Quick overview:
This is the story of a 14-year-old juvenile delinquent who dies once, but is brought back to life to work as a sort of psychic detective/troubleshooter. As his "Ki" powers increase, he and his friends (who include 2 demons) run into more and more nasty-bads. Finally, they are challenged to a gigantic demonic competition, which unfortunately lasts a grand total of 7 books out of the entire series, though it supposedly lasts only about 10 days. They win, of course, but are immediately faced with the problem of Some (Powerful) Idiot opening a hole between the Real World and the Demonic Plane. After that, things rapidly wrap up.
The main features of this series are: the fact that our heroes use their brains to win their battles, the fact that all of the main characters are extremely well written and rather fascinating (both individually and in their interactions), the fact that many of the heroes are cute, the humor value (the author never quite takes himself too seriously), and the cool battles.
Since the characters are just so utterly great (my opinion), I have to give descriptions of some of them:
- Yusuke is a belligerent but generally nice 14-year-old guy, if a little prone to violence. He hates to think too hard, but finds himself doing it a lot to survive battles. Thanks to his training, he's become quite good at using his Rei-Ki (spiritual Ki energy).
- Yusuke's mother is only 29 years old and loves to drink all night. She's irresponsible, fun loving, but really does care about Yusuke.
- Kurama is a quiet, polite, studious, gentle 15(?) year old boy with long black (red in the TV show) hair and a bent for biology --- but he is actually a many hundred-year old demonic fox, who is pretty much trapped in his human body. Kurama in demonic "Youko" fox form (he looks like a tall, blond man with a foxtail) is a cruel, heartless demon, but his human "mother" has taught him something of human love and sacrifice. His main power is the ability to create and manipulate any demonic plant (and he has a preference for steel roses).
- Hiei is a short, aloof, gruff, arrogant, cynical, outwardly cold demon (in the shape of a rather small young man with spiky hair), whose main advantage in battle is speed. He also begins to practice a powerful magical black-dragon-fire attack that almost renders his right arm useless. He also has stolen a 3rd eye, which lets him look for people from far away (he got it to look for his kidnapped half-sister Yukina, though he won't admit it. Heck, he won't admit much of anything).
- Kuwabara is big, ugly, dumb, and loud and annoying, but he's basically like Yusuke: he's a nice guy. He's in love with Hiei's younger sister (though he doesn't know she's related to Hiei). He has a strong feel for "hunches," and he uses a Ki-sword when he fights.
- Botan ("Peony" as many people have informed me :-). A minor deity of death, she is one of the Lord of the Underworld (Spirit world)'s servants. Cheerful and occasionally bubble-brained, she hangs around Yusuke in human girl form.
- Keiko is Yusuke's (girl) friend. She likes him, and is one of only a very few people who can actually occasionally make him do the right thing (like go to school and not skip classes). She also has a good punch, but doesn't really know how to fight.
- Genkai, the Master of Rei-Ki, is old, short, and obnoxious, but extremely competent; in her young form, she's also rather pretty. She was once a first class fighter. She has given most of her power to Yusuke. ("It's not that I hate evil. It's just that a lot of the people I can't stand happen to be that way.")
- Ko-enma. The son of the Enma Dai-ou (the Lord of the Underworld), he appears as a toddler with pacifier in his mouth when he's in the spirit world, but appears as a handsome young man (with same pacifier in his mouth) when in the Real World. The pacifier actually has a purpose ... but you don't find out this until Book 16.
- Kuwabara Shizuru, the elder sister of the brute Kuwabara above, is a cool, cigarette-smoking psychic.
- Yukina, Hiei's younger half-sister, is a demon of ice and snow. She's actually very nice, gentle, and has no idea who her brother is, though she's searching for him. She's good at the healing arts. In other words, she's sort of the opposite of her brother.
- Pu. A little Spiritworld creature that is, in a strange way, part of Yusuke. Pu looks rather cute and silly, and makes everyone laugh at Yusuke when it sits on his head (which ticks Yusuke off royally). Pu gets a lot bigger and more impressive in Book 16.
Book 1: Our Hero (Yusuke Urameshi), dies while trying to save a child from being struck by a car. This is so amazingly out of character for the fight-prone, violent, stupid guy, that the Spirit World wasn't prepared for his death. So, Yusuke and his Spirit Guide (actually, a minor goddess of death) named Botan (Button) wander around in spirit form as the Spirit World tries to figure out what to do with him. Yusuke watches various human stories unfold, and does Good Deeds.
Book 2. Same as above. He finally returns to life at the end of this book, when his childhood (girl) friend helps revive him.
Book 3 - 4. Yusuke must defeat 3 demons, who have stolen powerful Spirit World artifacts. One he kills, one he helps, and one he defeats. The latter two, Kurama and Hiei, later turn into his friends (in fact, at one point later on, a popularity poll showed that Hiei was more popular than Our Hero. In the TV series, Kurama was the most popular). Later, Yusuke and his "eternal rival," an ex-gang leader named Kuwabara, try out for the position of apprentice to a master of Rei-Ki. The master of Rei-Ki is an old, short woman by the name of Genkai. Think Yoda. He calls her "hag," and she insults his intelligence. They make a great master/apprentice team.
Book 4 - 5. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei are sent off to stop several Demon World villains, who have gained control of evil demonic bugs that make people go crazy. The 4 discover that together, they are a formidable team (even if sometimes they can't stand each other). This is the beginning of their deep friendship (though Hiei would deny it). In the meantime, Yusuke's girlfriend and Botan must defend themselves against an onslaught of people who are mind-controlled by these bugs.
Book 6. Yusuke and Kuwabara are sent to rescue a demon-girl (Yukina) from the clutches of a rich, nasty man, who has imprisoned her for her magical gem-tears. Kuwabara instantly falls in love with her. Yusuke doesn't tell him that the girl is actually Hiei's younger half-sister. Later in the book, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama are all forcibly invited to the Demonic Competition. The reward: anything they desire. The price for failure: death.
Book 6 - 13. The competition. Our hero's team is composed of Yusuke, Kuwabara (who loses a lot), Hiei, Kurama, and Genkai (the "hag" mentor). Battle after battle after near-death experience after battle.... Cool battles, mind you, with the heroes having to use their brains as much as their technical skills.
Book 13 - 1?. The Demon-Real World hole becomes a problem.... Yusuke and friends must fight to contain a hole that is forming between the Demon World and the Real World, eventually resulting in a major battle between the madman who started the whole thing, and Yusuke. Yusuke dies once more, but comes back to life ... because a demon lord was one of his ancestors. Thus Yusuke is reborn as a demon (sound a little bogus yet?) and finally wins, only to find out that the madman who started the mess had done so because he wanted to be killed by a powerful opponent. Weird, huh?
Book 1? - ?. Yusuke goes off to meet his ancestor demon. Kurama and Hiei are recruited by 2 different rival demons. Kuwabara surprisingly begins to study hard for high school exams (!). There is trouble in the demon-world, and power struggle; to solve it all, Yusuke, who has inherited a kingdom in the demon-world from his demon lord ancestor, goes off to each of the other powerful lords and proposes a giant contest to see who'll get the rule. Just for fun. Just for the heck of it. Everyone agrees, and another contest begins.
Book 17 (?). Yusuke eventually loses the contest, and comes back to the real world. In the meantime, the demon-world starts communicating with the human world, and some of the contestants from the first competition start becoming TV personalities. Really. Hiei stays in the demon-world with his lord/master (a young woman with a dark past). Kurama stays in the human world, learning about his new stepfather's business. Yusuke opens a food stand. Kuwabara keeps studying. The last adventure occurs when terrorists take over the Spirit World, threatening to kill a lot of innocent people (spirits?). Yusuke and his friends are sent, one last time, to defuse the situation. (Literally defuse, since the terrorists have left a powerful time bomb behind). Yu Yu Hakusho ends on a surprise note (a whimper, not a bang); apparently the author had been feeling pressured by Shonen Jump to do things with the plot that he didn't want to. Too bad, but one could feel that the manga was beginning to lose toward the end.
"Yu Yu Hakusho" (roughly: either "Poltergeist Report" or "Story of Yusuke") is the tale of Urameshi Yusuke, a 14-year-old juvenile delinquent. His story begins when he tries to save a little boy from a speeding car and is killed himself. Yusuke's action was so out of character that the kingdoms of the afterlife were unprepared for Yusuke's arrival!
Yusuke wanders the world as a spirit, accompanied by a cute female spirit guide named Botan, doing good deeds. In time the balance of his soul is corrected and he is resurrected.
This is only the beginning of his story, however. Demons are invading the earth, and Yusuke must stop them! Yusuke learns a powerful fireball technique called the Spirit Gun, and is joined by powerful allies: Genkai, his teacher, Hiei, a sword-wielding refugee from the demon world, Kurama, a master of plants with a nasty split personality and Kuwabara, Yusuke's old rival from earth. Together they must defeat the greatest champions of the demon world in a massive tournament...
Yu Yu Hakusho is the last of the great "high-schoolers with mystical martial arts" series, and the last to hit the US. (As of now, it hasn't.)
Hiei
I originally wasn't going to put in a page for Hiei, but being that he's so popular (and because Kurama will kill me if he isn't here :o), I wanted to get him in here. And, he kinda grows on you. He's probably my second favorite character in the series now. For those of you who don't know, Hiei is the short guy with the spiky black hair and the attitude. The following summary was taken from V·Max volume 2, issue 1.
Hiei (Real age unknown)
The Dark Runt Returns
Of supernatural origin, he is the shortest of the Spirit World Investigators. Possibly compensating for his short stature, he has an arrogant, cocky attitude. Superhuman speed (combined with his sword skills) makes him a powerful fighter. He also possesses a "Jagan," a third eye that allows him to impose his will upon some demons and weaker humans. He acquired the eye to search for his missing sister, Yukina. As the price of the "Jagan," he can never reveal to her that they are siblings. He meets Yusuke while planning to conquer the human world. After his defeat by Yusuke, he works off his punishment by fighting alongside the Netherworld Investigators. He also develops a grudging respect for Yusuke. Despite his character flaws, Hiei is usually composed, even in crisis situations. His cold-blooded attitude covers his feelings of friendship for Kurama, and respect for Yusuke. He has a more adversarial relationship with Kuwabara (which infuriates the latter). In addition to his Jagan, his main weapon is the "Ensatsu Kokuryuha," or "Roaring Black Dragon" a powerful Dragon spirit which he controls.
I wrote this next section to summarize what I've learned about Hiei from the manga and my trips on the net:
Hiei has spiky black hair with a jagged white streak in it, and dark red eyes. He doesn't like associating with humans very much, but has become friends with Yusuke and Kurama. He is sometimes called the Forbidden Child because he was a fire demon born into a race of ice demons, hence Yukina's powers. When he was an infant, his mother was forced to throw him off the floating city of the koorime because he was a fire demon, but before she did, she gave him a pearl which he later lost and refound. Because he was forced to fend for himself at a young age, he is cold and has difficulty in expressing his feelings, but he does care for his sister Yukina. His main assets are his speed and skill with swords.
Hiei first meets Yusuke when he, Goki and Kurama steal several magical items. Hiei keeps the sword, "Koma no Ken." After Kurama and Goki are "defeated," Hiei decides to try and get the other two items and kidnaps Keiko. He offers to exchange her for the Mirror of Darkness and the Demon Ball. But he has infected her with his Jagan, and while Botan tries to keep the third eye from opening, Yusuke and Hiei fight it out. Hiei transforms into a more powerful form and goes to kill Yusuke, but Kurama shows up in time to take the sword meant for Yusuke, trying to repay his for his earlier efforts to save his mother. Yusuke beats Hiei and saves Keiko. Hiei later joins Yusuke, Kurama and Kuwabara in their missions as punishment. He and Kuwabara become adversaries because Hiei thinks he is stupid and disapproves of the fact the Kuwabara is in love with Yukina. By the end of the series, Hiei leaves the group and goes back to the Makai to stay with Mukuro, currying her favor by making a present out of an old "enemy" of hers.
As far as his romantic life goes, well, I'm not sure if Kurama and Hiei are supposed to be "friends" or more than friends ;). But I hope that Kurama and Hiei are lovers, because they're my favorite couple in the entire series (this is my opinion, so you can disagree with me if you want). Opposites attract, I guess. Judging by the amount of yaoi fan fics I've read, I think there's a lot of people who like them together as a couple, and I like the idea of them being two halves of one whole. One interesting thing I've noticed in a lot of fan fics is that Hiei is always the one who ends up pregnant. Explain THAT. And anyone who sees a physical resemblance between Hiei and Vegeta from Dragonball (i.e. spiky black hair, glaring, not very sociable, holier-than-thou attitude) is right on the money.
Kurama
Being that I have only seen two episodes of Yu Yu Hakusho, the second movie, and six mangas, I can't say that I am a Yu Yu Hakusho expert, but I do know that I like Kurama. Kurama, aka Shuuichi Minamino, is the dashing red haired, green-eyed young man in the series. The following summary was taken from V·Max volume 2, issue 1.
Kurama, aka Shuichi Minami (Human age 16, Real age over 400 years old...) Be Bop Bishonen, He's no lady.
Kurama is a reincarnated Youko (Fox Spirit). As a youko, Kurama was an accomplished thief. Fleeing to the human world to recover from injuries, he was reborn as a human child. Given the name Shuichi Minami, he retains many of his Youko powers and reverts to his true form in extreme life-threatening situations (like the final battles of the Ankoku Bujutsukai). Growing up as a human, he has developed an attachment to his human mother. He crosses paths with Yusuke while trying to save her from a life-threatening illness. He possesses a kind and gentle nature until annoyed or threatened. His even disposition serves as an anchor for the team of "Netherworld Investigators" made up of himself, Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei. His main weapon is a "Rose Whip." He also has command over plant life and uses plants in creative, deadly and decorative ways.
I wrote this next section to summarize what I've learned about Kurama from my trips on the net:
As Youko Kurama, he has silver hair and gold eyes, along with a silver tail and fox ears. He is taller as a youko (we've estimated that he's around 7 feet tall) and has a deeper voice, but tends to be more cold and uncaring, for it was his human mother that taught him to care. Being a youko, he is mischievous and sly and supposedly has an insatiable sexual appetite (though I think this is mostly from fan fiction writers like myself!) I have even heard that youkos are hermaphrodites. He was a thief in the Makai (spirit world) until severely wounded by a hunter. He can also turn himself into full kitsune (fox) form, with five tails and a silver coat.
As Shuuichi Minamino, he has long red hair (a carryover from his youko days) and green eyes. He is very attached to his human mother Shiori and has a stepbrother named Shuuichi (!) and a stepfather named Kazuya. He is polite and courteous, but his feminine looks often get people around him confused (he was once referred to as Kuwabara's girlfriend). He is one of the best students at his school, since he retained all the knowledge he had as a youko. Best of all, he has a propensity for taking off his clothes!
He first meets Yusuke when he steals the Mirror of Darkness and Koenma send Yusuke after him. He tells Yusuke that he will return the mirror to him if he meets him at the hospital. When Yusuke shows up, he finds out about Kurama's past and intentions. He tells Yusuke of an incident from his childhood when he fell off stool while reaching into a cabinet. Some plates were knocked loose and shattered on the ground, but Shiori ran forward and caught his head before he hit the ground, saving him from injury. But the broken plates scarred her arms permanently. Kurama was planning to use the mirror (which has the ability to grant any wish but takes the person's life in return) to sacrifice himself and save his mother. Yusuke offers his life energy to the mirror as well, and since the mirror cannot chose between the two, it spares them both and saves Kurama's mother. Afterwards, Kurama tries to repay Yusuke by saving him during Yusuke's encounter with Hiei, and then joins Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei later on as punishment for his crime. At the end of the series, he chooses to remain in the Ningenkai (human world) and work in his stepfather's shop.
As far as his romantic life goes, well, I'm not sure if he and Hiei are supposed to be "friends" or more than friends ;). But I hope that Kurama and Hiei are lovers, because they're my favorite couple in the entire series (this is just my opinion and I am entitled to it). Opposites attract, I guess. Judging by the amount of yaoi fan fics I've read, (and I've been reading WAY too many) I think a lot of people like them together as a couple, and I like the idea of them being two halves of one whole. And yes, I do know about his supposed "girlfriend" Maya, but I think they're just friends.
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