Yuu☆Yuu☆Hakusho

Yu Yu Hakusho, Yoshihiro Togashi’s debut work, is generally accepted to be one of the best and greatest titles of the fighting shounen genre. Being action/adventure and the 90s my favorite type of anime and anime decade overall, respectively, this should have been a personal cakewalk. However, after finishing the series some time ago, this is unfortunately a consensus and sentiment I cannot share. In my previous review of Hunter x Hunter (2011), Mr. Togashi’s other big work, I argued that it was not really a fully well-functioning one, but where nevertheless I could understand the reasons of its praise. With Yu Yu Hakusho, however, ... I’m afraid I cannot give much of that benefit, since this time I do have a hard time trying to understand why would anyone think this is a satisfying fighting shounen at all, much less why would anyone that has seen a lot of them, place it among the top ones.

Sure, admittedly, it features some aspects that differentiate it from many of the other most popular ones and it is easy to see why it gained such a solid reputation; it has no boring, irrelevant fillers that may break the immersion, it concluded before the power creep could get out of control, it was not milked and stretched beyond acceptable levels, it never abandoned in the way any member of its main cast leaving him behind or sending him to the background (with one exception), it relatively developed and gave all of them a fair share of spotlight, plenty of fights involved some kind of strategy and there were no endless transformations over transformations. However, from my perspective, there is little to gain from all these pros if when looked from the heights, they are not part of something truly appealing and engaging in the first place. The way I see it, for a long-running, continuous action/adventure shounen to be worth the try, the following conditions must be met: i) have a large set of fun, lovable/likeable characters you genuinely want to join in their journey, ii) build a sense of adventure or world-growth (regardless if there’s an initial goal or not) iii) build a sense of scale with epic, larger-than-life, emotion-stimulating battles/conflicts and also hopefully, iv) feature an interesting universe/lore/concepts you would like to learn more about, v) have interesting, memorable and/or quirky villains and vi) all of this enhanced with an amazing, fascinating OST that sticks in your mind. Yu Yu Hakusho, frankly, has been the only one out of all the ones I’ve watched (that was not particularly terrible) where I could not see any of these requirements fully met (with the exception of one main villain), so all of its virtues mentioned before that explain the praise it receives, unfortunately do not end up being very useful in the end. Let’s start with the first -and most important- one: the cast.

Normally, I don’t like using “boring” in reviews because of the inherent highly subjective nature of the word, but in this occasion I’m afraid I have no option left, because the cast of YYH is -in all honesty- precisely that: a boring cast. Now, of course this is a subjective matter, and certainly characters should be judged according to how well-written, developed, unique and consistent they may be, but I swear I can’t help but believing that when it comes to long shounen series, character “likeability” is a very important trait to see in them as well, because after all (and let’s not fool ourselves here), deep character exploration is not exactly the first thing you have in mind when starting a long-running action/adventure show. These series tend to not offer very complex narratives rich in themes that can vastly make up for a lack of personal attachment to characters, so it becomes of utmost importance to feature a quirky, relatable set of characters one would literally like to befriend or “hang out” with or alternatively are “cool to look at”, in which case, even if the story is awful and conflicts are lackluster, you can at least say you had fun watching themselves and their interactions (like for example, is the case with Fairy Tail). If you don’t find them entertaining from some angle, then it certainly becomes harder to care for the entire show as a consequence, and I feel this was the case with YYH.

I give it that Yusuke offered some novelty at the time and wasn’t entirely good-hearted and heroic, I give it that he matured throughout in the way (and was better written than Goku and even Gon, the closest comparisons), but his attitude of not taking things very seriously to me just never worked and never seemed very natural (felt too much like someone playing the cool superhero role); Kuwabara was mostly an annoying, tiring goofball used for the comical relief but I never found myself laughing with anything he did or said; and Kurama and Hiei were just excessively calm and “turned-off” dudes who barely ever changed or raised their voices and almost went unnoticed, lacking in energy to make them appealing as well. It also may sound shallow, but it didn’t help that the first two had terrible senses of fashion, and Hiei was the only one of the four you could say “looked cool”. The supporting cast didn’t fare much better (Botan in particular has got to be one of the most boring female companions ever, and Genkai barely ever changed her mean facial expressions), and also the character chemistry among the four main members felt poor; they always felt like two separate sides (Yusuke and Kuwabara in one, Kurama and Hiei in the other) who always saw each other like they were only colleagues instead of an integrated group of friends trusting each other. Yusuke and Hiei had an interesting rivalry thanks to contrasting personalities, but it was barely developed and felt wasted because the series opted to make as the #2 Kuwabara instead of the more silent, mysterious partner. Also they may have had interesting backgrounds, but the show didn’t do anything meaningful with them but until the final stretch after more than 90 episodes in (and in a rushed way), so there was also no way to engage much with them from this perspective since the start, offering little character-hook. To get attached to the cast of YYH, was truly a challenge.

Even if the show failed to give a fun, interesting cast to get attached to, of course there it is the story and its progression to make up for that. Getting into it becomes more complicated though, but not impossible. But this is not the case with YYH either; its second major failure is that, overall, for a long, continuous 100+ episodes series, it doesn’t feel like a grand, uniform adventure with some notion of story or world-growth in time (whether if it’s headed towards somewhere or not), as one would expect for a series of this class. If you are signing up for a show that will demand that much time, well it better does something not only to get you engaged from the start, but also to make you feel towards the end that you were part of something big. The idea is precisely to use that huge amount of episodes to build something that feels that way, to make the audience feel in its mind that its watching-experience is “growing” or acquiring momentum with them. But I could never see any of this in YYH. When finishing it, you realize that its story was nothing more than a collection of missions with little relation to each other that altogether piled up to nothing big or well-defined in particular. The broken “come and go” nature of them killed the chances to cultivate in time a sense of a long journey where every stage was building upon the previous ones, making hard for the story to feel grand in the end. The three main arcs (considering the first one as an introduction or prologue to the second), felt just too disjointed from each other and didn’t work together to provide a sense of a clear, single and unified story growing in time, with events of previous ones having to do, leading in an organic way and/or impacting events of the following ones. So in this sense, these unrelated quests didn’t structurally feel any different from let’s say, the trivial missions of the Naruto fillers. Yes, the plot structure of YYH is closer in nature to the Naruto fillers than the Naruto canon, because it shows no big journey, no story-growth and no links or major overlapping among its individual arcs which together do not create the desired momentum; the story was always like “something happened, we have to go there, we solve the situation, we go back home, next one” with no apparent connection. And this is evidently, quite problematic for a non-episodic 100+ action/adventure series, because you cannot feel the big adventure, it severely hinders the viewer’s immersion and it makes it hard to think of it as something worth investing so much time in story-wise. Not only the cast of YYH is difficult to engage with; its main story is not that far behind.

Speaking about the arcs more on their own, putting aside the big-picture perspective, the first one is just okay/fine as with a bunch of minor missions here and there, serves to introduce the spiritual world, the main cast of four members, the supporting members like Botan, Genkai and Koenma, and to set the stage for the first major conflict of the show, the Dark Tournament, considered by most of the fanbase as the highlight of the series. However, to be regarded as the “main attraction” of the show, one would expect something truly exciting and memorable, but it was far from any of that. The DT is nothing more than a pretty straightforward tournament arc not only without major novelty or creativity to make things interesting, not only lasting way longer than what it should have, but more importantly, without any real notion of tension and thrill. The first thing to notice is that, as opposed to classical tournament arcs in other fighting shounens, this one here is not just casual fun for the characters. By being a major conflict (that it is not expected to be interrupted by the end), where the intention is to make things more compelling, this is dead serious stuff for them. Here there are real life/death type of stakes. Here it does matter who wins in the end. And this, immediately, kills a substantial part of the fun and suspense, because you already know from the start that Team Yusuke has to -and is going to- reach the end and win. Any other outcome would not make sense. So you have to question, what is the point at all of a tournament with intermediate matches, when you already know what the final result will be in advance? Sure, in other fighting shounens with a tournament arc or segment, it’s also reasonable to expect the main hero (or main team) to reach the final match, however, given that nothing really terrible would happen if he doesn’t win, NOT really to actually win. And this immediately makes things more interesting to see, since the range of possibilities is expanded and there’s more of an unpredictability component, something that unfortunately, cannot be said about the DT.

And sure too, in any other classical good vs. evil type of major conflict that is not a light-fun, friendly tournament, no other outcome besides our heroes winning (for the most part) is expected. However, here is where the second shortcoming of the arc lies: since in these types of serious conflicts the result is predictable, the obvious solution to add suspense is to make the whole process to that result the interesting thing to see, more than the result itself, but unfortunately this is not something that can be said about the DT arc either. The first reason to this is precisely, the election of a tournament as the means through which the conflict would unfold; instead of having multiple possibilities of through where and how it could go, there is really one and only one here: in the exactly same location, keep winning all the intermediate fights one by one until there’s no more. The road to the end here is also entirely known in advance; it’s an extremely restricted, rigid way. As a consequence, the unpredictability component of the process here is quite low as well. The second reason, deriving from the first one, is that each part of the process (in this case, the intermediate fights) lacks the ability to significantly impact future stages somehow; plenty of them had no justification to exist beyond just extending the length of the tournament (and thus delaying the final match), because they didn’t have the ability to create major changes in circumstances or because they just didn’t feel indispensable. And the third reason is simply that the show just fails to make them interesting and fun to see, because few of them offered a sense of novelty, few of them felt different from the rest, and none of them at least featured an opponent in whom the audience had already developed a prior interest, had already been caring for and/or felt as someone relevant in the show’s world that was more than just a random fighter nobody would care for ever again once he was defeated (besides Toguro). This is, in the end, most of them felt entirely meaningless: you could have simply skipped most of them and nothing of much importance neither interest would have been lost. The process of the arc was just a “next, next, next” sequence of uninteresting, monotonous matches where most of them weren’t truly offering anything new, distinctive or crucial to warrant their inclusion besides changing the name, design and move of each opponent for whom the show never even provided strong reasons to make the audience care for in the first place. So, considering all this, you cannot help but questioning: what was really the point of having so many of them? When the only thing they achieved was having an endless, tiring parade of forgettable enemies adding nothing relevant outside delaying the obvious final Yusuke vs Toguro match?

On top of all this, and speaking about Toguro, the final (and not less important) reason why the DT fails to be a genuinely enjoyable ride has to do with the characters themselves and their motivations. The DT is in reality a story that has to do more with unfinished ideological clashes between Toguro and Genkai, supporting members, instead of a story involving major interests from the part of the main cast that here is acting just like the puppets or tools of their game, which makes, reasonably, all of their fights and struggles way less interesting to see. In addition to the skippable nature mentioned earlier, why should then the audience care much about all these fights, when they do not matter or mean much for our main cast? When they were not even there because they wanted, but because, they were forced to? When there are no major opposing interests between the parts on the table? Moreover, it doesn’t help that the whole “aging and becoming weak and ugly is bad” motivation of Toguro felt somewhat…lame, to say the least, and that all of this is revealed just too late in the arc when most of the tournament had already taken place, so for around 75% of it, the show provided few reasons to the audience to care about him and his goals. He had been shown for far too long only as the mysterious final boss staring the development of the game hidden in the heights, watching and waiting for his time to enter the stage. And you just cannot create an interesting main villain of an arc like this. You cannot expect your audience to really care about him like this. Alongside the other reasons mentioned before, all these factors combined killed virtually all the suspense and thrill the arc could have had, turning it into a highly disappointing arc with actual tension nowhere to be found.

In the next arc, Chapter Black, where Team Yusuke has to stop a conflicted former spirit detective from opening a hole to the spiritual world and causing human genocide, things get notoriously better, and is the arc that should be considered the real highlight of the series. In fact, as it will be explained later, it’s the only one of the bunch that can be considered worth watching. In this opportunity -and as opposed to the previous one- the progression of the conflict doesn’t feel as rigid and monotonous, with much more unpredictability in how events would unfold and in how Team Yusuke would solve the threat, with most of the intermediate enemies having actual reasons to be there, and with Sensui, the main antagonist, being a much more interesting and complex villain than Toguro, thanks to a much richer backstory and motivations which are known from early on and are not only revealed in a last-minute exposition episode that tries to add more meaning to the conflict that was about to or had recently concluded. However, while well-written enough and suspenseful on its own for the most part, it didn’t come without some drawbacks. Once again, in the end it felt like yet another mission unrelated to any anxiety/concern of the main cast, with no opposing interests to be found and an antagonist having no real business with them as well. The main cast only fights here to stop a threat because it’s asked to, not because it’s something they want to or need to do to accomplish whatever goals they may have. So they go there, they help, mission solved, and back to normal. There’s no real connection to any personal motivation they may have had and was more a story about the antagonist in turn that once defeated would not matter in the story anymore. Sensui’s multiple personalities disorder twist felt unnecessary and just a mere decoration, and Yusuke’s revelation of his true nature had zero, but absolutely zero foreshadowing and felt nothing more than a last-minute easy excuse to give him a power-boost to defeat him. At least in DBZ you could see Vegeta talking about the existence of the legendary super saiyan, at least you knew from the very start that Goku was not exactly a normal human being, and there was an impactful event triggering the power-up, so his transformation into super saiyan felt earned, unlike Yusuke’s one that well, simply popped-up.

And lastly, we have the Three Kings arc, which is, oddly enough, both the most interesting and the worst one at the same time. After 95 episodes of missions here, missions there that had nothing to do with our main cast, this was finally the time to do something more meaningful with them, with a plot related to their own concerns and not one where they were just being tools of someone else’s story; this was finally the one that was going to be about them, exploring and dealing with their own pasts, ancestries and struggles. Here we had three kingdoms fighting for the control of the demon world, each one recruiting fighters for an upcoming big war, where it even looked like Yusuke would have to fight his own mates, so there were more reasons to be genuinely invested. But what do we get instead? Well, instead of finding out who the winner was going to be as a result of an epic, large-scale bloody conflict, the author decides he does not care anymore and everything will be easily solved with yet another superfluous tournament where the belligerent parties would willingly accept the result with no complaints like if everything had always been just a child’s play, not only betraying expectations by putting the brakes on the build-up and reducing all the drama to a quick game, not only wasting most of the potential of something grand and tough, but also, not even making it entertaining to watch by rushing its own development in a ridiculous, almost insulting way with a mere 5-6 episodes count. The last match, the crucial and obviously most important one to witness, was for no reason other than “we do not care anymore, so let’s end this quick and then let’s get outta here, bye” cut and then the audience gets to know who the winner was because it was told (!), not even shown, in the most anticlimactic way possible. So, in the end, we had 95 episodes dealing with the not-so-important parts and then when it was the time to deal with the actual most important part, we get only 17 and the one that was about to be the most heavyweight conflict of the show, is dumbed down to a rigid, rushed tournament and then goodbye. And from any perspective you look at it, this just doesn’t feel right. This is not the smartest of the ways to structure your entire plot. If you are going to spend 95 episodes with stuff not-so-related to the main cast, at least in the end give us an arc that doesn’t feel like homework done as quick as possible because we don’t have much time left until the due date, but not even this was the case here. The Three Kings arc had the potential to be the best and should have been the most memorable and given the most focus, but unfortunately all these poor story-telling decisions rendered it not only as the most disappointing of all; in the end, they also rendered the whole series as an overall unsatisfying one.

Moving to the remaining aspects, even if your characters and narrative don’t turn out to be very appealing, there are still there the other elements that can make up for them and act as saving graces, but they are also deficient. First, not even the fights themselves were very exciting to see for the most part and most of them were lacking in true tension, build-up and intensity like they’re expected to be (watching two dudes beating the shit out of each other is not really something entertaining to watch without these execution-elements in the mix). Once again, I know this is a highly subjective matter, and I have to admit it’s hard for me to describe what exactly constitutes an exciting fight, but in general terms, to be effective/entertaining they have to be framed in a context where you can sense the difficulty and the challenge it will be for the hero, where you can sense how hard of a task it’s going to be for him to overcome and all the pain and suffering he will have to go through, and hopefully with some sort of emotional background or weight to root for him and boost the immersion. They have to be properly built and imbued with either dramatism or thrill to work for the audience, but in YYH I just didn’t feel much of all this; most of the time I felt like they were just like…playing a light game, with little seriousness to be found, even in the most serious moments. Second, another important element in a fighting shounen refers to the world it takes place in and its lore, themes and concepts, but here it’s quite limited; the spiritual and demon worlds are barely explored, and we don’t even have a creative, complex power system to at least be able to cling some interest onto. Finally, the OST, which can be used as a measure of last resort, was also quite dull and forgettable. Normally, after listening to the music of a fighting shounen series, I always go to YouTube to listen to it once again and recreate the emotion. YYH has been so far, the only case where I never felt like doing this. I can literally recall only one track in my mind, and this is only because it kept playing in almost every single damn episode (and a sad one, by the way).

So, considering all this, I have to say I really don’t get it. I swear I have an incredibly hard time trying to understand how can a long-running fighting shounen with all these poor characteristics be held by many as one of the best when it doesn’t fulfill any of the most important aspects a series of its class is supposed to do like I’ve explained in detail. As I said in the beginning, I recognize all its differentiating factors, but in my opinion none of them is truly essential to make a series of this class a satisfying one; they are of course welcome, to improve the experience, but are not really among the crucial ones to make it at least fine and worth the try. So difficult to engage with and derive genuine entertainment from, the show is lacking from so many relevant fronts and leaves so much to be desired that I just fail to see why anyone would prefer it over most of the others, especially Dragon Ball and even Hunter x Hunter by some of Yoshihiro Togashi fans, its closer “brothers”, when it doesn’t have the charm, scale and adventurous nature of the former, neither the complexity, thematic exploration and creativity of the latter. I would say the third arc is interesting enough in itself to avoid having to consider this series as a failure of action/adventure shounen entertainment, but recommending the entire series only because of it would not make much sense when it would be like saying that it is worth to cross a huge desert that leads to nowhere just because there's an oasis in the middle. Yu Yu Hakusho may not be a terrible shounen series and there are others that are much worse than it, but in my opinion, it also is nowhere near the top-tier like most shounen anime fans claim. Nothing will ever take away its classic shounen anime category, of course, but despite that, I also can’t see it as part of the recommendable fighting shounen series beyond cultural purposes, because at least from where I’m standing, there’s little to gain from trying it, it doesn’t leave much long-lasting impact in the viewer and it’s just passable entertainment at best. 5/10.

Overview:

Yu Yu Hakusho is a classic early 90s shonen that was popular throughout the world. Lets take a look at what made this shonen different from its peers and what it did well to achieve its beloved status.

Story: 7/10

The series is about a juvenile delinquent that is brought back to life after being killed by a car. In exchange for his new life, he must work as a paranormal investigator working for Heaven itself to hunt renegade demons. The plot starts out quite unique and interesting, but then Yasuhiro Togashi's laziness becomes apparent and there is a tournament every 2 arcs like clockwork. The 3 ... kings arc is also very lackluster and seems to lose a lot of what made Yu Yu Hakusho so enjoyable in the beginning. It basically became more and more of a DBZ clone the longer it went on. Despite the all to frequent tournaments and decrease in quality towards the end, the story is still very solid and well deserving of at least a 7/10.

Characters: 10/10

The characters is honestly where Yu Yu Hakusho does the best. Yusuke broke the trend of shonen heroes at the time and was actually somewhat of an asshole. He was more than capable of being selfish, mean spirited, and a bit of perv. He didn't want to help anyone unless his hand was absolutely forced and he even once questioned if demons should have the right to eat humans, since they are higher life forms. He develops as a character of course, but it is refreshing to see a character that isn't Goku, Natsu, Naruto, Luffy, and all the other shonen heroes. Kuwabara was an excellent comic relief character that always tried to be honorable, but often found himself in over his head. His random love for all chicks with blue hair was also quite amusing. He even hit on Death herself! Kurama is the team's cold, calculating strategist. He is one of few characters so badass that he can make killing people with flowers cool! Yes, you read that last sentence correctly. Hiei is my favorite character of all. This vertically challenged demon swordsman has his own code of honor, but is a loyal ally to those he deems worthy. His snarkyness is also off the charts! His hobby seems to be tormenting Kuwabara, which makes it quite funny when Kuwabara gets a crush on Hiei's little sister, much to Hiei's dismay. There are other secondary characters, but if you want to learn more than you can watch the series.

Art: 5/10

The art looks VERY dated and the animation is honestly pretty bad. Stock footage is reused with reckless abandon and in one scene Yusuke is getting chased by guided shurikans that change in number at complete random. You can overlook the art for the things the series does well though. Also, at least it looks a LOT better than the manga. Togashi is honestly one of worst artists working in manga. I love the man to death, but I have to be honest.

Sound: 9/10

The soundtrack has epic action themes, tense music for serious times, and a kickass opening theme that is oddly enough sung by Kurama's voice actress! You know a soundtrack is going to be good when the opening is sung by a band called Atomic Smile Bomb!

Enjoyment: 9/10

I enjoy this series so much that when I went on vacation to China and saw that a marathon was on, I watched it in Chinese with no subtitles!

Overall: 8/10

Yu Yu Hakusho is far from a perfect series, but it does many things very well. It had a level of moral ambiguity and greyness that stood in sharp contrast to the purely good and evil storytelling that pervaded shonen in the early 1990s. Yu Yu Hakusho abandoned the cheesy, Manichean slump that was effecting manga and drifted away from 1950s Captain America and more towards Allen Moore's comics. It did rely FAR too heavily on tournaments and had a number of cliche's but its characters were great, the soundtrack was great, and it was really enjoyable to watch. If you want to watch a shonen that is a little different, but not too different, I would highly suggest giving Hakusho a watch!

This anime was recommended by almost everyone and is acclaimed to be one of the "best" shounens. However I all I can say to that is I think people may be blinded by nostalgia and people's tendencies to worship the writer (although is amazingly talented, I don't think Yu Yu Hakusho stands anywhere near the quality that Hunter x Hunter was.)

Story: At first the story was interesting, narrative-wise but as its progressing it's becoming very sluggish with the constant battles that mean little to nothing with lacklustre villains.

Art: The art style is cute but inconsistent. I love Yusuke's and Heiei's designs however others just aren't ... that interesting and a little generic. Animation wise, I assumed it was because of the show's age but others have said its quite poor in comparison to shows made in its time, with lots of shortcuts. It just makes it look cheap and distracts from the already slow story.

Characters: The characters are nice. I like Yusuke and Keiko a lot, however, their development in how they interact with each other is all over the place. An example is how Heiei was a terrible person who kidnaps Keiko, but suddenly changes heart for no reason other than being around Yusuke??? Makes zero sense and just feels lazy. None of the villains so far have made any real impact. Forgettable in design, motive, anything... They feel like they are only there solely to be an obstacle for the protagonists; which is honestly for me the biggest turn-off.

Enjoyment: At some points, I enjoy the show, but when its focused a lot on fighting, I'm honestly completely turned off. The animation is poor, the design is poor, characters are one dimensional with no goals. I feel a lot of the time things are spelt out for us. It almost has me questioning whether this is a show for children. Perhaps I would've loved it when growing up but I definitely don't recommend this show

I first saw the series when it aired on Cartoon Network. It's safe to say that I fell in love with the show after one episode. The characters are all captivating and have well developed background, so you can expect to get attached to them as the series progresses. The action scenes are amazing and have meaning to them because of what is at stake in each arc. Thus, you never feel that the fighting is meaningless like you tend to get from other fighting anime. Cough Cough!! DB

This series is one of my favorites and is the first anime I ever purchased so I ... highly recommend it. Don't hesitate to give it a shot because you will not be disappointed. Enjoy the journey till the end and get ready to hope for more.

Yu Yu Hakusho is the Fucking king. Nothing that has come out in the last 10 years can touch it. It'll kick your ass, make you pregnant and then give you an abortion with some pliers. Its the bad ass ruler of anime, nothing you watch nowadays,( i was forced to take out this line by a lucky star lover, obviously someone who's brain is made of something harder than mine, Cause i cant stand that shit, but just so you know its naming overrated anime) EVEN COMPARES. ... This is on a completely different level. I give everything a 10, because thats what this masterpiece deserves. DBZ is another childhood favorite, that is on par to this, but i believe Yu Yu Hakusho has a better story. Now thats just a OP. But what i said before about lucky star is true. ( This sentence was making fun of Weeabooboos)


The story is one that instantly captivates you, and has you cheering and crying throughout every moment. Every person i have ever shown this show to, people who dont like anime in particular, fucking love it. The story is so well spun around the characters and the world, its never overdone. Each saga completely makes sense, and has the just some of the best pretense's i have ever seen in my life. It has no filler. Absolutely NONE. There are some difference from the manga however, none that cause an significant damage to the show. No episode is wasted. The intricate tale it sows into your head is one i will never forget.


Now, its a 90's anime. Its not going to be all special animation like with modern anime's where you can shut off your brain, look at pretty colors, Pathetically choke a laugh out at things that have no comical sense to them whatsoever, and try to fool yourself it has a good storyline. Everything is strong about this show. It has flaws, very little, but it has some. The show i watched in HD, a dude on Youtube ripped em off the HD store, and put them up. You can watch all 112 episodes on there. I saw this alot on Cartoon Network as a kid however. The difference in quality is not complete necessary to have though.


The sound is Fan-fucking-tastic. The opening is awesome, I'm a complete metal head, and i love the opening. It the same opening song, but the OP slides change, every season except for the first two. Every ending is Great too, Mostly just the first 3. Just something about Chu and Yusuke punching each other in the knife edge death match makes my blood sear. Dub is infinitely superior. I will only watch sub if the dub is absolutely horrible. Sub is for Weeaboos. English is most of our language, if you want to watch it in Japanese, you either live in japan or ( Add insult here). But seriously the dub is freaking sweet. Watch it, or dont watch the show at all.


WOW wait a second, your telling me, in this show characters are actually developed and AREN'T cardboard cutouts of anime stereotypes? Fucking Exactly, I love every god damned main and side character. They each have a story with no loose ends and at the end of their road, you have no choice but to love them. They actually have characters that act like humans! God damn, you dont see that anymore. I can truly say that each character is the best i have seen in anime. There isn't to many either,


I FUCKING heavily enjoyed it. I would shout that in any crowd. I fucking love Yu Yu Hakusho. Its the best show i have seen in my life. I enjoyed it as a young kid on T.V and i enjoy it on my computer!


Overall it breaks the scale. Its better than a 10, its too good to be rated. It cant be beat. Of course, you can like shows better. Thats totally your opinion. But still, most shows still cant compete, whether you like them better or not. This show will make your heart explode.

Let me start off by saying, I saw this originally when I was kid on Toonami and picked it back up again a few years ago. I have seen the ENTIRE series 4 times completely though and over half of the episodes well over 10 times.

This anime is without a doubt my all-time favorite. Not only is it enjoyable and fun, but its re-watch value is second to none. (This review is for the English dub which was beautifully done and i would watch this series no other way). Though warning!!! The first few episodes ... will seem slow perhaps, the series does not start off with it's well-known action tone! Give it a chance to introduce the characters a bit.

Story: This anime doesn't have a complex plot with alot of metaphors, idealism or plot twists, it doesn't need to. The main character, Yusuke Yurameshi is killed within the first 10 seconds of the show, call it a spoiler if you want, and goes through many hoops to eventually get his life back along with connections to the spirit world which employs him as their new spirit detective. While this plot lays down the beginning of the series it slowly curves around into something completely different. While keeping with a basic format throughout, it manages to continually stay interesting (trust me there are alot of tournaments) and give very fleshed out scenarios with great character development and the perfect mix of action, comedy and drama.

Characters: Yusuke, our hero is essentially a punk, but is completely brought into believability by his voice actor Justin Cook, a man who i will fangirl over later. Though i have trouble believing this character is only 14, it doesn't detract from the series. The very wide cast of characters in this show changes at just the right tempo while keeping the main, and in my opinion best characters along for the big picture. They all have backstories, talents, personality quirks and emotions that are portrayed in a way that you become attached to them while enjoying all of the challenges they face.

Music: YuYuHakusho is a very odd series in that it keeps one group of background music throughout its 112 episode entirety in addition to only using 1 opening song as well. I must say, that the music was so well fitting that Iwould have been disappointed if any other music was introduced. The BGM always fit perfectly and shaped scenes in way I can only compare to works like Mushi-shi or Moribito. Though the music is not artistic in a sense that classical is, it has a very distinct personality and individualism that cant often be found in anime in addition to being simply a perfect fit to the feel of the series. If it came down to it, the music really completes the whole series' identity and overall tone. The OP song is also amazing, both version though I prefer the dub. And the multitude of ED songs range from amazing to good.

Voice Acting: I am a person who believes that it is definitely possible to surpass the original Japanese if you get the right people for a dub. Not often does an anime show up in which the voice acting is just so hugely important to almost every part of the show. Justin Cook has an amazing voice, I was lucky enough to meet him once, he truly shows emotion and personality consistently and was crucial to the greatness that makes up our main character. All of the other voice actors fit their roles perfectly, honestly. Every character was matched as well as Vic Mignogna was matched to Ed. Funimation's best work in my opinion, and best over all. (Even better than the dubs for Princess TuTu, Cowboy Bebop or Rurouni Kenshin.) One comment I'd like to make is that there were no squeaky, fail attempts at high pitched girls. Show like Elfen Lied were plagued by them but not YYH, all of its few female characters had believable and enjoyable voices.

Art: This series isn't new, and should not be compared to recent works like Haruhi or Eden of the East. Its a classic who's animation style is that of true Shohnen. The animation does change throughout and you can tell when different teams worked on different scenes, but it really doesn't take anything from the experience. The animation budget did seem to go up on season finales though, most of which didn't have action, or very little of it which was actually a good thing as it would have taken the appeal right out of fight sequences. Though it does have a flaw which has to be spoken of, it may not bother you the first time, but after several re-watches it my annoy. Re-used animation. Being such a long series, it has many small sequences that are reused and sometimes more than twice, not to much of a problem, its just distracting to see something from 30 episodes ago resurface.

Ending: This ending (no spoilers) was indeed the best I've seen, perfect closure. No loose ends or cliffhangers and it just makes you happy. They set a tone that is specific to this series that will leave you with a feeling of joyful completeness after seeing it all the way through. Nothing like the empty, and in many cases, open endings of: Elfen Lied, Fruits Basket, Kuragehime, Kuroshitsuji II and Inuyasha (the original 167 run).

Enjoyment: I've happily re-watched this 12 episode long series, 4 times. Theres not much more to be said. I'm astounded about how easily this can be seen again and again and not get boring or stupider each time.

Overall: Well, you know that I think, 10/10. Nothing more to it, a great piece of work I will always love that i would recommend to any person, regardless of taste in anime.

Usually, I am a hard grader of animes. But this anime just exceeded
my every expectation. The art quality was outstanding for the 90s
and I think that they should make more animes of the same style.
Of course, the length of this show(112) is a big relief from the usual 13 or
26 episode ones. Most importantly, this show gives you everything
you could possibly want. There is action, love, and it is surprisingly deep.
I was moved to tears several times and the ending is one of the most
satisfying ones ever!
One of the best (or the best) anime of ... all time? Definitely.

As of writing, it's been 24 years since Yu Yu Hakusho first made its appearance in Weekly Shonen Jump. 1990. Doesn't really seem that old, does it? It would only take two years later for the hit series's anime adaptation to start airing. In a rare turn of events, the Yu Yu Hakusho anime is not only an adaptation of a sizable manga but is also of an older era, and yet it's an uncommon breed of battle shonen anime adaptations that follows the entire manga very faithfully and reaches about the same conclusion. It really was/is a miracle, so let's get the fact that ... Yu Yu Hakusho is one of the best straight anime adaptations of a manga ever made out of the way.

Dragon Ball Z arrived in the late 80s and pioneered the battle shonen genre, which would be defined by a focus on one-on-one fights typically fought using special powers, with drama and other such exposition taking a backseat to the high energy action. DBZ paved the way for a smash formula that would prove to be the dominant genre of anime for years to come. And yet, Dragon Ball Z, while very special for its time, has since been surpassed by other battle shonen anime that offer a more satisfying balance between fights won with clever tricks in addition to the brute strength (brute strength often being the only thing shown in DBZ), and more universal aspects such as drama and comedy. When it comes to art, many of the "firsts" that lay down the groundwork for their genre are often still cited as some of the greatest classics of that type, but in this case it's Yu Yu Hakusho that would give to the anime/manga world the successful blueprint for a superbly executed battle shonen anime that still stays entirely true to the genre's roots.

Something that succeeds at a formula by completely adhering to its basic principles without doing anything too maverick can seem unimpressive at first, and indeed Yu Yu Hakusho's execution of the fairly typical battle shonen tropes is so rightly done that it should be seen as common sense for any aspiring battle shonen series and nothing to write home about. But this would be in an ideal world. I've seen countless battle shonen after Yu Yu Hakusho repeat the same mistakes of the genre over and over, and thus Yu Yu Haksuho still remains a shining example of its breed that will always hold up over time as long as it remains as one of the highest standards.

The basic premise of Yu Yu Hakusho is as simple as you would expect from a battle shonen anime: Teenage delinquent Yusuke Urameshi dies prematurely and is allowed to come back to life if he performs duties as a Spirit Detective on behalf of the Spirit World government. The details of these vary, but as you'd imagine they always culminate in a battle against super-powered monsters (demons, in this case). He's eventually joined by rival-turned-comrade Kazuma Kuwabara and demons-turned-comrades Kurama and Hiei. These four are the main team from beginning to end. 112 episodes without introducing half-baked side heroes that'll be tossed aside at a whim to maintain a revolving cast of fanservice characters that are difficult to become attached to or value. Bleach, eat your heart out. Let's put this down as the first thing Yu Yu Hakusho still does right among long-running battle shonen series.

As I'm implying, Yu Yu Hakusho's main team of four is an expertly crafted and balanced team with no members feeling pointless or detestable. Between Yusuke's brashness, Kuwabara's heart and naivete, Kurama's intelligence, and Hiei's raw strength, the team's personalities bounce off each other perfectly. Their chemistry is so organic and their roles all so defined and always relevant that it's easy to ignore the conceptual tropes that make each of them up and they simply come across as great individual characters. Though Yusuke is the main character and handed the biggest fights, Yu Yu Hakusho is a rarity in action anime in that it feels like a cast of main characters rather than one main character and three side characters. In other words, they're all major pillars that hold up everything that makes the series enjoyable. If Yu Yu Hakusho's team wasn't as well-made as it is this series wouldn't be half as good as it currently is. I couldn't go without mentioning Botan, Kayko, Genkai, and Koenma, and while I won't go too much into the supporting cast I will say that I loved them all almost as much. If there are any really noticeable flaws in the characterization, then it's the fact that Kuwabara isn't given as much glory as he should, and Hiei's stock strong silent type personality doesn't measure up well against the more impressionable characters.

One of my favorite things about Yu Yu Hakusho is how the series is split up into four arcs that actually impact the narrative structure in meaningful ways while still always ties to each other, forming a single unified adventure. In many battle shonen anime arcs only exist to represent the time spent fighting a particular enemy. For all intents and purposes, these play out the same only with different fights and characters. In Yu Yu Hakusho, though the series is always about the fights when it comes to the bottom line, the arcs change the formula up slightly each time. The first arc is generally simply called the Spirit Detective arc. This arc mostly consists of episodic encounters where Yusuke is getting the hang of his new abilities and always discovering more things about himself and the Spirit World. This is the hardest arc to generalize because so much happens in it, such as Yusuke trying to come back to life and the first encounters of the main characters, but that's precisely its strength. Though it doesn't stay in one place too long and isn't building up to anything specifically, the Spirit Detective arc is full of rapid-fire plot and character developments that the rest of the series can't match in the same way but do with their own strengths. Among the Spirit Detective arc are several "mini-arcs" that are about defeating a particular enemy, but these are minor compared to what would follow.

The Dark Tournament arc is the most well-known segment of Yu Yu Hakusho. The team competes in a tournament where the winners will have a wish granted. The catch is that Yusuke's participation is forced by a much stronger foe who promises Yusuke that he'll kill his friends and family if he doesn't train to become strong enough to possibly defeat him in the upcoming tournament. The second catch is that the tournament is known for its extreme brutality, with the demon audience clamoring for blood and there being little in the ways of rules during the matches. While this arc is characterized by its extreme focus on 1v1 battles, there's a truly great atmosphere to all the proceedings. The tournament area takes place on a secluded island constantly being weathered by storms with dark clouds always looming overhead throughout all hours of the day, and the arena has a fittingly rundown musky look to its gladiator-like stone structure. The setting feels as ruthless and apocalyptic as its name implies, and due to the length of this arc (the longest in the series) the tournament building can actually begin to feel like a second home to both the characters and the viewers. With a threatening goal always in sight with the final match (the viewer knows who the team will be facing), there's an extremely comfortable pacing, real sense of progress, and scaling threat in this arc. We're occasionally given a breather to see what's going on outside of the ring on the island or the lounge areas of the building which goes further to establishing the Dark Tournament setting as a surprisingly assuring one.

Normally a series of episodes primarily focused on just putting two characters in a ring and having them fight could seem boring, but Yu Yu Hakusho's penchant for creative battles and character designs ensures that it's anything but. This would be the most appropriate place to talk about the strength of Yu Yu Hakusho's fights and the ways they get us invested more than other battle shonen wish they could. I've said already that the entire series revolves around four main fighters. It's far from unusual for a battle shonen anime to have one main character and a supporting cast of other fighters, but it's also unusual for a battle shonen anime to balance their usefulness as well as Yu Yu Hakusho does. Yu Yu Hakusho is not a fan of the Deus Ex Machina, Yusuke and co. will not win most of their battles simply by being beaten into submission, remembering they need to "protect" someone and pulling a super strong finisher out of their ass. The damage the heroes take in battle is not merely an aesthetic, because the heroes actually come pretty close to losing several times in the anime, and in some instances they actually do, always bringing some tension to whether or not they'll be the victor in each match they're in. In addition to this, though power levels exist, they're never given as the sole reason for a victory. This isn't DBZ where one of the characters will enter the fight with a higher power level and will simply win by punching harder. In most of Yu Yu Hakusho's fights, the enemy has some sort of special gimmick attack they use to catch the heroes off-guard. The heroes can't simply scream and bust their way through it, but instead usually have to counter it through a trick of their own or turn the trick against them. This leads to many situations where the battle isn't about whether the heroes will win (they most likely will but it's never guaranteed), but how they'll do it. Each of the main characters have their distinct ways of fighting, and fights are spread very evenly between them unlike your generic battle shonen anime that will give the vast majority to the main character. The entire Yu Yu Haksuho team is extremely likable, and there's always plenty of room to root for each of them ensuring it never gets tiring as their star roles are always rotated around at a fair pace. Phenomenal to see, really.

After the events of the Dark Tournament conclude, we're dumped into the Chapter Black saga shortly afterwards. I won't give away the set-up as it's a very nice surprise, but this takes us to a narrative similar to that of the Spirit Detective arc. There's less character developments because we're in the middle of the series now, but the adventure vibe is back as the heroes have to travel all over the city to find (and fight!) people with some very unique powers. For a while we're given an episodic-like structure again with a new fight in each one, but there is a main goal in mind this time so no effort feels wasted. The Chapter Black arc displays perhaps even greater than the Dark Tournament arc Yu Yu Hakusho's talent for creative fights. The reason for this is that, even more so than many Dark Tournament matches, fights are rarely won by overpowering the opponent. There are episodes with relatively little violence here (though still as much danger), where the heroes will spend most of the time trying to find a way to outsmart their opponents' very specific powers and defeat them in one shot. The Dark Tournament arc had many battles of attrition with a core of wits, but in the Chapter Black arc the balance is reversed for most of the arc. It's very fascinating and I loved how much of it took place in a normal city this time around. One of my favorite episodes of the series is when Yusuke and companions are chasing their enemy around in a hospital after dark. For an action anime, the atmosphere in some of these episodes is, again, superb. Many people complain that Yu Yu Hakusho gets worse after the Dark Tournament arc, but seeing as how I've never been given a single decent reason for this opinion I'm going to assume it's from simple people not liking the change in direction despite the fact it's a return to form, still full of many fights, and the stakes are even higher this time around. The Chapter Black arc keeps the quality going strong, if not peaking it even higher.

The final arc of the series is the Three Kings arc. Again, I'm not going to give away too much of the set-up as it's pretty intense and is a satisfyingly appropriate finish to the series that's full of events even more serious than what preceded. Yet, the Three Kings arc is easily the weakest part of the series. Why is this? Well for one, it's the only arc that feels like pandering. Yoshihiro Togashi unfortunately listened to the one-track minded people who were underwhelmed by the Chapter Black arc and made the Three Kings arc center around a tournament as well. His heart's not in it this time around, however, and the arc is significantly shorter than what came before. When the tournament begins it's suddenly rushed and finished giving the impression that Togashi just wanted to be done with the series while satisfying the fans by doing something he had already done. There are a couple of very hyped-up fights in this arc, and with the exception of the last one we see, they're all shorter than you'd expect and disappointments. I won't give the reason why (it's a poor one rest assured) but we never even get to see the final match. Perhaps the biggest letdown of this arc is the fact that Kuwabara is absent for almost all of this. He gives a reason for this, but it's a very lame one that could have easily been written out or moved somewhere else with no cost to anything. It's of course, just Togashi being lazy and ignoring the least popular character of the four (for some strange reason). In spite of all this, the Three Kings arc is too short for its disappointment to frustrate, and outside of the tournament nonsense there's some fanservice here anyone will actually want to see. Some popular fan characters return without feeling forced, and we get some great backstory on the Demon World, Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei, and the new characters introduced are very, very cool. There's enough potential here with the setting and plot to make it a great ending had it been expanded upon, but as it is it's simply acceptable and far from undermines the greatness that came before it.

Before closing out this eeeeeeeeeeeeeexpansive review, I'd like to express that I have the same love for the audio as everyone else does. The soundtrack is one of my favorite in anime ever, and all the openings and endings are top notch causing me to still listen to them regularly. The Yu Yu Hakusho dub is legendary for how good it is, and they're completely right. Make no mistake, the dub voice actors ARE the characters. The original Japanese cast lost on this one when it came to heart, and it's just the truth. The openings and endings were also all redone in English with likely a better translation than anything a subber would've came up with and can completely compare with the original Japanese versions. I won't go into detail about any specific songs or dub jobs right now, just know that I think they're both fantastic. If I had a complaint about any of this, it's that the soundtrack is fairly small for a 114 episode series, so you end up hearing the same songs all the way from the beginning to the end. Fortunately they're so good you won't mind, but it's slightly unfulfilling. Also, some songs on the soundtrack are either unused or not used often enough compared to other tracks. So it goes, I guess.

Yu Yu Hakusho takes up a large part of my heart, and as a member of the super elite my criticisms are immune to nostalgia. The series really is that charming and a shining example of battle shonen anime that all battle shonen to follow should use as a basic blueprint. It's long but never bogged down by filler or any padding whatsoever so it's just 112 episodes of battles of strength and wits among one of the most generally lovable casts ever put in an anime (or anything?). When I finished Yu Yu Hakusho for the first time I did something very rare and cried out of both complete satisfaction and having to say goodbye to something I loved that had become a part of my daily routine. It's moments like those that I spend so much of my time watching anime for in the first place. Though Yu Yu Hakusho still ended up being quite popular, I sometimes imagine a world where it deservedly took Dragon Ball Z's place in pop culture and we got numerous spin-offs, videogame adaptations, and westerners and easterners alike recognized its greatness. A man can dream.

"They say what you do in life is reflected in the after-life; for Yusuke Urameshi, is both a blessing and a curse." This couldn't be any more true for Yusuke as, one day, he makes the selfless sacrifice of risking his own life for the sake of another and, given his track record, the spirit world doesn't know what to classify him as since an event like that for someone of his status is extremely unlike, so he is given the opportunity for a second chance in his life ordeal.

For a lot of Yu Yu Hakusho, it's very action-oriented and that may set you off, ... but the good news regarding that is the overall blend of story mixed in with the overall action that kept me going. In regards to the story, it is great and keeps you entertained all the way through, but at no time is it more present than in the final arc, much unlike most action series where the final arc is just more action with even less story than the previous. Story - 9/10.

You can tell that it's partially inspired by Dragon Ball Z, but it's far superior in terms of story/plot and is much more balanced in terms of humor & action. The artwork/animation meets the standard for it's time, but the creator got sick towards the end of the story and the last editions of the manga are somewhat lacking & forced. In the Dark Tournament arc, it has a few fighting scenes that are pretty bad, but I believe only 1 of them is essential to the main plot. I find that the artwork/animation is still tolerable - 7/10 artwork.

It has the typical cliches, but nothing unexpected that's too horrible. Character development is exceedingly great throughout the story and, as you go on, you learn more about each character, most prominently & abundantly in the last arc. This series has produced my favorite character in anime & the character/connection development will keep you hooked and equalizes itself greatly throughout the entire series.

Contrary to what many who haven't watched Yu Yu Hakusho may think, it is anything but a DBZ clone. Of course, there are some moments reminiscent of DBZ, but the story has no connections whatsoever and the action isn't dragged on forever without any new story. For each fight they have, a new story comes along with it and you don't find that in DBZ, though you could see why they are similar.

I couldn't recognize any plot inconsistencies in the anime as everything pretty much coped and is explained within the series. For those who prefer story over action, the last or third arc may be your favorite though it goes much more into detail with action than does the manga. For those who are more likely to enjoy a series for action, the second arc will probably be your favorite. Neither of those are to say that they don't mix story with action or vice versa in one specific arc, since without one, the other would suffer.

I enjoyed the series as much, if not more than my all-time favorite anime, Dragon Ball & I connected and was more interested with every new story or new villain that the crew faced. I recommend this anime to any action-oriented fan as it meets your typical shounen needs & much, much more for some.

Fails to impress

I was looking for a fairly long shounen anime and stumbled upon Yuu Yuu Hakusho. It had a promising premise and good reviews, so though of giving it a try. I really liked the first few episodes, but then I felt it became a little repetitive and boring after that. As of this review, I had watched 35 episodes, and do not plan to continue.

I am not against the other reviewers here and completely understand how it could be a classic. I am personally a huge fan of DBZ but I can understand when someone says that it gets boring. My own ... opinion of it changed when I watched other anime. So I am merely presenting the perspective of watching this after watching the newer and more popular ones, like DBZ, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, HunterxHunter (2011), Attack on titan. Please judge my review with that in mind.

Part by Part review:

Story: 6

The story starts with a good premise and the first few episodes are good, but as soon as the battles start, it gets cliched. The battles have weird endings sometimes, attributing things to luck more than once. The plot is fairly linear, with slight twists here and there, but quite a predictable one, especially if you've already watched the likes of the previously mentioned ones.

Characters: 8

One thing that really stands out in a good way, are the lead characters. Each one has his own vibe, especially Yusuke and Kuwabara. Their dialogue is really good and funny even in the battle scenes, something I really liked. But the villain characters are quite cliched, straight from the 90s. At one point, there are creatures called "cultivated humans", who were supposed to be cultivated. They were looking like vegetables, with green, vegetable textured skin and leafy hair!

Art: 5

The art is quite poor, compared even to older anime like DBZ. It has very low detailing and color contrasts. This is not really something one can complain about, though, since it is an old anime.

Music: 6

Nothing special here, really, but not bad either.

Overall: 6

This one might have been a huge hit in its day, but if you have already watched newer anime, I think you can give it a skip. But if you have to watch it, limit your expectations to a minimum.

Another great show i had the privilege to see thanks to Adult Swim, and with that said you probably know some great shows Adult Swim has gave us.

Is this show like Bleach?- Yah its like this show, but its actually better because the fights are a lot more interesting, and there are way way way way way less fillers going on in this show.

Its a shounen show so you can be assure you will be introduced to a character with minor special abilities that towards the end get much more powerful. I'm a huge fan of that and this show does it in a great ... way. I liked the progression the characters made in strength and skill due to hard training and life and death fights.

The main character is a thug who is wasting his life when he saves a girl who is gonna be hit by a truck. When this happens through some luck he gets to become a spirit detective, which basically means he has to go and beat the demons that just don't play nice in the real world.

Shortly after the introduction episodes, he gets sent on the first big story arc to a demon world, this is when you will understand the shows true highlights and will get wrapped up in the fights.

If you like my review post on my profile or send me a friend request : )

I remember when I first started seriously getting into anime, proclaiming that you liked mindless superpower fighting anime - in particular "Dragon Ball Z" - would put a big dent in your street cred as a Serious Anime Watcher. The flaws and cliches of those kind of anime are legendary: long, repetitive, with fights containing more talking and powering up than actual fighting. So for a while I avoided them like a homophobe avoided the Pride parades (disclaimer: I am not a homophobe).

And yet, I'd always felt drawn to a show called "Yuu Yuu Hakusho", partly because I'd played a good game based on it. ... Eventually I decided to bite the bullet and sat down to watch what was at the time the longest anime I'd ever attempted to watch in full.

To say that I wasn't disappointed would be an understatement - I honestly did not think I could get so much enjoyment out of this kind of anime ... with said enjoyment tempered only by the dreaded realisation that maybe, just maybe, I am no better than a narutard.

Then again, maybe "Yuu Yuu Hakusho" is actually good? It does appear to have more of a respectable reputation, and doesn't get shat with regularity by critics. Not having watched many other shows of its ilk though, it's hard for me to tell. I can only tell you how it defied my own expectations of it.

First of all, "Yuu Yuu Hakusho" doesn't just focus on the action: it has a strong all round game, boasting a substantial story and a cast of characters oozing coolness and charisma. In fact, it takes nearly 10 episodes before it becomes apparent that "Yuu Yuu Hakusho" is a fighting anime. Those early episodes tell the backstory of how the main character Yusuke Urameshi becomes a spirit detective after his premature death, and I found them to be thoroughly enjoyable. The strong characterisation jumps out from the very beginning: Urameshi's goofy classmate Kuwabara won me in a single character focused episode early on, and I felt sure he was going to be my favourite character in the show. Until Kurama and Hiei showed up, who in turn captivated my attention me with their personalities. Both spent time as my favourite characters of the show ... until Kuwabara gets spotlighted once again. There was something effortless about the appeal of these characters, and I struggle to think of another series where my favourite character changed so many times.

While the original creator Yoshiro Togashi had always planned for "Yuu Yuu Hakusho" to switch into the fighting genre, there were nevertheless signs he may have wanted to do something more with it. For example, when Urameshi first became a spirit detective, he was given several interesting tools to help him do his job. However, those tools quickly disappeared from the plot line with so little use that whoever bought them could have got a refund. Togashi would go on to create the genre-hopping shounen "Hunter x Hunter" where those kind of curious items would feature more heavily. "Yuu Yuu Hakusho", though, had to settle for being more conventional, perhaps because Togashi just wasn't able to take those budding ideas anywhere interesting at the time.

Initially, I was dismayed when the show went from one with engaging story and characters to one displaying all the cliches I'd heard about the genre: increasingly long and drawn out battles, hero being beaten within an inch of his life before making a miracle comeback via a single attack, etc. But that all started changing once the Dark Tournament saga began. As anyone who's watched "Yuu Yuu Hakusho" can tell you, the Dark Tournament is undoubtedly the highlight of the series. Once again, the masterful story telling shines through, with the show ratcheting up the tension and excitement before the tournament even starts. Though still peddling in many of the genre's cliches, the fights were incredibly engrossing, with the myriad of colourful participants and their fascinating powers keeping things interesting. I struggle to recall a single boring fight in the entire tournament. Mixed in with all this is the powerful character drama that upped the emotional stakes to incredible levels. Like I said, "Yuu Yuu Hakusho" has a strong all round game, and in the Dark Tournament, the show fires on all fronts.

The Dark Tournament saga was so good that the show would never go on to hit those dizzying heights again. That said, latter half of "Yuu Yuu Hakusho" is still mostly enjoyable. The start of the next part of the story, Chapter Black, begins with battles against characters with some really intriguing powers. None of the battles involved direct conflict, and one didn't involve physical combat at all. Again, these unusual ideas weren't taken very far, but would resurface more prominently in "Hunter x Hunter".

By the end of the Chapter Black saga, I started to get tired of "Yuu Yuu Hakusho". The fights were getting too drawn out for my liking, and the power level creep began getting out of hand. The problems only got worse in the final part of the anime, the Three Kings Saga, which involves - surprise surprise - yet another tournament. By now, everyone was so powerful it kinda diminished the impact of the Dark Tournament, making it look like some kids having a playground brawl. The excitement of the battles also seems inversely proportional to the power level of the fighters, which meant by then I found them about as thrilling as doing laundry. One of the few good things to come out of the Three Kings saga were the backstories of Kurama and Hiei - when the action failed, the story and characters could still somewhat carry the show. Even though "Yuu Yuu Hakusho" was unusual in that Togashi was able to end the story on his own terms rather than continuing until it's limping like a one legged horse on crutches and everyone becomes sick of it, I still feel the show went on for one saga too long. It is perhaps telling that Togashi originally intended to finish the story with Chapter Black.

Production value wise, "Yuu Yuu Hakusho" fares pretty well as a long running shounen. In particular, I remember the recaps during opening scenes often contain redrawn animations of action highlights in previous episodes, presenting them with different angles. The art style hasn't aged particularly well, but some of the action still looked great when I last checked. The sound production often evokes the feelings of a bygone era, but not in a bad way. While most of the opening and ending themes kinda sucked, the background music and sound effects did a good job at dramatising.

I've watched "Yuu Yuu Hakusho" several times now. While I'm no longer as enamoured with it as my first watch, the series remains one of my favourites. For about a decade, it was also the longest anime I completed - the longest period any anime has held that title for since I become a Serious Anime Watcher (incidentally, the current holder is the latest adaptation of another of Togashi's works Hunter x Hunter). Taking into account rewatches, it's fair to say that the many hundreds of episodes of "Yuu Yuu Hakusho" I watched probably makes it my most watched anime as measured by time spent watching. It also represented a significant step in expanding my anime horizons. Perhaps one of these days I should pick up"Naruto" too ... but not today.

Personal rating: +2.5 (excellent)

After a long time of Searching for an Anime near to DBZ, I saw many recommend this anime and tried it. As far as it is concerned to me this is by far the Best Anime one can watch .

Story:
The story is fairly simple,yet long... I never felt it was dragged. It had no fillers and contains all the elements in perfect blend. The Comedy,Action,Love etc were clearly Depicted and upto point. The story was never boring and you will always enjoy the twists. The endling was apt and i was totally pleased with it.

Art:
The animations were good considering it as an old anime. ... The Environment, the buildings and characters were sketched good.. Only Genkai's Hair was kinda bad,but other portions were great.

Sound:
I watched it in English Dub and can tell you its one of the Best Dubs out there.. The music goes on and is in Perfect place all the time. It suits the scene very much. At few scenes,i felt that it could have been a bit more better,but overall its Excellent.

Character:
The characters in the story are very much unique.I felt that Yusuke and Hiei characters are somewhat near the Characters of Goku and Vegeta of DBZ, but others are fine. The introduction of new characters in between was also perfect.

Enjoyment:
I could not stop watching this anime at any point.. This is by far the best action packed anime till date. It may be difficult to find an anime like this again,but i totally enjoyed it.
Replay values is also very high.
I rate it 10/10 overall and surely recommend to people who want to see a great Anime.

Hope this helped you guys

This anime series gets perfect scores across the board. It is essentially Dragonball for older viewers.

I will admit, it took me three tries to get past the first 5 episodes or so, but once I managed to do so, Yu Yu Hakusho took me on an epic, unforgettable journey.

Everything about the show is perfect. The art is gorgeous (albeit a bit dated, it was released in the early 90s after all). The soundtracks are glorious. There's plenty of character development all round - it doesn't solely focus on the MC.

Sure, it does play into the "power of friendship" trope, but does so properly.

Also, unlike ... DBZ, power level progression actually makes sense here (plus it's explained fairly via training scenes), rather than having the main villain able to destroy the world with a wink.

In short, if you haven't watched this already, and are a fan of fighting animes, do yourself a favour and get started. I'd highly recommend the Blu-ray remaster though, it's otherwise painful to watch. Oh, and do stay away from the English voice-overs, they're terrible.

A great brawler anime with a story that's straight forward for the most part. It follows the same pattern Dragonball does. The characters keep getting stronger and by the end they're so powerful that their previous self looks pathetically weak. What makes this anime great is not only the entertaining action, but the variety of characters. Every viewer will find a character, if not several that they love. I watched the dub and the voice acting felt spot on. The character development with Yusuke is the most interesting(being the main character), his transformation from the start to end is one that the watcher will be ... effected emotionally by. If you go into this anime with an open mind and the knowledge that the characters don't get any stronger then lets say.. Super Saiyan level then you'll be in for a treat. The story does get a little.. how should I say, "different" near the end. Expands more on the environment the animes set in but still keeping its spirit.The world and adventure these characters go through can be compared to an epic like Dragonball but for a mature audience.

As I'm sure you can tell by my ratings, I absolutely loved this Anime. However, what's more important is why it deserves each and every high mark I award it. When I'm thinking about how great an Anime is, or isn't, there are a few key things I consider. First off, this is one of the FEW Anime I can stand to watch dubbed. The voice acting of many dubbed Anime just doesn't match the characters in more ways than one, at least IMO. Secondly, I have re-watched this series many times and I still find it a good watch, and enjoy experiencing the battles ... and character dialogue(for the most part) again. The character development in this story was not as predictable as most, I'll spare those of you who haven't seen it the details, but it kept me interested. I also love the tough-guy facade of almost every male character throughout the series(with exception to Kurama), and how they all have their emotional struggles to balance with the amount of action in the series. Continuing, I like the art and fighting style that went along with this story. It managed to maintain a pretty good power-scale, which for me is noteworthy. The plot was very enjoyable and progressed with a very involved and intelligent sequence, especially since the main character is all but intellectual. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed going through this Anime multiple times, and for all of you who have yet to see it please do yourselves a favor and give it a look.

Yu Yu Hakusho is one of those anime that you've probably either seen or heard a lot about. Leading to the obvious question, is it really that good? The answer, not really. It isn't a bad anime, I would even call it good, but it certainly isn't good enough to merit the wide spread recognition it enjoys.

Like most shounen anime it has a very simple story. A young man named Yusuke dies and comes back to life as a spirit detective where he's tasked with fighting demons who threaten the human realm. It isn't anything special, but it certainly isn't a terrible idea. The good ... thing, storywise, is that they don't do the usual shounen anime cliche of the main protagonist always coming in to save his allies at the last minute. They use that cliche once. Compare that to DBZ where they use it in almost every story arc. One major problem with the writing in this anime is that it gets lazy at the end. They basically recycle the fighting tournament plot from earlier, but only show a few fights in it, leading to a very anti-climatic ending.

Yu Yu Hakusho is carried primarily by the characters. Fortunately, they keep a core group of four major characters so they get a lot of development. Even the supporting characters and antagonists are pretty well developed. The main problem with the characters is that they develop almost everybody but Yusuke. I don't know why this happens so often in shounen anime, but if you're going to have character development you should try giving some to your main protagonist since that's probably the character we'll see the most but, for whatever reason, a lot of these anime have the main character stay the same all the way through and just have him gain more power. This is not character development.

The artwork is pretty bad, even for 1992. You get a lot of bizarre facial expressions and twisted proportions, especially during fighting scenes. The character design isn't bad for shounen anime. You get some ridiculous hair and some characters who just look bizarre, but at least they have the excuse of having characters who are mostly not human. It's not like Shaman King where they have a bunch of humans who just look really bizarre.

The voice acting is pretty good. Ogata Megumi does a great job as Kurama. (Why does she so frequently voice characters with lots of homoerotic subtext anyway?) Hiyama Nobuyuki and Ebara Masashi also do really well in their roles as Hiei and Yomi.

Yu Yu Hakusho has a yuri factor of 3/10. There's some room to interpret it between some of the female characters, but you don't really see those characters often enough for it to go anywhere.

My final rating for Yu Yu Hakusho is a 7/10. It may be highly over-rated but it's a good anime and certainly worth watching through once.

I can see why many animes were inspired by this great anime.

A classic run that probably inspired many other mangakas or anime creators, especially Bleach and Naruto. Some characters’ designs, personalities and writings almost resemble characters from Naruto. Meanwhile, the storyline heavily reminded me of the bleach. Season 3 of this anime, reminded me of Bleach’s season 16 (the lost agent arc) as well as seasons 4&5 (Bount arc). The power of friendship and emotions also reminded me of One Piece and Fairy Tail.

Love the animation style. Great storyline but the progression was a bit boring sometimes. The mood setup was not strong enough for ... me to keep binge-watching the entire series, unlike HxH. The voice talents were awesome, perfectly matched with their respective characterisation. Apparently, the creator used the same formula as in HxH.

The world-building itself almost reminded me of the Dragon Ballz Franchise, maybe due to the appealing factor of such aesthetics to many people back then. Great opening song that is very memorable (1 opening throughout the whole anime run). The ending songs were bops, totally terrific if you're into classic songs.

Full of actions and adventure. Bit of mystery but great character development.

Season 1 was a slow burner. Season 2 was the peak with many interesting characters and moments. Season 3 slows down a bit and the mood setup became darker and uninteresting at some point but with the introduction of several amazing villains. Season 4 was fine but was a huge letdown as it was extremely rushed and cut short. Overall a good watch, not ideal for binge watch at least to me. Recommended.

~~Spoilers for Yu-Yu-Hakusho~~

For years and years I have always heard plenty of positive things about Yu-Yu-Hakusho and there is no denying the acclaim the anime gets. From its inception back in the early 90s to now, this anime remains as a classic for all. And I'm glad to say that I, too, fit it inside the category.

Story: The anime centers around a 14 year old, rude and snotty boy named Yusuke Urameshi who died during a car accident while trying to save a child's life. Because of this, he is tasked on becoming a spirit detective and must take on cases to stop demons from ... destroying the world. As traditional for any anime that has over 100+ episodes, the show has arcs. And I could classify all of them to be near perfect. Ranging from Yusuke first becoming a spirit detective, to Yusuke training his powers, the Dark Tournament arc, the Chapter Black arc and finally the Three Kong's arc. All of them are brilliant in their own right and does a fantastic job focusing on character development and plot points. There were some questionable moments (I.e. Genki, Yusuke's master, coming back after her death in the tournament arc), but those are some minor issues and even then don't necessarily ruin the plot at all. I'm tied between calling the Dark Tournament arc and the Chapter Black arc being my favorite in the series. They're both so good in writing and action that it's so hard to decide.
10/10

Characters: The main character Yusuke Urameshi first starts out as this rebellious punk who doesn't care about anyone at all, though with his living condition and lack of family bond, you can't blame the kid at the same time. Throughout the anime, he always has a smart mouth that gets him into trouble. However as the anime progresses, he does tend to have a kind heart and soul, even if he does mouth off his friends pretty badly. Yusuke's team mates, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei are well developed as well. Kuwabara is a bumbling idiot who doesn't think before he acts, but much like Yusuke, has a big heart as a person. Kurama is kind and well caring, but in battle can be deadly and serious. And Hiei serves as being more mean spirited, but tends to help out his teammates when he can, even if he does insult them after. All the other characters are well developed as the show goes on too. I absolutely loved all the characters in the series, even the villains.
10/10

Animation: Since we're talking about an anime that first premiered in the early 90's, expect the animation to be kind of rough at times. But I will admit, the animation in the show is actually really good. The fight scenes are easily without a doubt my favorite. Even if they recycle some scenes sometimes to save money, I can't lie and say that I enjoyed how the fight scenes were animated. Expect a glow up too in the art style as the anime goes on.
9/10

Audio: The music in the anime is really good too, but does tend to get a bit repetitive when it starts to get used a lot. But the music itself is composed super well. The voice acting is more of a preference. I mostly watched this english dubbed, which is done well by Funimation. The Japanese dub is also good too. Like I said, it's a preference thing, but I enjoyed both dubs regardless.
9/10

Enjoyment & Verdict: This is a fantastic anime and I'm glad I watched it. I strongly recommend you give this a watch because from start to finish. I was absolutely enjoying everything this anime had to offer. It remains fresh as the anime goes on, not getting itself boring and always manages on keeping me engaged to my tv screen. It's not perfect, since nothing is, but it comes close to it. The last episode really hit me hard because of my connections I had with the characters. I'm willing on giving this another re watch in the future.

10/10

Why yu yu hakusho is an astonishing anime

Yu Yu hakusho is an adventure fiction, martial arts, supernatural fiction anime that was released in 1992 that set us in the story of a young gangster called named Yusuke Urameshi, this story tells us a lot about how people create friendships through circumstances.

The anime it's about fights but it perfectly mixed it with sad moments that could warm the spectator's heart, other ... thing that makes it flawless is the fact that the anime has 0 fillers, not even one single episode, you can enjoy the fights, the story without getting it larger and larger which it is most of the cases of the popular shounens of our modern era, I'm not telling that every actual shounen is bad, just that most of the cases they get an excessive amount of episodes.

The soundtrack was unexpected beautiful and impressive, perfectly balanced with the stunning moments that we can hear it all along the series, the openings, and the endings are a piece of art, nothing to explain about them, you just have to go and listen to them.

What I actually felt kind of sad about the anime is that it's a little different than the manga, I wished Pierrot made some OVA's about those missing stories If you haven't watched YYH yet, then I recommend you to go ahead, it will be an amazing
experience you will have.

Thank a lot for reading my review, i hope everyone has a great day.

Paituwin.