Let's Talk About... Yu Yu Hakusho

[Spark Of Spirit]

Flashbacks of how Hiei got the Jagan, IIRC. It was said that the Jagan might drive the user mad, and it takes up a lot of power (which was why Hiei was able to go into the human world), both of which go a long way explaining why Hiei was so different in his early appearances and why he never resorts to using the Jagan or his transformation again after the upcoming episode. It might be a YMMV situation, but it made sense to me.

But that's a discussion for next week.

[LumRanmaYasha]

It seems I'll be habitually late on these discussions until school's out for me, since Mondays are just too busy for me to be online much. Anyways, there's not much I can say about these episodes that you guys haven't already said. Episode 5 might feel disjointed, but both parts are well-done and it's a good closer to Yusuke's adventures as a spirit and as a beginning to his new job as a Spirit Detective. Episode 6 is a nice set-up for a good first arc in terms of giving Yusuke a challenging obstacle for him to overcome and learn the ropes of his new gig. Overall, solid episodes, but next week's set will have more interesting things to talk about.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I don't expect that most people will have too much to say about these episodes until we get to the Dark Tournament arc, where characters and story-lines start getting more interesting and nuanced.

[LumRanmaYasha]

For me, the series picks up with Genkai's Tournament, so I should be able to say more substantial things about the episodes from that point onwards. The really early episodes just haven't inspired much for me to note about yet, at least nothing more than what everyone else has already said before the point I end up chiming in.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I personally can't wait for Rescue Yukina. There's a lot of great lines in that one and we meet three of the major players (four if you count the club) of the Dark Tournament. Plus the first inklings of Hiei's backstory.

[talonmalon333]

I want to say Yusuke's Back was the first episode I ever saw, but I can't be totally sure. It was at least one of the first ones I saw, so I have that connection with it.

I personally can't wait for Rescue Yukina. There's a lot of great lines in that one and we meet three of the major players (four if you count the club) of the Dark Tournament. Plus the first inklings of Hiei's backstory.

I love how that's basically a break period between the "epic" scale of the Maze Castle portion (relative to everything before it) and the huge 40+ tournament arc. Easily my favorite story of the Spirit Detective part.

Spoiler

I also love how the Jagan implant there is completely different from how it's shown later on in the series.

[close]

[Avaitor]

Okay, so I'm working tomorrow night, and I'm pretty annoyed, since my class gets off 10 minutes before the last possible shift at works starts, which is why I ask to not work then. But this also means that my post will probably be very late tomorrow, which will also suck, as I have class early the next morning.

As a result, I might try to make tomorrow's post tonight instead. We'll see how this goes.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Just go with whatever is most convenient for you.

I can post tonight, or if it's very late tomorrow, then I'll reserve my thoughts for Tuesday. Either way is fine.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I just re-watched both episodes for this week. While far from perfect, I still really like episode 7 a lot, but man does the next one not hold up for me. Of course, I'll elaborate on my feelings for both in more detail tomorrow night.

I still can't wait until we get to DT, though. I'm super confident that we'll be able to hold really interesting discussions by that point. It'll be really fun.

[Avaitor]

If there's one thing that these episodes prove, it's that Yusuke is still pretty dumb. But a lucky kind of dumb. He didn't really plan his

"Gouki and Kurama" lives up to the episode's title, as it finishes off Yusuke's fight with the former, and gives the latter his time for development. This is similar to "Yusuke's Back" in that this is almost like two separate stories combined for one episode, but it works well enough.

Still, it might have worked better if Yusuke and Gouki could have finished things off with the previous episode, while this gave more time to Kurama. Gouki works well enough as Yusuke's first demon encounter, but he's hardly an outstanding antagonist, as it's evident by how easily Yusuke gets him with the Spirit Gun. The fight is effective enough, but this is hardly the most exciting half.

Now Kurama's material, this is strong. The explanation behind Kurama's need for the Forlorn Hope is written well, as his ties to his human parents comes off as believable. What we see of Kurama as a character is also likable, as he's proven to be smart, but hardly obnoxious about it, just as John Burgmeier is finding the character's voice already. There's a warmness and a mind to it, which is perfect for the character.



"The Three Eyes of Hiei" is another good one, showing off Hiei's strength and fury. Now this won't be the last of the character, but here he proves a good challenge to Yusuke, as he almost gets Keiko down. But I'm out for tonight. Maybe I'll come back to this one later tomorrow.

Sorry that this one is so brief, but I kind of lost my energy after work. Let's see what you guys think!

[Spark Of Spirit]

There's no doubt that Kurama is the highlight of the Three Artifacts arc, having a backstory that is both interesting and a bit sad, and clearly the character Togashi wanted to explore more. Gouki makes for a good first opponent for Yusuke, not being too overwhelming, but being just menacing enough to show just what kind of work Yusuke is in for.

Hiei, however, doesn't fare quite as well. His episode is more exciting than it is interesting, being very action packed with a quite shallow villain. Driven mad by the Jagan, Hiei is little more than a crazed menace out to level everyone and everything. His transformation is strange (and is thankfully never used again) but there is a strange sort of charisma there. Even if Togashi wasn't sure about him at the time, it was clear there was more to Hiei than what this episode showed us. But yet again Kurama steals the show as he saves Yusuke from an untimely death and stops his short friend from breaking one of the most important rules.

We won't be seeing either one of them again for a little while, but this was a worthy arc to introduce both of these characters. So far so good in YYH, but we should soon have more interesting material to talk about as opposed to just saying "Now that was cool!" over and over.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I always felt that the 7th episode was a bit disjointed. I would have preferred it being either split into two episodes, or ending Gouki's part in the story in the last episode and devoting this one entirely to Kurama, who's story in this arc is easily it's highlight, and a strong character introduction to him in showing his backstory, humanity, and some of the strengths and weaknesses of his character. The 8th episode is a nice action-paked episode, but Hiei isn't that interesting of a villain here, though I actually do like his demon transformation form. He makes a good challenge for Yusuke, and Kurama getting in on the action and helping him out (helping both of them out in the process, really) is also nice. Overall the Three Artifacts arc is probably the least interesting arc in the show for me, though. The next arc, though, is probably my favorite in the Spirit Detective saga, so I can't wait to revisit it!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

07. Gouki and Kurama

Like others have pointed out, this episode does feel a bit disjointed, but unlike "Yusuke's Back," this is in the middle of a story-arc, rather than ending one and transitioning into the next one, so for a serialized series of this nature where such a thing is pretty common, I don't find it quite as jarring.

As for the episode itself, Gouki's half was serviceable in showing how Yusuke can prevail if he uses his head. He still rushes into his second fight (albeit for a very understandable reason), but understands Gouki's strengths and weaknesses now, and uses his knowledge of his opponent to his advantage. His ability to strategize on the fly will continue to grow and improve as his actual fighting skills do, as the series progresses over time.

I know that, in the grand scheme of things, it's probably not much, but I really do love Kurama's portion of the episode. Much like with Kuwabara, early on, it's a good example of the "there's more than meets the eye" mentality that is so poignant in all of Togashi's series. In this case, many people will naturally assume that Kurama is just another villain based on the fact that he was in on the robbery of the Three Artifacts, but right from his first proper exchange of dialogue with Yusuke, we learn a very interesting back-story that, while vague at this point in the series, shows us how some demons can become capable of empathy and other complex human emotions, which of course is yet another feature that will become incredibly important later on in the show. Yusuke being willing to sacrifice his own life on the spot to help out Kurama does show how selfless he really is....but also how idiotic he can be, as once again he's just jumping face-first into a situation which he can't fully grasp. Still, it's a really good way to earn Kurama's trust and friendship, and in later arcs he is going to be SO glad that Kurama's on his side, rather than being his enemy. There's a specific episode in the Chapter Black arc where that becomes all too apparent.

Still, putting my own bias and nostalgia aside, it is very basic stuff for a battle shonen series, so I can't give it too much credit, but it still holds up just fine, IMO. Also, as I stated before, John Burgmeier's portrayal of Kurama, while still far from perfect, is already a lot closer to where it should be than either Sabat's Kuwabara or Huber's Hiei. He clearly does have a lot of understanding and respect for the character which he is portraying.

08. The Three Eyes of Hiei

I'm sorry to say it, but as I commented earlier, this episode really just doesn't hold up for me. Hiei is just a generic villain in this episode. Even with the ret-con of how the Jagan Eye turns him evil, I still have problems with how he acts in this episode, even out of context with the rest of this series. For instance, his evil master-plan isn't even fully fleshed out. It's only vaguely described that he wants to use the Shadow Sword to zombify some humans into an army of demon slaves....because....he's evil, I guess. There really isn't much thought put into his motivation or his reason for even stealing the Three Artifacts in the first place. You can tell that Togashi is still inexperienced by this point by how little he has really thought any of these characters out other than Kurama, and you really can tell that he didn't originally plan to keep Hiei around for long.

As for his transformation, I thought that it was fine, yet irrelevant in the grand scheme on things, as the only time that he ever uses it again is in the non-canon feature-length movie, and for all of about five-seconds to do just one (admittedly cool-looking) attack.

Now, I do love one particular scene where Kurama steps in to save Yusuke. Sure, you could argue about the logic of why he didn't just interrupt Hiei's attack by attacking him before he landed his attack on Yusuke, but I just love the visual representation of how Kurama is paying back Yusuke by showing that he is also willing to sacrifice himself to help him out, and this firmly establishes their friendship and alliance. It's the start of the development in which Kurama eventually becomes my favorite protagonist in the series. It's probably the only moment in this episode that stands out to me. The rest is just standard-fare.

Three Artifacts Arc
Overall Rating: C
Summary of Thoughts: While it's a nice introduction to the other two main characters of the show, it clearly doesn't deliver with the foresight of how important (and different) they would prove to be later on. Aside from that it's about as standard as a shonen series can get, and while not bad by any stretch, fails to showcase the level of creativity and nuance that Togashi's characters and stories are capable of reaching when he's on his A-game. Overall, it's serviceable, but aside from a few stand-out moments in this arc, that's about it.

[talonmalon333]

I've always liked John Burgmeier's execution of the "I've caused her great pain. It's hard to raise a child who thinks you're inferior" line. Feels like he does mean it.

As for The Three Eyes of Hiei, it's nothing special. I mostly like it because it's Hiei's big real introduction. I do think his design looks really bad though. I know the animation was poor at the beginning of the show's run, but at least Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama looked like themselves. Hiei looks different.

[Avaitor]

Hmm, I don't mind "The Three Eyes of Hiei" as much as you guys, even if I can't really argue with anyone's points. I think nostalgia is simply getting the better of me in this case, as I just remember Hiei being such a badass in this episode, as he was a bigger threat than Gouki and had a cooler fight with Yusuke.

In hindsight, yes, this isn't the Hiei that I know and like best, but I still feel a bit of that DBZ-loving testosterone that made the initial viewing a treat.