Yoh Asakura
Yok Asakura is a male anime and manga character who features in Shaman King.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Yoh Asakura (Japanese: 麻倉 葉, Hepburn: Asakura Yō) was the son of Keiko Asakura and Mikihisa Maki where he had an older twin brother named Hao Asakura. He was born in Izumo Shimane, Japan on May 12, 1985 as a member of the Asakura Family. As a young boy, he was in the care of his grandfather who was a shaman and was training the boy in his skills at their home in Izumo. This was because the long awaited Shaman Tournament was arriving after 500 years where shamans from around the world were competing to become the Great Spirit. His grandfather thus sought to train him and take him on the path to compete in this once in a lifetime opportunity. Initially, the young Yoh did not take his studies seriously as he did not want to become a shaman and instead desired to become a musician. However, his grandfather told him the story of the Shaman King with this exciting Yoh as he believed he could work to become the Great Spirit and then he could be free to pursue other avenues. It was after that point onwards that he decided to become Shaman King and took the role more seriously. In 1995, Yoh's grandmother Kino suggested that Yoh be engaged to her apprentice, Anna Kyoyama. One day, he was accompanied by his friend the spirit Matamune and went to Aomori and fell in love with Anna at first sight.
At some point, Yoh went to Anna Kyoyama who was a itako (spirit medium) when he was beset by a group of spirits that attacked him. He asked for her help which agreed to give on the condition that when he became the Shaman King that she would become his wife. He agreed and she defeated the evil spirits where afterwards she began to consider herself Yoh's wife with her aiding him in his efforts to become Shaman King.
Shaman King
When Yoh moved to Funbari Hills to participate in the Shaman Fight in Tokyo and to find a ghost of his own. There he met the first friends he ever had Oyamada Manta, at the Funbari Hill cemetery after he enrolled at Funbari ga Oka, the same school as Manta. He fought with Ryu who had beaten Manta up, with the help of Amidamaru, Yoh used Hyōi-Gattai to merge with Amidamaru and to defeat Ryu, that was the time that Yoh choose Amidamaru to be his partner. However much to Yoh's disappointment Amidamaru declines. Manta drags Yoh along and told Yoh that it was not a good idea to be partnered up with Amidamaru, Yoh felt no evil in him and try to discover why he declined. When they arrive at the Funbari Local Museum they both see the old and rusted Harusame sword and later at night they find Mosuke crying in which he crafted the sword. He starts explaining the past about his promise and that both waited 600 years. Yoh merges with Mosuke to craft the new sword for Amidamaru for the promise and show the newly crafted sword to him. Amidamaru then decides that he partners up with Yoh. Yoh later returned the Harusame back at the museum. They have many adventures together like freeing an angry earthbound spirit from a billboard, rescuing children from a fire, and stopping a bully from throwing his life away. Silva of the 10 Patch Officiants from the Patch tribe encounters Yoh at Amidamaru's gravesite and challenges him to a test to gain entry to the Shaman Fights. In order to acquire the Oracle Bell that will function as a permit, Yoh will have to hit Silva just once. Yoh accepts and the battle commences. Yoh quickly integrates Amidamaru into himself and goes in to strike, but hits Silva's O.S. Silver Shield and wonders what happened. Silva explains the Over Soul concept and strikes back with both Silver Horn, Silver Tail, and Silver Rod, slamming Yoh into the ground. However, Yoh figures out how to use the Over Soul and places Amidamaru inside the Harusame. It succeeds and creates an overflowing uncontrolled version of his very first Over Soul. Seeing this Silva swaps the Silver Arms to his O.S. Totem Pole Cannon formation and fires a blast of Furyoku. With the muscle memory gained from being fused with Amidamaru so many times, Yoh uses the Buddha-Strike and deflects Silva's attack right back at him. This act makes a cut in Silva's headband, thus hitting him and earns him the Oracle Bell and the right to participate in the Shaman Fights.
When Yoh returns home Anna chastises him for the Oracle Bell, thinking it's a pager and the hair on him, thinking he was with another woman. To prove her wrong Yoh decides to show her his Over Soul but fails because he is out of Furyoku. Yoh is about to be beaten by Anna, but the Oracle Bell beeps and Yoh is given his first match against someone named HoroHoro, taking place in the middle of an open square. Before the fights start Yoh is given a battle costume from Anna something he openly complains about until Anna says she spends all night personally sewing it. Suddenly a voice calls out for Yoh above them and Horohoro drops sixty stories high and attacks Yoh to get his Over Soul working. The fight begins with Horohoro attacking, who at first dominated the match. After a while Yoh asks him what his dream is, to which Horohoro tells him his dream to create a massive field of butterbur. Yoh cries for him and considers forfeiting until Anna knocks Yoh back to his senses. The battle resumes and Horohoro attacks head-on but Yoh is ready for him. Yoh quickly counters everything Horohoro can dish out to the point where Yoh melts down all of the Musso Kurppe Horohoro had. Horohoro uses his most powerful attack of a massive avalanche. It worked to a point but Yoh busted through it and struck Horohoro ending the match and allowing Yoh to win his first match.
At the next shaman fight, Yoh and Manta encountered their next opponent Faust VIII who provoked hostilities before the battle. Faust VIII kidnapped Manta where he tortured his hostage to intentionally make Yoh angry in order for him to expend his Furyoku in order to weaken him. In the fight, Faust VIII was angered causing him to mercilessly attack even after he officially won the battle with him intending to kill Yoh who was powerless. Asakura was only saved by the timely arrival of Tao Ren who had only done so in order to defeat Yoh himself. In the aftermath, Yoh and Manta were taken to the hospital to recover with Asakura deciding to shield his friend Oyamada from the dangers of shaman fights. To do this, he told Manta that he lost a shaman fight because of him and that he could not afford to lose another battle which was why they could no longer be friends. Yoh came to believe that he would forever be alone but that this action was for the best. With Amidamaru and Anna, the three departed their home as they headed to his grandfathers home in Izumo in order to get further training before his next battle with Tao Ren. He stayed as the Asakura estate where he went into the Tunnel of Tartarus as part of a dangerous trial to improve his spiritual control. He later emerged only to be attacked by two shamans named Elly and Milly with Yoh effortlessly defeating them. Afterwards, he continued his training under Anna as he prepared for his fight against Tao Ren. Ren had improved his sheer power potential but was undisciplined allowing the more finely controlled Yoh to weather his attacks and tire him out. Despite Ren's advantage, the two combatants were evenly matched and were fast running through their Furyoko reserves with the final strike causing them to both lose their spirit energy at the same time. Silva observed this and it was determined that both were qualified to go to the next round of the shaman tournament.
After the fight, Yoh decided to invite Ren back to his home where he came to appreciate the friendship of Asakura and his allies. This led to Ren the next day heading back to his family home in order to confront his father Tao Yúan. Ren was defeated but his guardian spirit Bason managed to reach the Asakura home in order to ask for Yoh's aid. With Umemiya Ryunosuke and Horohoro, they went to the Tao family home in order to save Ren with them battling through the horde of undead Jiang Shi. Whilst his allies fought the elite Gohukuseitai, Yoh proceeded to free Tao Ren and his sister Tao Jun who had both been locked up in the family's dungeons by their father. They were confronted by Lee Pyron who had fallen under Yuan's control where he had used the body as an extension of his spirit powers necessitating both Ren and Yoh combining their attack to remove it. They were then confronted by the leader of the Gohukuseitai who had defeated Ryunosuke and Horohoro. They discovered that the last member of the Gohukuseitai was the captured spirit of Lee Pyron's master with the shamans working together to fight him but were unable to defeat the vastly superior martial artist. It was only the recently freed Lee Pyron who managed to defeat his master who was then freed from being trapped in the undead body made as his prison. The five shaman then were attacked by a horde of Jiang Shi where they were tricked into entering Tao Yuan's chambers where they battled the powerful leader of the Tao Family. By working together, they discovered that Tao Yuan's gigantic form was actually a form of spirit control that was generated by the spirits of the family's ancestors. They later managed to defeat him with Tao Yuan ending his brutal teaching and he accepted that Ren was the new heir to the family.
Bason all of a sudden crashes into the house and tells everyone that Ren has been imprisoned by his father. Bason explains some of what happened and disappears looking like he died again but reappears apologizing that he got carried away. Yoh quickly goes to China straight to the Tao compound. Yoh, Ryu, Manta, Horohoro, and Bason enter the Tao compound and are greeted by Tao Yúan's elite Jiang Shi. One of them cut Ryu's hair in two while the other attack Yoh and company but Horohoro move them to a safe spot. After Horohoro and Ryu manage to take down one each, they tell Yoh to find Ren while they handle the rest. Finding both Ren and Jun in the dungeon, Yoh frees both of them and on their way back up defeat the Torture Brothers together with Ren. As they reach the entrance they find that both Horohoro and Ryu have been defeated by the remaining Jiang Shi that Manta identifies as Shamon, who also easily got the upper hand against Ren and Yoh, They are both saved by the arrival of Jun and Pyron who defeated with a single blow. As they go upstairs they are confronted by the gigantic Yúan who appears before him out of nowhere. Even though they all attack him violently he continues to regenerate from the impossible wounds and easily beats them up. It is only when Ren regains his "path" that he is able to see through the gigantic body, revealing it to be nothing but a mere Over Soul. The night before Yoh leaves, Anna asks him if she could sleep with him, and Yoh accepts.
Yoh and his friends having completed the first trials were ready to take part in the next stage of the tournament that was to be conducted in the Desert of the West at the Patch Tribe home of Dobi Village. Ren had chartered one of his family's planes for the journey and travelled to an airbase where they came to meets many Shamans that have passed the first round. Whilst there, they encountered Hao Asakura who effortlessly defeated them and showcased his power by flying himself along with his followers on his guardian spirit to their destination. They went on the plane which was secretly brought down by Team Lily Five who sought to eliminate the competition. Thus, they had to travel on foot to find Dobi Village whilst secretly being pursued by Team Lily Five who they effortlessly defeated. Tao Ren noted Yoh's activities during this time and determined that he needed to be the leader of their group which became Team Asakura. Further hostilities were halted by the Patch Tribe who bade all participants to journey onto the plane that would take them to America. During the flight, Goldva announces that the Over Soul plane will disappear soon and force the shamans to find the way to the Patch village on their own. The plane disappears and the gang is dropped on Route 66, they survived the drop by using their Over Souls before they hit the ground and letting it take the damage. Amidamaru tries finding a town but can not find anything but the road. Ryu uses Big Thumb Over Soul to get Billy. Amidimaru marvels at the American West and Yoh likes it saying that it is good just going somewhere for change and is kind of like an adventure. They go to the next town and find Lilirara who shows them the Patch Hao's past. They stay the night at her house and she hands them a map of their next destination. The gang goes to a hotel and sleep there for the night. The gang meets Lyserg Diethel the next day. Lyserg defeats Ren and Horohoro with ease. Yoh stops Lyserg when he attacks him. Lyserg is not done and uses the big ben wireframe. Yoh destroys it with help from Amidimaru. Yoh allows Lyserg to join them later. They finally get to the Patch Village after a few days and adventures. Just outside the village, the gang encounters Hao's followers. The followers remark how much Asakura Yoh resembles Asakura Hao. Boris Tepes Dracula attacks but Ryu takes him down. Yoh climbs to where Boris landed and is appalled by what happened next. The X-Laws killed Boris and takedown Bill. Yoh stops the X-laws before they can kill him. Yoh attacks Marco Lasso for being a hairbreadth from killing Bill but Harsuame was broken in the process. Marco lets him live for being brave enough to fight him. The X-laws leave with Lyserg being happy at what the X-laws did. The gang takes Bill and goes to the Patch Village. The gang wanders underground for a while but realize that the path they took was so full of twists and turns that they got lost. They realize it was instinctual that they were lead there. Bill wakes up and tells the group that something bigger is coming and why the Patch put so many twists and turns. Bill then faints again and they finally enter patch village.
Yoh has a dream and wakes up in the Patch Restoration Chamber. Yoh shakes his head to clear it and finds Silva. Silva explains that the dream was a mere vision of the great spirit. Yoh sees the great spirit for the first time and gains great knowledge about the past, present, and future of the earth and he realizes the great spirit is a shapeless mass of trillions of ghosts and spirits. Yoh nearly faints again from the stress of the Great Spirit's power. Silva catches him and offers him some soup to calm his nerves and recover. Yoh is led out and sees Ryu and Horohoro. Ren is outside staring straight into the Great Spirit. Yoh and company roam the Patch Village for food and watching the competition. Yoh and company wander past a gift shop and hear Anna complaining about a keychain. Yoh is alarmed by this and tells Anna to pay full price. Anna chastises him for his manner of dress and tells him about Manta and Tamao being inside the village. Chocolove appears and explains that the next part of the fight will be a three on three-team battle. Chocolove also explains the three powers in this fight Hao's teams, the X-Laws, and the Buddhist Monk Faction of Gandhara. Anna realizes this fight will not be as easy as they thought. Ren puts his team together on the spot and goes off to register. Ryu wants Lyserg to be the final member of their team, but neither he nor anyone else has seen him or is able to find him. Anna suggests Faust knowing what he can do in battle. They go to find a team member but find Faust with Manta on his lap. Faust asks if he can join them but is shot down by Ryu demanding that Lyserg be their final member. Faust leaves with Manta still on his lap. The next three months were uneventful though they did get Faust to join and they master Hao's book. The team enters the fight as Team "Funabari Onsen". The Team is put up against Team "Iceman". Before the fight even starts Yoh uses his power to give a show of the "Spirit of Sword". Pino of the Iceman is thinking over the battle but the fight starts. The Iceman start fighting and targets Faust but is beaten back by Faust's new massive Over Soul O.S. Mephisto E. The Iceman target Ryu next but is also beaten back by the massive Over Soul O.S. Yamato no Orochi Go. Pino is frightened and backs off and he decides to attack Yoh. Yoh is blasted with a frozen shockwave. The attack does nothing and Yoh is fine due to the techniques he learns from Hao's book. Yoh tells the Icemen to come once more at full power. The Iceman oblige with their most powerful move. Yoh uses his spirit of sword and defeats the Iceman. The gang celebrates with the Icemen and enjoy a break before they fight again. Yoh suddenly arrives to save Team Ren from one of Hao's teams with a single slice of his Over Soul. Manta, following Yoh's instructions, brings the Iron Maiden to resurrect Ren. Horohoro leaves in frustration after hearing Yoh's deal with the X-laws, stating that he will kill Yoh if Ren is still dead. Jeanne tells Yoh that he is to withdraw from the competition in return for Ren's resurrection. Yoh agrees to these terms, surprising Marco. Team Funbari Hot Springs leaves the X-laws to fulfill their side.
Hao upon learning of Yoh's withdrawal sends Opacho on her first errand to ensure that Yoh stays in the Shaman Fight or else he will destroy the Golem and the children. Anna and Amidamaru convince Yoh to follow his heart. Leading to his confrontation with the X-laws. Using an Over Soul of himself with Mikihisa's spirits as a decoy, Yoh obliterates the angels and comes close to attacking the shamans themselves. However, Lyserg and Marco stop him. Only to get assistance from Luchist with his angel, Lucifer who quickly turns the tides. Yoh reveals that Marco's "masterpiece" is actually Jeanne and that Luchist plans to destroy the X-laws completely. He tells Lyserg to create an Over Soul of himself using Mikihisa's spirits and Jeanne. While using Zeruel to bring Jeanne from her underwater torture. Yoh distracts Luchist from Marco only to be at his mercy. Shamash saves Yoh, who is relieved not to be executed. They destroy Lucifer which causes Luchist to faint. After witnessing the new Over Souls from Team "The Ren", Yoh leaves immediately with Faust and Ryu for some serious training. After the training, Ryu comments on how awesome Yoh's new Over Soul is. Sati suddenly appears beside them and reveals that Yoh is to be one of the five warriors. She challenges Yoh to a fight but because time is running out, she uses a mantra and sends Yoh to Hell. In Hell, Amidamaru and even Harusame appear next to Yoh. When they are greeted by the Oh-Oni from the past, Yoh believes the Matamune is there as well but does not find him. Yoh is led to the first level of Hell where Oh-Oni leaves Yoh to fight his next opponent. On the top of the stairs, he meets a person who looks similar to his father. Yoh cuts off his mask and calls him an imposter. The stranger replies that he is no imposter but the one and only Asakura Yohken. The very person who defeated Hao way back in 500 years ago. Yohken quickly shouts to Matamune and he uses Ogre Slayer to tear through Yoh's arms. Yoh realizes that it is through willpower and thought that allowed Yohken to summon the Ogre Slayer. Using it himself, he is able to heal his arms and summon the Futunomitama no Turugi. He comments on how similar it is to an Over Soul and attacks Yohken with his new Over Soul: Spirit of the Sword: White Swan. With Harusame in his right hand as a sword and Futsu-no-Mitama on his left hand as a shield, Yohken realizes the power of such a combination and is pleased to finally face a worthy opponent. Yohken retorts to using his most powerful technique the Dai Tengu. Somehow, Yoh counters the maneuver with his new technique: Amida-style: Na-Avidya. With it, Yoh purifies the Tengu and wins the fight. Only then does he ask to talk with Yohken and eventually Yohken realizes his arrogance made him blind to his situation. Suddenly, a Cho-Oni crushes Yohken's spirit and Yoh loses it. He crushes all the Onis except for one who is amazed by Yoh's spirit and tells him to go to Enma Daioh.
Yoh was eventually resurrected by Faust just as Ryu begins to attack Hao's men. Yoh takes down them with relative ease even though they were given immense strength from the Star Festival. Afterward, Yoh tracks down Anna in the forest where she under attack by Hao. Yoh convinces Hao to stop and the two have coffee together. Before Team "Funbari Onsen" goes up against Team "The Ren", Ren announces how foolish Yoh is and that Hao will not except mercy from him. During the match, Yoh reveals his belief that Hao has no friends and is quickly attacked by Horohoro. Ryu intercepts him but loses his arms to his ice attack. Faust tries to heal Ryu but Ren fires a lightning bolt through him. With only Yoh able to fight he unveils his Over Soul and counters with Na-Avidya. Ren and Horohoro team up and take down Yoh. However, Yoh keeps coming back up because Ren did not have the heart to kill him. The fight is eventually interrupted by the return of Lyserg and the rest of Team "X-I". Sati also appears and announced that Team "Kabbalahers" and her own Team forfeit and knowing that Team "Hana-Gumi" would do the same against Team "Hoshi-Gumi" both Team "Funbari Onsen" and Team "The Ren" gains a spot in the finals thus ending the fight.
Flowers
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Yoh Asakura was a male human with s neck-length dark brown hair and was shown to be constantly wearing a pair of orange headphones behind or on his ears. He normally wore his school uniform with his shirt constantly open but when it gets cold he will button up his shirt, wear a necktie and the standard school uniform jacket.
On the surface, Yoh had a carefree and laid-back attitude about everything in life making him appear to be a slacker by nature. This was the case even when his goal was becoming the Shaman King. Whilst seen as being lazy and uncaring, Yoh actually held wisdom well beyond his age as he thought outside common norms and principles. Many people were in fact unable to read his flexible and unique nature. His general demeanour gave an impression of irresponsibility and lack of commitment which often infuriated others. Yoh ultimately operated out of a sense of empathy as he did his utmost to help others and himself to stop carrying unnecessary burdens that wear oneself down. In fact, he was able to see acts of self-destruction that could not be seen at a first glance which caused many people he had met to start questioning themselves and the path they should follow. This resulted in his signature phrase being "Everything will work out" (なんとかなる nantoka naru) as he believed everything would eventually turn out for the better and that it was pointless to stressing oneself unnecessarily over the things they were able to handle.
As a child, he did not want to go through his shaman studies and instead desired the life of being a musician. This changed after his grandfather told him the story of becoming the Shaman King.
It was said that Yoh had the unique talent of being able to see the good in others. Such a trait allowed him to look passed the legend of Amidamura that spoke of the samurai as a renegade that ruthlessly killed his masters warriors and see that he was an honourable man. This was also used to see that spirit Tokageroh despite his nature as a bandit had never killed anyone and that he had the potential for good.
He came to feel alienated by everyone outside his family leading to him forging bonds of friendship with spirits. Yoh had said that anyone who could see spirits could not be evil. It was his empathic nature that meant he as rarely on bad terms with anyone and always decided to make friends with the people he met in his life.
Yoh was openly against senseless violence and indiscriminate murder, showing uncharacteristic rage when people's lives are lost. He vehemently disagrees with the idea of revenge, as he believes it is an endless cycle of mutual hatred that only causes harm and never brings any conclusion or satisfaction and even drag third parties into the struggle, which will subsequently seek revenge on their wrongdoers in a never ending pool of spilled blood and conflict. He nonetheless, understands that actions have consequences and that such displays of irrational hatred will find themselves reversed, although he does not personally approve of such outcomes full of misery.
To Anna Kyoyama (恐山アンナ, Kyoyama Anna), he promised to become her husband and that she could become his wife when he became the Shaman King. This saw him later marrying her where the two had a son they named Hana Asakura (麻倉花, Asakura Hana).
Powers and abilities
As a shaman, he had the natural talent of seeing ghosts and being able to control spirits. In fact, he underwent training to be a shaman with this being overseen by his grandfather. Upon being betrothed to Anna Kyoyama, he constantly been submitted to exhausting and painful training that caused him to gain a tougher and stronger body. In battle, he was very flexible and intuitive who was completely relaxed and calm at the same time. After his duel with Tao Ren, Anna put him through an intensive workout routine in order to improve his skills and make him stronger as these translated into his fighting potential as a shaman.
He later came to gain a guardian spirit in the form of a 600 year samurai named Amidamaru (阿弥陀丸, Amidamaru).
One of the most basic abilities he mastered was the Hyōi Gattai which was when he wielded any blunt object like a wooden pole or an iron bar whereupon he merged into unity with Amidamaru. During this state, Amidamura merged with Yoh's body and either Asakura or his guardian ghost controlled the body. This is the most basic of Yoh's abilities and used many times in the early part of the series. By using various long objects such as iron poles and Ryu's wooden sword, he can fight alongside Amidamaru. In this state, he had a number of unique fighting moves that included:
- 100% Hyōi Gattai (100% 憑依合体, 100% Spirit Fusion) : typically, either the ghost or the host needed to be in control otherwise they could not fight to the fullest potential but a new way was found whereby both were united in purpose gaining 100% power to achieve their goal.
- Amida-Ryū: Shinkū Budda Giri (阿弥陀流: 真空仏陀切り Amida-Style: Vacuum Buddha Slash) : this was the signature attack move of the samurai Amidamaru when he was alive with this being used to strike his foes beyond the range of his sword. It involved breaking the air with a slash and using the resultant force to generate a shockwave as the target. In the English Dub, this was referred to as the Celestial Slash instead of its actual name.
- Amida-Ryū: Gokōjin (阿弥陀流: 後光刃 Amida-Style: Halo Blade) : a revolutionary dual-sword battō-jutsu technique executed from his unique and legendary Tathagata fighting stance. During execution, both swords were unsheathed at incredible speed at dead-range of the adversary, unleashing a strike with enough power to bust an adversary to shreds.
- Ko-Oni Strike (小鬼ストライク Ko'oni Sutoraiku) :
- Sankiraimon (三帰礼文 , literally meaning "Three Refuges Prayer") :
- Fumon Tonkō (巫門遁甲 Fumon Tonkō) :
- Ultra Senji Ryakketsu: Mikazuki no Harae (超·占事略決 三日月ミカヅキノ祓ハラエ Chō Senji Ryakuketsu Mikazuki no Harae, literally meaning "Full Moon Purification") :
Yoh had improved his spirit control due to his training allowing him and Amidamaru to act as one. As such, as a blade his guardian ghost was able to act according to Yoh's wishes and move in positions that Asakura could not see himself.
He came to use a katana named Harusame (春雨, Sword of Light) in battle with this having been the sword originally wielded by Amidamaru.
Yoh was a member of the Asakura Family (麻倉家 Asakura-ke) that were one of two great clans of shamans.
Notes
- Yoh Asakura was created by Hiroyuki Takei where he was the protagonist in the setting of the Shaman King universe.
In other media
Television
- In Shaman King, Yoh Asakura appeared in the setting of the 2001 anime television series where he was voiced by Japanese actor Yūko Satō and by English actor Sebastian Arcelus in the dub.
Video games
Appearances
- Shaman King:
External Links
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