Chapter of Underworld's Carnage - Bonds of Fire
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For a detailed overview of this movie, click here.
Yakumo, leader of the nether world, returns to exact his revenge on the spirit world.
Original Japanese theatrical release date: April 9th, 1994
Contents
1) Synopsis
2) Notes
Synopsis
The spirit world has mysteriously been flooded. Koenma passes Botan an item called the power sphere, and tells her to take it to Yusuke. He remains behind, and as Botan flies away, she gets hit by a bolt of lightning. She eventually makes it to Yusuke, but collapses. She tells him to go to the Kasane Shrine, and find someone called Hinageshi. She then passes out, so Yusuke asks Keiko to take Botan to Genkai's temple. Later on, Yusuke and Kuwabara go to the shrine, where they save Hinageshi from some demons. She believes the two are Spirit Realm detectives, and introduces herself as a friend of Botan's.
Everyone heads to Genkai's place, where Kurama reveals that the Spirit Realm has been submerged. They wonder what kind of power could have done it, and Hinageshi believes it is demons from the nether world. She explains that above the human world, lies the spirit world. The two are in balance with each other. She then explains that, originally, the nether world was above and in balance with the demon world. But then, several thousand years ago, the nether world began a war with the spirit world, in order to gain possession of the human world. However, King Enma was able to destroy the nether world, and banish its King, Yakumo, and his followers into the darkness of space. Later on, Kuwabara asks what their next move should be. Hinageshi says that must transfer power to the spirit world. To do that, there are several places in the human world called elemental sites, which naturally collect spirit energy. However, Yakumo and his three underlings have arrived on Earth, planning to use the elemental sites themselves. The next morning, Yusuke's group arrive at one of the elemental sites, only to find it has already been tampered with -and is now emitting nether world energy. Kuwabara asks what will happen, and Hinageshi reveals that it will mean the spirit world will remain inaccessible.
The group splits up. Yusuke and Hinageshi arrive at one of the sites, but are found by Yakumo, who easily defeats Yusuke and takes control of the site. Elsewhere, Hiei finds a site by using his evil eye, but is attacked by two demons. He kills them both, but Yakumo's right hand man, Raigo, appears, and reveals he has his own evil eye. He blasts Hiei into a building, and then takes control of a site. Meanwhile, Kurama arrives as another elemental site, but is confronted by Kuronue, a demon thief who he used to work with, believe to have died. Kuronue is angry at him as he believes Kurama was the one who tried to kill him. He injures Kurama with a blade, and takes control of the site, before vanishing.
Meanwhile, Kuwabara finds the site he was sent to, but is attacked by Majari, a demon who can mirror his opponent's skills. He and Kuwabara have a spirit sword battle, but Majari seems stronger. However Kuwabara uses a projectile attack that drains him of all his energy. Majari copies the move, not realizing it'll leave him without any energy. The two projectiles clash and fizzle out, and Kuwabara then defeats Majari by hitting him with a mighty punch. However, Yakumo appears and destroys the elemental site before anyone can access it. Yusuke's group reunite, and see the nether world energy from the elemental sites, and Hinageshi wonders what they should do now. The next day, Yakumo and Raigo track down something they are searching for: Botan. They invade Genkai's temple, and after brushing Genkai and Yukina aside, Yakumo finds what he is looking for -the power sphere -is inside Botan.
Yusuke and Keiko arrive, but Yakumo injures Keiko and then kicks Yusuke into the temple. He and Raigo leave, and take Botan with them. Later on, the group realize that Yakumo must be planning on reviving the nether world on Earth, Genkai thinks Botan must have known that, when Koenma entrusted her with the power sphere. She'd hidden it within her own body, so those demons wouldn't find it, and risked her own life, knowing that its power would overwhelm her. Later on, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei and Hinageshi go off to confront Yakumo, and head towards a skyscraper which is the source of the nether world energy. As they approach, Kuronue stands in their way, so Kurama goes up to fight him alone.
However Kurama figures out that his opponent is not really Kuronue, and in reality is actually one of Yakumo's followers: Kaiki, a demon who can transform his appearance. The two fight, but Kurama is able to kill Kaiki. The group move on, but are then confronted by Raigo. Hiei realizes this is the guy who hurt Yukina, and challenges him one on one. Raigo attempts to use his evil eye to manipulate Hiei into attacking his friends with his black dragon wave technique, and forces him to transform to his green form, with multiple evil eyes opening all over his body. However, this backfires when Hiei proves to be too strong for him to control, and he is killed when Hiei unleashes the black dragon waves onto him.
At the top of the skyscraper, Yakumo is able to retrieve the power sphere from Botan, despite her best efforts at resisting. He changes his form, and also changes the appearance of the place they are in, moments after Yusuke and Hinageshi arrive. Yusuke attempts to fight Yakumo, but Yakumo appears to just be playing with him, and isn't harmed by Yusuke's attacks -which include a point-blank spirit gun blast.
However Hinageshi latches onto him, and is able to get him to drop the power sphere. Yusuke attempts to use its power to boost his own, and with some help from Kuwabara, Hiei and Kurama, the group are able to fire a spirit gun blast.
Yakumo manages to dodge it, but the blast is able to change direction, having the movement of Kurama's rose whip technique. The blast then takes the form of one of Hiei's black dragon waves, and seemingly incinerates Yakumo. However, Yakumo survives, and makes on last-ditch effort to kill Yusuke. The two fall down the skyscraper, but Yusuke throws the power sphere towards Yakumo, before firing off another spirit gun blast. The blast destroys the power sphere, and also kills Yakumo.
As things return to normal, Yusuke is relieved to see that Botan is alright, as is everyone else. As the group get back together, the sun starts to rise. Kurama says it's finally over, and Hiei says it is, somehow. Kuwabara asks if Yakumo really died, but Yusuke's not sure... he could be hiding among them. Kuwabara says that's not funny, but Yusuke assures him that if Yakumo is still out there, they'll give him another good beating!
-This movie tells an original story, which was not in the manga. Hinageshi, Yakumo and his three underlings are all movie-exclusive characters.
-The movie was released on the same day that this episode first aired in Japan.
-It's not stated when this story is taking place in relation to the anime series, and it probably isn't canon. It's clearly set after the dark tournament arc, as Hiei can use the black dragon wave. It would most likely have to take place before the Sensui arc.
-Due to this being a movie, the violence could be much more graphic than the TV series. This is especially noticeable with the scene where Yusuke and Kuwabara save Hinageshi from some demons.
-Much of the film's music consists of newly recorded renditions of music from the TV series.