Yu Yu Hakusho

This is a great series. Not because of superior animation or music. Not because of innovative plots or creative story-telling. Its just fun to watch.

The series grabs hold of you with the first line of the first episode, which goes something like this: "This is our hero, Yusuke Urameshi. And surprisingly enough, he's dead." I mean, if the main character dying in the first episode doesn't pique your interest, what will? After that, the story is one we've seen often enough: guys with super powers fighting evil. Basic, but with good execution it can be quite effective.

I think the main strength of this show is in the characters. Yusuke is the jerk with the heart of gold. He'll do the right thing, but he'll always have a smart-alec remark to rub your wounds with salt. He has most of the best fights, and his scenes with his girlfriend are classic, and usually end with him getting slapped. Hiei and Kurama are just cool, if you'll simply look past Kurama's unfortunate fashion sense (the pink jump suit just doesn't work for me). Kuwabara's probably the best. He's so arrogant, and yet he loses nearly every fight he's in. It's great just to watch him get the crap beaten out of him after his long descriptions of how he's going to win the fight.

The only negatives for this show are some annoying habits they have. They usually pull the old, "There are four of us and one of him, but we're not going to all fight at once and overwhelm him, we'll just sit back while one of us (namely Kuwabara) gets pummeled. We could simply shoot the guy with a finger, but let's let him tire himself out kicking Kuwabara's face in instead." It makes for good comic relief, but gets kind of old when the fights stretch out unnecessarily long. Let's not turn this into DBZ here.

I started watching this on Cartoon Network last week when they started showing it at 5:00 PM central time, 6 for most of you. I was instantly hooked. Yusuke had a kick @$$ attitude that I really related to (not that I am that way, but I still relate). And I love the fact that a "toddler" can rule the spirit world. Boton is really funny. Seems too perky to be the grim reaper, but it's their world, not mine. Great show. I recommend it to all of you.

As a kid it aired on an anime channel and it was pretty much the only anime i watched until i grew older, back then I've seen it about 5-6 times all the way from the beginning to the very end.

Just like many other anime, this one is heavily centered around character development as well. As a result what we get are really good, and well detailed characters that make the center of the series. During the 3 seasons there are at least 6-7 characters that have deep stories and personalities to them, so chances are you are going to be attached to at least a couple of them by the end of the show. Other than the heroes going through an emotional journey in which they mature and find their places in their worlds (the plural form is intended) they also develop physically in their power levels, symbolizing this journey.

As for the story line, it's nothing too complicated or excessive, but it is OK. The real deal however are the fight scenes, being an action packed anime, there are tons of cool abilities used by our heroes and the villains they face, and they don't always win their fights either, which makes it much more realistic and exciting. In some instances you might even find yourself rooting for the bad guys, as the line between good and bad is not that clear like in real life.

Overall if you like action based anime with lots of fight scenes then this is a MUST WATCH for you.

If Yu Gi Oh can be considered the companion piece to Pokemon, than Yu Yu Hakusho could be considered as a suitable companion piece for Dragon Ball Z.

The story concerns Yusuke Urameshi, a teenage boy who dies and comes back to life in an unusual twist of fate. As a side effect, he develops unusual psychic powers and is appointed as the spirit detective of the Earth, defending it from various demonic creatures.

The fights are more interesting than in DBZ, they really keep you on the edge of your seat, and they generally aren't too long and drawn out. The characters powers are also more entertaining and believable at once (i.e. They only get achieve levels capable of destroying the Earth towards the end, rather than in the very first saga, therefore, they usually must rely on strategy).

The characters are realistic and diverse, at least compared to most other shonen anime. They can be despicable, lovable, heroic, tragic and everything else, often all at once.

Of particular interest is the Chapter Black Saga, which tells the story of Sensui.

Funimation is the company well known for the dubbing of the Dragonball series, which was not as good as it was several years ago during the peak of its popularity. However, they soon got hold of another anime to put out on our television screens. Bad, right? Wrong.

YYH is the story of a street kid named Yusuke with unnatural and extreme fighting skills who becomes a Spirit Detective, a special official who battles demons who pose a threat to our Earth, after he surprises his boss for saving a child's life, something not expected because of his brash manner and horrible social life. From there, Yusuke is involved in many cases, ranging from returning artifacts to their rightful place to an Underworld fighting tournament, aided closely by his loyal friends and his girlfriend, who has a good hand on her as well.

The best thing about this series is that the only real edit is the voicing (as far as the uncut version goes). Everything else is the same: the names of the people, about 90% of the dialog, and more importantly the music. It's the closest thing to the original version I've seen in a long time, which is a very good call in my opinion to a well dubbed anime. And the voice actors are phenomenal. Everyone fits their roles perfectly and knows how to execute a joke, verbal and slapstick, so well that I found myself rewinding the recorded episodes I have just to see them again. Nicely done.

And the battles in the show themselves are very attention-grabbing and at times unpredictable. Yusuke may be winning a fight one minute and the next he can barely fight back because of his opponent's hidden technique they had all along. The fighters in this show can pull some unexpected tricks from up their sleeves and they are extremely intelligent and calculating in their each of their actions. They'll make you go "Wow. I never saw that one coming". Another good thing about the fighting is that long battles last no more than 5 or 6 episodes, unlike a 20 episode long battle in Dragonball Z. They get to the point quickly, with fireworks galore. These gripping moments never cease to let you go.

And the characters themselves are outstanding. Their personalities are so well brought out and so diverse. Yusuke's reckless and free-spirited, while Hiei (pronounced Hee-ay for those who don't know) is a dark loner who is only interested in number one most of the time. They are so developed and life-like you can't help but imagine someone close who resembles of few characters to the letter. And as perfect as this all sounds, it has one major downfall. Because of the similarities of the basic storyline to DBZ, people tend to look at it as just a DBZ rip-off and skip it. If the likeness is forgotten, it can become a well loved anime by most people who see it is a bad show.

In conclusion, YYH is a well done dub, as far as the uncut version goes. Wonderful voices, good humor, and battles that will have you hooked, all done without leaving out too much of the show's Japanese feel. Good job, Funimation, you've mastered the art of professional anime dubbing. Hey 4Kids, if you're reading this, maybe you'll learn something.