Yoh Asakura
Yok Asakura is a male character that features in Shaman King.
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Biography
Yoh Asakura was the son of Keiko Asakura and Mikihisa Maki where he had an older twin brother named Hao Asakura.
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. At some point, he met 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.
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.
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 where 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.
Overview
Personality and attributes
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.
Within his laidback attitude, 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.
To Anna Kyoyama, he promised to become her husband and that she could become his wife when he became the Shaman King.
Powers and abilities
As a shaman, he had the natural talent of seeing ghosts and being able to control spirits. 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.
To be fully effective, he needed to find a soul that could serve as his guardian spirit with this eventually being the samurai 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.
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.
Notes
- Yoh Asakura was created by Hiroyuki Takei where he was the protagonist for Shaman King.
Appearances
- Shaman King:
External Links
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