Urameshi Yusuke has just about recovered from the Demon Tournament when they discover that an Underworld Detective named Sensui has taken over the project started by one of the backers of the Dark Tournament: to open a gate to the Underworld and set demons free to roam and cause havoc and misery on Earth.
After rescuing Botan and Mitarai from an attack on their apartment building, Yusuke and his friends track Sensui's men to a cave system. There, Mitarai leads them through the cave towards where Sensui and his men are opening the gate to the Underworld. However, Sensui has expected them to follow and set up a diversion in the form of a boy who has the power to play any game and win.
He has taken on the form of the "King of Games", from the game of the same name, and challenges Yusuke and his friends to play. If they win, they get free passage through the cave. If they lose, they must stay and play the games until they win and defeat the King. However, the boy doesn't know that if you defeat the King at three games, the King dies. Since he has only tangential connection to Sensui, they don't want to be responsible for his death.
So, stay and play the games they must, whether they win or lose. But they must defeat, and thereby kill the King of Games to save the world from the demons. Each member of the team gets a chance to play, and when they have overcome the King, Sensui sends another of his men, one who ate the body and abilities of Toguro, out to take on Yusuke and delay him so that he can fulfill his plan.
But Toguro's spirit isn't as dead as it seemed, and he wants revenge on Yusuke for defeating him in the Dark Tournament. Can Kurama defeat the part-demon Toguro before Toguro eats him and absorbs the powers of Jurama's demon form?
This book is pretty much all battles, but those are very well done. The art is a bit crude, not quite the same kind of manga-type art those who read most manga are used to, but the crudeness here is actually a welcome change, and fits the character of Urameshi Yusuke, who is a rather crude individual himself.
In a way, I'm biased, as this was the first real anime I got interested in, and I have the whole thing on DVD, still watching it every once in a while. The endless battles may be rather wearying, but they are exceedingly well done. and while Yusuke battles all sorts of demons, he and his friends never seem to pull the "new attacks out of their butts" that I so object to in a lot of other fighting manga. Yusuke just takes them on with his incredible endurance, his unwillingness to back down, and the same kind of attacks he's had for most of the manga- again, another refreshing change.
This one is crude and unwashed, perhaps, but it's a boys manga that gives at least something of a nod to girls being able to fight as well. It stands head and shoulders above most manga that are all about fighting, so I will continue to read it.
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