Kurama (YuYu Hakusho)
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| Kurama | |
|---|---|
| YuYu Hakusho character | |
 Kurama's human form (Shuichi Minamino) |
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| Created by | Yoshihiro Togashi |
| Voiced by | Japanese Megumi Ogata as Shūichi Minamino Shigeru Nakahara as Yōko Kurama English John Burgmeier (FUNimation) Sean Barker (Media Blasters) Hideo Seaver (U.S. Manga Corps) |
| Profile | |
| Aliases | Fox Demon Kurama Yoko Kurama Shūichi Minamino King of Thieves |
| Age | As a yōko: more than 1000 (stated in anime; it was said that in the three kings saga that he lead Yomi 1000 years ago) As a human: 14 to 18 (Throughout the entire anime) |
| Gender | Male |
| Species | Yōko (Fox demon) and human |
| Known relatives | Shiori Minamino (human mother) |
| Information | |
| Powers and Abilities | Plant manipulation |
| Affiliations | Team Urameshi |
Kurama (蔵馬 Kurama?) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series YuYu Hakusho by Yoshihiro Togashi. In the human world, Kurama is also known as Shuichi Minamino (南野秀一 Minamino Shūichi?). Kurama's seiyū are Megumi Ogata for his human form, and Shigeru Nakahara as Yoko Kurama. As there are several US dubs done by different companies, Kurama has had three English voice actors: John Burgmeier in the FUNimation version, Sean Barker in the Media Blasters dub, and Hideo Seaver in U.S. Manga Corps' version.
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[edit] Creation and conception
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Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. |
[edit] Personality
Kurama is generally regarded as the most calm and level-headed member of the group. His analytical nature is present in battle where he prefers to study the strengths and weaknesses of his opponents before devising a strategy of his own. He is highly protective of those he cares about and is often merciless to anyone that poses them a threat, a shift in his usually friendly manner. In fact, he is considered the most cunning and ruthless of the group, a testament to his past as the legendary Fox Bandit Yoko. In many instances, Kurama has shown to be very self-sacrificing in the interests of the safety of his friends and family, and often receives the most serious wounds in combat. Yusuke Urameshi will often call him "Fox Boy". He originally had the potential to become the strongest among the four due to his dormant Fox Demon heritage, but was surpassed when Yusuke's own Mazoku lineage was awakened.
[edit] History
Fox Demon Kurama/Yoko Kurama was a cold hearted and ruthless thief in the Makai. He was considered to be an A-class demon, and is said to be around 300 years old. After being wounded by a bounty hunter while in his spirit fox form, Kurama sent his spirit into the Ningenkai (human world) where his spirit took refuge within an unborn child that had not yet gained a soul. Kurama intended to recover his strength as the child developed and leave Ningenkai to return to Makai after an estimated ten years. However, sometime during or before the tenth year, an act of selflessness by his mother, Shiori Minamino, opened Kurama's eyes to pain he had caused his mother while growing up, which causes or influences his decision to continue living his human life as Shiori's son. The bounty hunter sent after Kurama was said to be a woman who he fell in love with and was brutally betrayed when she attacked him causing him to take refuge in Ningenkai. Kurama will not speak of the woman's treachery and her name is never spoken, however Hiei is aware of the woman but is disgusted when he later discovers that she is human.
[edit] Spirit Detective Saga
Kurama is first introduced to the series with Hiei and Goki (Gouki in the English anime, Goki in the English manga). Together they stole three powerful artifacts from Spirit World, which Yusuke Urameshi has to retrieve as his first assignment as Spirit Detective. Kurama stole the Forlorn Hope (Mirror of Darkness in the manga), a mirror that has the power to grant its user a wish during the full moon in exchange for their life. Upon meeting Kurama, Yusuke finds out that Kurama has no intention of using the mirror to cause harm, but only wishes to use its power to save his mother from an illness. Kurama would have certainly died after making the wish if Yusuke did not intervene asking the mirror to take his life instead. Moved by Yusuke's selfless act, the Forlorn Hope granted Kurama's wish without taking any life. As thanks, Kurama aids Yusuke in defeating Hiei, taking a blow from Hiei's sword and blinding Hiei's Jagan Eye with his own blood. After Yusuke is assigned with Kazuma Kuwabara to eliminate the four Saint Beasts, Kurama and Hiei join them as reparation for their crimes against Spirit World. Kurama faces off against the stone beast Genbu, and reveals his rose whip for the first time. He is injured in the process, but ultimately finds Genbu's weak spot, and then supports the others as they make their way through the castle.
[edit] Dark Tournament Saga
Kurama joins with the other protagonists to form Team Urameshi when Toguro issues his challenge, and fights increasingly difficult battles. Kurama's first fight is against Roto, of team Rokuyokai (Jolly Devil Six in the English Manga). It becomes obvious that he has Roto outclassed when Roto pulls a dirty trick: he reveals that he has a partner that is stalking Kurama's mother, and will kill her when he receives a signal. Kurama realizes that he can do nothing, and takes Roto's attacks. However, he is able to embed a Death Plant seed into Roto's body using a diversion, and paralyzes his opponent. Crushing the transmitter, Kurama then causes the plant to bloom, killing Roto instantly.
During the third battle against Team Masho, Kurama first squares off against Gama, a demon who fights using paint made out of his own blood. He first causes seals to appear on Kurama's arms and legs, making them extremely heavy and cutting down on his mobility, thus making him unable to wield his rose whip, but managed to slash Gama by using his own hair in wielding his signature whip. Just before he dies, Gama uses his blood to create his most powerful seal, locking in Kurama's demon energy inside him, leaving him at the mercy of the next fighter to enter the ring: Touya.
Touya easily gains the upper hand, and Kurama takes several wounds from the shinobi. Not wanting to lose this match, he plants the death seed within himself, enabling him to release it from inside him, impaling Touya. The third member of Team Masho, the sadistic Bakken, pummels the unconscious Kurama mercilessly until Yusuke threatens to kill him with a rei-gun blast unless he stops. Kurama is then thrown out of the ring as Yusuke takes over.
Then, while fighting Ura Urashima of Team Uratogi (Fractured Fairy Tales in the English manga), Ura uses an item called The Reverse Treasure Box (Reverse Magic Box in English Manga, Idun Box in the English Dub) which is meant to be used to transform Kurama into a helpless child. However, it goes back too far, transforming Kurama back into his original form of Yoko Kurama. Yoko, completely emotionless and sadistic, threatens to torture Ura Urashima into telling him the secrets of the box so he can continue to transform, when Shishiwakamaru breaks the barrier that was keeping the smoke inside the arena. The smoke gone, Yoko transforms back into Kurama and is the winner of the match, but is still obsessed with the secrets of the box. The last opponent Kurama faces in this tournament is Karasu, a man with an obsessive desire to kill Kurama. Knowing that he cannot defeat Karasu in his human form, Kurama seeks a way to transform himself back into Yoko. Suzuka of Team Uratogi gives Kurama some potion made from the Fruit of the Past Life (from either Spirit World or Demon World, depending upon whether the source is the English or Japanese version) that he used to make the Reverse Treasure Box.
After testing it, Kurama finds out that it will make him transform into Yoko, but only for fifteen minutes. Kurama takes some of the potion before his battle with Karasu, but it does not take effect until after he is badly injured. However, the potion's effect wears off even before the fifteen minutes are over. Karasu manages to severely injure Kurama in his human form, but Kurama unleashes a blood-sucking plant on Karasu, ending Kurasu's life. However, Kurama does not die as he expected because each time he drank the potion, the effect does not last as long because he regained some of his original demon strength, and this enabled him to survive. Due to a technicality, he is declared the loser of the match because he was unable to get up before the count was over.
[edit] Chapter Black Saga
Kurama returns to his normal life after the Tourmanent, when Yusuke is kidnapped by Genkai's students. As always, Kurama is the first one to fight. In the quest to rescue his friend, he faces off in a battle of wits against his school rival, Yuu Kaito, and defeats him to allow passage of the rest of the group. During the subsequent battles with Sensui, Kurama plays a major role when the group encounters Amanuma( Game Master). Kurama is the first to grasp Sensui's cruelty in using the boy, forcing a choice to either kill Amanuma or let the Gateway open. Kurama informs Amanuma that he will die if he loses, a trick to make his opponent lose his concentration. Kurama wins against Amanuma, but is torn with regret and anger that he was forced to kill the boy (evidenced by him clenching his fists so hard his nails make his palms bleed).
Eager for revenge, when Sensui offers to let Kuwabara go if the group can kill Makihara, Kurama steps forth, silencing Yusuke's protests with icy words and resolve. He decapitates Makihara in a move so brutal and quick that even Hiei is shocked, and then declares that he knows who Makihara is really controlled by. Elder Toguro emerges from the remaining part of Makihara's head, explaining to the rest of Kurama's team that, despite Kurama's calm facade, Kurama is actually very torn up on the inside, both because he feels guilty for killing the boy, and because his former demon self would have never shown such hesitation (weakness) in the first place. Toguro claims to find great glee in the chance to kill the spirit fox. However, Kurama traps Toguro into eternal damnation in the clutches of the Sinning Tree, a rather cruel and ruthless maneuver very reminiscent of Yoko Kurama.
Later, Kurama's anger over Yusuke's death pushes his energy to A class levels, transforming him into Yoko Kurama as a reflex, to his advantage. He is able to do little against Sensui, however, and is saved from death when the newly reborn Yusuke arrives. Between the events of the Chapter Black and the Saga of the Three Kings, Shiori Minamino remarries, and her new husband is Hatanaka, the president at a company where Shiori works. Kurama also gains a new stepbrother, also named Shuichi.[1]
[edit] Three Kings Saga
In the Saga of the Three Kings, Kurama is called on by Yomi, his former partner when he was still a thief in Makai. Kurama's internal struggles become more apparent in this saga because of the three different aspects of himself: Kurama, as he is when he fights alongside Yusuke and his companions, Yoko, and the human Shuichi Minamino. At this point, wherein he relives most of his past, his Yoko personality is somewhat predominant, as it seems that he is becoming more and more like his old self, before he came to human world. In moments of duress or battle, Kurama (who had yet to fully suppress his Yoko side) would transform into Yoko.
After meeting Yomi, he has apparently improved his strength greatly to A-class levels, because he easily over powered Yomi's former right hand man, Shachi, a middle A-class. Kurama becomes Yomi's new right hand man. After the death of Raizen, Yusuke comes to Yomi's territory with a proposition: a new tournament which will determine the ruler of the whole of Makai. Yomi accepts and the tournament begins. Kurama's team (made up of the surviving members of Teams Masho, Uratogi, and Rokuyokai from the Dark Tournament) qualifies easily in the preliminary round, but after the team faces stronger opponents, each member is defeated one by one. Then, Kurama fights Shigure, "The Demon Surgeon." Though Kurama is well into A-class power, he is no match for the S-class Shigure. During a fierce battle, he transforms into an S-class Yoko and easily uses super speed to avoid Shigure, but willfully transforms back into his human self, stating that he will not resort to using Yoko.
Despite being weaker than Shigure, he is able to cause the large dormant tree they are using as an arena to bloom, having merged it with a cherry tree seed before the fight began. This causes Shigure to lose the match as his weapon gets stripped from him, giving Kurama the win. However, Kurama is unable to continue with the tournament and withdraws due to severe injuries. After his fight with Shigure, he decides to not look to the past for answers to the future and with his loyalty to his human mother and his friends, he leaves his Yoko lifestyle behind, but not for good, as he tells Youmi.
After the end of the Makai/Demon World Tournament, Kurama goes back to Ningenkai and gets a job at his stepfather's company. He lives like a normal human being from then on alongside Yusuke, Kuwabara, and his other friends - except for Hiei, who decides to continue living in Makai.
[edit] Other media
[edit] Movies
Kurama appears in both of the YuYu Hakusho movies, YuYu Hakusho: The Movie and Yu Yu Hakusho, The Movie: Poltergeist Report.In Yu Yu Hakusho, The Movie: Poltergeist Report, a character named Kuronue[2] is introduced as the Fox Demon Kurama's former partner in thievery. One of the Netherworld Gods impersonates Kuronue in an attempt to gain the upper hand to defeat Kurama, but Kurama eventually discovers this deceit and kills the Netherworld God.
[edit] Video games
Kurama appears as a playable character in all of the YuYu Hakusho video games, and he also appears in the game Jump Ultimate Stars for the Nintendo DS as a playable character.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Kurama's special ability is that he can turn plants into deadly weapons by manipulating his youki into that plant. Kurama has complete control over any Human Realm plant and has some control over Demon Realm plants. However Demon Fox Kurama has complete control over Demon Realm Plants and has more power than regular Kurama. He also has super speed but, he is much faster in his Demon Fox form[3]. The strength of Kurama's moves depends on how much aura Kurama uses. He has an incredible sense of smell (evident when he fights Genbu) and he can read lips.[4] Though Kurama is not the strongest of the four main fighters, topping out at low S-class power by the end of the series (noted by Kuwabara in the final episode when he states that Kurama's power should prevent him from crossing through the Kakai barrier), he is easily the craftiest and most intelligent fighter of the four. He relies on cunning and tactics and not necessarily power to win battles (such as his fights with Touya, Karasu and Shigure)and could possibly best even Yusuke in combat. It is worth noting that out of all the main characters of the series, Kurama is the only one that does not typically use some sort of external energy manifestation to attack (possibly because his demon energy is trapped in a human body). The exception to this rule is in several franchise video games, where Youko Kurama can use energy beams as a weapon.
[edit] Techniques
- Rose Whip/Bara Shibenjin (ローズ ウイップ/薔薇棘鞭刃 Rose Thorny Whip-blade?): With this technique, Kurama uses his aura (yōki) to grow a rose from its seed state to its flowering state and then into a long thorny whip that is capable of cutting even through steel. This weapon was first introduced during Kurama's battle against Genbu of the Four Beasts. This is Kurama's most commonly used weapon.
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- Kagon Retsuzanshi (華厳裂斬枝 Splendid Limb-Severing?) or Rose Whiplash in the English Dub: Kurama uses this technique against Genbu of the Four Beasts, and it involves swiftly slashing in multiple directions with his whip to destroy Genbu's body.
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- Fūka Embu Jin in the Japanese version, 'Rose Whip Thorn Wheel in the English Dub, or Petal and Thorns in the English Manga: This is a defensive technique seen when Kurama fights against Karasu. Kurama uses it to buy time before he transforms into Yoko Kurama under the effect of the potion he took. It is essentially a whirlwind of rose petals hovering around him and if the opponent/attacker gets within a certain range the petals attack, they will be ripped to shreds.
- Shimaneki Sō (死招き草 Deathbringer Weed?) or Seed of the Death Plant in the English dub and "Deadly Vetch" in the Viz translation: This is a small seed that Kurama plants in his opponent's body and can be manipulated using his yōki. After it has had enough time to secure its roots within the victim's body, the Shimaneki can kill the victim. This attack was only used in the Dark Tournament Saga and was first used against Roto of the Jolly Devil Six/Team Rokuyukai, who threatened to kill Kurama's human mother with a messenger Yōkai if Kurama attacked him. Kurama was able to plant the Shimaneki on Roto and fought Roto long enough for the seed to take root. During his match against Touya of the Team Mashotsukai/Team Masho/Shadow Channelers with his yōki sealed away from a curse brought on from his previous match Kurama was forced to place the seed in his body to use the yoki in his body and was able to use the Shimaneki as a sword-like weapon to render Touya unconscious.
- Shoku Yō Shokubutsu (食妖植物 Devourer Demon Plant?) or Death Tree in the English Dub: Used by Yoko Kurama during his match against Reverse Urashima/Ura Urashima of Team Uratogi/Fractured Fairy Tales in the Dark Tournament. This is a giant redwood carnivorous tree with an acidic saliva that strikes anything that moves. Yoko Kurama used this to force Ura to tell him the secret of the Reverse Treasure Box. This would have worked if Ura hadn't been killed by his teammate Shishiwakamaru for trying to give away their secrets.
- Makai Ojigi Sō (魔界オジギ草 Demon Realm Bow Weed?) or Ojigi Plant in the English Dub: Used during his match against Karasu this is where Yoko Kurama was able to use this plant to counter Karasu's bombs. This deadly plant is from South America where it responds to movements or flammables by closing its leaves around its prey and crushes it to death. Although this plant managed to bind Karasu, he was able to create an explosion from within destroying this plant.
- Kyūketsu Shokubutsu (吸血植物 Bloodsucking Plant?) or Vampire Plant in VIZ Media Dub: A blood-sucking Demon Realm plant that also was used against Karasu in the Team Toguro Match. When Kurama reverted from his fox demon form to his human form and with his yōki running low, Kurama deliberately placed a Shimaneki seed on Karasu's chest knowing that he would find it so it would expose his blood. Kurama intended to sacrifice himself in this attack to kill Karasu, who thought that Kurama could only control plants from the Human World while in his human form.
- Janenju (邪念樹 Tree of Depravity?) or Sinning Tree in the English Dub: This plant was used by Kurama in the Chapter Black Saga in the fight against Gourmet (Sadao Makihara). Knowing that Elder Toguro was now in control of Gourmet's body, Kurama placed this seed on his Rose Whip, which was planted on Gourmet's body when Kurama decapitated him. The tree would send its victim their worst fears until they died, but since Elder Toguro had magnificent regenerating capabilities and could not die, it would prey on him for all eternity.
- Juryō Yōzan Ken (樹霊妖斬拳 Wood Spirit Demon Beheading Technique?) or The Binding Fist of the Demonic Vine in the English Dub: Used by Yoko Kurama during his battle against Shinobu Sensui. It is similar to the Rose Whip in that it is composed of a vine with thorns, but this time it grows around Kurama's arm and is wielded as a sword-like weapon.
- Okunenju Ueki (Okunenju Trees) or Okunenju Roots in the English Dub: Used during Kurama's battle against Shigure in the Three Kings Saga to show that using his fox demon form was not his trump card. It involves growing a large tree that overran the entire fighting arena. It resembles a cherry tree, reflective of Kurama's memories of climbing the cherry tree in his front yard as a child.
- Bamboo Plant: Not officially named, this plant was used in Yu Yu Hakusho: Poltergeist Report to kill a Netherworld God that had impersonated Kuronue. Its tips are extremely sharp, piercing the body as it grows.
- Akaru Zassō (Akaru Weed) or Lamp Weed in the English Dub: Kurama used these weeds as markers in the maze-like Irma Cave (Demon Door's Cave in the English Dub) in the Chapter Black Saga. Kurama planted a few of these just before their encounter with Game Master (Tsukihito Amanuma). Koenma was later able to use these to help him find his way to join up with the others to fight Sensui.
- Fuyōka no Makai Shokubutsu (浮葉科の魔界植物 Floating Leaves from Demon Realm Plant?) or Leaf of a Plant in the English Dub: This plant appears as "wings" similar to that of a butterfly on Kurama's back (this is possibly a nod to a particular moth genus also called Kurama). Doubling as a glider, this plant is what Kurama (in his fox demon form) places on his back to aid himself, Kuwabara, and Hiei as they fell from the portal that linked the Human World to the Demon World in the Chapter Black Saga.
[edit] Reception
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Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. |
Kurama won the Animage Grand Prix for Best Male Character in both 1993 and 1994.
[edit] References
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