Episode 88

EPISODE 88

仙水・解き放たれた聖光気 (Sensui・Toki-hanatareta Seikouki)

Sensui—Seikoki Unleashed

First Broadcast: July 9, 1994

Equivalent Manga Chapter(s): second half of chapter 143 (WSJ #48, 1993, November 15), chapter 144 (WSJ #49, 1993, November 22)

Summary: It turns out that as Shinobu, Sensui wields “Sekoki”, sacred light energy not even Genkai was able to master.  He attacks Yusuke with this unthinkable power, which Hiei declares to be on par with that of an S-class demon.  Koenma finally fires the Mafukan, but Sensui deflects it.  Yusuke still wants to fight and says he’s on the verge of “something”.  Watching the fight, Kurama suspects Yusuke is trying to use his own death as a catalyst to power them all up, the same way Kuwabara’s (supposed) death gave Yusuke the strength to defeat Toguro.

Anime/manga differences after the jump.

Differences from the Manga

(What's all this about?  Read here)

• The episode starts with a re-do of last episode’s closing scene, with Sensui starting to laugh insanely.  This time it’s merely Yusuke “Interesting!” that triggers his laughter, like in the manga, as opposed to last episode where Yusuke said he’d defeat Sensui.  They also replay the “Kuwabara and co. react to Shinobu” scene from last episode.  It’s the exact same as last episode though, and not closer to the manga.

• There’s more peanut gallery filler this episode, but it’s all just people shouting Yusuke’s name and stuff like that.

• In the anime Yusuke’s fist glows blue during the final punch he tries before Sensui grabs his arm and breaks it.  Not sure if this is supposed to be him charging up a Spirit Gun or just him using his spiritual energy to strengthen his punch, but it’s not in the manga.

• After the mid-episode eye catch Sensui mentions the demons on the other side of the portal and how they want to come out.  He says Yusuke being there is an annoyance, and seems to briefly switch over to his “Kazuya” voice.

• As Koenma starts using the Mafukan, in the manga there’s an exposition box which explains about the technique.  The anime actually used this last episode, so here they have Kurama give basically the same explanation to Kuwabara and the others.  Koenma then tells Sensui that he’s performed the technique twice before, but that this is his first time using it against a human.  In the manga this information is part of the exposition box.

• The anime shows the demons on the other side of the portal being dissolved by the Mafukan.

• The Mafukan shakes the ground like an earthquake, and Botan remembers that this is her signal to head for the Spirit World.  In the manga she flies off in her spirit form, leaving behind a physical body that collapses as if dead.  Yanagisawa freaks out when he sees this body collapse, and says he saw her flying through the sky wearing a kimono (in contrast to the Western clothes the collapsed body is wearing).  Genkai explains that the flying Botan was her true body, while this thing left behind here is like a doll.  Yanagisawa is still confused, but Genkai tells him to just keep quiet.  In the anime, Botan simply produces her oar and flies off on that, instantly changing from Western clothes into a kimono as she does so.  Kaito wonders where she’s gone off to, and Genkai says she’s heading for the Spirit World to meet King Enma.  Kaito and Yanagisawa are astounded and ask if King Enma really exists, at which point Genkai tells them to just keep quiet.

• In the manga, the scene outside the cave with Genkai and co. ends with Genkai thinking to herself that this energy she senses is Seikoki, and that things are already at a level they can’t handle.  In the anime rather than think to herself she tells the others something incredible is happening in the cave and it’s already at a level they can’t handle, without mentioning Sekoki.  This makes her “level we can’t handle” line seem like the “we” specifically means her, Kaito, and Yanagisawa, while in the manga it could be taken to mean everybody, Yusuke and co. included. 

• In the anime the tremors produced by Sensui deflecting the Mafukan cause a shop sign to nearly fall on Keiko, but Shizuru pushes her out of the way.  They go to investigate the hole the Mafukan made when it came flying out of the ground, but Shizuru senses incredible energy and says they should go somewhere safer.  The scenes where people in the city remark on the earthquake and investigate the hole are in the manga, only without Keiko or Shizuru’s presence.

• After deflecting the Mafukan, in the anime Shinobu says that he’s the only one of Sensui’s personalities capable of using Seikoki.  This is never specifically stated in the manga, though it seems like a safe bet even there.  The anime also shows a new bunch of demons crowd around the other side of the portal, the previous ones having been destroyed by the Mafukan.