Yu Yu Hakusho Episode Summaries

Episode 52: The Death of Genkai

Japanese
Episode 52- The Death of Genkai (Genkai Disperses! 50 Years' Conclusion!)

The episode opens with a shot of Toguro and Genkai, facing each other. Genkai asks Toguro why he invited her to the Dark Tournament, and Toguro replies that he wanted her to see the truth about the cruelty of time. The next scene is of Kuwabara's trying to find Yusuke (he had run off in the previous episode). He encounters his sister, Botan, Keiko, and Yukina, and asks whether they had seen Yusuke. They hadn't. Immediately thereafter, we see a shot of Yusuke, running through a forest. He senses Toguro's power.

The episode cuts back to Genkai and Toguro. Genkai confirms that she has passed Rei Kou Hadoken (Spirit Wave) onto Yusuke, and Toguro says that because of that, there is no further need for Genkai. He plans to kill her.

Next is a flashback of Toguro and Genkai's younger days. It shows their defeating a team of demons rather effortlessly, and then their conversation in a boat. Toguro reveals that he is not scared of the fact that stronger opponent's will challenge them, but rather that they will come when he is too old and weak to fight. He tells Genkai that his greatest desire is a never-aging body.

He transforms to 45% of his total power, and charges at Genkai, who holds her ground, remembering that she only has enough energy to fire 3 more blasts of Rei-Gan (Spirit Gun).
She charges as well, jumping into the air and crashing into Toguro, firing a blast into his arm. Toguro makes a grab, which Genkai narrowly avoids. She flies backward and lands, panting.
Toguro drops a bloody piece of Genkai's tunic to the ground and reveals that he was trying to rip her heart out. He then says that 45% of his power is insulting to Genkai; he's going to let her see 80% of his strength.

Hiei, Kurama, and Kuwabara all sense the energy, wondering what could be causing it. Toguro tells Genkai that she is the fourth person to ever see him use that much power, but that she won't count for long. He fires an energy blast, which Genkai dodges. Toguro charges forward and punches the ground, creating an enormous crater (Genkai leapt into the air just in time). She lands on a stray rock that was thrown up by Toguro's punch, and fires another Rei-Gan. Toguro catches the blast with one arm and holds it back until it dissipates. Genkai lands, shocked. Toguro asks if that's the best Genkai can do, and he then says he should have killed her back when she was at full power, at the tournament. Toguro says that the person he is facing is not Genkai at all, but rather just a body of skin and bones. Genkai replies that she is indeed Genkai, and asks Toguro whether he thinks he can really kill her. Toguro says he doesn't know, but he'll try.

Toguro starts running for Genkai, and she realizes that Toguro's power is completely different from the way it once was. She says that she is not scared to die, but she wants to make Toguro remember who he once was before she goes. As she says these things, she transforms back into her younger state, and she fires one final Rei-Gan with all her strength. Toguro punches straight through it...and Genkai.

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Yusuke arrives at the scene to see his mentor, dying. He runs over to her and says that Kurama will heal her. She says it is too late for her, and she warns Yusuke not to do what Toguro did: forsaking friends for power. She remembers how she was invited to the tournament and refused (though you can't refuse, she had won the tournament many years ago, and the wish she asked for was to never be invited again). The messengers told her that Yusuke will be participating, however, so she changed her mind. Back in the present, she dies.

Toguro says that if Yusuke had been born earlier, the whole thing could have been averted. He also says that Genkai chose the wrong path in life, the path that leads to death as opposed to power. Yusuke warns Toguro to shut up. Toguro says that Genkai is just a decaying dog. This sets Yusuke off, and Yusuke charges Toguro, blind with rage. He punches him, but Toguro catches the punch. However...it throws him off balance. Toguro counters, though, and punches Yusuke in the face, sending him flying through many trees until he finally lands against a stronger one. Toguro says that was a good punch, looking at his hand (which is badly injured) and is happy that he will get to use 100% of his power in a fight with Yusuke.

Yusuke reminisces about his training with Genkai, and then sees a vision of her, a vision that tells him not to lose. He stands up and punches the tree until it collapses, and he vows not to forgive Toguro.

-Jason Cohen