Practice English Speaking&Listening with: Toguro: A Wounded Heart, A Broken Dream (Yu Yu Hakusho)

one of the most notable Among Yoshihiro Togashi

[she's] myriad of strengths as a storyteller is his ability to craft Charismatic and enticing villains of the four primary

Antagonists and Hunter Hunter and note that the term antagonist is being used loosely here

I consider three of them to be among the most well constructed characters in this series

And this isn't even factoring in characters like the Royal guards

[Alumi] the Phantom [troop] and [Parastone] to put a personal spin on this I can pretty confidently say that four out of my top

500 Hundred Characters could be classified as antagonists

these villains play a significant structural role in the Arcs

And they're approached in ways that make them more multi-dimensional than the classic shown in villain, but most importantly evolved

They're extremely well characterized. They were one [of] my favorite elements in Hunter hunter, so when transitioning into watching yuyu Hakusho

[I] was really interested to see what type of antagonists

Takashi had developed in his earlier work to take a step back for a second yuu-yuu Hakusho stands out to me because of its characters

It has one of the most well realized and diverse casts. I've ever seen and for me

They were the major factor that elevated [yuyu] [hakusho] from Standards shown in Fair to something greater

Nearly every semi primary character was likable and memorable and the interactions between them were always entertaining

But aside [from] the main tasks of protagonists. I found myself just as impressed or even more so with a story's most iconic villain

Younger [Togoro]

He was a deep adversary that slowly, but surely became humanized as the dark [Sherman] progressed

Identifying with themes that were integrated with the story, but [while] this is impressive

what fascinated me most about to Goro was how the story slowly peel back the layers of his psyche and

Reconstructed the audience's perception of the character as we went along

For me to guru is the most layered and intricately developed character in uu Hakusho while it would seem like [sense]

We was a prototype for characters in Hunter Hunter like crow [lowe] [and] marrow Em in some ways

To guru is a villain whose characterization is entirely unique in comparison [to] any other character?

That sokka she [has] written. It is true that Segura was to use okay

what hisoka was to gone in terms of being an end goal with regards to power and

He has some similarities to netid o when it comes to some life endeavors

But everything else about to grow distinguishes the man and makes him truly standout in essence

So guru is built on dizzying layer upon layer, but he can be summed up using themes of Grief guilt

acceptance

Loneliness and atonement, which we'll get into [a] bit later his motivations revolve entirely around a twisted

Tragic and initially unknown past and only through the deliberate revelations that began rearing their head throughout the dark tournament dark

Do we finally get a sense of just who this man is?

Due to these reasons

I [think] the best way of examining [to] [guro] is by first looking at his actions and then inspecting the true feelings and motives behind

These behaviors here

We're going to look at his character journey

but include a vital piece of the puzzle that the audience doesn't have the first time in the anime the context and

ramifications of his backstory about

[50] years prior to the events [of] [Yuyu] [Hakusho] to grow with head of a dojo along with his brother and a younger geng

[Kai] the Dojo had many students and everything was going well until a demon named chiron infiltrated the dojo and murdered togoro

students while also forcing him to enter the dark tournament as a guest to guru then went missing for three months

But showed up the day before the tournament with a team that included geng [Kai] and his brother

His team encountered chiron's team in the final and to [groot] took it upon himself to end the life of his students murderer

But by this point his mind was far

Gone in his ever-present devastation due to the grief of losing his family and the blame he put on himself for it

- guru asked that he be turned into an invincible non aging Demon as a reward for winning the tournament [and] his brother followed suit

Genkai who was sickened by two gurus twisted desires left and never intended to take part of the dark tournament again

till Guru had become twisted by Grief and guilt

He asked to be transformed into a demon so that he could not ever be taken advantage of again in order to Avoid more pain

And so that he might someday be defeated in the same manner that he had beaten chiron as a bizarre form of repentance

he blamed himself dearly for the slaughter of his students and

Didn't approve of his own narrow minded and reckless path to revenge and in his twisted view

His death at the hands of a human stronger than him would balance the scales and set the universe right?

But he has long abandoned his hopes of meeting someone capable of defeating him, so he lives his life aimlessly completing jobs and defeating opponents

Always looking to become stronger to Avoid the possibility of defeat

even though he desires it if you can't tell [two] [grew] as a Paradox as

Such his philosophy in life

Is that all that matters is strength and [that] [in] life you have two choices to [either] die or get stronger?

He begins taking jobs as hired muscle, but retains a strict Moral code

maintaining a portion of his former self in some small way in

His purely human form - who are always simply reports to the highest bidder and is very much against killing or harming

Anything if this job does not call [for] it?

He has an extreme dislike for dishonorable people or cheaters and is definitely not against killing these types

But in general [-] Guru is a conflicted tortured soul

constantly yearning for the one opponent that he'll be able to go all out against and Lose -

Yet at the same time hoping that he'll never lose

He feels and cares far more than his common detached

Exterior lets on and he searches for 50 years in vain for the one to end his suffering

despite all of the awful things that togoro does throughout his life and

Independent from all the people that he's killed he has redeeming qualities and leads a sad and sympathetic existence

This humanizes [him] making him much more than a mindless fighting brute even if his actions at times were beyond forgiving

Our initial impression of togoro is that he basically a hired thug who harbors an extreme love for combat?

But [his] deeper characterization is hinted at almost immediately

What's interesting is that I've seen others postulate that there was no sense of togoro being anything other [than] a cold and mindless killer?

until the latter phase of the dark tournaments for instance in Super eyepatch [Wolf's] awesome video about Villains

He says that the moment were [two] Goro asks akio for orange juice was the first moment in the series that humanized

when I somewhat disagree with that notion

For me a deeper and more complex aspect to toe guru was evident almost directly from his introduction

He's hired by a vile man named to rookin a to extract [hirosaki] stolen from you, Kena

The likes of which can only be produced by tears the plan is naturally to physically and emotionally

torture the poor girl until she cries and yield to the valuable stones after

[you] Kena is traumatized by the death of some birds that she had befriended

- guru tells her that she would make it a lot less hard on herself if she just gave up and accepted her faith

Instead of struggling against it

Now why would two gurus say this one could [argue] that he just wanted to make his job easier

But that doesn't exactly fit the profile of a [man] who has never been adverse to working hard

It just seems to me that he said this because he feels sympathy for you Kena and doesn't want to cause her unnecessary pain

from this point on it's established that - guru has at least some sense of a moral code and

Rather than waiting for a seemingly shallow villain to be revealed as a deeper character

I found myself looking for hints throughout the story that would expand upon this little bit of foreshadowing that - guru had displayed here

there was always something in the back of my mind throughout the dark tournament that gave me the impression that there was some sort of

humanity behind the sunglasses

- gurus ideal of simply working for the highest bidder is

reinforced when it's revealed that he's been working for [Sakyo] to earn him - ruinous fortune by faking his own death at the hands of

Yusuke

But through this task usefully awakened something into guru just the littlest inkling of an idea that this young man might?

Just might be the one to put his soul to rest this interest carries through the dark tournament during which

Apart from his battles - Guru is Mostly a passive observer of Yusuke

Being invested in his power progression in the hopes that he proved to be worthy to fight at full strength. He

Decides that if this young man with so much potential is unable to beat him

Then [Sakyo] is plan of opening up the gate to Demon world would be a good way to test his strength as a plan-B

being clearly self-destructive this point is where togoro truly opens up as a character and

Stemming from this I found the fight between [toh] guru and [genk]. I who should have stayed dead

I'm just saying prior to the Team [yusuke] [versus] team [two] guru finals to be one of the highlights of the series

[it's] the quintessential example of a battle with so much meaning behind the fist swings

This is an ideological duel more than a physical one [and] let me explain. Why as

I said earlier [to] guru holds the claim that there are only two options in life

To die or to get stronger because of the fact that his vulnerability led to his students being killed

- guru never wants to show weakness or lose or age ever again as an extreme psychological?

compensation he grows to despise the fragility of life and the inevitability of death I

Can't help [but] [think] our human lives are nothing, but a cruel joke

Here long enough just to know [what] we want, and then is a rhodes

Here's a guru begins guarding himself

Thinking that the less he cares the less potential for pain

He'll have and this allows him [to] shift his life into one completely encapsulated by combat

He sort of parallels with berserks guts

who believed throughout his early life that existence was nothing more than fighting and that the only value in life could come from Victory and

Survival where the two men contrast though is in how they feel about their emptiness

Guts acknowledges it and yearns to search for a greater meaning

Whereas - guru seeks atonement and solace in it clinging on his skills in battle like a lifeboat

While ironically hoping that someone can come along to end his life and complete the cycle

guts strive for something more meaningful while togoro strives to numb the pain

[genk] I on the other hand

sympathizes him relates to two [gurus] suffering and pain

but finds value in being genuine

her whole outlook is that there is no shame in showing weakness and that only through growing from tough times can we develop as a

person

genkai believes that this is how we will all struggle and

Eventually find our place in [the] world and that toe gurus insistence on invincibility is cowardly

We must all experience pain and exposing oneself to pain as a sign of both humanity and strength although

She has very little hope of properly defeating togoro genkai wishes for [Yusuke] to win

[too] [proved] his sad ideology wrong and to put an end to her former lover suffering

- [gru] needed to win here to feel as though genkai was incorrect in saying that there was nothing wrong with weakness and that all

That he had sacrificed to get here was justified, but the fact that he was insecure at all about this in the first place

Insinuate that he was already filled with regret at his path

But was too far gone to change it the notion that this battle was one that [togar] wanted to win for personal

Ideological reasons is solidified for me and seeing how he reacts to his older brother

disrespecting Genkai

He doesn't want to hear someone who he respects and had such a close [relationship] with scorned. He wants to preserve Ganga's honor

To further emphasize this after he kills her he makes a point to who and what to keep her body safe

Predicting that [yusuke] will revive her as a reward if he ends up winning

- gru doesn't hate her or anything

but that earlier battle was something that he needed to win in order to prove to himself that all of this was worth it and

He papers up the cracks for now

But his next battle changes everything to try [and] sum up the awesome battle between [U-scan] - Goro would be doing it a disservice

[but] I found the progression in the fight to be really interesting [as] toe guru begins to steadily unleash more and more power

He simultaneously tried to push and prod [yusuke] into increasing his motivation to fight

[subconsciously] letting the audience into his mindset just a little bit it gets to the point or [to] guru once use key to win

So badly that he essentially stops thinking about how he can win and starts

Focusing on how he can get his adversary to reach his potential, and I think this fact right here

Answers the question regarding which side of togoro is dominant the two conflicting motivations that tow guru has

one being that he does not want to show weakness and the other being that he wishes to be defeated have dictated the way he

Lived his life, but in this moment. We can see that into a gross heart of hearts

he can accept defeat in the very human pain of weakness and

To further confirm that there was a simple just man underneath all [of] the pain suffering and grief

The fact that to a group faked killing Kuwabara and didn't actually kill him

To unleash Uski his power was a very telling indication

Although to further drive home the contradiction of this man the way he began killing audience members on Mass

Accentuated the fact that the simple man underneath all of the suffering

Was far [too] gone for anything to be done?

To a guru was delighted to finally be able to use a hundred percent of his strength against use okay after the latter is struck

By grief and seeing the supposed death of his friend in a moment of striking poetry and surprising mutual respect

You see finally defeats to grow seemingly putting him out of his misery

Until we see what occurs in the afterlife

[Yusuke] defeating him somewhat ironically confirms to togoro. What gank I had been saying all along

That it's okay to lose sometimes. It's okay to be mortal

But sadly that didn't change to a grows desire for Insanity Ridden atonement in

the afterlife he demands to be sent to hell for a limbo in the anime to endure cycle after cycle of

Unbelievable pain despite coe enemas insistence that togoro doesn't deserve [such] a punishment

Enroute [to] [the] gates of [Hell]

[geng] [Chi] stops togoro saying that he need not endure this suffering as he has suffered enough in life

But with his mind inexplicably set to [groo] ignores this and asked that [gank]

I take care of you skate making sure that he doesn't repeat to gurus mistakes after

Geng chi says that use K is the closest thing she's ever had to his son to guru surprisingly says the same

He then passes on into an apt life of brutality

What sadist about to grow to me is that he never believed that he would ever be able to atone for his failures and his?

reaction to this incorrect assumption

ironically turned him

He [may] bull he has such a low opinion of himself that he believes the [only] way for his sins to even approach

Forgiveness is for him to die and then be tortured for eternity. There's a really tragic

self-loathing element to togoro

And I believe that he wears sunglasses

Because he can't stand to see in a mirror and look himself in the eyes after all that he blames himself for

This once decent man had his life destroyed because of one singular event that brutally displayed his

Vulnerability and since then [two] grew turn this into a motivation to never be vulnerable again

Invincibility strength victory these were all essential for his goal to get stronger to numb the agonizing pain

to atone in his own way, but

Contrasting this in becoming something like the monster that destroyed his life. He wished to challenge someone who would be able to defeat him

He seeks a sort of poetic repetition of his early life and killing [geng] Kai and fake Killing Kuwabara

He makes you scape feel pain incredibly similar to his own

He goes [okay] to give in to his hatred and darkness to block away his emotion to become even stronger

and

He does all of this in a desperate hope that someone could go through the suffering and the [loss] and the pain that he went

Through and still proved to be a good person at heart in the end

He hopes that this was not a universal case and that people are not doomed to darkness the moment that tragedy strikes

[Yusuke] wins against him in the only way that to grow can comprehend, and he finally sees [the] light

This is why he feels such a bond with [yusuke] at the end

because he feels such a deep pride in the fact that he succeeded or togoro didn't and

Did not get into madness and hate and his grief to Groo is essentially a Self-aware

Tragic Madman in a life so filled with regret he finds solace and knowing that there is good in the world and

That it is our character that [spawns] who we are not the events that [happened] to us

His [Asa] was a quiet sad moment that confirmed to me that togoro had elevated yu

Yu Hakusho into an intellectually stimulating and morally thought-provoking series as

he walks on into limbo and the unnameable torture awaiting him to a group concludes his character ARc and

Beautifully ties up the story of a simple good-hearted man broken by Grief and twisted by tragedy

It's not a happy ending nor is it a conclusive one, but it's strangely appropriate

whenever I talk about why I enjoyed Villains and shows I

Tend to run into a lot [of] people who believe [in] a weird sort of dichotomy

that find issue with my stance on them in my

[Ahsoka] Phantom troupe ends older family videos along with my videos on Makishima and Kefka

Where I [talk] at length about why these characters are awesome?

I've had people comments who feel the need to remind me these people are cold killers and bad people of

course I would never endorse or try to justify murder or some of the acts that these people commit

But the stories [that] they're in do enough to obviously highlight

why they're villains or as I'm concerned with the subtler question of why they're good villains and

To me a good villain is one that makes you think one that paradoxically raises sympathy in you due to their inner

Motivations and Backstory in spite of how awful of people you think they are

the best villains in the medium aren't pure evil but

Conflicted [Payne's] complex and human characters, and that's what so [guro] was

The reasons behind his actions. Don't justify his actions and the good in him never overpowered the morally bad

But these little contradictions within him elevate him

Like I said before I'm someone who firmly believes that it's not the events that happened to a person that Define a person

but the way in which one responds to said events that shapes who they become

So it's not that the tragedy behind togoro excuses the things that he did

but that it emphasizes that there is some good in him despite how overwhelmed it is by the Dark and

this stirs emotion in the audience whether it be pity for how he lived most of his entire life without true human connection or

sympathy for how his students died in the past or

sadness at the fact that a good man had been so transformed by grief or a

perplexed horror at how twisted he had become

Togoro is someone that resonates with and gets a reaction out [of] the audience for one reason or another and

That along with how goddamn awesome the final fight of the dark tournament was and how he impacted

[yusuke] and the Outlook of the story as a whole is what makes younger to grow one of my favorite animes Villains [I]?

Really hope that you enjoyed my first part of a look at you

You haka Show's antagonists?

And I'd really love to hear some of your thoughts on [togoro] stay tuned for part two sometime in the future and once again

Thank you so much for the continued support all the best, and I'll see you guys next time

I

Don't understand the man's way of thinking sir. Why would he choose to become like the creature? He most despised?

Hmm well, that's the million-dollar question

[padgett] was built for not protecting his students even though he'd Avenge them. It wasn't enough

The only way to atone was to never be vulnerable again

Perhaps he wanted to become the monster. He already felt himself to be perhaps. He was just [afraid] of loving someone

perhaps he was [just] afraid of growing old together and

He'll the deeper you dig the more tunnels appear and inside each is a creature ready to bite layer upon layer of Bravado facades

Contradicting desires and intensely brought obsessions, but beneath it all [I] suspect you would find just a normal man

with a wounded heart and

a broken in three