NOTE: These are only the opinions of one person. Please do
not take them to be fact, except in the case of “is this canon?”, as there is
evidence to back that up. I owe an apology to
Q: Okay, SPS, what pairings in YYH are canon?
A: Yuusuke/Keiko, Sensui/Itsuki, Toguro/Genkai, Kuwabara/Yukina (manga only), Raizen/Lady Doctor, Atsuko/Yuusuke’s
dad, Kuroko/her husband, one-sided
Q: My One True Pairing wasn’t on there. Now I feel crappy!
A: Don’t worry. You can ship whatever you feel like, as long as it makes some amount of sense. (In other words, as long as it’s in character.)
Q: Okay, SPS, what pairings do you like?
A: My favorite pairing is…*drumroll* Itsuki/Sensui. I’m crazily obsessed with them. Probably because they’re more realistic as a gay male pairing than a lot of other canon ones in anime, even though they’re both completely off their rocker. However, pair up Sensui with any butch-acting/looking guy with high reiki/youki [i.e., Sniper, Doctor, Kuwa, Yuusuke] and I’m a happy camper. I also like Hiei/Mukuro, Yuusuke/Keiko, Raizen/Lady Doctor, Kurama/Yomi, any f/f pairing (especially Shizuru/Any Girl, Mukuro/Natsume, and Hina/Rui), and, secondarily, Kuwabara/Yuusuke, Toguro/Genkai, and Chuu/Atsuko (it’s so easy to see them gather around a bottle of booze).
Q: But I don’t like those pairings!
A: To each their own. As long as your fics/fanarts don’t suck and are IC, I do not mind.
Q: Down to the nitty gritty. Which YYH character would make the ideal boyfriend?
A: For most girls, I would say either Kuwabara or Kurama, because I think that’s what most women look for in a guy- honest, loyal, loving, able to stand up for you. However, for gay guys like myself, I’m going to say Sensui. Not because he’s insane, most of us just like the way he looks- hot, butch and ready to kick some ass. But personality-wise for guys, I’d say Yuusuke or Shishiwakamaru, since they’re masculine, yet are ready to let their hair down and be on equal terms with you.
Q: What about Itsuki?
A: Erm, I think that Itsuki’s loyalty would be overbearing for most people. Plus he’s a LOT more psychotic than he lets on- a fusion of opposites. I think he’s so selfless precisely because he’s so selfish. It’d be best for most people who are interested in handsome, loyal guys to stick to Kurama. (BTW, Kurama and Itsuki are NOT personality clones, okay?)
Q: How about girlfriends?
A: For guys, I think either
Q: Do you have any characters you hate?
A: Not really. There are a few I go “meh” to, but none I actively hate.
Q: What do you think about character bashing in YYH fandom?
A: Character bashing in any fandom is terribly immature. All good characters have flaws; be aware of that. Also, your perception of a character may not be the most accurate perception of that character because of a variety of (superficial) factors: gender, age, sexual orientation, attractiveness/lack thereof, whether or not the character “gets in the way” of a pairing, protagonist/antagonist role, and so on. Before you write any fic, ty to see the good points about a character you usually hate; try to get in their head and figure out why they act as they do. I’m not saying you don’t have the right to dislike a character; it’s just that I personally dislike seeing fanfiction where a character is portrayed as an uncaring monster [when he or she is usually a nice person], or fics that are simply lists of “How Character X Should Die” or “What to Do to Piss Off/Belittle Character X”. Besides, if you need to bash a character to justify a pairing, does that not mean that you are insecure in your pairing choice, and fear that the protagonist of your love tale would choose Bashed Character X instead of your choice, Character Y?
Q: Sub or dub?
A: Both. I’m a translator, so I like to see how they get from Point A to Point B so as to match the lip flaps and jokes and what have you. Besides, it’s more like Point A to Point C, as the English subtitles (as a Japanese translation) tend not to be terribly reliable, IMHO. It’s the midpoint in translating two totally different languages and worldviews. But I collect dubs, and I LOVE the Mexican Spanish YYH to DEATH. For some reason or another, Japaneseà Spanish is a LOT smoother than JapaneseàEnglish.
Q: Your favorite character out of the four main guys?
A: It’s a tie between Yuusuke and Kuwabara. I’m not as excited about Kurama and Hiei as most people are for some reason.
Q: Your favorite female character?
A: If you want my honest answer, either Genkai
or Mukuro. But I also like
Q: Your favorite male character (after Sensui, of course)?
A: Itsuki, closely followed by Yomi, and maybe Sakyou. I have a thing for psychologically complex/completely psychotic guys as far as characterization goes.
Q: Can I stop asking questions now?
A: Yeah, I have to get back to other things. Like schoolwork and research and whatnot.
Bye!
-SPS