Reviews

I love Yuu☆Yuu☆Hakusho. Growing up surrounded by Shonen anime akin to the likes of One piece and Hunter x Hunter 1999, Yuu☆Yuu☆Hakusho alongside these famous series became a fan favourite amongst my friend group and family. I like to think that I don't review anime with rose tinted glasses of nostalgia, but with Yuu☆Yuu☆Hakusho I find it hard to critically review the Manga as its become such a cult classic/childhood classic to me. Yuu☆Yuu☆Hakusho Is the predecessor to Yoshihiro Togashi's other notable shonen Manga of the decade being Hunter x Hunter. The Manga was serialised in Shonen Jump from December of 1990 to July of 1994.

~Story~
Yuu☆Yuu☆Hakusho follows a very simple and basic shonen formula. It followed a trend very similar to its contemporaries starting off as your classic monster of the week story before progressing into an Arc based story narrative with and over arching narrative to back it up. Its obvoius that many of its successors take heavy inspiration from its story formula and arch structure including Hunter x Hunter. The story is not the most interesting part nor the worst aspect of the series. Like many shonen series the story is a tool for the characters to grow and develop in the story. Sufficeth to say the story is serviceable but is mainly as a lens to look at the characters with.

~Art~
Togashi has always had some rough artwork... This isn't me trying to say that Togashi has bad Artwork per say but Yuu☆Yuu☆Hakusho certainly highlights Togashi's weak point as a Mangaka. Unlike both his contemporaries and successors Togashi's drawing skills simply lack what series like JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and Fist of the North Star had with their iconic Art styles. Some panels make me cringe more than others but when Togashi wants to he can draw some real good stuff.

~Characters~
I have always been a huge fan of the way Togashi writes and develops characters through his stories and interactions. The main cast of characters remain fun in a classical shonen way, Hie, Kurama, Yusuke and Kuwabara bounce off so well with each other you can really see the inspiration that came in with Leorio, Kurapika, Killua and Gon. Yusuke goes through what is probably the most solidly well written character arch's I've seen in shonen and hit me with incredibly emotionally poignant moments that really illustrate the strengths of Togashi as a Mangaka. Every emotional beat in Yuu☆Yuu☆Hakusho hits and when it hits it hits goddamn hard.

~Enjoyment and Overall Score~
I love Yuu☆Yuu☆Hakusho, without realising it Yuu☆Yuu☆Hakusho became sort of a familiar background noise in my daily life, it was something that me and my friends could talk about, something me and my family could reminisce about. Yuu☆Yuu☆Hakusho will forever be ingrained in my life as a favourite and classic.