#YYH Recaps

[fruiteggsaladit]

Tfw you listen to a review of a favourite show and they start trashing a favourite minor antagonist of yours (Suzuki the beautiful) for being annoying and you just sit there cry-laughing bc they're right ksldfksdkld

[skrunksthatwunk]

i literally haven't done anything for my classes and the semester started 3 days ago (<- in person stuff canceled for weather) i need to work and now is a good time to do it but. my itty at. my fuckign silly biscuit my stinky winky my beautiful boy i could see him minutes from now. all of a sudden it is possible again and i miss him so so so so so so ssooooooo bad

RASCAL IS BACK IN THE BUILDING. HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH LET ME SEE HIM LET ME SEE MY BOYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

[koalatysleep]

YYH is actually a LGBTQ romantic tragic comedy masterfully told through subtext

In a nutshell, Canon uses very sophisticated show-don't-tell techniques to SHOW us Yusuke and Kuwabara are in love with each other, while outright TELLING us the narrative misdirection that they're supposedly in love with Keiko & Yukina (almost every canon character mistakenly thinks this & tells us this deliberate misdirection), so much so that even Yusuke and Kuwabara themselves believed the other really is in love with their supposed female love interests!

Canon had to use such show-don't-tell techniques + misdirection in order to sneak in the Kuwameshi Love Story in 90's Japanese mainstream media where there's no tolerance for outright LGBTQ representation, especially in its heroes, but it's been more than 30 years after YYH was first created, so it's a frigging tragedy if people still think the love story is between the two heroes and their supposed female love interests who are barely in the story other than as narrative misdirections, so LET'S PEEL BACK THE LAYERS AND DIVE INTO THE HEART OF THINGS!

As always, proper meta with proof points, screencaps & larger canon context at this Kuwameshi meta series on AO3!

The latest addition to the series Two Steps Forward, One Step Back - Kuwabara's Retreat from Love is now up!

Now on to the post that sums up the romantic tragi-comedy of YYH!

In the above heartbreaking scene where Yusuke silently says goodbye to Kuwabara, Yusuke is wearing the same green jacket that he had on during Genkai's succession trials, when Yusuke and Kuwabara had their Arcade Date as per the Kuwameshi undercover love story meta, and both realized they're falling in love with each other 😭😭😭😭

Yusuke's sartorial choices had gradually matured throughout the series until we saw him wearing more grown up clothes such as this dashing ensemble just before the heartbreaking goodbye scene:

So the sudden reversion to the green jacket is a deliberate choice by Anime Studio Pierrot to tell us that this heartbreaking scene is Yusuke saying a romantic farewell to Kuwabara 😭😭😭😭.

In fact, Yusuke is wearing the exact same ensemble he had on after he first came back to life post car accident (green jacket with yellow vest over red flannel), when the first thing he did was to save Kuwabara's cat in a really sweet romantic gesture as per the Kuwameshi undercover love story meta. This symbolizes how Yusuke is now at the start of another journey just like he was after his first revival post car accident, and foreshadows how he'll promise Kuwabara to check in on him first thing after Yusuke comes back from the Makai, to see whether Kuwa got into the school he's aiming for, as a way to tell us Kuwa'll still be Yusuke's romantic interest even after the Makai separation. But I digress!!

To recap, when we last saw this green jacket, it was when Yusuke and Kuwabara first went all out to show off for each other in peak courting behavior :

This was when Yusuke initiated their first hug!!! Look at Yusuke throwing himself bodily at Kuwabara!!!

This was when Yusuke outright tried to kill Rando for hurting Kuwabara!! It's worthwhile to note Yusuke doesn't actually outright want to kill anyone else, apart from Toguro, because that was the only way to stop him! Both times are because Kuwa's hurt!! (Yusuke didn't want to kill that territory arc Dr Kamiya either, until he was forced to do so to save the entire hospital who were on verge of dying). This tells us that Kuwa is so important to Yusuke that Yusuke would actually break his own moral code (to avoid killing), if it was for Kuwa!!! This is canon literally showing us Yusuke would do anything for Kuwa!

As per play-by-play proof points in The Chocolate Shake Date meta, after Genkai's succession trials when Yusuke started to realize his romantic feelings for Kuwabara, it's implied that he phoned Kuwabara for what he hoped was a 1-1 date, and Yusuke was actually trying to get Kuwabara alone all throughout that hilarious fiasco after Keiko unknowingly became the third wheel by crashing Yusuke's hoped-for date with Kuwabara after she bumped into Yusuke by pure chance!

Coupled with the fact that Yusuke was seriously creeped out by Keiko trying to kiss his unconscious body when he was still a spirit + the fact that Yusuke has never shown any romantic interest in any girl + many more canon proof points that I will add to the meta series in the future + the fact that my canon may have vastly different dialogue/meaning from your canon, I read Yusuke as gay (but feel free to interpret Yusuke as whatever orientation floats your boat, I just personally read him as gay as per the canon versions I got & reasons stated in meta).

Yusuke was always in love with Kuwabara from the start, which is why Yusuke was actually romantically pursuing Kuwabara in The Chocolate Shake Date!

Unfortunately Keiko's romantic interest in Yusuke (which was not reciprocated by Yusuke) threw a spanner into the works and prevented Yusuke from getting together with Kuwabara all throughout canon, as symbolized & foreshadowed by Keiko crashing The Chocolate Shake Date! (sorry Keiko, but I have faith you eventually figured it out & moved on happier!)

Thus, even though Kuwabara got an inkling that Yusuke may not be romantically interested in Keiko during The Chocolate Shake Date and Kuwabara started romantically pursuing Yusuke all throughout the 4 beasts arc as per proof points in Two Steps Forward, One Step Back - Kuwabara's Retreat from Love, Kuwabara mistakenly thought Yusuke was in love with Keiko after Yusuke gave his life to save the girls from Suzaku. That's right, Kuwa's 'prank' on Yusuke about the girls not making it post-Suzaku-fight was actually Kuwa testing Yusuke to see his unfiltered reactions so Kuwa could ascertain one last time how Yusuke really feels about Keiko! Unfortunately Kuwa mistook Yusuke's panic for the girls as romantic love for Keiko,

And so Kuwa Retreated from Love with Yusuke so he doesn't get in the way of what he thought was reciprocal romantic love between Yusuke and Keiko (just like he offered to let them be alone during The Chocolate Shake Date), because that's how nobly and selflessly Kuwa loves Yusuke - he wants him to be happy even if it breaks his own heart,

And thereafter Kuwa throws himself at Yukina as a way to try to get over his heartbreak and to process/express his emotions for Yusuke which he thinks he cannot show Yusuke (Denial & Transference are hallmarks of Kuwa's psyche),

Which prompted Yusuke to think Kuwabara really was in love with Yukina, and so Yusuke Retreated from Love with Kuwa because Yusuke is also a noble idiot in love who wants Kuwa to be happy even if it breaks his heart,

And even though they each got an inkling after the events of the Dark Tournament that the other might be in love with them, and they're almost on the verge of stopping their Retreat from Love with each other, especially Yusuke,

Sensui hit them with his shit and Yusuke sacrificed himself nobly so he can save Kuwa, all his friends and the entire human realm, and even though this is when Kuwa finally breaks through his Denial and his Transference which are hallmarks of Kuwa's psyche and outright admits that Yusuke's the one he's been in love with from the beginning as per proof points in It's All in the Eyes + Denial is a river that runs long and deep meta,

Yusuke was reborn as a Mazoku who is so much stronger than Kuwa felt he could ever become as a human (Kuwa has felt inadequate since 4 beasts arc), that Kuwa felt he could no longer protect Yusuke against the S-class opponents he'd face, and since fighting to protect Yusuke was one of the reasons (in Kuwa's mind) that Kuwa could 'legitimately' be with Yusuke even though he's supposed to give Yusuke space with Keiko (because fighting to protect Yusuke is something that Kuwa could do for Yusuke that Keiko can't), and so Kuwa Retreated from Love again, this time into studying,

While Yusuke knows he cannot afford to lose Kuwa after having lost Kuwa in the Dark Tournament and nearly a second time to Sensui, and at this point in time Yusuke just felt that he's Bad News for the one he loves (Kuwa), he only puts Kuwa in danger and stress, and he can't keep Kuwa safe from an unknown S-class ancestor demon who could take over Yusuke's mind at any time, just like he felt he failed to protect Kuwa against Toguro and Sensui,

And so Yusuke Retreats from Love yet again and goes alone to the Makai in this heartbreaking goodbye scene, even though his yearning and longing for Kuwabara to be with him is SO FUCKING PALPABLE I FELT IT IN MY HEART WHILE WATCHING THIS EVEN BEFORE I CLUED INTO KUWAMESHI!!!!

FUCKING HELL!!!! WHY ARE THESE TWO IDIOTS SO FUCKING NOBLE IN LOVE?!??!??!

And that in a nutshell is how our two idiots in love are in a romantic tragi-comedy all throughout canon!!!!!!

WHAT I WOULDN"T GIVE TO SEE YUSUKE AND KUWABARA GET TOGETHER I TELL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Check out the Kuwameshi Meta Series if you wanna, because I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO SCREAM ENOUGH ABOUT THESE TWO!!!!!!

If you'd like to see them fulfill their romantic potential with each other in fic, check out The Good Fight which guarantees a much more satisfying narrative than the bittersweet one we got in canon!

Not that I'm complaining about canon, because IT IS FUCKING MASTERFUL I TELL YOU! So much so that it managed to sneak in one of the greatest love story of all time under the radar in uber conservative 90's Japan mainstream media where LGBTQ love stories were not allowed any representation, and it did it in such a rich subtextual way that holds up to the most stringent literary analysis and character analysis, that most heteronormative audiences over the past 30+ years since YYH was created still doesn't realize the real love story is between Yusuke and Kuwabara!!!

Now, THAT is Great ART! 😭😭

❤️❤️🌈🌈🐦🐦❤️❤️🌈🌈🐦🐦

[wildercrow]

Just Leave A Comment Fest: Winter 2023 Recap

We participated in @justleaveacommentfest this past week and had an absolute blast! Our grand comment total was, wait for it...

✨69 Comments!!!✨

For those of you who know us: Yes, Boaty was responsible for that number. Was it because she wanted to make a 69 joke or because her competitive streak kicked in and she wanted to leave the most comments out of anyone in our system? Yes.

Either way: she succeeded.

~*~*~

We commented on 58 fics across 7 fandoms! We left:

42 Dragon Age comments

9 Transformers comments (6 Earthspark, 3 Prime)

7 Baldur's Gate 3 comments

5 Yu Yu Hakusho comments

4 Voltron comments

1 Monster Hunter comment (we don't even go here but we love our friends)

and 1 original fic comment

9 system members participated (that's half our system):

Boaty came out on top with 18 comments

Nuri left 15

Matt left 12

Haunt left 10

Roan left 5

Mulch left 3

And the remaining 6 were group comments made by various combinations of the above + Naeem, Sariq, and Snow

~*~*~

We also received 3 comments this week, and we treasure them all:

This one from @warpedlegacy

This one from @rakshadow

This one from @leggywillow

Thank you all, and thank you to the friends who cheered us on during this week's reading marathon as well! We appreciate you!! <333

~*~*~

We also got a 12 bingo combo (that's ALL THE SQUARES) on this bingo card we got from here!!

See below the cut for what fics we commented on for each square! They're all good fics, so consider this our belated contribution to fic rec day.

Please heed the ratings and tags -- there's some spicy fics and heavy themes in the mix. Also note that while the majority of these fit the theme of this blog (Dragon Age and BG3), there are some other fandoms mixed in.

In the parentheses, we'll list the fandom, rating, wordcount, and main character or ship. Fandoms will be abbreviated as follows:

Dragon Age > DA

Baldur's Gate 3 > BG3

Transformers Earthspark > TFE

Transformers Prime > TFP

Voltron Legendary Defender > VLD

Yu Yu Hakusho > YYH

Monster Hunter > MH

~*~*~

Bingo Fics!!!

B1 - Angst: To Plant A Seed by SerialChillr (DA, T, <1k, Lavellan)

I1 - Fluff: That Night by Toshi_Nama (DA, T, 1k, FWB Fenris/Isabela)

N1 - Crack fic: Spaghetti Regretti by platonicharmonics (VLD, G, 2.5k, Shiro/Matt & Keith)

G1 - Major Minor Character Death: The Many Virtues of Failure by dismalzelenka (BG3, M, 11k, Tav)

O1 - Gen fic: Card Shark by SulkyValkyrie (DA, T, <1k, Sigrun & Isabela)

B2 - Under 50 kudos: A Betting Man by dismalzelenka (DA, G, <1k, Anders & Varric & Isabela)

I2 - No comments until now: Kadan and Kadath by brainwormterrarium (DA, M, <1k, Adaar/The Iron Bull/Dorian)

N2 - <100 works for the ship: What To Get the Elf Who Ha(te)s Everything by dismalzelenka (DA, G, 2k, Sigrun/Velanna & Friends)

G2 - WIP updated <1 week ago: Heart of Glass by delicatefade (DA, M, 4k, Lavellan/Lavellan)

O2 - WIP updated >6+ months ago: Laughter in the Halls by JellyDishes (DA, NR, 1k, Leliana/Josephine)

B3 - New to you fandom: Sick Day by FantasiaWandering (TFP, G, <1k, Bulkhead & Miko)

I3 - New to you ship: The Autobot-Decepticon Tango by platonicharmonics (TFE, G, 6K, Bumblebee/Breakdown/Knock Out & Megatron/Optimus & The Maltos)

N3 - Free space: need me 'til i need no more by silverwolfbunny (DA, M, 2.5k, Fenris/Isabela)

G3 - New to you author: Pajamas by kaiamira (YYH, G, 1.5k, Hiei/Kurama)

O3 - New to you trope: Guilty Pleasure by platonicharmonics (TFE, E, 15k, Megatron/Optimus/Elita One)

B4 - Time travel: Who You Used to Be (We Want to Know You) by deadlysoupy (TFE, T, 5.5k, Bee & The Terrans)

I4 - Femslash: things that die over and over by tatertwitch (DA, T, 1.5k, Sigrun/Velanna)

N4 - Canon compliant: Number Six by warpedlegacy (DA, T, <1k, Cassandra & Trevelyan & Dorian & Sera)

G4 - Original character-centric: alis volat propriis by Hanoden (DA, T, 36k, OC-centric)

O4 - Person of color main character: From Ashes by Fenrevas (DA, M, 70k, Fenris/Hawke)

B5 - Author's first work: History by DeftAlec (MH, T, 3k, OCs)

I5 - Under 1,000 words: The Gifts of Life by CelestialArcadia (DA, G, <1k, Sigrun)

N5 - Neurodivergent main character: If You Could Only Be What You Pretend To Be by platonicharmonics (TFE, M, 4k, Starscream & Megatron)

G5 - Over 100,000 words: Enlea'Ensal (series) by lalaen (DA, E, 200k, Lavellan)

O5 - Written for a fest or challenge: Let's go hand in hand, not one before the other by limeblood (VLD, E, 9k, Shiro/Matt)

We bent the rules a liiittle on Major Character Death and over 100k words because we generally just. Don't read either of those things. At all. And the point is to have fun, not to torture ourselves.

[shayurikarasu]

I posted 5,457 times in 2022

That's 1,586 more posts than 2021!

29 posts created (1%)

5,428 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@scarlet-rainy-dreams

@sam-winchester-admiration-league

@lunarartistangel

@rosydolly

@sugar-cafe

I tagged 3,974 of my posts in 2022

Only 27% of my posts had no tags

#personal - 1,443 posts

#creative - 1,261 posts

#karasu - 904 posts

#nabi - 589 posts

#imnabi - 585 posts

#cute♡ - 312 posts

#i wants this ♡ - 291 posts

#k - 281 posts

#steven - 250 posts

#juunanagou - 243 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#super weird and incredible that i was so confused and thought i had fallen into an alternate dimension where this was new information lolol

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

DARK ROMANCE RECAP (IN HONOUR OF 5TH ANNIVERSARY) ♡

Dark Romance recap in honour of our 5th anniversary (tw: suicidal ideation and mention of rape) – from emails with a friend:

I remember Karasu best from the video games when I was a teen, and only remembered he was in love with Kurama when I was rewatching. I was impressed with his beauty and power when he made his first appearance, then shocked when he talked with Kurama in the hallway, and later traumatized by him in their fight, enough to black most of it out! I ended up wishing for Karasu to kill me one morning when I was suicidal, and he showed up in my brother Micky’s dream (without Micky knowing my wish beforehand from earlier that day), and then in my dreams as well, before I started seeing him in my everyday surroundings. He serenaded me outside my window upon the river day in and day out, and that’s how he won my heart. ♡ It was Micky’s idea for me to befriend Karasu, as he could see I was falling in love despite my deep conflicting feelings (when I asked Karasu what he wanted from me, he said he wanted to be my boyfriend, so I thought about it). I was also involved with Kurama and Touya at that time in my dreams. When Karasu first had “his wicked way” with me, he wanted to know that he “fucked (me) better than HIM” … it took me a few minutes, but then I asked him if he meant Kurama? And he was immensely pleased to hear the Fox’s name. Not a fond memory, but our times after that were more pleasant. This was five years ago. Our anniversary was June 11th.

See the full post

4 notes - Posted June 13, 2022

#4

"Kiriko" trending on Twitter … and it's not even one of my Dark Daddies, Doctor Kiriko from Black Jack by Osamu Tezuka ._.

5 notes - Posted October 9, 2022

#3

Atsushi Sakurai - Taiji 【PV】 ｢HD｣

Oh my heart! ♡ I haven't seen this in 7yrs, finally found it again. One of my firsts getting into BUCK-TICK & Atsushi. ♡ I love his symbolism with wings, hence why I chose the name Tsubasa ("Wings") for my Karasu's SI OC. ^^ ♡

6 notes - Posted June 18, 2022

#2

"Expectations versus reality." ~Mikau dude @candle-nocturne

AKA "Karasu's Fantasy", LOL! 🤣

So, I shared the first art piece of Karasu chasing Kurama in what looks like a daydream world (artist unknown, unfortunately) to the @yyh-revival Discord server, and another user who goes by Bad did the second art piece, as they put it: "Fanart of fanart", which shows a touch of reality with how the Fox clearly feels, lol. 😝

7 notes - Posted May 25, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

OMG! I wish I had my phone on hand - a CROW just sat on the opened window, then hopped over to the other opened window here at our window screens on the 3rd floor. SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! 🤩

Like, I'm right in front of the windows, too! He was totally not scared of me. 🤩

11 notes - Posted June 18, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[quinloki]

I once tried to recap the first few episode of YYH to my spouse so they could just start after the whole Egg Trial, and what I thought would take me 4 minutes tops was ended 10 minutes into it by my spouse.

So I'm fairly certain I could just try to recap the show and be good to go.

the spn drama could take a whole year to explain in the least so i’m good

[itsclydebitches]

YYH Recaps: Episode 5 “Yusuke’s Back”

Hello, wonderful Yu Yu Hakusho fandom! It's been a while, but what else is new? Is anyone here a Hollow Knight fan? I've been itching for the release of Silksong lately, thinking to myself how much better it would have been if I had gotten hooked on the series later, spared the pain of such a long hiatus between the initial release and the sequel. If anyone is actually interested in reading these recaps, I sincerely hope that you discover them after I've kicked my writing butt into gear and have gotten more than five chapters written. 

Today's episode is titled "Yusuke’s Back" so if you were hoping to immerse yourself in the tension of whether Yusuke will successfully regain his body or not... maybe rethink your expectations. Not that I'm disappointed in the spoiler, simply given that it's not much of a spoiler at all. Even kids, tweens, and teens — what was likely YYH's primary target audience (not necessarily it’s actual audience) back when it was airing on Toonami — would have figured out by now that Yusuke is destined for resurrection. Building his relationships among the living all but guarantees his success, especially as the show does nothing else to lead the audience towards an all-ghost plotline. 

So that's where we'll end up about halfway through the episode. Before that though Yusuke has to actually realize that success is on the horizon. We open with him complaining to Botan that there are “two things I hate: waiting and being rushed," both of which he's been doing a lot of lately. Basically, Yusuke enjoys doing his own thing, on his own time, and generally being free of responsibility to others. It's an attitude that's quite understandable given his upbringing — a factor that will once again be on full display this episode as Atsuko fails to live up to parental expectations — but it's also a flaw that Yusuke will spend the rest of the series working to improve. All that aside, I gapped a little at him essentially complaining about the wait period. He's invisible to everyone around him and he can fly. In what world is that not a recipe for endless entertainment?? Catch me exploring for hours on end, alternating between seeing whether ghosts can break the atmosphere and engaging in the ultimate form of people watching. 

Yusuke isn't into any of that though. When Botan points out the Koenma has a great deal to do as the ruler of the afterlife, Yusuke counters that important people aren't really important. It's the other way around: making you wait is a strategy to make you think they're important. Given what we saw with Yusuke's teachers, I can’t blame him for that attitude either. Of course, it's right as Yusuke is going, "Besides, how busy can a toddler be?" that Koenma appears at his side, startling the hell out of him. 

I wonder if the Yusuke of later episodes, powered up and spiritually aware, would still have missed Koenma's presence... 

Anyway, after Botan keeps him from putting his foot in his mouth (primarily by keeping said mouth shut), Yusuke gets his wish as Koenma announces that it's time to get this show on the road. "It seems we're going to have to rush." Poor Yusuke. He wasn't wrong about bouncing between the two extremes. 

Koenma snags his hand and flies them back towards his body where Atsuko is drinking in the other room. “Nice pad," Yusuke says. "Mom must have had good fire insurance." It's little details like this that make me love YYH's writing. Sure, there are far bigger, wonky issues in the series — especially earlier on — but the world also feels rich because of comments like this. The story could have easily popped in on Atsuko post-fire without acknowledging how she got the new "pad" and, honestly, it wouldn't have been a big deal. Most viewers would have recognized that it's not essential to the plot and many more would have simply assumed precisely what Yusuke says: there was insurance, savings, help, or some other explanation involved. However, having spent several years in a fandom where such details are continually unacknowledged, to the point where it feels less like a real world and more like a slapped-together collection of half-baked ideas, re-watching YYH's work in that regard is like a balm to the storytelling soul. 

Our new location established, Koenma launches into an explanation about how Yusuke will — they hope — be resurrected. Turns out that every person possesses two wavelengths, one for their body and one for their spiritual energy, and both must be in alignment for the two to come together. Makes sense in a fantasy way. I also quite like the visual we're given as Koenma tries to keep Yusuke on track.

He's a bit excitable though, talking about how soon he'll be "a human with real fists and everything!" Beyond the strange implication that Yusuke is not currently human (maybe?) he's clearly maintaining his priorities here, upholding his ability to punch things over... well, literally everything else. Koenma tells him to cool his jets though — not literally, but you know he's thinking it — because if Yusuke misses this chance tomorrow then he'll have to wait until his wavelengths align again. How long will that take exactly? Days? Weeks? 

Fifty-two years. 

Admittedly, my initial response to this reveal was, "What the fuck, Koenma?" because he's going to wait until now, with twenty-four hours left, to tell Yusuke about this chance? But once again YYH comes through with a comment about how Yusuke is a unique case (most people wouldn't have to wait decades to try again) and a reminder that his situation is far from average. The afterlife doesn't appear to have a system in place for dealing with delinquent kids destined for hell who unexpectedly save someone's life. From giving Yusuke the resurrection offer, to rewarding his sacrifice of the egg, to realizing his spiritual energy isn't like everyone else's, Koenma has basically been making this up as he goes along. So I can forgive him for cutting it close, even if Yusuke might not. 

Hey, has anyone written that AU? Yusuke misses his chance to come back and is forced to wait out decades between worlds, watching everyone he loves live the majority of their lives, many of them passing away, until he returns in a sixty-six-year-old body, but with a soul that hasn't experienced the events necessary to mature along with it? Talk about an angst-fest. 

In the realm of the canon though, Yusuke continues to struggle with being in a relatively powerless position. See, as his recent "with real fists and everything" attests, Yusuke is a character who is used to solving matters on his own, with his own abilities, with — literally — his own two hands. He's a very active person, in the sense of taking control of situations (not exercising a lot), yet here he's continually reliant on others around him to take action on his behalf. He needs Kuwabara to relay a message, or Keiko to save his body. Continuing that pattern, Koenma informs him that he'll need to call on the three people who care for him most in the living world to donate life energy. No, it's not a sacrifice, just a kiss on the lips. "Haven't you ever heard of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation?" 

I'm a little obsessed with Koenma grounding spiritual nonsense with a real-life example of medical care while simultaneously maintaining these fairy tale elements: Yusuke's hope exists in threes and he'll only come back through True Love's Kiss (even if, at this point in the story, love isn't limited solely to the romantic). 

We get another pretty shot as Yusuke grapples with others having too much control over his existence — "Hey! Why are you making me glow?" — and Koenma reassures him that he's just getting his body ready for re-entry. By tomorrow his whole body will be golden. Until then, Yusuke should go on another dream adventure to warn Atsuko, Kuwabara, and Keiko. 

Problem is, Atsuko is immediately rejected as an option. She's drunk as a skunk and leaves for the bar once she's emptied her bottle. Even if Yusuke could rely on her to transfer life energy at the appropriate time — which I really don't think he can, given that in her inebriated state she tells an unconscious Yusuke to "Watch over the house while I'm gone" after leaving him alone just resulted in a massive blaze that nearly killed him and Keiko (or, you know, perma-killed his body) — Yusuke reveals that Atsuko will be "on this streak for days." 

Instead, we cut to Kuwabara waking up from a nightmare. AKA he's just dreamt that he kissed Yusuke with all the passion of a fourteen-year old's yaoi fanfic. 

Now, I'm not going to make any claims about YYH having good minority representation. Even overlooking the classic pervert "jokes" and instead highlighting that, yes, Keiko, Botan, and some women still to come are well developed, YYH as a whole doesn't have anything that we're likely looking for in 2022 in regards to diversity. It's very much a product of the 80's-90's shonen culture. Some nuances aside, it's fundamentally a story about a bunch of fit, able-bodied dudes fulfilling male power fantasies. That being said, YYH refrains from a lot of harmful writing that would have been easily excused at the time which, given that context, makes it progressive in that particular way. Here, Kuwabara's disgust is very clearly about having to kiss Yusuke as an individual  — his supposed rival — not about having to kiss another guy. That's not even mentioned as something he's uncomfortable with and that lack is noticeable given the genre and the publication date. 

Basically though, Kuwabara is not an option. 

Which leaves Keiko as their only real hope. She's also had the dream about kissing Yusuke and decides to visit him before school that morning. "Well, that's great," you might think. "She'll notice that he's golden, realize the dream was real, and get on with this resurrection business!" Nah lol. Koenma forgot to mention that the glow starts from the feet up, so Keiko doesn't even notice that early in the day. Instead, she considers trying a kiss just to be on the safe side, but ultimately chickens out. Though it's a moment that can be rather frustrating for the viewer, it's entirely understandable for her character. After all, just last episode Keiko nearly kissed Yusuke of her own volition, only to realize the mistake she was making and pull back. She's fourteen years old. She's embarrassed by her own feelings. "Should I try?" she asks and in the end the answer is 'No.' From her perspective, that dream is just going to look like a normal result of her subconscious and Yusuke is currently a soulless husk who can't consent to trying things out. All in all, I can 100% buy Keiko refraining here. It keeps her personality and internal struggle consistent. 

Although, all of this could have been avoided if the dream message had been a little more explanatory. Why can Yusuke tutor Kuwabara for a test, but he can't say precisely why he wants his friends to kiss him? Ah, ambiguity for the drama. 

Bad luck continues to dog Yusuke as the day goes on. First, Kuwabara fails to show up to school which means that he and Keiko can't collaborate their dreams and perhaps realize that it's actually a message. Then, class is interrupted as Takenaka informs Keiko that her mother is ill. Specifically, he tells her in front of the whole class that "There's something wrong with your mother" which could mean anything from "She's in jail" to "She's actively dying." Regardless of what it is, something is clearly wrong and the whole student body (because you just know rumors will spread) doesn't need to know about it. Pull Keiko out of class and tell her that privately! 

Luckily, her mom just has a case of heatstroke and will be fine with a bit of rest, but Keiko is worried enough that she refuses to leave the hospital bedside, despite her dad's urging. Her compassion, though commendable, is ultimately doing more harm than good here — not that Keiko realizes that. Botan even says that Mrs. Yukimura is getting all the attention when Yusuke is the one in danger. Interestingly, he smiles. 

I'm honestly not sure how I want to interpret this expression. Alongside Botan's worry, Yusuke has just listed all the trials he's dealt with lately saying that, “It really feels like someone’s out to get me." Crucially though, there's that smile. Yusuke isn't furious about these karmic injustices; he's approaching his string of horrific bad luck with an acceptance tinged with dark humor. Like many other shonen protagonists, Yusuke is very self-sacrificial (even if he pretends otherwise) and I think a part of that drive might be coming through here.  He saved a life, he paid the price, and that's... fine. Yusuke won't fight for himself the way he'll fight for others simply because, despite the tough guy nature and tendency to brag, he doesn't actually have a high opinion of himself outside of his fighting prowess. When not hiding behind showy arrogance, Yusuke is rather self-deprecating: the son of an alcoholic, worst student in the school, delinquent, no friends except for Keiko and of course Keiko is kind to him because Keiko is amazing. He loves her. Now here she is, demonstrating that kindness towards her mother. Why would Yusuke want to interrupt that, especially when it's for him?  

So, he's smiling, Botan is fretting, but eventually Yusuke's self-preservation instincts kick in and they decide that if Keiko is a lost cause they'll just have to try Kuwabara again. They find him at the arcade — which I love because it implies that Yusuke knows his habits well enough to figure out where he's been spending his school skip day — and we once again get a frankly welcoming approach to the idea of two guys kissing under life-or-death circumstances. "I don’t want you to think I’m weird or anything but please please please just kiss me!” Yusuke begs. 

I know I just wrote about how he can be sort of meh about his own resurrection this episode, but that's primarily in the context of inconveniencing others in a meaningful way. Kuwabara's arcade game isn't important, not like a sick mother, so Yusuke has no qualms about laying the desperation on — despite the fact that Kuwabara is another guy. Honestly? I really like this approach because it would have been so, so easy for the story (especially in the early 2000s) to turn Yusuke's horror at kissing a man into the comedic subplot. He blanches at the mere idea. He stubbornly leaves Kuwabara as the last resort. Botan has to talk him into it and firmly remind him that no, a peck from another man isn't worse than staying a ghost for the next several decades. As someone who grew up watching the homophobia-tinged media of the 90s and early 2000s (and, frankly, plenty of stuff still) I can picture that version of YYH with incredible ease. But instead, Yusuke covers his bases and asks for Kuwabara's help alongside Keiko's, he never once brings up gender as a potential barrier, and when things get bad, he literally begs him to just kiss him, please. As I said, YYH isn't revolutionary when it comes to this rep, far from it, but it's not actively harmful in the ways it easily could have been. 

And I'm still not saying I ship Yusuke/Kuwabara, but... 

When Kuwabara (quite obviously) doesn't respond to Yusuke's verbal pleas, he gets angry and tries to throw a punch. Kuwabara picks up on ghost!Yusuke flying through him and, uncomfortable with his "tickling feeling" cropping up in the arcade, hightails it out of there. 

They try Atsuko again but she's still incredibly drunk, as Yusuke said she would be. She's found a spot in a club, one she appears to be a frequent customer of, and interestingly, she's in the company of two drag queens. At least that’s the term I’ve settled on. “Another round for the ladies!” Atsuko yells. I assume they're in drag given their status as companions/entertainers there, rather than trans women, but we don't exactly get a lot of information on them. The point is that they know Atsuko well, she's sloshed, likes their company, and has ordered even more drinks as Yusuke stares in horror. "Just pull the plug," he says, a bit of his trademark black humor shining through.  

By now Yusuke has come full circle. He was feeling pretty hopeless when he saw Keiko with her mother, was re-inspired enough to beg Kuwabara for help, and now is once again considering it a lost cause. However, in the final hour (literally) Botan hits on one last idea and though Yusuke thinks it's a waste of energy  — "Doesn't she know when to quit?" — she flies off nonetheless, stating that if this doesn't work, nothing will. 

I mean yeah, because they've got like twenty minutes left, but you know. Drama. 

We cut back to Keiko who, as promised, is still attending her mother through the night. Given that her mother is now asleep and thus closer to the spirit world, Botan takes the opportunity to relay the situation through her and, because it's down to the wire, she can oh-so-conveniently provide a lot more information than the ambiguous kissing dream did. Keiko hears from her Botan-mother that her dream was real, she has until midnight, Yusuke needs her, and so of course she high-tails it out of there as quick as she can. 

Koenma examines a (very pretty) pocket watch as they all wonder if Keiko will manage to make it in time. Initially, Yusuke is back to his usual humor, saying that if they fail he'll just have to "see Keiko when she’s an old hag," but as the intensity of "Will she make it?" ratchets up, all the characters drop their facade of casual indifference. Koenma keeps a hold of that watch and keeps them appraised of every second that passes. Botan looks as if it's her own future on the line. When the actual moment comes Yusuke will swoop down towards Keiko, screaming her name as if she's the one in danger of losing the next fifty years of life. All the while Keiko charges through the city and Yusuke's apartment building, trying desperately to reach him in time. The very last seconds are shown in slow-motion, the tick of the clock resounding as the soundtrack swells, Keiko's every step emphasized because, yes, each matters with literal seconds to spare. Really, the whole scene is wonderfully tense and it's easy to get caught up in it... provided you don't recall the name of our episode lol. I can't remember my own emotional state when I first watched this as a kid, but I can see how well this would go over on a younger, less genre-savvy audience. 

So, the moment is great, but before we get to the climax, I actually had a question. Re-watching Keiko's run to Yusuke I noted that she still took the time to kick off her shoes when entering the house. Yes, she manages it on the go and they're thrown into random corners of the hall, but it still struck me as odd to waste even those two or three seconds when literally every second is a matter of life and death. I know it's customary to remove one's shoes in Japan. I do the same in my household, though not as a cultural expectation. If someone comes over to my place they're certainly allowed to take their shoes off, but it's not an engrained expectation. For those of you who live in places where it would be: is Keiko's choice realistic? I mean, I certainly assume so given that the story is written by Yoshihiro Togashi, but I just found it to be a surprisingly interesting detail. Basically, this idea that our daily habits are so, well, habitual that we'll go through the motions even when logic dictates we should throw them to the wayside this one time. 

Not to derail the epic conclusion with that, but Keiko does, quite obviously, kiss Yusuke. I like that just like Yusuke is determined not to make a potential kiss with Kuwabara a big deal, here the threat of losing Yusuke isn't interrupted by Keiko's feelings, his potential feelings, or the general awkwardness of planting a kiss like that. Keiko doesn't even hesitate, full on sobbing at the prospect that she's too late. A lesser series might have ignorantly tried to insert a bit of humor before the kiss, whereas YYH knowingly puts it immediately after: we're forced to wait a beat where it looks like Keiko has failed until Yusuke blinks, sits up, and goes, "Hey, nice kiss" in his usual, cheeky manner. 

As he sits up and we get our first good look at a non-ghost, post-resurrection Yusuke (or one not in a casket or wrapped in a blanket, anyway) it becomes obvious how important each piece of your character design is. Check out what a difference it makes for Yusuke to have his hair slicked back vs. falling naturally into his eyes like this.This Yusuke comes across as much softer and yes, that's also due to the PJs and the romantic moment, but just as much  — if not more  — is accomplished simply by changing how his hair is styled. I initially started these recaps as a result of someone asking me about my favorite character designs and after I'd happily ranted a bit about YYH's, I started getting the itch to explore the series more in depth. Though certainly this series (at least so far) isn't terribly creative in its designs, it does know how to create a large impact through a simple change. 

Botan is thrilled that Yusuke made it, although interestingly she instantly pronounces the case as closed. Actually, it's not that surprising that she'd go from thoroughly invested in Yusuke as an individual to capable and willing to walk away without a second glance. After all, Botan is the grim reaper. Her entire existence has been ferrying souls around and though I'm sure she's now spent more time with Yusuke than the average human, she has a lot of practice at letting go. She comments on how this ordeal is finally over, to which Koenma cryptically responds that Yusuke's journey is far from over and “The real ordeal will be much harder." 

During this we get a closeup on Koenma's narrowed eyes — a classic shot to convey that he's keeping a secret, he's up to something, all is not what it seems, etc. — but damn if it isn't funny when used alongside his simply drawn baby features. I mean, the juxtaposition of Koenma's toddler appearance and his dramatic personality is hilarious all on its own (a joke the story references frequently through Yusuke), but alongside that the art style just draws a chuckle out of me. Don't get me wrong, I love YYH's animation — particularly when it comes to some of the fights we'll get later on — but like any long-running show, some parts of the story are simply given more detail than others. Koenma's beady, simply drawn eyes during such a dramatic moment amuses me in the same way his stubby fingers do alongside that elaborate pocket watch. 

Far more important than my strange humor preferences though is the fact that Koenma apparently had much of this in the works since the start. No, I doubt he could have predicted most of the loopholes Yusuke threw him — dying in the first place, sacrificing his egg, Keiko's incredibly close call  — and he’s definitely making most of this up as he goes along, but he obviously held out hope that Yusuke would make it back to his body and begin the "ordeal" that Koenma has planned for him. The second half of the episode will begin to cover that. 

Yeah, second half. I've written nearly 4,000 words on ten minutes of content because my brain knows no chill when it wants to talk about something. I'll say "You're welcome" or "So sorry" depending on how you feel about that lol. 

After our little commercial break animation, we open on Yusuke who is walking around town, presumably the next day. I could talk about how his change of clothes does wonders for making the world feel lived in  — I'm always too aware that characters are characters when they have a single outfit they never deviate from due to model constraints. I could also talk about how this move from green jumpsuit maintains his color scheme while, again, making it feel like he's a real person with real preferences about the style of clothes he wears, rather than a fictional character with one designated look for the audience's benefit. But really, all I truly want to say here is please give me that jaket I'd wear it in a heartbeat. 

Anyway, he's strolling about town, enjoying such things as gravity keeping his feet planted firmly on the ground, hair still un-slicked to convey that carefree nature. Yusuke ends up running into two other thugs  — who appear to be brothers, or lazily similar models  — who demand oh so politely that he help them out with some money trouble. It immediately reminded me of a Witcher 3 quest where two drunks do the same, only they come across as more stupid due to their inebriation, not threatening, and I've always happily given them some coin to continue their partying lol. Whereas the Yusuke of before would have pounded this duo straight into the pavement, this one gets comically emotional over the fact that they can see him. He gets teary-eyed, clasps their hands, and loudly proclaims that it's great to be alive. One guy cautions the other not to pursue him when Yusuke walks away, saying, “it ain’t right to mess with the crazies.”

As Yusuke leaves a fortuneteller hails him from a dark alleyway, a fortuneteller who is oh so obviously Botan. I know, I know, we're meant to believe that such disguises fool the characters easily enough, but I still want to shake Yusuke and ask, "How many women with pink eyes and blue hair do you know??" 

She comments on how his spiritual energy isn't at all average, which is a fun, three-way bit of info. Yusuke believes this is because he's been dead for "a couple of weeks" (which is honestly a lot longer than I'd originally thought). Yusuke also thinks she thinks this is a part of her hoax: say something mysterious and vaguely complimentary, thinking it's bullshit, having no idea that Yusuke has had actual, prolonged contact with the spirit world. Yusuke believes he's kidding the kidder, not realizing this kidder is the kidder that first introduced him to the afterlife... or something like that. The third perspective here is the audience's. Though it won't become entirely clear until later, Yusuke obviously does have unusual spirit energy, as evidenced by his unlucky alignment that required a quick resurrection and Koenma's mysterious plans for him. So, Yusuke thinks the liar is unknowingly correct, but he thinks she's 'correct' about the wrong thing. Meanwhile, Botan isn’t a liar at all and actually knows what she's talking about. 

Because all that isn't confusing or anything. 

Definitely Not Botan informs Yusuke that there's a mission he must complete, but Yusuke straight up doesn't care. He's enjoying life too much and — not so different from the first time around  — isn't willing to ruin it with a bunch of responsibility. He rudely walks away, leaving a flummoxed Botan in his wake. 

So, was this honestly Koenma's original plan? Send Botan in a terrible disguise and recruit Yusuke through the supposed realism of a fortuneteller seeing his future? You have to wonder why they'd even play at hiding things in the first place when Yusuke has already died, met them, and been immersed in the strangeness of the afterlife for several weeks. Why bother? 

Ignorant to all this, Yusuke continues on and decides to snag a drink at a local coffee shop. Two customers exit as he arrives and comment that a gang from another high school has been trying to take control of Kuwabara's turf. “If only Yusuke Urimeshi were still alive," one of them says. Noting that they're correct and the group inside the cafe is, uh, a bunch of high schoolers... 

...or, you know, whatever animators think high schoolers look like, Yusuke settles in for a bit of eavesdropping. He quickly identifies the one in the middle as their leader, only to get a shock when he looks at the guy's head. 

“What that — ?! That guy has horns! That’s not normal. Oh well, not going to ruin my day” and Yusuke returns to his comic book. 

Thus, a meme was born. 

That really is a fantastic reaction though. Normally I get frustrated by protagonists who ignore supernatural occurrences in order for the story to develop at its preferred pace, resulting in them looking oblivious at best, downright stupid at worst. You're really not going to comment on any of the creepy aspects of your new house? You're honestly going to straight up ignore this strange power you've developed? Yes, some stories do a good job of having the character rationalize it all away, but there's also something wonderfully compelling about making your character observant, having them comment on how strange this is, but then deciding that this is simply none of their business. Not only is it funny, but it's probably the most realistic occurrence. If I saw someone with horns I wouldn't jump to some supernatural explanation, but nor would I try and will myself to forget it with a prophetic sense of foreboding. I'd just assume the guy was in cosplay, or else had some weird condition that yeah, isn't my problem. The human body's done stranger things than grow horns, I’m sure. 

So, although that's a odd twist, Yusuke is ultimately more interested in their connection to Kuwabara than he is the leader's horns. He overhears that they've set a test for Kuwabara as proof of his loyalty: steal a comic book from "the most guarded store in town." What store is this then? Because every comic shop I've been in has been guarded by exhausted college students, underearning owners, or  — on one memorable occasion  — an exhausted couple attempting to sooth their infant in between customers. None of these places had what I'd consider extensive security, or even a particularly watchful eye. 

...Which I now realize makes it sound like I frequently steal comic books. I absolutely do not. Just testing the logic of this world lol. 

"Most guarded" or not, Yusuke is immediately dismissive of Kuwabara stealing anything given that it goes against his honor code. Once again, we get a glimpse of how well the two boys know each other despite playing at hated rivals. He scoffs at "horn boy's" hope of corrupting Kuwabara and the fact that he calls him "horn boy" at all really emphasizes that Yusuke is approaching this as a strange quirk he can make fun of him for, not anything truly worth pursuing. 

When Kuwabara arrives he's distraught and calls out multiple times for a girl named Eikichi. Sakamoto — that's Horn Boy, as we learn here — says that she'll be just fine provided that Kuwabara has done what they asked. Initially, Yusuke is shocked when he throws down a bag with three different comic books, but the receipt reveals that they were never stollen. Kuwabara even explains the options with, “I got you several kinds. Didn’t know what you liked.” God, but that's such a wonderful bit of characterization. How many heroes stand tall as fighters while also admitting they wanted to ensure their enemy got something they liked out of the comics they paid for because they refused to steal? Looking back, I'm honestly impressed by how much the show does to develop Kuwabara and Yusuke in these first couple of episodes, much of which is done through the themes of pride, moral codes, and when the mask you show the world  — you're my hated rival, I don't care about living, etc.  — is worth throwing aside. 

Problem is, Kuwabara's compassion entirely defeats the point of the lesson: blind obedience and a wiliness to succumb to bad behavior. Sakamoto wants him to feel the thrill of theft, not skirt by on a loophole. He orders Kuwabara to get down on his knees and admit that he was wrong, which he does with only minimal fuss. His friends are obviously disgusted by what he's being put through, but Kuwabara is more than willing when Eikichi's safety is on the line. 

Who is this mysterious girl? Yusuke wonders. Well... 

Eikichi is actually his cat. 

Which, you know, is entirely understandable! If someone took one of my dogs  — two idiot Golden Retrievers, in case you were wondering  — you can bet I'd drop to my knees and beg to keep them safe. Sakamoto's group finds his love for cute kittens to be hilarious, but Yusuke is simply disgusted by their behavior. Hell yeah dismantling absurd ideas about emasculation. I like a tough guy who loves cats and an even tougher guy who supports him! 

What I don't love though is the use of the R-slur to describe Eikichi. Not that it's still not used plenty, especially outside of progressive pockets, but sometimes the norms of the early 2000s come back to slap me in the face. 

While one half of the group is taunting Kuwabara the other half comments on how "weird" their boss has gotten lately. Like Yusuke's brief moment in Atsuko's club (which I personally read as unintentional foreshadowing), here Sakamoto is deliberately designed with a demon-esque look about him. It's mostly in the narrowed eyes, pointed teeth, and the closeups that highlight his evil grin. Plus, you know, the horns. 

Humiliation complete, Sakamoto decides that Kuwabara still needs to learn his lesson. They move the gathering outside where he orders Kuwabara to hit his friends until he tells him to stop  — and I can't imagine he'd be satisfied quickly. If he refuses, his goon will kill Eikichi with a broken bottle. Of course, being just as noble as their leader, Kuwabara's friends encourage him to listen to the order. They can definitely take a beating, especially for a good reason, and they promise to imagine it's Sakamoto dealing the damage until they can pay him back, fair and square. Kuwabara, however, can't imagine hurting his friends, not even when they're offering. Realizing that Kuwabara won't be swayed from the moral path, Sakamoto yells for his goon to kill Eikichi. 

Which, of course, is precisely the moment that Yusuke steps in to help. I do so love a good entrance. He comes in with a solid punch, a flip, snags Eikichi, and lands facing away from the crowd just so he can whip around and dramatically reveal his face. We get a split screen reaction of Kuwabara and the other's shock. 

Seriously though, can you imagine it? This is definitely still surprising for Kuwabara, but at least he had a bit of a heads up. Not only has he spent his life dealing with the "tickle feeling"  — a knowledge of supernatural occurrences that make him more believing of them on the whole — but Keiko explicitly told him post-fire that Yusuke would eventually return to them. He may not have understood that the kiss dream was his chance to help bring the moment to fruition, but he can backtrack and realize how this seemingly impossible moment generally came about. Sakamoto's goons? Kuwabara's friends? They don't know anything about the spirit world, so seeing the dead guy randomly show up is probably giving them all an existential heart attack. I literally can't even imagine it. A couple of these guys were at Yusuke's funeral. This is how conspiracy theories are born. 

Hell, even Eikichi is all, "What the hell is happening right now?" 

Thus begins the first time Yusuke and Kuwabara fight together, rather than against one another. Yusuke hands Eikichi off to her grateful owner and they, along with Kuwabara's friends, make short work of Sakamoto's group, to the point where he flees when it becomes clear they won't win. Yusuke runs after him and keeps pace until Sakamoto takes a nasty fall. Unconscious, something even weirder than a dead man showing up occurs. 

A tiny demon crawls out of his mouth. 

Yuck. 

Like the demons working for Koenma who sharply contrast our expectations  — less fiery horror of damnantion and more overworked paper pushers  — this little guy, while definitely undergoing an icky exit, isn't exactly intimidating. Alongside being very small, he has a squeaky voice and is still looking to escape rather than stand his ground. This is especially apparent once he realizes that Yusuke can see him. Taking flight with a burst of energy, the demon is shocked when Yusuke easily snatches him out of the air and proceeds to, without realizing it, speak his demonic language. As the little guy puts it, "You're breaking the rules!" I feel like this description makes Yusuke sound like some badass genius, but not really. While the little demon splutters at him accomplishing the impossible Yusuke is questioning whether he’s a tapeworm or not.

Yusuke... tapeworms don’t talk. 

Do you know someone in your life who is undoubtedly brilliant in certain ways, but also the dumbest person you’ve ever had the (dubious) pleasure of becoming acquainted with? Someone who manages to spout inspired wisdom in one breath and utter tomfoolery in the next, to the point where you wonder how they’ve managed to survive this long? Yeah, that’s Yusuke.

Luckily, he doesn’t have to try and wrack his brain for an explanation any more. The fortuneteller arrives and reveals herself to be Botan. Only Yusuke is surprised. She tells him that the little demon he's caught is actually a ruthless criminal known for burrowing into the “evil portions of a human soul” and forcing them to do his bidding. Now, I doubt Sakamoto was a particularly nice dude on his own  — his group is surprised by his recently ruthless actions, but not opposed to them  — but it does suck that he was possessed and all. Why does this little demon want to make one street fighter take over the turf of another? No idea. Normally in fictional situations like these the demon clearly gets something out of it — he's feeding off the evil deeds, or some such  — but I don't believe Botan mentions anything like that here. He's just a criminal with numerous offenses under his belt and Yusuke has caught him. Like a lot of the things introduced in this early detective arc, not much will come of this later. The story doesn't do much to develop the specifics of Yusuke's cases, including the criminals involved (with two notable exceptions), because very quickly the show will become about beating uncommonly strong fighters DBZ style, rather than solving supernatural mysteries. In short, it takes the series a while to find its feet. Whether you're more or less forgiving of that will probably depend on how much you enjoy these initial episodes as somewhat contained side stories. 

“You have all that’s required to be detective of the spirit world” Botan tells Yusuke after he's gotten over his shock at her return. My response to that is... sort of? I mean yes, there's no denying that Yusuke is uniquely gifted to this kind of work and Botan is right that he displays many of those talents in this final stretch. As the demon lays out, he can see things connected to the spirit world, utilize his spirit energy to disable them, and (even though I don't think it comes up again) understand a supernaturally foreign language. However, Botan makes it sound as if Yusuke subconsciously tracked the criminal based on "instincts," rather than getting caught up in Kuwabara's problems. Granted, we might assume that some sort of subconscious knowledge is what led him to the coffee shop in the first place. It is quite the coincidence that Yusuke decides to have a snack while both Kuwabara's rival and a demon are hanging out. So, in that Botan may be right, but Yusuke's actual involvement seems to stem more from his relationships and his own moral code than any latent abilities. 

Still, the purpose here is to (very quickly, given that it's the end of the episode) introduce that Yusuke's new life will be spent working as a spirit detective. Botan assures him the position is mandatory. I suppose that's the price of resurrection. 

The announcement is solidified as Koenma appears in the sky  — compensating for his toddler body perhaps?  — and congratulates Yusuke on the new position, regardless of the fact that he doesn't seem to want it. He tosses out that Yusuke will "get cool powers. I came up with them myself” and that more than anything makes this all feel like some weird passion project of Koenma's rather than an official position of the spirit world. Half of what happened to Yusuke was entirely unforeseeable and now Koenma admits that he's the architect of the abilities that will keep Yusuke safe, in a language that comes across more like, "I made it up!" rather than, "I carefully and skillfully invented it." Things feel half-hazardous to me and I can't blame Yusuke for being iffy about getting roped into it all. 

Still, he's alive. 

“So much for the good ‘ol R&R” he says as Koenma disappears and Botan flies off, shouting that she looks forward to working together. Poor Yusuke.

Thus ends Episode Five. Next up, Yusuke begins his training as spirit detective. 

Until then! ~ 

P.S. Why did tumblr let me post so many pictures?? Not that I’m complaining  🎉

[lesbiangiratina]

They gave him a bath…

[nikkxb]

AU Yeah August Week 1 Recap

Day 1: Soulmate AU

Foolish Yu Yu Hakusho || Hiei/Botan Hiei wakes up with a tiny red bow tied around his finger and he’s not having it. Read it on: Tumblr  |  AO3  |  FFN

Day 2: College AU

A New Role Final Fantasy VII || AeriSeph TAs become people over summer and Aeris isn't quite sure how she feels about that. Read it on: Tumblr  |  AO3  |  FFN

Day 3: Single Parent AU

A Chance Encounter Inuyasha || SessKag "Rin, are you bothering this young woman?" Read it on: Tumblr  |  AO3  |  FFN

Day 4: Enemy AU

Reunion Naruto || JiraOro "May I ask for a story on Orochimaru and Jiraiya? but I want to offer you a twist. Could you consider them in an Avengers AU? Bonus points if it's 500 words. :)" Read it on: Tumblr  |  AO3  |  FFN

Day 5: Laundromat AU

Small World Naruto || NaruIno Naruto finds out that hard way that he has a thing for lingerie. Read it on: Tumblr  |  AO3  |  FFN

Day 6: Hogwarts AU

Twenty-Five Hundred Naruto || SasuSaku; OroSaku "I would like you to become my healer," the Dark Lord Orochimaru decided after he paralyzed her entire squad of aurors. "You will guard my heart in this box and brew the disinfectant potions to keep the hole in my chest clean. I will find for you your wand and I keep Sasuke from killing the Minister of Magic Naruto." Read it on: Tumblr  |  AO3  |  FFN

Day 7: Famous AU

Worlds Apart Howl’s Moving Castle || Howl/Sophie Being famous makes paparazzi an inescapable evil. Sophie, however, isn't famous and doesn't know how to handle it. Read it on: Tumblr  |  AO3  |  FFN

[glowingbadger]

Okay, so I had a thought for our dear fox boy, Kurama.... Imagine, "trying" to tease him by going down on him only to suddenly switch it up and go down on you instead, especially when you least expect it as revenge. You're on the phone with your best friend and suddenly he's there between your legs, but you can't say anything or let your friend know.

Oh-hoo, a most excellent concept, friend- and actually plays into a couple things I've written about Kurama before too, so I guess I should have seen this coming xD

Also this all just reminded me that I HAVE to do some sketches of the YYH boys in late 90's fashion. Ugh, what absolute icons.

Kurama (YYH) x AFAB Reader

NSFW 18+ v

Kurama's hair splays out across the pillow, making him look for all the world like a lounging ingenue in a romantic painting. Still, those emerald eyes level on you with a sharp cunning that tells you clearly where you stand. He wears a subdued smile that someone who didn't know him might find pleasant, charming- but you know what the grin of a fox spirit really means.

"Feeling rather bold today, aren't you?" he says, his tone light and conversational, even as your hands run down his chest and the toned contours of his abdomen from atop his clothing.

"Well, it doesn't seem fair for you to call the shots all the time," you reply from your position straddling his hips. You like to think you sound the part of the confident seductress, but your heart leaps every time you meet Kurama's calculated gaze. You may be in the "dominant" position, but you know you haven't nearly tamed him. For now, you'll just have to try to push him a bit further.

You kiss a slow and deliberate path down the center of his torso, undoing the buttons of his shirt one-by-one, and revelling in the feeling of firm muscle shifting and flexing at your touch. Kurama lets out an openly pleasured sigh, and doesn't shy away in the slightest as your hands reach the front of his jeans. With a playful little hum, you run your hand up along the bulge of his stiffening cock beneath layers of fabric. Very subtly, his hips shift up towards your touch, and you bite at your lip as your eyes flicker up to his yet unreadable expression.

"You must be much more sensitive than you let on, Kurama," you tease, tracing his length with a single finger, "You're already this hard, after all."

Just as you'd started to feel sure of having the upper hand, he props himself up on an elbow to observe you between his thighs. One hand reaches down to caress your cheek, ending at your chin, where his thumb runs the curve of your lower lip.

"Of course I am," he replies bluntly, "It's only natural when I desire you so ardently. Besides," he goes on, his grin curling into a smirk, "If your aim is retribution for all that I've done to you, then I imagine I have quite a thrilling evening to look forward to."

So much for flustering him, or even just getting him to act a little bit shy. Your cheeks burn hot, and you mumble,

"Should have tied you up. And gagged you, while we're at it."

"Hm. Perhaps you should have," Kurama replies casually.

This bastard. Is it really this impossible to gain the slightest bit of ground on him?

Impatient for results, you undo the front of his jeans, and tug them down with his boxers, freeing his impressive member from its confines. Kurama continues to watch you comfortably as you take the base of his cock in hand and slowly drag your tongue up the underside of his shaft. You can feel it twitching and swelling in your hand, hardening to its full size before too long. Frankly, you've half a mind to climb onto his lap and ride him then and there. He does so love to tease you- the chance to have him now without the usual exercise of restraint is undeniably tempting. For the time being, you satisfy yourself with gently licking and kissing his twitching manhood, letting the warmth of your breath and fleeting touches gently stimulate him.

He is clearly enjoying himself; aside from the soft murmurs of pleasure he grants you as your tongue circles the crown of his cock, his direct gaze hasn't wavered for even a moment. Still propped up above you, he absently strokes your hair in one hand as half-lidded eyes watch your attempts to provoke him.

"You mean to tease me, I see..." he says softly, his tone only hinting at his amusement. Even better concealed is the heady arousal building at his core- his desire to break this arrogant facade you've put on, to see you crumble back into obedience at his hands.

And as if by divine providence, his opportunity arrives.

The phone at the bedside table rings, and you pause to glance up at Kurama. Only the glint in his eye hints at his plan at first- but then, as you watch in disbelief, he picks up the phone before it's finished its third ring. He sits upright as he greets your friend on the line, and your body feels hot and cold all at once.

"Hm? Oh, yes- right here, in fact. One moment."

Kurama meets your eyes with a smirk and offers the phone to you with his hand cupped over the receiver. Your face is burning red, and you grumble near inaudibly,

"No fair!"

He gives a short laugh, tucking away his still-hard cock and then fixing his clothing with his free hand as he says,

"I apologize if I have ever given you the impression that I am 'fair' by nature." All at once, he catches you around the waist and pulls you down onto your back on the bed. You resist crying out in surprise, if only because when you look up at him and see the smouldering heat in his eyes, your breath catches in your chest. Then, without a word, he hands the phone to you. Biting nervously at your lower lip, you take it from him, clear your throat, and say,

"He-hey! How's it going?"

Your friend immediately launches into an excited ramble about the finale of a show she's been following obsessively for the last year and a half. Honestly, you should have expected this call- stupid of you to think you'd have the evening free with the finale airing. As she goes on about how "so many of her predictions were dead-on," Kuramas hands run indulgently down the contours of your body. Your heart races, and you can't help tensing, arching up against him just a little. Then, he's working your pants down off your hips, and you give him a pleading look that he meets like a stone wall.

"-- I mean, can you believe it?! It's like, exactly what I said would happen!!"

"Yeah, that's, uh," you struggle to keep up, but your eyes are fixed on Kurama lowering himself between your bared legs, "that's pretty wild..."

With a placade grin on his face, he kisses a trail down the inside curve of your thigh, his touches delicate and yet unreserved. Your eyelids flutter half-shut, but you force yourself to- more or less -follow the thread of your friend's rant. That is, until you feel the sting of Kurama's teeth at the soft flesh far up the inner curve of your thigh. He sucks a dark love-bite to your skin- one that you know will remind you of his presence there for days to come. Still, you manage to camouflage your gasp of shock and pleasure into a sudden cough.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, totally! Sorry, don't mind me- go on!" you babble out your reply in a hurry, knowing you won't be able to trust your voice when Kurama continues this torment. He chuckles silently behind his hand, and you pout uselessly at him. Rather than acknowledge this, he refocuses on his task as the phone rant continues. You do your best to keep a consistent stream of "Oh, yeah?" and "Wow, crazy!", all while elegant fingers spread your lower lips and warm breath teases your over-sensitive body. Then, without warning, his tongue glides firm across your aching clit. Your thighs twitch in around his head and you arch up from the bed.

"Woa--! That's... incredible!" you translate the gasp you desperately want to let out into a perhaps overly-enthusiastic reply. Fortunately, your friend is too caught up in her finale recap to police her own excitement, let alone yours. Still wearing that cocky smirk, Kurama pushes his hair back behind his ears, then returns to tease your clit with the tip of his tongue.

He doesn't let up after this, and frankly, your impulses are torn. Part of you wants to be as subtle as possible, to silently endure the slow, luxurious movements of his lips and tongue pulsing against your cunt and stiffened clit. Another part of you- the part you're fighting to subdue -wants to grab onto that silky red hair and grind against him, to rush yourself to your climax and to spare yourself further torture. But you and Kurama both know you won't be able to keep quiet if you do. So you fuss anxiously with the phone's tangled cord, shifting and squirming on the bed beneath him and biting back pleasured gasps and whimpers.

Your legs are trembling around him and you're positively soaked with your arousal and his saliva. Leaning back on the pillow, you scrunch your eyes closed and take a deep breath.

"Oh- you remember that one voice actor I told you about?"

"Yeah, uh," you struggle to pull your thoughts together, but Kurama nudges the flat of his tongue rhythmically against your clit, and your body is begging for release, "This show... was his first big on-screen thing, right?" you manage to choke out. As though pleased by your performance, your lover gives a soft hum that sends his breath fluttering over your vulnerable skin, then presses more firmly into you. His skillful tongue teases your entrance for a moment, rubbing into you while your muscles tighten, instinctively longing for friction, for something inside, for something to cling to. You're panting silently, biting at your finger to keep quiet while your friend tells you all about her latest celebrity crush.

So close. You're so dangerously close to the rush of your climax. But you hold on, every inch of your body aching with need and restraint. Kurama can obviously sense the desperate state you're in, and you know that he's savoring it. And yet, when you glance down to watch the erotic movements of his mouth, the way his eyes devour you, the way his hands grip at your hips- you realize that you don't have it in you to care about your pride anymore.

"Anyway, they're airing an interview with the cast soon, so I gotta go so I don't miss it."

The words are a beacon of hope, and while your friend apologizes for cutting out so suddenly, you assure her again and again that you don't mind.

"Really, you should... go- uh, go enjoy the thing!"

Kurama's lips seal around your clit and the dearly sensitive surrounding flesh. His tongue flicks across the hard little bundle over and over, his hands firm at your hips, holding you strictly in place. He's not holding back anymore. Your eyes roll back and your body burns, but you keep yourself silent. Just a little longer. Don't let him make you cum- not yet. He feels too good- and you know he wouldn't care if you screamed his name for your friend or anyone else to hear.

"Oh, also, we should totally grab coffee or something soon!"

"Yeah- that sounds really good-!" your back arcs up from the sheets.

"Cool! I'll call again soon, byeeee!"

You hear the click of the receiver on the other end. Your arms go limp, dropping the phone to the floor. Kurama leans over you, pushing himself against you while his tongue works your clit and you gasp aloud for him.

"Kurama! Ohhh... Oh, God- I'm-!"

A tingling, sparkling wave of pleasure explodes from your core and rushes across the surface of your skin. You can't remember the last time you came this hard, and you imagine Kurama can feel what he's doing to you. Your taste coats his tongue, one shaky hand weaves your fingers through his hair as your hips buck towards him. With one last desperate cry of his name, you relax back onto the bed, your boneless limbs making you feel like a puddle of mindless bliss.

Panting, practically gasping for breath, your unfocused eyes gaze up at the ceiling as the last tremors of your climax pass through you.

"Haa... Mm, Kurama..." you whimper out as he places one last kiss to your now soaked folds.

He crawls up atop you, and a gentle hand turns your face to him. His smile is warm and openly affectionate, and he caresses your cheek like a groom at the altar. Looking at him now, it's hard to imagine he's the same man who just put you through that unique form of torture. You're still catching your breath, and when he kisses you with all the tenderness in the world, you can hardly even reciprocate.

"Well done, my love," he says at last, "Do you think you can continue to behave for me tonight?"

Some distant part of your mind realizes that you've been manipulated- that he's utterly dismantled your attempt at dominance. You should be frustrated. You should try to regain the upper hand and show him that he doesn't always gets to be in control. Instead, your half-lidded eyes meet him and you murmur,

"Yes... I'll be good..."

[spinelessandtimeless]

Hisoka and Suzuki: Togashi’s Clowns

This might be a little disorganized but I don’t care. So I wanna talk about the parallels between “The Beautiful” Suzuki (from Togashi’s earlier work YuYu Hakusho) and Hisoka (from HxH). Suzuki kinda serves as one of the seedling inspirations for what later became Hisoka, and I think Suzuki’s character arc is even more telling about Hisoka’s as the manga progresses.

There will be some light spoilers to YYH and for major HxH spoilers I will give a big warning.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: these characters often have similar circus/clown-inspired looks, use playing cards as weapons, and are homicidal villains with occasional allyships to the main characters.

For those who don’t know, Suzuki is this fighter that uses disguises, gratuitous violence, and aesthetics to gain attention. He is obsessed with other’s validation of his appearance. Most notably, he insists on being called “The Beautiful Suzuki,” hates old people for their appearances, and has suicidal planning about the idea of no longer maintaining this “beauty.” Overall, obviously a very insecure guy with a major thematic focus on his body and looks.

Now Hisoka’s motivations for violence aren’t fully the same as Suzuki's, but I think there is a similar obsession with this insanely well crafted stylized striking aesthetic, that is an important reflection of his character. Look to Hisoka's focus on shock-seeking and showmanship-ing fight with Kastro or Kurapika’s appreciation for Hisoka’s grace in his fighting style. Furthermore, there is a focus on his body, as well. Throughout the series, he uses texture surprise to mend his body (!!! Heavens Arena arc spoiler !!!) and hide his affiliation with the Spiders. We can compare this to how Suzuki uses disguises. Not to mention all the naked scenes that show off Hisoka’s body. In contrast to Suzuki, Hisoka oozes confidence, but I will get into later how I personally think that may be more complicated.

The two go to these grotesque extremes to seek attention, and these aesthetics ultimately come crashing down (although for Hisoka they are rebuilt).

Also homophobia but anyways.

Okay but now Let’s Really Get Into It.

!!!!!!!!! Big time spoilers !!!!!!!!!! For the Battle at Heaven’s Arena chapters in Vol 34 ch 357. !!!! Also content warning for images of gore !!!!

In Suzuki’s fight with Genkai, Suzuki’s theatrical performance, abilities, and appearances are stunning and seemingly powerful, but deceiving. In reality, his attacks don’t even scratch Genkai. She summarizes, “he’s a souped-up car without an engine.” She completely crushes him with her attacks and the image we are left with is his butchered face—a massive divergence of the false confidence and eye catching look we see in the beginning. It’s hard to look at. To put it in short, his need for attention has brought him to a state where he is no longer what he would consider beautiful.

(sorry poor quality screenshot)

But Suzuki pretty much changes his ways immediately and gets a redemption arc; which I do not think will happen with Hisoka. In fact, Hisoka doesn’t change his ways even after dying and reviving himself.

To recap, Hisoka’s, largely sexually motivated, obsession with fighting leads to his match with Chrollo. He dies but is revived with his post-mortem nen. Similar to Genkai’s defeat of Suzuki, he was utterly pummeled by his opponent. After the fight, we are, like Suzuki, left with this mangled corpse—a huge contrast to his formerly handsome, manicured look. This is what his desire for attention, power, and domination has driven him to become. Side note that might be a little obvious, but I also thought the fact he was suffocated by the crowd was really reflective of his attention seeking, lust, and the focus on his own body in a really interesting way. In HxH, especially early on, the audience often feels like Hisoka is somehow invincible. Although I wouldn’t say he’s “a souped-up car without an engine” like Suzuki, but his fight with Chrollo smashes this image to reveal his true mortality and how much of this narrative of invincibility was simply smoke and mirrors.

(Now an even worse screenshot)

Here’s the big divergence plot-wise between the two:

Then Hisoka is revived with his post-mortem nen, and with his new amplified version of texture surprise, he creates a prosthetic hand and restores his face. I like to say he re-yassifies himself. Once again, drawing attention to the body and aesthetic, physically creating a mask to cover an “unattractive” inside and cure this shameful state—much like Suzuki.

This is a silly detail, but they also both lose their noses, Hisoka’s physical nose and Suzuki’s red ball nose.

Although I wish I could provide a strong conclusion, Hisoka’s story is not over yet, so let’s get into some speculation. It’s my theory that, because so much of his power is about trickery and his parallels with Suzuki, there is some part of Hisoka that is deeply insecure. Though this idea does not have a ton of evidence in HxH. In addition, I believe his facade of invincibility will continue to shatter with his new goal to kill the rest of the Spiders (!!!!!!! Major Vol 36 ch 377 succession war arc spoilers !!!!!!!!) and Illumi at the same time. I think Hisoka is strong, but I do not think he can handle this challenge on his own. But maybe with his enhanced post-mortem nen he can prevail. In end, I am excited to see where the story will take Hisoka and see how it compares to his predecessor thematically.

[emeraldspiral]

Kinda weird how with YYH’s limited budget they waste the first minute or two of every episode reanimating the final scene of the last episode with different angles and dialog when there’s already a recap before the episode title card. Like, why not just reuse the last episode’s footage and save that money for some of the fight sequences?

[luckystarchild]

2020 Retrospective

Thanks to Tumblr’s archive function and my constant posting, it’s easy to recap how 2020 went for me. Let’s take a look below the cut.

In late December of 2019, I came off of an unplanned 7-month hiatus, bringing LC back into active posting status on its third birthday. Updates continued throughout 2020, no more unplanned hiatuses in sight.

In February I was apparently very stressed, I think from work. But I started updating Daughters of Destiny again after a long break, and I ended up finishing that story this year. I think it’s my favorite thing I’ve written as Star Charter.

In March, Lucky Child reached the climax of the Dark Tournament arc. We also celebrated Lucky Child’s 100th chapter, an enormous milestone I’m still shocked we reached! I also went into lockdown this month. I thought I’d be back to work in a few months, but here we are on New Year’s Eve and there is no word on when I (or anyone else) will be returning to normal life.

Also in March, I also took it upon myself to try to begin “Lucky’s Ask Marathon of 2020,” in which I answered answer DOZENS of asks in a short time in an attempt to clean out my askbox… but answering them is like rolling a boulder up a hill, and even though I answered nearly 80 asks, I still have 200+ in my inbox.

In April, I tortured all of you with cliffhangers (seriously, the number of all-caps Asks was hilarious) as NQK’s secret came out at long last. I also wrote more than 55k words that month, apparently! Additionally, I completed Daughters of Destiny and Scooby Doo, Where Are Yu-Yu?

May marked the introduction of Animal Crossing into my life! I also made a bunch of memes that characterized the YYH characters based on their quarantine habits, which was a ton of fun. On a somber note, this month was characterized by Black Lives Matter protests across the US. I volunteered driving protestor’s home from the county jail. I was angry that month. I still am.

June continued in the vein of May. I pissed off some readers by talking about BLM, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

In July, the reality of COVID really sank in, hard. I was quite depressed. Anti-maskers were flooding my social feeds with ignorance, and not being able to see my family for July 4 (an annual tradition) hurt.

In August, 2020!NQK was born as a result of the impact of COVID, civil unrest, and the other disasters that have made 2020 so infamous. RIOT CHILD is perhaps the most collaborative project I’ve ever worked on, and putting it together was a nice distraction (ironically) from 2020 itself.

September was an exciting month! NQK collapsed and visited her home world, prompting wild speculation from readers that I thoroughly enjoyed, and it was also my birthday! Tom had a moment in the spotlight; I answered many asks about him in the wake of his starring role in that month’s LC chapters… also my water main burst that month, and it was awful.

In October, I wrote Scribbled in Secret, which I think is my favorite prompt collection yet and something I’m quite proud of. NQK’s powers also debuted as of chapter 116, revealing the plan I’d been hiding for years now.

In November I went on hiatus so write for NaNoWriMo. It was nice to take a break and recharge.

December heralded another pipe explosion just like the one I had in December 2019. I hope to NOT make this an annual tradition. But speaking of traditions, we explored Christmas traditions in “A Very Keirama Christmas,” which debuted for the Christmas season. I also talked more about my gender and became more comfortable with my ID.

I wish I had some big conclusions to draw about this year, but… I don’t. I’m proud of myself for keeping to a schedule and finishing some projects, and I’m immensely proud of how much I’ve written. And yet, I still feel like I didn’t progress through LC as much as I wanted, biweekly instead of weekly updates slowing the release of the story’s many chapters.

Still, this wordcount is nice.

In 2021, I hope to continually peck away at LC. I’d like to get more work done on RIOT CHILD, as it’s rather time-sensitive, and I want to do another prompt collection. Basically so long as I keep on at this steady pace, I’ll be happy in 2021.

Happy New Year to all of you, and see you next year.

[thatcartoonnetworkblog]

Cartoon Network Friday Spotlight- .hack//SIGN- “Depth”

.hack//SIGN is one of the weirder entries into the Toonami/anime on Cartoon Network/[adult swim] canon. Too light on action and heavy on existentialism to be a part of Toonami, yet too tame to fit on ASA, it felt like a weird choice to join at all. And that’s probably why it’s not one of the better remembered series from that era. Yu Yu Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin, and even Dragon Ball GT get more mileage, for admittedly understandable reasons. But watching this series recently shows that there’s more to SIGN than given credit for.

Part of that is to see an early example of MMORPG gaming as shown via anime, like an early and less creepy Sword Art Online. But this show also has one of the best scores in anime, and some solid writing.

Tsuakasa, the main character, is not doing so well in real life and has logged off in The World, which worries his fellow players/friends. While they do their own thing though, Tsuakasa logs back on, and starts to wonder about his own mortality in The World, and in life. This comes to a head when he meets up with his fellow player/friend/nuisance Subaru, who reassures him that he is alive, and that he’ll find his place in The World, which takes some time before he accepts.

There’s other material here in relation to the general plot, but that would take a lot to recap. I’ll just say that I like how relatively serene and engaging this series can be. I’d ultimately prefer to go back to YYH, but .hack works all on its own, and as a unique part of Toonami lore.

[animebw]

Yu Yu Hakusho: Series Relfection

Yu Yu Hakusho was a new kind of experience for me in a lot of ways. It was the first anime I’ve watched from before Evangelion came around and re-wrote the rules on what was possible for the medium. It was the first long-running series I watched for this blog, spanning a whopping eighteen days of reflections. It was the first series I watched for this blog that garnered some real attention, earning a shout-out from the fine folks at the fan tumblr YYH Revival (check them out here if you haven’t already). I feel like the experience on watching this show and breaking it down over the course of 112 episodes is going to stick with me for a long time, and I couldn’t be more grateful for that.

Now, all that being said, coming from a fresh perspective over 20 years after it finished airing, how is the show itself?

Well, to start off with the more negative aspects, it’s not a flawless ride. Some of the earlier fights, before the Dark Tournament, lack the inventiveness that Togashi’s work would later become famous for. Like a lot of long-running shonen, it eventually breaks through a too-high power ceiling (at the climax of the Chapter Black arc) and never fully recovers from the narrative shortcuts it uses to justify it. Some subplots, like Genkai’s nonsensical disguise during the Dark Tournament and Kuwabara’s crush on Yukina, just don’t work, and the animation occasionally relies a bit too much on recap and repeated footage. It also has a tendency to walk back on some of its most dramatic moments, robbing them of their emotional weight. YYH has aged well, but it has still definitely aged, and coming at this show as a fan raised on more modern anime, you can’t help but notice the cracks.

And yet.

When this show works- which I’d say is at least 75% of the time- it really fucking works. Yusuke’s growth from bratty, angst-ridden kid to emotionally mature adult is one of the most compelling arcs I’ve seen. His moments of growth form the emotional backbone of the show, and wherever else it may stumble slightly, this rock-solid emotional center easily picks up the slack. The characters are all incredible, a top-notch ensemble cast from one of the best in the business at writing ensemble casts. Kuwabara’s infectious charm, Hiei’s endearing snarkiness, Kurama’s smooth soulfulness, Botan’s absolutely adorable pep, Shizuru’s endlessly entertaining gruffness, Genkai’s ten thousand levels of kickass, and the countless side characters and bit players that populate the show’s world (Seriously, I might get into sports if I could get Koto to be the announcer for all my matches) all give it such personality and presence, and their interactions never get old. And the villains! Toguro and Sensui are both such fascinatingly compelling presences, fully realized people with their own twisted but understandable philosophies and motivations. No one’s better than Togashi at making every single character, no matter what side they’re on, feel like the protagonist of their own story, and while I will always prefer the likes of Hisoka and Mereum from Hunter x Hunter, the scourge of the Dark Tournament and the fallen former spirit detective are both fantastic foils for our heroes’ journey to face.

Beyond that, Togashi’s tactic of constantly rejiggering the status quo to keep the story fresh is well on display here, even before he mastered it for HxH. The Dark Tournament and Chapter Black arcs are both such distinct and memorable encounters, even with the latter’s disappointing ending. The battles and encounters Yusuke and his crew get involved with throughout the show never failed to hold my interest, simply because of how different and unique they all felt. In addition, YYH can be really damn beautiful when it puts its mind to it. Genkai’s final battle with Toguro, Hiei’s mastery of the dark dragon, Yusuke vs Toguro, and the brutal clash with the Doctor are all among the most fantastically animated battles I can recall seeing, especially with all the emotional weight behind them.

Yu Yu Hakusho is a one of a kind show, a classic shonen that has well earned that distinction. It’s endlessly entertaining, uniquely creative, and carries some true emotional weight. I’m so happy I finally got around to watching it, crow’s feet and all.

And in the end, Yu Yu Hakusho earns from me a score of:

8/10

Thank you all for joining me on this journey. It’s been an incredible ride, and I hope you stick around to see all my future projects! As for what long-running show will replace YYH in my regular rotation, it will be the classic magical girl anime Cardcaptor Sakura! See you later today for the start of that adventure. Peace be with you, and may your life be full of smile bombs.

[itsclydebitches]

YYH Recaps: Episode 3, “Kuwabara: A Promise Between Men”

We have made it to Episode 3, folks! … out of 112. That's something like progress, yeah? :D

I sadly have no more YYH nostalgia to share, so let's dive right in.

Something I haven't mentioned previously is that every episode starts with a brief recap of previous events. It's nothing terribly important, just the standard summary crafted for those who were watching YYH on television and may have forgotten what happened twenty-four hours ago (as kids are wont to do), or missed yesterday's episode for whatever reason. I didn't expect to reference it, but it just occurred to me that our narrator keeps talking about things "after Yusuke saved a boy's life" and it's like... yes? But also no? I love that the show appears to be ignoring that Yusuke never technically saved the kid because he was destined to survive regardless. Yes, it's the thought that counts and all that jazz, but it still strikes me as terribly funny. No one hurt our poor protagonist by reminding him of that pesky little detail!

Speaking of Yusuke, we last left him agonizing over this ordeal that he's agreed to and we open on the same conflict. He claims that he's been on his best behavior since receiving the egg, but can't think of any good deeds to do. Does a good deed count if you're only performing it for your own gain? That's too much philosophy for YYH. Yusuke also notes that, along with the heartbeat, the egg appears to be kicking. Botan says it's just practicing before it devours him.

I honestly didn't remember Botan being this sassy, but I'm so here for it.

She points out that Yusuke won't achieve anything by following "the girl you have a crush on around" and the camera pulls out to reveal that they are, in fact, floating above Keiko. 

In standard Yusuke fashion, he adamantly denies that Keiko is a crush. "We're just friends!" Said every future spouse in media ever. What's interesting is that Yusuke defends himself by saying that he has a feeling something bad is going to happen to Keiko. I mentioned the potential spiritual awareness in Atsuko last recap and this is another, ambiguous detail. Does Yusuke honestly know on some spiritual level that Keiko is about to be attacked? Is it a full-blown excuse to spend some anonymous time with her? Or is it something in between? Meaning, that he has a real anxiety, but not one stemming from any future premonitions. Botan continues to tease him, saying that yeah, the bad thing is that Keiko might like another boy. 

She obviously doesn't mean that seriously — Botan isn't cruel and, besides, what girl falls for someone new the day after her crush is killed? — but she could be right about Yusuke's worry nonetheless.

I'm actually quite liking these ambiguous moments. What's a throwaway line and what's a hint at a part of the worldbuilding? YYH's story, as it currently stands, is a little on the messy side. It's going to take some time to find its groove, but when it does we'll have a fairly stable — if broad — supernatural system. Knowing what comes later, it's fun to try and fit these details into the YYH puzzle, even if it's unlikely they were added deliberately.

Regardless, Yusuke is right. No sooner has he expressed his worry that Keiko is in danger then we hear her scream. She's been accosted by another gang — are all the boys in these high schools street fighters?? — and they demand $500 as a toll for her to cross their presumed territory. Of course, they know she doesn't have that. There are "other ways" that Keiko can pay the fine, which one of the guys emphasizes by grabbing her arm and pulling her close.

Well, that got surprisingly dark, remarkably quickly. Literally none of this registered when I was a kid. I probably thought they were just going to punch her or something. The only good thing about these creeps is that one of them is taking Covid seriously by wearing his mask.

“Maybe I’ll let you see what’s under my mask.”

“That’s easy, bad breath”

Of course he's got to make that creepy too. But nice comeback, Keiko! Simple, yet effective.

This is, of course, all too much for Yusuke. He quickly loses his temper and flies in a rage at the attackers, taking a swing at one's head. Of course, he passes right through him. It speaks to Yusuke's care for Keiko that he would so easily forget the lesson learned immediately after his death.

For a moment it looks as if Keiko is in serious trouble... but then Kuwabara appears!

He tells Keiko to run along, it's fine, he'll take care of this. “Let’s just call it an apology for yesterday." This is a really significant moment for Kuwabara's character because up until now he's mainly just been the comic relief. Yes, we saw how deeply he cared about Yusuke at his funeral, but on the whole even the moments that say something good about his character — like accepting the slap last episode — function primarily as a laugh for the viewer. This? This is treated seriously. Yusuke, our hero, is currently powerless. He cannot save the damsel in distress (boy oh boy, are there some classic gender dynamics in YYH), so Kuwabara, as the secondary hero, steps up. He's not doing this because he's inclined to start a fight for his own ego — like we saw with Yusuke — and we know he technically hasn't done anything wrong — Yusuke took control of his body. Still, Kuwabara feels as if he owes Keiko that apology and, even if he didn't, we're seeing that he's the type of guy willing to put himself in danger for another. Rather than just existing as YYH's punchline, Kuwabara is a compassionate individual whose heroism is on full display here, despite the "real" hero floating just a few feet away.

Actually, looking at just these three episodes, it's intriguing how much of the story positions Kuwabara as the classic hero, contrasting Yusuke's bad boy complexity. There's no doubt that Yusuke is the primary protagonist — good looks, love interest, and a narrator outright telling us he's the hero are all pretty on the nose — but at this point Kuwabara already possesses the moral code that Yusuke will spend the entire series working to adopt. Only his goofy personality keeps him from explicitly being what Yusuke aspires to. 

Alongside his strong moral compass, this scene establishes the important fact that Kuwabara is just strong, period. In Episode 1 we saw him get his ass kicked by Yusuke and in Episode 2 Yusuke is the one piloting his body, with another grunt character commenting that Kuwabara isn't normally this strong. Given that all we've had thus far are comparisons to a fighting prodigy, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Kuwabara is just a wannabe fighter. However, when facing off against more average foes, he becomes their Yusuke. One guy punches Kuwabara right in the stomach and he doesn't even flinch, just laughs it off. Whether it's his own talent, or a tolerance developed from fighting the best, Kuwabara can more than hold his own. This is worth keeping in mind as the series progresses because Kuwabara, more often than not, will be pit against incredibly strong fighters, making him appear weak in comparison. The reality though is that he's extraordinarily talented, it’s just harder to see when he’s always fighting the cream of the crop. 

In true YYH fashion, this is a bit of characterization the show doesn't want us to miss. Yusuke outright says, “Against normal people Kuwabara’s pretty good!"

Botan is pretty excited too, except she's yelling, "Go for the kidneys!"

God I love Botan. So much.

The fight turns into an all out brawl with Kuwabara and his opponent rolling down the grassy hill, generally just wailing on each other. We don't get to see who wins, but the answer is obviously Kuwabara since he saved Keiko and got to show off his stomach muscles.

We cut to the next day where news of the fight has spread (it's that big a deal? There's a fight every five minutes in this town!) and the boys are all in trouble at school. Akashi, Iwamoto's mean BFF, is willing to use any excuse to lord his power over the boys. And I do mean any excuse. The other gang is positioned as innocent victims here "who, according to their mothers, are quite honest!”

Basically, school teachers are The Worst in this series, with Takenaka being the one, rare exception. Feel free to apply that to everything else we know about Yusuke's home life and the dead-end approach he'd taken to his future.

Indeed, class suddenly comes into play when Akashi asks Okubo, the new-ish guy who didn't know about Kuwabara's spirit sense, if he's working a part time job with the school's permission. When he confirms that he is, Akashi has a field day. Oh, you have a job? Not anymore! He punishes Okubo personally, simply because he can, and no amount of pleading will get him to change his mind. Specifically, Okubo frantically explains that his mother is the only adult in the house and he has little brothers and sisters to help take care of. If he doesn't work, they don't eat.

Again: yikes.

Kuwabara is, as one would expect, horrified by all this. He puts himself between Akashi and Okubo, saying that he's the one who "caused the real damage anyway" so if there's going to be punishment, let it go to him. Akashi offers him a dare: if he and his friends can go a whole week without fighting, then Okubo will be allowed to keep his job.

One of the other friends — I don't think he's been given a name yet — jumps in about how undoable that is. “Can you make it shorter? How about two hours, that seems fair.” TWO HOURS, FOLKS 😂. Now, we don't know what time it currently is, but I like to imagine that there's at least three hours of the school day left, implying that even staying out of trouble during classes is a bit of a stretch.

What's a more legitimate concern is that the rival gang might jump them and they'd be unable to defend themselves. Indeed, the animation has ensured that despite being shown as the stronger in that confrontation, everyone — Kuwabara included — is sporting bruises, scrapes, and bandages. If that's what they got from a fair fight, what's going to happen to them if they can't fight back?

Okubo's job is on the line though, so Kuwabara agrees. This is where our episode title comes from, the promise between men, not just between Kuwabara and Akashi, but the entire group and Okubo too. However, Yusuke legitimizes those worries with “I think he just signed a death sentence."

Promise made, the group disperses and the camera pans to show that Takenaka has been listening in the whole time — and he doesn't look happy.

We cut to later in the day when Akashi has met up with his best evil bud, Iwamoto. We know they're extra evil today because they're backed by the setting sun, half cast in shadow.

They discuss how breaking the honor code is one of the highest offenses here at the school. Ergo, if Kuwabara breaks his promise to Akashi, they'll have grounds to finally expel him. I fail to see how a promise made between teacher and student, one that no one else was round to officially monitor (Takenaka aside), is somehow better evidence for an expulsion than the fighting they already have parents complaining about... but such is the nonsensical world of a shonen anime. Iwamoto thinks that based on how Kuwabara acted at Yusuke's wake — that is, yelling about how he needs to wake up and fight him — there's no way he'll be able to go a week without a brawl. The only question now is, which is better? Kuwabara's expulsion, or Yusuke's death?

...is it possible to punch fictional characters? Because I would very much like to punch these guys.

What's interesting though is that they're not plotting simply for the sake of plotting, nor are they after Kuwabara (and Yusuke) because of a personal grudge. Rather, the story keeps coming back to the school's reputation and how eliminating all the kids who skip class, start fights, and the like will do wonders. The thing is... they're technically not wrong? Cultivating a student body of Keikos as opposed to Yusukes would create a far better looking institution, one that revolves around excellent scholars as opposed to delinquents. Don't get me wrong, it's shitty beyond belief, but if they want a better school reputation they're not wrong to believe this is one way to do it. The question is, why do they want that? Is it a legitimate point of pride? Does it boost their own ego to teach at a well known school? Do they honestly believe that students like Kuwabara and Yusuke are lost causes? We're not given that level of insight into their thought process, though it's intriguing to have some kind of motivation here. Normally, generic Evil Teachers just do awful things because they can, not because they're after some specific goal.

They sure are going about it in the worst way possible though!

A more wholesome detail in this scene is how close Botan and Yusuke have become. I love her leaning on Yusuke's shoulder and the simple fact that she's here. Yeah, as said in a previous recap she has to stick around to become an integrated member of the cast, but from an in-universe standpoint she's the grim reaper and APPARENTLY decided to ditch her job for a while to hang with this random human. Currently, Yusuke isn't important. He's unique in that he's getting to undergo this ordeal, but not yet important. Botan doesn't really have an excuse for sticking by his side except for the fact that she apparently wants to.

Aww.

What's also "aww" in this episode is how devoted Okubo's friends are. Once school has let out he admits that his mother is currently sick and can't provide for them. “I’m not making this up, we could really starve." Even Yusuke is surprised, commenting that he thought his home life was bad, but it's nothing like that.

Note that all these observations are helping to forward Yusuke's character development. He doesn't need to commit a good deed every moment of every day, he can also learn by listening and watching others. I mean yeah, the whole ghost stalking thing is a bit weird... but at least it's out of genuine concern and leads to self-improvement!

Kuwabara advises all of them to get home as quick as they can and spend the weekend indoors. Smart! However, Kuwabara is currently working under the inaccurate assumption that Akashi intents to play fair.

Oh, but before that, let me point out Kuwabara's mysterious, disappearing Band-Aid. While talking to the group it's there...

...then, while walking home, it's gone...

...until it reappears again!

Truly a mystical object. Kuwabara is indeed bound to the spirit world.

Anyway, he's on his way home when the gang shows up, blocking Kuwabara's way. He thinks it's just bad luck, but the viewer knows that Akashi has followed him and tipped the boys off. He says he called them and I am dying to know what that conversation was like.

"Yes, hello. This is Mr. Akashi from Sarayashiki Jr. High. I would be much obliged if you'd do me the favor of beating up one of my students. Why? Oh, no particular reason. Besides, you're not the type to ask questions, are you? How'd I get your number? Your mother provided it! No, no, there's no reason for her to hear about this... Mm? But of course you'll be compensated. Provided I get my fight first. Deal? Excellent! Be at the train tunnel by 3:00pm. Toodle-loo!"

Yusuke asks, “Doesn’t this guy have a life besides tormenting kids?” and yeah, that's a very good question. The answer is "apparently not."

Kuwabara repeats his promise not to fight and Botan is impressed, saying that she'll have to make a note of his loyalty to his friends. There's another fascinating glimpse into the spirit world’s operations. The kid's survival in Episode 1 implies that they can see at least some possible futures, while Botan's comment implies that this semi-omniscient knowledge is supplemented by ground work. How exactly are souls weighed? Inquiring minds want to know.

But that's fic territory. Right now, Kuwabara makes the smart move of running away into the woods.

...aaand then he makes the dumb move of coming back because one of the guys called him a sissy.

I personally can't get behind decisions like this. The nebulous concept of pride isn't something I subscribe to, not unless that pride serves a purpose. Pride in your work, pride in your friendships, but pride in... your willingness to take a beating for the sake of a beating? The only way "running away" and being a "sissy" can hurt Kuwabara's pride if his choice was actually cowardly in some manner: not standing up to the goons when he otherwise could, not protecting his friends if they were here with him, etc. But he knows he's not running because he's scared. He knows running serves a purpose: to protect Okubo's job. When Kuwabara stops, returns, and announces that they can beat on him all they want, it's definitely badass... but it's also stupid as hell. Taking the beating does nothing except to maintain that pride, a pride that should be strong enough to withstand some nobody's insult to start with. In addition, the risk is not just that Kuwabara might get hurt, it's that by sticking around he increases the likelihood that he'll fight back on instinct, or get pissed off enough to forget his promise. Indeed, we see that this nearly happens. One of the guys pushes Kuwabara far enough that he grabs hold of his shirt and nearly throws the punch, only stopping at the last second.

But what if he'd made contact? Obviously, Akashi isn't playing fair — he doesn't need the technicality to screw over Kuwabara, none of this is Kuwabara's fault — but it's still stupid to test the limits in this manner. Kuwabara isn't helping Okubo by going back, he's just risking his job and creating a situation where he'll feel guilty for the beating he’ll receive. That's worse than just running and living with some low-life's "sissy."

To be clear, I'm not criticizing the creative choice to have Kuwabara turn back. It is, quintessentially, a Kuwabara decision and it definitely makes more interesting viewing than him running home. It's just that if Kuwabara were a real person I'd sit him down for a talk about not letting other's opinions push him into doing something foolish. But as a character, it's a strong trait. This bullheaded loyalty is what defines him as a person, for better and for worse. Though admittedly, the story pushes this pretty fare into the "better" category. Our camera dips low to make Kuwabara appear tall — imposingly heroic — and Botan yells, “He’s so cool!”

And you know what? He is. Kuwabara can be cool and stupid simultaneously lol.

We get a split-screen shot of Yusuke and Akashi both shocked at Kuwabara's decision. Love a parallel between the hero and the baddie. Kuwabara then, well... proceeds to get his ass kicked. We have that moment where he nearly succumbs and throws a punch, but beyond that he weathers the beating amazingly well. "Like a real man," as he'd say.

“I’ve got one favor to ask you numbskulls: take out your anger on me and leave my buddies out of this."

Okay THAT's cool af. Though it wasn't his first intention, Kuwabara does find purpose in this beating. Namely, ensuring that it's the only one any of them will have to take. The goons agree, saying that Kuwabara is more fun to punch anyway, so once it's over they're no longer a threat. Provided Kuwabara's group doesn't start any fights themselves, they should be good to go.

Or so he thinks...

As we'd expect, Kuwabara is a mess the next day. Man, first he gets beat up while Yusuke is running around in his body, then he takes a few more hits during his first fight with this gang, now he's been a punching bag for who knows how long. Good thing Kuwabara exists in an anime where people heal instantly off screen.

Must be those magical Band-Aids.

As expected, these injuries worry his friends, but he just brushes the concern off. It appears like everything is going to work out until Akashi arrives and informs them that the terms have changed. Now, they'll have to refrain from fighting and score a 50 or higher on their upcoming physical science test. Obviously this bet is extremely rigged, but uh... the fact that all the boys freak out over this says a lot about their academic status.

Well, they mostly freak out. One of the guys got a 45 on the last test, another a 57 — good job, dude — and Okubo had a 39, but he's sure he can bring that up if he just studies a little more. So they're good to go, right?

Not when Kuwabara got a 7 😬

(As an anxiety-ridden perfectionist with an unironic love for academia, this hurts my soul lol.) 

It's a dual punchline as Yusuke is just pleased as punch that he's smarter than Kuwabara. What did he get? A 12.

Credit where credit is due though. Kuwabara may not be naturally gifted in science, but he sure as hell is willing to put in the work when he's motivated. He immediately throws himself into studying, starting at lunch, and... he may be using pencils as chopsticks? I honestly can't be sure.

“If he thinks too hard with that bruised head of his it might just explode.”

C'mon, guys, he's doing this for you! The least you can do is not roast him so hard.

We continue to follow Kuwabara's worth ethic as the school day ends and he heads to a local bookstore, Yusuke expressing shock that he'd spend his money on stuff for school. He's spending money on his friend, you fool! Too bad for Kuwabara, the world of YYH is crawling with nameless goons who are eager to fight. We get a repeat of yesterday's incident where he's cornered, but swears he won't fight back. The guys literally drag him away, laughing about their own good fortune.

...and poor Kuwabara didn't get to buy his books.

The cycle continues. "Ah, dude, your hideous!" his friends say when he shows up the next morning, covered in even more cuts and bruises. Again he dismisses their concern, but what I adore about this scene is that he tries to reassure them with, “I’ve been missing my daily beatings with Urameshi gone anyway." This line may not initially mean much to the audience since we know that Yusuke is "alive," and it may be easy to forget that Kuwabara, despite having his body borrowed in the possession, doesn't actually know what's going on in the spirit world. He's not Keiko who twice heard Yusuke say, "Wait for me," nor is he Atsuko who gets to see that his body still has a pulse. Yusuke is dead to him, permanently, and the last time we saw Kuwabara grappling with that it was with tears and grief-driven fury. Now? Now he can make a joke about the poundings he used to take as a way of starting to move on. That’s great to see. 

...hmm. Poundings. 

I’M SO SORRY BUT I FOUND THAT GIF AND 😂 😂 😂 Will we make it through a single recap without me making a Yusuke/Kuwabara joke? Unlikely at this point.

Kuwabara remains as dedicated the second day as he was the first, to the point where he falls asleep in the middle of studying he's so exhausted. Not that he doesn't have a good reason! Yusuke, realizing that he can use this dream business for more than just delivering 'Please save my corpse' messages, dives in to continue Kuwabara's studying session while he gets some rest. 

Gotta love the problem solving skills here, as well as the fact that this is an option at all. I'd like to be able to sleep and study at the same time. Just think of how much I could learn!!

Nerd dreams ftw.

So Kuwabara gets to recover from his injuries and continue learning this material for a whole night which, honestly, likely goes a long way towards securing him the score he gets. All of which was only possible because Yusuke went out of his way to help him, first by checking up on Kuwabara in the first place and then by actively tutoring him. Note that at no point during these two days does Yusuke theorize about whether such actions will assist him with his challenge. He seems to have forgotten about the egg completely. Rather, this is pure Yusuke: someone who will beat Kuwabara up and help him do right by his friends. Their fights, we see here, are born from an innate love of battle and a brotherly-antagonism, not because they actually hate one another.

Indeed, that's Yusuke's primary way of displaying affection — at least when the other person is paying attention to him. Fight Kuwabara, threaten Botan, sling indifferent insults at Keiko... he's the hotheaded fool who pretends not to like anyone while not-so-secretly caring about them like whoa. Sort of tsundere, if Yusuke were a girl.

Oh, speaking of that...

This protective streak continues as Kuwabara is again — again — accosted by a group of thugs on his way to school the next morning. Or, he nearly is. He's so engrossed in his book that he doesn't notice the guys behind him, making plans for an attack since word on the street is Kuwabara doesn't fight back anymore. Boy oh boy, is everyone else in the city due for a surprise once this bet is over! Yusuke has his back though, getting between Kuwabara and the guys with, “Anyone who touches him is dead meat!”

One of the goons must be at least a little spiritually aware because he stops, telling his buddies he's got a bad feeling about this. Maybe they should let it go?

The advice no one listened to, ever.

Which is when Yusuke has to get creative again. Kuwabara has demonstrated twice now that he can clearly take the beatings, but a jump now would make him late for the test. Luckily — uh, from one perspective? — the guys hit two girls as they round a corner and, according to Yusuke, one of them faints.

Actually it looks as if she was slammed into the wall so hard she passes out, but eh, tomato tomahto.

Either way she's out cold and wouldn't you know, that means she's basically asleep! Yusuke dives in to possess her, scaring the girl's friend shitless as "she" runs off, determined to beat some sense into these guys.

Honestly, for all YYH's anime take on gender dynamics, it's quite nice that Yusuke just... doesn't care about possessing a woman. There's no eye-rolling hesitance over whether he can fight as a girl, or even whether he's comfortable possessing one in the first place. Yusuke's gotta have a female body to save Kuwabara? Not a problem. Real men are confident in their gender identity for the sake of their friends!

Or something like that XD

“Don’t you know there’s a test today, moron?” he yells, braining one of the guys with the girl's bag. And yeah, there's supposed to be a certain level of humor here, watching this wisp of a girl in a school uniform beat up a bunch of guys, but only a pinch. Yusuke wails on them even after they're down for the count, expressing how good it feels to finally fight again.

Yusuke, it's been like... three days since you died? And you've tried to punch numerous people since then. I think you'll survive.

Well no, you won't, you already haven’t... but we all know what I'm getting at!

Given that Kuwabara is so spiritually aware, Yusuke is able to float at his side during the test, prodding him to remember the studying he dreamed about. Gotta love that these two idiots don't outright cheat, Yusuke just helps him remember the things he's already memorized. 

Of course, cheating would require Yusuke to remember them himself lol.

We also learn, once the test is over, the Kuwabara copied all his answers onto a scrap piece of paper and checked it four times — four times! — against the textbook, concluding that he passed long before the tests are graded. Great job, Kuwabara! Okubo clasps his hands and thanks him profusely for saving his job, causing Kuwabara to blush.

Hey, hey, hey when did this shonen get so wholesome.

Of course, by now the audience knows that Akashi isn't playing fair. He's horrified to see that Kuwabara passed, only for Iwamoto to show him a "different method of grading." That is, be a shitstain and erase one of Kuwabara's answers.

But wouldn't you know, Takenaka is listening to this conversation too.

These idiots are just horrible at being baddies. Either that, or their system is so corrupt they honestly think no one would challenge them.

...it really could be the latter. 

Of course, when Kuwabara gets his test back he's stunned to see the failing grade, only to grow (rightfully) furious when he notices the erased answer. He rushes at Akashi, ready to dish out some much deserved revenge, only for Yusuke to grab hold of his fist. Despite knowing that Kuwabara can't hear him, he screams a reminder that if he punches Akashi now then everything he's done the last two days will be wasted. Kuwabara stops, barely, dropping Akashi to the floor.

“I’ve got the power, you see!” he screams, still crumbled on the ground. No, you’re just pathetic. 

He's also plain wrong. He doesn't have the power considering that Takenaka is his boss. He arrives on the scene, yelling that he's tempted to wring Akashi's neck for what he did to Kuwabara. He's to change the grade this instant and Okubo's job is no longer something to barter with.

I may have said it before, but I'm saying it again: we love and respect Mr. Takenaka on this blog.

We're given this lovely shot of Kuwabara through the flowers

before Okubo and the rest of the group run out, informing him of the changes. There's happiness and tears all around, with Okubo admitting that he was truly afraid. He won't be forgetting what Kuwabara did for him anytime soon.

Observing the scene from their normal, floating perch, Botan explains that Yusuke was able to grab Kuwabara's fist because they were on the same emotional wavelength in that moment. Or, in layman's terms, Yusuke reached Kuwabara with his feelings (◕‿◕✿)

Yusuke obviously acts disgusted to hear it and I hate to tell him but, well... he's been reaching Kuwabara with his feelings this whole time. We see that Yusuke is able to touch Kuwabara during their study session as well: he initially puts a hand on his shoulder, trying to wake him. 

I guess these two "enemies" are just on the same, emotionally wavelength more often than not!

(I swear to god I’ve never shipped them what is happENING RIGHT NOW) 

Case in point though, Kuwabara looks up directly to where Yusuke is — which also happens to be the sunset — and thanks him for the help.

“Talking to ghosts again, Kuwabara?” his friends ask.

“Uh, no. Just listening to the wind.”

It's a private moment between a man and his ghost BFF ;)

On that happy little note, see you all for Episode 4!