“YuYu Hakusho” follows Yusuke Urameshi, a street-brawling
bad boy who is seen as nothing but a punk and a delinquent to those around him
and would be the last person to be expected to push a small boy out of the way
of an oncoming car. Yusuke in turn is hit by the oncoming car is now a ghost
floating above his former body, his ghost is soon greeted by Botan, a woman who
introduces herself as the pilot of the River Styx, who ferries souls to the
"Underworld" where they may be judged for the afterlife. Botan
informs Yusuke that his act had caught even the Underworld by surprise and that
there was not yet a place made for him in either heaven or hell and is brought
to Koenma, son of the Underworld's ruler, King Enma, who offers Yusuke a chance
to return to his body through a series of tests. Yusuke succeeds in passing the
tests with the help of his friends Keiko, Yusuke’s would be love interest, and
Kazuma Kuwabara who return Yusuke back to his body and his normal life. Koenma however
sees incredible potential in Yusuke and offers him the title of
"Underworld Detective", charging him with investigating supernatural
activity within the human world and defending it against certain danger. Now
while Yusuke is only a mortal, he is armed with a supernatural ability known as
the “Spirit shot”, a blast of aura energy shot from Yusuke’s hand which becomes
his greatest ally against the demons he is up against. These powers get even
stronger and lead to Yusuke gaining even more abilities and strength through
his battles as well as the teachings of the master Genkai, an elderly woman with
considerable strength and spiritual power which help her be able to kick some
shape into her slacker of a student. And Yusuke is not going it at all on his
own Kuwabara, who has a level of spiritual powers himself, is along for the
ride as well as Hiei and Kurama, demons that were once Yusuke’s enemies but
quickly become fast friends with him and join in his battles against any
supernatural attack.
“Yu Yu Hakusho” takes an interesting look into what happens
when we die, oh well hey how about you be this boss spirit detective and defend
the Earth from paranormal attack, why not? Yusuke and his team quickly become a
group of enjoyable characters and while Yusuke is the main protagonist Hiei,
Kurama and Kuwabara all bring something to the table with their own unique
powers and abilities. All four play off each other in a truly unique way with
back and forth banter and arguments making each character a possible favorite
for those watching the show. However those who try and watch the show now may
be a little deterred by the graphics and design work of the show since it came
out in the early 1990’s as well as the fact that if you are not a fighting or
action fan you won’t find appeal in the show. Despite this “Yu Yu Hakusho” is a
great watch, it’s not a ground breaker, but it has a great cast of characters as
well as enjoyable fights and battles for all to enjoy.
Good:
-Interesting premise
-Class A group of characters
-Unique and incredible powers that come from the cast as
well as the numerous amounts of demons in the show makes for amazing battles
and action
Bad:
-Outdated graphics
-The show while good isn’t to groundbreaking
Scully Rating: 8.0 out of 10
