In it for the OTPs

Kuwabara Kazuma in one picture:

Urameshi Yusuke in one picture:

That's it, that's the entire YYH series. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

No but seriously, that really is the heart of the entire series!

I'm wild thinking about Anime Episode 3 which corresponds to Manga Chapter 7 that Yusuke's picture came from, because the title of the anime episode is "Kuwabara, A Promise between Men", the manga chapter title is "Promise",

And this is the Promise that Yusuke made to Kuwabara:

I'll protect you forever.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦😭😭😭😭😭😭🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

Since Togashi created YYH as a Detective Game (to hide the Kuwameshi Love Story from censors & to mirror how Yusuke's a Spirit Detective! How cool is that? 😁), cluing into Togashi's Storytelling DNA is like gaining 'cheat codes' that reveal significant Hidden Things about our beloved heroes, such as Yusuke's Birthday!!! 🌿❤️🐛

The Time Forensics 🤣⌚🕵️‍♂️ of how I deduced Yusuke's birthday from the clues Togashi dropped from the end of Dark Tournament to the end of Sensui's arc are in the epic end notes of Chapter 19 of The Good Fight, but since the full meta is too intricate for any tumblr post to summarize 🤣, I'll leave those interested to read the chapter itself!

For this post, I shall just say even after tracing through every single date/time clue, it may still be a little ambiguous whether Yusuke's birthday falls on 25 May or 26 May, but fear not! We have the cheat codes! 🤣

Since SYMBOLISM & references to Japanese culture are at the HEART of Togashi's Storytelling DNA, the 🗝️ dual keys to deducing the right date are the DEEP Silkworm-Mulberry SYMBOLISM where Yusuke's likened to a little Silkworm growing off Kuwa's Divine Mulberry Reiki,

AND the real-world Japanese traditional calendar which has 72 micro-seasons based on natural phenomenon, including the micro-season between May 21 - 25 known as "蚕起食桑 Kaiko okite kuwa o hamu, Silkworms start feasting on Mulberry leaves"!!!

Out of the two possible dates of 25 May and 26 May, only 25 May falls within this Silkworm-Mulberry micro-season, thus 25 May has to be Yusuke's Birthday!!!!!!

❤️🌿💙🐛💛

Do you see why I keep gushing that Togashi's Storytelling DNA gives us cheat codes to unlock the hidden parts of YYH? 😁💛❤️💙🐛

Also, what could be more Symbolic of Yusuke than being born on the last day of the Japanese micro-season when real-life Silkworms feast on Mulberry leaves?? 🤣 ❤️🌿💙🐛💛

Coz being Late is one of the Themes for our Lovers as per the ancient Star-Crossed Greek Love Story associated with Mulberries!

Yusuke's closest people (Atsuko, Keiko, Kuwa) were late to realize what Yusuke meant to them until Yusuke died in the car accident 😭, little Silkworm's revived post car-accident at the last possible minute before the window of opportunity closed, he's late to make it to the tree in Genkai's succession trial, he's late to the boat going to DT, he's late to save Kuwa from being traumatized by the Chapter Black tape due to wrong tactical decisions from Genkai & Kurama in Sensui arc, etc, etc!

More accurately speaking, in all these instances, Yusuke shows up or was revived at the last possible minute, just like he's born on the last possible day of the 21-25 May micro-season when Silkworms feast on Mulberry! 🤣🤣🤣

Seriously folks, the Silkworm-Mulberry SYMBOLISM is so FUNDAMENTAL to our lovebirds, knowing this foundational design (and the themes of YYH) will UNLOCK the entire story! 😁🕺🪩🕵️‍♂️🤣

Thus Yusuke's Birthday isn't just a random date, it not only builds upon the same timing/lateness theme, it once again confirms Kuwa is INDISPENSABLE to Yusuke's growth and evolution, coz it's Kuwa's Reiki that is the driving force behind Yusuke's multiple rebirths into a Mazuko, which is why little Silkworm's BIRTH date falls within the real-world Silkworm-feast-on-Mulberries micro-season! 🤣

Which is why we get the official anime art in this post, coz Yusuke's standing on the Japanese characters for the Buddhist concept of Reincarnation 輪廻転生 (the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth), and since Kuwa's indispensable to Yusuke's many rebirths into the next stage of his evolution, Kuwa's right there beside Yusuke, where Kuwa's meant to be 🥹❤️‍🔥💛🌿💙🐛🐦‍🔥 To be more exact, Yusuke's standing on the character for Life / Birth 生, which is such a hopeful symbolic meaning, coz despite all the heartbreak, hardship and pain the world throws at him, Yusuke chooses Life time & time again for the sake of his loved ones, even when he couldn't find it in himself to live if it's just for himself! 😭❤️‍🔥🐦‍🔥🌿🐛💙💛

Which is why I keep shouting Yusuke's Entirely Made of Love, coz without his Love for his friends & family, and their Love for little Silkworm in return, Yusuke literally wouldn't be alive!

Not to mention, the fact that Yusuke finally breaks out of the Late theme by coming back from the Makai a full 1.5 years earlier than expected is a very hopeful positive sign that our lovebirds will finally have the right conditions post-canon to stay together!!!

All this is to say: HAPPIEST BIRTHDAY TO THE FOREVER KING OF MY HEART LITTLE SILKWORM YUSUKE!!! 😁❤️‍🔥💛🌿💙🐛🐦‍🔥

You will always be the embodiment of Love and what Choosing Love means to me, and I hope you're breathlessly happy & deliriously over-the-moon with Kuwa in Love and Life!!! 😁❤️‍🔥💛🌿💙🐛🐦‍🔥

If you've read Togashi's Storytelling DNA & How it Reveals YYH's Hidden Meaning, you'd already know that YYH is a Detective Game where seemingly throwaway details reveal a hell of a lot,

which is why Togashi actually showed us that Yusuke and Kuwa got TOGETHER after the Dark Tournament, via the clothes Kuwa wore when he woke up at Yusuke's place the morning after Mitarai's attack! 🤣

In a nutshell, Kuwa's clothes were extensively torn, tattered & soaked-through during Mitarai's attack:

But after Kuwa brought his friends & Mitarai back to Yusuke's place --- So proud of you Kuwa!!! Choosing Mercy to save Mitarai was the crowning moment of your Redemption Arc!!! --- Kuwa slept in a dry pair of boxers coz his clothes were obviously too soiled & wet to sleep in:

Kuwa was trapped in Mitarai's water creatures to the point he almost drowned, his boxers would have been soaked through as well, so how did he sleep in a dry pair of boxers post Mitarai's attack, at Yusuke's place? 🤣🤣🤣

A doggedly heteronormative read might insist Yusuke loaned Kuwa a pair of his own boxers that magically fit Kuwa's physique perfectly coz maybe Yusuke just happens to like loose boxers that hang down to his knees for some unknown reason we never see in canon 🤣, or perhaps the Urameshi household just happens to be the rare few in 90's Japan that has a dryer at home even though Atsuko has no steady income, and they tossed in Kuwa's own boxers to wash & dry in the world's shortest cycle all before Kuwa passed out from his injuries 🤣, but consider this!

Kuwa woke up the next morning at Yusuke's place and got dressed in Kuwa's own very clean, very fresh jeans & tee which fit Kuwa perfectly:

Which means.... these clothes, including the boxers, weren't loaned to Kuwa by Yusuke, coz with their height & build difference, Yusuke's jeans would never fit Kuwa so perfectly, it wouldn't even cover Kuwa's ankles! 🤣

Since the jeans & tee are obviously not Kuwa's dress pants & jacket from the evening before either (see first screencap in this post), all this means Yusuke has at least 1 set of Kuwa's clothes at his home, including a pair of Kuwa's boxers!!! 🤣🤣🤣

I'll let your imaginations fill in the blanks on how Yusuke came to have Kuwa's laundered clothes at his place, including Kuwa's boxers 🤣🤣🤣

What could they possibly have done on a sleepover that would result in Kuwa having to leave his boxers, jeans & tee behind for Yusuke to launder, I wonder? 🤣🤣🤣

To give you some ideas, Kuwa's sleeping in his boxers like it's his own home in Yusuke's room, on Yusuke's pillow, which has Yusuke's scent, which I personally feel has EVERYTHING to do with a certain redacted uhm reaction in this manga drawing 🤣🤣🤣

I never thought I'd ever draw a big blue arrow pointing at Kuwa's anatomy to meta YYH, but Togashi's audacity never fails to fill me with laugh-out-loud DELIGHT!!! 🤣🤣🤣

What can I say? Kuwameshi isn't even the subtext, it's plain main text, just revealed through subtle details like sequence of events, clothing, and strategically placed redactions!!! 🤣

The sensei not only made the Kuwameshi Soul Bond Romance the MAIN TEXT in 90's Shonen manga, he did it so CLEVERLY in PLAIN SIGHT that censors were none-the-wiser! 🤣🤣🤣

It's no wonder anime Kuwa has an official Character Song called "Dachi" (short for Tomodachi aka friend) where the lyrics straight out say:

In the dead of the night I would come calling Not that girl I love, it's you Those nights might seem strange, but hey, isn't it nice, for a change? Without saying another word, I start walking

I think the lyricist didn't need my big blue arrow pointing at Kuwa's reaction to figure out what Togashi wanted us to infer from his sartorial choices for our heroes 🤣🤣🤣

Apart from giving the term "revealing clothes" a whole new layer of meaning 🤣, this is also why there was a Fashion Variation section in the YYH Official Character book to clue us into how clothes reveal things that Togashi hid in plain sight! 😁💛🐛💙❤️

Wanna know what else Togashi revealed through clothes and other seemingly throwaway details post Dark Tournament?

Check out The Good Fight to see a VERY SPECIAL REVEAL about Yusuke in one of the chapters! ❤️🌿💛🐛💙

Contain Mild Spoilers that doesn't reveal the murderer! 🤣

One of my favourite scenes in The Residence is the birding trip that Cordelia takes her nephew on, where she tells her nephew that every birder makes sense of what they experience differently:

Just like everyone makes sense of Life differently and there's no single "universally correct" way to Be, even if others, including those you love, don't understand your Way of Being and label you "unhealthy, single-minded, obsessive, difficult, stubborn, uncompromising", just because your way is unusual or frustrating for them:

Even though the natural differences in our Ways of Being can cause friction, as well as hurt & frustrate us in turn when others label us negatively, it doesn't necessarily mean that we need to change our Ways of Being just to fit into the "norm", because our so-called "flaws" (which are really just differences in Being) can be a great help to others when applied to the right Context.

Which we saw when Cordelia used her unique gifts to find her sister Aimee's missing strawberry sock that their late brother had gifted to Aimee, so Aimee can feel better after their brother's recent passing (this was why Aimee was so upset by the missing sock, coz it felt like she was losing a piece of her brother who they'd already lost).

Just like finding the missing sock was what Cordelia could do for Aimee, accepting ourselves and each other to embrace our unique gifts is what we can all do for each other, so we all have the space to be our authentic selves while connecting with and helping each other despite our differences, and oftentimes because of our differences.

When we can do that, when we can embrace the Diversity in our Different Ways of Being, we may find that what are commonly considered "flaws", "weaknesses", or "undesirable, inconvenient traits" can turn out to be our greatest collective strengths 🥹❤️

I find this message of Self-Acceptance and Embracing Diversity in Ways of Being a very very moving message in a world that tends to label neurodivergent and non-conformist people negatively by default 🥹❤️

Not to mention, even while Cordelia's her unapologetic self throughout the case, she tempers her Nature where she needs to, such as when she drops her investigation immediately when Chief Dokes, the one person who's been in Cordelia's corner with unwavering trust & support throughout the case and her career, needs protecting from the fallout to his job.

Which shows us once again that Cordelia was never the "difficult, uncompromising, stubborn" labels that people different from her slapped on her, and she didn't let those labels stop her from being her True Self to help others 🥹❤️

Coz let's not forget Cordelia's great Heart, which is evident when she solved her first case of the missing strawberry sock, not coz she's "difficult or uncompromising", but coz she loves her sister & doesn't want Aimee to be sad 🥹

Ironically, it's probably the rest of the world that's more "uncompromising" than Cordelia when it comes to accommodating Different Ways of Being, coz unlike "normal" people who tend to want others to conform to their "normalcy" as alluded to by Cordelia's phone conversation with adult Aimee who reminded Cordelia her son's not like Cordelia, to which Cordelia replies she knows that and she isn't trying to turn her nephew into her, she just wants to make sure he's a little less like Aimee and more like himself (which tells us Aimee's parenting is probably quite prescriptive), we see Cordelia giving her nephew freedom to be himself while she tries to find the bird he wants to see, and she even tells him "you can do it how you want" when he asks what he should write in his own birding book 🥹❤️

It's precisely because Cordelia wasn't accepted by general society for her differences that she innately understands "everyone does it differently", even supposedly "normal" folks, and it's more important for us to accommodate Different Ways of Being rather than to enforce some universal false standard of "normal" on others.

Coz just like it was never about "us versus them" in AB Wynter's mind or in Cordelia's, in Life it's not about "us versus them" either.

It really is just us.

As per Togashi's Storytelling DNA meta, SYMBOLISM and Names are vitally important in YYH, to the extent Togashi even told us via a manga blurb (albeit in a satirical tone in order to hide the truth from publishers) that he picked his characters' Names with as much thought, care & consideration as he would his own children's names, to reveal the Hidden Kuwameshi Soul Bond Romance that's forbidden by broadcasters!

Since Kuwabara's last name 桑原 means Mulberry Origin, let's have a little starter of Japanese Mulberry, coz Togashi leveraged Japanese cultural context to weave Hidden Meaning into the very fabric of YYH! 🗾🏯🎎

In a nutshell (or should we say cocoon 🤣), Mulberry feeds Silkworms in a symbiotic sacred relationship that's so steeped in real-world Japanese Divinity, there's even a creation myth for Mulberry Silkworms in Japan's oldest text the Kojiki (古事記, Records of Ancient Matters), a chronicle of "myths, legends, genealogies, and semi-historical accounts" about the Shinto Kami-samas (deities) that created Mulberry Silkworms, the Japanese islands and Japan's imperial line!

To this day, the Japanese Empress symbolically feed Mulberry leaves to mulberry Silkworms by hand, to carry on a tradition started in the 1800’s to mark the importance of Mulberry Silk farming in Japan's history, culture & modernization!

The Japanese imperial court even rears its own Mulberry Silkworms fed exclusively on Mulberry leaves to produce Mulberry Silk for their own usage!

Not to mention, as per the massive evidence in Kuwameshi: Audacious Soul Bond meta, Mulberry and thus Kuwabara are linked to Divine Providence and Protection, Good Luck, and the Sun God, which is why Kuwa's Reiki is Gold, like the Light of the Sun, to symbolize how Kuwa is Yusuke's personal Patron Deity & life-giving Sun that Yusuke sees & understands himself better by!

Why are all this significant to YYH you ask?

Well, if Togashi named Kuwabara after Mulberry, and repeatedly likens Yusuke to a Silkworm growing off Kuwabara's Reiki and Soul all throughout canon, even going so far as to show Yusuke trapped like a Silkworm in silk-like Yoki thread during the Rando fight, then cocooned and protected in Kuwa's Soul before Yusuke emerges powered-up from that embryonic cocoon to escape Rando's piranhas in a spectacular explosion of Blue Reiki, the color of Kuwameshi's Shared Reiki of Love...

Togashi's using Japanese cultural context to show us Yusuke and Kuwabara have a Divine, Symbiotic, Made-for-each-other Soul Bond Love that's as vital and life-giving to our lovebirds as oxygen!

Just like Mulberry and Silkworms are indispensable in Japan's history and modernization to the extent Japanese culture deified this relationship, Kuwa and Yusuke are indispensable in each other's Character Journeys, Emotional Growth, and ALL their Power-Ups! ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥🐦‍🔥🐦‍🔥🐦‍🔥

Just like Mulberry leaves feed Silkworms to produce silk of the highest quality that’s fit for Japanese royalty in real life, Kuwa and Yusuke nurture (feed) each other's heart-of-gold and solidify each other's mental & emotional strength to the highest caliber, until they're strong enough to fend off threats together (both physical threats, as well as threats of losing their True Selves), and that's when we find out Yusuke's literally Mazoku royalty!

Do you see how clever & deliciously subversive Togashi is? He straight out portrayed Kuwameshi as a sacred divine Soul Bond Romance at a time when heteronormative censors deemed the mere existence of same-gender love too much of a "moral threat" to society! 🤣🤣🤣

He really went: "Oh you find same-gender love a 'moral threat' to our society, and you're conflating your personal opinion with some 'universal objective moral truth', which is how you feel so justified in discriminating against others different from you? Here's my reply to that - Yusuke and Kuwa have a sacred relationship ordained by the Gods and written in the stars, their Undying Love and Devotion for each other is what's driving ALL their power-ups, and it's the beating heart of the story around which everything else revolves. Ya know, just like our country's sacred creation myths."

Like I said before, Togashi and his audacity is a National Treasure!!! ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

But as mind-blowing as that is, here's the Ultimate Kicker of a Subtext!!!

Mulberry Silkworms ONLY eat Mulberry leaves!!!

Which is why I read Yusuke as a One True Love kinda guy who'll only ever be in love with Kuwa, his one & only Mulberry! 🥹🥹🥹

Coz apart from this Mulberry-Silkworm Symbolism revealing this trait about Yusuke, we also have ALL of Japanese original canon showing us Yusuke's only romantically interested in Kuwa!

Not to mention, Yusuke's Mazoku 'father' Raizen is also a One True Love kinda guy who literally STARVED himself to death to honor his dead human lover, forsaking all other love interests like Enki's hot wife who was actively chasing Raizen before she married Enki!

As per DNA 1 in the meta (Togashi uses A LOT of mirror characters to reveal the Hidden Kuwameshi Soul Bond), it's not a coincidence that Raizen also had a human lover, it's an obvious MIRROR for Yusuke and Kuwa! It's also not a coincidence that Raizen's human One True Love is what most manga audiences would consider a bit 'plain' just like they would consider Kuwa 'plain', while Enki's hot wife is a mainstream 'beauty' just like Keiko!

Even so, we see Raizen is never romantically interested in anyone but his human lover! Because she moved Raizen with her strength of character and noble spirit to do good! All of which mirrors what Kuwa does for Yusuke and vice versus!

This tells us that while Yusuke might be pursued by 'hot' potential love interests like Keiko and perhaps even Jin, Yusuke will only be in love with his One True Love Kuwa! Coz Yusuke doesn't fall in love based on looks or fighting prowess! 

Also, One True Love is a very Soul Bond type of trope, coz you literally only have one SOUL to bond to another person with! Yusuke's Soul is already taken! 🤣 Coz say it with me! When put together, Yusuke and Kazuma's Names mean Souls in True Harmony who Help each other!!!

Just like Silkworms will starve to death if they don't have Mulberry to eat, and Raizen literally starved to death to honor his human lover, Yusuke will figuratively starve to death if he doesn't have Kuwa! 😭😭😭 

Kuwa, a LOT is riding on your shoulders, I'm cheering for you to overcome your inner demons post manga's end to GET TOGETHER AND STAY TOGETHER with Yusuke!!!! Don't you know your little Silkworm of Love is waiting for you?? 😭😭😭

Wanna see a Kuwa who has already overcome his Denial to be the world's best koibito for Yusuke? ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

If you've read Kuwameshi: Audacious Soul Bond meta, you'd have seen that Togashi draws A LOT from real-world Japanese Culture to layer Deep Symbolism into the heart of YYH to clue us into his Hidden Story!

The proof points in the full meta are just the tip of the iceberg, but to recap that iceberg into an ice cube for the purposes of this post 🤣, Togashi clued us into the Soul Bond Love between Yusuke and Kuwabara with their Names itself, coz the marriage of Yusuke’s and Kuwa’s Names means Souls (幽) in True Harmony (和真) who Help (助) each other!

Not to mention, Kuwabara's Name literally means Mulberry Origin 桑原, and Togashi repeatedly references the real-world symbiotic relationship between Mulberry & Silkworms that's steeped in Japanese Divinity to tell us Silkworm Yusuke is likewise growing off his Divine Mulberry Kuwabara's Reiki, showing us Kuwa's indispensable to Yusuke's Evolution into Mazoku, just like real-world Mulberry Silkworm farming played an indispensable role in Japan's history, culture & modernization!

But did you know that even Kurama as a character symbolizes the True Harmony Soul Bond of Yusuke & Kuwa, and Kurama’s Name actually tells us this? 🤣

Coz guess what Kurama’s Name 蔵馬 means? Read literally it just means Hidden Horse 🤣, but given how vital Symbolism is in Togashi's Storytelling DNA, Kurama's name actually means Hidden Metaphor!!!

Reference: https://japanese-names.info/first-name/kurama/

Coz what else does Kurama as a Character symbolize, other than the literal fusion of Yoko Kurama’s Yokai Soul with Minamino Shuichi’s Human Soul, growing together as One indivisible whole?