Based on Yomi's dialogue while narrating his past with Kurama, they should both be at least 1,000 year old. Kurama as a youko reaching 1,000 years should give him 9 tails after reaching the rank of a tenko/sky fox. So Kurama in animal form is a white or silver nine tailed fox.
Actually it's curious that Togashi never specified how many tails Kurama should really have and instead focused on his talent as a thief and plant manipulator. If Kurama's fox mythology was expanded upon, his powers should be divine since 1,000 year old foxes are basically gods.
I'm so picky about how Kurama is written in fanfiction. I love this silly murder fox for all his complexities but like with many characters in fandom, he can really lose his varying qualities and be oversimplified when people write him.
Some people write Kurama as this cruel, selfish, hyper manipulative bastard who is only ever in it for his own gain.
Some people write him as this sweet angel baby who just loves his mother and grows flowers and mothers hens Hiei.
But the thing is, he's both neither of these things and all of these things at once and that's what makes him interesting!
The Kurama we know in Yu Yu Hakusho is the same soul that lived for thousands of years as an entirely self interested thief who had absolutely no qualms about murdering anybody in the way of what he wanted. It's only the anime that makes his past and current self seem like different people or some kind of possession, but there's only one soul in there. One set of memories. One person.
And that person is complex!
He remained that arrogant, self interested person right up until Shiori pushed him out of the way of that glass, that was the inciting incident that lead him to begin changing as a person. Kurama grows to deeply regret the person he used to be and many of his past actions. We hear from Hiei that once upon a time Kurama wouldn't have hesitated to kill a child and yet he's furious when he's forced to kill Amanuma. This shows that he has grown to be a person with some level of kindness and empathy.
But he still did it.
Because Kurama is brains above all else and killing Amanuma was the logical decision, even if he hated it.
Kurama has grown a great deal of kindness and empathy in his human life. He believes in second chances because he got to have his own and change who he is. He does deeply love his mother, she is his most important person, a person he was willing to die for and I don't think that's a kind of love Yoko would have been capable of. From that love he learns to love further. He loves his friends and is deeply loyal to them. Hiei, Yusuke and Kuwabara are his friends and he cares a great deal about them. He is capable of great love, loyalty and kindness.
But mistake that kindness for weakness at your own peril.
Because when his mother or friends are threatened, Kurama becomes downright sadistic. He uses plants to murder, torture and torment people in horrifying ways. He still has no qualms killing people if they're a threat to the things he wants, only his priorities have shifted from treasures to people now.
Old habbits die hard and Kurama didn't completely change who he is, it would be hard to completely start anew after spending thousands of years developing habbits and personality traits.
Kurama is still cruel. He is still selfish and he is definitely still manipulative. Kurama's self interests have changed but he would still place the people he personally cares about over others. A trolley problem between his mother and a group of strangers on the other track? He's picking his mother, because he loves her and he's still selfish. He's still self interested, just in a different way. A kinder way maybe, but it's still there. He's still cruel and vindictive enough to not allow a quick death to the people who step on his toes. He's still perfectly comfortable using that smooth, socially intelligent way of his to get his way and be perceived in the ways that benefit him. He's perfectly comfortable stacking the deck in his favour, in fact, it's probably almost a compulsion for him to ensure he always has some kind of upper hand.
He's not above hurting, killing, stealing, manipulating to get what he wants. He's proud and he doesn't take well to his pride being insulted. He's a fox with very sharp teeth that he isn't at all afraid to use.
He also dearly loves his friends. Has come to see the value in empathy and kindness.
Kurama is a knife with a well wrapped handle. Soft and comfortable to those who hold it but sharp and dangerous to those it's pointed against. But even to those who hold it, it's important to never forget that what you're holding is sharp and it's entirely too easy to cut yourself on the edge.
Kurama is complicated. He's nuanced. He's both kind and cruel. He's both loyal and selfish. He's both empathetic and manipulative (in fact that empathy helps him better read people and makes him an even better manipulator).
I love when people write him complexly. I love his character journey to be a better person but it's so important to remember his edge.
25 May is Little Silkworm Yusuke's Birthday in YYH manga!!! ☀️💛🌿💙🐛❤️🐦🔥
Since Togashi created YYH as a Detective Game (to hide the Kuwameshi Love Story from censors & to mirror how Yusuke's a Spirit Detective! How cool is that? 😁), cluing into Togashi's Storytelling DNA is like gaining 'cheat codes' that reveal significant Hidden Things about our beloved heroes, such as Yusuke's Birthday!!! 🌿❤️🐛
The Time Forensics 🤣⌚🕵️♂️ of how I deduced Yusuke's birthday from the clues Togashi dropped from the end of Dark Tournament to the end of Sensui's arc are in the epic end notes of Chapter 19 of The Good Fight, but since the full meta is too intricate for any tumblr post to summarize 🤣, I'll leave those interested to read the chapter itself!
For this post, I shall just say even after tracing through every single date/time clue, it may still be a little ambiguous whether Yusuke's birthday falls on 25 May or 26 May, but fear not! We have the cheat codes! 🤣
Since SYMBOLISM & references to Japanese culture are at the HEART of Togashi's Storytelling DNA, the 🗝️ dual keys to deducing the right date are the DEEP Silkworm-Mulberry SYMBOLISM where Yusuke's likened to a little Silkworm growing off Kuwa's Divine Mulberry Reiki,
AND the real-world Japanese traditional calendar which has 72 micro-seasons based on natural phenomenon, including the micro-season between May 21 - 25 known as "蚕起食桑 Kaiko okite kuwa o hamu, Silkworms start feasting on Mulberry leaves"!!!
Out of the two possible dates of 25 May and 26 May, only 25 May falls within this Silkworm-Mulberry micro-season, thus 25 May has to be Yusuke's Birthday!!!!!!
❤️🌿💙🐛💛
Do you see why I keep gushing that Togashi's Storytelling DNA gives us cheat codes to unlock the hidden parts of YYH? 😁💛❤️💙🐛
Also, what could be more Symbolic of Yusuke than being born on the last day of the Japanese micro-season when real-life Silkworms feast on Mulberry leaves?? 🤣 ❤️🌿💙🐛💛
Coz being Late is one of the Themes for our Lovers as per the ancient Star-Crossed Greek Love Story associated with Mulberries!
Yusuke's closest people (Atsuko, Keiko, Kuwa) were late to realize what Yusuke meant to them until Yusuke died in the car accident 😭, little Silkworm's revived post car-accident at the last possible minute before the window of opportunity closed, he's late to make it to the tree in Genkai's succession trial, he's late to the boat going to DT, he's late to save Kuwa from being traumatized by the Chapter Black tape due to wrong tactical decisions from Genkai & Kurama in Sensui arc, etc, etc!
More accurately speaking, in all these instances, Yusuke shows up or was revived at the last possible minute, just like he's born on the last possible day of the 21-25 May micro-season when Silkworms feast on Mulberry! 🤣🤣🤣
Seriously folks, the Silkworm-Mulberry SYMBOLISM is so FUNDAMENTAL to our lovebirds, knowing this foundational design (and the themes of YYH) will UNLOCK the entire story! 😁🕺🪩🕵️♂️🤣
Thus Yusuke's Birthday isn't just a random date, it not only builds upon the same timing/lateness theme, it once again confirms Kuwa is INDISPENSABLE to Yusuke's growth and evolution, coz it's Kuwa's Reiki that is the driving force behind Yusuke's multiple rebirths into a Mazuko, which is why little Silkworm's BIRTH date falls within the real-world Silkworm-feast-on-Mulberries micro-season! 🤣
Which is why we get the official anime art in this post, coz Yusuke's standing on the Japanese characters for the Buddhist concept of Reincarnation 輪廻転生 (the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth), and since Kuwa's indispensable to Yusuke's many rebirths into the next stage of his evolution, Kuwa's right there beside Yusuke, where Kuwa's meant to be 🥹❤️🔥💛🌿💙🐛🐦🔥
To be more exact, Yusuke's standing on the character for Life / Birth 生, which is such a hopeful symbolic meaning, coz despite all the heartbreak, hardship and pain the world throws at him, Yusuke chooses Life time & time again for the sake of his loved ones, even when he couldn't find it in himself to live if it's just for himself! 😭❤️🔥🐦🔥🌿🐛💙💛
Which is why I keep shouting Yusuke's Entirely Made of Love, coz without his Love for his friends & family, and their Love for little Silkworm in return, Yusuke literally wouldn't be alive!
Not to mention, the fact that Yusuke finally breaks out of the Late theme by coming back from the Makai a full 1.5 years earlier than expected is a very hopeful positive sign that our lovebirds will finally have the right conditions post-canon to stay together!!!
All this is to say: HAPPIEST BIRTHDAY TO THE FOREVER KING OF MY HEART LITTLE SILKWORM YUSUKE!!! 😁❤️🔥💛🌿💙🐛🐦🔥
You will always be the embodiment of Love and what Choosing Love means to me, and I hope you're breathlessly happy & deliriously over-the-moon with Kuwa in Love and Life!!! 😁❤️🔥💛🌿💙🐛🐦🔥
New thoughts about half-something trope in anime/manga/game:
I love Castlevania Alucard and don't mind him being a damphyr because I noticed people don't act like him being a half-anything is what makes Alucard strong or good-hearted. Meanwhile when Yusuke is headcanoned as half-demon (canon is mazoku not hanyou), he's turned into an Inuyasha copycat.
Inuyasha is Yusuke's polar opposite. Inuyasha hated being himself. He hated being a hanyou because he was treated badly for it. Meanwhile, manga canon Yusuke was never insulted by demons for being an ex-human. They like him before and after his turning for who he is, not what he is. And Yusuke himself never minded turning mazoku because to him, his identity as Yusuke Urameshi stayed the same no matter his biology and genealogy (and this is more consistent in the manga because his identity issues in his Yomi fight was anime only).
Which means to say that Yusuke's flaws and good points (talking about humans as food and saving a child) are both there in him no matter if he's human or demon (Kuroko misunderstood him, I have a separate meta post for that). Inuyasha is the opposite of this because he turns human and that weakens him while turning more youkai makes him lose his conscience.
Anyway, half-demon Yusuke is okay too but some reasoning for it changes the character into something else (he's not Inuyasha). Meanwhile, Castlevania Alucard being a half-vampire barely gets talked about in the fandom even if it's more important to him than it is to Yusuke so almost nobody makes his biology the thing that controls his identity. In any case, I don't like it when biological changes or mixed-race stuff are what decides when a character's morality is good or evil and I figured it out with Alucard's help. I think Castlevania and Yu Yu Hakusho are great stories that tell you race is not what makes someone good or evil. And YYH manga has more nuance about this.
If you see Yusuke referred to as a half-human half-demon or part-demon or hybrid demon etc. in the manga or anime after his second death, it is mistranslation. Mazoku (魔族) doesn't mean any of those things. Hanyou (妖怪) literally means "half-demon" while Mazoku is "demon tribe" (hence, the tribal markings on Yusuke and Raizen). And Yusuke was never called as a hanyou.
It's actually interesting that the Mazoku mythology in Togashi's work created a new Mazoku lore only found in YYH. When mixing with humans, Mazoku descendants will always result to human offsprings and only awaken as demons if they became strong enough to turn into one. It's a good thing to remember that Yusuke was a human and owed his achievements during his human life to his human capabilities.
After his resurrection, Yusuke became a full-blooded Mazoku but his personality and grey morality stayed the same because Yusuke remained the same person even if his biology changed. In the manga, no demon called Yusuke a "human" after he became a Mazoku. Yusuke's transition from human to demon is a little like Toguro's, which other demons did not refer to as being "half" of anything either. It is actually common in mythologies or folklore for a human to become a supernatural being without being a hybrid. So that's why Yusuke was a human who became a demon rather than being a bit of both after he was revived a second time. (side note: Yusuke having both reiki and youki as a Mazoku is anime filler episode only, not manga canon)
Different headcanons result to different characterizations but I think Togashi's canon lore was the best in shaping Yusuke.
Aside from being strong on his own as a human, Yusuke's grey morality had always been there. Yusuke's soul or conscience didn't change because the point of YYH's story was how humans and demons were equal in terms of good and evil and therefore could co-exist as equals the same way any other group of people could. Yusuke being the same person as a human and as a Mazoku after his biology became entirely different represents this in the story as its main character.
PS: If seeing Yusuke as a half-demon is an entirely self-indulgent headcanon or a preference, that's good for the people who like it but I want to talk about how canon Yusuke is so important to YYH's lore.
Impulse Analyses 11/5/24 (election day. ironic that i'm watching an anime with a tournament that was essentially founded "for the people" around a time like this): YYH Ep 111
this will bounce off of my previous analysis, so i won't be directly listing new themes here. again, spoilers beyond the cutoff
I SCRATCHED MY HEAD SO SHARPLY SEEING WHERE YOMI DECIDED TO END UP
Even though I knew his fight with Yusuke has shown him something new and has awakened something new in him, I really thought Yomi was going to continue being a deprecating dirtbag. Glad to see I was wrong and that Yomi would go on a journey towards a better self. Also happy to see that he respects Kurama's wishes to leave his past self behind.
It did take some of the intrigue I saw in Yomi into a sudden 180 (I feel like there was a lot more to be said with Yomi's character). But I dig the message. I guess one good experience with a fellow being has the potential to change someone who was in a 500-year-long stalemate of a war.
The small decision to have Kuwabara in spirit (figuratively, not literally) in certain moments was a really nice touch. It shows how much of an impact he had in characters such as Yusuke and Kurama. It really got me when Kurama started thinking of Kuwabara and he smiled afterwards. Being a friend of Kuwabara really meant something for him, and using this as a way to show that was a really good call.
Literal cherry on top of this story of identity
Because I heard the ending was not the best (according to notes from Togashi), I was really curious as to how the tournament (and the series as a whole) would wrap itself up in less than 2 episodes (because it did seem like there would've been a lot more fighting had there not been a timeskip). Then the story pulls a HxH tenfold and gets to the end of the fights in no time.
Yusuke lost, but so did Yomi. The tournament and the state of the three worlds resolved in a pretty well-thought-out way (a bit corny, but it worked to give a hopeful ending).
Seeing that the characters (probably) won't be getting growth after this, I'm actually kinda disappointed with where a few ended up:
Yusuke still has a bit of a rough, spiky exterior
Hiei is still a brooding lone wolf who refuses to reveal his secret to Yukina
The seeds are set, and the characters came out of this as better & more well-rounded people compared to where they first started:
Yusuke is more committed than ever to giving life a good shot and growing up
Hiei backs down on his decision to give Kurama the necklace ("You'll give this to her, at your own pace")
In those respects, I like the hopefulness this part of these two journeys convey. Really good riveting lessons and themes all around (accept yourself, it's okay to feel a lot of things during your journey; it's okay to take a while to get to something, just try to get some closure with the people and things you care about before you regret it; just keep living and living in a way that fulfills you)
But for an ending to an anime of +100 episodes, I'm a little mixed on these two. It's like if Hunter x Hunter ended after the Chairman Election arc. The characters progressed just enough to see the horizon (some can see it more than others), but it's definitely not the end for them. Maybe the last episode will show a bit of something
I don't hate it, I just felt like it could've been handled a tad better. But yes, I wholeheartedly understand and respect the reasons why Togashi wanted to end the story where he ended it. Health is miles more important than a perfect story
also when Kurama said "I'm not interested in you that way" to Hiei, I died a little inside. I really thought they would've, idk... They seemed to have helped each other crop their positive traits up when they first appeared.
also
JORGE WAS THE NARRATOR LETS GOOOO
some notes about Ep 109 & 110
109: I felt so bad for both Hiei and Mukuro by the end of their fight. They deserve everything good that can and will come their way. Really loved how their fight was essentially an encounter where they both learn to see value in each other & themselves, and one where they help free each other from their pasts. A fight that I think would resonate with a great amount of people
110: Yomi and Yusuke being toxic rough rowdy fighting guys is so funny, heartfelt, and,
actually, for some reason, it's also sad, to me. It's hard to explain the last one, I'm only having these thoughts now.
Like, at this point in the story, both of these characters really only have fighting (and proving their strength) as their one outlet to feel something, to make their mark on the world, and maybe even to feel seen. I thought Yusuke vs. Chu was pushing it with the humanity and the subtle tragedy of it all but holy moly. These guys may be smiling through those punches, but I hope they may smile more often. I'm proud of them for finding something to smile about. But man does it have to be like this?
...WAIT A GOD DANG MINUTE
Shura yelling for Yomi at the climax of Yomi vs. Yusuke, and that being the thing that kept Yomi standing, is also nice, come to think of it.
Shura, despite suffering a brutal, even personal loss to his father, still loved him enough to cheer him on.
Yomi, after realizing that his son, no, after realizing that at least someone, cares for him, sees one reason to keep standing.
They both saw value in each other (and themselves) at the end :)
Yeah you go take that journey and come out of it a better person Yomi or I'll yank your ears
Edit: if i got something wrong, feel free to let me know. Thanks for reading!
Also team masho oh my lord I'll miss that team of goofballs
Edit March 2025: FUDGE, THEY'RE NOT CALLED THAT. Whatever team had Chu, Jin, Rinku, Touya, Shishi, the Beautiful Suzuka, etc.
(Analysis beyond the cutoff because spoilers. Go watch Yu Yu Hakusho, its characters are pretty rad. Another banger story from Togashi)
Loved Kurama’s choice of tree to grow to victory: it’s very indicative of which identities he chooses to part with and which identities to keep (if it wasn’t obvious already with him changing back out of his “Yoko” form and into his “Suichi” form). I wanted to cry the moment I realized the color of the petals on both the tree in Kurama’s family flashback and the tree he used to win were deliberately the same. Then I wanted to cry even more seeing Shigure jump to his death (“a swordsman is never defeated twice”) as Sad Beautiful Memory played in the background. I liked Shigure design-wise and character-wise :(
The characters shown here (Kurama, Yomi, and Shigure), complemented with the use of current supporting cast (Kurama’s friends), neatly convey themes of identity, and how it can be used as a reason and/or an excuse for certain choices (not that you should ever use your identity for any heinous acts, but we’ll get to that.)
Kurama “wins” the question/themes by choosing an identity that both he and others can be happy with (Kurama with his human, non-Yoko identity). Despite it meaning to be a disappointment and an initial failure to both competition and peers, Kurama chose to not put on his “Yoko” self any longer, as he was happier as his “Suichi” self.
It was a decision despised by Yomi, as he wanted Kurama at his best for this tournament.
It was a decision that even Yusuke was concerned about, as Kurama risked his life to a more unnecessary degree just because he didn’t want to be associated with a name, face, and identity he hated (a valid motivation, don't get me wrong, but it was a motivation that was going to get him killed if he wasn't careful). If you got the impulsive, reckless character among your circle wanting you to make a move, you know something’s up.
But it was a decision that Kurama wanted to make anyway, to show both those around him and himself that he could be the person he wanted to be any day of the week.
Yomi and Shigure “fail” the question/themes by choosing an identity and a life that not only puts a burden on themselves, but others as well. Yomi makes it clear that he has a high standard for Kurama’s performance in the tournament, mainly because he ties his identity so closely to his status, to Kurama, and how much of a fighter he is compared to Kurama. Purposefully or not, Yomi puts pressure on Kurama just because he (Yomi) wants to feel GOOD about his standing compared to Kurama (a former superior to Yomi). Yomi is very much stuck in the past, and refuses to process his past in a way that helps both him and others. That’s why he decides to have a kid to beat during the tournament. He hasn't really found an identity beyond his past failures and his current strength.
Shigure also puts pressure on Kurama, but not as much as Yomi. Shigure tries to force interactions with Kurama during this fight, using his sword to provoke a reaction out of his opponent with every throw he makes. Not only that, but he also put pressure on himself (his “don’t lose twice or die” philosophy). As Kurama observed succinctly, Shigure didn’t have to jump to his death. But he did it anyway just because of his loss count. Part of me also thinks he jumped to his death because he saw the petals of Kurama’s tree and thought "damn what was i doing with my life this is beautiful" and just came to the conclusion that 1) He isn't worthy of such a sight, and/or 2) He wasn't living in a way that, in hindsight, he would have liked. Either way, he wasn't helping anyone nor himself by living the way he was.
(I wrote this analysis right after watching the episode around 11 pm, so let me know if I got anything wrong. Thanks for reading!)
(Manga equivalence of this scene where Mukuro still uses "ore" in katakana)
No one in the manga called him a woman. The tournament audience reacted to him showing his face for the first time in the manga but didn't call him a woman. This is probably because this character is older than Kurama and had been powerful in more than a thousand years but no one knew what he looked like until Yusuke convinced him to return to just being an individual person and therefore he had to show who he was on his own without his country, which showed how sincere he was about the tournament.
In the anime, where Mukuro fought Hiei, he got angry at being called a woman. This never happened in the manga because he was never called a woman in there and his anime fight with Hiei happened off screen.
If I want to headcanon Mukuro as transmasc for this, I actually can. If he gets called "female" by anyone else even Togashi that actually does not invalidate a trans headcanon. Even if women can also say "ore", Mukuro specifically IS transmasc to me exactly because of his female body and preference to appear masculine. No, he is not getting any surgery or HRT because he likes his body and is proud of it, thank you very much. Not every trans person can transition so I like my trans headcanon to be like this and that's why trans Mukuro is important to me. Mukuro experienced something terrible and still, he embraced himself the way he is. I don't see that characterization often in actual trans characters so they don't resonate with me, unfortunately. But Mukuro does.
You can still love a badass woman and see her as a tomboy or just someone who didn't care about gender. That's fine. But don't come at me being transphobic as if there wasn't any nuance about gender when a character shows a complicated relationship with it. Don't come at me either telling me what's problematic or distasteful when I see transness in a sexual abuse survivor. I had a hell of life to live too. It's fantastic to see self-acceptance in a transmasc character and watch him not be ashamed who he is no matter how he looks.
