Yu Yu Hakusho

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, you know how SFDebris has that system where he rates episodes of shows on a scale relative to the best and worst of that show itself? I figured that I'd do the same thing for Yu Yu Hakusho, except in the form of arcs rather than episodes.

Ghost Yusuke- 9/10 (Really underrated, actually)
Three Artifacts- 7/10
Genkai Tournament- 7/10
Saint Beasts- 5/10
Rescue Yukina- 8/10
Dark Tournament- 9/10
Chapter Black- 10/10 (The absolute pinnacle of the series)
Three Kings- 8/10

[Spark Of Spirit]

I'll give it a try.

Ghost Yusuke- 9/10 (I agree, it's a really strong and original start)
Three Artifacts- 8/10 (Yusuke makes this arc, but it's not as strong as it could be)
Genkai Tournament- 7/10 (It was fun, but nothing truly game-changing)
Saint Beasts- 6/10 (Meh, the most unoriginal part of the series, Hiei gets some good development, but that's about it)
Rescue Yukina- 8/10 (I like how FUN they made this arc until we get to the Toguro Bros. when everything gets deadly serious)
Dark Tournament- 9/10 (It goes on a bit too long, which is my only issue, but it's one of the best tournament arcs out there)
Chapter Black- 10/10 (Excellent)
Three Kings- 7/10 (The Hiei and Kurama material is 10/10, but everything else doesn't feel nearly as good except for the ending)

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Just out of curiosity, would you consider YYH to still be one of your favorite anime (shonen or otherwise)?

I only ask because making this list made me realize that there are really only specific portions of this series that I find to be downright perfect, but despite my thoughts on the rest of the series, I still feel that the overall package is worth WAY more than the sum of its parts. Broken down individually, most of the show is still great, but as a complete entity it really is my favorite anime series of all time. And that "pinnacle" of the series is SO damn good that its good enough to make this one of my favorites on its own, regardless of the rest of the series, but as it stands the rest of the series is great for the most part, as well. Also, keep in mind that my scores were only relative to the series itself, anyways. Compared to 90% of any other shonen series' out there, MOST of these arcs would be a 10, and Chapter Black would have to be an 11 or higher for how much it outclasses most shonen manga and/or anime ever made.

Dark Tournament- 9/10 (It goes on a bit too long, which is my only issue, but it's still THE best tournament arc out there)

Fixed.

[talonmalon333]

I don't think I could use the same grading system for mini arcs like the Saint Beasts and The Genkai tournament, versus entire arcs like the Dark Tournament and Chapter Black. I might just do the four big arcs and then rate the small arcs against each other.

Spirit Detective - 8/10
Dark Tournament - 10/10
Chapter Black 10/10 (this deserves an 11 really if the scale could go higher)
Three Kings - 6/10

[Spark Of Spirit]

Just out of curiosity, would you consider YYH to still be one of your favorite anime (shonen or otherwise)?

I only ask because making this list made me realize that there are really only specific portions of this series that I find to be downright perfect, but despite my thoughts on the rest of the series, I still feel that the overall package is worth WAY more than the sum of its parts. Broken down individually, most of the show is still great, but as a complete entity it really is my favorite anime series of all time. And that "pinnacle" of the series is SO damn good that its good enough to make this one of my favorites on its own, regardless of the rest of the series, but as it stands the rest of the series is great for the most part, as well. Also, keep in mind that my scores were only relative to the series itself, anyways. Compared to 90% of any other shonen series' out there, MOST of these arcs would be a 10, and Chapter Black would have to be an 11 or higher for how much it outclasses most shonen manga and/or anime ever made.

Well, few anime I would rate every arc high, so it probably would be.  The only part I would probably not stack up with the rest are the Saint Beasts, but even that is still enjoyable. Nothing (in the anime) would really mark the whole thing down for me.

Dark Tournament- 9/10 (It goes on a bit too long, which is my only issue, but it's still THE best tournament arc out there)

Fixed.

Probably, actually. Other than the tournaments in Dragonball, I can't think of any other great ones.

I don't think I could use the same grading system for mini arcs like the Saint Beasts and The Genkai tournament, versus entire arcs like the Dark Tournament and Chapter Black. I might just do the four big arcs and then rate the small arcs against each other.

Spirit Detective - 8/10
Dark Tournament - 10/10
Chapter Black 10/10 (this deserves an 11 really if the scale could go higher)
Three Kings - 6/10

If you want to do it that way:

Spirit Detective - 9/10
Dark Tournament - 9/10
Chapter Black 10/10
Three Kings - 7/10 (It would be 8 if it was more fleshed out, but it is what it is)

That would probably tell you how strong I think the best parts of SD are.

[VLordGTZ]

Let's see here...........
Ghost Yusuke- 8/10 (Great start for the series)
Three Artifacts- 7/10
Genkai Tournament- 8/10
Saint Beasts- 6/10 (It got me into the series but I feel it doesn't hold up after the first time through)
Rescue Yukina- 9/10
Dark Tournament- 9/10
Chapter Black- 10/10 (OMG IT'S  SO AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Three Kings- 8/10  (It's definitely a step-down from Chapter Black but there still is a lot of enjoyable parts like Hiei's back story)

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Probably, actually. Other than the tournaments in Dragonball, I can't think of any other great ones.

The tournament arc in Flame of Recca was pretty good as well, IMO, but other than that, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Dragon Ball, there aren't really any other high-profile tournament arcs that I'm aware of. The D of D arc in HSDK was amusing at best (and basically the last part of the manga that was half-way decent), but yeah, most other shonen tournament arcs are either forgettable or downright suck.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Fun! I should do this sometime for Bobobo and One Piece (and other shows as well )! 

Ghost Yusuke  - 9/10. How many series begin the way Yu Yu Hakusho does? These are really good character-focused episodes that get you well-acquainted with the personalities of Yusuke, Kuwabara, Keiko, and Botan are before delving into the monster-fighting and battles that dominate the rest of the series. Every episode here I would consider solid, and while I'm somewhat remiss some nice stories from the early part of the manga were cut out, "Kuwabara: A Promise Between Men" is easily one of the most memorable episode in the series, and a personal favorite of mine as well.

Three Artifacts - 8/10. A good start to the Spirit Detective's casework, although not some of the series' best stuff.

Genkai's Tournament - 9/10 I just like it a lot. My second favorite part of the Spirit Detective saga outside the beginning.

Saint Beasts - 7.5/10. PERSONAL STORY TIME! I remember the first time I decided to watch Yu Yu Hakusho. Sure, I saw pieces of the Ghost Yusuke part of the Spirit Detective arc back when Toonami reaired it in February 2005, but I never payed much attention to it and Zatch Bell arrived before I gave it a proper viewing. So, I was happily surprised to discover it again a year and a half later. It was a Friday night one September 2006 long ago, and I had just discovered Colors TV's FUNimation Channel block. It had Case Closed! Kodocha! Fruits Basket! Spiral!?... (I remember absolutely nothing about this except that I watched it  ) And they aired them EVERY. WEEKNIGHT. 8PM - 10PM. Good times, good times. Anyway, one Friday night I discovered that at 10pm they aired Yu Yu Hakusho. I remembered the show aired on Toonami, and decided to check it out again. The night I first tuned in they were airing episode 15, "Genbu, the Stone Beast." I was treated to a tense trust moment, Hiei slashing an eye-demon right in the middle of it's...eye, and Kurama being a total badass in his fight with Genbu. So, I liked it. So I continued to watch the Saint Beast arc from there, and increasingly liked the show more and more. And the rest is history (or story time for other days, whatever). The point is I can never truly dislike the Saint Beast arc because I got into the series through it. However, I do think it is the weakest part of the show as a whole, and a pretty by the numbers story arc at the end of the day, and that's why I'm giving it only 7.5/10.

On a tangent, Colors TV post November 2006 FUNimation Channel Block > Post 2004 Toonami lineup. Maybe even the current Toonami lineup. I will elaborate on this in the appropriate thread.

Rescue Yukina - 8/10. Great, fun arc, introducing two extremely important and memorable villains. 

Dark Tournament - 9.5/10. Team Dr. Itchigaki fight aside, this was a great arc, albeit a long one. Although the tournament thing became tiresome (although luckily not MAR-level tiresome), it is, in my opinion, the greatest Tournament arc ever written and the second greatest arc in Yu Yu Hakusho overall.

Chapter Black - 10/10. The pinnacle of the series, with one of my favorite concepts in an action series, the territories. I have yet to see any other series besides Hunter X Hunter come up with more clever and interesting fights than these. The characters, of course, is the main reason why this arc ends up so good, with Shinobu Sensui specifically making this arc one of the greatest in it's genre.

Three Kings - 8.5/10. The Tournament stuff is a let down in a lot of ways, but everything else? Perfect closure to all the characters, and to the entire series in general. I cannot imagine the anime without this arc; it just feels too important to me. The ending is easily my second favorite in any anime series (Maison Ikkoku's being my favorite  ).


By Major arc I would rank 'em:

Spirit Detective - 8.5/10
Dark Tournament - 9.5/10
Chapter Black - 10/10
Three Kings - 8.5/10

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Fun! I should do this sometime for Bobobo and One Piece (and other shows as well )! 

On that note, I'd be interested in doing something like this for One Piece as well.

[Spark Of Spirit]

You could probably do this for Dragon Ball and Z, too.

Probably, actually. Other than the tournaments in Dragonball, I can't think of any other great ones.

The tournament arc in Flame of Recca was pretty good as well, IMO, but other than that, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Dragon Ball, there aren't really any other high-profile tournament arcs that I'm aware of. The D of D arc in HSDK was amusing at best (and basically the last part of the manga that was half-way decent), but yeah, most other shonen tournament arcs are either forgettable or downright suck.

Oh yeah, the Recca one was pretty good. But yeah, they don't stand out too much as a whole.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

You could probably do this for Dragon Ball and Z, too.

I was actually thinking of doing one for the manga as a whole series, since I kind of don't like DBZ as an anime, these days.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Yeah, while I would have liked more of Yusuke's stories as a spirit to have been kept for the anime it probably would have killed the pace. There was also the issue that none of the stories or people he meets actually come into play later in the story. Had some of them come back for Chapter Black or maybe some sort of issue with Kuwabara in Three Kings, then I could have seen them being kept.

I still think his boxer friend coming back for Chapter Black would have been a really nice touch.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

That one story where Yusuke helps that kid who got picked on in boxing was my favorite stand-alone story from the Ghost Yusuke portion of the manga. I do wish that part got adapted into the anime, myself.

[talonmalon333]

Now to compare sub arcs individually.

Surprised to be Dead - 7/10
Three Artifacts - 7/10
Genkai Tournament - 7/10
Maze Castle - 6 to 8/10
Rescue Yukina - 8/10

[gunswordfist]

Ghost Yusuke - 9/10 - I don't get why everyone calls this arc too slow.

Three Artifacts - 7/10 - 2 generic villains (funny enough, one is Hiei and he is arguably the most generic main villain in the show) Kurama is great from day one and his meeting with Yusuke is the best part of this arc.

Genkai's Tournament - 9/10 - THIS is the greatest part of early YYH. It's a fun little arc and the marathon of it on as made me a fan of Yu yu Hakusho for life.

Saint Beasts - 7/10 - Yeah it's the weakest but not mediocre imo.

Rescue Yukina - 8/10 - Now that I've seen all the episodes within this arc (ok, I missed like one) I see how really fun it is. I didn't pay too much attention to it but now it has gone from 7 to 8.

Dark Tournament - 10/10 - Forget you guys. This arc isn't getting enough credit from even you. A lot of good characters get introduced here, this arc gives Yusuke more character development per saga than any other and it has the best fights. The greatest arc out of any type of tv show.

Chapter Black - 9/10 - Bare with me, I haven't finished my rewatching of it and even then I missed an episode or two (I don't think I've even seen Yusuke die) and most of the last Sensui fight.

Three Kings - 7/10 This arc had to happen because we got to see some of Kurama's past, everything you could ask for from Hiei's past and a good ending. Hmm, doesn't Genkai already have demons in her forest? That should work out well.