Episode 92

EPISODE 92

究極の戦い！魔族の証 (Kyuukyoku no Tatakai! Mazoku no Akashi)

The Ultimate Battle! Proof of Demonkin

First Broadcast: August 6, 1994

Equivalent Manga Chapter(s): second half of chapter 149 (WSJ #2 1994, published December 27 1993), chapter 150 (WSJ #3-4, 1993, January 3), little bit of chapter 151 (WSJ #5-6, 1993, January 17)

Summary: With Yusuke there again, the group regains their spirits.  Yusuke starts his rematch with Sensui, much stronger now, and pierces Sensui’s spirit armor with his Spirit Gun.  The pair’s evenly matched battle ravages the landscape, but Yusuke is unable to properly control his new power.  Hearing a strange voice, Yusuke begins to more fully awaken as a demon, gaining long hair and strange markings all over his body.

Anime/manga differences after the jump.

Differences from the Manga

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• The episode starts with a brief re-do of last episode’s closing scene, as Yusuke arrives to fight Sensui.

• The anime depicts Yusuke as glowing red when he arrives, presumably to reflect his new demonic energy, while in the manga he still looks the same as before at this point.

• After Yusuke notes that his heart still isn’t beating, in the manga he wonders if his demon ancestor was a zombie.  This line gets left out in the anime.  When Kurama explains that Yusuke has a “nucleus” which acts in place of a heart, in the manga a margin note explains that this nucleus is a demon’s heart, while in the anime Koenma says this.

• Following off of that, in the anime Koenma and Yusuke go on to explain all about Yusuke’s demon ancestry and how he’s been reborn and whatnot, while in the manga it just goes straight to Hiei’s reaction to Yusuke now being a demon.  The anime also moves Sensui’s internal thoughts where he realizes Yusuke has undergone Grand Demon Atavism from before Yusuke and co. talking to afterwards.

• When Hiei tells Yusuke that he’ll soon get as strong as him and Sensui, the manga has a margin note saying that Hiei is starting to get sleepy (presumably as a side-effect of overusing the Koku-Ryu-Ha).  This sets up how Hiei falls asleep and ends up getting carried back to the Human World against his will.

• As Yusuke and Sensui are about to start fighting again, the anime has the scene where Otake explains to the rest of the squad members about S-class demons, and has to encourage them by saying that while demons excel at attack, they excel at defense (which explains why they can create a barrier no S-class demon can cross, even though they’re no match for an S-class demon in a fight).  The manga had this scene between Yusuke passing through the barrier and his arrival at the spot where Sensui and co. are fighting.

• After the mid-episode eye catch, there’s a filler scene with Botan meeting up with Shizuru and Keiko.  They tell Botan what happened with Puu, and Botan says Yusuke must still be alive.  The fact that Botan apparently expected Yusuke to be dead doesn’t exactly comfort Keiko, who starts to cry.  Botan says they should head to where Genkai is and wait there.

• Following that we get back to manga material as Sensui starts fighting Yusuke with his attack-centric form, but then there’s soon more filler as Sensui pauses and his different personalities argue among themselves, or something.  It’s a bit unclear whether this is a flashback or Sensui’s thought process at that moment.  Anyway, Sensui is suddenly interrupted when Yusuke attacks.

• This is followed by some fighting filler as Yusuke and Sensui approach the portal and the countless demons crowding around the portal become collateral damage to their battle.  Some try to attack Sensui, but he destroys them for getting in his way.  Yusuke says that their battle no longer has anything to do with the Human or Demon Worlds and that it’s time they settled things, which makes Sensui laugh and say it must be nice for Yusuke to be so simple-minded (this dialogue is basically recycled from the very start of Yusuke and Sensui’s fight).  They start fighting again, and things get back to manga material.

• As Yusuke and Sensui change their fight to a more suitable location, Koenma and co. follow them on Puu.  In the anime Kuwabara is surprised to learn that the big bird they’re riding is Puu, and Koenma explains that since Puu is synchronized with Yusuke, he transformed the same time Yusuke did.  Kuwabara says Yusuke hasn’t transformed, but Koenma says he has, only not in a visible way.

• When Kuwabara asks Hiei how Sensui and Yusuke’s powers compare, in the manga Hiei is already asleep (a margin note says he isn’t listening), while in the anime he’s awake and simply ignores Kuwabara.  Koenma says that Sensui’s fighting style has changed, and he seems to be enjoying himself now.  Kurama says Sensui’s hatred seems to be disappearing, and Hiei says he’s finally found an opponent worth fighting. 

• When Raizen mentally contacts Yusuke and says he’ll show him how to properly use his power, the anime shows a brief shot of Raizen sitting in his throne room.  Raizen’s voice at this point isn’t his normal one, but is instead distorted and mechanical sounding.  Very creepy.  As Raizen talks to Yusuke, the anime depicts Yusuke floating over a giant, oddly colored close-up of Raizen’s eye.  Again, very creepy.

• When Yusuke talks to Sensui at the end of the episode, after his transformation, his regular voice is intermixed with Raizen’s.  In the manga transformed Yusuke never says anything to Sensui until the end of their fight (or one-sided pummeling, really), when he tells Sensui it’s time to finish him off.

• The episode ends 4 pages into chapter 151, as Yusuke’s transformed state is revealed.