Yuyu Hakusho, Vol. 17

Yoshihiro Togashi, Yuyu Hakusho, vol. 17: Their Respective Decisions (ViZ, 1994) Dire predictions abound as the team are separated. They think they're done with the demon plane once the portal is sealed, but it seems that's not the case; three demon princes have been holding a shaky truce for five hundred years, but a major event is about to shatter that truce. When half your team is composed of demon plane members, things are bound to get tough. This is mostly a setup issue, but left me salivating for 18. *** ½

Yusuke Urameshi is like a really nasty cold -- no matter how many times you kill him, he just pops back up bigger and better. And the seventeenth volume of "Yu Yu Hakusho" hurtles him right back into the middle of the action once again, with some shocking new revelations about his ancestry and a new power-up. But even more striking than the end of one arc is the beginning of another, with our punky anti-hero starting on a sort of demonic road-trip of self-discovery. Having beaten them bloody, Sensui prepares to kill Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei -- turns out that even with their power-ups, all three together are unable to defeat him. But then Yusuke and Koenma blast through the demon tunnel on Puu, and Yusuke tells his worn-out friends that he alone is going to fight Sensui. Cue literally earthshattering duel as the former Spirit Detectives blast at each other without mercy. Then Yusuke is suddenly overwhelmed by his own staggering energy -- and transforms into a new demonic body. He begins a berserker attack on Sensui that devastates the older man... but it doesn't seem to be entirely under his control. And when the friends find the gravely injured Sensui, they learn of the reason he wanted to create the demon tunnel -- and his reasons for turning against the human race and Spirit World. But that doesn't answer some of Yusuke's own questions, regarding the ancestor who gave him this demonic power. To get some answers, he'll have to go to the very first Spirit Detective for advice -- and be presented with an unexpected invitation. "YuYu Hakusho Volume 17" is a pretty explosive ending to the entire Chapter Black arc... except it's not really the end. The first half is devoted to the clash between a newly demonized Yusuke and Sensui (a fight that goes by faster than you'd expect), and the second to the post-Sensui lives of the various psychic individuals left behind, as well as the question of Yusuke's ancestor. Pretty clearly, we're gearing up for another weird adventure. Yoshihiro Togashi manages to throw some curve-balls into the story, such as the identity of the S-class demons and a sudden introduction to the first Spirit Detective. But he also drops some bittersweet touching moments (Itsuki and Sensui's ultimate fate), gross biotechnology, and some kooky humour to lighten the mood -- for example, Kurama and Hiei completely crack up when their supposedly-dead friend arrives, and a pair of demon-killing little kids assault Yusuke. Needless to say, Yusuke has some wild changes in this one: still brash, a little goofy and impatient, but he seems more contemplative toward the end. And his demon form turns out to have knee-length hair and lots of tribal tattoos. At the same time, Togashi also makes you feel sorry for Sensui despite his totally warped mind and his inexcusable actions toward Earth. He's that most striking villain: the one that could've been a good guy. And unusually, Hiei actually provides most of the comic relief in this volum