Let's Talk About... Yu Yu Hakusho

[Spark Of Spirit]

I agree with that quote entirely, and I haven't even gotten to the 2011 series yet. But it is what I've noticed with a lot of adaptions.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Re-watched episode 2, but I'm still going to wait fir Avaitor before commenting on it.

I will say that I'm having a lot of fun, though. I'm actually fighting the temptation to watch ahead so that I can keep pace with everyone else.

[Avaitor]

Hey guys, sorry that I'm a little late. I ended up taking someone's closing shift tonight, so I stayed longer than intended. Give me an hour or so to watch the second episode, and then I'll get this ball rolling.

But first, look at this nice screencap Spark made for us!



He has more for tonight's episodes, too! I'll try to integrate them in my post.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Awesome work, Desensitized!

I've got my fair share to say about the premiere, and some fun facts about YYH in general.

[Spark Of Spirit]

You are welcome!

I wanted to contribute something to the topic, so I decided to make a screencap for every episode to help add to the discussion. This also helps me pay more attention to what is going on animation-wise to pick out good moments.

[gunswordfist]

I can't find any legal way to watch this show so I think I'm going to pass on this, unless someone knows of one.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Well, it's getting kind of late tonight, so I'll just save my thoughts for tomorrow.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I will say that Justin Cook starts off really strong as Yusuke in these episodes. Which is good since the Spirit Detective arc pretty much hinges entirely on his performance.

[Avaitor]

Alright, so this week we're watching the first 2 episodes.



But you know, whenever I watch "Surprised to Be Dead", I'm simply awestruck by how effective it is. Now, this isn't a perfect premiere, and I'll get to why in a moment. But so much thankfully works, that I can't really fault it.

What I love about this episode is how its emotions are lined up. You can just cut up the remorse everyone who is grieving Yusuke's loss feels, Keiko's remorse is a little more simplistic, but is all the more effective as a result, when she's shown weeping over her friend's death. Kuwabara, meanwhile, is shown to lament how Yusuke died before they could get a good match in, ideally one where he wins. This will make sense as the show goes along and Kuwabara's character is explored, but so far he is shown to have some sort of code, at least in terms of combat. Meanwhile, his mother... is a pretty interesting character to begin with. She's wasn't shown to drink at all in these episodes, but it is apparent that something is going on to explain her lazy demeanor. There is no doubt that she loves her son, but she's somewhere else right now.

The build-up to Yusuke's death and wake is done well, as it gives us a chance to meet with some of the characters and get an idea of his life before his redemption. Although if I do have a problem with this episode, I do feel that some of the characters aren't down just yet. Everything you need about Yusuke is just fine, but his relationship with Keiko is shown to be a little lighter in the first episode, in a way that I feel contrasts with how close they were built up to be in the following one. It almost reminds me of Cory and Topanga in the first season of Boy Meets World, before she was changed for the next season. Kuwabara, similarly, isn't quite there yet, as he's kind of one-note thus far.

It's also fitting that while Justin Cook instantly finds himself as Yusuke, finding the right balance between streetwise and likable enough to fit as a protagonist, all while keeping his humorous and serious lines flow well, Laura Bailey and Chris Sabat seem to be taking their time to find Keiko and Kuwabara, similar to the series itself. Sabat in particular is playing Kuwabara a little too much like your common thug, the kind to be laughed at. Cynthia Cranz is also a little too bubbly as Botan, who may seem to be the same way as a character on the surface, but I think she's fine right now. The voice will find itself soon enough. Sean Michael Teague isn't as immediately right for Koenma as Cook is, but he's doing a little better so far with his appearance in the second, selling his exposition off well. His comedic timing seems to be a teeny bit off, however, but everything else is in check. I will say that the weak links in voice acting does come from the smaller characters, primarily Keiko and Kuwabara's friends. Some of them are pretty embarrassing, actually.



"Koenma Appears" is a good follow-up to the first episode, as the rules of the Spirit World are delved into a little. Koenma only really appears early on, as Yusuke and Botan return to earth shortly after, but he does for a reason, after all. Also keep an eye on that egg, the first MacGuffin of the series.

This is a little flighty, but entertaining and important enough to not feel like a waste. I do feel that Yusuke's time in Kuwabara's body drags, but it is helpful to see Kuwabara's ties to the paranormal, something that will matter as the series progresses. And it is fun to see how Yusuke handles things in his body, right down to his harassment of Keiko. And while I do still feel that the reveal of their families being close and the two being best friends since birth should have been addressed at least somewhat in the pilot, I can buy how Keiko can instantly tell that it's him. Their discussion is a nice little moment, one that's certainly nice to see.

Not a bad way to start things off, considering. What do you think?

[Spark Of Spirit]

The first episode is probably the strongest I've ever seen in a shonen anime. Still is.

The message it starts with (that reflects in both the opening and first ending themes) is about not wasting your life. Yusuke is wasting his life and out of nowhere loses it. And we realize that even someone like him who "nobody would miss" turns out to be an false assertion. He had a lot of value in their lives, some of which they didn't even realize until he was gone. Because of this first episode reflection of his life, Yusuke decides to give life a real chance, and is given the opportunity to have another shot at it.

This is the first episode of a show where people punch each other in the face and blow things up with energy beams. Yet, it works. Still, the atmosphere this episode puts out there sticks with you. It never really leaves which always gives you that attachment to Yusuke's ordeals and hope that he will find his place in the world.

As for the dub at this point-- it's serviceable. I've never met anyone who likes Kuwabara's voice off the bat, Botan is a little flighty, and Keiko can be flat, but none give bad performances. Though some of the one-note and BG characters aren't too good, they don't stick around long enough to matter. It's really all about Justin Cook as Yusuke here. He sells the teenage tough guy with a heart of gold and adds so much character to Yusuke that it's really hard to imagine the character sounding any other way. Even reading the manga I get Cook's voice in my head. He's perfect.

The second episode is a good way to delve further into Kuwabara's spiritual awareness and at the same time introduce us to the Spirit World as well as a very important character in Koenma. Koenma's voice is one that gets good fast, even if his first appearance is a light bit too tame. Before the Spirit Detective arc ends, I believe he gets hilarious.

I've always liked Keiko, ever since episode one. She really is the other half of Yusuke, sharing his rough side and forthrightness, yet unlike him she doesn't fall into a hot heated teenage pit of despair and is willing to do what she can to push ahead. That's why these early episodes that center around their relationship works so well to give the story its direction. If Yusuke doesn't have a strong reason to go back, these episodes wouldn't work at all.

So yeah, still a strong start to the anime. Though if you didn't know anything about the story, you might be wondering who the black and red haired guys in the opening are. Bit spoiler-iffic, no?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Sorry I couldn't participate in the discussion last night. It was really late and I had to get up early. I'll be sure to give my thoughts on these episodes later today, though, and respond to some of your comments as well.

Since Avaitor says that he'll be doing these a bit earlier starting next week, I shouldn't have a problem participating in future episode discussions.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

01. Surprised to be Dead

So, how many other battle shonen series (or cartoons in general) do you know that start out with the main character dying? It's such a brilliant way to start out the series, and immediately got me hooked. I was lucky enough to catch the premiere on Adult Swim, about a year or so before the series became a regular of Toonami. Avaitor and Desensitized already covered much of why it's such a powerful first episode, but here is a bit more input of my own.

Interestingly, while I do prefer the anime to the manga in general, I do have to emphasize that I love the whole ordeal with Yusuke as a ghost in the manga. Togashi spends 2 whole volumes on this part, as opposed to just 5 episodes, and this also addresses Avaitor's one complaint (which I do agree with, to an extent) in the anime about not properly establishing Yusuke and Keiko's relationship in the premiere. The manga does make it more clear that they were childhood friends, and even includes a brief but notable flash-back scene confirming it. That said, their interaction in the first episode did show that they clearly knew each other well, so I didn't find it out of place to see in the second episode that he was also well acquainted with her parents.

At any rate, while the concept could be said to just be a rip-off of Ghost, what makes YYH in particular stand out is how it's executed. Togashi does an excellent job of portraying general aspects of humanity throughout this series, and this beginning is no exception. Yusuke is very much a delinquent who has no goal or grand purpose in life, and since he doesn't amount to anything, he just assumes that nobody really gives a crap about him, and thus takes the people who care about him for granted. Facing death is like his wake-up call, as he gets to see first-hand just how much he means to the people close to him, including those he never realized cared about him so much. Yes, his mother may be an alcoholic and possibly engage in some other questionable activities (I love how Togashi just leaves this as an implication rather than just throwing it in your face, BTW), but she loves her son, and despite her irresponsibility in raising him is heartbroken to when she thinks that she has lost him. Keiko clearly considers Yusuke to be more than just a friend, but I like how this isn't terribly overplayed in the series, especially in the beginning. Either way, you can believe that she is deeply affected by his supposed death. Then Yusuke is surprised to see that even people he never really liked such as his long-time rival Kuwabara are negatively affected by him dying. He never realized that, for Kuwabara, he was a goal to strive toward. He was Kuwabara's main motivation in terms of having some goal to overcome (something that he never had up to this point, which is why he never understood or saw it). And finally, I really loved the scene where Principal Takanaka reprimands the 2 teachers who make light of Yusuke's death, and shows that he truly saw something in Yusuke and wanted to help him bring out his best qualities. He may be a minor character, but I consider that to be such an effective scene that really stays with me.

Now, of course this isn't all perfect. Togashi is not known for planning stories in advance, so this isn't like Avatar: The Last Airbender or Gargoyles where multiple things are hinted at early on. Their are inconsistencies in this story, and it is in essence made up as it goes along. However, what Togashi excels at is developing his stories and characters and making it all seem natural, so even after some retconning and such, you can still call this a strong starting point when comparing how Yusuke progresses throughout the series and compare it to where he started in this episode. Overall, it's one of my favorite premieres to any animated series.

As for the quality of the voice-acting, I've already elaborated on how Justin Cook really shines as Yusuke from the start, but pretty much everyone else needs work. As you all notice, a lot of the extras are voiced by the same VAs who voice the main characters due to a lack of a talent pool to work with in terms of good VAs. So, naturally, as they get better at voicing their own characters, they also get better at voicing the extras, and the dub improves as a whole. Also, some other notable VAs get some of their earliest roles as just extras in this series, such as Vic Mignogna, so it's always fun to point out those performances when they come up.

02. Koenma Appears

This episode, while not as strong as the first, is really important in establishing some of Togashi's strongest qualities as a writer. For one thing, he's excellent at playing with expectations, and creating a unique scenario that can be humorous since this is still a battle shonen and doesn't have to take itself too seriously, yet also make it legitimately engaging from a story-line point of view. Yusuke is given his ordeal, which as Avaitor mentioned is a MacGuffin in the shape of a golden egg. What I love about this series is that, while not planned out with the same foresight as some other series which I mentioned, Togashi has a great ability to call back to certain earlier plot points and make it seem like it was planned out to some extent. This golden egg will of course be important for this first arc, both in terms of plot and as a metaphor for Yusuke's initial character arc, but as Avaitor also said, keep an eye out for it, as it will be re-introduced in another form, later, and I've always sort of seen it as a motif that has its own implications about Yusuke's overall character arc.

Aside from that, I love the whole design and comedic set-up of the Spirit World being run like a "stock exchange" (I love Justin Cook's dialogue in this series so much), and Koenma is an excellent new character. Yes, he does serve as the obligatory exposition character for the entire show, but Togashi never forgets that he's a character, first and foremost, and thus I feel as attached to him as I do the main YYH cast over the course of this series. He's both excellent comedic relief, and a good objective reference point for when the other characters are in emotional dissonance later on down the line. Having said that, in this episode his role is merely to give Yusuke his ordeal to come back to life, but aside from the funny reveal that this seemingly cutesy little toddler is standing in for the supposedly stern and vicious entity in charge of spirit world, he does have a sense of experience and authority to him, and I do find that he comes off as an intriguing character in the early episodes, besides just being the brunt of comedy and exposition.

While I do miss many of the fun stories that are cut out from the early parts of the manga, the anime made a wise choice in making the necessary cuts and changes to tighten up the pace for show watchers. Also, I'm glad that they kept in the pivotal moments that they did, such as setting up Kuwabara's spirital awareness early on, which is also something that becomes a hugely important aspect of his character and has a huge bearing on the series's plot later on. Most other writers would just make that a convenient little quirk to progress the plot of this episode, but in this show it's treated as incredibly significant and makes both it and other aspects of both Kuwabara as well as other characters seem all the more important throughout the series, thanks to almost always paying attention to early details set up like this. Overall, the episode is fun, even if not great. I also do actually like the reveal that Keiko's parents knew Yusuke well and are fond of him, so the reaction they have to him in Kuwabara's body (thinking that it's just some dis-respective impostor) is a scene which I particularly like, myself.

[Spark Of Spirit]

The direction for these two episodes is fairly strong, too. When I was taking screencaps for the episodes I took notice that Abe really knows the best way to get the most, visually, out of a scene. The entire sequence where Botan guides Yusuke to meet Koenma features a lot of cool looking angles and really brings to life Togashi's world.

[Avaitor]

I wanted to talk about Takanaka's moment as well, but I was rushing to get SOMETHING down, so I ended up forgetting to. It's a great little moment, especially as it shows how he differs from some of the teachers at the school. Takanaka isn't a major player, and barely appears after the first arc, same with the school itself, but this helps to show that he has at least some honor code himself and is generally a good guy, that knock on Yusuke's head excepted.

This is going to be further shown in an upcoming episode, but I do sometimes wish that we could have a little more time in Yusuke's home and school life. I wouldn't trade most of what's coming later for the world, though.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I wanted to talk about Takanaka's moment as well, but I was rushing to get SOMETHING down, so I ended up forgetting to. It's a great little moment, especially as it shows how he differs from some of the teachers at the school. Takanaka isn't a major player, and barely appears after the first arc, same with the school itself, but this helps to show that he has at least some honor code himself and is generally a good guy, that knock on Yusuke's head excepted.

I believe that knock on Yusuke's head wasn't really meant as some punishment, but as a gesture to get him to listen to what Takanaka had to lecture him about for his own good. Maybe it's just a cultural thing, but I think that it's just an acceptable form of discipline in some countries. I can relate, because sometimes my dad would slap me or my brother on the back of the head (lightly, not nearly hard enough to cause any physical harm) when we did something wrong and we knew better.

But, regardless, I feel that even though he's not a big character, Takanaka's actions here do a good job of showing that not all of the people that have problems with Yusuke are dicks. It is something that becomes a stronger aspect of Togashi's writing with later villains, as most of them are not pure evil, despite being on an opposing side.

This is going to be further shown in an upcoming episode, but I do sometimes wish that we could have a little more time in Yusuke's home and school life. I wouldn't trade most of what's coming later for the world, though.

Well, while there isn't really much more of Takanaka, it's worth noting that the manga does spend considerably more time on Yusuke's exploits as a ghost, though not for anything absolutely essential to the main plot.