Episode 6

Three Monsters
Kanji	三匹の妖怪! 飛影•蔵馬•剛鬼
Rōmaji	Sanbiki no Yōkai! Hiei Kurama Gōki (The Three Yokai! Hiei, Kurama, and Goki)
Japan Air Date	November 14, 1992
English Air Date	March 30, 2002
Episode	6
Manga	Chapter 19 (p. 1-19) Chapter 20 (p. 1-20)
Saga	Spirit Detective Saga
Opening Song	Smile Bomb
Ending Song	Homework Never Ends
Previous Episode	←Yusuke's Back
Next Episode	Gouki and Kurama→

Three Monsters is the sixth episode of season 1 of YuYu Hakusho. It aired on November 14, 1992 in Japan and March 30, 2002 in the United States.

Short Summary

Koenma reveals that Yusuke is a Spirit Detective, and must use his unique abilities to battle demons and other threats to the Living World. Koenma additionally gives Yusuke a mission: he must recover three artifacts stolen by master thieves of the Spirit World.

Detailed Summary

The episode starts with three criminals stealing three artifacts from Spirit World. Meanwhile, in the Human World, Yusuke is awakened by his mother. He returns to school that day, and when he tries to join a conversation between two students, they run away from him thinking he was a ghost. Keiko approaches him, sparking the memory of her kissing him. They walk to school together, and when their schoolmates see him they are shocked, as they had assumed he was dead. They all run away after he looks at them. Yusuke comments that maybe he should've stayed dead, but Kuwabara taps his back and tells him not to worry, because he's going to be a ghost soon after he defeats him. Principal Takenaka enters the scene and hits Yusuke at the back of his head, welcoming him back to school. This annoys Yusuke, making him think about skipping, but Keiko scolds him. From above, Mr. Iwamoto scowls seeing that Yusuke is back at school.

Yusuke is next seen skipping his gym class on the roof. He takes the Psychic Spyglass out of his pocket that he received from Botan the night before. After gym is over, students from Yusuke's class notice that their valuables are missing. Seeing Yusuke come back from his break, the students start to suspect and accuse him of stealing their valuables. Mr. Iwamoto is seen punishing Yusuke in the teacher's lounge, but Principal Takenaka intervenes, asking Mr. Iwamoto for evidence. Mr. Iwamoto stats that Yusuke was the only one skipping gym class when the items were stolen. He then makes a snide comment about Yusuke's mother, which enrages Yusuke who then attempts to punch Mr. Iwamoto. However, Koenma suddenly enters the scene and begins telling Yusuke about his first mission.

Three criminals have stolen the Artifacts of Darkness from King Enma's vault and have escaped into the Human World. Yusuke replies that he's busy and calls Mr. Iwamoto an offensive word, and stops after realizing he was standing right in front of him. Koenma reassures him that he doesn't see them nor hear them. Yusuke asks Koenma if he can just call him later, but Koenma insists that it's urgent because if the artifacts are used to their full potential, then the Human World would be in a state of chaos. Yusuke still stubbornly refused, saying that he will not go on the case unless he can solve his own. Koenma asks Yusuke to take out his Psychic Spyglass and to look at Mr. Iwamoto's left pocket. Yusuke does as he was told, and finds all the missing items in Mr. Iwamoto's pocket. Yusuke comes back to reality and confronts Mr. Iwamoto, pulling the dragon pen from Mr. Iwamoto's pocket. After seeing this, Principal Takenaka asks Mr. Iwamoto to explain why he had the stolen items. However, Mr. Iwamoto denies all of this, and states that Yusuke must have slipped the items into his pocket, and walks out of the room soon after. Koenma now tells Yusuke to go to work, but Yusuke tells him he'll do that after he gets his revenge. Koenma tells him of his new ability, the Spirit Gun. Yusuke aims his fingers towards Mr. Iwamoto and fires his Spirit Gun, knocking Mr. Iwamoto unconscious. Now having his revenge, Yusuke follows Koenma into the gym's storage room, where Koenma explains about the case and the stolen items. Yusuke accepts the mission as a sign of gratitude for being brought back to life.

Yusuke begins his search for the three criminals in the town, but is unsure of where to start looking. He lays down on a bench when he notices a large crowd gathering. He pushes his way through and sees a small child has fainted. Yusuke sees the kid rise into the air and follows it. The spirit leads him into an alley, but Yusuke loses sight of it. Looking around, he spots the criminal and used his Psychic Spyglass to check if this criminal has an artifact. He sees the Orb of Baast in the man's pocket. As he was about to confront him, thugs circle around Yusuke, asking him for money. He gets into a fight and beats them up. When he finishes however, he notices that the criminal has left.

Meanwhile, in the Spirit World, an ogre presents some information on the criminals to Koenma. The criminals' names are Kurama, Gouki, and Hiei. Little is known about Kurama and Hiei, as neither of them have a previous record, while Gouki does have a criminal background. Botan suddenly storms in into the room, complaining that Koenma is placing Yusuke's life in danger. Koenma replies that he had no choice, but Botan tells him that he must allow her to train Yusuke first. However, Koenma tells her that there is no time to train Yusuke, as they have only one week to get the artifacts back. In one week, King Enma will return from his vacation, and if he were to find out about the missing artifacts, he would go into a rage and could even sink an entire continent just trying to get them back. Scared about the possibility of a wrathful King Enma, Botan tells Koenma that she will try to help out as much as she can, then returns to the Human World.

While following the criminal, Yusuke arrives just outside of a forest. He sees a light emitting from the middle of the forest, prompting him to run in. Hiei is seen practicing with the Shadow Sword, and begins talking to Gouki about raising a demon army using the sword. Gouki says he likes the way he thinks. Hiei continues his conversation and says that on the night of the full moon, they will use all three artifacts to have complete control. However, Kurama emerges from the shadows, and states that he will be withdrawing from their alliance. Angry, Gouki demands that Kurama hand over his artifact, the Forlorn Hope, but Kurama refuses, saying he needs it to fulfill his own desires first. Gouki attempts to punch Kurama, but is interrupted by Yusuke walking towards the group. Hiei interrogates Yusuke, who introduces himself to everyone. Hiei insults Yusuke over his weak spirit energy. Kurama takes this time to leave, with Hiei soon following suit, leaving Gouki to deal with Yusuke.

The two began to exchange words, when Gouki pulls out the Orb of Baast, and sticks his fingers inside, pulling out the spirit of the child from earlier. He attempts to consume the soul, which angers Yusuke, who kicks him in the stomach, causing Gouki to spit the soul out. Yusuke then punches Gouki in the face, causing him to fall to the ground. Yusuke picks up the Orb of Baast, thinking he had an easy victory. However, Gouki appears behind him, and transforms into his demon form. He tries to slash Yusuke, then goes to uproot a tree and swings it against him. Yusuke then remembers about his new ability, the Spirit Gun, and attempts to use it, only to remember he used his limited shot at school. As Gouki approaches him, he nervously thinks about how he might die again.

Characters in Order of Appearance

• Gouki (First Appearance)
• Hiei (First Appearance)
• Kurama (First Appearance)
• Atsuko Urameshi
• Yusuke Urameshi
• Keiko Yukimura
• Kazuma Kuwabara
• Kuwabara's Gang
• Principal Takenaka
• Teacher Iwamoto
• Botan
• Koenma
• Great King Enma (on Koenma's TV screen only)

Anime Notes

• Changes from the manga:
  • The anime adds the scene of when Hiei, Kurama and Gouki steal the artifacts.
  • The anime doesn't show how Yusuke's mother managed to enroll Yusuke back to school. In the manga, her ties to the Yakuza are once again hinted at when she intimidates the principal into allowing Yusuke back by having a lot of black cars parked all around the school and bringing some men into his office.
  • In the anime, when Koenma appears before Yusuke just when the latter was about to punch Iwamoto, time freezes. In the manga, time does not freeze and the teacher wonder what Yusuke is looking at.
  • In the anime, Koenma explains to Yusuke what the artifacts that were stolen do. In the manga, Hiei explains this briefly when he is with Kurama and Gouki.
  • In the anime Yusuke is scouting the mall when sees a kid collapse and his soul get sucked out of him. He then follows the soul to where he finds Gouki. This is where he sees Gouki's horns. In the manga, he spots the three in the mall and sees Gouki's horns. When the kid collapses, he doesn't see the soul leave its body.
  • In the anime, after Yusuke spots Gouki in a shady alley. He spies on him using his see-through glass and finds the orb. He is about to attack when some ruffians harass him for money. After he deals with them, Yusuke is shown tracking Gouki to the forest. In the manga, it is not shown how he tracked Gouki, but he is able to find the three in the forest after watching the child collapse.
  • The anime extends the conversation the Hiei and Gouki have about their plans for the artifacts they stole.
• This marks Yusuke's first use of the Spirit Gun.
• This episode marks the debut of Hiei and Kurama, who would ultimately join the main cast in "The Beasts of Maze Castle".
• This is the first episode of the Artifacts of Darkness Arc.
• The Blu-ray remastered version has new lines when the students are shown in gym class with one asking "Where's Urameshi? I thought he was back." and the other responding "Yeah, but its gym class!", with the first boy then replying "Oh, right". It is likely that this was dialogue recorded back in 2001 instead of new material given the sound quality.
  • The first thug who tries to mug Yusuke and the ogre who informs Koenma about Hiei, Goki, and Kurama had their voices pitched down originally, similar to Seiryū of the Four Saint Beasts. The Blu-ray version plays the performances at their original pitch.

Gallery

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