Yoh Asakura

Yoh Asakura (麻倉葉 Asakura Yō) is the main character in the anime and manga Shaman King. In the original Japanese anime, his name is sometimes romanized with a circumflex, sometimes romanized as Yoh, and sometimes romanized as You, while in the English adaptations, his name is always romanized as Yoh.

Character

Yoh was four years old in 1989 and therefore was born in 1985. Yoh, hailing from Izumo, Shimane Prefecture, Japan is a slacker and wants to become Shaman King so that he could lead an easy life, as well as to fulfill his promise to his fiancée. His fiancée, Anna Kyōyama, is pushing him into being the Shaman King. Yoh's grandparents paired them up in an arranged marriage in order to keep the family bloodline going (In the English anime, Anna saved Yoh's life and Yoh promised her that she would be Queen if he was Shaman King).

Yoh's best friend is the panicky Manta Oyamada (Mortimer "Morty"). As the story progresses, Yoh's adversaries are often won over by his good nature and become his allies in the Shaman Tournament. Yoh attends Shinra Private Academy along with Anna Kyoyama and Manta, and along with them is in Class C in the 7th grade.

Amidamaru

File:Yoh and Amidamaru(Oversoul Form).jpg

Yoh with Amidamaru in Over Soul form

Yoh's spirit ally is Amidamaru, a dead samurai, and his sword is named Harusame (In the English anime, there are two swords that are forged by Mosuke, the first being the "Spring Rain" (or Harusame), and the second being the "Sword of Amidamaru" or the "Sword of Light"). Yoh has different special attacks, based on certain positions. One of them is the most common: Amida-Ryu Halo Blade. This is when Yoh and Amidamaru do a very powerful slash that can be quite murderous. The other attack, Shock Wave Buddha Giri (or Celestial Slash), is where they emit a cool wave from their sword. It is especially helpful against Lee Bailong (a.k.a. Lee Pai-Long or Li Pyron), as it attacks outside of his strike radius.

Family

It is revealed Shaman King that part of the reason why it is critically important for Yoh to become Shaman King is that he has an evil twin brother named Hao Asakura (Zeke in the English anime), who wants to destroy humanity. However, this is not your usual I-have-an-evil-twin-who-I-didn't-know-existed-till-yesterday; the story goes much deeper.

Hao had been defeated by the members of the Asakura family one thousand years ago, but he managed to reincarnate himself 500 years later as a member of the Patch Village Tribe (Dobi Village in English anime). In his first reincarnation, he was defeated by Yohken Asakura (an ancestor of Yoh's) and the spirit Matamune. Not one to give up so easily, Hao reincarnates himself back into the Asakura family 500 years later, this time as one half of a pair of twins.

When Yoh first meets Hao, the uncanny thing is the fact that they look so alike. At first, it is said that Hao was Yoh's ancestor, but later it is revealed that Yoh is actually half the reincarnation of the original Asakura Hao from 1000 years ago, who mastered the five elements, and has the ability to reincarnate himself by will. This time, Hao's soul somehow split, and one half becams Yoh, while the other became the present Hao, forming twins. Hao is Yoh's twin brother, ancestor and previous incarnation.

The Asakura family is notable for its spiritual prowess and only those with the strongest spiritual abilities marry into the family. Anna, because of her unusually strong itako powers, is one of the select few who may become members of family. Yoh, in particular, possesses a rare potential seen in few members of the family.

Yoh's father, Mikihisa Asakura (麻倉幹久 Asakura Mikihisa), is an ascetic monk and commands two spirits of nature, a kitsune (fox) and a tanuki (raccoon-dog). Keiko Asakura, his mother, is a miko whose most distinguished ability is hearing spirits telling of impending disaster. Yoh's grandfather, Yohmei Asakura (麻倉葉明 Asakura Yōmei), is an onmyōji known for his divining abilities. His grandmother, Kino Asakura, is a master itako who trains young girls in the art at Osorezan.

Abilities/Techniques

File:Double Medium.jpg

Yoh's Double Medium (manga)

Ko-Oni Strike (Imp Strike) - he learned this technique from his grandfather Yohmei and used it when he was 10 years old. Yoh can creates three tiny leaf Shikigamis and send them flying towards his target. This is a weak attack however.

Okyō (Sutra)- in the manga, he learned this technique from Anna. By chanting a prayer (the Sankiraimon or Three Refuges Prayer), he can make a spirit to pass on to the afterlife. This technique only works on spirits that have some understanding of or belief in the Buddhist teachings.

Chō SenjiRyakketsu FumonTonkou (Chō SenjiRyakketsu- Magic Gate Evasion Shield) - this was taught to Yoh by Anna where a shaman can read the flow of furyoku and determine where the opponent may attack next.

Chō SenjiRyakketsu MikazukaNoHarae (Chō·SenjiRyakketsu - Three Days' Exorcism) - in the manga, this final technique was left to Yoh by Matamune and used this technique to exorcise the Oni Anna created. Matamune had to pass on because of this technique.

ShinkuuBuddaGiri (Shockwave Buddha-Giri, Celestial Slash in the English anime) - a technique Yoh uses often, he slashes in the air and sends a powerful shockwave (which takes form of a red horizontaly curved wave) to damage an opponent. He can sometimes use it even if he is not combined with Amidamaru.

GokōJin (Halo Blade) - an attack similar to the Shockwave Buddha-Giri. This is Amidamaru's original technique which Yoh performed for the first time in oversoul after coming out from the cave. The first time he performed it was when he used Hyoi Gattai at 100% for the first time against Tao Ren.

Amidamaru Shield- Amidamaru's oversoul can change its shape and take form of a shield which is similar to the armor Amidamaru wears on his shoulders.

DaiGokōJin (Great Halo Blade) - the attack is like an enhanced version of the GokouJin with a bigger range when Yoh uses the Spirit of Sword.

Oversoul missile- When Yoh uses the double medium, he can launch energy out of the weapon to propel himself towards his opponent. He uses this to attack the Spirit of Fire after it absorbed the King of Spirits.

Trivia

Yoh is obsessed about food. In the English anime, he is specifically obsessed about cheeseburgers. As noted by many fans, his favorite food is curry bread.

In the short story Funbari no Uta, the main character, Hana Asakura, is the son of Yoh and Anna.

In one episode of the Japanese version of the Shaman King anime, Pirka wrongly states that Yoh's name is Ha Makura (Makura Ha) due to incorrectly reading the kanji that makes up Yoh's name. The joke does not entirely translate into the English version, where she pronounces it correctly but remarks "Yoh Asakura? What kind of weird name is that?". Yoh counters her comment by saying that she does not really have the right to make fun of his name considering her brother's name is HoroHoro.

In the bonus episode of where Yoh, Ren, Ryu and Manta are watching the playbacks of Yoh's previous adventures of the first half of the series, Yoh continuely rolls an orange on the table with Amidamaru watching over and commenting with a simple sentence, "Funga fu fu"

Funbari no Uta

Following the conclusion to Shaman King, it is revealed in Takei's shorts, Funbari no Uta, that Yoh and Anna have a son named Hana. He travels around (while wielding Yoh's Futsunomitama blade (the Antiquity)) with Ryu looking for five legendary warriors while his parents are away. It appears that Tamao Tamamura is responsible for looking after him while Yoh and Anna are away.