manga: YuYu Hakusho Vol 5-8

[meganbmoore]

You know how swords in shounen tend rather phallic? Based on YuYu Hakusho, I think that’s actually been decreased a bit.

OMG Toguro’s brother turns into an amazingly phallic looking sword! What?!?!

To make it even better, Toguro is huge and muscle bound, and his brother is small and has long hair.

And everyone was right, this really does turn into a tournament manga! I think I’ve forgotten why they’re fighting now, save that Toguro told Yusuke that they had to or he’d kill him. Toguro can literally kick heads off and punch people in half. I’d obey him too. I’m amazed we skipped Yusuke’s shounen powerup training, though!

And did Genkei de-age somehow so she could help with the tournament, or it that someone else?

I find it funny that Botan brought Keiko, Yusuke’s mother, and Kuwabura’s mother to the tournament, though. Wish they’d do something. And Koenma’s grown form looks like a Yu Watase character with a pacifier.

Yukina is adorable, as is Kuwabura’s crush on her. I’m confused as to why Hiei doesn’t want her to know he’s her brother, though. And I may or may not have a fondness for siblings where one is gruff and grumpy and pretends they aren’t nice and the other is cute and sweet and friendly.

Kurama’s rose whip has reached the stage of being a full-blown fetish. I think it’s almost at the bondage level. Though killing a person by having plants grow out of them is nice and new!

Oh, I think Botan and Keiko got chased by zombies for a while there. That was a bit different.

 

Comments

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I've seen the anime, rather than read the manga, and Hiei Has His Reasons. Which are explained rather earlier in the storyline in the anime, I think.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

They always Have Their Reasons. I have the first 20-something episodes of the anime. I should see if I can watch without being spoiled for the manga now.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I suspect you can, as that tournament arc is the second season of the anime, and there's several story arcs to the first season, more than I think ought to be able to fit in 4 volumes of manga.

(ETA: I'd explain why Hiei can't tell her, but I think it's a spoiler. :)

[fourthage.livejournal.com]

Hiei gives an only-plausible-in-manga reason right after Yukina's rescue in the anime, but the real explanation occurs much later in both the anime and the manga.

[lilacfield.livejournal.com]

It is Genkai, turning eyecandy for a while. What this implies about females as butt-kickers according to Togashi, I'm still trying to find out. Does a girl have to become not pretty first before she achieves the level of awesome?

[snarp]

Judging from my extremely scientific girl-fighter census of YYH and Hunter x Hunter, yes. It's an issue!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Details!

[snarp]

Really detailed details contain a big huge YYH spoiler, but in general: Togashi has this thing where he'll occasionally have awesome female fighters, but they always have to be de-gendered and desexualized somehow. Sexy women, or women who ever fall in love, or women who act motherly, can't fight. So his powerful women always cross-dress, or they're little girls, or they're old women, or they're "deformed." (The two main female characters in Hunter x Hunter each manage to encompass three of the four simultaneously.)

(I made a post about this issue here, but it contains major spoilers both for YYH up to chapter 165 and for HxH up the end of the Greed Island arc.)

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I think Genkai was portrayed as being at a pretty high level of awesome before. Maybe she just wanted to be young as a distraction?

[lilacfield.livejournal.com]

Judging from Hunter x Hunter, Togashi does seem to like his female characters to use prettiness as distraction. At this point I'm guessing Genkai wants to show she's not to be taken lightly just because she's old now.

[animeshon.livejournal.com]

I haven't read the manga (although it's been on my list for a while), but this part of the anime kinda bored me. I'm not a big fan of tournament storylines, although towards the end of the tournament YYH does get more exciting.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I might get bored without all the "ZOOMG! Phallic imagery!" "ZOMG! Bondage kink!"

[animeshon.livejournal.com]

For sure :D

[snarp]

It is true! YYH is the most phallic of them all!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I can't believe no one ever told me about all this before!

[cavechan.livejournal.com]

A sword that looks like a penis? ...Isn't that how most swords look?

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

They have nothing on this.

[cavechan.livejournal.com]

I always considered YYH (and probably a lot of Togashi's works) to be one of the better manga when it comes to feminist things. I mean look at Naruto and Bleach xD;

I'm just confused on where this is coming from exactly. (Sorry if I misinterpreted your reply. x.x)

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Eeeh, I'm not referring to gender issues at all (I'd have to reread early Bleach to be sure, but I think it started out relatively on a par with this in that regard, whereas Naruto started much lower) just to the phallic imagery, which exceeds anything else I've read in shounen off the top of my head. And I've read Samurai Deeper Kyo, which has a seemingly endless barage of pictures where the male lead's sword is pointed at the female leads breasts or crotch. Not to mention that his hands are almost surgically attached to her breasts.

[cavechan.livejournal.com]

Bleach was awesome until it required every other chick to have huge breasts (though Rangiku is awesome... I still read it anyway). Samurai Deeper Kyo? oh my, yes.

I think that phallic imagery could be a gender issue, but I guess that isn't really the case here. I just don't think swords are made with penises in mind.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Phallic imagery as a gender issue is on a level even I don't particularly care to get intobecause it's such an ingrained thing with male sexuality being a symbol of strength. And let's face it, whether or not a cigar is sexist is pushing things too far by any standards. (Well, on its own.)

SDK was my first shounen and is possibly the series I've been collecting the longest aside from Blade of the Immortal, and I'll always love it despite the extreme fanservice. (I suppose Kyo/Yuya would be my pairing of deep feminist shame, if I did the "deep feminist shame" thing much.)

[kakkobean.livejournal.com]

Ah...this reminds me that I am behind on my YuYuHakusho purchases *flails* I'm somewhere around volume 11 >.>

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

How much is out, anyway?

[kakkobean.livejournal.com]

Last I saw...up to volume 17, I think? This was a week ago that I checked out the manga section >.>