Episode 81

EPISODE 81

洞窟の中のゲームワールド (Doukutsu no Naka no Geemu Waarudo)

The Game World Inside the Cave

First Broadcast: May 21, 1994

Equivalent Manga Chapter(s): all but the first page of chapter 133 (WSJ #38, 1993, September 6), first 2/3rds of chapter 134 (WSJ #39, 1993, September 13)

Summary: In the cave, the group encounters the child Tsukihito Amanuma, “Game Master”, whose ability brings the popular “Game Battler” video game to life.  The group must win 4 of 7 different randomly selected mini-games.  Mitarai’s up first, and manages to win at tennis against Amanuma’s genie henchmen despite Amanuma’s taunting.

Anime/manga differences after the jump.

Differences from the Manga

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• As the gang reviews the situation and Mitarai explains Gourmet’s abilities, in the manga he says he once saw firsthand Gourmet eating someone.  Kurama asks if this person was a demon named “Toguro” and Mitarai says it was.  This part gets left out in the anime because the anime changes things around so that Gourmet didn’t eat Elder Toguro until after Mitarai left the group.

• Once Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei, and Mitarai set off into the cave, the anime switches back to Yusuke’s apartment, where Keiko tries to explain things to the police (or misinform the police, I should say).  She wonders whether it was a gas explosion that messed up the apartment, while the policeman says some witnesses saw people fighting in the area.  Keiko tries to throw him off by saying people fighting wouldn’t cause an explosion, and suggesting the explosion was an omen of impending ecological disaster (which I suppose isn’t too far from the truth).  The policeman takes off and Keiko collapses in relief.

• Kurama plants some glowing weeds to mark their way through the maze-like cave for when they come back out.  In the manga a note in the margin says these are named Akaru-sou, “Glow Grass”, while in the anime Kurama says this.

• In the manga an exposition box says 30 minutes pass before Yusuke and co. reach Game Master’s door, while this information is left out in the anime.  Then when Yusuke and co. reach the door and have to go back to get the others since they need seven people for the game, the manga notes that 2 hours pass before they get back to the door with everyone, while the anime likewise leaves this out.

• The anime illustrates the explanation about the Game Battler video game with images of Yusuke at the arcade playing the game there.

• Once Yusuke and co. enter Game Master’s Territory, the anime switches to Sensui and co. at the cave’s center.  Itsuki says that the portal keeps opening at a faster and faster rate.  Sensui tells him not to overexert himself, but Itsuki says it’s just speeding up naturally.  Kuwabara then warns them that Yusuke and co. will beat the snot out of them once they get there, but Sensui says nobody can defeat Game Master at games.

• In the anime Game Master’s slot machine includes images of Yusuke and co.’s faces, for some reason.

• After Mitarai starts playing tennis against the Game Genie, there’s some filler with Botan outside complaining about how she’s been left all along.  Then the scene switches to the Spirit World, where Koenma and Jorge are meeting with King Enma himself, who debuts in this story arc a little earlier than in the manga.  In regards to the situation with Sensui, Koenma has come to ask his father permission for…something.  The scene dramatically cuts off before we find out exactly what.  It’s permission to use the Mafukan technique, we later learn.

• The manga pretty much skips over showing Mitarai playing the tennis game (it shows Game Master taunting Mitarai, but hardly anything of the actual game), but the anime includes a lot more of the tennis match.  In the manga the tennis players Mitarai and his Game Genie opponent control are nondescript video game characters, while in the anime they’re doppelgangers of them both, wearing tennis clothes.

• The episode ends about 14 pages into chapter 134, as Mitarai wins the tennis game.  As the episode ends there’s more shots of Sensui and co. at the cave’s center, with Kuwabara tied up.