YU YU HAKUSHO

More guys looking constipated while fighting



Review by: Stan (e-mail:asl1535@uncw.edu)

Number of eps.: 112
Genre: Whoop-ass
Watched: up to the end of Dark Tournament (dubbed)

Yes, it’s largely mainstream and is shown on Cartoon Network, unlike most of the series that typically get reviewed around here. But that doesn’t mean that it at least deserves some space here. Call it one of those “Because it had to be done” kind of deals. Anyway, this is one of quite a few series that our friends at Cartoon Network has picked up in what could be an attempt to cash in on the Dragon Ball craze (if it is, indeed, still just that). But this review is not about politics and profits, it’s about the content of the series. So the question is, does YYH deliver the good when it comes to over-the-top fighting?

Plot Synopsis: Yusuke Urameshi, a 15 year old delinquent, is killed in a car crash before his time. After meeting with Koenma, the one who’s in charge of “Spirit World” (at least until his dad comes back), Yusuke undergoes a trial to get his life back and gets appointed as a “Spirit Detective”, charged with the tasks of protecting Spirit World as well as his own from any dark schemes that the forces of evil may be cooking up. This translates into Yusuke fighting lots and lots of monsters. Eventually he gets help from two fugitive demons, Hiei and Kurama, as well as his best friend and rival Kuwabara.

Animation: Pretty good from where I’m standing. Nothing that took my breath away, but nothing that made me blow chunks either. The way some of the monsters are drawn, they emit a genuine freakyness that even sent chills down MY spine (not an easy task as far as anime is concerned).

Music: A strong ‘80s influence runs through the veins of the YYH soundtrack, which nowadays is a turn-off to many. But for others (like me), it adds a certain “cool-factor”. Synths, guitars, your regular rock-style instruments are present. The opening and ending themes are really upbeat, and some of the battle music really gets you pumped during the fight scenes.

Characters: The main hero group exercises a par for the course group dynamic. Yusuke is the stubborn yet strong-willed hero, Kuwabara is the brick-headed rival (who has the perfect “dumb but tough” voice in the dubbed version), Hiei is the strong and silent type that hates Kuwabara and others inferior to him (read: arrogant little prick), and Kurama is a cool and calculating girly-man that often doubles as the brains of the group. Of course, this being a fighting anime, each member is endowed with their own special power. Yusuke can fire ki blasts from his finger (Spirit Gun), Kuwabara has his Spirit Sword (a sword made from his own spirit energy), Hiei can control fire, and Kurama can control plants (I won’t elaborate any more on Hiei or Kurama’s abilites, I don’t want to spoil any surprises). Their main guide comes in the form of Botan, a pretty, aqua-headed girl that usually wears a pink kimono and rides on an oar (I don’t get it, either), she occasionally changes into other outfits that for some reason fail to attract the Spirit Fashion Police. She is also the one that usually gives the gang their missions. Heading up Spirit World is Koenma, despite being several millennia old and the all-knowing person in charge, still retains the look of a little baby and still bends to the will of King Yama, his father and the REAL person in charge. Koenma has an assistant in the form on an ogre named…Blue Ogre (English version), and the two share a number of comedic moments here and there. This series is quite long, so there are a lot of other characters that cannot be listed here due to the fact that long character lists are freakin’ boring. A problem is that not many characters break away from their usual gimmick (Kuwabara pretty much stays a blockhead, Hiei more or less remains an arrogant prick). On a side note, Hiei being a dead-ringer for a Vegeta impersonator isn’t doing Yu Yu Hakusho any favors in breaking away from being a DBZ wannabe (they’re both short, have spiked black hair, and really bad attitudes).

Plot: In the realm of fighting anime, the plot usually acts simply as a device for Guy A to beat the snot out of Guy B. Yu Yu Hakusho knows not to mess with a good thing and so doesn’t take any chances by giving you some mindbending storyline that distracts from all of the pretty bright lights and stuff getting blown up. I can sum up a single story arc as follows: Yusuke and Co. go to point A to fight a big monster, Yusuke and Co. beat the big monster then go to point B to fight another big monster. Okay, so there are other things that happen, side stories that detract from the main task at hand. Keep in mind that this series spans two worlds. While Yusuke is kickin’ ass and takin’ names in Spirit World, things are happening in the world of the living and vice versa, so it’s not so simple. But it hardly requires a lot of time and thought to digest what is going on at any given time (save for those good-ol’ DBZ-esque action sequences, fans of flying around and fireballs rejoice!). The plot remains interesting until we hit a nice little story arc called the Dark Tournament. That’s right, the DARK TOURNAMENT. If ever Yu Yu Hakusho had the chance to differentiate itself from DBZ, it just got drop-kicked out the window and plummeted to its doom. Yes, it’s true. Yusuke and Co. get an official name, “Team Urameshi”, and is forced to fight for their lives in the most notorious of Spirit World events. They meet many other teams which usually consist of one or two well-developed and entertaining characters with the rest being cannon fodder (you can spot the cannon fodder from a mile away). The fights aren’t nearly as annoying as DBZ, however. A battle that lasts 2-3 episodes actually consists of 2-3 episodes of FIGHTING as opposed to 1.98 – 2.98 episodes of powering up and the other .02 being the crappy payoff in the form of “Absurdly huge ki blast #1,598,472”. Plus there’s a lot of backstage politics going around. Apparently someone doesn’t want team Urameshi to win. This smells like the work of WWE Superstar Triple H, not content with holding people down in the living world, now he has to do it in the Spirit World as well? (okay, I just made that up). The plot does give you more than other fighting animes, just not that much more. To its credit, there are some curveballs that get thrown your way, stuff that you likely won’t expect, which is a good thing. All in all, it generally isn’t a series you want to take too seriously.

CHICKS!: YYH offers a good number of beauties to wrap your eyes around (yeah, eyes). Botan is pretty cute in her own way, her sky blue hair and sparkling eyes yell “GLOMP ME!”. That red outfit of hers with the white boots are to die for! The two announcers during the Dark Tournament, Koto and Juri, are cute as well, especially for you foxgirl lovers out there. Me being quite the furry, I’d kindly set aside plenty of time for a steaming date with either of them (even better, BOTH of them). Keiko, Yusuke’s love interest, is your usual hot school girl, but would be much hotter if she didn’t remind me of those perfectionist prudes I used to know in high school. I wish I could say “I’d do her,” but I get this feeling that she would constantly nag me to death; I guess not every guy is looking for a girl that’s like their mom. My personal favorite is Shizuru, Kuwabara’s sister. She’s hot, she’s tough, she takes no crap, she could probably kick my ass, what’s not to love? Yes, I go for the tough chicks, you can keep your soft girls! By far the pinnacle of hotness in this series is ironically the ice apparition Yukina, Hiei’s sister. Where to begin? She’s a different breed, far different from the usual busty tough babes that I usually fall for. The appeal here is largely emotional. Her soft eyes, cool-colored hair, and gentle demeanor just makes you want to go out and be the nicest person you can be just for the sake of scoring some hot ice apparition action. On the other hand, the whole ice thing could have an adverse affect on my libido, imagine a cold shower multiplied by about 10,000. Then again, there’s the distinct possibility of my uber-masculinity melting that wall of ice…ahem. Yes, she is blazingly cute by every single conceivable definition of the word. Now if you don’t mind, I gotta go spend some time in a meat locker.

Overall: Yu Yu Hakusho gives you everything you’re sick of seeing in fighting animes with a few breaths of fresh air. It’s an off-the-wall concept that leads to a good mix of action, comedy and drama with inventive characters and some interesting plot twists. This doesn’t really make up for the fact that it’s basically another fighting anime. Not the best series in the world, but fans of this type of thing will find a lot to love. Basically…

Get Backers >>>>> Yu Yu Hakusho >>> crap > DBZ

IN A NUTSHELL
+ Inventive characters
+ Innovative concept
+ Cool fights
-- Standard plot
-- Repetitive
-- Neither the animation nor the music is attention grabbing
Rating: 6/10

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Note: Screencaps were used without permission from Morgan D's Collection of Screencaps.