Ah, Yu Yu Hakusho, Yoshihiro Togashi's first big hit.

I joined the reread of some friends who were reading YYH for the first time, and I decided to join. My memory was foggy about the details (I thought Yusuke hadn't won the Dark Tournament, for example) ~~and I have a job, so I can't really watch anime as often~~ (though I've heard nothing but praises about it.)

Yu Yu Hakusho's main character, Yusuke Urameshi, is a typical delinquent with a golden heart very typical of Shonen manga (Similar to Sakuragi from Slam Dunk) who dies saving a little kid and ends up running errands for the afterlife. Eventually, he meets Hiei, Kurama, and Kumawara (another fellow meatheaded delinquent) and their friendship is one of the perks of the series. Yu Yu Hakusho doesn't take itself much seriously, sure, there will be moments where it will get serious moments such as the Dark Tournament with Toguro being the dark side of a battle junkie or the tragedy of Sensui in Chapter Black, but two chapters later (or in that same chapter) someone will do something stupid and you'll laugh.

It is common knowledge that Togashi wanted to end the manga after Chapter Black, he thought that the manga had run its course (if you don't know this, google his last volume note for the last volume, where he talks about the overexploitation, and how he ended YYH because his attempts to deconstruct or tell a story were rejected by editorial) and you could see it in the final arc. There are interesting ideas on it, like Yusuke's battle junkie rush coming from demons (making it similar to Toguro). Hiei's entire subplot with his sister, but you can tell he was either overworked or did not have much interest in his manga anymore when an author doesn't care about its work anymore, you notice it, and while I believe most creatives are fond of their creations, I think that at a certain point, he was apathetic towards it.

Yu Yu Hakusho is a very influential manga - it's a battle tournament, for example, I consider it an 'updated' version of the Budokai Tenkaichi from the original Dragon Ball, lots of people will quote it as an influence, however, as a huge HxH fan, I think that it's hidden value are how ideas such as Nen and topics key to Togashi's writing are first touched on YYH and perfected in Hunter. Not many mangakas have two successful hits on Jump, and seeing Togashi's growth as an author is very interesting and rewarding.

While I like a lot of the ideas teased in the final arc, sometimes potential isn't enough (especially if the series is long finished lol) so I had to deck some points. Still, overall, I think YYH deserves its status as a staple of shonen jump manga, and I'm glad I reread.