Yu Yu Hakusho

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

That's another thing I like about this series. Characters have subtle little developments as the series goes along, besides just having them change after one single big event like how most shonen do. They grow over the course of the story. For instance, Yusuke was just a punk kid who's heart happened to be in the right place during the first season. In the 2nd season, he started maturing a little bit and thinking things through more carefully. It was particular insightful in his fight with Toguro when he mentioned that he at one point had envied Toguro's strength, until he learned how Tugoro basically sold out his humanity to attain it, which shows that Yusuke wasn't just you're generic goody two-shoes in how he actually had some respect and admiration for the villain (as more of like a rival), until he became completely disgusted with who he really was, and realized that it was more important to him that he stayed who he was rather than just blindly trying to pursue power. By the Chapter Black arc, he had come along way, and he was also forced to skew the lines of what he had considered moral to get through certain encounters in that arc. In another insightful moment, Genkai notes how earlier on, Yusuke would have been hot-headed enough to jump Sensui the moment he discovered his identity as Black Angel. However, upon Sensui revealing himself, Yusuke was more reserved and was smart enough not to immediately pursue him. Part of this was because Sensui somehow scared him a little (which he admitted), but I feel that there was also a part of Yusuke that had really matured by that point, as Genkai pointed out. By the end of the final arc, Yusuke had pretty much given up on fighting, and at that point made the decision that he just wanted to pursue a normal life. He clearly wasn't the same kid he was at the beginning of the series, and you could see that he changed over the course of the story, but it was never in just one big moment where he abruptly changed. It happened in a gradual and believable way, which is something that I find most shonen series can't really do with their characters.

[gunswordfist]

I believe it was mostly because he was scared of him but Yusuke did do a good job of noticing that something was 'missing' about Sensui. Before that, he wouldn't have cared.

My favorite change (I'll say so far since I am really paying attention on the rewatch) is still Yusuke and Kuwabara at the start of Chapter Black. It was clear that Yusuke has been through a lot and both don't really care for petty street fights anymore. Especially Kuwabara. He even says that and unlike Yusuke, he didn't go off looking for a fight anyway. Kuwabara was more mature at that point, likely because he was near the end of his character arc. Hell, he might have been more mature throughout the entire series. He actually went to school, he went out of his way to assist Yusuke during the Saint Beasts arc and cared about his Spirit World job and saving the world WAY before Yusuke.

[talonmalon333]

I'm not sure I can say that Yusuke had given up on fighting. It seems like that was the one constant in his character. Didn't he say that he was going to return to demon world someday and would fight again in the tournament? I also remember him saying that all of the results of this first demon world tournament just sort of came out that way because he was "just fighting" for the enjoyment of it.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I know Hiei, Kuwabara, and Kurama were about done with fighting by the end but I think Yusuke meant fighting competitively. In the Three Kings arc you could tell he just wanted to go home because he would rather be with his friends and family then fighting it out over something he barely cared about.

[gunswordfist]

Watched episodes 81 and 82. I've never seen 81 before. I missed how they first went into Game Master's territory and how all 7 of them went into the cave. I liked seeing Seaman and Genkai help out beyond giving advice and I saw the one Yusuke 'fight' that I missed in the series. This all was pretty 'out there' for me when it comes to this show. There was a tennis match, jet fight and Yusuke battled digital monsters. Yusuke still being an impulsive twit made me actually wonder if it would take Korra this many episodes for her to not be just that

What else? It was nice seeing someone talk about getting the clap and Yusuke calling GM a little bitch. Then I caught up to the first part of the GM episodes which is when Kaito loses his game. How clever that part is always impresses me. What Kurama has to do to win is coming up in the next episode. This all reminds me that Kurama seems like he would be a good main character of a show. Funny enough, Hiei continues to look dumber than ever in this arc. I cracked up when Genkai said something like he was being stupid and could be study buddies with Yusuke.And where the hell did Kurama get time to change his costume on the way to the cave entrance? Lol

[talonmalon333]

And where the hell did Kurama get time to change his costume on the way to the cave entrance? Lol

That was always a weird part to me. Always made me giggle.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Such is a problem with adaptations of long-running weekly shonen series. You get obvious mistakes like that when the episodes are obviously rushed. If you think that's bad, then you'd be shocked to learn that YYH is nearly a masterpiece in terms of not having too many mistakes compared to shit like Naruto and such, which have MULTIPLE memes based on animation mistakes in the anime, alone. Dragon Ball Z has a shit-ton of mistakes as well.

[gunswordfist]

Yeah, DBZ is the king of animation bloopers.

[Spark Of Spirit]

[Foggle]

Found a screen cap from the upcoming Yu Yu Hakusho reboot mentioned in this week's issue of Shonen Jump.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

[talonmalon333]

So I've come to realize a few things about YYH over time.

One is about the Maze Castle story arc. In the past I've flip flopped with this one on how much I like it compared to the other stories in the Spirit Detective arc, though it was generally close to the top of the list. But I've come to realize that, depending on my mood, it can now flip flop from being one of my favorite parts of the Spirit Detective arc (probably 2nd favorite), to being the most boring part of it. What I mean is, when I'm totally into YYH, I can greatly enjoy the Maze Castle episodes largely because it marks the beginning of the main team of Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei. The three stories that came before it (Yusuke's death, the Three Artifacts, and Genkai's Tournament) were all good but Maze Castle tends to feel like the first "epic" story in the series where these characters must go to another world and storm a castle to save the human world from falling into chaos...... But on the other hand, there have also been those times in the past where I just watched YYH fairly casually, watching it just because there was nothing else I could think of to watch. And in these times, Maze Castle could get kind of boring and tended to be the point where I'd frequently just give up on rewatching the series through. I'm not even totally sure why. It just failed to capture my attention in these times.

I think that, over the years, more and more I've come to realize that the Rescue Yukina story is clearly the best story in the first season. And I think a lot of that has to do with timing. The characters just got done with a big journey in Maze Castle, and the series is beginning its shift into the Dark Tournament arc in terms of story and tone (and even animation, if I remember correctly). There's just something that's so laid back about this story arc which makes it so fun. It's like after the 8 episode Maze Castle, and before we go into the Dark Tournament (the longest part of the series by far) the story scales back and just takes things lightly to give us a short break. It's just Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Botan getting on a bus and heading out into the woods to rescue a girl. That's it. And there's just a sense of fun that comes from it. It's almost as if Yusuke and Kuwabara are kind of enjoying themselves (I love some of the dialogue in this arc, such as when Yusuke goes on about how the forest is a big waste of space) and that sense of fun extends onto the audience, or at least me. The structure of it almost feels like a video game. I hope that made sense, at least, because it probably became a bit rambly. Basically, I just like how laid back and light the Rescue Yukina story is after the higher stakes of Maze Castle, and as a break that begins to segue into the massive Dark Tournament.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I'm not sure if anyone would disagree with considering Rescue Yukina as being the highlight of the Spirit Detective arc. It's my favorite part with the Three Artifacts coming in second. I would easily call Maze Castle the low-light of the first arc for simply being a typical shonen arc but at least it is the first time the four guys become a real team so I don't dislike it.

The dub was probably at its funniest in Rescue Yukina, though. Annoyed Yusuke is the funniest Yusuke.

[talonmalon333]

The dub was probably at its funniest in Rescue Yukina, though. Annoyed Yusuke is the funniest Yusuke.

Perhaps I should've said that. It might be less about Yusuke and Kuwabara and more about just the people dubbing having fun with this arc, and said fun extending to the audience. Or both.

[gunswordfist]

I have no complaints about Saint Beasts, even though once I think about it, 3 of the 4 Beasts are really generic. The exception being the white tiger demon. Nothing too unique but he did have a lot of personality. Probably my favorite Kuwabara opponent. (Elder Toguro is not supposed to be likable)