Toonami ruined my life in 2001. In the best way.
The nostalgic wave hits me hard enough to knock the breath out of me when I hear Yu Yu Hakusho. It's recently gained more popularity among Gen Z viewers and Tiktok, and I feel like a proud papa.
This is a series I can watch over and over again. My girlfriend doesn't understand, but hey that's fine she can still watch Hamtaro or Sailor Moon before Dragon Ball Z comes on. Wait, What year is it?
We're going to talk about the Yu Yu Hakusho Anime, not the Shonen Jump Manga that was only 19 Volumes long. Yes, OMG do you remember the chapters mixed in with One Piece, YugiOh, and Naruto in those thick Shonen Jump monthly magazines? Every time my parents took me to Publix (a supermarket in Florida), I would BEG them to buy me the new one.
Table of Contents
5 Reasons Why You Should Watch Yu Yu Hakusho
Amazing Action Scenes
Great Voice Acting
Original Plot
Superb Character Developement
You'll Laugh, Scream and Cry through the different plot twists.
Yu Yu Hakusho Unbiased Review
I'm going to do my best to stay unbiased and take a journalistic approach to this anime review. As you know, I like it. I think mostly everyone would but there could be exceptions. I'll try to stay in the grey area somewhere in the middle.
Yu Yu HakuPlot
Our main character, Yusuke Urameshi, is kind of your boring average high school delinquent. He has the 90's slicked back hair, and the whole anime drawing style is pretty much a vibe.
From episode 1 this Anime is honestly kinda a sad boi theme.
Yusuke gets randomly hit by a car and watches himself die as his soul leaves his body. Then it's like he's invisible and watches the lives of his friends and loved ones get torn apart by his death. Wow. Dark.
Plot twist, the underworld effed up and now he's in limbo and can't go back to the living but can't go to the afterlife. Solution? Become a spiritual bounty hunter / detective.
The pace at which the show ramps is pretty vital to int's incredible success. It can feel a bit slow in the beginning as he deals with minor demons and such, but it displays his ability growth and keen ability to fight and use his resources in an above average street smarts way.
One of the pivotal moments that I'll always remember from my childhood was when Yusuke was cornered and was going to pretty much get beat to death. Up until this point, it was made clear that he had a technique called "spirit gun", the caveat ... he only had one bullet per day.
Somehow he unlocks a new technique in the knick of time called "shotgun", and is able to fire five at once. I think I screamed and ran around the room in disbelief as a little kid. Definitely, was using that imaginary move on the playground against little gokus shouting kame hame ha.
The show really gets good around episode 20, when they enter this other world tournament with powerful demons and have to battle to the death. The gore and drama is pretty intense, and I'm pretty sure Cartoon Network should have been cancelled (Geneon) for showing this, Jk but not really. Trauma is real. Wanna talk about it?
Ok, back to the review.
We start to watch Yusuke try to fight WAY stronger opponents and absolutely get BODIED. He has some internal conflicts and needs to get stronger.
He makes some awesome friends and learns how to be more of a team player. We also get to see his friends insane strengths like Razor Vines, Dark Demon Powers, and His childhood friend Kuwabara is basically and idiot who can make a spirit sword. Loveable idiot that is.
Yusuke undergoes some crucial moments to unlock even more power and the writers keep you on the edge of your seat the entire show. Actually, now that I mention it, is this why I live in a generation of extremely anxious people? Nah, must be something else.
What the writers did really was was tie Yusuke's emotions to his power level curve, and show that as he progresses as a Character mentally, he displays this physically as well.
The show sneaks in all kinds of themes about human kind and virtues within the fights. It's well done and not as kitschy as some shows today that are just about big bewbs on cute anime girls and a character who is oblivious to sexual tension (what a trope huh?).
One of the biggest strengths of Yu Yu Hakusho as an anime is the Characters. You see so many raw human emotions like frustration about not being strong enough that almost break fourth wall. It's honestly great.
Yu Yu Hakusho Merch
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