Kurama
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Kurama (蔵馬), also known as Shuichi Minamino (南野秀一 Minamino Shūichi) is one of the main four characters of the popular anime and manga series YuYu Hakusho created by Yoshihiro Togashi. His Japanese seiyū are Megumi Ogata (Kurama), Shigeru Nakahara (Yoko Kurama) and his English Voice Actors are John Burgmeier (FUNimation), Sean Barker (Media Blasters), and Hideo Seaver (U.S. Manga Corps).
Personality
In his previous life, Shuichi was an evil, cold hearted and ruthless Kitsune thief known as Kurama the Ghost Fox (妖狐 蔵馬 Yōko Kurama), the most feared bandit in Makai (the Demon Realm). After a botched thievery in Makai in which Yoko was badly injured he escaped into an unborn embryo of a woman in the Ningenkai (Human Realm) and later was born as human child Shuichi Minamino. This is the point where his personality began to change. He received so much love and care from his human mother and this turned him into a very kind, gentle and noble young boy. Although he is still able to turn into his demon form in cases of extreme anger or other emotions, his personality doesn't change in the process. In fact, the new Yoko Kurama is not like the old one. His personality is changed forever.Obviously, Shuichi's appearance is not like a normal boy. His very long crimson hair and wonderful emerald green eyes make him extraordinarily beautiful, to the extent that oftentimes people mistake him for a girl. His amazing beauty must be the legacy of the fox demon, given he is the mix of the fox demon's soul and a human child's body.
Kurama is certainly wise and intelligent. Wise, because he has lived over 1,000 years and its clear in all those years experience is inevitable. Intelligent, because he is a fox. Those vulpine animals are known to have a witty intellect and have a natural cunning skill. Both things combined are truly deadly. This enables him to be the brain of Team Urameshi.
Many have portrayed him as a vain character, yet he is utterly humble about his beauty. On one hand, the vanity he has shown in the series is only regarding power. In the Dark Tournament after the fight against Uraurashima and his transformation back to his demon form, Kurama shows a bit of vanity when they are deciding who would take the next fight. He tells Hiei and Kuwabara he wants to take the fight against Shishiwakamaru, but all of them want to fight against him. So, they decide it with the traditional game Rock, Scissors, Paper. In that same scene, Hiei tells Kurama that vanity is a dangerous thing. But that's only regarding power and the genuine interest he had to unravel his Yoko nature, nothing related to beauty as many think.
Also in the scene when he met Karasu and Bui in the corridor, the raven demon points out that Kurama doesn't take care of his hair. It seems Kurama doesn't care about his appearance. Also, he isn't vain when the ningen (human) girls at school speak out loud about how little he cares about having the highest marks in the exams. Kurama shows himself relaxed and uninterested about it. He is praised, but he doesn't respond to it in an egotistical way.
Even though Kurama is a teenager (his ningen body has been around 15 years old when the series start), he does not act like one. He avoids the arcade and spends his time reading. Also, he speaks with a sophisticated language. Basically, this is because he is an ancient spirit inside a young body. Hence, his mind is the one of an adult. That also implies that he behaves different from the other teenagers. While all are in the very top of their rash to get girlfriends and such, he shows serene and calm. Again, he behaves like a calm adult surrounded by kids. That can also be a reason why he is a loner and relates between with yokai than ningens of his age.
The wit and wisdom from his past 1,000+ years life (his actual age is unknown) as Yoko Kurama is what got him through life. Although Kurama is a brilliant strategist he has a bad habit of playing around during a fight while devising a strategy to use against his opponent after studying their nature, and has also on a few occasions underestimated his opponent as well.
Yoko Kurama had reached the level of an A-class apparition in his previous life, but when he was attacked by the bounty hunter that nearly killed him and forced him to Human World, he lost most, almost all of that energy. During the battle with Sensui, his anger over the death of Yusuke propels him once again to A-class levels, transforming his body to that of his former self in the process. Kurama transforms twice more during the series: once during the battle with Reverse Urashima when the Reverse Magic Box, meant to send him back to embryonic state, actually forced back into his previous form, Yoko Kurama, King of Thieves. He is then essentially the Yoko he once was, mind, body and soul. When Shisiwakamaru breaks the barrier keeping in the magic from the Box, her transforms back into Shuichi. The second time is during the finals of the Dark Tournament when he takes the potion made from the Fruit of the Past Life (Debatably from either Spirit World or Demon World, depending on whether or not you watched it in English or Japanese.) This sent him back again into his pre-human state and gave him nearly the full strength he'd had before the bounty hunter incident. Once again he is Yoko through and through, the arrogance of the Spirit Fox is full play when it only peeps out occasionally with Shuichi.
The third time he transforms in the series is during the Sensui Seven arc when Yusuke takes a fatal hit on purpose and dies to evoke the emotional power needed for Kuwabara to call upon his Demension Sword and rescue himself, Hiei and Kurama from Itsuki's Dementional Trap and give them the boost they would need to stand a chance against Sensui and close the gate between Human World and Demon World. Here when he transforms, he gains all the powers endowed to Yoko Kurama, but retains the mind of Kurama, the human/demon hybrid.
He transforms several other times during that last arc of the series "Three Kings" in which he works with Lord Yomi for a brief time until Yusuke, risen from the dead as a half-demon, shakes things up. At this point, Yoko is close to the surface of Shuichi's mind, whereas he is usuall more of a pseudo-personality rather than a driving force. He seems to want to live the life he lost when the bounty hunter shot him, so in moments of duress or battle, Shuichi or Kurama (who retained the A-class status after Sensui was defeated), would transform into Yoko Kurama and his ruthless personality would be back. Finally, after the new Lord of Demon World is selected via a Yusuke-instituted tournament, Kurama makes the choice to reconcile with the demon within and not transform again into the King of Thieves and choosing to live in Human World.
History
Kurama was a Ghost Fox whose abilities included shape-shifting, casting illusions, and breaking seals and codes. Then, one day, he was trapped and almost killed by a bounty hunter contracted by Spirit World. He just barely escaped, in the form of his soul, and fled to Human World, whereupon hiding in the embryo of a human baby he was born to a human woman, Shiori Minamino. Shiori then renamed him Shuichi Minamino. (There are various spellings of Shuichi used by Yu Yu Hakusho fans. These include, but are not limited to, Suuichi, Suichi, and Shuuichi. Shuichi is the official English dub spelling.)Kurama then met Hiei while he was attending Middle School. Hiei had mistaken Kurama for one of Yatsude's servants (a demon who had been terrorizing the town). The two battled, but when Kurama realized Hiei's mistake, he stopped the fight. However, Hiei was injured. Kurama took Hiei back to his home and treated him.
Maya was a classmate of Kurama's during middle school. She openly admitted to being in love with him. Maya was kidnapped by the demon Yatsude (aka Eight Hands in the English version) and almost devoured, but Kurama and Hiei defeated Yatsude and rescued her. Later, Kurama erased her memory of the horrible events. After that, Hiei developed respect for Kurama and the two became friends for a while before teaming up with Gouki and stealing the three Spirit World artifacts.
He then becomes one of the three members in Hiei's Underworld crime ring, and steals the Mirror of Forlorn Hope. Yusuke Urameshi faces Kurama on his first case, which is to recollect the stolen Spirit World artifacts. However, Kurama does not fight Yusuke, for he is trying to use The Mirror of Forlon Hope to save his human mother, Shiori Minamino, from dying.
Kurama's original plan, upon becoming human, had been to leave his mother and return to Demon World after he got strong enough(roughly about ten years old. He retained his Yoko consciousness during his second babyhood.) However, something happened that made him change his plans. One day, Kurama was reaching up on a high shelf when he slipped. He knocked some plates off the shelf, and they crashed to the floor and broke. He fell off the stool he was standing on and would have injured himself on the broken plates had it not been for his mother. She put her arm under his head just in time to save him. However, her arms were badly cut and she was scared. From then on, Kurama felt very guilty about all the pain he had caused her and vowed to protect her and stay with her.
When Kurama tried to use the spirit artifact he had stolen, Yusuke interfered and told the mirror to take his life instead, so that Kurama would not die, but the mirror decided to take neither life and still heal Shiori (this is what happens in the English anime and varies slightly from the English manga)(Manga version is that Yusuke splits the difference between him and Kurama so neither will die and Shiori will still live. He does this because he knows the pain of a mother losing her only child having seen it for himself.) After that, Kurama along with Hiei are forced to join Yusuke and Kuwabara on Yusuke's third case and Team Urameshi is formed.
During the Dark Tournament saga, Kurama first faced Roto, from Team Rokuyukai, who threatened to end the life of his human mother if Kurama attacked. To defeat this opponent Kurama planted a Death Seed on Roto's body without him noticing and killed him with it. Kurama then faced Gama and Touya, of Team Masho. Gama magically chained Kurama's arms and legs, making him unable to move and then attacked him, but at the last moment Kurama was able to use his Rose Whip to finish Gama. Before dying, Gama sealed Kurama's yōki (demon energy) within his body. Then Kurama fought Touya and because Gama's spells were still in effect, Kurama was forced to plant a Death Seed into his own body and use it to defeat his opponent. After that Kurama became completely unconscious but since he had fainted while he was still standing , he had to face a third opponent named Bakken. Bakken inflicted heavy blows on Kurama and was about to kill him, but then two things happened, Yusuke got ready to kill Bakken with a spirit gun, and his boss ordered him to stop, pointing out that if he continued Yusuke would kill him. So he knocked Kurama out of arena and prepared himself for a fight with a very infuriated Yusuke.
Later in the tournament, Kurama was turned into his fox form when fighting Uraurashima with The Reverse Treasure Box (Reverse Magic Box in English Manga) (Idun Box in the English Dub). Originally it was supposed to turn Kurama into a baby, but instead transformed him into Yoko Kurama.
The last person Kurama faced in this tournament was Karasu. Karasu had a strange crush on Kurama, and because of that, he wanted to kill Kurama. (He says that taking away the things he likes gives him a thrill like pondering unanswerable questions.) Kurama then becomes desperate to know what caused his transformation into Yoko Kurama during his fight with Uraurashima because he knows that he cannot defeat Karasu while in his human form.
Suzuki then gives Kurama a potion that he used to make the Idun Box, telling him he is unsure of its effects in this concentrated form. 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 its effect does not take place right away, and Kurama is badly injured. Finally, just before Karasu inflicts a lethal blow on Kurama, the transformation happens. Yoko is able to trap Karasu in his Ojigi Plant, and believes to have defeated him. But Karasu is still alive. Unfortunately for Kurama, the effects of the potion wear off before the fifteen minutes are up. After being almost blown to bits, Kurama decides to sacrifice himself to kill Karasu. As he releases a blood sucking plant on Karasu, he gives the last of his life energy and therefore intends to die. However, Kurama does not die. Much to his own surprise, he realizes that each time he takes the potion, the effect does not last as long because he gains some of his demon strength back, enabling him to survive. After this fight Kurama only needs to feel extreme emotions such as hatred or anger to revert back to Yoko Kurama.
During the Chapter Black saga, after Yusuke was kidnapped, Kurama fought against Yuu Kaito, a fellow student from the same private school that he attended in a word game. After Kurama's suspicions confirmed that Genkai was behind the kidnapping, Kaito revealed that although he agreed to Genkai's plan, he went after Kurama seriously to prove that just once he could beat Kurama at his own game. Kurama then fought against Shinobu Sensui "Dark Angel" and his six companions alongside Yusuke, Hiei, Kazuma Kuwabara, Genkai, and his other friends. First he encountered Tsukihito Amanuma "Game Master" and was forced to kill him during a video game competition, which left him angry afterwards. After that, he fought Sadao Makihara "Gourmet," cut his head off and confirmed that Elder Toguro was controlling his body.
Shiori Minamino is later re-married to Hatanaka (He's the president at a company where Shiori works) after the events of the Chapter Black Saga. Kurama also gains a new stepbrother, coincidentally named Shuichi (whose name was changed to Kokota in the English Dub).
During the Three Kings saga, Kurama is forced to re-live his past as he's called to Yomi's side. Yomi is Yoko Kurama's old partner-in-crime. A thousand years ago, Yomi was sent on a raid, but it was a set-up. Yoko had arranged for an assassin to kill Yomi. "Life is greater than the reward" was what the assassin said after slashing Yomi across the eyes, taking away his vision, and then fleeing the scene after Yomi injured him while flinging his sword about (for by now he could not see). After a thousand years, Yomi and Kurama face each other again. Kurama is forced to become a member of Yomi's advisory when Yomi threatens to kill Kurama's human mother and stepfather, who are on their honeymoon. Kurama suggests that all three demon lords must replace their second in commands (Mukuro and Raizen have done this already by appointing Hiei and Yusuke). Kurama then goes back to the Human World and calls for a group of old friends and former opponents from the Dark Tournament; Rinku, Chu, Jin, Touya, Shishiwakamaru and Suzuki. They train under Genkai in her temple and turn into a very strong team, even stronger than Yomi's entire army. Kurama then brings his new team to Yomi. Yomi is so impressed that he removes his second in command and appoints Kurama instead. Enraged by this, he attacks Kurama and tries to kill him but Kurama turns into Yoko and kills the former general with ease.
After the death of Raizen, Yusuke comes to Yomi's territory with a proposition; a new tournament which will determine the ruler of whole Makai. Yomi accepts and the tournament begins. Kurama's team qualify easily in the preliminary round but after that they face stronger opponents and are defeated one by one. Then, Kurama fights Shigure "The Demon Surgeon." During a fierce battle he manages to defeat Shigure and destroy his Ring Sword. Unable to accept this, Shigure commits suicide. Kurama is qualified to the next round but he could not fight more due to severe injuries.
Kurama's internal struggles become more apparent during this part of the series. He holds three personalities: Kurama (with Yusuke and the others), Yoko Kurama, and Shuichi Minamino. He is now forced to choose which one he will remain as. After his fight with Shigure, he decides to give up his Yoko side and live as Shuichi Minamino from now on. With loyalty to his human mother and support of his friends, he is able to make the choice to stop living a lie. After the end of the Demon Tournament, Kurama goes back to the Human World and gets a job at his stepfather's company. He lives like a normal human being from now on alongside Yusuke, Kuwabara and his other friends. He seems to like Botan more than the other female characters in the series.
In , it is revealed that during Kurama's previous life as Yoko Kurama, he had an old friend and partner named Kuronue. Kuronue had sacrificed his life during a robbery when he attempted to recover a pendant that was precious to him and then ordered Yoko to flee. One of the Netherworld Gods impersonated Kuronue and accused Kurama that he had betrayed him. During their second encounter, Kurama, knowing that this Kuronue was a fake because the fake did some things that the real Kuronue never did was able to use part of a bamboo plant to kill the fake Kuronue in the same way his friend had died.
Attacks
Kurama's special ability is that he can turn plants into deadly weapons by manipulating his yōki into that plant. Kurama has complete control over any Human Realm plant and has some control over Demon Realm plants although Yoko Kurama has complete control over Demon Realm Plants and has more power than regular Kurama. The strength of Kurama's moves depend on how much yōki Kurama uses. This is a list of Kurama's known moves from the show.
- Rose Whip/Bara Shibenjin (ローズ ワップ/薔薇棘鞭刃 Rose Thorny Whip-blade): With this technique, Kurama uses his yōki to grow a rose from its seed state to its flowering state and then into a long thorny whip. With Kurama's skill the Rose Whip is truly a deadly weapon. The Rose Whip is so deadly it can cut even through steel. This weapon was first introduced during Kurama's battle against Genbu of the Four Holy Beasts. This is Kurama's most common weapon.
- * 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 Holy Beasts, severely slashing in multiple directions with his whip to break apart Genbu's body. This is his primary attack with his whip, particularly when he's going in for the kill.
- * Fūka Enbu Jin or Rose Whip Thorn Wheel in the English Dub. "Petal Whirlwind" in the English manga. This is an offensive move, using the petals of a single flower (what kind of looks like a carnation) as flying kunai and ripping the opponents to shreads. There is also the "Wind Petal Waltz Configuration" or "Petals and Thorns" in the English dub. 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 oppnent/attacker gets within a certain range the petals attack and rip them to shreads.
- Shimaneki Sō (死招き草 Deathbringer Weed) or Seed of the Death Plant in the English Dub. This is a small seed which once planted on his opponent's body, Kurama can manipulate his yōki and after it had enough time to take root the Shimaneki can kill the victim. This attack was only used in the Dark Tournament Saga and was first used against Roto of the Team Rokuyukai who threatened to kill Kurama's Human mother Shiori with a messenger yōkai if he attacked him. Kurama was skillfully 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 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 yōki in his body and was able to use the Shimaneki as a sword-like weapon to render Touya uncounsious.
- Shoku Yō Shokubutsu (食妖植物 Devourer Ghost Plant) or Death Tree in the English Dub: Used by Yoko Kurama during his match against Uraurashima of Team Uratogi 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 Sou (魔界オジギ草 Demon Realm Ojigi 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): A blood sucking Demon Realm plant that also was used against Karasu in the Team Toguro Match. When Yoko Kurama reverted back to Kurama 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 intented to sacrifice himself in this kamikaze attack to kill Karasu who thought that Kurama could only control Human Realm plants. Kurama was narrowly able to survive by using this technique.
- 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 aka 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 die, but since Elder Toguro was incapable of dying, it would prey on him forever.
- Juryō Yōzan Ken (樹霊妖斬拳 Wood Spirit Ghostly Beheading Technique) or The Binding Fist of the Demonic Vine in the English Dub: Used by Yoko Kurama during his battle against Shinobu Sensui. This is where by growing the Rose Whip around his arm, Yoko Kurama can use the vines as a sword-based weapon.
- Okunenju Tree or Okunenju Root in the English Dub: Used during Kurama's battle against Shigure in the Three Kings Saga to show that using Yoko Kurama was not his ace card. Kurama is able to grow this tree in order to surround the fighting arena and the roots were able to render Shigure's ring sword useless.
- Bamboo Plant: Not officially named, this plant was used in Yu Yu Hakusho: Poltergeist Report to kill a Netherworld God that had impersonated Kuronue, an old friend of Yoko Kurama.
Other Plants
Other than the plants he uses for his attacks Kurama also has other Plants that he has for other uses as well:
- Akaru Weed or Lamp Weed in the English Dub: These weeds were used as markers by Kurama to help identify their way for traveling 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 aka Tsukihito Amanuma. Koenma was later able to use these to help him move in the cave for the part of the way when he was one his way to join up with the others to see Sensui.
- Fuyouka 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: doubling as a glider, this plant is where Yoko Kurama placed this on his back to sprout Butterfly Wings to help him, Hiei and Kuwabara, level their descent after falling in midair from the portal to Makai (Demon World) during their pursuit of Sensui to avenge Yusuke Urameshi's death.
Cultural references
- Kurama's name in the Philippines dub is Dennis. Originally he was mistaken for a girl, he was called "Denise". When the Filipino dubbers realized the mistake, "Dennis" became his real name and it was explained that he pretended to be a girl.
- Like Hiei, Kurama's name comes from the Kurama Mountain, in Kyoto, Japan. It is the location of a famous Buddhist temple. Mt. Hiei stands right beside it.
- Kurama's human name translates in two parts: the given (Shūichi) means "excellence first", while the surname (Minamino) means "Southern Field" and is also the name of a famous Japanese warrior. To this day, the surname is only allowed to families of nobility or higher social standing.
- Kurama is the name of a rural town in the northern mountains of Kyoto City, less than one hour from the city center. Kurama town is best known for its temple Kurama-dera and its hot spring, one of the most easily accessible hot springs from Kyoto.
- Kurama's image songs:
- *"Kurayami ni Akai Bara" (Soldier of Love)
- *"Kyou no Sayonara wa Mirai no Hajimari" (Today's Goodbye is the Start of Tomorrow)
- *"Nightmare"
- *"Koori no Naifu o Daite" (Embracing the Ice Knife)
- Kurama's group/duet songs:
- *"Mienai Mirai" - Kurama, Yusuke, Hiei, Kuwabara, Yukina, Keiko, Botan, and Koenma
- *"Wild Wind" (Yasei no Kaze no Youni) - Hiei and Kurama
- *"Yasashisa Wa Nemuranai" - Kurama, Yusuke, Hiei, and Kuwabara
- *"EYE TO EYE" - Kurama, Hiei, and Kuwabara
- *"Hikari no Naka de" - Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei
- *"Dark Side Stories" - Yoko Kurama & Hiei
- *"Boku-tachi no Kisetsu" - Yusuke, Kurama, Kuwabara, Hiei
| YuYu Hakusho |
|---|
| Characters |
| Yusuke Urameshi > Kazuma Kuwabara | Keiko Yukimura (Kayko Yukimura) | Koenma | Botan | Hiei | Kurama | Genkai | Yukina |
| Story Arcs |
| Spirit Detective Saga > Dark Tournament Saga | Chapter Black Saga | Saga of the Three Kings | | |
| Other |
| YuYu Hakusho characters > Ability list | Demon ranks | Manga chapters | Makai | Episodes | Trading Card Game |
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