Episode 52

EPISODE 52

幻海散る！50年目の決着 (Genkai Chiru! Gojuu-nenme no Ketchaku)

Genkai Falls! Settled After 50 Years

First Broadcast: October 16, 1993

Equivalent Manga Chapter(s): little bit of chapter 89 (WSJ #42, 1992, October 5), chapter 90 (WSJ #43, 1992, October 12), chapter 91 (WSJ #44, 1992, October 19)

Summary: Genkai’s attack manages to wound Toguro. Healing his injuries, Toguro uses 80% of his power to fight Genkai, who counters with all her remaining power. Yusuke arrives just as Genkai is mortally wounded. Before dying, Genkai reveals how after she and Toguro won the tournament 50 years ago, he became a demon for eternal youth and power. Enraged at Genkai’s death, Yusuke attacks Toguro but is blown away.

Anime/manga differences after the jump.

Differences from the Manga

(What's all this about?  Read here)

• The episode starts with a filler scene of Kuwabara wondering where Yusuke ran off to, only for Yukina and the other girls to show up.  Shizuru gets mad at her brother for focusing solely on Yukina when addressing the group.

• After that is a re-do of Genkai and Toguro preparing to fight.  This time their dialogue is precisely what it is in the manga.

• And, also like in the manga, this time after Genkai says Toguro only ever thinks about fighting, we get the flashback to their past.  The dialogue’s the same as the manga, but it’s fleshed out with (longer) scenes of young Toguro and Genkai fighting demons.  Also, their conversation about aging takes place in a small row boat and later on the shore, while in the manga they’re just standing around…somewhere, with no background.

• In the anime Genkai seems to directly strike Toguro with her Spirit Gun blast, as if it were a punch, while in the manga she fires from a small distance.

• As Toguro and Genkai start fighting, in the manga we see Karasu and Bui, who can tell the fight’s starting.

• As Toguro powers up to 80%, in the manga we see Hiei react to sensing this powerful yoki, then Kuwabara (who’s still at the hotel) along with Jin, Toya, Chu, and Rinku.  In the anime we only see Hiei, Kurama (who’s wondering which plant he should use), and Kuwabara (who’s wandering around on his own through the woods).

• Toguro’s death-blow to Genkai is depicted in the manga as a two-page spread of nothing but a splatter of blood against otherwise blank pages.  The anime goes with a more literal depiction, and we see Toguro’s fist struggle against Genkai’s blast for a while before Toguro breaks through and strikes her.

• In the anime, Genkai gets struck and the mid-episode eye catch comes.  When the show returns there’s some filler of Koenma and Botan sensing her death, then we see Genkai fall to the ground, and finally Yusuke’s reaction to this.  The manga goes straight from the bloody two-page spread to Yusuke seeing Genkai mortally wounded on the ground, and Toguro telling him he’s too late.

• During Genkai’s flashback to when she was invited to the Dark Tournament, in the manga she’s invited by the Ogre Triad, who still have bruises from their fight with Yusuke and Kuwabara.  In the anime Genkai is instead visited by a woman wearing shades and a black robe, and a huge long-haired man wearing shades and a black suit.

• As Toguro explains about how he wished to be reincarnated as a demon after winning the Dark Tournament 50 years, in the anime there are images of him and Genkai at the tournament.  We even hear a ref announce their victor.  It sounds just like Juri.

• Once Genkai dies, the anime shows Hiei, Kurama, Koenma, Jorge, and Botan all reacting (they can sense her death from afar).

• Yusuke’s punch leaves Toguro’s hand a lot more messed up in the anime.

• In the manga, Botan and Keiko react to seeing Puu crying.  In the anime Keiko and Yukina do this (with Keiko holding Puu in Botan’s place, and Yukina off to the side where Keiko was in the manga).

• As Yusuke sits crumbled on the ground under a tree, pummeled by Toguro, the anime has flashbacks to his time training under Genkai.  After that, he gets up and frantically punches the tree until it cracks open.