Yu Yu HakushoA Shinto Case Study

Yusuke Urameshi-Impurity: the series begins with his death

-Norinaga: “bad people will do a good deed”

-As a ghost: possession, invading dreams

-As a shaman: trials include rebirth, initiation and austerities

-Bugs: Puu as a parasite, leeching energy

-Spirit energy as a bird = after death, souls become birds

Kazuma Kuwabara-As a shaman: is possessed, faces onryo, knows animal spirits

-Purification through austerities: seeks Genkai’s training, thinks he must inhale a defeated opponent’s fumes to regain balance

-Bugs: caterpillar and the elder Toguro (a parasite or leech)

-“A mulberry is a tree, Kuwabara is a man”

Kurama + Yoko-Kurama as a plague deity: red; name translates to “kept horse” (connection to horses); parasite

-Bugs: is a parasite to a human fetus, family plagued by parasite demons - step-brother host to a parasite demon

-Yoko as Inari: spirit fox, mischievous/tricky thief of artifacts and knowledge, clothed in white (rice, sake), dominion over plants (agriculture)

Hiei-As the Leech Child: monstrous birth; cast off and vowed to return to take revenge; never actually appeased

-His mother as Izanami: dies after giving birth to a being of fire

-Snakes: Dragon of the Darkness Flame

-Imperial Regalia: wields the Shadow Sword; tail of the dragon/IS the dragon

Genkai-As a sanjin: lives in a mountaintop temple, reverts to a younger self when fighting, dies but is brought back (immortality), trains others through austerities

-As a shamaness: able to communicate with other worlds and nature, is able to transfer her spirit to/possess Puu

Yomi-Blindness, suggests darkness

-His aides are old = hags

-Punishment chambers full of decay

-Shura the test tube baby: creates a child without a woman

Ura Urashima + Kuromomotaro

As Urashimataro As Momotaro

-Carries fishing pole, box of aging smoke

-Smoke makes those who inhale it younger, not older as in the tale

-Companions as beast armor: of the ape, the phoenix and the wolf

(versus monkey/parrot/dog)

Other Worlds-Heavenly realm, Worldly realm, Underworld versus Spirit world, Human world, Demon world

-Afterlife shown as ambiguous; either in the sky or underwater

-Netherworld of the movie

-Connected by the River Styx and pseudo space

-Separated by the kekkai

Imperial Regalia-Sword, mirror and jewel as the Artifacts of Darkness

-Mirror = Forlorn Hope: grants the heart’s strongest desire at the cost of the user’s life

-Sword = Shadow Sword: any human cut with it turns into a demon; the antidote is in the hilt

-Jewel = Orb of Baast: removes the souls of humans; only children in the series [making its wielder a tengu ]

Bugs-Makai insects controlled by a flute; a parasite to humans, turning them into zombies

-Cousins of the makai invade Mushiyori city

-The Doctor’s psychic insects that inject humans with a disease fatal within minutes

-Mukuro’s mobile fortress Mukada shaped like a beetle

-Personal experience: Near Hirakatashi station: licked by a butterfly; attacked by mosquitoes only until using the purification fountain

Yokai-Tournament spectators human-form with animal/grotesque traits, leave a carnival feeling

-Koenma’s helpers: multi-colored, loincloth-clad ogres/oni

-Yusuke as a yokai: suggesting a balance between human and demon in the world