Language Watched: Japanese with English subtitles
Licensed? (As of this entry): YES
Licensed? (As of this entry): YES
Genre(s): Fighting, Supernatural, Psychological, Comedy, Drama
Overall Impression: It's really good for an old-ish show. I highly recommend! :)
SPOILER ALERT WARNING!!
This review will contain some spoilers -- or rather, there will be a "Spoilers" section at the end of the review to go into further detail about certain things. There may still be slight spoilers throughout the review, but I've tried my best to keep them at a minimum.
PERSONAL STANDING (Pre-exposures, thoughts, etc.)
So my initial exposures to Yu Yu Hakusho back in the day were hit and miss. Through my unbiased collecting of anime music years and years ago (probably back when I was in Grade 11), I got a hold of several ending themes and one opening theme for Yu Yu Hakusho... and I didn't like them. Many of the songs sounded so 80s / 90s that I thought the series would be just as dated.
Then fast forward to maybe a couple years later. Through my unbiased collecting of SNES ROMs (yes, I did those back in the day -- I don't exactly do that anymore), I got a hold of this ROM file named "yuyut". When I tried it out with my sister, we got treated to the intro below:
I couldn't read anything in the intro but I thought, This is interesting. These characters look interesting. My sister and I then struggled with trying to figure out how to play the game. And even that experience was interesting. Below is a clip of the gameplay:
After playing it, I was so curious about the characters and their stories / abilities. Since the game's title was in Japanese, I had no idea it was Yu Yu Hakusho until much, much later.
Then fast forward to maybe a couple years later. Through my unbiased collecting of SNES ROMs (yes, I did those back in the day -- I don't exactly do that anymore), I got a hold of this ROM file named "yuyut". When I tried it out with my sister, we got treated to the intro below:
Yu Yu Hakusho: Tokubetsu Hen's (SNES) intro scene.
I couldn't read anything in the intro but I thought, This is interesting. These characters look interesting. My sister and I then struggled with trying to figure out how to play the game. And even that experience was interesting. Below is a clip of the gameplay:
Gameplay clip of Yu Yu Hakusho: Tokubetsu Hen.
For an SNES game, the action sequences are really exciting and cool!
After playing it, I was so curious about the characters and their stories / abilities. Since the game's title was in Japanese, I had no idea it was Yu Yu Hakusho until much, much later.
STORY
Through a series of events, delinquent Yusuke Urameshi finds himself recruited as a "spirit realm detective", a person who investigates supernatural situations and takes down demons (AKA yokai). And from him being a "spirit realm detective", Yusuke and his friends find themselves in battle after battle against those who would threaten the balance of the world.
On a whole, the story comes off as being pretty generic. But -- Buuuuut... there is more to it than just that. It's more than just a "good guys fight bad guys" series. There's character depth, emotional drive, relatable themes, and a kind of charm that makes it interesting even if you may have seen the same setup so many times before -- but only if you invest yourself in the characters and their struggles. At its core, Yu Yu Hakusho's story is largely character-driven (and I'm not talking about just the "I must get stronger!" kind of drive).
One thing that I like and also dislike about Yu Yu Hakusho is the idea that "nothing / nobody is safe". At least, that is the impression I have for older anime. For some reason I felt that older anime series often took more liberties with a character's life and whether they would live or just suddenly get killed off / die. This might not be true, but I watched Yu Yu Hakusho with that thought in the back of my mind, which raised the stakes emotionally for a number of episodes.
If I were to give any criticisms to the story, it would be to the beginning and the ending. The beginning is quite slow, and the ending is quite abrupt. However, at the same time, both served their own purpose. The beginning does a good job of establishing character and the light yet dramatic tone to the series. The ending, well, I'll mention the ending at my "Closing Thoughts" section.
To summarize, the story is good depending on your own investment on the characters.
And Yu Yu Hakusho's pacing isn't great just because of episode length. This series -- it knows to be suspenseful; it knows how to make your heart race with fear; with excitement; it knows how to hit you in the gut with pain and sadness. To me, Yu Yu Hakusho is quite the master at invoking emotions.
I'll mention some of those "paceful" moments in the "Spoilers" section.
One nitpicky thing: there are brief times when some animation frames are re-used. Personally I can forgive them for that, given how many episodes there are and how much work I imagine went into those frames.
On a whole, the story comes off as being pretty generic. But -- Buuuuut... there is more to it than just that. It's more than just a "good guys fight bad guys" series. There's character depth, emotional drive, relatable themes, and a kind of charm that makes it interesting even if you may have seen the same setup so many times before -- but only if you invest yourself in the characters and their struggles. At its core, Yu Yu Hakusho's story is largely character-driven (and I'm not talking about just the "I must get stronger!" kind of drive).
One thing that I like and also dislike about Yu Yu Hakusho is the idea that "nothing / nobody is safe". At least, that is the impression I have for older anime. For some reason I felt that older anime series often took more liberties with a character's life and whether they would live or just suddenly get killed off / die. This might not be true, but I watched Yu Yu Hakusho with that thought in the back of my mind, which raised the stakes emotionally for a number of episodes.
If I were to give any criticisms to the story, it would be to the beginning and the ending. The beginning is quite slow, and the ending is quite abrupt. However, at the same time, both served their own purpose. The beginning does a good job of establishing character and the light yet dramatic tone to the series. The ending, well, I'll mention the ending at my "Closing Thoughts" section.
To summarize, the story is good depending on your own investment on the characters.
PACING
The pacing in Yu Yu Hakusho is great. There was one arc that felt a little bit like the Frieza saga, but that still resolved itself in wayyy less episodes. Almost every fight, with the exception of the big fights and a few others, is resolved in one episode. And through almost each episode a bit more character development happens.And Yu Yu Hakusho's pacing isn't great just because of episode length. This series -- it knows to be suspenseful; it knows how to make your heart race with fear; with excitement; it knows how to hit you in the gut with pain and sadness. To me, Yu Yu Hakusho is quite the master at invoking emotions.
I'll mention some of those "paceful" moments in the "Spoilers" section.
ANIMATION STYLE
This is the first time I've ever experienced this, but Yu Yu Hakusho's animation style isn't all that consistent. Character designs generally stay the same, but the style starts off more thicker and less "shady". Then in later episodes more shading is let in and styles get a bit sharper. Then for specific episodes things get really experimental, and styles get smoother and the colour palette changes. It's really interesting and I enjoy the changes from the starting style. I think some of changes really help to set the tone and make action sequences more exciting. Below are some examples of style changes:
First episode.
Around episode 41.
Episode 58. One of the smooth "experimental" styles.
Not all fight / action sequences are like this.
One nitpicky thing: there are brief times when some animation frames are re-used. Personally I can forgive them for that, given how many episodes there are and how much work I imagine went into those frames.
CHARACTERS
From left to right: Koenma, Kurama, Hiei, Botan, Yusuke, Keiko,
Shizuru, Kuwabara, Genkai.
While the image above features the main cast of Yu Yu Hakusho (though I consider Shizuru more secondary), there are many more characters.
Personally, I love the cast of Yu Yu Hakusho, especially the core four: Yusuke, Hiei, Kurama, and Kuwabara. They are likable in their own ways and tend to have very relatable internal struggles and drives. Even Kuwabara, who's not the brightest one -- I can't help but admire his endurance and earnest emotions.
Every now and then there would be brief downtime where the characters just interact with each other. I enjoyed seeing those moments -- to get a bit more of their personalities and seeing them more as characters with "life". I'll mention a few downtime moments I really enjoyed in the "Spoilers" section.
My favourite character is Kurama. He is... muah! Perfection! Hahaha. I love his analytical mind, his ability of controlling plants (for a personal reason), and his fierce loyalty to those he cares for. I also really connected with his personal struggle, and enjoyed seeing his development through the series.
I also really enjoyed seeing Hiei's development as well as Genkai's. They are all fun and good characters!
As an aside, I discovered another role (Koenma) voice acted by Mayumi Tanaka, the voice actor for Luffy in One Piece, hahaha. :)
Kurama! This guy is something else <3
.
MUSIC
The music is largely atmospheric, 80s / 90s synth with eerie sounds. Sometimes I don't even notice it but I know it's there working its music magic. Sometimes it's at the foreground, just hitting you with the emotion of the current scene. It fits well with the series. Also, now that I've watched the opening / ending themes and can associate the music to the series, I like the opening / ending tracks a lot more, though... with the exception of one, I prefer the TV size edits more than the full version.
Here are a couple of tracks that I like:
Here are a couple of tracks that I like:
"Monster Suit". I really enjoy the part starting from 1:35 to 3:00.
I could honestly listen to that part looping for hours on end.
"Struggle of Sadness".
What a gut-wrenching track.
JAPANESE / ENGLISH DUBBING
The Japanese dubbing is great. While I've read that the English dubbing is great, I watched my favourite episode in English -- and I didn't like it. Kurama's voice was changed :( I may give the dub another shot in the future.
YU YU HAKUSHO AND THE MANGA
I actually haven't read the manga, so I can't comment on this. I'm just leaving this as a placeholder until I do (if I ever get the chance!).
YU YU HAKUSHO AND THE MOVIES + EIZOU HAKUSHO OVA
Same as above -- this is just a placeholder for now.
YU YU HAKUSHO AND THE NEW OVA
Same as above -- this is just a placeholder, and I really hope I get to see this new OVA someday!
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Yu Yu Hakusho is great. For an old-ish series, it's aged very well. I could see myself re-watching certain episodes for years to come. Some of the action scenes plus character moments are just that good.
Now, please keep in mind that I haven't watched Hunter x Hunter, the other series made by the creator of Yu Yu Hakusho (Yoshihiro Togashi). I've read that Hunter x Hunter draws similarities from Yu Yu Hakusho so I'm not sure if it would come off as samey for those who have already watched Hunter x Hunter. Just note that Yu Yu Hakusho came first, so if anything, it helped set the foundation for some things for Hunter x Hunter. :)
And guess what? Almost all the episodes of Yu Yu Hakusho are now available to watch on Crunchyroll! So if you are curious at all, please do check it out! :) Make sure to click on the series and not the OVA.
I mentioned I would talk about the abrupt ending. Without giving any spoilers, I recommend still watching to the end because almost everything gets tied up and character developments are resolved. I just can't fault the abrupt ending because it was due to external reasons affecting the creator's (Togashi) health and outlook on his work. In the last manga volume of Yu Yu Hakusho, supposedly Togashi wrote a long note explaining the reason for the abrupt ending. You can read the long note on this Reddit thread. While it saddens me that Yu Yu Hakusho will probably never get the fleshed out ending it could have had, I can appreciate the ending we do have and empathize with his situation.
Thank you Togashi for creating Yu Yu Hakusho!!
And... thank you for reading! If you want some more input about something I didn't cover, feel free to ask. :)
So I'll do the scrolly thing and the "Spoilers" section will appear after that. Then I'll add some more scrolly things after the "Spoilers" section in case anybody wants to comment, but not see the spoilers.
I'll mention some of those "paceful" moments.
-The time when Yusuke comes back as a Yokai, and he says his heart has still stopped. Then Hiei and Kurama laugh. I think it was one of the first times Hiei ever laughed out loud.
-Mukuro's brief embrace on Hiei ^-^
-Keiko's kiss on Yusuke. Yusuke can take on the strongest ppl and he can be blitzed by Keiko? Cute.
-In the last episode when Kurama and Kuwabara are chatting at the train stop, and some of Kuwabara's classmates mistake Kurama as a girl... Kurama's look of annoyance is adorable.
Thanks again for reading and feel free to comment :D
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Now, please keep in mind that I haven't watched Hunter x Hunter, the other series made by the creator of Yu Yu Hakusho (Yoshihiro Togashi). I've read that Hunter x Hunter draws similarities from Yu Yu Hakusho so I'm not sure if it would come off as samey for those who have already watched Hunter x Hunter. Just note that Yu Yu Hakusho came first, so if anything, it helped set the foundation for some things for Hunter x Hunter. :)
And guess what? Almost all the episodes of Yu Yu Hakusho are now available to watch on Crunchyroll! So if you are curious at all, please do check it out! :) Make sure to click on the series and not the OVA.
I mentioned I would talk about the abrupt ending. Without giving any spoilers, I recommend still watching to the end because almost everything gets tied up and character developments are resolved. I just can't fault the abrupt ending because it was due to external reasons affecting the creator's (Togashi) health and outlook on his work. In the last manga volume of Yu Yu Hakusho, supposedly Togashi wrote a long note explaining the reason for the abrupt ending. You can read the long note on this Reddit thread. While it saddens me that Yu Yu Hakusho will probably never get the fleshed out ending it could have had, I can appreciate the ending we do have and empathize with his situation.
Thank you Togashi for creating Yu Yu Hakusho!!
And... thank you for reading! If you want some more input about something I didn't cover, feel free to ask. :)
So I'll do the scrolly thing and the "Spoilers" section will appear after that. Then I'll add some more scrolly things after the "Spoilers" section in case anybody wants to comment, but not see the spoilers.
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SPOILERS
I'll mention some of those "paceful" moments.
If I think of any more, I'll list more.
-In the episode where Keiko needs to kiss Yusuke by midnight to bring him back to life. That made my heart race so bad, haha.
-Genkai's and Kuwabara's "deaths". It felt like Time stopped completely.
-In Kurama's fight against Shigure, I was so, sooooo worried, I could barely breathe. It didn't help that the episode was titled "Farewell, Kurama". When we see that Shigure's last attack was stopped by the tree just inches away from Kurama's face, I was so relieved that I cried. I feared for his safety that much, hahaha... I'm such a dork ^.^''
-The time when Raizen's old fighting pals visit Raizen's grave. Then they gather together and charge up all their yoki. For some reason, that got me super pumped up and excited.
-In the episode where Keiko needs to kiss Yusuke by midnight to bring him back to life. That made my heart race so bad, haha.
-Genkai's and Kuwabara's "deaths". It felt like Time stopped completely.
-In Kurama's fight against Shigure, I was so, sooooo worried, I could barely breathe. It didn't help that the episode was titled "Farewell, Kurama". When we see that Shigure's last attack was stopped by the tree just inches away from Kurama's face, I was so relieved that I cried. I feared for his safety that much, hahaha... I'm such a dork ^.^''
-The time when Raizen's old fighting pals visit Raizen's grave. Then they gather together and charge up all their yoki. For some reason, that got me super pumped up and excited.
I'll mention a few downtime moments I really enjoyed.
-The moments when Yusuke is resting against Keiko. I thought it was sweet.-The time when Yusuke comes back as a Yokai, and he says his heart has still stopped. Then Hiei and Kurama laugh. I think it was one of the first times Hiei ever laughed out loud.
-Mukuro's brief embrace on Hiei ^-^
-Keiko's kiss on Yusuke. Yusuke can take on the strongest ppl and he can be blitzed by Keiko? Cute.
-In the last episode when Kurama and Kuwabara are chatting at the train stop, and some of Kuwabara's classmates mistake Kurama as a girl... Kurama's look of annoyance is adorable.
Kurama's annoyed look. Click to enlarge.
Thanks again for reading and feel free to comment :D
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