Episode 23

The Toguro Brothers Gang
Kanji	闇の使者! 戸愚呂兄弟
Rōmaji	Yami no Shisha! Toguro Kyōdai (Envoys of Darkness! The Toguro Brothers)
Japan Air Date	March 20, 1993
English Air Date	April 3, 2003
Episode	23
Manga	Chapters 47 (second half)-48 (first half)
Saga	Spirit Detective Saga
Opening Song	Smile Bomb
Ending Song	Homework Never Ends
Previous Episode	←Lamenting Beauty
Next Episode	The Deadly Triad→

The Toguro Brothers Gang is the twenty-third episode of season 1 of YuYu Hakusho. It aired on March 20, 1993 in Japan and April 3, 2003 in the United States.

Short Summary

Yusuke and his friends fight their way through the human and demon guards surrounding Tarukane's stronghold. Meanwhile, Tarukane bets on his demon guards killing Yusuke's group with the Black Black Club, losing money every round to Sakyo, who bets on Yusuke's side.

Detailed Summary

Tarukane learns that the monster he sent out was defeated by the outsiders as the Toguro brothers realize that they are not ordinary people while Yusuke and the gang make progress with their mission. Tarukane becomes a bit concerned but Toguro calms him saying he could face them if necessary. Tarukane doesn't quite agree and tries to test Toguro's skill by competing him against his own pet monster, who happens to be very powerful. However, it turns out that Toguro is very powerful after all, and he punches a hole right through the monster's body in just one attack thus killing it in a blink of an eye. Tarukane is surprised and finally gains some confidence. Then he thinks of something more interesting — a gambling game.

Koenma, with his servant Jorge Saotome, are watching Yusuke's journey towards Tarukane's mansion when suddenly Kurama arrives. Hiei is nowhere to be found after he delivered the tape to Yusuke. Kurama thinks that Hiei knows the contents of the tape and he himself is out to save his own sister. Hiei is then seen jumping from tree to tree with his hyperspeed towards Tarukane's mansion without Yusuke and the rest noticing. Later, Tarukane summons several of his business associates from the Black Black Club and decides to start a gambling game. He knows that the outsiders trying to invade his place have some kind of special powers. Toguro told Tarukane that these outsiders defeated powerful demons such as Rando and Suzaku, so he manipulates the gambling game to his advantage. His first bet is the twelve defenders versus the outsiders. As expected, the majority of his business associates went with his defenders, but there was one, Sakyo, who favored the outsiders and even doubled the wager. Tarukane is shocked, and he gets even more shocked when we see Yusuke and Kuwabara beating up his twelve defenders. Botan tries to look ahead and examine the location as Yusuke and Kuwabara beat up more defenders.

Tarukane then releases his second bet - three of his most powerful fighters: Miyuki, Gokumonki and Inmaki, against the outsiders. Everyone again went in favor of Tarukane's men — except Sakyo once again. He goes with Yusuke and even triples the wager, making Tarukane irate. So he thinks of a trick, and suddenly the whole forest blows off. Tarukane had seemingly initiated the self—destruct button and destroyed the forest that surrounded the mansion, seeming like he has gotten rid of the outsiders for good. But the outsiders are perfectly safe and they finally reach the mansion. They enter it and face their first challenge, one of Tarukane's fighters — Miyuki.

Anime Notes

• This marks the first appearance of Butajiri.
• This marks the first appearance of Sakyo.
• This marks the first appearance of Miyuki.
• This marks the first appearance of Gokumonki.
• This marks the first appearance of Inmaki.
• This marks the first appearance of the Black Black Club (besides Tarukane, Sakyo, Butajiri, Nurukawa, Mitsui, and an unnamed member with an Indian accent).
• This marks the first appearance of Shigure in Hiei's flashback, though he doesn't become a prominent character until the The Three Kings storyline.
• Originally, Shigure was voiced by Jerry Jewell (voice of Suzaku and Jin plus Black Black Club member Mitsui) in Hiei's flashback as Funimation had no idea that the character would return much later in the series. When Shigure debuted properly in "Haunted by the Past", he was recast with Pete Webber. Webber would years later rerecord Jewell's lines in the Blu-ray remastered version of this episode for consistency.
  • Also, in the original Japanese of this episode, Shigure's voice was provided by Tomomichi Nishimura, voice of Jorge Saotome, but would be recast with Takashi Taniguchi for his proper debut.
• The following elements were added to the anime which are not part of the manga.
  • Yusuke's group spending the night out in the woods.
  • Hiei's flashback of Shigure implanting his Jagan.
  • The Spider Demon.
  • Kuwbara's headband that was inscribed with ""I love Yukina".
  • The explosive trap set at the entrance of Tarukane's mansion.

Gallery

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