Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. We continue our look at Shonen Jump by reviewing Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs. Released in 2016-2020 and written by Tadahiro Miura. Yuuna was a series that felt completely out of place in the pages of Shonen Jump. This was a straight up pure page to page ecchi series that ran on fanservice and was one step away from being a full on hentai at times. While fanservice is nothing new to Shonen Jump, all of their most popular manga employed it in some form or another, this was the first time they presented a series where that would be the main focus. Despite this, readers found it funny, lighthearted, and the drawings were very good. During its run this was easily one of the best looking mangas in my opinion. Naturally, the series was considered controversial by some people in Japan (yeah you know it’s bad when even Japan is saying this is too much) but Miura stood by his creation and wrote with no regrets. In 2018 Xebec turned the manga into an anime and they were more than up for the task as this was the same studio that gave us To Love-Ru, Keijo and Triage X (yep, these guys know their ecchi anime). Let’s dive right in. This is Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs.
Opening and Ending Theme
Our opening for this anime is “Momoiro Typhoon” by Haruna Luna. I like the start with the traditional instruments and how it dives quickly into an upbeat pop song. It captures the simple story the anime is telling and lets you know not to take this anime too seriously and just enjoy the ride.
The ending is “Happen ~Kogarashi ni Fukarete~” by Eri Suzuki. This was a song I didn’t care for when I first heard it but looking back it’s good. It does capture the feelings of a young girl in love and her feelings only growing each day. It’s also a short song. Despite this ending being a minute and a half it feels like 30 seconds. I was enjoying the song so much time just flies by.
Episodes 1-4
The anime starts with our main character Fuyuzora voiced by Yūki Ono (Kagami from Kuroko’s Basketball) arriving in the hot spring town of Yukemuri. We find out that he’s a psychic and has the ability to fight spirits (he’s like a more comedic older version of Mob). After traveling the country and fighting spirits that would possess him ever since he was a child, he decides he wants to give normal life a chance so he moves to Yukemuri where he’ll be staying at the Yuragi Inn where the rent is cheap but the place is haunted as someone mysteriously died while bathing in the springs. Fuyuzora reaches the inn where he’s confident that if the ghost shows up he’ll just punch it away. As he bathes in the springs the ghost shows up where we see the ghost is a cute girl around Fuyuzora’s age (and well-endowed for her age). She accidently knocks him out and he wakes up in the lap of Chitose the loli innkeeper where he meets the rest of the residents of Yuragi who are all women. First up is the older Nonko who is sexy and likes to drink, followed by Sagiri a ninja girl, and finally Yaya a quiet girl with cat-like characteristics (she’s a spirit too isn’t she?). He goes to his room where he finds out the ghost from earlier also resides in this room and her name is Yuuna voiced by Miyuri Shimabukuro. The two talk for a bit where Fuyuzora isn’t really sure what to do. Yuuna’s not evil, she’s cute, and his moral code won’t allow him to hit a woman living or dead but he knows that the longer she stays bound to this world the chances are high that she’ll turn evil and have to go to Hell instead of Heaven (no! she’s too cute to go to Hell). We get a good laugh where Yuuna gets spooked by a mouse and uses her poltergeist powers to throw Fuyuzora out of the inn. The next morning Fuyuzora manages to find a part-time job and while he’s out, Yuuna gets attacked by a monk who tries to do a force ascension on Yuuna which will send her to Heaven. Fuyuzora sees what’s going on and at first, he does nothing thinking this would be best for her but when he hears her say she doesn’t want to leave yet and wants to experience more things on Earth as well as get to know Fuyuzora, he finally steps in and saves her. He decides to help her pass on at her own pace and spend time with her, so she can leave this world with no regrets. We end on another laugh with Fuyuzora accidently grabbing her boob and getting thrown into the springs just as the girls are getting in where he’s attacked by Sagiri.
In episode 2 we find out that all the residents knew about Yuuna (it’s hard to miss her) and they’re all spirits too. Sagiri is human but she’s a demon-slaying ninja. Nonko is an oni who gets stronger the drunker she gets (plus, she’s a fun drunk to be around), Yaya is possessed by a cat god so she’s technically a nekomata, and Chitose is a zashiki-warashi who can manipulate the fortunes of others at the expense of using up that person’s lifetime of luck. In the first half of the episode the monk from last episode returns with other monks but the tenants of Yuragi fight them off and thanks to Chitose they won’t be coming back. In the second half, Sagiri and Yaya demand the eviction of Fuyuzora because Sagiri thinks he’s sexually harassing Yuuna (it’s more the other way around) and when Yaya was in her cat form, he groped her unintentionally. Fuyuzora’s fate will be decided through a game of ping-pong where it’s him and Yuuna vs Sagiri and Yaya. At first the girls think this will be easy but Fuyuzora reveals that he’s an expert at ping-pong thanks to being possessed by a ping-pong coach in the past and thanks to Yuuna’s poltergeist powers they take a commanding lead. Sagiri and Yaya try to rally a return victory but fail and Fuyuzora and Yuuna win. Sagiri and Yaya agree to stop trying to get Fuyuzora evicted but they warn him not to do anything indecent otherwise eviction will the least of his worries (stop leaving yourselves open to lucky situations and we’ll be fine).
In episode 3 Fuyuzora finally goes to school where his first day doesn’t really go all that well thanks to Yuuna who flips up the skirt of the class beauty Chisaki and everyone pins the blame on Fuyuzora labeling him a pervert and during class introductions, he just comes out and tells everyone that he’s a psychic (who punches spirits for a living and lives at an inn full of cute girls) which they don’t believe and laugh at him (they laugh now but when the school is being haunted by a spirit they’ll come crying to him for help). In a surprise twist, Chisaki actually believes him and asks for his help dealing with a spirit that seems to possess her dolls. Fuyuzora and Yuuna go to Chisaki’s house where they investigate her room but find no spiritual activity (as of now. Scene here: https://youtu.be/bulfyN7wKRk?si=EEyAs6_rZYbchC-T). So, they leave and come back later when Chisaki gets out of the bath and is about to get raped by her dolls (usually it’s the other way around. She likes to practice). Fuyuzora saves her and they track the spiritual activity back to a mysterious woman in the park who unleashes a strong spirit that Fuyuzora just beats with one punch (the guy is like a cross between Saitama and Mob). With all her spirits defeated the mysterious woman begs for mercy revealing herself to be a tanuki named Koyuza. She’s 10 years old and as a part of village customs, 10-year-olds leave the village and go to live in the human world disguised as adults (the tanukis are taking over the world, https://youtu.be/1W7c8QghPxk). But Koyuza sucks at human transformation, so she decided to study Chisaki as she had the one thing Koyuza lacked, boobs (as well as supporting character status). Koyuza was stalking Chisaki as a means to study her boobs, she never had any intention of harming her and apologizes for all the trouble she caused (scene here: https://youtu.be/tpab7ktMOp0?si=V8LEJkbVrkjhoOvE). After this, Fuyuzora brings Koyuza back to Yuragi where she’s allowed to stay for the time being where she’ll have plenty of boobs to study (it’s a 7/11 there) and Chisaki gives Fuyuzora cookies as a thank you.
In the first part of episode 4 we focus on Sagiri who needs Fuyuzora’s help in vanquishing a youkai that’s been attacking couples in the park and eating their clothes (I guess he wanted more fiber in his diet). They pose as a couple where Sagiri dresses up in cute girly clothes that even makes Fuyuzora blush and admit that she looks cute (she’s always looking cute). They finally come across the youkai which is a giant spider (arachnid ecchius) which hides in a cloth dissolving fog. Fuyuzora uses his powers to push back the fog, exposing the spider, and Sagiri takes it out. After the mission, Sagiri starts to take an interest in cute clothes and wonders if she should start wearing them more (the answer is yes). In the second, we focus on Yaya. Chitose goes a short trip thus leaving everyone else to take turns making meals for everyone where we find out none of them can cook except for Fuyuzora who makes some delicious grilled fish (scene here: https://youtu.be/f51SkMjTpXM?si=bPJlGn0GQ5sdTc0s, not to sound sexist but this is quite sad when the male can cook better than the females). After tasting the grilled fish, Yaya begins following Fuyuzora not knowing what she wants (she’s a cat and you fed her delicious food. Think). He finally figures out that she wants more grilled fish but had a hard time asking him because she doesn’t know him all that well (cats are usually cautious around new people) and feeds them to the cat god.
Episodes 5-8
Episode 5 is another 2-story episode. In the first part, Chisaki wants to learn more about Yuuna but she can’t see or hear her and training her on how to see ghosts would take years of training (or a near death experience. It worked for Hayori in Noragami and Yusuke from Yu Yu Hakusho). Luckily, they find a way to communicate with each other by using a notebook (hey it’s Your Name. Or in this case, Your Ghost). They basically just have a conversation writing together (it’s like texting only without the cellphone) where they develop a bond of friendship with each other (and of course have the occasional ecchi moment). In the second half, we discover that Nonko’s day job is a manga artist, and she has a deadline approaching within 15 hours and needs help. Fuyuzora gets roped into helping her where Nonko swears off the booze and we actually get to see a serious side of her who works hard and is all business (I like her drunk). We also learn that in the past she also used to be a youkai hunter until she decided to quit and try all the things she wanted to do where she wound up being a manga artist (which many would argue is more stressful than hunting youkai). Our ecchi moment comes when Fuyuzora and Nonko act out a scene for reference where Fuyuzora makes sexual advances on Nonko (usually it’s the other way around). Nonko manages to make her deadline in time and she celebrates by getting wasted (something I imagine manga artists do after a deadline is complete. That and sleeping) and stripping (some might. Rumor has it Hiro Mashima used to have a habit of stripping while he worked).
In episode 6 we focus on Chitose in the first part of the episode where we discover that she’s been secretly going to middle school and keeps it as a secret from the others so she doesn’t lose authority (oh please you can manipulate their luck and you feed them. They wouldn’t dare raise a hand against you). So why is she doing this you ask, it’s the only chance she’ll get at being a normal person. Chitose is an eternal 13-year-old girl (plus, she needs a break from it all). When she goes to eat with her friends at the shopping district two wannabe delinquents harass them and they get saved by Fuyuzora who doesn’t recognize Chitose and goes on his way (but a part of me believes he knew it was Chitose but choose to play dumb. He’s shown us that he’s smarter than the average harem lead). In the second half, Fuyuzora tries to help Yuuna remember her lingering regret so she can move on. He thinks it might have something to do with going someplace special so Chitose gives them tickets to a leisure spa where it turns into a date between the two with Fuyuzora forcing himself to make this enjoyable for Yuuna (maybe he’s not as smart as I thought. Just be yourself Fuyuzora). Despite running into a number of problems, the two have a relatively good time and Yuuna says she wants to come back but with the real Fuyuzora instead.
Episode 7 introduces us to Genshiro and his retainer Oboro. Genshiro is a divine spirit and not just any divine spirit he’s a dragon and he’s not just any dragon he’s the black dragon god, the same black dragon that rules over Ryuuga Lake in Shinano. While Yuuna and Koyuza are out shopping, Genshiro spots her and becomes smitten by her (she is cute). He captures her and takes her back to his palace where she will become his bride whether she likes it or not. Fuyuzora, Koyuza, and Saigiri (in a skin-tight full body ninja suit. I know what I’m giving Yin-Yang for Christmas. (Yin-Yang): You do that, and I’ll burn it along with you) go to rescue Yuuna where Saigiri and Koyuza will sneak in to save Yuuna while Fuyuzora will keep Genshiro distracted. His plan for distracting Genshiro, calling him out at his front door (you don’t steal a man’s ghost girlfriend and live to smile about it).
Episode 8 opens up with Fuyuzora keeping Genshiro distracted while Saigiri and Koyuza make it to Yuuna where they just bury Saigiri by having her lose to Oboro without getting a single shot in (I’m sorry, but wasn’t this the same girl who slayed a demon spider in the park a few episodes back? I’m fine with her losing but could she at least get a few shots in to keep face and not look so weak. I’m sorry, I know I’m looking into to this a bit much but this one scene just proves that if Fuyuzora wanted to, he could knock Saigiri out without breaking a sweat). So Saigiri gets captured while Koyuza escapes. She gets bought before Genshiro where he decides to make her a member of his concubine and Yuuna wanting to keep her friends safe agrees to marry Genshiro in exchange for their safety. Fuyuzora decides to get serious and take charge (https://youtu.be/p7Z1oD1lGVk), he tells Genshiro that he’s bathed with Yuuna (oh you’ve done more than that) which pisses him off that he kicks Fuyuzora sky high only for him to get back up like nothing and just take Genshiro out with one punch (https://youtu.be/Y8EMndSFFMk, and if Yuuna and Saigiri didn’t want to get inside his pants before they sure as hell do now). With Genshiro down you would think everything would wrap up but no, Oboro steps in to face him where we’re kinda at a stalemate as Oboro can’t make much of a dent in Fuyuzora and he refuses to punch a lady (she’s a warrior, she knows the risk). Nonko and Yaya come in to stop the fighting where they come up with a plan for Fuyuzora and the others to walk away safely and have Genshiro save face and stop pursue Yuuna. Using Koyuza’s powers, they convince Genshiro and that his love for Yuuna and Saigiri was so fulfilling to them that they descended to Heaven and he actually obliterated Fuyuzora in their fight (https://youtu.be/s-aInKCWnnc). This plan of course works (he’s an idiot, what did you expect?) and return to their inn where Fuyuzora receives a surprise wake up from a naked Oboro who wants to make a child with Fuyuzora in order to make the clan stronger (I told you girls would want to get in his pants. Motherfucker just went Saitama on a dragon god like it was nothing).
Episodes 9-12 and OVAs
Nothing much to say about episode 9. Chisaki goes to Yuragi inn to visit Yuuna while Fuyuzora is out doing his job and won’t be back until the next day. This gives us an all-girl episode where not much really happens. There are a few funny parts such as the first thing Chisaki seeing when she arrives is Oboro half-naked and trying to rape Fuyuzora in the main lobby (I was half expecting her to see Fuyuzora go flying out the window), Sagiri being overwhelmed by Chisaki’s feminine aura, and Koyuza teaching seduction techniques to Chisaki and Yuuna that she learned from Nonko. That night as the girls sleep in Fuyuzora’s room with Koyuza, Fuyuzora returns finishing his job earlier than he originally thought and being so exhausted that he doesn’t even see Chisaki in his room (or does he?). Chisaki tries to leave but Yuuna clings to her making it hard to leave and Fuyuzora in his sleep state opens up the top of Chisaki and pulls her underwear down, and she accidently sits on his face (not the first time he’s had another woman’s butt on his face). When he wakes up he realizes what’s going on and Chisaki is worried that Fuyuzora will attack her but he doesn’t, he instead covers her up with a blanket and tries to go back to sleep when Oboro comes in trying to have sex with him again only this time he stops her and tells her that he’ll only do the horizontal bop with the person he’s in love with and no one else (wow, he is surprisingly pure). Oboro and Chisaki are amazed by his resolve and Oboro takes her leave saying that she’ll wait for him to fall in love with her before she takes him. Chisaki leaves the next day but tells Yuuna to stop clinging to people in her sleep otherwise she might turn Fuyuzora into a beast.
Nothing much to say about episode 10. The first years at Fuyuzora’s school go on a seaside school trip so as you would expect we get our fanservice of the girls in swimsuits (a shy Sagiri is a cute Sagiri) and a tentacle monster who tries to strip the girls (Tentacle monster: I’m adding these to my collection) only to get destroyed by Fuyuzora who dives 300 meters (humanly impossible) to destroy the monster’s main body. Chisaki and her friend tell the rest of their classmates what happened but none of them believe them so Chisaki decides to do a test of courage and have Yuuna scare everyone and get saved by Fuyuzora (thereby proving ghost exists and showing that Fuyuzora isn’t crazy). The plan doesn’t go so well as Fuyuzora gets partnered up with Chisaki (stop trying to get this ship moving. We all know Yuuna is where it’s at) and Yuuna gets scared of the dark. But luck does turn their way as a real monster does appear and attack their classmates.
At the start of episode 11 Fuyuzora arrives to save his classmates from the monster who was awakened after they knocked over his stone (destruction of property, https://youtu.be/ZXQR-cPXlmY?t=14s). So what does Fuyuzora do? One punch the man back into oblivion? Nope, he gets on his knees and apologizes along with his classmates. There’s no reason to fight this monster. He’s not causing any harm or destruction, and has done nothing wrong. Fuyuzora’s classmates were in the wrong and Fuyuzora recognizes this so he does the right thing and apologizes for their misconduct. The monster is pleased with this, recognizes Fuyuzora’s power, and out of respect for him, leaves peacefully. Fuyuzora and his classmates return the stone to its original position and they head on back where Fuyuzora says he doesn’t care if people make fun of him, as long as he has Chisaki on his side he’s satisfied (and so the ship sails). On that same night we get some fanservice by seeing the girls in the baths (ahh~ the light! It blinds me! Damn you Japanese Censorship yakuza), and Fuyuzora visits Yuuna and the others in their room with a classmate and we get another ecchi scene where the boys almost get discovered by a teacher. On the final day of the trip, Fuyuzora dances with Yuuna at their fire festival in front of everyone not caring what anyone thinks of him (he can see Yuuna and that’s all that matters. What a badass). In the second half of the episode, Koyuza creates a love potion for Oboro (why the hell she would do that is beyond me) who tries to feed that potion to Fuyuzora only to have the potion be eaten by Sagiri and she makes her move on Fuyuzora after it becomes unbearable for her. She asks Fuyuzora what he thinks of her and with her breast pressed against his face, he admits that he sees her as a cute girl. The spell eventually wears off and Sagiri locks herself in her room out of embarrassment and we find out that the potion won’t work unless the person who drinks it has feelings for that person which means Sagiri has some feelings for Fuyuzora (whether they’re of love or respect is up for you to decide).
In the final episode it’s the start of summer vacation and everyone is doing their own thing. Sagiri is returning to her home village, Yaya is going home as well, Koyuza is staying with Chisaki and her mom (who is a total MILF I’m not gonna lie) for a bit, Chitose goes on a trip sponsored by the spa association, and Fuyuzora and the rest are staying at the inn (great, he’s surrounded by the three people who welcome fanservice). After helping Nonko with her manuscript, she treats Fuyuzora, Yuuna, and Oboro to a beach trip to Okinawa (I was wondering how they were going to work in a beach episode. Gotta say, I’m impressed). While at the beach, Fuyuzora and Yuuna come across another ghost girl named Ami who’s bound to the cliff where she died. We find out that the ghost girl was to be married off to a guy she didn’t like so she decided to elope with her lover. But, the lover got into a car accident on the way to the cliff and in her sadness she committed suicide according to legend (in truth, she tried to rescue him and it failed). The ghost girl now waits there longing to be with her lover. Fuyuzora and Yuuna go to see the girl in the hopes of helping her pass on before she becomes an evil spirit and in a funny moment we find her boyfriend (who is also a bound ghost) named Yasuhina is just down the cliff not far from her location but he’s afraid to go and meet her because he blames himself for her death and he’s scared that she’s pissed at him (given how long he’s kept her waiting I wouldn’t be surprised if she hit him). Fuyuzora believes him being bound is just a mental issue (and the fear of an angry woman), so, in order to get Yasuhina to move, he pretends to go and do a force ascension on Ami which manages to get him to move. Ami and Yasuhina are reunited and the first thing she does is punch him for keeping her waiting (called it). Yasuhina apologizes to her and they both ascend up to Heaven happy to be reunited with each other now and forever. With that story we start to make a little headway into Yuuna’s story where Fuyuzora asks her what her life was like before she became a ghost. Yuuna says she has amnesia and has no recollection of her life prior to being a ghost. Her earliest memory was of her waking up at Yuragi Inn as a ghost and being discovered by Chitose who gave her the name Yuuna since she didn’t remember her real name. Despite having no memories of her prior life, Yuuna tells Fuyuzora that she’s happy and enjoying her life as of right now. That night, Fuyuzora has a nightmare of priest forcing Yuuna to ascend and him saving her only to wake up and see that he’s grabbed Yuuna’s boob. This of course results in her throwing him into the water, Yunna apologizing, and the two splashing around in the water with Fuyuzora swearing to help Yuuna ascend peacefully and stay by her side until it happens. After this the anime ends with all the girls taking a bath together and Fuyuzora crashing in on them thanks to Yuuna.
We do get four OVAs from the series. The first OVA came out about a week before the anime aired and actually did serve as a good introduction to the series. In the first, we basically see Fuyuzora going to wake up everyone for breakfast and seeing them all half-naked which results in him getting hurt or in enviable situations. Yunna is worried that her constantly throwing Kogarashi out the window in the morning (seriously, who pays for that?) will scare him away, so she plans a flower viewing/welcome party at night for him which he likes and enjoys. In the second half we get a story based off the manga where thanks to Koyuzu’s magic, Kogarashi becomes body soap for the baths and nobody can hear him. Each of the girls uses the bath where Kogarashi not only sees each of them naked (at this point he should be desensitized by it) but he feels their bodies as he becomes the soap as well whenever they use him. He eventually gets turned back thanks to Koyuzu canceling out her magic and when he does he receives Heaven’s divine punishment.
In the second OVA we start with Oboro trying to find ways to get Kogarashi to fall in love with her. She goes around asking the other girls for advice (that’s like asking an orange farmer for advice on how to grow apples) but it’s Yuuna’s advice that seems to be winner which is spending time with the person you like and getting to know them better. In the second half, we start to cover the stories from everyone’s summer vacation starting with Koyuzu who’s staying with Chisaki and her mom for a few days (you would think the mom would be freaked out by a tanuki but no, she actually finds Koyuzu adorable which is understandable. She’s a loli tanuki who loves breast, what’s not to like about her?). Nothing much really happens, she just spends her last day having fun with Chisaki and her mom. The only real thing we get from this story is that Koyuzu views her inability to hide her tail and ears as an embarrassment. While everyone finds them adorable, it’s a constant reminder of her failure from her perspective and something she wants to change in order to make her family proud of her. The day comes for Koyuzu to return but she makes a promise to come visit them again.
In the third OVA it’s summer vacation and Kogarashi is working part-time at a festival. The festival is honoring cat gods so all the cat gods in the country gather to enjoy the festivities including Yaya. At night, Yaya asks Kogarashi to make some grilled fish for the gods and she defeats another cat god disturbing the festivities. In the second half, Yuuna, Oboro, Chisaki and Koyuzu think that Kogarashi is into idols so they try to form their own idol group.
In the fourth OVA they jump ahead and introduce some new characters without introducing us to them. While Sagiri and her cousin Hibari were exterminating a spirit in town it run into Kogarashi who took it out for them. But before the spirit vanished it put a curse on him where he’ll die unless he sees 12 panties. Luckily, 12 girls are there to show their panites but most of them are too embarrassed (he’s seen all of you naked multiple times. At this point there is nothing to be embarrassed about). In the second half, all of the girls accidentally bathe in salt baths that unleash a powerful aphrodisiac and they all try to have sex with him.
Final Thoughts
This is one of the ecchiest animes I’ve seen in a long a time. It honestly does remind of To Love-Ru. I go as far as calling it this generation’s version of To Love-Ru with a few tweaks. One thing I do like is the main character Kogarashi not being your run-of-the-mill bland MC who gets easily pushed around by everyone. He has powers, he knows how to use them, and can take care of himself. He’s not just a hopeless nice guy he’s someone who doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him and is going to live life the way he thinks is right with the people he cares for. The only fault with this character is they pull the possessed by a spirit joke one too many times. The female cast is pretty good as well. We have girls who like him, the girls who develop feelings for him, and then we have the girls who see him as a friend but will still provide fanservice for us. Yuuna is the best of the bunch. There’s a good mystery surrounding her and of course she’s an adorable ghost.
Like I said this is one of the ecchiest animes I’ve seen in a very long time, so how does the fanservice rate? Overall, good fanservice of the characters although it does fall into the same pitfalls, tropes and shortcomings as previous titles like this so take that for its worth. The animation is nice, I do like the character designs. The female cast stands out the most. The music is pretty forgetful and generic for a series like this and it’ll mostly go unnoticed by the viewer. Fight scenes are pretty one-sided and the spirits aren’t really that creative or original.
Final Score
The final score for Yuuna is a 5/10. This isn’t a series that’s for everyone but is worth gazing over once. This is the ecchiest series we’ll probably ever see in Shonen Jump and they are to be commended for allowing this series to tell its story from beginning to end despite the controversy surrounding it. It’s not the best read but I don’t think it’s complete trash. I don’t see this series getting a second season so if you’re curious to see what happens next then definitely give it a read. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.