Backgrounds are well drawn when they’re the focal point of the panel, and take a natural backseat in quality and appearance when they’d end up detracting from the main attraction. As a warning though, the further you get in the series, the more gore you’re going to see. They’re drawn well, lots of action and explosions and all that greatness. I don’t know how many times I looked at a fight scene… then went back again… and again. Manga pretty well rests on the art style, and this series doesn’t disappoint. Beyond that, like every shonen, there’s going to be those ludicrous points (such as the entire final arc), but just sit back and let it pay off on sheer enjoyment factor, because it will. Given that’s the conclusion, it’s natural that Yusuke ends up being a mostly neutral aligned character. Judging people based on stereotypes and what you’ve always been taught to believe is never the way to go each being deserves to be looked at based on their own merits and shortcomings. The ending theme and eventual moral to this whole story is the same as that which Nippon Ichi has taken and ran with for the past few years. A few of the villains can even be painted as a bit unfortunate in their path to evil (or are they really evil?). But, a plot still exists, and there are definite motivations to the characters’ actions. If you’re looking for a story, well, it’s a good thing there’s strong characters, because this is a Shonen series. Their personality clashes allow for a decent bit of levity to lighten up the fighting backdrop. Overall, I loved these characters and their interactions throughout the story. Even he develops a minor form of justice and a grudging respect for Yusuke. Finally, Hiei is an enigma for the majority of the series, you don’t even find out much of his motivations until the final arc. Forced to see life through humanity’s eyes, he reforms his ways and becomes a protector of the race. Kurama is a formerly powerful demon that has been stuck inside of a human’s body. He grows in a much different direction though, motivated by a few events in the story (one seemingly minor) and his blinding determination to never give up. Since he’s not the main character, you can guess how well this is going to work out. Kuwabara is another delinquent who is determined to become more powerful that Yusuke some day. He is generally good, has a sense of justice, and cares about his friends mind you, but ultimately he just wants a good brawl, and saving the world in the process is gravy. Of course, Yusuke never makes it marginally close to being paragon of justice. and in need of redemption really gives that development a kick in the pants too. By contrast, the delinquent is a great character to make the protagonist because he can’t be perfect and he has to grow at some point. You don’t see Goku having some sudden epiphany and becoming a better person because he’s already sitting in the Lawful Good alignment to start with there’s not a whole lot of room there for progression. He reminds me a lot of Onizuka, another character I loved, in that he’s so wonderfully flawed. The opening volumes, where they try and put Yusuke’s personality on track, was what started to pull me in.
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