Stripped Soul (YYH, Sensui Shinobu)
And it's even a day early.
Title: Stripped Soul
Subject: Sensui Shinobu, Yû Yû Hakusho.
Author: akai_senshi
POSSIBLE SPOILERS for the Sensui arc.
Background on Sensui
Sensui Shinobu was a former Reikai Tantei. He was born with very strong spiritual abilities, which led to demons going after his life. He therefore associated demons with evil, and was thereby selected to become a Tantei sometime between the ages of 5 and 13 (it doesn’t really say when in canon; you just get shown him as a 5-year-old boy and a 13-year-old Tantei doing his work). However, at the age of sixteen, two things happened that would change his life forever. The first was the chance meeting of a yaminade (shadow demon, basically) named Itsuki, which he had run down and tried to kill. However, Itsuki prevented Shinobu from killing him by making the last request of wanting to watch the last episode of his favorite TV drama; it turns out that Shinobu watched the same show. Not soon after, Itsuki became his Tantei partner and lover. The second was an incident at the Black Black Club they were sent to investigate, in which human businessmen were brutally killing demons and bathing in their blood for entertainment purposes. Shinobu’s fragile mind couldn’t take all of the carnage, and he eventually turned his views on humanity and demonkind 180 degrees, bringing him to his present position (and leading to his stealing the Black Chapters tape, which showed every single act of inhumanity against man and demon alike, from the Reikai files). Later we find out that he opened a gateway to Makai (with Itsuki’s help, of course) because he was suffering from a terminal illness and wanted to die with dignity.
First Impressions
I got my first dose of Sensui by reading the fourteenth volume of the manga. I had heard things in the older parts of the YYH fandom about a canonical gay couple, one of which was a former Reikai Tantei (“Spirit Detective”) with multiple personalities. Needless to say, I was extremely intrigued, and when I read the manga, I instantly fell in love with his character and his motivations for doing things. But my Sensui-mania really struck when I purchased the corresponding arc of the anime: his character overwhelmed me, and I thought he was the coolest thing, not to mention attractive and with a kickass voice in both versions (Japanese and English, although I was a Naya Rokurou fanboy for the first few weeks of watching my DVD’s).
I didn’t know what to expect from all of his different personae, seeing as the Japanese don’t usually have the amount of compassion for mental illness that Westerners do (because of their “the nail that sticks up must be hammered down” philosophy) But I was underestimating Togashi-sensei: I ended up liking all of his personalities, even the ones that were supposed to be repugnant and despicable.
Personae
I will now go through a very brief presentation of the different personae mentioned in canon (only four out of the seven) before I get to the meat of the analysis.
Minoru- The personality we meet first in the series. He is an “orator”, or, in other words, the personality that persuades people to do things. In my opinion, “cult leader” is a more apt description of this persona, as he will do anything to make people believe what he does. He has a very seductive air about him, intellectually if not sexually.
Kazuya- A tough-talking, sadistic Yakuza-thug-type with a gun in his arm. The very first personality besides the original one to develop because of Sensui’s immediate need for violence in carrying out his goals and in atoning for himself.
Naru- A crybaby female personality that only shows up in front of Itsuki. She is the emotional outlet for Sensui, as well as (some would argue) an outlet to mock women.
Shinobu- The original persona. Very different when he was a Tantei to the present day. As a teenager, Shinobu was decidedly morally upright, as well as introverted, but extremely powerful. The present-day version of this persona is the most powerful being in Ningenkai; post-traumatic stress disorder seems to have changed his personality so that he appears to be less sane than he was in his youth. He has mastered Sei-kou-ki (“sacred light energy”), which very few humans can attain in place of reiki.
Mr. Sensui, Will You Ride My White Horse?
The very first thing that drew me to Sensui, I must say, was that I recognized a very Western archetype in him: that of Satan or the Antichrist. His birthdate (6/6/67, containing the number of the Beast, “666”), his personality (cunning, deceitful, seductive- ‘Minoru’), his codename (“Dark Angel”- meaning an angel that has fallen from grace, like Lucifer and his army), the fact that he essentially operates a religious cult to induce what we Westerners would call the Apocalypse (except for the major difference in that believers as well as nonbelievers will die for all eternity, for in Sensui’s eyes, all of mankind have fallen short of his grace), and that he ultimately has seven personae and ten people that are involved with him (q.v., the “seven heads” and “ten horns” of the Beast of Revelation). Also of note is that Sensui has characteristics which have been or are currently viewed as “sinful” in Western society- he is homosexual [we’ll get to that more in-depth later], and, if you watch carefully, you will note that he is also left-handed.
However, since this is a Japanese program, and Christian elements are just for show, these traits, which are unanimously viewed as evil in Western society, are used as a lens through which Togashi shows us the blurriness between good and evil (and likewise the parallel construction of human/demon, since Sensui originally felt all humans to be inherently good and all demons inherently evil in his Tantei days). The most blatant examples of this are when Itsuki discloses his benevolent nature to a young Shinobu by saying that he watches a certain TV program, and Shinobu responds in kind, saying he watches it as well; and Yuusuke’s metamorphosis into his toushin form during the last battle against Sensui (he felt guilty for killing Sensui, but that’s what Sensui wanted- for a very strong demon to kill him to atone for his sin and guilt- and aforementioned strong demon happened to be Yuusuke).
In short, I see Sensui like the Lucifer in Milton’s Paradise Lost- someone who has rebelled against not only the highest authority, but all authority of any sort, forming his own version of morality and thumbing it in people’s faces, all the while tempting the very same people to follow him and make his world a reality.
Seeing Sensui Through Rainbow-Colored Glasses
Yes, Yuu Yuu fandom, Sensui is gay. (I think I hear very angry voices in the background…)
Now, whether or not he started out that way is up to interpretation. Note that Sensui has a very strong set of beliefs, even after he decided to exterminate humanity. He may have started out as heterosexual, bisexual, or asexual, but might have changed his sexuality to fit his very strong beliefs in the extermination of all humankind. The logic would be that, since women create babies, he would be a massive hypocrite if he ever considered sleeping with a woman. There is another side to fandom, however, that states Sensui was homosexual from the get-go. They point to his spiritual abilities as evidence (GLBT persons are seen in many cultures to be spiritually gifted), and also that there seems to be a parallelism not only between the timeframe in which he met Itsuki and the timeframe he lost his faith in humanity, but also between straight/queer in concordance with the good/evil and human/demon dichotomies presented earlier. So it is entirely possible he may have started to doubt himself and his morality because of his sexuality, and receive even more support that something is intrinsically flawed with humanity from his dealings with the Black Black Club and his viewing of the Black Chapters tape. I myself take a more moderate viewpoint, in between these two: he was asexual until he met Itsuki and the whole wheel started turning for him.
Sensui is one of my favorite queer characters, not only from anime and manga, but from all media. The reasons for this are manifold. Excepting Naru, his gender presentation is very butch, as well as his being the strongest person in Ningenkai and knowing eight different styles of martial arts, as opposed to other gay males on TV who are depicted as effeminate fashionistas whose only knowledge of fighting is pulling hair and slapping each other as women would stereotypically do. He and Itsuki have equal footing in their relationship- there is no stereotypical “seme” and “uke”. Last, but certainly not least, I like that his sexuality is only one of his many personality traits, instead of it being the personality trait. In other words, he is a complex, fleshed-out, ultimately sympathetic character, a kind of twisted Everyman through which we see the human condition- you can ignore the fact that he’s gay while watching the show, even though it’s there. Compare this to other gay male characters- their sexuality defines their personality. They are not given a chance to be anything but miserable faggots or whiny women with penises.
Fandom Misconceptions
Sensui is a disliked character in YYH fandom, being the third least popular male character behind Kuwabara and Yomi-sama. I will now dispel some common myths about him.
-“Sensui is ugly!” So what if he’s not a bishie? One person’s ugly is another person’s “hot damn”. (Obviously these people have never seen the picture of him in the leather jacket and collar…)
-“Sensui is a rapist!” or “Sensui is pure evil!” Only Kazuya would rape someone, and it definitely wouldn’t be a woman (see above section). And as for the “pure evil” comment, I figure it has to do with the Westernized dichotomy I talked about in the “White Horse” section- people won’t let go of their preconceived notions of who or what is evil, even of the “good” side commits many of the same errors and has noticeable personality flaws.
-“Sensui is romantic and caring.” I never saw where the fangirls pulled this out of. Maybe it’s a lead from the “pure evil” in that the fangirls believe that true love between him and their Sues can override his genocidal tendencies or something.
Conclusion: Sensui, Humanity, and Myself
At the end of the Sensui arc, I felt very sad when I watched Sensui die. It felt as if a little bit of myself was going, because I finally saw an anime character I could relate to: someone who was idealistic and yet unable to live up to their ideals; someone who was sick and tired of stupid human behavior and wanted to do something about it; someone who was hit in the face with an unbearable truth, and was recovering from its impact; someone who had a humongous ego, and a sense of self that opposed everyone else’s sense of self, but very little pride in himself to back it up; ultimately, someone who was an outsider to ‘normal’ society due to various factors beyond his control. I realized something: that Sensui was me, and that’s why I had a crush on him, because he mirrored my ego and the vulnerabilities thereof, plus he had things that I wanted: good looks, physical power, a biologically male body, et cetera.
I shall end my essay on a quote which connotes the sadness of his departure, and also the situation I find myself in often:
He had a lot to say
He had a lot of nothing to say
We’ll miss him…
Tool, “Eulogy”
SITES
Fallen from Grace- my Sensui shrine.
The official Sensui FL.
Devoted Dysfunction- my Itsuki/Sensui essay on ship_manifesto. Has links to fanworks and other places. :D
COMMS
itsusen_comm
yyh_yaoi
yyh_villians
-Armand
Title: Stripped Soul
Subject: Sensui Shinobu, Yû Yû Hakusho.
Author: akai_senshi
POSSIBLE SPOILERS for the Sensui arc.
Background on Sensui
Sensui Shinobu was a former Reikai Tantei. He was born with very strong spiritual abilities, which led to demons going after his life. He therefore associated demons with evil, and was thereby selected to become a Tantei sometime between the ages of 5 and 13 (it doesn’t really say when in canon; you just get shown him as a 5-year-old boy and a 13-year-old Tantei doing his work). However, at the age of sixteen, two things happened that would change his life forever. The first was the chance meeting of a yaminade (shadow demon, basically) named Itsuki, which he had run down and tried to kill. However, Itsuki prevented Shinobu from killing him by making the last request of wanting to watch the last episode of his favorite TV drama; it turns out that Shinobu watched the same show. Not soon after, Itsuki became his Tantei partner and lover. The second was an incident at the Black Black Club they were sent to investigate, in which human businessmen were brutally killing demons and bathing in their blood for entertainment purposes. Shinobu’s fragile mind couldn’t take all of the carnage, and he eventually turned his views on humanity and demonkind 180 degrees, bringing him to his present position (and leading to his stealing the Black Chapters tape, which showed every single act of inhumanity against man and demon alike, from the Reikai files). Later we find out that he opened a gateway to Makai (with Itsuki’s help, of course) because he was suffering from a terminal illness and wanted to die with dignity.
First Impressions
I got my first dose of Sensui by reading the fourteenth volume of the manga. I had heard things in the older parts of the YYH fandom about a canonical gay couple, one of which was a former Reikai Tantei (“Spirit Detective”) with multiple personalities. Needless to say, I was extremely intrigued, and when I read the manga, I instantly fell in love with his character and his motivations for doing things. But my Sensui-mania really struck when I purchased the corresponding arc of the anime: his character overwhelmed me, and I thought he was the coolest thing, not to mention attractive and with a kickass voice in both versions (Japanese and English, although I was a Naya Rokurou fanboy for the first few weeks of watching my DVD’s).
I didn’t know what to expect from all of his different personae, seeing as the Japanese don’t usually have the amount of compassion for mental illness that Westerners do (because of their “the nail that sticks up must be hammered down” philosophy) But I was underestimating Togashi-sensei: I ended up liking all of his personalities, even the ones that were supposed to be repugnant and despicable.
Personae
I will now go through a very brief presentation of the different personae mentioned in canon (only four out of the seven) before I get to the meat of the analysis.
Minoru- The personality we meet first in the series. He is an “orator”, or, in other words, the personality that persuades people to do things. In my opinion, “cult leader” is a more apt description of this persona, as he will do anything to make people believe what he does. He has a very seductive air about him, intellectually if not sexually.
Kazuya- A tough-talking, sadistic Yakuza-thug-type with a gun in his arm. The very first personality besides the original one to develop because of Sensui’s immediate need for violence in carrying out his goals and in atoning for himself.
Naru- A crybaby female personality that only shows up in front of Itsuki. She is the emotional outlet for Sensui, as well as (some would argue) an outlet to mock women.
Shinobu- The original persona. Very different when he was a Tantei to the present day. As a teenager, Shinobu was decidedly morally upright, as well as introverted, but extremely powerful. The present-day version of this persona is the most powerful being in Ningenkai; post-traumatic stress disorder seems to have changed his personality so that he appears to be less sane than he was in his youth. He has mastered Sei-kou-ki (“sacred light energy”), which very few humans can attain in place of reiki.
Mr. Sensui, Will You Ride My White Horse?
The very first thing that drew me to Sensui, I must say, was that I recognized a very Western archetype in him: that of Satan or the Antichrist. His birthdate (6/6/67, containing the number of the Beast, “666”), his personality (cunning, deceitful, seductive- ‘Minoru’), his codename (“Dark Angel”- meaning an angel that has fallen from grace, like Lucifer and his army), the fact that he essentially operates a religious cult to induce what we Westerners would call the Apocalypse (except for the major difference in that believers as well as nonbelievers will die for all eternity, for in Sensui’s eyes, all of mankind have fallen short of his grace), and that he ultimately has seven personae and ten people that are involved with him (q.v., the “seven heads” and “ten horns” of the Beast of Revelation). Also of note is that Sensui has characteristics which have been or are currently viewed as “sinful” in Western society- he is homosexual [we’ll get to that more in-depth later], and, if you watch carefully, you will note that he is also left-handed.
However, since this is a Japanese program, and Christian elements are just for show, these traits, which are unanimously viewed as evil in Western society, are used as a lens through which Togashi shows us the blurriness between good and evil (and likewise the parallel construction of human/demon, since Sensui originally felt all humans to be inherently good and all demons inherently evil in his Tantei days). The most blatant examples of this are when Itsuki discloses his benevolent nature to a young Shinobu by saying that he watches a certain TV program, and Shinobu responds in kind, saying he watches it as well; and Yuusuke’s metamorphosis into his toushin form during the last battle against Sensui (he felt guilty for killing Sensui, but that’s what Sensui wanted- for a very strong demon to kill him to atone for his sin and guilt- and aforementioned strong demon happened to be Yuusuke).
In short, I see Sensui like the Lucifer in Milton’s Paradise Lost- someone who has rebelled against not only the highest authority, but all authority of any sort, forming his own version of morality and thumbing it in people’s faces, all the while tempting the very same people to follow him and make his world a reality.
Seeing Sensui Through Rainbow-Colored Glasses
Yes, Yuu Yuu fandom, Sensui is gay. (I think I hear very angry voices in the background…)
Now, whether or not he started out that way is up to interpretation. Note that Sensui has a very strong set of beliefs, even after he decided to exterminate humanity. He may have started out as heterosexual, bisexual, or asexual, but might have changed his sexuality to fit his very strong beliefs in the extermination of all humankind. The logic would be that, since women create babies, he would be a massive hypocrite if he ever considered sleeping with a woman. There is another side to fandom, however, that states Sensui was homosexual from the get-go. They point to his spiritual abilities as evidence (GLBT persons are seen in many cultures to be spiritually gifted), and also that there seems to be a parallelism not only between the timeframe in which he met Itsuki and the timeframe he lost his faith in humanity, but also between straight/queer in concordance with the good/evil and human/demon dichotomies presented earlier. So it is entirely possible he may have started to doubt himself and his morality because of his sexuality, and receive even more support that something is intrinsically flawed with humanity from his dealings with the Black Black Club and his viewing of the Black Chapters tape. I myself take a more moderate viewpoint, in between these two: he was asexual until he met Itsuki and the whole wheel started turning for him.
Sensui is one of my favorite queer characters, not only from anime and manga, but from all media. The reasons for this are manifold. Excepting Naru, his gender presentation is very butch, as well as his being the strongest person in Ningenkai and knowing eight different styles of martial arts, as opposed to other gay males on TV who are depicted as effeminate fashionistas whose only knowledge of fighting is pulling hair and slapping each other as women would stereotypically do. He and Itsuki have equal footing in their relationship- there is no stereotypical “seme” and “uke”. Last, but certainly not least, I like that his sexuality is only one of his many personality traits, instead of it being the personality trait. In other words, he is a complex, fleshed-out, ultimately sympathetic character, a kind of twisted Everyman through which we see the human condition- you can ignore the fact that he’s gay while watching the show, even though it’s there. Compare this to other gay male characters- their sexuality defines their personality. They are not given a chance to be anything but miserable faggots or whiny women with penises.
Fandom Misconceptions
Sensui is a disliked character in YYH fandom, being the third least popular male character behind Kuwabara and Yomi-sama. I will now dispel some common myths about him.
-“Sensui is ugly!” So what if he’s not a bishie? One person’s ugly is another person’s “hot damn”. (Obviously these people have never seen the picture of him in the leather jacket and collar…)
-“Sensui is a rapist!” or “Sensui is pure evil!” Only Kazuya would rape someone, and it definitely wouldn’t be a woman (see above section). And as for the “pure evil” comment, I figure it has to do with the Westernized dichotomy I talked about in the “White Horse” section- people won’t let go of their preconceived notions of who or what is evil, even of the “good” side commits many of the same errors and has noticeable personality flaws.
-“Sensui is romantic and caring.” I never saw where the fangirls pulled this out of. Maybe it’s a lead from the “pure evil” in that the fangirls believe that true love between him and their Sues can override his genocidal tendencies or something.
Conclusion: Sensui, Humanity, and Myself
At the end of the Sensui arc, I felt very sad when I watched Sensui die. It felt as if a little bit of myself was going, because I finally saw an anime character I could relate to: someone who was idealistic and yet unable to live up to their ideals; someone who was sick and tired of stupid human behavior and wanted to do something about it; someone who was hit in the face with an unbearable truth, and was recovering from its impact; someone who had a humongous ego, and a sense of self that opposed everyone else’s sense of self, but very little pride in himself to back it up; ultimately, someone who was an outsider to ‘normal’ society due to various factors beyond his control. I realized something: that Sensui was me, and that’s why I had a crush on him, because he mirrored my ego and the vulnerabilities thereof, plus he had things that I wanted: good looks, physical power, a biologically male body, et cetera.
I shall end my essay on a quote which connotes the sadness of his departure, and also the situation I find myself in often:
He had a lot to say
He had a lot of nothing to say
We’ll miss him…
Tool, “Eulogy”
SITES
Fallen from Grace- my Sensui shrine.
The official Sensui FL.
Devoted Dysfunction- my Itsuki/Sensui essay on ship_manifesto. Has links to fanworks and other places. :D
COMMS
itsusen_comm
yyh_yaoi
yyh_villians
-Armand