Yu Yu Hakusho, Volume 17: Showdown!

Yu Yu Hakusho, Volume 17: Showdown!
By Yoshihiro Togashi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Getting to the end.

This volume, though more packed with action then the rest, isn't as fulfilling as you would think. Why? Because of how the "bad guys" are portrayed.

As evil and twisted as some of them are, it was different with Sensui. Being so black and white, with no room for gray, made him snap. He saw the darkest of gray, and simply couldn't take it. So he immersed himself in the darkness and obsessed over how evil and vile humans can be. Let’s face it; we don't have the greats of histories. Just reading anything on our wars or what use to be "punishment", will give anyone chills and that feeling of disgust.

But like most of us, we see the gray, as well as the black and white.

When Sensui died, I was sad for him, for what he couldn't fix. Even though I don't condone what he did, no matter what the reason. There is still sadness at his passing.

To me, that is something powerful, to write such a story with so many variables and emotions so that by the end, you feel for the antagonist, and wish there something more that could have been done. Is fascinating. Yusuke felt this, as he watched Sensui die. For someone who started out as a thug, while only thinking of himself, in that moment it showed how big his heart was, so many shades of gold.

As I've said countless of times, this is a story that has every kind of feeling, every kind of hope, that pulls you in, and gets you feeling for every character, no matter what side they fall on.

Happy Reading

-Emily