So where did we left off? Oh yes, Kurama, Hiei and Kuwabara were fighting with Sensui (the main villain for this story arc) at the Demon world. So what happened to them? Sadly to say, they were losing to Sensui, and badly injured too. To be honest, it didn't look good for the trio. But just as we feel that there is no more hope for them to win, Yuusuke (together with Koenma riding on the back of Buu - Yuusuke's "spiritual" animal) came to the rescue! As revealed in Volume 16, Yuusuke died but he came back to life with more powerful strength. Even though he became stronger and was finally at the same level with Sensui in terms of strength, Yuusuke still can't beat Sensui. They fought for quite awhile and eventually Sensui is defeated. But technically it wasn't Yuusuke who killed Sensui. During the fight, 'someone' managed to take control of Yuusuke's body and unleashed a powerful attack against Sensui that managed to kill him, and that 'someone' was Yuusuke's ancestor who was a demon. And so that was the end of Sensui. His body (and soul I assumed) was taken by Itsuki (Sensui's loyal friend/follower and the only 'family' he had left) to another dimension and, as what Isuki said, they will 'remain together peacefully'.
Such a tragic end for Sensui. But on to the next story arc. After the fight and after all of them returned to the human world, Yuusuke, Hiei and Kurama were each visited by representatives from the leaders of the demon world; Yuusuke with representatives from his own ancestor, Raizen; Hiei with representatives from Mukuro; while Kurama were visited by representatives from his old ally, Yomi. According to legend (which turned out to be true), these three leaders had wage wars on each other for supremacy in the demon world for 500 years. And now Yuusuke, Hiei and Kurama were invited to join the leaders as each of them seek stronger ally to win the war. Surprisingly all three of them decided they would join the leaders respectively which disappointed Kuwabara who felt that they were no different than Sensui and Toguro (past villains of the manga series). How would the fight between these three leaders progress with Yuusuke, Hiei and Kurama joined each team? And would this fight for dominance of the demon world affect the friendship between these four friends?
So that was the plot for Volume 17. What are the things that I like and didn't like about this volume? Let's start with the one that I like. First off is Sensui. I like how the mangaka, Yoshihiro Togashi, fleshed out his character at the very end of his story arc. It's good to know a bit about his background, his feelings and his reasoning in opening the gate to the demon world. It's not much but I think it's still a perfect ending for his character. I also like the bits about the whereabouts of Sensui's former allies after the incident; Amanuma (he died in Volume 16 but it was explained that Koenma helped to bring his soul back to his body), Kamiya, Hagiri and Mitarai.
Another part that I like is the legend of the three leaders in the demon world for the new story arc. It's an interesting story although sometimes I'm thinking to myself "Eh, that doesn't make any sense!". Not to forget, Raizen, Mukuro and Yomi seem like great new characters from what we've seen so far of them in this volume. Readers will get to know more about them as the story moves along in the next volume.
What about the things that I don't like in Volume 17? For starter, the fight between Sensui with Hiei, Kurama and Kuwabara. I wish the mangaka had stretched their fight a bit more before Yuusuke came to fight with Sensui. It would have been great to see the three friends flexed their muscles and unleashed their powers a bit more than what have been shown in this volume.
Another thing that bothers me is the complexity of this new story arc with the three demon leaders; Raizen, Mukuro and Yomi. Although it was explained quite lengthy in the manga but it was explained through the characters from the demon world. I wish the manga would include discussions or exchanges between Yuusuke, Kurama, Kuwabara and Hiei regarding the current situation and the state of the war between these three leaders before Yuusuke, Kurama and Hiei decided to join the fight. That way, at least readers would have some ideas what are the thoughts of the main characters as they join each leaders. The only exchange about this in the manga was between Kurama and Hiei when Hiei told Kurama that he will join Mukuro. I feel that it would be good to include more such exchanges to further explore the plot.
As a conclusion, YuYu Hakusho Volume 17 is a fine and interesting read. The ending to the Sensui story arc was certainly satisfying, while the new story arc about the war between three great demons in the demon world is interesting (albeit confusing at times) and has huge potential to become another good story arc for the manga series. If you haven't jump into this manga series yet, what are you waiting for? The manga series will end in two more volumes, so I'm looking forward to review the last two volumes for you. Thank you for reading!
Image from Amazon.
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