Ah YuYu Hakusho the series that spawned a generation right alongside Dragon Ball Z and honestly I can definitely see why cause in many respects it's right up there with the FMA franchise as a series that tells a simple story but by focusing on the struggles of it's characters you can easily find many deeper layers especially with the villains but lets not beat around the bush and jump right in starting with the story

Story So the story starts off pretty simple the main character dies...So ya that's where we're starting people: 14 year old delinquent Yusuke Urameshi dies after saving a kid from being hit by an oncoming car. From there he meets the bright and chipper grim reaper Botan (geez never thought I'd use those words to describe the messenger of death) who offers him a second chance at life because get this apparently the kid he saved would've survived without his intervention essentially meaning Yusuke's death was POINTLESS...Okay real talk if that isn't the biggest Fuck You to a main character then I don't know what is

Anyway from there he's brought to the Spirit World where he's given several tests of character from Koenma, the son of King Enma and interim Ruler of the Spirit World in order to prove that he's worthy of being given a second chance at life. Now I will admit the first problem I ever had with the series in both anime and manga format is that Yusuke returned to his body a little too quickly but I suppose if they did expand on that one detail then the pacing would've suffered so it was a necessary sacrifice

After Yusuke returns to his body he's once again approached by Botan who tells him he's been hired as a Spirit Detective; a supernatural investigator who hunts down all manner of apparitions, demons and even some humans who commit crimes that pose a threat to the balance between the Human and Spirit Worlds along the way coming across a colorful cast of characters, both friends and foes alike. Now I have to admit when I heard about the whole Spirit Detective Concept it sounded like it was gonna be a pretty basic setup and while it is on the surface, the story does a good job of fleshing out and exploring the grey area with humans and demons through the Assignments Yusuke's given by Koenma and that the two races share more in common than you'd think

Now having said that I will admit there are some aspects to the story that the anime actually changes compared to the Manga and while they aren't necessarily bad they do in certain respects give the anime a slightly different identity particularly involving King Enma and Sakyo's roles in the overall plot but like I said it's not a problem just a noticeable creative change.

Final thing I'd like to talk about with the story is the final arc and it's no secret that it is the weakest of the bunch but I think with that arc in particular we can blame more on Shonen Jump's interference more than Togashi himself as it's clear he had the pieces laid out for a Human/Demon World War Arc, hell he even confirmed it more or less in an interview but from my understanding once the magazine learned of his intent with the arc (Deconstructing the characters) they shut him down and he was forced to end the series with another tournament so the last arc really one of those unique times where you look back and wonder what could've been if Shonen Jump (And Togashi's ailing health) weren't contributing factors

Characters So we now move on with the characters and my favourites are your favourites: Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, Genkai and Botan. Ya if you couldn't tell its one of the rare times in a Shonen where all the main characters are my favourites but the beauty of YuYu Hakusho when it comes to its characters is that all the characters both main and supporting are both entertaining and memorable and majority if not all you remember cause there's something distinct about them that stands out be they human or demon. And I think a lot of that comes from the fact that the show keeps all the characters in such a grounded state where it portrays them as humans first, power junkies second. Some personal supporting favourites of mine are: Chu or as I like to call him the Demon Crocodile Hunter, Rinku who's the demon equivalent of Ness from SSB, Jin the Wind Demon who's so much like Yusuke you'd swear they're brothers Yukina the Ice apparition (and Hiei's sister) with the warmest heart you'll see and even a few human characters like Kuwabara's older sister Shizuru who really worked her way up on my best girls in anime list quite quickly just from how much of a no nonsense chick she is. But lets start getting a little more in-depth with the main cast. In fact one thing I admire is how natural the relationships between all the characters develop, it always felt like there was a natural progression of their relationship throughout the show and never once felt forced Yusuke Urameshi
Okay so starting off with the main protagonist we got Yusuke and honestly from the very first episode I was sold on him and not just as the protagonist but as a character in general cause most of my experiences with a Shonen protagonist nowadays consist of the main character in a world where he feels unfairly treated and tries to prove them wrong which is still an admirable goal for a main character but with Yusuke it's kinda backwards. We are introduced to Yusuke in the environment that looks down on him but Yusuke's mentality towards his situation is simply: "This is me accept it or get the hell out of my face" which in many respects makes him all the more intriguing to watch as it shows the main character is flawed but he's okay with that and in a way makes him more relatable than most Kuwabara Now if we consider Yusuke relatable just from how much he loves to get into fights then Kuwabara is relatable from just how much he represent both the type of character Yusuke is as well as how well rounded he becomes because Kuwabara starts out much like Yusuke but over time the layers really start to peel away and we see just how much he values the simple things like loyalty, honor and friendship; all things you'd find in a typical shounen protagonist but still with that little twist

It sounds like a simple description right? Well that's cause it is, Kuwabara is a character that doesn't need much of a reason or purpose to do the things he does, he just acts on what he feels is the right think to do. This of course forms the basis of his honor code as to him it doesn't matter if your friend or foe he's willing to help even if there are times where they might not want it. Another string but relevant trait is how much Kuwabara values the friendships he's made with the other three members of the main group especially his bond with Yusuke as they genuinely feel like they're brothers as they roughhouse and tease eachother but still have plenty of room to respect each other as well

Kurama Much like Kuwabara I like how Kurama can be simplistic but also complex just from the actions he takes. When we first meet Hiei he starts out as a villain alongside Hiei but as we go deeper into the story we start to realize that he has one simple desire: To protect his family and that's really all you need to know about him cause much like Kuwabara his desire to protect those he cares about is so real to the point where you worry of what he might do if you anger him

One of the things I find interesting about Kurama is his fighting abilities and how a lot of his techniques are based around plant and flower manipulation which doesn't sound the least bit threatening on the surface but when you see it in action combined with Kurama's intellect and cunning it can actually be a very terrifying display to watch. Top it off with his ability to tap into the spirit of his former self; a fox demon bandit and Kurama's the whole package

Speaking of which I may as well talk a little about his other side Yoko Kurama and initially upon watching the series the one thing that I thought was lacking is that I wanted to know more about Kurama's previous life as Yoko other than what we got with Yomi and it's one of those cases where I find myself split. I understand that sometimes less is more but in Yoko Kurama's case I actually want to know more but considering the way Togashi writes his stories I guess it was more than enough to keep us intrigued

Hiei The big bad and brooding loner of the group himself yep it's Hiei and I'll say this with absolute Certainty: One thing that always appealed to me about Hiei is how subtle yet obvious his character development was. In the beginning of the series he's very much the villain but after his encounter with Yusuke you do start to notice the changes in his demeanor and even his views. I feel the first real hint of this was after the mission to save his sister Yukina from Tarukane where you could see a real sense of concern for her and a slight sense of mercy develop within him when he chose to spare Tarukane. I mean a portion of it could've been Yukina pleading with him not to kill but I like to think he still took something away from it. The next but slightly more obvious change was in the tournament where he loses his straight face demeanor a number of times in comedic fusion throughout the tournament as well as a more sarcastic tone. It all came full circle for me in the battle with Sensui where he lashed out at Sensui with a little of the Dragon of the Darkness Flame action

Speaking of the dragon lets talk about Hiei's style of combat which in a word is brutal and he's definitely not afraid to show how much he loves tearing into his opponents with his swordsmanship skills and his flame powers. I think my favourite fight with him that showcased how uses all these talents is the fight with Bui where he learned to fully master the Darkness Dragon

To end this portion of the review I wanna talk a little about Hiei's backstory. Now good old Hiei as we know was born a fire demon in a village of all female ice apparitions like his sister but from the moment he was born he was cast out by the elders of the village and thrown over a cliff cause he was considered a bad omen to the village...Geez Togashi really enjoys writing totally fucked up scenarios but at the same time that's also what makes it one of my favourites and it gives all we need to know about why he grew up so bitter yet conflicted when it concerns his sister

Botan Okay so Botan was originally one of those characters for me that when I first saw her I thought I'd hate her and while there are annoying moments with her neither are they enough to make me want to tear my hair out insufferable (Unlike another character Cynthia Cranz has played) so for what we get it's fairly enjoyable and she does still have her badass and emotional moments I can get behind Genkai Genkai was a character that started off as the badass mentor but then by the time of the dark tournament I really started to feel more and more for her right up to the point where her connection with Toguro was revealed and her death. If I'm being honest I would've preferred if she stayed dead but her resurrection was still handled better than how DBZ does it. And I really like her relationship with Yusuke as he feels like that annoying grandson she never wanted but puts up with him because of his hidden potential Toguro and Sakyo And ya I think I should move on at this point with the antagonists cause this show has produced some really amazing ones in the form of Toguro, Sakyo and Sensui and the one thing I think that makes all these villains work so well is very much a similar logic that the main and secondary characters run on: They're human first, power junkies second, something that a lot of Shonen tend to miss the mark on. In Toguro's case it's very much a situation where once he became a demon he realized how much he actually cursed himself in his pursuit of power so he just wanted someone to kill him and he saw that possibility in Yusuke which formed the basis for his motivation in the Dark Tournament even if it meant killing the woman he loved.

And with Sakyo he's truly one of those characters that personifies how flawed we as humans are because he recognizes and is aware how 'evil' he is but he's content with that because it's just who he is and every time he's on screen you can just tell he enjoys every minute of it

Sensui Sensui for me was one of those villains where much like Sakyo all it took was his motivations to get behind him because much like Thanos even though you know what he's doing is wrong there's still a strange part of you that can't help but agree with what he says because in one form or another you've seen the corruption he's talking about. And just from the fact that his mind was fractured into 7 split personalities that was brought upon by his work as a Spirit Detective does add even more to the tragedy of his character and proves that there is never a black and white way of looking at things, there has always been and will always be shades of grey to the world no matter which way we try and justify it

Amd this might sound a bit scary coming from me but I think at the core of what makes me latch on to Sensui so much is that while not as radical there have been times where I do wonder if it is better if we as a human race were better off just wiped off the map, hell it feels we're headed in that direction already and to a degree even deserve extinction, ya I know dark but that's also what made me latch on to Thanos from Infinity War

Animation and Artwork Now art and animation wise I have to admit it does hold up very well but then again I've always had a soft spot for Cell animation over digital and I'm not gonna sit here and say it was perfect; there were definitely moments and episodes where the animation went from taking a slight dip to the occasional nose dive but I think majority cases in the latter category was due to a change in staff so it's somewhat of an understandable dip in quality. But with that being said for every two or three times where the animation doesn't exactly hold up there are just as many moments where it does especially when you see characters utilize their attacks which to me is when the colors just pop off the screen and the show becomes a truly visual wonder

So for those who are unaware the animation was done by Studio Pierrot who since then have become pariahs to the anime community for their handling of the Naruto/Boruto franchise and the Tokyo Ghoul anime adaptations and ya i'd be lying if I said I couldn't understand why I mean Boruto is fine but it's also a constant reminder that modern Pierrot feels like they're desperate to hold on to any franchise they can at this point but at the same time at least YuYu Hakusho is an example of what they could do before going in a very odd direction

▶ Music/Soundtrack Now the music, especially the opening is interesting because for a dark shounen series like this there are a lot of times where the music is surprisingly upbeat. I mean don't get me wrong there is music and soundtracks that perfectly capture the intensity of the more harsh and dramatic moments but the majority of songs in Yu Yu Hakusho have this generally upbeat feel to them whichj really feels like its luring by promising an upbeat experience only to dashj those hopes away with some of the most tragic and fucked up scenarios in an anime comparable to something out of the FMA franchise

Now focusing in on the opening for a bit, the title of it is called Smile Bomb and it is by far one of the biggest emotional traps the series has because the tune is catchy as hell with an overall rocking beat and the singers (Mawatari Mitsuko in Japanese and Sara White in English) do a good job at capturing the high energy of the opening but there is kind of an interesting aspect to this opening that lends itself to theories: As manga readers will know Yu Yu Hakusho was the first manga published in Shonen Jump by Yoshihiro Togashi who's currently the author of Hunter x Hunter (Hunter x Hunter 2011 anime wise) but where am I going with this? Well much like how Departure was the singular opening theme used in Hunter x Hunter's second anime adaptation with the only difference being a change in opening animation , the same also holds true for Smile Bomb which leads me to believe that one specific creative detail between the two anime was more than likely a choice Togashi made personally and if that is in fact the case then the man really likes to troll his audiences' expectations

Now the ending songs I will admit I'm a bit more objective about cause while all relatively good songs I think the only ones I actually ended up liking are Ending 1 "The Homework Doesn't End" , Ending 3 "Unbalanced Kisses" and Ending 4 "The Sun Will Shine Again" and that's not to say I don't like the other ending songs but it is a case where they started off hyped but then it fell flat in certain places as well but hey three out of five isn't bad

Conclusion Time for the final thoughts and the biggest question is: Where do I stand on Yu Yu Hakusho? And has it Held Up?

Honestly I'd say yes cause I feel whether you read the manga or not this is an anime that everyone can find some manner of enjoyment in and as a manga reader myself I thouroughly enjoyed it even if I was aware of the differences that were made to the content of the story the changes themselves weren't distracting enough to make a difference to my overall enjoyment and as someone who became a fan of YuYu Hakusho about a year ago (Grew up more as an FMA Brat) I'm still glad I did watch it cause this series was definitely one of the first to present the idea that Shonen can be emotionally dark and tell a complex story without crossing over into the Seinen genre. Yu Yu Hakusho really is a gem and I highly recommend it to those very few who haven't seen it

And after tallying up all the facts on Anilist I can give it no more and no less than a glowing recommendation of

8.7/10
87/100

LATER GUYS!!