Shigure (時雨 Shigure?), also known as Shigure the Osteopath, is a demon residing in Mukuro's territory and was the one from Hiei's past who surgically implanted his Jagan eye, along with teaching him the rudiments of swordplay. He is known throughout Demon World as a doctor of darkness.
Quick Answers
Who implanted Hiei's Jagan eye and taught him swordplay?
What is Shigure also known as in Mukuro's territory?
What is Shigure's role in the Demon World?
What is the significance of Shigure's large scar?
Appearance[]
Shigure has a strange sense of fashion, with two large piercings on his lip and head, each sporting a chain. Additionally, he has three smaller piercings on the left side of his jaw. He also has a large scar across his face and a dim gray ponytail kept up via a bright blue bow. He is always seen wearing a light blue, sleeveless robe, white pants, and black bandages wrapping both of his forearms. Also, he hangs a strange U-shaped device from his head either in or behind his ears, which doesn't appear to serve any special purpose.
However, his silhouetted visage in Hiei's initial flashback of the anime gave him a noticeably different appearance. In the flashback, he has a sizable horn on his forehead, pointed ears, and a reptilian-like tail. In addition, he appeared to have the male pattern baldness, not unlike that of Jorge Saotome, and wore a trench coat.
History[]
When Hiei was looking for his sister, his path led him to Shigure. In exchange for Hiei divulging his life story, Shigure would implant the Jagan eye in Hiei, under the condition that he found Hiei's story interesting enough. He believes a demon's eyes are the gateway to this answer and later comments that Kurama has "very interesting" eyes. After hearing Hiei's unique, indelible tale, he agrees to operate. After the painful operation, Hiei leaves and Shigure asks for him to never tell his sister the truth, should he ever find her (although Hiei didn't plan on that anyway). He also informs Hiei that his demon energy has been reduced to almost nothing and offers to shelter him until his powers have recuperated to a reasonable level. During this time, he provided Hiei with some level of instruction in the art of swordsmanship. Afterwards, Shigure began working for Mukuro and became a member of her 77 elite guardsmen.
Synopsis[]
Spirit Detective Saga[]
In a flashback of Hiei's past, he briefly appears as the surgeon who implanted the Jagan Eye in Hiei in order to look for his sister.
Three Kings Saga[]
Mukuro invites Hiei back to her territory, where he is once again pitted against Shigure in battle. In the manga, Mukuro comments that in a clash of blades, the odds are 7:3 in Shigure's favor. The two fight for a short time, ending with the top half of Shigure's head getting chopped off and Hiei being severed in half at the waist. However, he was healed by Mukuro (presumably because of his value as a warrior and surgeon), just as Hiei was, and subsequently entered the first ever Demon World Tournament. In the finals, he fights Kurama, whom he offers to operate (in order to become Yoko once more) if he would tell him a story.
Then, Kurama fights Shigure. Though Kurama is in the Lower S Class power level, he is no match for Shigure. During a fierce battle, he transforms into an Upper S Class Yoko and easily uses Super Speed to avoid Shigure, but willfully transforms back into his human self, stating that he will not resort to using that power.
Shigure after being defeated by Kurama
Despite being weaker than Shigure, he is able to cause the large dormant Okunenju tree they are using as an arena to bloom, having merged it with a cherry blossom seed before the fight began. This causes Shigure to lose the match as his Rinka Enreki-tō gets stripped from him, giving Kurama the win.
Afterwards, exclusively in the anime, Shigure states that a true swordsman never loses twice and appears to take his own life by throwing himself from the top of Kurama's Okunenju creation. This seems to be his preferred alternative to living with the shame of defeat.[1]
Powers and Abilities[]
Abilities[]
- Master Swordsman: Shigure is a master swordsman and carries his trademark "Rinka Enreki-tō". At some point, he gave lessons in sword technique to Hiei. Despite his great-sized sword, he exhibits an great degree of skill as a swordsman, being capable of delivering multiple precision strikes at lightning-fast speed, to which Hiei is equal in combat during the Three Kings Saga.
Known Techniques/Moves[]
- Boomerang Circle: Using his energy, he can throw the weapon like a boomerang, with it moving in a circular path and returning to him. He uses this ability to cut down Makai trees with the blade losing no momentum at all during the impacts
- Precision: In order to be successful in his profession as Demon World chiropractor, Shigure must be able to cut precisely at one seven-hundredth of one millimeter. With that kind of precision in the operating room, his prowess with a sword is considerable, unsurprisingly.
Shigure in the eye of the tornado.
- Sword Cyclone: By spinning his sword above his head, Shigure can surround himself with a massive tornado. By directing himself in its center towards his opponent with his blace poised in front of him, the impact creates a huge explosion. He uses this technique in the Demon world tournament against Kurama, who is only able to survive it by transforming into his full demon form, Yoko.
Items[]
Shigure's weapon.
- Shigure fights with unique weapon called the "Rinka Enreki-tō" (燐火円礫刀, Phosphorus Fire Circle Pebble Blade, Phosphorus Ring Sword in the English dub), forged from the bone of a particularly-large bison indigenous to Demon World, kept around his waist. In the anime, It is shown to be as indestructible as Kurama's Rose Whip.[1]
Trivia[]
- In Chapter 159 of the manga, Mukuro states that Shigure is the weakest guard in her "Inner Circle", a group of her 77 most elite warriors despite him being an S Class demon.
- In Chapter 172, Shigure is still alive. After the Tournament, He says to Hiei and Kirin: "I still find myself dissatisfied. True, Enki is powerful, certainly someone Mukuro-sama could've beaten, had she met him at full strength". His line was given to Zakuro in the anime version of that scene.
- In the English version of Episode 23, Shigure was initially voiced by Jerry Jewell in a flashback of Hiei's. When the blu-ray version was released, the flashback was redubbed by Peter Webber. Webber also redubbed his work during the Three Kings Saga for a better performance.
- In the original Japanese version, Shigure's voice was provided by Tomomichi Nishimura in the aforementioned flashback before Takashi Taniguchi would voice him in the Three Kings Saga.
Shigure's first anime appearance
- Shigure's drastically different depiction in Hiei's original flashback can be blamed on the anime staff not having a clear understanding of how Hiei obtained his Jagan at the time, as the former hadn't been introduced in the manga when "The Toguro Brothers Gang" aired; the episode first went out on March 20, 1993 whilst Shigure's debut was in June of 1994.
- In the edited dub, instead of being dubbed the "Surgeon of the Damned" by Hiei, he is dubbed the "Surgeon of Demon World" instead.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Yu Yu Hakusho manga; Chapter 160.
| e v | Team Mukuro | |
| Members: | Mukuro | Hiei | Kirin | Shigure | |