Yoshihiro Togashi

Yes, YuYu Hakusho volume 9 continues the Dark Tournament. It's the end of the bout between Jin and Yusuke, followed by smug Risho versus Kuwabara.

Team Urameshi's cheering squad (Yusuke's mom, Atsuko; Kuwabara's big sister, Shizuru; Yusuke's best friend, Keiko, Botan the Spirit Guide is back. (Loved their scene with the burly demon with a Hitler mustache guarding the arena entrance!) They are joined by Hiei's paternal half-sister, Yukina. She's heard she has a brother and has come to seek show more him. Yusuke, Botan, and Kurama know it's Hiei. The rest don't, which leads to Kuwabara bad-mouthing Hiei to his big crush, Yukina. Heh! (Also, Yusuke gives Keiko a compliment that earns him a punch which sends him flying. Double hee!)

Koenma (in his human world aspect of handsome teen instead of very little boy) has brought the egg containing Yusuke's spirit beast. It hatches. Meet Pu.

There's a cameo scene where Mr. Sakyo and Younger Toguro have a private chat with the Shadow Channelers cheating sponsor, Mr. Butajiri. No, they haven't come to order him to have his cheating reversed. He probably wishes they had.

We hit the semi-finals. Koto, the cat-headed demon girl who had been the referee, has been demoted to play-by-play announcer (probably because she objected to some unfair rulings). The semi-finals referee, Juri, is a demon who looks like a pretty human girl except for her ears, which are bat wings.

A big subplot is Master Genkai's final test for Yusuke. He should have had another 10 years' training, but there's no time for that. We learn how Genkai appeared as she was when she was 20 during the brief time her mask came undone in volume 8. Got some chuckles out of Genkai's expressions on. p. 101. She's a great old gal.

With the Shadow Channelers out of the way, the team to beat is the Fractured Fairy Tales. Team Six Deadly Evils is taken down with a speed that stuns Kuwabara. Page 105 shows the four teams that make it to the semi-finals, but only the Ochre Ranger of the High-Five Rangers gets more than his team's panel.

While Genkai and Yusuke are off dealing with the final test, the rest of Team Urameshi is up against Team Fractured Fairy Tales. Their Shishiwakamaru rolls dice to see who fights whom. Bouts this volume:

Hiei versus Evil Kintaro
Hiei versus Poison Peach Boy
Kurama versus Reverse Urashima.

Considering that Hiei's aura is at only about 60 percent, the way he deals with his opponents is really something. (Loved Kuwabara's reaction when he realized why Hiei didn't want to use one of his powers.)

I've read the Peach Boy (Momotaro) and Urashima folktales before, but I don't remember reading about Kintaro, the Golden Boy. I'm not familiar with Oniwakamaru, but Utagawa Kuniyoshi's ukiyo-e print of Oniwakamaru killing a giant carp is impressive. Look it up.

Kurama the fox demon bound with a human body is my favorite Team Urameshi member. I really enjoyed his cliffhanger ending for this volume.

This is one of the translated manga where the art hasn't been flipped, but you should get used to reading in the opposite direction from American comics. Do pay attention to the tiny print in the margins. They can be quite fun. (My favorite for this volume involves cat-headed referee Koto. It's on p. 160.)

My great thanks to the YuYu Hakusho Wiki character section for some of the team members' names, especially which fairy tales the one team's members represent.
(Because the team's name can be translated as 'Reversed Bedtime Stories,' according to that Wiki, I'm guessing that someone at Viz is a fan of the 'Fractured Fairy Tales' cartoons that were my favorite part of the 'Rocky and Bullwinkle" show. That someone has good taste! show less

With volume six, YuYu Hakusho moves individual cases to the Dark Tournament (yawn). If you love fighting in tournaments storylines, you'll probably be impatient to get to the first match on p.167. Before then we get the story of how Kazuma Kuwabara and Yusuke Urameshi rescue the beautiful Yukina, an ice maiden demon whose tears turn into rare crystals that are worth a lot of money. That's why greedy human scumbag Gonzo Tarukane has held her prisoner for five years.

Kawabara falls in love with show more Yukina upon seeing her image in the assignment videotape sent to Yusuke. He didn't stick around to find out that she's the paternal half-sister of Hiei, the three-eyed demon who caused them so much trouble when Yusuke was new at the paranormal investigating business. Yusuke knows, but doesn't tell Kuwabara.

Returning supporting cast characters are Yusuke's boss, Koenma [Enma, Jr.], Yusuke's mother, Atsuko, Yusuke's best friend, cute and feisty Keiko Yukimura; and Kuwabara's older sister, Shizuru. (Poor Kuwabara. He's homely, she's pretty -- and her sixth sense is stronger than his. Obviously she was the winner in the family genetics lottery.)

I was amused when I noticed that the anime version pronounced Enma and Koenma's names with the 'n,' which is silent when it appears before an 'm'. Hot and tough Emma Peel and Emma Frost notwithstanding, 'Emma' usually conjures up images of little old ladies in 19th century clothes; so it's understandable that Viz didn't go with the correct pronunciation for the ruler of the Japanese underworld. In this volume we get to see Koenma in the handsome teen look he used for the human world. Too bad he spoiled it by continuing to suck on his pacifier, a 'dummy' if you're British. (By the way, when I was a child in the 1960s, pacifiers were also called 'nipples'. I wouldn't recommend calling them that these days.)

During the rescue we meet the Brokers of Darkness (demon brothers and their demon mercenaries. The most powerful of the underlings are the Ogre Triad. We also meet the Black Book Club, a bunch of rich, bored, degenerate humans. Sakyo is young and handsome, unlike the other members.

Super-powered siblings don't always have the same powers -- note Yukina and Hiei. The same is true for the Toguro brothers, leaders of the Brokers of Darkness. I don't want to spoil the action, so I won't say what they can do.

Yusuke gets a most unpleasant surprise when he finds out that his and Kuwabara's prowess in the rescue operation has earned them an invitation to participate in the Dark Tournament. The participants are usually demons, but humans who have interfered in demonic matters are forced to join guest teams. Hiei and the very handsome fox demon Kurama are stuck being on Team Urameshi. Their fellow demons consider them traitors. The fifth member of the team is the Masked Fighter, who gives everyone but Yusuke a shock.

This is one of the translated manga where the art hasn't been flipped, but you should get used to reading in the opposite direction from American comics. Do pay attention to the tiny print in the margins. They can be quite fun. (My favorite is on p. 45.) As a bonus, the author shares the boxing game he used to play in school. The players appear on p. 26 and the rules on p. 68. I recommend photocopying both pages if you want to play. show less

Let me tell you something about Killua Zoldyck.

He's a pretty little monster who is like aged 12 but then again he's a motherfu*kin beast. All you must know about him is that he is a talented baby assassin who just so isn't very fond of going round killing people. He attacks with his bare hands or his yo-yo (that's how badass the kid is). I keep saying kid but he ain't no ordinary one. His family are the Zoldycks who are this pretty cool family of assassins. The best assassins. His brothers show more are pretentions brats who don't share any affection for him. He is the strongest, most powerful kid in the family. He had no friends until he met Gon and that changed everything. The murderers didn't even allow Killua to have friends. Can you imagine that, going like ''yo mom I met a cool guy today he is extra chill'' and she replies ''u piece of s*it don't you know any better than making acquaintance with other people''. He's imune to pain and poison. He's basically the boss.
The best manga character I've ever come across. show less

Yusuke Urameshi is still a ghost. Volume two picks up where volume one left off. A big-headed punk from a different junior high school has decided that Yusuke's old friend, the pretty Keiko, is his new girl. Keiko went with him because he would have taken her two girl friends if she hadn't. Dai is only 14 years old, but has the face of a man. He's even got the beginnings of a mustache. He's no animal, though -- he's got class (his opinion). That means he'll go first before he lets his show more friends go down on Keiko.

Yusuke still has temporary use of his body, but he'll have to rescue Keiko without talking to her. I got a chuckle out of his method. I got a bigger chuckle out of his pre-battle daydream. His classmate, Kuwabara, also on his way to save the day, has a funnier daydream.

As with volume one, this volume includes stories that weren't adapted for the TV series. Shota, the little boy who lost his beloved dog in the first volume, is facing a potentially greater loss this time around: his own life. The ghost threatening that loss is a pretty little girl who had a sad life full of illness. Sayaka proves to be tougher to deal with than Yusuke expected.

The second unadapted story involves the terrifble pressure put on students to succeed. Of the three students involved, one is the ghost of a boy who killed himself because of that pressure. The other two are best friends in competition for a scholarship to a prestigious high school. One girl is sweet and hopes the best for her friend. The other has parents who insist she best her friend. The girls' teachers care more about the good having one of his pupils win that scholarship will do for his reputation than the girls' well-being. The sweet girl's teacher even resorts to a despicable threat. Will either of the girls have a breakdown as the poor ghost boy did?

If you remember the episode about the arsonist, this version has the addition of the ghost child, Sayaka, wanting to evaluate Keiko's worth as a girlfriend for Yusuke. (Yusuke's reactions to Botan's replies to Sayaka's questions about Keiko made me laugh.)

This volume introduces the rather homely Kuwabara's pretty big sister, Shizuru Kuwabara. (Kuwabara takes Keiko to his house to clean up after the fire.) Luckily for Keiko, Shizuru wants to be a beautician. Meanwhile, Botan tells Yusuke what Koenma 's intervention cost him. The phrase she used cracked me up because it was once a euphemism for a girl or unmarried woman losing her virginity.

The last of the new stories involves another 'bully-magnet,' a boy Yusuke knew in grade school, but who goes to a different junior high. Matsuo has worked hard to take up boxing. He's still being bullied, though. Yusuke takes over Matsuo's body after three punks beat him unconscious. Matsuo is not grateful. He sneers at street fighting.

Matsuo dreams of winning the city-wide junior high boxing tournament. He's been chosen as the second-year representative for his school. The other contender wants to make sure he takes Matsuo's place. If Matsuo makes it past that jerk, he'll face an student known for severely injuring his opponents. Sadly, Matsuo's self-confidence is holding him back. Can Yusuke get through to his old friend? (Loved the example of tough attitude Yusuke demonstrated -- but not nearly as much as Koenma's assessment of Yusuke's character. HA!)

The volume ends with Yusuke's chance to make it back to the world of the living. The fact that I'd already seen some of the plots on TV didn't matter. I enjoyed reading it. show less