a distance away, a petulant but satisfied look on his somehow regressed face. Kuwabara's friends all recoil at his brutality, saying he's like a demon. 

Put a pin in that, I guess.

Hospital? Hospital.

Kuwabara's friends approach him, one of them suggesting that they just leave Urameshi alone from now on, but Kuwabara snaps at him to shut up, insisting that he'll beat Yusuke one day. He says he never lost a fight with anyone his age until he met Yusuke, and nothing else matters but beating that guy, to the point he declares he'll die trying if necessary. Dude should find a less destructive hobby. 

Or maybe this is something Yusuke is fantasizing about, because he walked away before this exchange was supposed to have taken place, and this IS his post-death recollection, after all. He's now recapping the lectures at school and home, and cleaning Kuwabara's clock as usual. He then comes at last to his fateful meeting with a kid. A ball bounces over and bumps against his foot, which he leans down to pick up as a plucky little boy in overalls trots up to him. 

Yusuke crouches down to glare at the kid and tells him seriously that he shouldn't be playing in this area, because there are WAY too many cars. The boy gives him a blank look in return, so after a prolonged frown in the silence between them, Yusuke lifts the ball to hide his face, lowering it to reveal a new funny expression. He does this a few times, showing him a brand new goofy face every time, but the kid appears totally unmoved, staring in blank confusion. Yusuke sweats under the scrutiny, unable to comprehend this non-response when the kiddos usually LOVE when he does this stupid crap. But he eventually settles on an act this one likes. 

Not sure WHAT it is you've got, buddy, but you sure got it.

He's still got the chopsticks up his nose when he crouches again and takes the ball out of his PANTS to hand back to the kid, telling him once more that it's way too dangerous here and urging him to go play somewhere else. The kid gives Yusuke another blank look as he walks off, and immediately starts kicking his ball down the road again. Yusuke looks back around to find, to his great annoyance, that the stupid boy didn't listen to a word he said.

One errant kick sends the ball bouncing away from the kid and rolling into the middle of the street, where both Yusuke and the boy stare at it for a moment. Yusuke calls out to the kid, who is starting to toddle after his ball, again, right into the street, though Yusuke is yelling at him to watch his shit and stay on the sidewalk. The boy is focused on getting that ball back, and is not only ignoring Yusuke, but also the car speeding right towards his ball, with a pair of chattering irresponsibles focusing more on the music from the speakers than the road. Yusuke calls the kid an idiot, rushing into the street and to meet him, screaming for him to stay back. The woman in the passenger seat of the car is the first to stop laughing and notice where they're headed, calling for the driver to watch out, who clenches his teeth as he hits the breaks a bit too late.

And we've come full circle, baby!

We don't see the car make impact with him (no GRAPHIC child death, thankfully), but we do get a "WHAM" sound effect with Yusuke's incorporeal form hanging cross-legged in the air in speechless contemplation of it. He looks down at the scene again, with its skid marks on the road and a crowd still gathered and a few more emergency personnel making gestures and holding the rest of the people back, recalling in his time that he was hit by that car. Just in case we, like him, didn't quite process that fully. Sweatdropping, he watches an officer talking to a woman in the crowd he's trying to control, telling her there's nothing they can do - it MAY be the woman from the passenger seat in the car, but I'm not entirely sure because it's just the back of her head, and the officer is faceless. 

Yusuke hunches over in the sky, at the inevitable point where he has to admit to himself that he died back there. He glares at his spectral finger in concentration, asking himself what it is he even is, trying out the "ghost" label in uncertainty. Behind and hovering slightly above where he is, a figure sitting side-saddle on a boat oar (think "witch's broom" here) and clad in a luxuriant kimono from what can be seen of their lower half, calls out "ding, ding, ding" like Yusuke is on a game show and won the grand prize. 

Way to kick this dude when he's down, girl.

She clarifies that this is something MOST people have trouble with, so she's not just calling him dumb; a good many can't grasp their own death after violent accidents like this, can't rest in peace, and become restless ghosts. Yusuke glowers at her wordlessly until he breaks his silence to ask who, or what, she even is. She introduces herself as Botan, a guide to the River Styx, and at his service. This just makes me want to listen to the band, because I haven't partaken in "Come Sail Away" for a REALLY long time. Botan says that she has a lot of different names, but they all basically mean "death" anyway. 

After Botan says it's nice to meet him, Yusuke gives her a blank stare for a couple of panels before he takes on a pinched kind of expression, asking her what it is she means by that. She's sweatdropping, but she tells him not to try staring down a messenger from the underworld. He, quite rightly, grouses about how he's just died, and he's not feeling too cool about it. Botan's cheery demeanor is coming across as very frustrating, and he asks why she's not dark and gloomy the way she's supposed to be, citing that "ding, ding, ding" from before as an example of how blatantly contrary to her role she is. 

A small pause later, Botan has taken out a book and is flipping through it with a giggle. She refers to is as a "grade book", and according to the information it has on Yusuke, he's exactly the way HE'S supposed to be. A quick glance shows her it's no wonder that he doesn't respect or fear her, and she starts listing off a long list of traits as if off a character sheet: 14 years old, crude, violent, impatient, reckless, sticky fingers, stupid brain - fights, extorts, smokes, drinks, gambles, has a reserved seat in the guidance counselor's office, and apparently this goes ON. Botan studies the book closely, calling Yusuke a real devil's delinquent, and says he's no loss to anyone. Damn, Yusuke isn't the ONLY one who woke up and chose violence today. He swells in his anger behind her, suggesting that they just move on, since he clearly can't do much otherwise. I imagine if he could, he'd try to take a look at her panties or something the way he did with Keiko. 

He asks off-handedly what happened to that kid he saved, and Botan seems skeptical that he even CARES. Uh, if he didn't, why would he have bothered to jump in front of that car in the first place? despite her dismissive comment, she says they can go and see how the kid made out.

His mother, who sure showed up late to the party, cries that this is such a relief for her to learn, but she does turn to the doctor to ask meekly about the boy who got him out of the way of the car. While the doctor delivers the bad news and the boy's mother repeats that Yusuke died to save her son Masaru in disbelief and horror, Yusuke's breathes a sigh of relief from outside the hospital window and mutters that it's good the kid is okay. Botan looks over at him smiling with a somewhat amused smile of her own, holding up her palms as though she's shrugging about how little she seems to understand about him. 

Yusuke looks over at her and says he's alright too, and he's got no regrets, so he invites her to take him to hell or wherever he's going. Seems rather cavalier about it, honestly. Botan looks on in surprise for a moment, then giggles behind her enormous sleeve, and Yusuke asks in renewed annoyance what's so funny. She tells him that he has the wrong idea, that she's not here to take him anywhere, but rather offer HIM the chance to take a test to COME BACK TO LIFE.

At last, Yusuke is rendered fully dumbfounded, repeating this phrase in utter perplexity. He recovers enough to ask what she's talking about, and she murmurs a question about how she should put this before launching into an explanation of how UNEXPECTED his death was. Apparently, even the Buddha was surprised that Yusuke would risk his life to save a child. Why have all these omniscient spirit beings who have a whole BOOK on this guy not noticed that he was already in the HABIT of risking his life on the reg? She doesn't give us a clue, but instead says that there's no place for Yusuke yet in Hell OR Heaven. He's clenching his teeth in irritation when he repeats that phrase back at her in question form again, then re-phrases to confirm if she REALLY means that him dying to save that kid wasn't on their schedule. 

She's flipping through the book again as she admits she wasn't going to tell him this, since it would be a MAJOR bummer for him, but that kid was supposed to escape the accident without so much as a scratch miraculously. Yusuke AGAIN is reduced to asking the previous thing he was told in question format, like a perpetually confused parrot. Botan says something vague about how the ball was supposed to act as a cushion or something, which sounds fake, but okay. Then she apologizes preemptively for saying something... insensitive.

Damn, Botan is savage. Get wrecked, Yusuke.

Yusuke raises a shaking fist and is looking like he's trying to cover for his urge to cry by setting his jaw and putting up a toxic facade, but Botan urges him to calm down in her very unnecessary glee, reminding him that death isn't always permanent. In his case, she's giving him the chance at that test she mentioned before. Yusuke's expression relaxes into a merely grumpy one, but he doesn't say anything in response, letting Botan ramble a little about how she's told this situation crops up every 100 years or so and she's as new to the idea as he is. That's... actually pretty frequent, although if it stays the same with the increasing population, I guess that it gets rarer as time goes on. Still...

Botan chats at Yusuke's back when he turns away from her, saying that he won't rest in peace in his current state, and she can't tell him what it consists of (some test it would be then), but he's got nothing to lose by taking it. She declares it isn't a bad deal, but after a moment of moody contemplation, Yusuke turns down this generous offer, much to Botan's confusion. 

Yusuke says he can't see anything wrong with being a ghost, asking what he would amount to if he came back to life anyway. Botan appears to be shrugging again, and utters a lone "gee" in response to this thoroughly defeatist attitude. He continues to put himself down HARD, but with a little ironic grin, when he tells her that he can't think of anyone he knows that will miss him, and they might even curse their rotten luck if he were to revive. He adds that his mom is still young, and at a scant 29, she should be able to find a decent guy without him around. This is downright DEPRESSING, kiddo. Botan marvels at his fatalistic talk at only 14 years old, but tells him that he doesn't have to decide right away. Flying off, she suggests he think about it while he attends his own wake, and he can give her a more concrete answer afterwards. Yusuke watches her disappear into the sky with wide, goofy eyeballs, as if he's downright appalled by her refusal to accept his answer now.

That's an unfortunate picture to have to use for your wake. Then again, I've never known obligatory pictures in adolescence to turn out too terribly well.

Yusuke's mom continues sitting against the wall, quietly looking lost while people walk past her to pay respects. Yusuke's spirit hovers cross-legged over a nearby rooftop, examining the scene from on high, and recognizes a few kids from school. At first, he's a bit warm at the laughter he hears at his FUNERAL, but he's slightly alarmed when he sees Keiko flanked by the nervous girls she was talking to in the hall, in inconsolable tears. He's in wide-eyed amazement, and this only increases when he hears some ruckus happening - someone urging someone they should forget some twisted thing, and another answering that they won't listen. 

It's Kuwabara, who seems to have recovered enough from the severe beating Yusuke gave him to give his friends a boatload of trouble holding him back. They are latched onto either side of him, failing to stop him stomping into the funeral, huffing and puffing. At first, Yusuke makes a noise of disgust at his appearance. 

Grief manifests in strange ways sometimes, I guess.

At last, Kuwabara's buddies manage to drag him off in the opposite direction, begging everyone else's leave for being such nuisances, rather polite for a pack of delinquents. Yusuke's spirit utters an uncomfortable laugh, muttering that Kuwabara is a brain case. 

Down below, Yusuke picks up on Mr. Iwamoto asking who those kids were, and he's answered by what I assume is another teacher that apparently Urameshi hung out with some of them in the past, and that they were all delinquents, OF COURSE. Can't be worse than having the terrible lank bowl haircut this dude has. Iwamoto immediately leans into his colleague's statement and complains that "their kind" don't respect anything. Unlike him, who showed up to the funeral of a student he harassed in order to drawl about how Urameshi at least died doing a good deed, and that this actually improves his precious school's reputation. So mourn, much respect. 

The other guy leans over and says behind his hand that he personally believes that Urameshi chased the little boy out into the street and just happened to get in the way of the car, to which dopey hypothesis Iwamoto scoffs and agrees. Yusuke grinds his spectral teeth at these creeps twisting the narrative around like that while they keep chuckling darkly. Did they mention how respectful they are? See, they're laughing at the DEAD CHILD quietly. 

Suddenly, the two man-children are yanked back by their shoulders. 

No no, Takenaka, you don't understand, they were being pieces of shit QUIETLY.

Yusuke watches Takenaka walk past the douchebags in a little bit of amazement. Takenaka bows to Yusuke's taken-aback mother, then moves over to kneel at the shrine with Yusuke's picture on it, silent at first. He eventually admits that he was surprised to hear Yusuke had saved that child, YUSUKE, of all people. Takenaka pauses, then mutters that he's somehow unable to bring himself to PRAISE Yusuke for it. Not that Yusuke needs praise, or anything.

Behind Takenaka, Atsuko says Yusuke's name in a numb way, but then seems to overcome her general shock to start wailing in grief for her son. So much for this being the beginning of the rest of her life like Yusuke supposed. He watches her, again in some kind of amazement. What a way to discover that some of the people in your life actually VALUED you. 

Then, who should walk in but little Masaru, led by the hand by his somber mother. They kneel at the shrine, mom raises her hands and bows her head in prayer position, and Masaru takes the cue to do the same. His mother tells him to pay his respects to the nice boy, Masaru agreeing and turning to Yusuke's picture to greet him, thanking him very much. The lack of response seems to confuse the little boy, while his mother goes to bow to Atsuko much like Takenaka did. Atsuko has her face buried in her knees, lost in sorrow. 

Yusuke has followed the boy and his mother out of his wake, watching them walk down the street and grousing about how the little twerp shouldn't thank him for anything, because he didn't do anything that DESERVED any thanks. Suddenly, Masaru turns to his mother to ask why the boy who saved him was in the box, if he was sleeping. His mother stutters that indeed, Yusuke was sleeping. 

How... how was this kid ALLOWED to hang around all by himself in the first place??? With his lack of awareness of danger and mortality, it's amazing he hadn't jumped down a manhole for fun by now.

Yusuke is once more gaping down at the living when Masaru concludes logically that if they came back when he's awake, they can thank him properly. As an aside, his mom has striped stockings in this panel, for some reason? Don't know what that's about. She can't speak for a moment, tears welling in her eyes, then she kneels down in front of Masaru to tell him haltingly that they CAN'T do what he's suggesting. He asks why, but his mom just hugs him tightly and repeats that they can't. Again, he expresses confusion about why they can't, and all she can really think to answer is that they JUST CAN'T. Lady, if you don't explain this properly to him, it's more than possible more people will die because of his ignorance, INCLUDING HIM. Just figure it out, please.

Yusuke calls for Botan and she appears next to his cross-legged form floating above the city, every bit as cheery and jaunty as before. At first, Yusuke is silent. 

Hell yeah you did.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Whew, it's been such a long time since I covered the very FIRST chapter of a manga, I forgot how long they can get! Since I can generally only get in recap for about four-to-six pages a day, and I'm working on another Yu-Gi-Oh post in the meantime, this one took me a minute to get through. I did very much enjoy myself, though, and I was really excited to start reviewing this series through the manga. This has always been one of my favorites, so I'm eager to comb over it like my other faves. 

One of the things I noted right away was how hilariously dynamic the facial expressions are in this one. Yu-Gi-Oh had its moments where Jonouchi or Honda were making faces, but for the most part their expressions were played straight. Same with Inuyasha, although you could say that one is even LESS adventurous with a range of facial expressions, which kind of makes the characters' same-face syndrome all the more pronounced. I don't know if this is going to be consistent throughout the series, but this FIRST chapter of YuYu Hakusho definitely beats both of them in terms of sheer creativity and humor for character faces. I delighted in the vast amount of goofy looks Yusuke had throughout the chapter, and it wasn't just him - just about everyone had a derpy face at some point, and that goes for Keiko as well! It's so rare to see female characters portrayed in a remotely unattractive way that this was really notable to me. Even in a time that is decidedly NOT funny, we got an extreme expression from a female character; Atsuko ulgy-cries at her son's funeral in her grief, so this is not JUST a comedy thing. Our mangaka, Yoshihiro Togashi (YT on this blog now, in keeping with prior patterns) is not afraid to give these characters some facial definition, at least at first, and I appreciate the SHIT out of that.

As for characterization, I feel like Yusuke's bad attitude and lack of values, even for himself, are pretty clear in the way they're presented. He just seems like a kid who is chronically pessimistic and sees no point in TRYING to have expectations anymore. We haven't gone into his past beyond the prior day leading up to his accident, but my guess would be that he became resolved to focusing solely on being a tough guy, possibly due to the need to defend himself or others from bullying/abuse of some kind, and it was too difficult to change course after a while because his reputation as a delinquent solidified quickly in the minds of people who didn't know him. The brief exchange between Keiko and the girls in the corridor demonstrates how the rumors around Yusuke's tough-guy persona have magnified a very routine, mundane picture of a typical punk. The way he actually is speaks to someone who is taking advantage of that exaggeration, but is not NEARLY so terrible as all that, which is why I don't see him trying to save a child as necessarily standing in opposition to how he really is.

But to have the power structures of the AFTERLIFE be blindsided by his behavior is a bit of a head-scratcher to me. They have a whole book listing all his personality, vices, sins, deeds, etc, and none of them, not even the BUDDHA, seems to have dared to imagine that he might risk his life for anyone. My dudes, he clearly doesn't VALUE his life or future, why wouldn't he throw it away to get a little boy out of the way of a speeding vehicle?? His immediate response to the offer to take a test that would let him come back to life was to turn it down, because in his own view his life wasn't going anywhere anyway, no one liked him, and he didn't see any downside to being a ghost. This isn't even a matter of him not being a bad kid (at least not as bad as he let people believe), it's a matter of him having GIVEN UP, and how fucking obvious that fact was! Like, you'd think spiritual beings would be able to pick up on that little detail, lol!

But I guess if they had considered the obvious, this little incident wouldn't have occurred, and we wouldn't have a story. 

Masaru seems to act in his capacity as a point of contrast to Yusuke, representing innocence (to a downright stupid degree), defenselessness, and inability to see cause and effect. He's not really capable of understanding Yusuke's warnings, and it even takes a few tries for Yusuke to connect with him through humor, though Yusuke implies that he's had more success with these goofy antics in the past. Not sure if this is an indication that Yusuke has gotten almost past the point where he can connect with his own youth and optimism due to his self-destructive behavior, but it's something to think about. I do hope that Masaru is put on an ACTUAL leash, or that someone is able to explain to him the concept of death soon, because he's a menace otherwise! I highly doubt that the clueless afterlife gears will choose his oblivious little butt for a random miracle again, so he's in serious danger next time. 

Also, after Yu-Gi-Oh's suspicious lack of adults, it's a little refreshing to see several of them playing a part in this first chapter of the series. Sure, they are all varying degrees of asshole, but Takenaka was kind of nice, and they all, for the most part, had their motivations for acting the way they did. Iwamoto being so preoccupied with appearances and the reputation of the school makes some sense, as I remember having a few teachers who were like that myself when I was in school. Not sure what to make of Atsuko, though. She seems hung-over, and I'm not sure what she does for a living if she's complaining about Yusuke's education costing some money. Perhaps there's an unpleasant implication here, but I'm not going to jump to conclusions or anything. 

In any case, this was a fun chapter, and besides feeling a little peeved by the sexual harassment Keiko got near the beginning (expected, of course, but still annoying), I was just tickled to be taking a look at this series. Can't wait to get into the next chapter!