Yu Yu Hakusho

Yu Yu Hakusho is a Japanese anime series based on the manga series of the same name, written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi. The anime series, consisting of 112 television episodes, was directed by Noriyuki Abe and co-produced by Fuji Television, Yomiko Advertising, and Studio Pierrot. The series originally aired on Japan's Fuji Television network from October 10, 1992 to January 7, 1995. It was later licensed in North America by Funimation Entertainment in 2001.

Yu Yu Hakusho premiered, uncut, on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim on February 23, 2002 and ran until March 2003. The series then moved to Toonami on March 17, 2003, where it aired heavily edited until 2005. Yu Yu Hakusho was also part of Adult Swim's April Fools Event in 2012.

The series has also been broadcast in various countries around the world. It is currently being aired across Japan, other parts of Asia, and Eastern Europe by the anime satellite television network Animax.

The YuYu Hakusho franchise has spawned two animated films, a series of original video animations (OVAs), audio albums, video games, and other merchandise.

Plot
Yu Yu Hakusho follows Yusuke Urameshi, a street-brawling delinquent who, in an uncharacteristic act of altruism, is hit by a car and killed in an attempt to save a young boy by pushing him out of the way. His ghost is greeted by Botan, a woman who introduces herself as the pilot of the River Styx, who ferries souls to the "Underworld" where they may be judged for the afterlife. Botan informs Yusuke that his act had caught even the Underworld by surprise and that there was not yet a place made for him in either heaven or hell. Thus Koenma, son of the Underworld's ruler King Enma, offers Yusuke a chance to return to his body through a series of tests.Yusuke succeeds with the help of his friends Keiko Yukimura and Kazuma Kuwabara.

After returning to life, Koenma grants Yusuke the title of "Underworld Detective", charging him with investigating supernatural activity within the human world. Soon Yusuke is off on his first case, retrieving three treasures stolen from the Underworld by a gang of demons: Hiei, Kurama and Goki.Yusuke collects the three treasures with the aid of his new technique, the "Rei Gun", a shot of aura energy fired mentally from his index finger. He then travels to the mountains in search of the aged, female martial artist master Genkai. Together with his rival Kuwabara, Yusuke fights through a tournament organized by Genkai to find her successor. Yusuke uses the competition as a cover to search for Rando, a demon who steals the techniques of martial arts masters and kills them. Yusuke defeats Rando in the final round of the tournament and trains with Genkai for several months, gaining more mastery over his aura. Yusuke is then sent to Maze Castle in the Underworld where Kuwabara and the newly reformed Kurama and Hiei assist him in defeating the Four Beasts, a quartet of demons attempting to blackmail Koenma into removing the barrier keeping them out of the human world.

Yusuke's next case sends him on a rescue mission, where he meets Toguro, a human turned into the strongest of demons. In order to test his strength, Toguro invites Yusuke to the "Dark Tournament", an event put on by corrupt, rich humans in which teams of demons, and occasionally humans, fight fierce battles for the chance to receive any wish they desire. Team Urameshi, consisting of Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei and a disguised Genkai, traverse through the strenuous early rounds to face Team Toguro in the finals and win the tournament. They learn that Team Toguro's owner, Sakyo, was attempting to win in order to create a large hole from the human world to the "Demon Plane", a third world occupied solely by countless demons. With his loss, Sakyo destroys the tournament arena, killing himself in the process.

After the tournament, Yusuke returns home, but has little time to rest as he is challenged to a fight by three teenagers possessing superhuman powers and who end up taking the detective hostage. Kuwabara and the others rescue him and learn that the whole scenario was a test put on by Genkai. It is disclosed that Shinobu Sensui, Yusuke's predecessor as Underworld Detective, has recruited six other powerful beings to help him take over where Sakyo left off, opening a hole to the Demon Plane in order to cause genocide of the human race. Yusuke and his friends challenge and defeat Sensui's associates one-by-one, culminating in a final battle between the two detectives. Sensui kills Yusuke then retreats into the newly opened portal to the Demon Plane. Yusuke is reborn as a partial demon, discovering that his ancestor passed down a recessive gene that would hide until an heir with sufficient power surfaced, when his demonic lineage would be revealed.Yusuke travels to the Demon Plane and defeats Sensui with the aid of the spirit of his ancestor who takes control of Yusuke's body to finish the fight.

As they return to the human world, Yusuke is stripped of his detective title as King Enma orders he be captured and executed in fear that Yusuke's demon blood could cause him to go on a rampage in the human world. Yusuke, unsettled at having been controlled by his ancestor Raizen, accepts an offer by Raizen's followers to return to the Demon Plane. Raizen, desiring a successor to his territory, is on the brink of dying of starvation, a death that would topple the delicate political balance of the three ruling powers of the Demon Plane. Hiei and Kurama are summoned by the other two rulers, Mukuro and Yomi, respectively, to prepare for an inevitable war. The three protagonists train in the realm for one year, during which time Raizen dies and Yusuke inherits his territory. Yusuke takes initiative and proposes a fighting tournament to name the true ruler of the Demon Plane, which is agreed upon by Mukuro and Yomi. During the tournament, Yusuke and Yomi meet in the second elimination round where Yusuke is defeated and knocked unconscious. Yusuke awakens days later to find that the tournament has ended and that a similar competition is to be held every so often to determine the Demon Plane's ruler. Yusuke stays in the Demon Plane for a while longer, but eventually returns to the human world to be with Keiko.

Protagonists
Yusuke Urameshi — At the start of the series, Yusuke is a teenage delinquent. He later changes into an almost altruistic defender of the Human World, along with Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei. He even revolutionizes the Demon World by preventing a war between Yomi and Mukuro after Raizen's death and overturning the previous system of separate countries in Demon World by founding the Demon World Tournament in which the winner becomes the one ruler of the Demon World.

Yusuke has black hair, usually slicked back with gel, and usually wears a green school uniform. Yusuke is short tempered, impulsive, and likes to intimidate those who are afraid of him. Underneath his bold, cocky attitude, he has a joking, and kind nature. Keiko Yukimura, one of his childhood friends (and later love interest), is one of the very few who knows Yusuke is actually very kind, and she sympathizes with his problems in life.

Yusuke's signature move is the Spirit-Gun, he concentrates his Spirit Energy into his right index finger and releases it as a projectile. After channeling his energy, he pulls the trigger in his mind when he wants to fire the "bullet." The Spirit-Gun blast can range in size from a small shot, to a full-sized cannon blast, to a near atomic-explosion, as demonstrated in the demon world tournament.

Keiko Yukimura — The love interest of Yusuke Urameshi, Keiko is Yusuke's childhood friend, and later they became a couple. They grew up together and have attended the same school since they were kids. In many ways, Keiko is the opposite of Yusuke. She is sweet, calm, and doesn't use foul language. She is also equally known for her intelligence (she is the class representative of their section) and dependability. As a class representative, she often scolds Yusuke because of his bad student habits like skipping classes and being absent for many times but inside, she really wants to protect him.

Kazuma Kuwabara — more commonly known as Kuwabara is one of the main protagonists of the series. He is the tallest member of the team, standing at about six feet - making him very tall by Japanese standards, as this is considered well above average. He has thick reddish-orange hair that is combed up into a 1950's 'punk' pompadour style and wears his light blue school uniform most of the time.

Kuwabara is the self-proclaimed second-toughest kid at Sarayashiki Junior High School, and he is always trying to usurp Yusuke's position as the toughest. He claims to have never lost a fight until he met Yusuke. He leads a gang consisting of himself, Kirishima, Okubo, and Komada. He develops a minor crush on Botan when he first meets her, but later harbors intense feelings for the ice apparition Yukina, but is unaware that she's Hiei's twin sister. The Spirit Sword is Kuwabara's signature attack, where he creates a sword comprised only of his Spirit Energy. Its strength depends on how much energy Kuwabara focuses into it. He can also increase the length of the Spirit Sword at will.

Kurama — A demon and one of the main protagonists of the series, is the most calculating, cunning and analytical member of the main characters and perhaps in the whole series. He is able to carefully look past his feelings and see the real situation at hand. He is extremely perceptive, able to quickly recognize the patterns and mistakes that his opponents make, which gives him an edge. In battle, while his preference is to concoct strategies based on deduction of his opponents' fighting abilities and style, his natural battle instincts are also highly tuned. His care for his friends and family are the backbone of his fighting drive, as he would sacrifice just about anything to protect them.

Kurama has a very kind heart, and several villains in the series will use this ploy against him in order to beat him. In his human form, Kurama has long red hair, with two long forelocks on either shoulder and the rest on his back. While in this form, he often wears his school uniform consisting of  matching pink slacks and a jacket with gold trim. While in his demon-fox form, he has prominent silver fox-ears, as well as a silver tail and long flowing silver hair. He wears a white sleeveless yukata (that resembles a toga). Kurama employs a wide variety of plants as weapons, including the Rose Whip.

Hiei — A demon and one of the main protagonists of the series, he has spiky black hair and he wears a white headband that conceals his Jagan Eye, which is placed in the center of his forehead. He wears a long black cloak-like jacket and black pants. He has a rather cynical and even misanthropic view of the world around him, often belittling and mocking humans and their emotions and the significance they place on friendship and life.

While he is relatively taciturn, he occasionally squabbles with and insults his teammates, especially Kuwabara. It is obvious that deep down he holds a certain amount of respect and kinship for his teammates, but seems to be closest to Kurama and Yusuke. Hiei employs his super speed and technical mastery of his sword in battle. Hiei also uses his demon energy to lure the flames of Demon World to him, creating a dragon made of black flames, called Dragon of the Darkness Flame. The dragon cannot be controlled, unless the user is capable of absorbing it.

Botan — A guide to the Spirit World (grim reaper), who is initially assigned to guide Yusuke in his test so his soul can come back again to his body, thereby resurrecting him. She is genuinely helpful and well-meaning, she can be somewhat clumsy and short-sighted. She's also bubbly and cautiously-optimistic, but can be a bit of a scaredy-cat. She sometimes tends to be a motormouth. She used to view Yusuke as an interesting subject to study until she develops a bond with him, and becomes a valuable ally and close friend. Later, as Yusuke teamed up with Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei, Botan helps the whole team as well. Botan has long blue hair and is usually clad in a light-pink kimono when on duty, but she has been known to wear human clothes. Botan has mild healing abilities, which include slowing down the rate of demonification, but not enough to completely stop or reverse it.

Koenma — The ruler of Spirit World, Koenma has many subordinates, especially the ogre, George. The two don't really get along, as Koenma has a temper and George often annoys him. He also has a rather bossy attitude, commanding those around him to accomplish his tasks, whether they work for him or not. He gets along with Botan, however he has a sort of sibling rivalry with Yusuke. Koenma normally appears as a toddler with a red obi sash tied at the waist of a pink-trimmed blue robe over brown pants and black shoes.However, when venturing into the human and demon worlds, he transforms into a handsome teenager with long brown hair, parted down the middle and the word JR. on his forehead (though he occasionally appears in his true toddler form as well). No matter the form he always has a blue pacifier in his mouth.

Genkai — The master of Yusuke Urameshi, Normally, Genkai looks like a thoroughly aged woman, wearing martial arts clothes and occasionally a purple cap bearing a manji with the characters for 'master', which reflects ancient Buddhist tradition. She has shoulder-length pinkish gray hair and brown eyes. However, in her younger years, she was a beautiful girl with bright pink hair and much greater spiritual and physical strength. Genkai is an old-fashioned woman with great strength and determination. She put her mind and body through extensive training to allow her to create and control the spirit wave orb, which contributed greatly to her rather cold and hard demeanor.

She viewed Yusuke as a slacker at first, often putting him through grueling and life-threatening training regimens, but soon came to love him like the son she never had. Quite noticeably, she appears to be a pragmatist first and foremost, as when she told Kuroda the hitman that she didn't care what kind of profession the winner of the tournament was, seemingly ignorant of any moral shortcomings the candidates had. From this, it can be inferred that she is the type of person who will do almost anything she deems necessary to accomplish her goals. This mentality is what gives her to push herself and others beyond their apparent limits.

Antagonists
Rando — A demon who participates in Genkai's tournament and the main antagonist in Yusuke's second case. He has killed 99 Psychics and copied their techniques. He disguises himself as Shorin, a monk, during Genkai's tournament so as not to draw attention to himself. He had planned to win the tournament and make Genkai's Spirit Wave the 100th technique in his arsenal, but was defeated by Yusuke.

The Four Saint Beasts — Four demons who rule a part of the Underworld called Demon City and the antagonists of Yusuke's third case. The beasts share their names with the four symbols of Chinese astrology.
 * Genbu the Stone Turtle — A rock demon with the power to move through stone as though it were part of his body. he was fought and killed by Kurama.
 * Byakko the White Tiger — A white tiger demon who can turn pieces of his hair into lesser beasts, absorb aura energy and fire sonic blasts from his mouth. He was fought by Kuwabara, and later killed by Seiryu.
 * Seiryu the Blue Dragon — A demon with enhanced speed and control over ice. He was fought and killed by Hiei.
 * Suzaku the Lightning Phoenix — The leader of the Four Saint Beasts, Seiryu is a demon who uses lightning to attack, he is able to split himself into seven separate, yet equally powerful bodies, and can endlessly regenerate his power by reabsorbing the copies. He was fought and killed by Yusuke.

Team Rokuyukai — The first team that team Urameshi fights in the Dark Tournament. It consists of high powered demons from the streets of demon world who have little to no acclaim. Their name in Japanese, "Roku Youkai" translates to "The Six Demons". They're called this because the team has six members instead of the usual five, meaning before every match they have to play "Rock Paper Scissors" to determine who gets to fight and who is that round's "Substitute". It's for this reason that the true leader of the Team, Chu, is initially counted as the team substitute until the final match after killing two members for cowardice. The team's human sponsor is Sukezo Gondawara of the Black Book Club.
 * Rinku — A child-like demon who uses eight yo-yo's to fight, but Rinku's yo-yo's are not mere toys, as they actually respond to his demon energy. He was fought by Kuwabara, who was defeated.
 * Roto — A demon who can morph his finger into a sickle and uses crude tactics against his opponents. He was fought and killed by Kurama.
 * Zeru — A demon with control over fire. He was the stand-in leader of Team Rokuyukai in the Dark Tournament, and appeared to be the true leader until the real leader of the team, Chu, showed up. He was fought and killed by Heie.
 * Gaou and Imajin — Imajin physically looks like John Lennon, and his name refers to the most famous song of the singer "Imagine". Gaou looks like a muscled man of African-American descent, both appeared to be competent fighters until the death of Zeru caused them to flee, revealing themselves to be cowards who stuck with the strong, only to be killed by Chu (beaten to death in the anime, beheaded in the manga) their true leader.
 * Chu — The true leader of Team Rokuyoukai. Chu is a serious drunk, stumbling into the ring and attempting to fight, surprising all of Team Urameshi. However this is a ploy for him to reveal his true power. While drunk, he is rather cocky and also rather fond of the ladies (as seen by his flirting with Koto). Like Yusuke, he has a lust for battle and is willing to go to extremes to make the fight more interesting, such as his addition of the unorthodox "knife-edge death match." He is fought and defeated by Yusuke.

Episodes
Yu Yu Hakusho is a 112 episode Japanese anime series that aired weekly from October 10, 1992 to December 17, 1994, on Fuji Television in Japan. In North America, the episodes aired from February 23, 2002 to April 1, 2006, on Cartoon Network. Initially, the episodes were shown on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block from February 2002 to March 2003, and switched to Cartoon Network's Toonami programming block until January, 2005. In october, 2005 the series was aired early on Saturday mornings on Cartoon Network, and the final 24 episodes were finally aired.

The North American English dub producer, Funimation Entertainment, separated the series into four "seasons", each composing their own story arc, which they refer to as sagas. Thirty-two DVD compilations have been released by Funimation for the four sagas, with the first released on April 16, 2002, and the thirty-second on July 19, 2005. In addition, DVD collection boxes have been released for each saga, containing all the episodes of every saga, with the exception of the Dark Tournament Saga, which had two collection boxes.

List of Yu Yu Hakusho Episodes