Episode 56

Yoko's Magic
Kanji	決死の蔵馬! 最後の手段
Rōmaji	Kesshi no Kurama! Saigo no Te (The Desperate Kurama! A Final Measure)
Japan Air Date	November 13, 1993
English Air Date	May 15, 2004
Episode	56
Manga	Chapters 96 (second half)-97
Saga	Dark Tournament Saga
Opening Song	Smile Bomb
Ending Song	Sayonara Bye Bye
Previous Episode	←The Beast Within
Next Episode	Beneath Bui's Armor→

Yoko's Magic is the thirty-first episode of season 2 of YuYu Hakusho. It aired on November 13, 1993 in Japan and May 15, 2004 in the United States.

Short Summary

Yoko Kurama reverts into his human form, giving Karasu the advantage. In response, Kurama plays on Karasu's overconfidence, and uses a desperate final attack to secure victory.

Detailed Summary

The episode starts with the fight between the newly transformed Yoko Kurama, and the powerful master of bombs, Karasu. Karasu starts by attacking Yoko with his Trace-Eye Bombs. Yoko quickly dispatches them by countering with a very powerful plant, the Ojigi. Silence fills the stadium, as the giant demon plant first appears. Yoko's mighty plant, when grown under demon energy, is an extremely gifted species of plant. It can sense all movement, even something as unimportant as a muscle spasm. Yoko tells Karasu that it is now useless to run, and that doing so would only make him easier to catch.

The first sign of fear is shown on Karasu's face. The Ojigi, complete with several mouths and razor-sharp teeth, starts to attack the fleeing Karasu. Karasu tries to stop the plant's onslaught by throwing bombs. This attack does little more than to anger the Ojigi, and causes Yoko to laugh. The newly enraged plant starts attacking even more furiously, using energy blasts emitting from their mouths. Yoko watches his powerful plants finally corner the tired Karasu and start to clamp onto him. This also causes Karasu's mask to be torn off him. Several of the plant heads attach themselves to the Team Toguro fighter, until nothing can be seen of Karasu.

The crowd is stunned, and Yoko seems disappointed, saying that he wished he could have toyed with Karasu longer. A surprised Koenma even makes a comment, that he never wants to make Kurama mad after seeing what he can do. Juri declares Kurama the winner, but as she does so, Karasu emerges from the plant, saying they shouldn't count him out just yet. When noticing that Karasu has lost his mask, Toguro tells his team leader to step back, saying things are about to get hazardous.

Karasu begins to suck in energy through his mouth, and his jet-black hair turns into a vibrant blond color. Hiei tells his team that this means that Karasu is internalizing his power, making himself like a giant bomb. The Younger Toguro admits that Karasu has no loyalties, and that he would kill everyone in the stadium if he thought it would help him win the match. Karasu then jumps into the air laughing, and dive-bombs right at Yoko Kurama, causing a huge explosion to go off, destroying nearly half the stadium.

As the smoke clears, it is revealed that Yoko has reverted to his human form. Karasu, knowing that he now has the upper hand again, starts taunting him. Kurama attempts to summon his Rose Whip, and discovers he is too weak and injured to do so. Kurama tries desperately to hit Karasu, but can't seem to land a hit. Hiei tells Yusuke that Kurama obviously has a plan, and that he can tell this by the way he is moving. Kurama finally lands a hit and plants a seed next to Karasu's heart, but it is quickly discovered. Karasu, who is now in control, straps a bomb to Kurama's leg, and detonates it. The extremely injured Kurama is now surrounded by Karasu's bombs. He is being continually attacked at all angles by the bombs, and seems very near death. Karasu says that he won't hit Kurama's face, saying he never wants to mutilate it.

Karasu thinks he has won, and that Kurama doesn't have the power to summon any more plants. But the blood-soaked Kurama uses the rest of his life energy to summon one more plant, a blood sucking plant from Demon World. The plant hits Karasu's chest. It begins to suck blood from Karasu, in the exact spot where Kurama's plant seed had been earlier. A stunned and confused Karasu dies and is turned into a beautiful rose. Kurama has sacrificed himself to kill Karasu, or so he thought. It turns out that he still has energy left. He later realizes how he survived, that every time he transformed into Yoko Kurama, he retains some of his energy. Karasu is dead, and Kurama lives to fight another day.

Anime Notes

• This episode marks the demise of Karasu, though the next episode reveals that he technically won his fight as Kurama didn't rise up in time.
• In the Blu-ray remastered dub, Kuwabara still calls Suzuki "Suzuka" instead of his original name.

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