#YYH fight scenes

[animeglitch]

[islandofthesnakes]

OK THE CG FIGHT SCENES ARE INSANELY GOOD IN THE YU YU HAKUSHO LIVE ACTION

ITS LIKE THEYRE FOLLOWING THAT ROGER RABBIT RULE WHERE THEY MAKE SURE THE CG CHARACTER INTERACTS WITH AS MUCH REALITY AS POSSIBLE TO MAKE IT REALER THAN IT IS

ITS SO GOOD I CANT WAIT TO FIN THE REST OF THIS SHOW OMG

[kazimakuwabara]

Karma's A Bitch

Summary: Hiei is in for a fight for his life against an old partner. (A scene from a larger story I have in mind. about 1k-ish Tw: for misogynistic behavior)

***

“You know seeing you brought low… I really shouldn’t relish it… but what the hell! You only live once!” Cassion cackled with bubbly laughter as he sent a boot into Hiei’s face, kicking the downed demon across the floor. Hiei rolled on his back, the world spinning as he was launched skidding across the floor like a stone across the surface of a pond. His body bounced across the ground, before jerking back up and spinning end over end as he went flailing across the room, his momentum carrying him several yards away from Cassion.

Cassion giggled as he watched Hiei skid to a stop, his body splayed and prone on the floor. Hiei did not move. There was no sign that he was even willing to try getting up. Just the sounds of his ragged breathing filled the air.

“You know, it serves you right suffering like this. You brought me so low when you left me Hiei, and ended our partnership… and for what, huh? A pretty green-eyed fox?” Cassion spat, gesturing to the glass cage behind him. 

Inside it, pacing like the animal that was burning to be released from inside his skin, was Kurama, his green eyes flickering into a pale yellow as he watched the fight. His livid expression curled into a snarl as Cassion gestured to him, but he said no words as he watched the dreadful fight before him.

Yusuke, still and with Kurama’s jacket pillowed beneath his head, lay slumped on his back, his eyes closed, and face pale. Kuwabara, with his back turned to the wall of the glass cage, lay slumped on his side next to Yusuke, his face against Yusuke's shoulder.

Cassion gestured to Yusuke and Kuwabara, “The pretty fox I can get, at least he’s a demon… was a demon… You know, I don’t quite know if I understand what he is just yet... but sticking with him, at least that makes sense. But leaving me for those two? A halfling bastard, and a human? You said you weren’t a pet person, and look at you! You adopted a pair of monkeys!” Cassion grunted with effort as he hurled a blast of energy, exploding the ground near Hiei.

Hiei hadn’t even tried to get to his feet or avoid it. The blast had fallen short of hitting Hiei, but it had erupted the ground near him, shifting the fire demon onto his side, so he had to face Cassion.

As the dust settled, Hiei turned his burning red eyes on Cassion, his face curled in the weakest of snarls.

“It’s karma I tell you… Karma for going soft!” Cassion snarled, smiling at Hiei's cold expression. He waited for some sort of action from Hiei, some showing of fear, but Hiei's cold gaze did not shift. It was as impassive and unimpressed as it had always been when it landed on Cassion.

Cassion's mouth twitched unhappily, and he threw another ball of energy, but this time, the blast connected, and Hiei snarled angrily as his clothes smoldered. Growling, he beat the flames out of his shirt and turned another cold, snarling glare on Cassion. Cassion's deranged smile slipped, as once again Hiei silently judged him.

"Show me some fear!" Cassion demanded flinging his arm out like a whip, and sent out a scattering of small energy blasts, that flew over Hiei's head.

"I hated that about you! That cold stare! Show me some fucking fear, Hiei!!"

Hiei said nothing, his eyes fixed on Cassion as he tantrums, silently judging.

Cassion straightened his aggressive stance and clucked his tongue. He shook his head as he looked at Hiei, and slowly started to approach him, “God… are you really this pathetic? Is this what happens when you choose a pretty face, and a couple of nothings over a good partnership?! Will you not show me fear unless I threaten to kill them?"

At this question, Cassion turned a hand behind him, his glowing palm pointed at the glass cage behind him. Hiei finally gave a response, sluggishly shifting into a sitting-up position, his eyes flickering with worry. Cassion hated to see it.

"You’re pathetic!” Cassion roared a last insult, the room shaking with the outpouring of his disgust, anger, and hate. He dropped his hand and roared wordlessly as he watched the dregs of concern leave Hiei's eyes. "How dare you fall so low? Caring about others!? Hiei, you know better! It's a dog eating dog kind of world out there, don't you dare show anyone some kindness!"

Hiei met Cassion’s ferocious rage, with the same calculating expression. And then, he shifted his head to the side, letting it fall against his shoulder, and he smiled.

Cassion felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. 

Ignoring the ominous twist of uncertainty that suddenly filled his gut, Cassion filled his hand with his crackling energy until it was the size of a baseball. This next hit… he would make Hiei suffer with this next hit. Smiling as he felt a triumphant glee come over him, Cassion threw out another jabbing insult, “And don’t even get me started on that matchstick of a woman you’re working for! If you’re going to go for puss, Hiei, get a hot-”

Cassion’s jaw breaks as a foot kicks him from above and not below. He barely has time to dodge the sword that follows after the kick, and he turns his eyes expecting to see Hiei. It’s lucky for him he can’t talk with his broken jaw, because it’s not Hiei staring him down, but Kuwabara.

Kuwabara smirks at Cassion while he duel wields two different blades, the one in his left radiating a strange power Cassion had not noticed the human wield before.

Kuwabara points the strange blade at Cassion and cracks, “Looks like some little bitch forgot to drink their respect woman juice today! Let me help you with that!”

Cassion growls, as he wrangles his broken jaw and pushes, trying to painfully lodge the jaw back into place in one go.

A dark amused laugh fills the room, and Hiei appears at Kuwabara’s side. The weakness he had been presenting earlier melts away. Hiei had not been as injured as Cassion had been led to believe. Still, even if he is not severely injured, Hiei is sagging, a hand holding his ribs as he leans against Kuwabara as he tries to find his footing. Uncaring about his weakened state, Hiei grins savagely at Cassion in his weakness.

An old glitter of the violent bandit Hiei used to be shines in his eyes.

“Well Kuwabara, I never thought you’d have something amusing to say. Looks like I was wrong!” Hiei chuckles.

Without taking his eyes from Cassion, Kuwabara pressed into the smaller demon’s touch, and lowered his voice as he asked, “...You alright?”

“I was just biding my time for you to use your Jigen Tō. What took you?” Hiei snorted.

“Yeah, I was kinda busy being a battery for Urameshi’s spirit life energy until he could manage not to beef it without me!” Kuwabara huffed.

Cassion disgusted by the display of comradery between Hiei and a lowly human, shoved his jaw back into place.

Kuwabara made a face as Cassion popped his jaw back in, and blurted a disgusted, “Oh, sick!”

“Kuwabara, get Kurama and Yusuke free,” Hiei instructed, his voice cold as ice as he stepped in front of the taller muscular man. Hiei could sense Cassion's killing intent, even if Kuwabara did not. “I’m going to finish off Cassion.”

Kuwabara nodded, and to Cassion’s great irritation and begrudging amazement, the human sliced a hole under his feet with that strange sword, and disappeared through it, the portal closing off once he had fallen through. To the side, Kuwabara reappeared in front of the glass box, Kurama gathering up the still unmoving Yusuke Urameshi. The fox did not seem surprised by Kuwabara's actions, merely eager to escape the glass cage.

Cassion had been played... Hiei's friends were a bit tougher than he thought.

Hiei rolled his head from side to side, cracking the bones of his neck audibly. The bandages on his arm burned away as a seeping black and purple energy began to crackle off his arm. Pointing his enflamed limb at Cassion, Hiei growled, “Now… I think you were saying something disrespectful about my friends...”

Red eyes burned like flames.

“I dare you to say it again!”

[oreasa]

This is just so satisfying to watch Yep, same crazy Sakyo Hey babes Oh, the betting is so fun This is such a fun fight I love Elder Toguro's voice That was friendly fire I didn't expect His sword should be ORANGE Hit him harder OMG HIS HEAD IS TEENY TINY Noooo, they did it. They fucking did it. The fingers I actually kinda miss Kuwabara's white outfit now Yep, this looks familiar Blah blah blah, die faster Slowest suicide ever Yukina healing him is a nice touch. I like that. I completely forgot Hiei still had that blade I much preferred it when Sakyo got crushed by the building HINT HINT HIEI!!! oh for fuck's sake Yeah, I don't believe that bullshit for a minute Still love this scene though Are we bringing Genkai back or not? This theme slaps

At least we're set up for season 2.

Did I enjoy this? Very much. Does it have flaws? Certainly. Do I understand the choices they made? Mostly. Do I want more? GIVE NOW

[morb22]

My one complaint about the YYH live action is the Eikichi erasure.

[llycaons]

there's fun things about the live action but I was just on a blog that was genuinely calling it SUCH a good show and I'm sorry but not with that pacing!! the characters have no room to breathe!!!

[quinloki]

Birthday Request Event v2024

Alright let's start off with the primary points:

1 - You do NOT have to give to get.

2 - You do not have to get to give.

3 - Read everything, there's quite a few moving parts =D

Things You Can Do During This Event:

1 - Request a story from me (see the end of the post for the format!)

2 - You can give me a gift! (see "Gifting Quin" below!)

3 - Reblog this post to be entered into a raffle!

Details below the cut!

Raffle Prizes!

-:- 1,000 words of anything you want (within reason) - can be a one-shot, can be a demand for a specific title (make me work on that title you've been dying to read more of). Just has to be One Piece related.

-:- OC Cameo - I'll plunk your OC/self-insert into a story (that is not the Host Club AU ^^; )

-:- I'll draw something for you \o/ I'm not great, but hey, free art xD

Gifting Quin!

❤️ - Pin 5$ to my shirt - it's a local-ish birthday tradition.

❤️ - Share one of my stories and leave a comment \o/ You can do this whenever, but it really makes my day, so have at!

❤️ - Gift me a story, or some art 😳🥰

Ideas (please do NOT send me saucy stuff on anon or if you're under 18):

1 - Draw a scene from any of the stories you've liked! 2 - Draw Quill - by themself, or with you and/or your OC, or a One Piece character \o/ Quill can be a boy, girl, or whatever mix tickles your fancy. Have fun =D 3 - Draw what you see when you think of "Reader" for any given story. 4 - Re-write a scene for a story =O How would you tell me that scene? 5 - Write me a one-shot using the prompts below 😇 6 - Free form a ficlet, drabble, head canon, series of bullet points with ANY anime character and either a "Reader" or Quill =3 Spread your wings beyond One Piece (Wind Breaker, YYH, FMA, MHA, Habin hotel, etc - go wild 🥰)

Feel free to ask me ANYTHING if you're unsure of something

Birthday Bash Requests \o/

Finally, the part you've all been waiting for XD

*** Anon Requests Will be SFW only ***

-:- Give me some reader vibes as applicable (gender/height vibes) -:- Give me a blorbo (or blorbos) - One Piece only please ❤️ -:- Pick something from each of the lists below and then submit your ask! (any items not specified in the ask will be my choice 😇 cause it's my birthday celebration XD )

Pick 1 Vibe: SFW SFW dark SFW Yandere Blorbo NSFW Consensual NSFW dubcon/dark NSFW Yandere Blorbo NSFW noncon Writer's Choice (please include squicks if you pick dark or dub/non con options)

Pick 1 AU: Canon Universe Mafia AU Fantasy AU Cowboy AU Government Mandated Marriage AU Soul Mates AU Modern AU Hallmark AU Mythical Creatures AU Vampire AU Coffee Shop AU A/B/O AU Monster AU (you can say what kind of monster you prefer) BDSM AU Host Club AU Grandline Metro AU (Quicksand, A Light Touch, Heart of Gold, Thrice Prophesized are set in this AU) Writer's Choice (spin that wheel!)

Pick 1 Prompt: Angst / Bad End Aphrodisiac - sex pollen, drugged food, struck by needle, devil fruit Bath/Shower/hotspring Body writing (icing, ink, blood, etc.) Caught in the Act Contractually Obligated Creature x Human Date / First date Dungeon Erotically charged fight Experienced w/virgin Forced Proximity - box, flight, cell, bondage, get-a-long shirt Friend’s hot older sibling Fuck or die Lazy morning sex Long-Term Established Relationship Only One Bed Outside Pliant When Horny Role-play Roughed Up Size Difference (I write this a lot, but I do love it.) Soft/Comfort Sugar daddy/mama The hat rule They were… coworkers/neighbors/etc. Trapped in a Room Trying Again (exes getting back together) Unresolved sexual tension Wounded Writer's Choice

***Requests will be accepted from 6/1 - 7/10 - and posted from 6/1 - 7/31***

Gifts are accepted from 6/1 until whenever \o/ Don't feel pressured to get them in by 7/20 🥰

[koalatysleep]

Kuwameshi: the 'undercover' love story in Yu Yu Hakusho

This Christmas season, I binged watched the entire Yu Yu Hakusho anime series on Netflix (I was hit with a strong yearning for more content after binge watching the live action), and Kuwameshi became my OTP even though I started off shipping Yusuke with Keiko.

I must say the anime is a remarkably progressive work of art given that it was created as a Shonen manga in the 90's. I love love love love the entire series!! Right off the bat, the series subverts gender tropes, heteronormative romance stereotypes, and the sleeping beauty fairytale with Yusuke in the position of sleeping beauty, Keiko in the role of Prince Charming who literally brings him back to life with a kiss, and Kuwabara as the real love interest and knight in shining armor who continually saves and inspires Yusuke throughout the series.

Instead of a sleeping beauty that passively waits to be saved, Yusuke is actively making choices that ultimately helps to save himself, by first deciding to return to life, then by taking on the emotional work of helping Kuwabara study for the test, and saving Keiko by sacrificing his spirit realm egg and his chance to return to life.

The fact that Keiko was saving Yusuke, while Yusuke was saving both Keiko (from the fire) and Kuwabara (from the evil machinations of that despicable teacher), and Kuwabara was also saving Keiko (from thugs and then the fire) and Yusuke (by being one of the reasons Yusuke was moved to choose life over death and then from the fire) was an extremely refreshing change from the stereotypical heteronormative romance where the male character is doing all the saving, while the female love interest is just a passive character without much agency or ability to contribute, and no other character seems to have much of an impact on the romantic pair. Here we have 3 fiercely independent characters who are all actively helping themselves while saving each other in a holy trifecta of character development goodness.

When Yusuke's body was in danger in the burning house, I love the scene where Keiko shook off the bystanders holding her back with a fierce determination that we come to associate with Yusuke in life-or-death fights, sprang into quick-thinking action by dumping a bucket of water over herself, and ran headlong into the fire and mortal peril, all to save Yusuke.

Yusuke and Keiko would have been my ride or die OTP if the series had continued developing her character and the story along these lines, but even during this arc of reviving Yusuke where the main focus was on Yusuke and Keiko as a romantic pair, the seeds for Kuwabara as Yusuke's 'undercover' love interest are already being planted.

In fact, Togashi's authorial intent for Yusuke and Kuwabara as the central love story in the entire YYH series can be seen in their name designs itself!

Yusuke is written in 2 characters - the 1st character means Spirit/Soul, and the 2nd character means Assistance/Help.

Kazuma means True Harmony. So put together, Yusuke and Kazuma means Souls in True Harmony who help each other. And isn't that the very essence of our heroes right there? ❤️🌈

It's only after Yusuke possesses Kuwabara's body in Episode 2 that he got the help he needed to clearly communicate to Keiko to save his body from cremation. When you watch the episode, Yusuke and Kuwabara literally spoke with their 2 voices overlapping as one in multiple scenes! It's especially obvious in the sunset scene when they finally get to tell Keiko to save Yusuke. Yusuke and Kuwabara are literally Two Souls in One Body!

This symbolizes how Kuwabara truly desires for Yusuke to return to life, as much as Yusuke himself, and foreshadows how Kuwabara goes on to stand with Yusuke as One Soul in Two Bodies throughout the rest of the series. I haven't even meta-screamed about the homoerotic subtext of Yusuke possessing Kuwabara's body! 🤣🤣🤣

We further see how Kuwabara is in True Harmony with Yusuke when Kuwa takes it upon himself to look out for Keiko on Yusuke's behalf when he thought Yusuke was permanently dead! Kuwa literally stepped in on spirit Yusuke's behalf to beat off the thugs bothering Keiko, and then puts his own life at risk to save Keiko from the house fire!

No one asked or expected Kuwa to do this, he looks out for Keiko simply because he knows how important Keiko was to Yusuke, and taking care of the people Yusuke loved is how Kuwa keeps a piece of Yusuke alive! Like, it boggles my mind how deeply Kuwa loves & values Yusuke to the extent that people important to Yusuke is by default important to Kuwa even after Yusuke's death! 🥹🥹🥹 If this isn't True Love (True Harmony), what is? Like, I know real-life married couples who do less for each other! I've meta-ed screamed a bit more about how truly, madly, deeply Kuwa is in love with Yusuke even before canon began, link to that other meta is at the end of this one!

And then of course we have the all-important Episode 3 where Botan literally tells us Yusuke and Kuwabara are so emotionally in sync (True Harmony) with each other that Kuwabara can sense Yusuke's feelings even though Yusuke is a spirit! Their connection even this early on literally transcends the boundaries between life and death! And it's only when spirit Yusuke started following Kuwabara around that Yusuke grew as a person, by learning about Okubo's family situation and deciding to help. This is a large reason why Puu's egg absorbed good energy to develop into lovable goofy Puu!

Yusuke is so moved by Kuwabara's honorable character and determination to help Okubo, that we see Yusuke doing the stereotypically 'female' emotional work of helping Kuwabara study for the test even though Yusuke himself hates studying. It's actually such a huge thing that Yusuke not only does this on his own free will without anyone nagging him into it, he actually looks like he's enjoying helping Kuwabara study! Yusuke has such massive character growth just by helping Kuwa! Look at how happy Yusuke looks! I just love how Kuwa is such a positive influence on Yusuke, because Kuwa inspires and emotionally resonates with Yusuke so deeply! Compare this to how Keiko wasn't able to get Yusuke to study despite all her nagging (which actually inadvertently makes Yusuke feel worse about himself, link to another meta post about this at the end of this one), and you see how Kuwa is Yusuke's True Love Interest who's in True Harmony with Yusuke!

And of coz, Their entire study dream-date is so romantic!! The way Yusuke's hand lingers on Kuwabara's shoulder when he first finds Kuwabara asleep over his desk, and the way this shot (Yusuke's gaze) lingers on Kuwabara's bruised and exhausted face clue us into Yusuke's burgeoning romantic feelings for Kuwabara!

The romantic coding of this scene is further confirmed through the soft lighting, the tender background music, Kuwabara's romantic candy colored galaxy in his dreamscape, and how soft and tender Yusuke's voice is when he whispers to Kuwabara back in Kuwa's bedroom. When morning dawns, the romantic background music segues into a scene of two lovebirds on a branch accompanied by birdsong, and this becomes our visual & audio analogy for Kuwameshi romance later throughout the series!

I personally think it's not a coincidence that Yusuke was carrying Puu's egg on him when he possessed Kuwabara's body and when he followed Kuwabara around as a spirit, and that the egg developed into a bird creature Puu who later becomes a majestic phoenix, but you'll have to read my fic The Good Fight to see what I mean! 😜

Then we get the laugh-out-loud hilarity of Yusuke possessing the body of the knocked-out-girl to beat off the thugs who were about to waylay Kuwabara on his way to the test 🤣🤣🤣! i roll on the floor with laughter every time! Apart from the sheer comedic genius, we also see that Yusuke did not hesitate to literally 'become' a girl to help Kuwabara! We see how emotionally invested Yusuke is in Kuwabara's success, because Yusuke is moved by Kuwabara's heart and grit!

I mean honestly this whole episode of Yusuke doing the 'female emotional work' of supporting Kuwabara is really amazing. I would have loved more episodes like this throughout the series where we get to see more of Yusuke developing his emotional muscle without any life-or-death fights!

Immediately after the revival arc is done, the story goes on to subvert heteronormative expectations even further - one of the first things Yusuke does after coming back to life is to save Kuwabara's cat in a really really sweet gesture. Yusuke punching the lights out of the thug holding the cat hostage, and then turning around in slow motion to reveal his identity is a typical hero's entrance when they save their love interest. The way that Yusuke cradles Kuwabara's cat with such gentleness and care while kicking the living shit out of the thug who had grabbed Kuwabara around the waist, and then returning the cat to Kuwabara in the midst of fighting is seriously swoon worthy !

I mean, if Yusuke had done this for a female character or even a 'good-looking' male character, it would have been universally interpreted as a clear romantic narrative, but because Kuwabara is not female and also not conventionally 'good looking', this flies under the radar, which is how the story can clearly depict Kuwabara as Yusuke's romantic love interest from here on out without anyone being the wiser.

I mean!! Throughout the rest of the series, Kuwa-chan literally spurs Yusuke on to greater heights than Yusuke would have attained himself, because Yusuke cares so deeply about what Kuwabara thinks about him, and living up to Kuwabara's faith in him! This is Yusuke we're talking about, he doesn't give a shit what others think if he doesn't respect them, so the fact that he wants Kuwabara to think highly of him speaks volumes about how highly he admires, values and respects Kuwabara in return!

During Genkai's succession arc, our heroes were literally on an Arcade Date!! Look at our boys putting their best selves forward to impress each other! 🤩😆 The way they're drawn so beautifully in such heroic frames tells us just how much they want to impress each other! If this isn't courting behavior, what is?

Look at how impressed Yusuke is at Kuwabara's high score in the punching game, and how he pretends otherwise! 😆

OMG they way they totally ignored all the onlookers as they gleefully try to outdo each other and show off for each other is SO CUTE!!!!!

I personally think Yusuke was in such a bad mood with the bat demon coz Yusuke was in a hurry to get back to Kuwabara! When he finally made it there and explained what took so long, his eyes were on Kuwabara the entire time!!! And look at how Yusuke is peacocking in front of Kuwabara when he explains how he's faster than the bat demon! 🤣

It's also because Kuwabara asked Genkai to wait that Yusuke was selected despite exceeding the time. Kuwa had zero doubt that Yusuke would make it! His belief in Yusuke is absolute! The scene where the boys forgot themselves and hugged each other in their excitement is chef's kiss! Look at Yusuke throwing himself bodily at Kuwabara! OMG I just love how Kuwabara makes Yusuke forget all about pretending not to care or appearing aloof (which is part of Yusuke's emotional armor) and brings out Yusuke's True Self!

Yusuke had so much fun with Kuwabara, he literally forgot all about his mission to find Rando, to the extent that even Koenma remarked on this! 🤣

Seriously the anime puts so much effort into the little details like these unconscious body language tells and non-verbal cues, it's really amazing!!! When Yusuke later tried to get Kuwabara to retire the fight against Rando to protect Kuwabara, Yusuke (who was still shocky from his fights) literally pulled Kuwabara close with a hand on Kuwabara's chest and another nearly on Kuwabara's neck! These are not platonic personal space boundaries, it's Yusuke's unconscious body language cluing us into his romantic feelings for Kuwabara! Look at how close Yusuke is to Kuwabara!

During the fight with Rando, it's also because Yusuke was so emotionally impacted by Kuwabara's serious injuries that Yusuke was able to tap into a new level of power! I was honestly surprised by this when I first watched the anime before I clued into the Kuwameshi subtext, given how cool and collected Yusuke was when Hiei almost turned Keiko into a demon!

And the unconscious Kuwabara was still cheering Yusuke on! When Yusuke was on the verge of being eaten alive by the demonic fish, Kuwabara's spirit even left his body to go save Yusuke, and Kuwabara knew just the right words to say to Yusuke to spur him on! Souls in True Harmony who help each other!

Cheering on the male character in spirit is literally what female love interests do in anime, and it's usually a one-sided depiction of the female shouting the male character's name in a paroxysm of emotion without the male character actually hearing or interacting with her, so this trope is again nicely subverted here coz Kuwabara is literally a spirit who can have two-way dialogue with Yusuke, and he's obviously a badass himself, which is why he can reach Yusuke as a spirit to begin with. Genkai approves!

As the series progress, we see more of Yusuke and Kuwabara's body language cluing us into their romantic feelings for each other. During their chocolate shake date, they were mirror images of each other when Keiko crashed their conversation and Yusuke covers up what they're really talking about with the movie excuse. When Yusuke was making his excuses to run out on Keiko, he again places his hand on Kuwabara's chest when he asks Kuwabara to come with him, then Yusuke pulls him along by the wrist 😍😍❤️❤️.

You can see in all these interactions that Kuwabara's attention is on Yusuke almost all the time, especially when Botan's explaining the 4 saints beast situation to them! Kuwa literally did not take his eyes off Yusuke even though Botan's the one speaking! This is despite Kuwabara supposedly having a 'crush' on Botan, but we will have to leave the explanation for this for another meta! ;P

I digress! To me, Yusuke running out on Keiko with Kuwabara and forgetting he left Keiko at the movie theatre clearly signals authorial intent to focus on Kuwabara and Yusuke's relationship, rather than Keiko and Yusuke's. At the end of the 4 saint beasts arc when Yusuke exhausted his lifeforce to defeat Suzaku, it was Kuwabara who brought Yusuke back to life by transferring his remaining life-force to Yusuke despite knowing this is akin to suicide, similar to how Keiko saved Yusuke from the fire despite mortal peril to herself at the start of the series. This time, Yusuke wakes up in Kuwabara's bed after Kuwabara has taken care of Yusuke for 3 days, to the sound of birdsong!!!! And from here on out, Keiko is relegated to a side character without further character development of her own or much contribution to Yusuke's personal growth.

When Toguro wanted to devastate Yusuke into unlocking his true power by killing someone Yusuke loves, he chose Kuwabara above all others, even though Keiko was in the audience. It's very telling that Toguro tried to kill Yusuke's metaphorical heart by ripping out Kuwabara's actual heart!! Kuwabara is Yusuke's heart! The subtext is main text!

Kuwabara chose to meet his death courageously even though he knew he had no chance of surviving, showing Yusuke once again the difference between true strength vs just power. The intensity of Yusuke's resulting grief and utter devastation at Kuwabara's death changed the very essence of Yusuke's reiki. The intensity of Yusuke's emotions is the reason why Yusuke rejected Toguro's "power above all else" motto, it's the reason why Yusuke understood the difference between true strength vs just power.

Some things can only be learnt through experience, and Genkai knew this was a hard lesson Yusuke needed to experience for himself before he could learn the difference. (She also knew Toguro still had some shreds of goodness deep down and wouldn't kill Kuwabara straight out).

Yusuke himself said he used to secretly admire and aspire to Toguro's power even as he was scared shitless, before Yusuke's eyes were opened to the immeasurable worth and value of love and friendship, the things that Toguro gave up in his blind pursuit of power. Yusuke lost his fear of Toguro after that, he stopped admiring Toguro after that, he pitied Toguro instead. Yusuke was able to gain this emotional maturity through the grief & devastation of losing Kuwabara. And because of that, he was able to defeat Toguro. Talk about the Power of Love! Kuwabara really is the Warrior of Love! Even when he's not physically fighting, he inspires Yusuke to new levels of both emotional maturity and physical strength through Love.

I mean honestly, at this point in the story, Kuwabara had clearly taken center stage as the love interest for Yusuke, one who actively plays a role in Yusuke's personal growth and emotional motivation, one who is strong enough that Yusuke can be honest about his spirit realm duties and his full self with.

It's a bit of a shame that the story didn't develop Keiko into a more interesting kickass female character like Botan, who's independent and capable of taking care of herself, and whose contributions to the story is not just restricted to that of a romantic love interest. It would have been nice to see Keiko realizing that she and Yusuke are better suited to be found family and lifelong friends rather than romantic partners. It's a pity especially since Keiko got off to such a strong start by saving Yusuke so courageously from the fire. After this point however, the story relegated Keiko to the stereotypical female 'love interest' who's just passively waiting on the sidelines for Yusuke to return.

But given that Yukina is also a similar stereotypical female 'love interest' for Kuwabara, one who's written out of the narrative almost as soon as she's introduced, and thus I also don't find Kuwabara and Yukina convincing as a romantic couple, I wonder whether the author deliberately chose to under-develop Keiko and Yukina's characters and to protray them as rather helpless, one-note and bland, in order to highlight the real love story he's trying to tell between Yusuke and Kuwabara. (Togashi even said in a Q+A that his least favorite character is Keiko, coz she's a typical manga character.)

If I were trying to tell a non-heteronormative love story aimed at teens in conservative 90's Japan, hiding Kuwabara and Yusuke's love story in plain sight, under the cover of them both having female 'love interests' is probably one of the ways to do it while still getting published in Shonen Jump.

It's clearly contrasting Kuwabara and Yusuke's extremely compelling romantic subtext with the very bland and unconvincing heteronormative pairings. It leaves it up to the audience to notice for themselves which pairings they find more compelling to root for, and perhaps in so doing, the story subverts a conservative audience into unknowingly supporting a non-heteronormative couple of Yusuke and Kuwabara 🤣

Togashi also said in his letter to fans that he ended the manga for three reasons, one of which is that he has exhausted the character directions he can explore within the publication bounds of Shonen Jump.

I wonder whether a sexual romantic relationship between Yusuke and Kuwabara (the sex is hinted at in this bonus canon content) is one of the directions Togashi couldn't explore within the publication bounds of Shonen Jump 🤣. (But that's okay Togashi, thank you so much for giving us the rich Kuwameshi subtext in canon, we'll take it from here to explore these directions for you 🤣🤣).

When I first read part of the manga casually as a kid, all the subtext flew right over my head of coz, but now when I watch it as an adult who understands just how much queer love stories were not allowed any expressions in the 90's, I really love Kuwabara and Yusuke as each other's true love interest.

The development of their relationship can also be read as a natural progression of their characters growing closer together than Yusuke and Keiko can, due to Yusuke having to keep Keiko in the dark about spirit realm activities to protect her from it, and Keiko just being so different from Yusuke that she inadvertently makes Yusuke feel worse about himself. This is apparent in Episode 1 itself, when Keiko inadvertently triggers Yusuke's self-worth issues when she berated Yusuke quite thoroughly to apply himself to school - she immediately assumed he must have done something wrong for Takenaka-sensei to be looking for him (when actually Takenaka just wanted to proactively counsel Yusuke!) and she outright says if he doesn't go soon he'll drag her down and she'll get a scolding as the class monitor as well. This is when Yusuke flips her skirt, not because he is romantically interested in her or is pervy, but because he just wants to stop her words which were quite hurtful for him coz it confirms all his worst fears about himself!

Keiko also can't understand why Yusuke enjoys challenging good fights, whereas Kuwabara can and in fact enjoys those fights himself. So perhaps Keiko and Yusuke drifting apart as a romantic pairing once the revival arc is done is also a natural state of things.

In any case, by the time the dark tournament is over in episode 67, it's Kuwabara that Yusuke seeks out for an early lunch at school, it's Kuwabara who Yusuke riles up by poking him in the ass 🤣🤣, similar to how Yusuke used to flip Keiko's skirt, except Yusuke's jabbing Kuwabara in the ass when he's in a good mood and wants an excuse to be close to Kuwabara! I haven't even screamed about the HILARIOUS homoerotic subtext of Yusuke jabbing Kuwabara in the ass just as Kuwabara's thinking about becoming "a real man" for Yukina! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Look at our boys taking the opportunity to physically be as close as they secretly want to be with each other, under the guise of rough-housing and bickering! Yusuke's full-on hugging Kuwabara in the second frame, and he's got his leg over Kuwabara's shoulder in the third!! 😍😍❤️❤️Once again they totally ignore their audience and focus just on each other, to the extent they didn't even realize the class bell had run and Takenaka-sensei and the entire class is looking at them! 🤣

This scene of Yusuke seeking out Kuwabara for lunch in a good mood and needling him for food is SO CUTE and so sweet! Coz it's Yusuke's way of asking for Kuwabara's attention. It's Yusuke's way of saying he wants to spend time with Kuwabara, he wants Kuwabara to be the one to take care of him (by feeding him), and when Kuwabara reacts with outrage instead (coz he is still in denial about his feelings for Yusuke at this point), Yusuke immediately reacts with hurt defensiveness. Even so, they still have such a great time with each other! It's very relatable and very sweet! Haven't you ever just riled up your crush and teased them mercilessly coz you wanted the excuse to be close to them? I also love that Yusuke is actively seeking out Kuwabara to do normal mundane things like eat lunch together, he must have realized at some subconcious level that Kuwa-chan is his OTP!

We even get Kuwabara's friends and Botan wondering whether Kuwabara and Yusuke were a bickering married couple in a previous life, so the subtext is more or less already the main text by this point.

Then we see Kuwabara catching up with Yusuke after school and Yusuke sharing his feelings of ennui with Kuwabara, who brought Yusuke right out of it with ease 🤣🤣 it's these seemingly little things like Yusuke opening up about his feelings to Kuwabara, Kuwabara keeping Yusuke grounded, and Kuwabara talking about his loss of reiki with total ease with Yusuke and being worried that Yusuke was going through the same that shows the deep emotional connection and deep trust between these two.

Of course, then Yusuke gets abducted and we see Puu flying straight to Kuwabara for help, so again the story subverts the typical heteronormative romance by having both Kuwabara and Yusuke continually inspire, save and rely on each other as true equals in their partnership. No one is the wilting flower, no one is just passively waiting to be saved, and both are simultaneously both the protector and the protectee. Just as Genkai told Yusuke to never forget why he became strong and who he became strong for, they are truly the main reason why the other became so strong!

Speaking of abduction, the tables gets turned later on when Kuwabara is the one who gets abducted and Yusuke goes after Sensui on a bicycle(🤣🤣!) like a man possessed. I mean seriously, even before I clued into Kuwameshi, I thought Yusuke looks like a man who's singlemindedly saving the love of his life! And then of course, Kuwabara experiences the devastation of Yusuke's death, similar to how Yusuke experienced the devastation of Kuwabara's death during the dark tournament, and we get that precious glimpse into Kuwabara's feelings for Yusuke all along! It was never about winning Yusuke in fights, all his challenges were just an excuse to be with Yusuke! His heart gets so excited when he's with Yusuke! He was over the moon when Yusuke called him by name the first time! He did it all - Genkai's succession trials, Rando fight, Byakko fight, yukina rescue mission, Dark Tournament, facing down Toguro - all of it, for Yusuke!!!! Screams! Can it get more romantic than that?!? This not only reveals Kuwabara's heart, it also reveals authorial intent for the Kuwameshi love story from the beginning!

And then of course Kuwabara chooses to avenge Yusuke even if it means his own death and the destruction of the entire human realm! Kuwabara, the warrier for love, truth and justice, protector of the weak, literally chose to burn down the whole world to avenge Yusuke, and follow Yusuke into death! That's how much Yusuke means to Kuwabara! The entire world literally means nothing to Kuwabara if Yusuke isn't there! So for me, I fully believe Yusuke and Kuwabara are the real love story here!

If you love the delicious Kuwameshi subtext as much as me, come scream about it with me in my Kuwameshi meta series on AO3, and my Kuwameshi Alternate Canon Fic The Good Fight on AO3! Most chapters have End Notes with more meta about canon that inspired that chapter! There's just way too much meta to put all into one post here!

If you'd like to read more meta on when Kuwabara fell in love with Yusuke, here's one you may enjoy!

If you'd like to read meta on when Yusuke fell in love with Kuwabara, here's one!

[anime-chick]

YYH live action reaction from a kurahi perspective (spoilers ahead):

first, lower your expectations. second, understand this is not the anime and this is not the manga and there are only five episodes.

once you've done steps one and two -

they don't have many scenes together where they aren't fighting

we got to see them steal the artifacts - which i LOVE

kurama still sneaks up on hiei in the warehouse hiei is holed up in

hiei picks up his sword, but once he realizes it's kurama he puts it back down

the fact that kurama knows about yukina means hiei must have told him - so there's definitely a base line of trust between them

kurama actively trying to get hiei to NOT fight yusuke by trying to bargain with him, trading the shadow sword for information about yukina

the fact that kurama is searching for yukina at all

yusuke and hiei fight! and kurama breaks it up - this time without stepping in front of hiei's sword and getting stabbed, he slaps his whip in between them, reminded me of someone rolling up a newspaper and chiding 'no! stop it!'

kurama telling yusuke and kuwabara 'hiei is worried too. bear with him.' after hiei runs off to find yukina

hiei and kurama running into each other after their fights with bui and karasu, hiei immediately telling kurama he looks rough, kurama snapping back with 'i can't imagine you'll be able to use your right arm' causing hiei to puff out his chest and essentially say 'im fine' <-their classic dynamic, it made me so happy, kurama really saying 'you look like shit too, babe'

SAD NOTE: hiei does not get to see kurama in his youko form, so sadly, no horny hiei T_T

kurama pulling hiei away from toguro with his whip

after the toguro fight, kurama comes over to hiei and they share quite a few long looks where hiei hands the shadow sword to kurama (to give to koenma/yusuke) and then MORE SHARED LOOKS (kurama looked quite fond of hiei/just plain old happy with him)

hiei telling kuwabara off for talking to yukina and kurama quickly steps in between kuwabara and hiei, telling kuwabara to ignore him

overall -

at first, i was worried that we wouldn't get ANY scenes with kurama and hiei and then after the third episode on, we got quite a few.

kurama definitely plays the buffer for hiei and everyone. and hiei definitely tolerates kurama the most out of everyone.

so! i'm pretty happy with what we got.

i didn't expect much, but there were a few really lovely interactions and i really appreciated how proactive kurama was with finding yukina and seeming to care that hiei was not put in the same position as gouki with fighting yusuke/being in opposition with the spirit realm. and on the flip side, hiei definitely shows more respect for kurama's opinion and does indeed trust him (enough to even stop fighting yusuke and listen to kurama and take what kurama has to say as fact).

if you love the dynamic of kurama being the guy who has to keep apologizing for his boyfriend, you're gonna love it~

[monebula-art]

SPOILER MENTION FOR YYH LIVE ACTION

Positivity post about the new live action but it does contain some spoiler mentions as I rant 💜

Okay listen— I understand the Yyh live action felt a little speed-run and rushed. I understand that certain comedic and character build moments were lost because of it. But imagine you’re the you of 20 Years ago, and you’re watching this for the first time.

I cried during the scene with Keiko and Atsuko— I cried when Yusuke is holding the beam to save Keiko.

I loved how they added Keiko INTO the story as an actual motivation and element of Yusuke’s moral compass. I loved that Kuwabara became involved and interested in Yusuke’s life after his return and I love how they became friends who did things together! I loved his enthusiasm and worry for Yusuke and insistence upon being his rival.

I loved Kurama’s cool and collected acting, but how his care was so obviously simmering beneath the surface of his calm. It’s exactly what I’d expect of Kurama.

Hiei was, as a Hiei lover? Perfect, I didn’t like him quite at first but then he SPOKE and I was hooked. His voice and brutal style of fighting but EVERYTHING he does is for the sake of his sister and his concern for her— and eventually his concern for the other team members as well. I know we didn’t get as many comedic moments as was experienced in a 56 episode 2 season of series like in the original but that’s kinda to be expected? And we got a lot!

Honestly Yusuke’s flying kick at Kuwabara made me choke on my drink, the fight with Gouki was kinda amusing though I did miss the ‘Of course I heard you I’m just stupid’ line.

I enjoyed the banter between Yusuke and Kuwabara and I loved how Kuwabara’s concern for his friends and feeling in adequate in protecting them was his driving force!

The entire training montage with Genkai was AMAZING and fighting her was so funny she was running this boy in circles and I was living for it. God what a legend.

The scenes at the end on the boat where Hiei strolls up and tells Kuwabara to stop talking to Yukina, Kurama getting in between them felt so FAMILIAR and good!

The scene where Toguro comes to her is different and yet so very much the same as in the anime. The dialogue is exactly the same but delivered in this quiet and intimidating and intimate setting. I know we lost out on a lot of the context for it so the scene at the end where they part ways isn’t as impactful— I get that. But we the FANS know the context, so I was absolutely enthralled and bawling at how beautiful it was.

Hiei’s scene with Yukina!!!! I didn’t think they would do me like that but they DID and I was SCREAMING we were SO CLOSE.

Ugh. I loved it. Was it ‘perfect’ as in a perfect 1-1 adaptation? No. Some emotional elements were lacking because of the rush. I’ll admit that.

But was it perfect? Made me happy, perfectly nostalgic as a 20 year fangirl of this series??? Abso FUCKING lutely.

[animeglitch]

[velvetvexations]

You’re so cool AND you love yuyu hakusho…do you have a favorite character/arc?

Kurama, Dark Tournament arc.

Kurama is so fucking awesome. I love his characterization as someone who would prefer to live a normal human life and make his human mom happy, so he refuses to fuck around and if you fight him RIP because he's going to kill you as quickly and efficiently as possible. That's groundbreaking for a shonen series where every other protagonist is defined by a love of battle as an activity. Kurama is extremely good at what he does and would rather not have to get his hands dirty, but if you make him, you're going to regret it.

I think this is highlighted more in the English dub of the anime, which is one of many reasons I think it's the best version of YYH. For instance, this is how Roto's death goes in the sub, which is more accurate to the manga:

In the dub, the dialogue goes:

KURAMA: I'm afraid there won't be anything left of your evil life after that. ROTO: I'm just a low-class! I don't know any better! You believe in mercy, don't you? KURAMA: No.

That's way colder, and emphasizes that Kurama isn't just a typical heroic sadist, that his connection to humanity is genuine but he's willing to turn on the demon shit to protect that connection and specifically for that reason.

As for why I love the Dark Tournament arc specifically...man, all of it pops off.

You have a solid cap on Yusuke's growth from a juvenile delinquent to real Spirit Detective. Boy goes through the wringer this arc, physically and mentally, but every time he gets over one trial you can really feel how he's grown from it.

You have a ton of character development and spotlights for the other three, with all of them winning important battles and contributing to each round. My other primary shounen fandom having the entire supporting cast stuck in the Wait For Goku grind, this was mind-blowing in comparison. This is still one of the hardest issues for any media centered around fights like this, how do you get the supporting cast in there earning their keep? The Dark Tournament does it perfectly, and it never feels like Yusuke is above them simply for being the protagonist. Like, yes, he undeniably is the strongest of them, but you really do believe there's at least a small chance Hiei really could have taken on Toguro because the gulf between them is not nearly as massive as it is between the protagonist and his friends in other shows. Even Yusuke, in the end, only just barely defeated him after being pushed to his limits.

But not just the fighters, no, you have Keiko's relationship with Yusuke simmering, you have Koenma displaying real character for the first time as he worries about the stakes and just what Sayako could be up to, even Kuwabara's sister for some reason has a half-romance with the main villain and it's somehow compelling?

And oh my God, the villains! The fighters on every team is delightful, all of them fill their precise roles perfectly and do an amazing job being both memorable and serving a function in the story, especially in prodding the heroes further along their character arcs. Team Toguro is especially great as the climax, a full team of all bangers. Elder Toguro is a fucking freak. Bui is a little flat, but does well as a giant beat-stick to go down to Hiei and prove that he's the second strongest of the heroes in an absolutely amazing fight that takes everything out of him. And oh my fucking God, Karasu. Obviously as a Kurama fan I'm all fucking over that fight. Sayako serves as the perfect antagonist behind the scenes, smug and casual, with a hint of authenticity to his weird aura that makes you want to have drinks with him even as he describes he took to enjoying cruelty for it's own sake out of boredom with his perfect life.

But Younger Toguro takes the cake. So few shounen villains are as complex or interesting while still being so intimidating and monstrous. His relationship with Genkai is something else. His final scene with her is heartbreaking.

GENKAI: Don't ever feel regret for the things between us. TOGURO: No, Genkai. But it would have been a beautiful life.

In comparison, the earlier arcs lack all that bang, and while the following arcs match more in scale, I have a lot more issues with them. Here's some of what I wrote about Chapter Black when I was rewatching the series last, which I do every year or two:

Like, the majority of Chapter Black makes no fucking sense because you can tell how hard it’s trying to be JoJo (which is obviously something I’ve only come to understand in retrospect) with Territories, but like, the mind-reader has zero powers beyond mind-reading! The fact that he can read minds and aspires to be a dirty boxer should mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to Yusuke, who punches hard enough to throw people through solid rock and create craters, and fast enough that he can’t be tracked by human eyes. JoJo works because it’s characters are normal humans with highly specific superpowers that have to work within the confines of only having those superpowers. You can’t just move DBZ-tier characters into that sort of context fighting enemies who are specifically noted as being completely normal humans outside of their specialized abilities.

Another thing I’ll criticize Chapter Black for along with it’s weird inconsistency with power levels is that it doesn’t really make any sense to suddenly make a big deal about how it would be so terrible if Yusuke killed a human who was currently trying to like, murder an entire hospital full of people who could only be saved by his dying. It’s a cop out that Yusuke stops his heart only for Genkai to start it again being all like “you don’t need to have murder on your conscious” but also a completely unnecessary cop out because they’ve been merc'ing demons left and right all show up to this point, who by now everyone should be well aware are thinking living sentient beings who often even look identical to humans. It’s also a strange inconsistency to show up here of all arcs considering the whole point of it is that humans and demons are equally bad and good, but all the way to the very end you have Yusuke suddenly fighting to not kill Sensui for no other discernable reason than his humanity.

Aside from poor Gourmet, the other psychics in Chapter Black, even the attempted mass murderer Doctor, get cozy endings where they learn to let go of their maladaptive hatred of other humans, except for Sniper whose last word is that he’s going to hunt a group of animal abusers for sport with the narrator noting he disappeared after high school. There’s something kinna hilarious about that. Everyone else chills out per the overarching message of the arc but it’s fine and cool for Sniper to be Japanese Punisher, I guess. Which I’m not criticizing in and of itself, more power to him, but it’s INCONGRUENT with the MESSAGING.

And then one of the only things I said about Three Kings was:

Absolutely the correct choice to give Koto’s reintroduction so much pizazz. The path Three Kings ultimately takes is “you liked the Dark Tournament, right? the Dark Tournament was great, we’re going to do the Dark Tournament again”, and lemme tell you Velvet Nation, I’m totally fine with that because the Dark Tournament WAS great.

But that doesn't mean there aren't a lot of things to love about those other arcs! As a Kurama fan I especially can't let it go without mention that the conflict with Gamemaster, and the way he takes his anger and sorrow out on Elder Toguro immediately after, not to mention the reveal of Elder Toguro being there in the first place, is a 10/10 no notes series of scenes. I also had this high praise for the penultimate fight in Chapter Black:

The fight against Sensui is, IIRC, the only time YYH has a “wait for Yusuke” fight and it works perfectly. Unlike in Dragon Ball Z where literally anyone else doing anything is just a complete waste of time, the supporting cast of YYH are regularly accomplishing things and winning meaningful fights the whole time, so it earns a sequence where Yusuke seems to have really died for real, even if the audience knows he’ll be back up sooner than later, and the others try to continue on without him only to get bodied even coming at the BBEG three on one. It’s also unlike DBZ in that the others fighting Sensui is a curb stomp from start to finish, instead of it being treated like something that matters only to turn out to have been pointless the whole time by the end. Even the legendary Hellzone Grenade concludes with 17 no selling it with zero problem despite the build up. The fight with Sensui is just short and sweet enough to serve as the Worf Effect but also long enough to give the secondary heroes their due in the effort their putting in to substitute for the temporarily fallen protagonist.

The Dark Tournament is just the GOAT, you know?

[jilted-love]

I hate YYH English dub so much. Not because I don't respect the voice actors, I think they are good. But English removed how emotional Hiei and Kurama were while they watched Yusuke die in Chapter Black arc. Kuwabara was obviously emotional either way. But JP ver talked about Yusuke more urgently.

Hiei in Japanese: "If I'm going to die anyway, I'll fight and die. With him." (not specified with whom but considering the context, "aitsu" referred to Yusuke.)

Hiei in English: "If we're going to die, let us die in war. Against Sensui."

Kurama in Japanese: "I couldn't stand it if any of us four weren't here."

Kurama: "We've gone far passed the stage of fighting for our honor."

Hiei's dialogue in English is at least in character. The only confusing part is whether he's saying he wanted to fight "with him" or "against him" because depending on word choice, the "him" can be either Yusuke or Sensui and the English dub chose to mention Sensui. It didn't mention a name in Japanese and it makes more sense to wish to die with Yusuke if they can't save him. All of them were suicidal after Yusuke died. Their fight against Sensui wasn't survivable.

But Kurama! His English dialogue is just ugly. Fucking hell, it's so out of character that he is thinking about "honor" while Yusuke was being killed in front of them. No, Kurama was thinking that if even one of them four was dead, whether it was Yusuke or Kuwabara, he will be devastated. Kurama cannot afford to lose anyone of them. He was that desperate to protect everyone.

Yusuke's death scene in Chapter Black was so so important because the heightened emotions of his friends were the reason they reached A class power. Emotions run high in YYH and sometimes those emotions are desperate and ugly and not at all heroic or epic. Kurama most especially is not someone who cares about honor or poise while Yusuke was dying. He will sooner plan a kamikaze attack if it meant saving Yusuke that's why Itsuki didn't let them go.

I swear to Yusuke if you only watch this show in English or if you only watch at all without reading the manga and catching everything the anime changed, you're missing out! 😩

[cantsomeoneelsedoit]

Ch 61: Interest

Shen's desperate to bring down Feng even if he has to sacrifice himself to do it. Since Feng only responds to strength (and certainly not logic!) there's only one way to keep him in check!

And what's up with that bag at Shen's feet? Are those senzu beans? Shen is going to need a powerup if he's gonna defeat Feng!

Feng doesn't have a scratch on him after Andy's attack! He's gonna be trouble for our team of fighters. They'll either have to collaborate to chip away at him and wear him down or take him out in one catastrophic attack, because fighting him in a traditional sense is going to be a mistake.

Before I get too far into the chapter, I want to look at what I *believe* are *some* of the influences for the character of Feng. I certainly don't know Tozuka's mind, and I'm not trying to say that these are 100% intentional, but these are some other characters who remind me of Feng in interesting ways.

1. Tao Pai Pai

Tao Pai Pai (Mercenary Tao) debuted in Dragon Ball chapter 85 as a notorious assassin hired by the Red Ribbon Army to take out Goku. He's ruthless, greedy, arrogant, selfish, uses his braid as a weapon, and even kills someone with his tongue. He's also 291 years old, despite his middle-aged appearance. I don't think there's ever an explanation for how he lived so long. He's just a sage that way, I guess.

There's an anime filler scene where Tao Pai Pai even gets a black cloud like Feng's, though it doesn't last very long.

Tao Pai Pai was visually based on the villain from the Jackie Chan kung-fu movie Snake in the Eagle's Shadow. Take off the mustache, and you'd have someone who looks a bit like Feng (though Feng smiles a lot more than this guy).

But in the end, Tao Pai Pai proves to be a coward and doesn't have anywhere close to the grit, determination, and near-invincibility of Feng. He fights dirty, pretends to surrender, and generally acts like an arrogant dingus. Our Feng would run circles around this scrub. Still, there are parallels between them that I'll point out during his scenes.

2. Feng from The Iceman Cometh

The Iceman Cometh is a 1989 Hong Kong film that's kind of an isekai of its day. It has a villain named Feng who uses a time-travel device. The hero and the villain travel through time to 1989 Kowloon, where the bulk of the film takes place. Spoiler: Kowloon is Feng's last name in UU.

Though both the Feng in the movie and our Feng are excellent fighters, hate-sink villains and snarkers, the "Iceman" Feng is a much, MUCH, more evil character than the UU Feng, and that's saying a lot. You can see how bad he is because of his evil mustache.

3. Feng Wei from Tekken

I haven't played a fighting game in...decades, but I hear that Feng Wei is a hot-tempered Blood Knight who's obsessed with becoming the greatest fighter in the world. He fights in a different style than Feng's Bajiquan, though. As much as Tozuka loves referencing fighting games, I wouldn't be surprised if Feng Wei was an influence.

Honorable mentions:

Akuma/Gouki from Street Fighter, who's obsessed with fighting Ryu at his peak

Younger Toguro from YYH, who would go to great lengths to preserve his strength and youth

Anyway, the character of Feng is heavily based in the Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy who's always looking for a Worthy Opponent, and if he can't find one, he'll create one. He's neglected almost every other aspect of life in pursuit of power and satisfaction, and it seems he'll never be satisfied until he's killed by someone he deems worthy.

Shen and Feng are two different sides to the same coin-- a life dedicated to martial arts can take a dark or light path depending on the motivations of the user, which is a common theme in works about martial arts.

OK, with all that out of the way, let's continue the chapter!

Yeah, you can't just introduce a character like Feng and then not have Andy fight him! Slow down, Fuuko! We've gotta see Feng slug it out with Andy!

Well, that's certainly a strategy!

Feng's staff can transform into nunchucks to adapt to different kinds of fighting situations, just like a good martial artist. It's a versatile weapon that's well-suited to a quick-thinking fighter like Feng.

Being adaptable and able to shift styles and weapons is a major theme in a lot of Bruce Lee flicks, so it's no surprise to see Feng strike Lee's famous taunting pose on the next page.

Andy accepts the invitation so quickly that he steps out of his panel! He attacks with supercharged punches while Fuuko holds on for dear life! But Feng is still just standing there barely moving...

Despite the frenzy of his attack, Andy's thinking strategically about how to bring Feng down. He's not interested in prolonging the battle the way Feng is.

Feng fights with his hands behind his back the way Tao Pai Pai does.

His foot stomp is so powerful that it cracks the UMA's body, like the Earthquake Foot in Kengan Ashura or this scene from Kung Fu Hustle:

Andy is incapacitated by it, too! Shen is way too powerful!

Pretty rich for Feng to be calling someone else arrogant!

Ouch! Poor Andy! Using his wrist and elbow, Feng dislocates both of Andy's shoulders at once.

Feng's figured out Andy's rules before Andy had a chance to test Feng. Andy's strategy was to "keep dying" until he discovered the rules, but if Feng is only going to incapacitate him, then Andy won't be fighting at his full strength.

But but but it could cause osteoarthritis? Or ligament damage? And that could be deadly because... bone spurs? IDK, I'm grasping at straws here. I don't WANT Andy's power to have a loophole! But I suppose if someone has to discover a loophole, it should be Feng. I wonder if Juiz knows about this detail...

Andy attacks again, but Feng blocks with his forearm. Why can't Andy damage him???

Feng attacks with a double-palm strike:

Oh damn, Feng isn't depending on an ability! Everything we've seen has just been his natural fighting power! He looks genuinely surprised that Andy's still standing. Perhaps Andy is a worthy opponent?

Finally, we learn the name of Feng's style! By the way, if you're wondering about the Japanese names of Feng's moves, the UU English translator David Evelyn explained them here!

I would also like to mention Andy's sad shoulders. Utterly heartbreaking. I don't think we've ever seen him slouch like that before! He really looks incapacitated that way, and from Fuuko's expression, it's concerning her, too!

This page, though! I love this simple layout and how much it shows about the battle. Feng's lost his smile, but Andy's grinning now!

Andy's disinterest in being the strongest is curious. If he DID have that ambition, I'd imagine we'd see a lot more conflict between him and Victor. To Feng though, anyone who lacks that ambition is a coward.

Feng punches clean through Andy, likely attempting to take out Fuuko since he knows Andy can heal from something that catastrophic.

Feng taunts Andy for caring about something more than just his own strength and threatens to kill Fuuko in order to make Andy power up. Jeeze, this guy really has only one strategy to motivate people...

WHAT IF I KILL YOUR LOVED ONES?!? THEN WILL YOU BE STRONG?! THEN WILL I BE STRONGER THAN STRONG YOU?!

Best zombie.

"While I've got you here, let me tell you something..."

Feng, of course, has ignored the advantages of working in a team and fighting altruistically.

Shen's been missing for a minute! He comes back in style to stab Feng through Andy, much to Andy's surprise. Feng is delighted to see that Shen's emotion-powered attack was so strong! He's willing to do anything to fuel their rage. Can the Union work together to beat him without losing their cool?

Masterpost

[kosmicdream]

Ode to Togashi

Stream of conscientious incoherent rant about manga/hxh below, read at your own discretion as i AM NOT EDITING IT: 

While I’m still in the mood to talk about art and what i love about manga, i feel like i wanted to share (some) of my thoughts on why HXH continues to be one of my favorite stories. Togashi’s writing method continues to be probably like, the closest one that i aspire to replicate in my own work, partly because i love to see how much it builds and learns from itself, reinvents itself, ect. But i DONT think Hxh is perfect, even if i wouldn’t change anything about it or togashi’s writing style. 

When I first got into HXH, it was actually through the old anime. I watched that all the way thru before reading the manga, and when i was watching the anime it was during a period of time when i hated all shonen. I still kinda hate “the shonen” model, despite loving many shonen series, but something abt HXH pulled me in to give it a try and i was quickly hooked. I of course, already had experience with YYH growing up as a teen but i somehow missed HXH completely until my early 20s. I had already started trying comics by then, but it was EGGSHELLS and i had not started FFAK at that point.

HXH almost lost me at greed island my first round, ngl. I appreciate it now, andi still think the set up for Greed island was amazing but the arc itself.. I was not into it, mostly cause i think the villain for it was kinda lackluster and i didn’t really think the world of greed island had a strong design sense. There was interesting aspects, i enjoyed Bisque as a new character and she helped carry a LOT of the weight of that arc for me, but it was kind of a drag. IDK if it was also partly the adaptation for that arc, but i didn’t enjoy it much more in manga form either. It just went a bit faster. However, the end of that arc and the final fight was surprisingly brutal and enjoyable, which made me optimistic and helped me to continue. And then the chimera ant arc was the first arc i read ONLY manga first and i truly fell in love with it, obsessed even. That arc, as many readers already know, is probably like the closest thing to FFAK’s “Parent” for inspiration. Obviously, FFAK draws from a lot of things (Trigun is probably the 2nd strongest influence on FFAK) but it isn’t quite the same as HXH. As MUCH as i adore hunter x hunter part of me does cringe and laugh that like, in the end, a battle shonen manga still excited me that much but like.. As MUCH as i clearly love battle manga.. I am so over them. You know? Who cares. IMO. No matter how great it looks, i probably am never going to be more impressed (visually) with an action scene than the ones Yukito Kishiro drew. He did it, He won the action manga game to me. I have no idea what’s actually happening in Gunnm most of the time but as far as the visual spectacle of it all, it literally doesn't even make sense how good his action scenes look. (I could talk a lot about Gunnm too, but i’ll save that for another time IG) Like how the fuck does someone draw that good and it just made everything else by comparison just like, not.. Matter too much to me anymore. Which is great, because I can then look at other aspects for a work rather than just being drawn in by the visuals. And stuff. 

Where i’m at now.. I dont want to read another, even if its drawn well and .. the powers are SO powering or whatever. And i love to draw action scenes, they’re really hard and i still have so much more to go to learn about them. At best, I think im okay at them. But even when i work, i just get tired now so i cut them down a lot. Thats partly because i jsut dont have the time to draw fighting scenes. So i kind of feel embarrassed by a lot of them that ive made, i know I was lazy. Lazy in a way I’m not proud of the result, but im proud of the compromises to get the shit done. Which is the most important think in the end, to juggle your own expectations and limitations with the timeframe you have to get somewhere you need to go. I will still read more action/battle manga in the future.. But im in no rush. And im certain, for the most part, they arent going to teach me anything I don’t already know. They might entertain me and i might be like “..huh!” at a few things, but my expectation for them to do more than that is pretty low. I’m delighted when im wrong, but i cannot deny the apathy towards them is super deep. Togashi to me, is one those authors, that makes me really wake up and realize there’s still a lot of unexpected territory out there. 

He writes like an enthusiastic newbie, not a seasoned old timer that he is, who basically helped popularize the “tournament arc” and “dark edgy shonen” stuff with YYH. All his characters in HXH are geniuses, which is kind of a valid critique and can be annoying as hell too… Id say most readers dont really get how the hell nen works, yet somehow the story still functions so well in its character motivations/conflicts that it kinda doesn’t matter too much that.. It doesnt really make sense? We have to relearn what nen is basically every arc. Its not gonna stick. And yet im just so excited every time it updates and i really want to know what he wants to do with his new arc, if he is going to be able to do it. Nen to me is like a fake fantasy science that is tangible and real yet also you’re in a dream and you try to read the letters on a page, and you can read it but if you stare hard at it. The words are just blurs, or it doesn’t really connect. I like that there’s this malleable illusion that it functions in a way, that is concrete, but it isn’t really. But its enough that i can believe that for the characters, who are also not real, it is real for them. 

The fact that i can talk about “”””NeN””” like this to me is essentially why it becomes the perfect shonen to me because it takes itself so seriously, so genuinely, yet it also is nonsense but not in the way where its like.. Irony poisoned, “gotcha” twists? Im sick of all these subverting shonens that arent subverting anything. Or even just the attitude that is what makes a good shonen these days is to subvert, diminish, laugh, ect at shonen while completely stepping inside the same footprints again and again. So much manga just wants to be dragon ball, but dragon ball was good cuz it was just a fun, well drawn action manga that wasn’t trying to BE dragonball. It was just dragon ball. (maybe now its trying to be dragon ball, which is why i dont care about whatever sequel attempt we’re at now, but that’s another story.) Its fun to me that i dont know if Gon is gonna come back in Hxh. like, maybe he will and his powers will be restored ect.. But at the time of writing this, and for YEARS we just.. Have the main pals of the manga separated. Their friendship has changed. There’s a great shift in it. Gon met his dad, who sucks, but that kind of was his main quest. Sure, we have kurapika’s arc, and many other routes to go - but in a weird way HXH is done and it isn’t done at the same time. I’m just like, what are we going to do now. TOGASHI said flat earth real and was like, the other half of it is UNEXPLORED AND SO DARN DANGEROUS and theres SOM BIGGGGG DINOSAURS THERE and it just feels so gleefully like.. You’re on the swingset and some kid just keeps having to up the stakes but in the most kid-like way possible. For serious. But Togashi’s 58. But he’s right too, the dark continent IS so cool.. I just imagine leorio going there and getting so sick and shitting mutant diahrea and dying the SECOND he sets foot there and its awesome. That’s NOT what’s going to happen but im delighted at the opportunity.

This is the point where I’m writing something when i take a pause and wonder how the hell i got here. I have skimmed the above written text. Whatever point i think i was going to make, wasn’t made, but i expressed.. good feelings here. This is how i write. I typed all of that in about 15 minutes with no idea where it was gonna go. Part of the process now would be to go back, organize, edit, ect. To *TRY* to make it a little more comprehensible, as with all writing. Believe it or not i have gotten better at editing my own work. But the true nature of it all is still the same. And its the same in the way that i dont want, no matter how much i improve at my craft, i dont want to lose that enthusiasm i feel when i reach 58. I think that would be such a triumph, id be so lucky to be able to muster that energy. When I think of togashi, i think he has that. He has that real artistic spark that no amount of time/experience has ever diminished and that’s why i think he’s truly my personal favorite mangaka.  (maybe tezuka too)

[shaydh]

Thing!!

9 People You'd Like To Get To Know Better thing, tagged by @c-n-i-d-a-r-i-a-n ! Thank you very much! Sorry it took me so long, it’s been in my drafts forever :’)

9 People You'd Like To Get To Know Better, except idk who to tag, feel free to steal this from me if you like!

3 ships:

▫ Saltzfire (Saltzpyre/Sienna from Vermintide): ultimate OTP of all time, witch x witch hunter UST, also they are OLD. Hell yeah.

▫Trikey (Michael/Trevor from GTA5): because they belong together even though I don’t really go here

▫Roadrat (Roadhog/Junkrat from overwatch): aka the only reason I ever played overwatch at all, also I like ships that are just Those Two Guys

first ship:

▫ I don’t really remember….. it was probably Karasu/Kurama from YYH, just because I liked that fight scene :3

last song:

▫ Heaven is a place on earth was playing on the radio so that’s the last thing I heard

last film:

▫ From Dusk Till Dawn. It sure was a movie.

currently reading:

▫ I started reading The Myth of Sisyphus and never finished. I’ve been starting a lot of books I never finish 🥲

currently craving:

▫ I want to play rogue trader

fav color:

▫ Black

relationship status:

▫ Single

last google search:

▫“shrug emoji” for copy pasting, otherwise it was either some kinda art ref or me trying to figure out how to debug marzipan romance

current obsessions:

▫ rogue trader (read: marzipan) has taken over my brain I’ll be normal someday again I prommy