Let's Talk About... Yu Yu Hakusho

[Avaitor]

Oh, the dub is picking up, for sure. Chris Sabat in particular has been picking up the pace as Kuwabara, and his chemistry with Yusuke has only improved as the show goes on. This is keeping it great to watch.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

23. The Toguro Brothers Gang

As I mentioned earlier, what particularly stands out to me about this episode (and arc in general) is that Yusuke and Kuwabara's past experiences finally seem to be paying off. They both have a well-earned sense of experience that they have gained from past cases, and while they still have a lot of growing left to do, it's refreshing to know that they won't continue to repeat past mistakes. Furthermore, it's a nice change of pace from the last arc to just see them mow down waves of demons rather than just go for boring and predictable one-on-one fights with villains that were little more than cannon-fodder to begin with.

In this arc Kuwabara gets a bit more focus than Yusuke, as does Hiei, so I'll save the discussion about how the Spirit Detective arc portion of Yusuke's character development caps off for next week. In the case of Kuwabara, though, aside from gaining a new love interest, I think that this arc does a good job of establishing him as the heart and emotional core of the team, even though the full team isn't assembled for this arc. It's still a really good set-up for his character role throughout the rest of the series. And since he is just fighting alongside Yusuke for now, it also does a good job of continuing the bond that they started to form in the Genkai arc, and shows how Kuwabara is becoming, in many ways, Yusuke's closest friend and a reliable crutch for him as well.

That said, Toguro really steals the show, here, IMO. The bit where Tarukane asks him to slay that giant hybrid demon is the scene that really did it for me. Togashi does a brilliant job of establishing early on how there's more to a character than meets the eye, and he especially excels at this with villains. You see, it's not Toguro's strength that makes him impressive. I mean, yes, using only a fraction of his power to kill a creature that arguably even Yusuke might not be able to defeat at his current level is impressive, but it's the way that he went about it that really showcased how there's more to him than your typical Gouki, Rando, or Suzaku-type villain.

Quite plainly, he didn't want to do it. He knew that he was stronger than the creature and that it would be no real fight trying to kill it, and thus he didn't want to. He is clearly prideful of his own power, but also seems to want to avoid abusing it. This, combined with his past which we will learn about later on, portrays him as an odd villain who doesn't necessarily perceive himself as a bad guy (though, once again, there'll be more development on that aspect of his character later on), and to me those are the best types of villains, because they are interesting and you can relate to them on some level. He's no one-dimensional villain, but an actual fleshed-out character, or at least he clearly will be one in the coming episodes. Granted that, it's clear to us viewers that his older brother doesn't really share his level of compassion, but regardless, this scene along with his words to Yukina in the previous episode firmly cement him as a very different kind of antagonist than anything the show has shown us thus far. We also get introduced to Sakyo, here, but since he's a bigger part of the next episode, why don't I just move onto talking about that one?

24. The Deadly Triad

So, I've always found the logistics of how exactly Tarukane's little betting game is supposed to work: like, do the losing betters pay him or Sakyo, who made the winning bets, and how exactly does he profit from this since technically he didn't place a house bet of his own? That said, it matters little in the grand scheme of things, to me. The Triads themselves are slightly tougher fodder for Yusuke and Kuwabara to take down, but I always did like how humorous those battles were, and especially love how Justin Cook's dialogue really addresses how stupid sexism complaints in shows can be when the people who make them don't realize what sexism really is to begin with. In this case, he's beating up a demon transvestite, but Yusuke clears away any sense of controversy by saying that nothing about gender or sexuality should matter since their opponent is a bad guy and trying to get in their way. In fact, treating them the same as you would any other opponent is exactly how to NOT be sexist or a biggot. I wish more shows (and people) could understand this simple concept (it's why I can't stand so many complaints about certain other shows that hold no real weight behind the arguments).

Putting that aside, the animation in these episodes have been a marked improvement from the Saint Beasts arc, and this episode in particular has really well-done fight scenes for the time. But, what's more is that this is a brilliant example of what most modern shonen shows don't do: give the audience visual cues. You see, a visual cue is when a show helps establish something with visuals rather than dialogue. It doesn't necessarily have to be tied to logic, especially in animation, but at least it can enhance the presentation of what you're watching. For example, we know that Sakyo is clearly a more important character that we should be focusing on than any of the other members of the Black Black Club, even though that hasn't been said in words yet, because he is clearly more well-designed than any other character on the other screens, the camera angles seem to specifically focus on centering him in frame as opposed to anyone else, and in several instances (including the very image that Avaitor used for this episode's discussion), the other members are faded out in black silhouettes while he can be seen in full color. The show is telling us that he's important and that we should probably pay attention to him even though technically we shouldn't know that yet (assuming that you were watching this for the first time).

Furthermore, while not tied to any logic, the animators give you a visual clue about the link between younger Toguro and Sakyo in that they both smoke cigarettes. Now that alone doesn't imply anything, of course, but notice how they are literally the only two characters in this arc who are seen smoking cigarettes. Tarukane smokes a cigar (not a cigarette) at one point, and it's entirely possible that any of these guys could smoke cigarettes, but there is a reason that the animators clearly only chose these two to add that detail to. It isn't that it's a coincidence in any sense that makes it stand out, but just the fact that the people making this chose to even highlight such a minor detail in the first place. Like I said, it's a clue given as a visual cue, and doesn't have to be tied to logic, but at least subconsciously we notice it as the audience.

Also, I just love how Sakyo is such a player. You know that he's having a blast messing with Tarukane's head, and it's clear without any need for words that he is in control of the situation at hand. He quite obviously knows who "the intruders" are, and it's not hard to believe that he knows about the Toguro Brothers and their minions as well, and that he has some inside information that not even Tarukane is privy to. He's the type of character that you could imagine fitting in another story where smart characters often prevail, like in Death Note or Game of Thrones, but he's a YYH villain written by Togashi, and yet another example of how and why this guy is so goddamn renowned for the villains that he writes.

We get a cute little flash-back scene for Hiei and his relationship (or lack thereof) with Yukina, and Kuwabara being able to connect his thoughts to Yukina's to contact her because of his clear crush on her (and his previously established strong spiritual connection) were cute little scenes, as were the exchanges between him, Yusuke, and Botan. Overall it was probably the best episode (and really the best set of episodes) that we've seen from this show so far. And the best part of it all is that it still only gets exponentially better from here on out. I can't wait for next week!

[Spark Of Spirit]

The next set of episodes are essentially the conclusion of this arc and a transition episode into the next. So, we'll be officially saying goodbye to not only Rescue Yukina, but the entire Spirit Detective saga as well. It's been a fun ride so far.

Hard to believe it improves from here, but it really does.

On another note, the pacing deserves a lot of credit. Next week we'll be ending the season of a typical 26 episode series and look at how much we've gone through so far. Most series would be wrapping it up here, but YYH still has much more to tell without relying on shonen tropes to prolong it.

[talonmalon333]

My only minor complaint with Rescue Yukina is that it is the beginning of Botan fading into irrelevancy. In the Spirit Detective arc she had a really good role and, while funny, was also serious and informative. Dark Tournament onward, I feel as if she just kind of hangs around and says silly things. It feels like Togashi had a clear purpose for her in the first arc as Yusuke's guide and assistant, but didn't know what to do with her after Yusuke got good enough at his job. While that's not yet the case in Rescue Yukina, it does feel like she doesn't have as much to contribute here compared to previous storylines.

EDIT:

That aside, I absolutely love the Rescue Yukina story. While the previous parts were, to varying degrees, all enjoyable (unless you weren't a Maze Castle fan), this is the point where, for me, Yu Yu Hakusho truly becomes the show that I love, the point where it really finds itself. In Rescue Yukina, the pacing is fast and perfect, the (English) dialogue is top notch, the fights are great, the animation is improved, the villains are easily the best yet, and just the fun vibe of the whole thing makes it work so well. As far as I'm concerned, this marks the beginning of the show's long golden era, which goes until the end of the third season.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Well, I feel that Botan already served her role as mentor for the first phase of Yusuke's character arc as a Spirit Detective. Genkai of course replaces Botan as his mentor for the Dark Tournament arc. Then he butts heads a lot with Koenma in the Chapter Black arc since that story has a lot more to do with Koenma and his failure in recruiting Sensui, and then in the final arc Yusuke is mentored by Raizen for about half of it until he finally becomes mature enough to no longer need a guiding figure in his life. The point being that the role that Botan initially occupied was meant to be cycled around to other characters. That said, it's true that she doesn't have too much purpose in the main plot later on aside from exposition, but I'm still glad that Togashi kept her around as she's a fun character and the group would have felt very different without her presence.

Anyways, I re-watched the episodes for this week's discussion. One is a good conclusion to Rescue Yukina. The other is more of a set-up episode for DT and suffers a bit for that, but works much better if you view it as the beginning of the second phase of Yusuke's character arc.

[talonmalon333]

That is a good point about the mentor thing. And I do agree that I'm glad she remained in the group. I remember, when...

Spoiler

she is shown crying when Yusuke departs for Demon World in the first half of Demon World, it's easy to be reminded of the fact that she's known him longer than most of the characters in that scene, in fact probably more than everyone there except Kuwabara. But the word "reminded" is a bit telling to me since, otherwise, we kind of forgot about that fact since she doesn't do a lot. I also prefer her as a character in the first arc because I think she wasn't as much of an airhead.

[close]

And I'm really looking forward to discussion on the next episodes.

[Spark Of Spirit]

If this was HxH, she probably would have been killed in the Dark Tournament somehow.

With this week we officially end the Spirit Detective saga by wrapping up Rescue Yukina and having a bit of an epilogue/training sequence, and next week the Dark Tournament officially starts. It's been a fun ride so far!

[Avaitor]

My plans for tonight-

-Eat
-Watch the Daredevil finale as I pack for my trip home tomorrow (the recent posts in the other thread remind me that I haven't seen it)
-Watch this week's eps
-Write about them before midnight

[Avaitor]

Yusuke and Kuwabara only get one episode to fight Toguro, and while "Kuwabara's Fight of Love" is a satisfying end to this arc, I can't say that I'd call it one of the greats.

While I do appreciate brevity in battle shonen, sometimes an extended fight is helpful. What we got out of the battle here is strong, but we really needed another episode to get the full effect from the arc.

Otherwise though, it's a strong way to finish off with some of the most personal action scenes he show has had thus far. Not so much for Yusuke, who is treating this as seriously as his other missions thus far, but doesn't have a huge incentive to keep going as much as Kuwabara does. And it's a strong moment for his character when we see that Kuwabara's love for Yukina is related to more than just her phyiscal appearance- his vision gives Kuwabara the ability to see how she has been mistreated here, which is what pushes him to go above and beyond for her. It's sad, but poignant, especially as Kuwabara is shown doing his best to keep his own against Toguro. A great bit of teamwork helps the two save the day for now, and helps to cap this off.

And then you have Hiei, who almost beats Tarukane to death until Yukina stops what could have been the last punch. Plenty is said between the two during this moment without actually saying much, And that is how you do it, effectively ending the Rescue Yukina arc and making way for the next episode.



"Toguro Returns" lives up to the episode title, as we see that he didn't actually die, and what his and Sayko's true motives are.

The lion's share of this episode is build up for the Dark Tournament, and some of it feels familiar- Yusuke and Keiko have a day out planned, he gets called in during the middle of it, shit goes down that he has to take care of.

What makes this episode matter is what that shit is, and Toguro's presence has only grown since his earlier appearance. Seeing Yusuke scared beyond belief as Toguro shows off his skills is a bit surprising, but all the more welcome for the show. It's one of his most human moments in a while, and shows that despite kicking ass in the spirit world so far, there's a lot he hasn't been prepared for.

After that comes a montage reel showing off Yusuke's return to being trained by Genkai, while Kuwabara holds his own with Kurama and Hiei. They're all welcome sequences and character building that help to push towards the ending scene, when the four show up with a "mystery" fifth member. I wonder who that could be...

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Like last time, my entry will be a day or two late.

As Avaitor mentioned, I really love how we visually see Yusuke afraid of someone for once. Not only does it give him a new obstacle to overcome in his character arc, but it really effectively ups the stakes and lets you know that the Dark Tournament will be unlike any other arc that we've seen thus far. While the other arcs felt like entertaining little vignettes, this one has all of the workings of a grand-scale epic, and that's what makes it really exciting.

[Spark Of Spirit]

True, the fight with Toguro could have been longer, but it makes up for it by being incredibly surprising. This was the mission that showed how much Yusuke and Kuwabara had grown as Spirit Detectives (technically in Kuwabara's case) and this final battle really showed it more than any other.

It's different in that Yusuke and Kuwabara don't make any rookie or stupid mistakes throughout. The reason they almost lose and die is not for any reason other than they aren't strong enough. The second episode points this out even further while showing that while they've come a long way and are finally coming into their own, they still have to push further. Because if Toguro wasn't holding back to fulfill Sakyo's plans, they would have been pounded into meat chunks. The training they throw themselves into is very understandable given just that one encounter.

So that is how the Spirit Detective saga ends. Yusuke finally begins to find his niche and place in the world only to be told he's not ready yet. He still has further to go, and he's going to have to face certain death in order to claim it.

Most first acts of anime, especially shonen, tend to be very formulaic and simple. It's enough to get you invested in the characters and story and hopefully build a strong base for the rest of the tale. YYH does this too, but it manages to remain engaging even while going through the motions of things like the Saint Beast arc. By now we're invested in Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei, and want to see them make it through the certain terror just ahead of them.

I've been enjoying this rewatch immensely. I hope you guys have been, too.

[talonmalon333]

While I do appreciate brevity in battle shonen, sometimes an extended fight is helpful. What we got out of the battle here is strong, but we really needed another episode to get the full effect from the arc.

I actually like that. One episode is enough for a fight like this. Plus, that one episode is more entertaining than any of Suzaku's three.

some of it feels familiar- Yusuke and Keiko have a day out planned, he gets called in during the middle of it, shit goes down that he has to take care of.

I really like that in this episode, as it's the last time we'll see this side of Yusuke's life, the city and all that, before they spend 40+ episodes in a tournament on a tropical island. But I do think the title of the episode is a bit of a spoiler and that they probably should've called it something else. But that's only relevant on the first watch.

I love how much stronger the team gets in those two months of training. At the start of the tournament, Yusuke already feels so far beyond what he was even in the last episode of the Spirit Detective arc.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

25. Kuwabara's Fight of Love

This was a decent conclusion to a very good story arc. The whole theme of this arc is summed up in the two central characters of this particular story-line, Kuwabara and Yukina. Aside from establishing her as Kuwabara's romantic interest, their conversation in this episode perfectly summarizes how good and evil is not a clear-cut concept between race or anything of that nature. Whether you're a demon or a human, you can choose what kind of person that you want to be, and thus there are demons who can be good people, such as Yukina, and humans who can be complete scum, such as Tarukane. This theme is explored more deeply in the later arcs, but it was this arc that really established it as a major theme of the entire series.

I also really love the ending scene with Hiei nearly killing Tarukane but ultimately being stopped by Yukina. As Avaitor pointed out, it really expresses a powerful bond between the two that does not need words to explain it. This, I believe, is where Hiei truly becomes a more sympathetic character and really helped to establish him as a fan favorite for many people.

And of course, Sakyo and the Toguro Brothers made entertaining villains, but there isn't too much to say about them in this episode other than what I've already stated, especially considering that we'll learn more about them in the coming arc. I do have to disagree about this fight needing to be longer, though. It made perfect sense that it was as short as it was since the Toguro Brothers just needed to put up enough of a fight to make sure that it seemed legitimate, even though they weren't really trying. Additionally, it was sort of a way for Younger Toguro to test Yusuke's potential, since he was interested in him after learning that he was Genkai's student, which I believed that he already knew by the time of their encounter. Otherwise, he might have gone down even easier. At any rate, it makes perfect sense in retrospect from the next episode why this fight was able to end so cleanly, because that's how both sides of the opposition wanted it to go down, albeit for very different reasons.

Rescue Yukina Arc
Overall Rating: A-
Summary of Thoughts: This is the best arc of this series up to this point. It's nothing novel or original, but it's just the right combination of fun and serious, and that combined with the overall quality of the dub clearly improving as well as the overall animation quality made this arc a lot more fun to watch that the drab, and almost unbearable Saint Beasts arc. This also plants the seeds of the more complex and nuanced themes that this series will explore, so it's a lot more important of an arc than it might seem to be at first. Overall, it was just really well done.

26. Toguro Returns

So, you can view this episode in two ways. On a surface level, yes, it's just a pretty standard and uninspired set-up for the Dark Tournament arc. The plot is basically just how Sakyo and Toguro reveal that they were working together all along, and how Toguro threw his fight with Yusuke, but now wants a real fight with him. Thus he interrupts Yusuke, who's on yet another date with Keiko (BTW, they were going to Disney Land rather than the park in the sub-version; I just found that amusing enough to mention), and we get a training montage between Yusuke and Genkai, as well as for Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei. All in all, it's pretty basic stuff that needs to be gotten out of the way in order to get to the good stuff.

But, now, go back and look at this whole episode from Yusuke's perspective, while keeping in context all of his previous character development up to this point, which I have made care to go over in previous write-ups. Up until the Rescue Yukina arc, he was getting by via his own ability, which was always just barely enough, forcing him to rely on a bit of luck to scrape by each encounter as well. After his training with Genkai, and then during his fight with Suzaku, we finally saw him progress a little bit and realize why he needed to fight, and thus he started taking his role as Spirit Detective more seriously and put his heart into his work. And with Rescue Yukina, that seemed to be enough. I mean, with the experience that he had accumulated, he and Kuwabara were able to get through most ordeals like they were a piece of cake, and only had a bit of trouble with the Toguro Brothers, but also seemed to be able to take them down with a bit of good strategy. Everything seemed to be on the right track and now Yusuke had things down in his life.

And then all of that goes to shit in a matter of no time at all when Toguro reveals himself and his desire to really take on Yusuke now that his previous assignment had been completed. Then, upon revealing just a fraction of his true power to Yusuke, he threatens to kill everyone that Yusuke cares about if he refuses to participate in the Dark Tournament. And the thing is, he can completely back up that statement. Yusuke realizes for the first time in his life that he's not at all prepared for something like this. If Toguro really wanted to, he could kill Yusuke or anyone around him and Yusuke, at his current level, couldn't do a thing about it no matter how much he would want to. All of his power and abilities, his hardships and training, and all of his experience has amounted to nothing in front of this utter beast of a person. This is why we visibly see Yusuke react in utter fear. He has come to fully realize what a cocky kid he really is, after all. And this is what has set him on a path through the second phase of his character arc.

It's very telling that when we first saw his training with Genkai, we saw how poorly they got along and how Genkai was most frustrated with how Yusuke went into it with such a half-assed effort. Going back to her this time and claiming that he was really serious about it now, and seeing as how Genkai seemed to have expected him, you can really tell that this is something that was bound to happen. She knew that his training wasn't really complete and that he would eventually have to get something in real life to finally wake him up and get him ready to really put all of his heart and energy into bettering himself. Looking at this episode in terms of that aspect of Yusuke's character makes it a lot more interesting than it is as just a piece of plot set-up.

Additionally, I really like how Toguro's words to Kurama and Hiei manage to establish them as permanently part of Team Urameshi, not just for the sake of the Dark Tournament, but as a way of saying that they have turned on their past and are now committed to working together with Spirit World and humans, thus solidifying their face turns. Additionally, we get a bit of nuanced characterization for Kurama. Up until now, we have always assumed that Hiei is the darkest member of the group, and that Kurama was mostly just a nice guy. Yet Hiei spoke with a lot of respect about Kurama in the Saint Beasts arc, almost as if to say that even he wouldn't dare screw with the guy. While we'll finally get glimpses of how Kurama can really sink to the darkest points in terms of his character as opposed to any of the other main characters, there was a small little line in their training sequence that hinted at Kurama not being such a nice guy when the situation at hand really got serious. In this case, we learn that while sparring, Hiei was going soft and Kuwabara despite the two guys clearly despising each other. Meanwhile, while Kurama was a lot more friendly with Kuwabara in their past encounter, he explained how unlike Hiei, he will not show Kuwabara any sign of compassion here. Either he could make it through the training, or not make it anywhere at all, since Kurama would not go easy on him. It's a really small piece in an already small scene, but I found it to be a great little nod to what's to come in terms of where Kurama's character can go.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Also important is that this is the closest we've gotten to a training arc so far in the show. It's literally one episode of plot and character reveals and a bit of training. By the end they're on their way to the Dark Tournament. That's some good pacing since, let's face it, we really don't need to see a training arc for these characters since the story itself serves as training for them.

I'm wondering if we want to try to do something a little different for the Dark Tournament saga, since it's not only the most popular part of the show, but the longest as well. Maybe a fight scorecard, with a ranking on how each character stacks up might be cool. Or speculation on other characters might have handled the fights. I dunno, just throwing out ideas. But this arc is pretty different, even though all the arcs are pretty different from each other none are as focused on straight on battling as this one.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, we could try something a bit different. I'll at least give my personal grades to all of the fights in each round, and it'd be fun to speculate some "what if" scenarios.