Disclaimer: YuuYuu Hakusho is copyrighted and
belongs to its creator, Togashi
Yoshihiro.
KUWABARA KAZUMA
Name: Kazuma (His first
name, not last.) Kuwabara (Not “Kuwahara”!)
Meaning of Name: Kazuma means “Peaceful and
Truthful”. The
Japanese name Kazuma may be written with the
characters for "harmony; Japanese style; peace" (kazu)
and "true; reality" (ma). Other possibilities include "one"
(kazu) and "horse" (ma). [Kazuma is also pronounced “Kah-ZOO-mah”, the “ah” pronounced like how a low letter “o” is
pronounced or like in the word “cause”. It should be pronounced “Kau-zoo-mau”, not “Keh-zoo-ma”. Thanks FUNI.] Kuwabara means “Mulberry Field”. It is
also a chant to ward away lightning and its god; “Kuwabara! Kuwabara!”
Mulberry trees are said to never be struck by lightning, too. [If you think about it, Yusuke’s demon ancestor is considered to be
a god of lightning (Tis what the name “Raizen”, literally) and war. It makes you wonder,
doesn’t it?]
Age: 14 (at the beginning); 16 (at the end of YuuYuu Hakusho)
Birth date: December 3rd (founded off of
Japanese sites), 1974 (Due to calculations that I will not get into.)
Sign: Sagittarius!
Blood Type: O+ (Again, found off of Japanese sites.)
Gender: Male
Eyes: Brown or amber (Some people say his eyes are
blue.)
Hair: Reddish Orange (Not brown! Maybe
fiery ginger hair, but NOT totally brown!)
Height: Between 6' to 6'6'' (We honestly don’t know,
but he is the tallest of the other Rekai Tantei in his group.)
Appearance:
Kuwabara is broad-shouldered with a defined muscular build. He is the
tallest member of the team, standing at about six feet (or taller) - making him
very tall by Japanese standards, as this is considered well above average. He
has thick reddish-orange hair that is combed up into a 1950s 'punk' pompadour
style. He has an angular face with narrow eyes and high cheek bones and a
slender pointed nose.
His overall appearance, as well as his dress sense, are
likely an homage to classic Japanese 'bad boy' mythology from the 1950s. In
school, he wears a light blue jump suite- in contrast with the dark blue ones
worn by rest of the male students. In the anime, he wears his school uniform
most of the time (in fact, for all of the first season season
and half of the second.) In several episodes, it can be seen that he
preemptively binds his abs with bandages, much like a classic brawler. He also
occasionally dons headbands, such as his "Fighting Headband of Love"
when he set out to rescue Yukina.
For particularly significant battles (such as the finals
in the Dark Tournament), he dresses up as a Bōsōzoku, an
old-fashioned stereotypical Japanese biker thug. This outfit includes a full
length white military overcoat, with his family name emblazoned on the back in
kanji, white pants tucked into black jackboots, and bandages wrapped around his
abs. His use of his spirit sword in this costume is likely homage to the fact
that Bōsōzoku were rumored to have wielded
wooden Kendo swords.
Personality:
Though initially appearing as just a rival to Yusuke, it becomes clear from
the start that he deeply values the connection between them forged by the many
fights they got into. Though neither he or Yusuke
would admit it, there is an obvious emotional bond between them, akin to
brothers. He and Yusuke always address each other by their last names-
furthering the link to classic Japanese youth icons.
Kuwabara quickly forms an antagonistic relationship with Hiei from the onset after he
insults him when they first meet. The mutual dislike continues well into the
series- Hiei constantly regards him as useless and stupid while Kuwabara finds
him as uncaring and snide. Despite this, Kuwabara later comments that he knows
that deep down Hiei is a decent person. Conversely, Kuwabara gets along well
with Kurama and the two
appear to have a social friendship (Kuwabara is seen at Kurama's
mother's wedding). He trains with Kurama in order to prepare for the Dark
Tournament.
He is often being disciplined by his sister, Shizuru Kuwabara, though it's likely that she's doing this
to toughen him up. She is usually seen insulting him at times when he does
poorly in a fight, and is quick to physically reprimand him if she thinks he's
getting out of line. She does allow a more caring and defensive side to show,
though it is only seen if she feels that his life is in real danger. He's on
friendly terms with Keiko, and is willing to defend her from local thugs in
Yusuke's place when he's not around. He is extremely loyal to his three friends
Sawamura, Kirishima, and
Okubo, even going so far as to endanger himself for their sake in one case.
Kuwabara is extremely empathic to others- and often puts himself in danger to
help them.
Throughout the series, Kuwabara's
actions are driven by a number of things. One is being his personal code of
honor that drives him to fight for loyalty and justice. His actions are also
linked heavily to his emotions- such as when he 'fought for love' while
rescuing Yukina. His emotions and bonds also drive
him to become stronger, such as his love for Yukina
(from which he draws the power to defeat Reisho in
the Dark Tournament) and his devotion to Yusuke. It was his grief over Yusuke
that pushed him over the edge and allowed him to finally access his newest
ability, the Jigen Tou.
He is a huge fan of the American group called Megallica (an obvious reference to the heavy metal band,
Metallica) and despite his appearance, he has a soft spot for his cat Eiikichi. He briefly had an unrequited and unreciprocated
crush on Botan. Later, he appeared to instantly fall
in love with Yukina- who initially had no
understanding of romance. Though, Yukina is unaware
of his feelings throughout the majority of the series, as she is an Ice Maiden-
a species that does not practice male/female relationships. She nonetheless
cares for him, and expresses a great deal of concern when it comes to his
safety. Towards the end of the series, it is stated that the two spend a lot of
time together, with Kuwabara's father even making a
brief appearance (in the manga) and inviting her to
stay in the Kuwabara home upon meeting her.
Known Abilities:
High Spirit Awareness - As described by Genkai during
the Chapter Black saga, Kuwabara has unparalleled spirit awareness, perhaps
possessing the most potent along with his sister Shizuru,
who has shown to possess similar talent in this area as well. It has yet to be
said which sibling possesses greater talent in this area, but both have been
shown to be extraordinarily talented in it. Though it was never confirmed if Shizuru is able to see ghosts like Kuwabara, it is believed
that she can, as she was able to view an encrypted tape that Koenma sent to
Yusuke, detailing his mission to rescue Hiei's
sister, Yukina. During the early part of the series,
Kuwabara is stated as being able to hear and feel the presence of ghosts, but
are only able to see them when asleep. Later on in the series, it is shown that
Kuwabara is able to see visions of future events, such as when he was able to
see the events surrounding the human fighters who were competing on the Dr. Ichigaki team, during the Dark Tournament.
Superhuman Physical Strength - Kuwabara possesses raw physical
strength to a superhuman degree, as seen in the Poltergeist Report movie where
he defeated the demon god Majari, with a single punch
after tricking the apparition into exhausting his demon energy. This was also
seen during his fight with Risho in the Dark
Tournament, where he took the shinobi demon's
strongest blows with very little spirit energy left in his body, and was able
to keep getting up.
Class Ranking: A (at the end of the series and is considered to be the MOST powerful "human" in Human World)
Moves / Techniques:
Spirit Sword (霊剣, Rei
Ken): Kuwabara's signature attack, where he
creates a sword made of his spirit energy. Its strength depends on how much
energy Kuwabara uses. It is first used in the Genkai
Tournament when Kuwabara holds a piece of a broken sword from a special
spiritual sword used by Musashi, the opponent he is fighting.
The broken piece helped this weapon to emerge when Kuwabara got desperate.
After the tournament is over, Kuwabara does some training and learns how to
control it at will, without needing the broken sword piece.
Spirit Sword Javelin (伸びよ霊剣, Nobiyo
Rei Ken, translates as Spirit Sword Extension):
Kuwabara's power seems to be derived from a form of
materialization; the act of manifesting his energy into the shape of an object.
This is a unique ability in the series, as it is seldom seen from very few
characters in the series (namely Bui and Karasu of
Team Toguro). After gaining full control, Kuwabara can increase the length of
his sword at will. Later, after training with Kurama in preparation for the
Dark Tournament, Kuwabara is able to bend and lengthen his sword at will. This
attack enables him to attack his opponent from a distance (as seen in his fight
with Rinku), and also act as a javelin or a pole
vault in order to both leap great distances or survive falls from great
heights.
Double Spirit Sword (霊剣二刀流, Rei
Ken Ni Tō Ryū, translates as Spirit Sword Twin Blade):
During his training before the Dark Tournament under Kurama and Hiei, Kuwabara
develops this technique, where he can materialize two swords at once, one for
each hand.
Spirit Sword Shards (霊手裏剣, Rei Shuriken, translates as Spirit
Throwing Knives) is a technique where Kuwabara produces small bolts of
energy from his hands, similar to shuriken. He uses it only twice, as it
appears to consume a large amount of spirit energy (first during his fight with
Elder Toguro, and once with a lengthened version in the movie "Poltergeist
Report" against Majari).
The Trial Sword (試しの剣, Tameshi
No Ken, translates as Sword of Trials): While preparing for the
finals of the Dark Tournament, Suzuka gives him the
sword handle that Shishi Wakamaru
used; though, Suzuka explains, it will be unique to
him. With some practice, he is able to create a massive prismatic blade of pure
Spirit Energy. Kuwabara is also able to make the blade change shape as well,
turning it into what he calls the
Spirit Flyswatter (巨大霊気棒, Kyodai
Reikibō, translated as Giant Spirit
Energy Light Staff), which he used to pummel Elder Toguro in the final
round of the Dark Tournament.
Dimension Sword (次元刀, Jigen Tō,
translates as Dimensional Blade): An enhanced version of his Spirit
Sword that enables him to literally cut through dimensional barriers and
psychic territory, Kuwabara can also uses the Dimension Sword to halve
distances, effectively making a temporary dimensional tunnel in order to stop a
terrorist attack on the Spirit World.
School He Once Attended: Sarayashiki
High
Family: Parents = Not much is
known, sadly. His “father” did appear in the manga
once. Siblings = Shizuru Kuwabara (sister?).
Pets: A cat named “Eikichi”.
(In the anime the cat is a female, while in the manga
the kitty is a male.)
Friends: Okubo, Kirishima,
and Sawamura (His loyal and faithful gang of human
friends…I love these guys!), Yusuke Urameshi (he used to be his enemy, his rival, but they're
good friends now), and other people like Kurama and Botan
(He used to have a crush on her until Yukina came
along, though I do not know how long that is going to last since she is an ice
maiden).
Voice Actors: Shigeru Chiba (Japanese
Version, which is my favorite), Christopher Sabat (English
Version, my second favorite…he sounds similar to Vegeta
in this), Cliff Lazenby (English Version for the Yu Yu Hakusho movies, which I SO
hate! I can’t stand his voice in these movies!)
Synopsis:
Spirit Detective Saga
Kuwabara appears, along
with Yusuke, at Genkai's Tournament so he can learn to control his Spiritual
Awareness. There, he makes it to the semifinals, where he faces Shorin. Shorin reveals himself to be the demon Yusuke had been searching for, Rando, and though Kuwabara seems to have the upperhand early on, Rando is able
to beat him using an incantation he stole from a psychic, which caused Kuwabara
to shrink in the middle of the fight. Yusuke fights him next, but almost dies
from drowning. Luckily, Kuwabara transfers his remaining spirit energy to save
him, which is enough to kill Rando,
When the Saint Beasts
send a volley of Makai insects to Human World,
Kuwabara, Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei go to the demon city to stop them. Kuwabara
fights the Saint Beast, Byakko, who absorbs Kuwabara's
spirit attacks to become stronger. Kuwabara defeats the Saint Beast twice, one
by overloading him with spirit energy, the other by punching the mighty beast
into a lava pit. However, Byakko doesn't actually die until his teammate, Seiryu
kills him.
Initially, when Yusuke
is given a tape by Koenma for his next mission, Kuwabara refuses to go along.
However, when he sees a picture of the girl they are trying to rescue, he jumps
at the chance. He helps lead them to Yukina, by means
of a "pinky string" that connects the two with love. Kuwabara is
faced by Toguro, whom he narrowly defeats by using a spirit gun blast fired
from Yusuke to propel him forward at a surprised Toguro. It is later revealed
that their victory was a fluke, set up by both the Toguro brothers and Sakyo,
who were using them as a means to con the Yukina's
captor, Tarukane, out of his fortune.
During the Ankoku Būtsukai (Dark
Tournament), Kuwabara fights more full matches than the rest of his teammates,
losing the majority of them, mostly to ring outs. Near the end of the
Tournament, Kuwabara and Kurama are approached by Suzuki (Suzuka
in the English dub), the former leader of Team Uratogi.
Suzuki gives Kuwabara an item to help him in the finals against Team Toguro.
This item is revealed as the Tameshi no Ken, or Trial
Sword, which helps him defeat Elder Toguro. During Yusuke's battle with the
Younger Toguro, Kuwabara fakes his own death with Toguro's
aid to draw out Yusuke's potential.
During the first half of
the Chapter Black Storyline, Kuwabara is unable to use his powers. He suspects
that, like Suzuki told him, it was a side effect from using the Trial Sword.
However, Genkai knows the truth: that Kuwabara's spirit awareness is so high that his own body
was aware of Sensui's plan months before it happened,
and has undergone a transformation to prepare for it. Kuwabara accesses his
power during the battle with Sea Man, Kiyoshi Mitarai,
a human teenager who is gifted with the ability to create indestrucible
monsters made of water. Kuwabara's powers awaken and
he gains the power to slice through dimensional barriers with a new type of
energy sword, the Jigen Tou,
or Dimensional Blade. He slices through the monster and wounds Sea Man, saving
himself and his friends. Out of kindess, Kuwabara
also spares the life of Sea Man, causing the teenager to turn good.
This powerful sword,
however, is what Sensui needs to destroy the barrier
blocking Demon World's strongest denizens from entering the Human World. Sensui attacks, captures Kuwabara, and plans to have
another human psychic, Gourmet, eat Kuwabara and gain his power, knowing that
Kuwabara would never slice the barrier willingly. However, Yusuke and team
enter Sensui's lair and, after a series of ordeals,
rescue their friend. Shortly afterwards, Yusuke is killed in his battle against
Sensui, causing the vengeful Kuwabara to slice the
barrier in order to track down Sensui and avenge his
friend's death. Hiei and Kurama go with Kuwabara into Demon world, and together
the three fight the powerful Sensui. Despite their
best efforts, Hiei, Kurama, and Kuwabara are no match for Sensui,
though he is eventually killed by a resurrected Yusuke, after he is possessed
by Raizen, Yusuke's demon ancestor.
When Kuwabara learns of
Yusuke's plans to go back to demon world, his first instinct is to go with his
friend. However, his older sister Shizuru convinces
him to stay in Human World and study for exam so that he can get into a good
high school. With this coaxing, Kuwabara decides to retire from fighting
permanently and focus on his academics, allowing him to live a normal life
rather than continuing to fighting yōkai for the
rest of his life. Nonetheless, he does make a brief appearance in a spiritual
form in Kurama's mind giving a cheer towards Yusuke.
At the end of the
series, Kuwabara is a second year high school student at the University's prep
school, called Gaikou Fuzoku
High School (or Gai Tech). He has numerous female
admirers, although he remains faithful to Yukina. He
is also studying for his college entrance exams. His power being at A class level, it is verified by Koenma that Kuwabara is the
strongest full human fighter on earth.
Other Info:
Kazuma Kuwabara (桑原和真), more
commonly known as “Kuwabara”
by Yusuke, Kurama, and as well as other people. It is a
sign of respect. The only ones who call him by his first name, Kazuma, are Shizuru and Yukina.
Friendship /
Relationship With His Teammates: Yusuke initially didn't like Kuwabara, but as
the series progresses the two develop a mutual bond and respect for each other,
with Kuwabara being the only person who truly understands him. Yusuke, however,
is actually closest to Kurama (sadly not Kuwabara, despite how Kuwabara may
feel that Yusuke is the closest to him…he comes second in line to the other
redhead in the group). Kuwabara squabbles with Hiei, who is closest to Yusuke
and (especially) Kurama. As for Kurama, he is Kuwabara’s
social friend and began hanging out with him more towards the end of YuuYuu Hakusho (more so than he
does with Yusuke). Basically the three demons seemed to have formed an inner
circle for each other, sort of casting Kazuma to the
side as a third or spare wheel. Kuwabara isn’t seen much in the end of the manga, just like he isn’t seen much in the last season of
the anime. The manga and the anime went into all of
their lives, that is except Kuwabara.
Kuwabara's favourite
band is Megallica, the "Gods of Heavy Metal" as he calls
them, in the Chapter Black saga; Megallica would be a
clear tribute/parody of both Megadeth and Metallica.
Music
Likes: After reading that above - This helps us know
that Kazuma is into heavy metal, rock and roll, etc.
He was perfectly offended when Yusuke called Megallica
a “pop band”, possibly because he wouldn’t even dare listen to Pop music or anything of that likeness. Possible bands he
could like are “Korn” (this band fits Kuwabara
perfectly in my opinion, particularly the darker side of him), “Metallica”
(duh), “Black Sabbath” (and Ozzy!), “Iron Maiden”, “Slayer”,
“Anthrax”, “Children of Bodom”, “Cradle of Filth”, “Deftones”, etc, etc… [Go here for
more information about “Heavy Metal” bands and music!] The others may certainly listen to pop and
other music, but not this man. He is particularly a fan of the American version
of Heavy Metal/Rock (This can perhaps denote the fact that he may know the English
language).
Oddly enough, I can also see him enjoy a band such as "Gorillaz". I can also see him like other types of rock (and not just Heavy Metal), Alternative Rock being one of them.
Miscellaneous:
Numerology:
Name Number: 7 = philosophical, quiet, analytical,
introspective, understanding, intuitive, inspirational, reclusive, knowledge,
awareness, studious, meditating
Destiny Number: 9 = completion, selflessness,
compassion, generosity, benevolence, patience, endings, humanitarian, giving
nature, obligations, creative expression
Personality Number: 5 = expansion, change, adventure,
speculation, visions, growing, evolution, curious, active, resourceful, struggle
against limits, steady growth, a foundation
Soul Urge Number: 11 = mass communication, group effort,
intuition, cooperation, impersonality, higher spiritual plane, intuitive,
illumination, idealist, a dreamer
Chinese
Zodiac: The Tiger
= Tiger people are sensitive, given to deep thinking,
capable of great sympathy. They can be extremely short-tempered, however. Other
people have great respect for them, but sometimes tiger people come into
conflict with older people or those in authority. Sometimes Tiger people cannot
make up their minds, which can result in a poor, hasty decision or a sound
decision arrived at too late. They are suspicious of others, but they are
courageous and powerful. Tigers are most compatible with Horses, Dragons, and Dogs.
They are sensitive, emotional and capable of great love. They are stubborn about
what you think is right. They will make a good boss, explorer or racecar
driver.
Colorstrology:
Celestial (blue) [PANTONE : 18-4530] Although
you are independent and strong, there is a sensitive side of your that remains
hidden. It is that side that needs to be acknowledged and understood because it
holds many of your deepest wishes. Try not to hide your feelings, especially
from those who are trying so desperately to understand you. Many people born on
this day have a gift for dance and music. Your personal color helps blend your
inner and outer world.
Those
born between Oct-Dec: Your love life
will not be great, but eventually you will find your soul mate.
The
Colors He Most Likely Chooses:
Blue:
You are spontaneous and love kisses and affection from the ones you love.
White:
You will have a friend who completely confides in you and would do anything for
you, but you may not realize it.
