Episode 61

EPISODE 61

宿命の対決！嵐の大将戦開始 (Shukumei no Taiketsu! Arashi no Taishou-sen Kaishi)

Confrontation of Destiny! The Tempestuous Battle of Captains Commences

First Broadcast: December 18, 1993

Equivalent Manga Chapter(s): chapter 103 (WSJ #5-6, 1993, January 18), chapter 104 (WSJ #7, 1992, February 1)

Summary: Toguro (at 80% power) and Yusuke warm up, and everyone wonders how much stronger Yusuke has gotten since his ordeal. Yusuke hits Toguro point-blank with his Spirit Gun, but it does no damage. Disappointed, Toguro says he’ll finish things at only 80% power.

Anime/manga differences after the jump.

Differences from the Manga

(What's all this about?  Read here)

• We’re finally back to two full manga chapters an episode, so overall this episode is pretty fast-paced. 

• Chapter 103 starts with a montage of mug shots for all the various characters watching Yusuke and Toguro’s match.  In addition to the usual suspects, we see Ichigaki, his previously brainwashed fighters, Risho, Shishi-Wakamaru, Suzuki, and Bui.  That’s the last we see of Shishi-Wakamaru and the second-to-last we see of Suzuki until the Three Kings arc.  It’s also the last we see of Ichigaki or Risho ever, and the second-to-last we see of Bui.  Anyway, these mug shots gets left out in the anime.

• As Koto announces the start of the match, there’s lots of peanut gallery filler as Jorge et all react to the start of the final battle.  We see Chu, Rinku, Jin, and Toya rush into the stadium.  They’re late because Chu drank too much and overslept.  Random crowd members react to their entrance.

• Toguro tells Yusuke to show him the power Genkai passed on to him.  In the anime Kuwabara asks what this means, and Koenma explains about how Genkai gave Yusuke her power before she died.  Even Koenma doesn’t really know just what kind of power it is, though.  Then there’s more peanut gallery reactions.

• This episode has what I think is one of the most unintentionally amusing bits in the entire TV version.  In the manga Yusuke spends a single page charging his Spirit Gun, with the only dialogue being Kuwabara saying “here it comes!”  But he doesn’t fire the Spirit Gun right away, and instead rushes forward to attack Toguro so that he can fire the blast only when he can be sure he won’t miss.  The anime drags out Yusuke’s charging of his Spirit Gun on for a long time, with Chu and co. going on about how it’s Yusuke’s greatest weapon, more powerful than ever, etc.  There’s also comments from Keiko and Botan, lots of close-ups of Toguru and Yusuke glaring at each other, the music reaches a crescendo, and so on.  Then, suddenly, Yusuke stops charging and rushes towards Toguro.  After all that hype for the Spirit Gun, this seems hilariously jarring and anti-climatic.  Or at least it did for me.  Though re-watching it, the charging scene doesn’t seem to go on as long as I remember it.

• We hear Toguro repeatedly shout as he’s sent flying by Yusuke’s Spirit Gun in the anime, and his face looks pretty roughed up.  The manga shows him with a more neutral facial expression and doesn’t depict him making any sound, in keeping with the eventual revelation that the attack didn’t damage him at all.