Shigeru Murota (室田 繁) is a minor fictional character and was Yusuke's ally in the Chapter Black Saga of the Yu Yu Hakusho series. When Itsuki begins to create the tunnel to Makai, he gained the psychic ability to hear thoughts, a power which, to an extent, allows him to read a person's mind. He, like the three psychics who sought advice from Genkai, resides in Mushiyori City. He had planned to take advantage of his powers to become a boxer, until crossing paths with Yusuke.
He is voiced by Nobuaki Fukuda in the Japanese version and Sean Schemmel in the English anime.
Appearance
In his first appearance, before he allies with Urameshi, Murota appears as a tall, middle-aged man with short, dark brown hair cut in a flat-top style. In the manga, he wears a long sleeved, shirt with a flower theme tucked into his baggy, blue dress slacks. In the anime, however, he wears a plain pink turtleneck. Also, he sports a pair of dark dress shoes and a white belt with gold belt buckle. His loose-fitting attire doesn't betray his muscular physique; although in the manga this is less apparent, giving him a more shady, decrepit, look. He has dark skin, and small, angled eyebrows. Later in the manga, he is seen wearing a hooded sweatshirt in addition to his usual attire.[1]
Synopsis
Chapter Black Saga
Murota first appears in Club Mahjong, a gambling establishment. Yusuke and his companions detect the presence of a psychic in the building, but are unable to identify who it is specifically, until Murota reveals himself to the group with a chuckle. He takes the group by surprise when he seems to possess knowledge of the soon-to-be-completed demon world tunnel the group are trying to locate. In truth, he was completely clueless about the crisis and, presumably, the origin of his powers.
Initially, the group are suspicious of his powers, and in attempt to determine whether or not Murota is a real mind reader, he is confronted by Asato Kido. Just before Kido steps on his shadow, Murota averts his shadow, which tells Genkai, Yusuke and the others that he can in fact hear thoughts. He proceeds to assault Kido with a flurry of punches, before speaking of his aspirations to become a boxer utilizing his ability to anticipate his opponents attacks in advance. With his powers no longer in question, Yusuke answers Murota's taunts and beats his thought reading power by utilizing the shockwave from a right jab at 30% power to level the older man. While he's temporarily incapacitated, Mitsunari Yanagisawa uses his copy technique to confirm that Murota is innocent, "just a regular guy" who doesn't know anything. When he comes to, Murota allies with the Spirit Detective and offers his assistance to the group.
In the middle of town, Murota employs his "Wiretap" ability after being instructed to relay any suspicious thoughts he might hear. He is shown to be a closet pervert when he gets sidetracked by random thoughts, before honing in on the dark, sinister mind of one Shinobu Sensui. He comments on the intensity and loudness of Sensui's thoughts, overwhelmed with anxiety and fear, having never heard anything like it. Shortly after describing Sensui to the group, he is struck in the forehead by a pencil eraser fired telekinetically by Kaname Hagiri. To passersby, it initially seemed as if Murota was killed by a gunshot. In actuality, he is unconscious, but still alive. Accordingly, he is subsequently rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.
After coming around, he describes the details of Sensui's thoughts which he overheard and is still haunted by. After prompted, he gives the names of the members of Sensui's Seven and begins to second guess his decision to get involved in the cause on behalf of the Human World, as he's horrified by his epiphany regarding Sensui. Soon after recovering from his injuries, he and Yanagisawa are among the first victims of the Doctor's virus, although he is shown to be able to resist it's effects to some degree.
Later, he shows up to warn Yusuke that Minoru Kamiya, the Doctor, is being deceitful, plans to kill him, and that the vials he proclaimed to be antidote are just glucose. This action effectively aids Yusuke in the confrontation, potentially preventing an injury to the Spirit Detective. At the very least, his actions prevented further complications.
Sometime prior to Kuwabara's kidnapping, Murota was cornered on the streets and swallowed by Gourmet, his powers being absorbed into Mr. Makihara's territory. A silhouette of the events leading to his demise appears in the anime. Despite in how they only knew each other, for a short time, Yusuke was became visibly angered with how Murota was killed and wanted to avenge him, though Kurama stepped in and volunteered to do the job in defeating Gourmet.
Powers/Abilities
Fighting Style
Murota is trained as a boxer, using punches to attack his opponents. While using his Tapping ability to read a persons mind, he can avoid their attacks and counter them easily. however, he was no match to more powerful opponents like Urameshi.
- Tapping (盗聴 [タッピング], Tōchō [Tappingu]; lit. "Wiretap"): This unique ability allows him to hear any and all thoughts within his territory, which in the manga is said to have up to a 30-yard radius. He can hear these thoughts clearly, yet has no sophisticated means of filtering the melting pot of thoughts so that he is only hearing those of a specific person or people. Interestingly, the intensity of the thought is proportionate to the volume Murota hears; this same phenomena also contributes to the pitch of the voice he hears.[2]