Episode 58

EPISODE 58

究極奥義！ほえろ黒龍波 (Kyuukyoku Ougi! Hoero Kokuryuuha)

The Ultimate Secret Technique! Howl of the Koku-Ryu-Ha

First Broadcast: November 27, 1993

Equivalent Manga Chapter(s): chapter 99 (WSJ #52, 1992, December 14)

Summary: Bui deflects the Koku-Ryu-Ha, which eats Hiei. Hiei absorbs its energy, powering up and overwhelming Bui. Defeated, Bui explains about his history with Toguro and asks Hiei to finish him off, but Hiei refuses. Hiei then enters a deep sleep as a side effect of absorbing the Koku-Ryu-Ha.

Anime/manga differences after the jump.

Differences from the Manga

(What's all this about?  Read here)

• This episode has some of the most eccentric animation of the entire series.  And like last episode, it only covers a single chapter, so there’s lots and lots of drawing things out.  But at least it all looks pretty and rather trippy.

• The episode starts with a re-do of 57’s closing scene, with Hiei unwrapping his arm.

• Once his arm is unwrapped, we get lots of filler.  First, Hiei emits huge waves of black energy that shoot around the stadium.  Kuwabara is so frightened his starts chanting “Kuwabara”, the Japanese good luck mantra which the character is named after.  Koenma has his finger on the trigger of his escape rocket pack.  Hiei’s energy makes Shizuru feel ill.

• Elsewhere in filler land, Sakyo says Hiei’s finally using the Koku-Ryu-Ha again.  He asks when was the last time Hiei used it, and Younger Toguro says it was back in the first round.  This leads to another lengthy flashback of when Hiei fought Zeru.

• Outside, beams of black energy are shooting out of the water surrounding the island, and black lightning is striking everywhere.  Even parts of the stadium are crumbling.

• Koto, insightful as ever, notes that Hiei is apparently trying to use the Koku-Ryu-Ha.  Juri is so scared she can’t move, so Koto has to fish her out of the ring and pull her to safety.

• There’s more peanut gallery filler as Kurama explains that Hiei has indeed perfected the Koku-Ryu-Ha, followed by more random energy flaring up and whatnot as Hiei prepares to fire the attack.  After that we’re more or less back to manga territory.

• Once Bui grabs the Koku-Ryu-Ha head-on and struggles to throw it back at Hiei, in the anime Hiei fires a blast of energy to strengthen the Koku-Ryu-Ha.

• For some reason as Bui whirls around with the Koku-Ryu-Ha trying to stop it, in the anime the stadium seats are shown as empty.  Since later scenes establish that the crowd is in fact still there and getting fried by the Koku-Ryu-Ha, I’d assume this is just lazy animation or something.  In the manga we actually see the Koku-Ryu-Ha tear through the crowd.

• As Bui continues to struggle with the Koku-Ryu-Ha, there’s more filler as he remembers how Toguro spared him and told him to get stronger.  Bui thinks to himself that he cannot lose here.  Bui struggles more, and there’s a flashback to him fighting Toguro.  He’s wearing a completely different outfit, a somewhat generic martial arts get-up.  We see Toguro punch him in the forehead, explaining the scar he has there, which in the manga is never explicitly shown to be from his fight with Toguro.  All this exertion causes the wound to spurt blood.

• When it looks like Hiei has been killed by his own Koku-Ryu-Ha, in the anime Juri is curled up in a fetal position in fear, half-asleep.  Koto has to wake her up, saying that her boyfriend is watching.  She starts to announce Bui’s victory, only for Hiei to make his dramatic re-entrance.

• More peanut gallery filler after Hiei reappears.  Jorge has snuck up next to Koto’s seat, and cheers Hiei on.  Keiko notes that Hiei doesn’t really look much difference; only the dragon image on his arm has vanished.  In the manga a random demon in the crowd says this.

• After Hiei shows off the energy he now has after eating the Koku-Ryu-Ha, in the anime Bui thinks to himself that he still can’t lose, not with his Battle Aura.  This is mostly notable because in the manga Kurama is the only one who uses the term “Battle Aura” to refer to Bui’s huge energy, and there it seems more like a provisional name rather than something Bui himself would use.  Koto uses the term in the anime too.  Anyway, they all use the actual English words “Battle Aura” here, for the record.

• There’s more fighting filler as Bui keeps on attacking Hiei again and again, never to any effect.  Hiei seems to enjoy acting like a rag doll as Bui tosses him around, smashing him into the arena ceiling and whatnot.  In the manga there’s just a single panel of Bui punching Hiei repeatedly, after which Hiei immediately and decisively counterattacks.

• On that note, in the manga Hiei sends Bui flying with a seemingly effortless attack; it looks like he merely lifts up his arm.  Once Bui’s in the air, Hiei jumps up and punches him into the stadium seating, ending the fight.  In the anime Hiei knocks Bui back with a proper energy blast.  As he jumps up to attack Bui again, Hiei briefly becomes the Koku-Ryu-Ha itself.

• As Bui explains about his history with Toguro, the anime has more flashbacks to illustrate what Bui says.  We see Toguro punch Bui in the forehead again.  Then there are images of Bui training to surpass Toguro: he kicks a wooden post, fights a giant armored bear (?!), and extinguishes candle flames with his fist in some sort of Buddhist temple.

• When Hiei explains that after “eating” the Koku-Ryu-Ha he must always go into a hibernation lasting several hours, in the anime Kuwabara asks if Hiei is a bullfrog.