| YuYu Hakusho | |
 Firsttankōbon volume cover, featuring Yusuke Urameshi (back) and Keiko Yukimura (front) | |
| 幽☆遊☆白書 (Yū Yū Hakusho) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Yoshihiro Togashi |
| Published by | Shueisha |
| English publisher | |
| Imprint | Jump Comics |
| Magazine | Weekly Shōnen Jump |
| English magazine | |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Original run | December 3, 1990 –July 25, 1994 |
| Volumes | 19(List of volumes) |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Noriyuki Abe |
| Produced by |
|
| Written by | Yukiyoshi Ōhashi [ja] |
| Music by | Yusuke Honma |
| Studio | Pierrot |
| Licensed by | Crunchyroll |
| Original network | FNS (Fuji TV) |
| English network | |
| Original run | October 10, 1992 – January 7, 1995 |
| Episodes | 112(List of episodes) |
| Original video animation | |
| Eizou Hakusho | |
| Directed by | Noriyuki Abe |
| Written by | Shigeru Chiba |
| Music by | Yusuke Honma |
| Studio | Pierrot |
| Licensed by | Crunchyroll |
| Released | September 21, 1994 – February 7, 1996 |
| Runtime | 25 minutes each |
| Episodes | 6 |
| Original video animation | |
| Two Shot& All or Nothing | |
| Directed by | Noriyuki Abe |
| Produced by | Ken Hagino |
| Studio | Pierrot |
| Licensed by | Crunchyroll |
| Released | October 26, 2018 |
| Runtime | 15 minutes each |
| Episodes | 2 |
| Related | |
| Live-action series | |
| |
 Anime and manga portal | |
YuYu Hakusho (Japanese:幽☆遊☆白書,Hepburn:Yū Yū Hakusho) is a Japanesemanga series written and illustrated byYoshihiro Togashi. It tells the story ofYusuke Urameshi, ateenage delinquent who is struck and killed by a car while saving a child's life. After several tests presented to him byKoenma, the son of the ruler of the afterlife, Yusuke is revived and appointed the title of "Underworld Detective". With this title, he must investigate various cases involvingdemons andapparitions in the Human World, with the manga gradually becoming more focused onmartial arts battles and tournaments as it progresses. Togashi began creatingYuYu Hakusho around November 1990, basing the series on his interests in theoccult andhorror films and an influence ofBuddhist mythology.
The manga was originally serialized inShueisha'sshōnen manga magazineWeekly Shōnen Jump from December 1990 to July 1994. It consists of 175 chapters collected in 19tankōbon volumes. In North America, the manga is licensed byViz Media, who first serialized it inShonen Jump from January 2003 to January 2010. Ananime adaptation consisting of 112 television episodes was directed byNoriyuki Abe and co-produced byFuji Television, Yomiko Advertising, andStudio Pierrot. The anime series originally aired on Japan's Fuji TV network from October 1992 to January 1995 and was later licensed in North America byFunimation in 2001, where it aired onCartoon Network blocks includingAdult Swim and laterToonami. The series has also been published and broadcast in various other countries worldwide. TheYuYu Hakusho franchise has spawnedtwo animated films, a series oforiginal video animations (OVAs), alive-action television series, audio albums,video games, and other merchandise.
YuYu Hakusho has been well received; the manga has over 50 million copies in circulation worldwide, making it one of thebest-selling manga series of all time. It also won the 39thShogakukan Manga Award for theshōnen category in 1993. The animated series won theAnimage Anime Grand Prix prize for best anime in 1994 and 1995. The series has been well received by a large audience in Japan and a wide range of age groups in the United States. The anime has been given mostly positive reviews by critics in North America, complimenting its writing, characters, comedy, and amount of action.
YuYu Hakusho followsYusuke Urameshi, a 14-year-old street-brawling delinquent who, in an uncharacteristic act ofaltruism, is hit by a car and killed in an attempt to save a young boy by pushing him out of the way.[2][3][4] His ghost is greeted byBotan, a woman who introduces herself as the pilot of theSanzu River, who ferries souls to the Underworld (霊界,Reikai, "Spirit World" in the English anime dub) 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. ThusKoenma, son of the Underworld's ruler KingEnma, offers Yusuke a chance to return to his body through a series of tests.[2][3][4] Yusuke succeeds with the help of his friendsKeiko Yukimura andKazuma Kuwabara. After returning to life, Koenma grants Yusuke the title of "Underworld Detective" (霊界探偵,Reikai Tantei, lit. "Spirit World Detective", "Spirit Detective" in the English dub), charging him with investigating supernatural activity within the Human World (人間界,Ningen Kai). Soon Yusuke is off on his first case, retrieving three treasures stolen from the Underworld by a gang of demons:Hiei,Kurama, and Goki.[4] Yusuke collects the three treasures with the aid of his new technique, the Rei Gun, a shot of aura or Reiki (霊気,Reiki, lit. "Spirit Energy") fired mentally from his index finger.[2][3] He then travels to the mountains in search of the aged, female martial arts masterGenkai. 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 forRando, a demon who steals the techniques of martial arts masters and kills them.[4] Yusuke defeats Rando in the final round of the tournament and trains with Genkai for several months, gaining more mastery over his aura.[3] Yusuke is then sent to Labyrinth Castle in the Demon Plane (魔界,Makai, lit. "Demon World"), a third world occupied solely by demons, where Kuwabara and the newly reformed Kurama and Hiei assist him in defeating theFour 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 meetsToguro, a human turned into a demon. To test his strength, Toguro invites Yusuke to the Dark Tournament (暗黒武術会,Ankoku Bujutsukai, lit. "Dark Martial Arts Association"), 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, traverses 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 to create a large hole from the Human World to the Demon Plane and allow countless demons through.[3] 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 who take the detective hostage. Kuwabara and the others rescue him and learn that the scenario was a test from Genkai. It is disclosed thatShinobu 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 to cause genocide of the human race. Yusuke and his friends challenge and defeat Sensui's associates individually, culminating in a final battle between the two detectives. Sensui kills Yusuke and then retreats into the newly opened portal to the Demon Plane. Yusuke is reborn as a partial demon, discovering that his ancestor passed down arecessive gene that would hide until an heir with sufficient power surfaced when his demonic lineage would be revealed.[3] Yusuke travels to the Demon Plane and defeats Sensui with the aid 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 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 ancestorRaizen, 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. The other two rulersMukuro andYomi summon Hiei and Kurama, respectively, to prepare for an inevitable war.[3] The three protagonists train in the realm for one year, during which time Raizen dies and Yusuke inherits his territory. Yusuke takes the initiative and proposes a fighting tournament to name the Demon Plane's true ruler; Mukuro and Yomi agree to Yusuke's terms. During the tournament, Yusuke and Yomi meet in the second elimination round where Yusuke is defeated. Yusuke hopes a similar competition will be held every few years to determine the Demon Plane's ruler.
Two years later, Yusuke returns to the Human World while Hiei stays with Mukuro and protects humans who have accidentally wandered into the Demon Plane. After learning that King Enma was falsifying reports on demon activity against humans in order to justify keeping the two separated, Koenma takes over his father's position and allows access between the Demon Plane and the Human World. Genkai dies and leaves her estate to the main characters. The story ends with Yusuke and his friends reuniting at a beach.
AuthorYoshihiro Togashi stated that he began working onYuYu Hakusho around November 1990, though he forgot the exact time.[5] He had recently completed the serialization of his romantic comedyTen de Shōwaru Cupid inWeekly Shōnen Jump. Having felt somewhat intimidated by some of his more popular fellow authors during this manga's run, Togashi realized he would need to create a fighting manga to both gain popularity and write something he enjoyed.[6] As a fan of theoccult andhorror films, he desired to write and illustrate a new manga based on his interests.[7] Togashi had previously published anoccult detective fiction manga titledOccult Tanteidan, of which he referenced positive reception from readers as a reason for continuing to create manga.[8] When first producingYuYu Hakusho, he did not have a clear idea of what he wanted to call it. He used the tentative title "How to be a Ghost" while presenting rough drafts to his editors. Once given the go-ahead to begin publication, Togashi proposed "YuYu-Ki" (Poltergeist Chronicles) for the title, as there would be battles with demons and it would be a play on the titleSaiYu-Ki. However, a series with a similar name (Chin-Yu-Ki) had already begun publication, so Togashi quickly created an alternative: "YuYu Hakusho" (Poltergeist Report).[9] He commented that he could have used "Den" (Legend) or "Monogatari" (Story), but "Hakusho" (Report) was the first thing that came to his mind.[10] He contiguously developed the names of the main characters by skimming through a dictionary and taking outkanji characters he found appealing. "Yusuke Urameshi" is apun, "Kazuma Kuwabara" is a combination of twoprofessional baseball players, and "Hiei" and "Kurama" are "just names that popped into [Togashi's] head."[7] When he introduced the latter two characters in volume three, the author had early plans to make Kurama a main character but was not certain about Hiei.[6][7]
The manga's shift from occult detective fiction to themartial arts genre after Yusuke's death and revival in the early chapters was planned by Togashi from the beginning.[7] He took this idea from the seriesKinnikuman, which began largely as a comedy before concentrating more on action.[6] Togashi intended to establish the main characters and familiarize the reader with them before placing them in tense, physical conflicts. His editor at the time was nervous about him beginning the manga this way and recommended he transition to a battle-focused plot after about 30 chapters.[6]YuYu Hakusho borrows many elements from Asian folklore, particularlyBuddhist beliefs in the afterlife.[2][4] Togashi came up with the concept of theNingenkai (Human World),Reikai (Underworld), andMakai (Demon Plane) as beingparallel planes of existence in the manga's universe. He thought of them as places that one could not easily travel between using modern technology, but rather as a spirit lacking a material body.[7] However, the idea for the "territory" powers from the Sensuistory arc was parodied from a separate, unnamed work byYasutaka Tsutsui.[11][12] For his drawing materials, Togashi useddrafting ink andKabura pens throughout the creation of the series. While his style of artwork began withscreentone, he gradually developed intominimalism. As the series progressed, he would draw figures and faces very detailed or "cartoony, sketchy and jumping with action" whenever he desired such effects.[7]
During the years he worked onYuYu Hakusho, Togashi would calculate the personal time he had based on a formula of four hours per page without scripting and five hours of sleep per night.[13] He wrote in his owndōjinshiYoshirin de Pon! that he stopped the production onYuYu Hakusho out of selfishness.[14] The author had originally wanted to end the manga in December 1993, at the climax of the Sensui arc.[11][14] Although there was not a great demand from the editorial staff, Togashi was under a great deal of personalstress at certain points of the series' run, particularly during its final six months of publication. He claimed that beginning with the Dark Tournament arc, inconsistent sleep resulting from overwork was causing him health problems.[14] He noted he was very ill while working on the color pages for Yusuke's match withChu.[11] There were many instances where he would create nearly entiremanuscripts by himself, such as Yusuke's meeting with Raizen and the battle between Kurama andKarasu.[14] The publication's editors tried to make Togashi reconsider cancelingYu Yu Hakusho, though he justified his decision by stating that it would simply be replaced by another popular series.[6] Togashi was relieved at the conclusion of the manga.[11] The author claimed he was not involved in the production of theYuYu Hakusho anime adaptation due to his work schedule. He stated that he was greatly impressed byShigeru Chiba's voice depiction of Kuwabara, admitting that the actor understood the character better than Togashi himself.[15]
TheYuYu Hakusho manga series was written and illustrated byYoshihiro Togashi and originally serialized byShueisha in theshōnen manga magazineWeekly Shōnen Jump from December 3, 1990, to July 25, 1994.[16][17][18][19] The manga consists of 175 chapters spanning 19tankōbon with the first one being released on April 10, 1991, and the last one released on December 12, 1994.[20][21] Between August 4, 2004, and March 4, 2005, Shueisha released thekanzenban (complete) editions of the manga. Each of the 15kanzenban volumes features a new cover and more chapters than thetankōbon edition.[22][23]YuYu Hakusho has also been published as part of theShueisha Jump Remix series of magazine-style books. Nine volumes were released between December 22, 2008, and April 27, 2009.[24][25] Abunkoban version began publication on November 18, 2010, and was finished on October 18, 2011.[26][27]
An English translation of theYuYu Hakusho manga was serialized in North America byViz Media in the AmericanShonen Jump magazine, where it debuted in its inaugural January 2003 issue and ended in January 2010.[28] Viz released all 19 collected volumes of the English manga between May 1, 2003,[29] and March 2, 2010.[30] A total of 176 chapters exist in this format due to Viz treating the extra non-numbered chapter "YuYu Hakusho Tales: Two Shot" found in volume seven (which tells the story of how Hiei and Kurama first met) as the 64th chapter.[31][32][33] Viz later re-released the series digitally as part of their digital manga releases between August 20, 2013,[34] and February 25, 2014,[35] and later added it toComiXology's digital releases.[36] TheYuYu Hakusho manga has additionally been licensed and published across Asia and Europe. A French translation fromKana, for example, began publication in 1997.[4]
TheYu Yu Hakusho anime adaptation was directed byNoriyuki Abe and co-produced byFuji Television, Yomiko Advertising, andStudio Pierrot.[37] The series, consisting of 112 episodes, aired from October 10, 1992, to January 7, 1995, on Fuji Television.[38] The episodes were released on 23 video cassettes byPony Canyon from January 1, 1995, to December 6, 1995. They were also released on 28 DVD volumes by Beam Entertainment, with volumes 8–14 released on March 25, 2002, volumes 15–21 released on April 25, 2002, and volumes 22–28 released on May 25, 2002.[39] The anime differed from its manga source material by containing different levels of violence and profanity, as well as minor variations in art style from one to the other.[40] In early 2001, the series was acquired byFunimation Entertainment for North American distribution asYu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files.[41] Funimation's production saw a significant contribution from voice actorJustin Cook, who not only directed the dub but also voiced the protagonist Yusuke.[42][43]
The American-produced English dubbed episodes aired from February 23, 2002, to April 1, 2006, onCartoon Network. Initially, the series was shown on the channel'sAdult Swim programming block from February 2002 to April 2003, but was later moved toToonami.[44][45] Some of the show's original depictions of mature content including violence, sexual humor, and coarse language, as well as some controversial cultural discrepancies wereedited out for broadcast.[46][47]Yu Yu Hakusho was taken off Toonami around March 2005 and moved to an early Saturday morning time slot that October where the series finished its run.[48] It was also aired uncut as part of the Funimation programming block on Colours TV in 2006 and theFunimation Channel inhigh-definition in 2011.[49][50] Following Sony's acquisition of Crunchyroll, the series was moved to Crunchyroll.[51]
The series was distributed in the United Kingdom byMVM Films and in Australia andNew Zealand byMadman Entertainment.[52][53][54][55][56][57] In India the English-language version of the series was released asGhost Fighter.[58]Yu Yu Hakusho was localized in thePhilippines asGhost Fighter and aired onIBC in the mid-1990s, as well as onGMA Network in 1999. This version of the dub localized the characters' names, such as changing "Yusuke" to "Eugene".[59][60]
Funimation separated the series into four "seasons", that each compose their own story arc, which they refer to as "sagas". In North America, 32 DVD compilations have been released by Funimation for the four sagas, with the first released on April 16, 2002, and the last on July 19, 2005.[61][62] The episodes have been released in both edited and uncut formats. In addition, DVD collection boxes have been released for all four sagas, each containing all the episodes of that particular saga, except for the Dark Tournament Saga, which was split into two collection boxes.[63][64][65][66][67] Funimation released season box sets of the anime starting with season one on July 8, 2008, and ending with season four on January 13, 2009.[68][69] Each set contains four DVDs which have 28 episodes, or one-quarter of the whole series. Funimation began releasing the seasons onBlu-ray Disc on May 31, 2011.[70] Cook has stated that the production staff made minor improvements to their recordings, such as redubbing certain lines, cleaning up the dialogue, and removing "arrant anomalies".[71] In Japan, three separate multi-disc DVD box sets were released, as well as 28 DVDs totaling all 112 episodes of the series.[72] Japanese home video distributorBandai Visual began releasing the series on Blu-ray Disc on October 27, 2009, with the first set containing a picture drama set after the end of the series that saw cast members reunite to record new dialogue.[73]
Two animated films based onYu Yu Hakusho have been produced. Both films have original storyline content that is notcanonical to the manga. The first, titledYu Yu Hakusho was released in Japan on July 10, 1993, as part of a seasonal film festival.[74][75] In the movie, the protagonists Yusuke and Kuwabara are on a mission to rescue a kidnapped Koenma from a pair of demons who desire the Golden Seal, astamp used for finalizing the sentencing of souls in the afterlife.[3]AnimeWorks released an English dubbed version of the half-hour film on VHS in both English-dubbed and subtitled formats on May 5, 1998, and on DVD on January 30, 2001.[76][77]Yu Yu Hakusho: Chapter of Underworld's Carnage – Bonds of Fire (幽☆遊☆白書 冥界死闘篇 炎の絆,Yū Yū Hakusho: Meikai Shitō Hen – Honō no Kizuna), was released in Japanese theaters on April 9, 1994.[75][78] The plot revolves around Yusuke and his friends defending the Human World against inhabitants of a fourth plane of existence called the "Netherworld".[3] This full-length feature received its first English dubbed version byCentral Park Media, which released it on VHS on March 3, 1998, and on DVD on October 8, 2002, under the nameYu Yu Hakusho the Movie: Poltergeist Report.[79]
A series ofYu Yu HakushoOVAs collectively titledEizou Hakusho (映像白書,Eizō Hakusho, lit. "Image Report") was released in Japan in VHS format between 1994 and 1996.[80][81][82] The OVAs feature very short clips that take place after the end of the series. They also contain video montages from the anime,image songs, voice actor interviews, and satirical animated shorts focusing on the four protagonists.[80][83] The OVAs consist of three volumes as well as an opening and ending encyclopedia. A four-DVD box set containing this series was released in Japan byPony Canyon on December 15, 2004.[72] Funimation dubbed the OVAs (though not the anime montages[84]) and (re)dubbed the first theatrical film with their original cast from the anime, and released them both in North America in a two-disc DVD bundle titled Yu Yu Hakusho: The Movie & Eizou Hakusho on December 13, 2011.[85] This version splits up parts of the OVAs and does not include the Japanese voice actor interviews.
A brand new OVA ofYu Yu Hakusho was released with a Blu-ray box set of the series on October 26, 2018, in Japan. It adapts the "Two Shot" bonus chapter from the manga's seventh volume and the manga's penultimate chapter "All or Nothing".[86][87] In October 2019, Funimation announced the OVA release with an English dub.[88]
The music for theYu Yu Hakusho anime adaptation was composed by Yusuke Honma.[37] The series has one opening theme, "Hohoemi no Bakudan" (微笑みの爆弾,Hohoemi no Bakudan, lit. "Smile Bomb") byMatsuko Mawatari, as well as five closing themes: "Homework ga Owaranai" (ホームワークが終わらない,Hōmuwāku ga Owaranai, lit. "Homework Never Ends"), "Sayonara ByeBye" (さよならＢｙｅＢｙｅ,Sayonara ByeBye, lit. "Goodbye ByeBye") and "Daydream Generation" also by Mawatari; and "Unbalance na Kiss o Shite" (アンバランスなＫｉｓｓをして,Anbaransu na Kiss wo Shite, lit. "Give Me An Unbalanced Kiss") and "Taiyō ga Mata Kagayaku Toki" (太陽がまた輝くとき,Taiyō ga Mata Kagayaku Toki, lit. "When The Sun Shines Again") byHiro Takahashi. When Funimation gained rights to the series, English language versions of each of these songs were produced and arranged by musicianCarl Finch.[89] The localized opening theme is sung by Sara White and the closing themes are sung by members of the English cast includingStephanie Nadolny,Jerry Jewell, andMeredith McCoy.[42]
Several audio CDs have been released in Japan. TheYū Yū Hakusho Original Soundtrack was released in two volumes by Pony Canyon on January 18, 1997. The discs contain the show'sinstrumental tracks and some vocal themes.[90][91] Also released on that day isYū Yū Hakusho: Music Battle, a series of three albums featuring vocal tracks sung by the Japanese voice actors as their corresponding characters.[92][93][94] Compilations of vocal songs includingYū Yū Hakusho Super Covers,Yū Yū Hakusho Super Dance Mix, andLegend of Yu Yu Hakusho: "Sai-Kyou" Best Selection Album were released on December 16, 1995, March 21, 1996, and March 21, 1997, respectively.[95][96][97]Yū Yū Hakusho: Collective Songs andYū Yū Hakusho: Collective Rare Trax, which containcovers of the theme songs performed by the series' voice actors, were both released on March 17, 1999.[72][98][99] Twodrama albums have been released by Shueisha, the first of which has an audio adaptation of the chapter "Yu Yu Hakusho Tales: Two Shot".[100][101] A CD soundtrack for the second film and amaxi single with the vocal songs of Mawatari and Takahashi have also been published.[102][103]
A number of video games have been developed that tie to theYuYu Hakusho series, most of which have been produced for and released exclusively in Japan. Prior to the launch of the franchise in North America, games were released on theGame Boy,Super Famicom,Sega consoles, and various platforms. North America only saw three video game releases. Two releases for the Nintendo's Game Boy Advanced handheld console, and one release for Sony's PlayStation 2 console.[104] A singleMega Drive game,Yū Yū Hakusho Makyō Tōitsusen, was published inBrazil byTectoy in 1999 under the titleYuYu Hakusho: Sunset Fighters.[105][106] WhenAtari gained publishing rights toYu Yu Hakusho video games in 2003, the company created and released three games in these regions:Yu Yu Hakusho: Spirit Detective, anaction-adventure game for theGame Boy Advance;Yu Yu Hakusho: Tournament Tactics, atactical role-playing game also for the Game Boy Advance; andYu Yu Hakusho: Dark Tournament, a3Dfighting game for thePlayStation 2.[107][108][109]
Yu Yu Hakusho characters were also featured in theWeekly Shōnen Jump crossover fighting gamesJ-Stars Victory VS andJump Force. Yusuke, Hiei, and Toguro are playable in both games.[110][111][112]
On December 16, 2020, a Japaneselive-action series adaptation was announced. It is streaming onNetflix worldwide, with Netflix contents acquisition director Kazutaka Sakamoto serving as executive producer and Akira Morii producing the series atRobot.[113][114][115] On July 15, 2022, it was reported that Shō Tsukikawa will serve as the series director, with Tatsurō Mishima handling the script and Ryō Sakaguchi serving as the VFX supervisor. The series starsTakumi Kitamura as Yusuke Urameshi,[116]Shuhei Uesugi as Kazuma Kuwabara,[117]Jun Shison as Kurama,[118] andKanata Hongō as Hiei.[119] It premiered on December 14, 2023.[120]
An encyclopedia titledOfficial Yū Yū Hakusho Who's Who Underworld Character Book (幽☆遊☆白書 公式キャラクターズブック 霊界紳士録,Yū Yū Hakusho Koushiki Kyarakutāzubukku Reikai Shinshiroku) was published by Shueisha on March 4, 2005.[121] It contains extensive character profiles, story summaries, and an exclusive interview with Yoshihiro Togashi. Anart book,Yu Yu Hakusho Illustrations (幽☆遊☆白書 画集,Yū Yū Hakusho Gashū), was published by Shueisha on April 27, 2005.[122] It is composed of pieces of artwork from the series, including illustrations created for thekanzenban edition reprints and an index of print material where each image was first used. Shueisha has also released two volumes of a guidebook titledYū Yū Hakusho Perfect File (幽☆遊☆白書 パーフェクトファイル,Yū Yū Hakusho Pāfekutofairu) and books based on both films, each containing screenshots organized in manga-style panels.[123][124][125] In Japan, variouscollectibles such as trading figures, plush dolls, andgashapon toys also exist.[4][126][127][128][129] Acollectible card game based on the franchise was released byMovic.[72] In North America, the series saw licensing for apparel from ODM, lines ofaction figures by IF Labs andJakks Pacific,[130][131][132] aSkannerz electronic toy fromRadica Games,[133][134] and an activities book fromScholastic.[135]Score Entertainment created theYu Yu Hakusho Trading Card Game for release in the United States.[136] An English guidebook to the series titledYu Yu Hakusho Uncovered: The Unofficial Guide was published by Cocoro Books on October 12, 2004.[137]
A stage play adaptation produced by Office Endless was announced in May 2019. The play is written and directed by Chūji Mikasano, a screenwriter for theTokyo Ghoul anime series. The play ran from August 8 to September 22, 2019, in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Aichi.[138][139]
In September 2019,YuYu Hakusho joined the Universal Fighting System CCG, this marked the second anime license to make it into the system.[140]
By 2013,YuYu Hakusho had over 50 million copies in circulation in Japan alone, making it one ofWeekly Shonen Jump's best-selling manga series.[141] Patricia Duffield, a columnist forAnimerica Extra, acknowledged the manga as "one of the kings of popularity in the mid-1990s" in the region where it saw mass availability from large bookstore chains to small train stationkiosks.[142]YuYu Hakusho earned Yoshihiro Togashi theShogakukan Manga Award forshōnen in 1993.[143] Towards the end of the series' run, Togashi was publicly criticized for not meeting chapter deadlines and for lower quality art.[14][144] OnTV Asahi's Manga Sōsenkyo 2021 poll, in which 150,000 people voted for their top 100 manga series,YuYu Hakusho ranked seventeenth.[145]
In North America, several volumes of the manga have ranked within the weeklyNielsen BookScan graphic novels list, including volume five at both sixth and ninth in October 2004, volume six at sixth in February 2005, and volume seven at seventh in June 2005.[146][147][148][149] In 2004, theYuYu Hakusho manga serialization sparked a controversy when a Florida grade school teacher issued a complaint about material found in an issue of the AmericanShonen Jump magazine purchased by a fifth-grade student at aScholastic Book Fair. The complaint centered around portions of the manga containing violence, mild profanity, a character wearing aswastika, and another character smoking a cigarette. About 18,000 copies of the publication (out of 120,000) were returned from the fairs as a result of the matter. A Viz spokesperson defended the manga, clarifying that it is intended for older teens and that the alleged swastika is actually aBuddhistmanji.[150]
TheYuYu Hakusho manga publication has received mixed criticism from reviewers in English-speaking regions. Martin Ouellette of the CanadianProtoculture Addicts compared the progression of the series toDragon Ball Z and stated, "Togashi's art, while simple, is extremely efficient and the story is really fun."[151] An older article by the same reviewer disagreed with the notion thatYuYu Hakusho was similar toDragon Ball, stating that the former franchise has better-developed characters, more interesting action sequences, and more humor.[4] Eduardo M. Chavez of Mania.com enjoyed the manga's artwork and found that the supporting characters tend to be illustrated with more detail than the main characters. He praised Lillian Olsen's English translation but disliked Viz's use of overlaying English words to translate the expression of sound effects. In later volumes, Chavez was dismayed by the transition of the manga from the early detective cases to the Dark Tournament arc. He asserted, "Seeing fight, after fight, after fight gets boring and this seriously is only the start of this trend."[152] Dan Polley, a staff reviewer of Manga Life, gave an average grade to the fifth volume, which entails Yusuke's battle with Suzaku, the leader of the Four Beasts. Although he found some battle sequences engaging, Polley judged the chapters as lacking in characterization and development. Polley also discounted the manga's comedy, considering the "bit gags or fairly lame jokes" to be "too much" at times.[153]
TheYu Yu Hakusho television series was voted the best anime of the year in the 1994 and 1995Animage Anime Grand Prix and the second best in 1993 afterSailor Moon.[154][155][156] Additionally, the publication declared the series number 53 on its top 100 anime listing in 2001.[157] In a 2006 web poll conducted in Japan by the networkTV Asahi,Yu Yu Hakusho was voted as the fifteenth best anime of all time.[158] The Japanese magazineBrutus voted it the sixth best anime of all time.[107] The hit show garnered a largenumber of viewers during its run in Japan. Funimation presidentGen Fukunaga remarked thatYu Yu Hakusho "came 'out of nowhere' to surprise people with huge ratings", which were just below those achieved by the popular seriesDragon Ball Z.[159]Yu Yu Hakusho was frequently watched by several age groups during its early run in North America. When it aired onAdult Swim, the anime, along with others such asInuyasha andCowboy Bebop, met with male audiences ages 18–34.[160] During itsToonami debut in May 2003,Yu Yu Hakusho placed in seven out of the top 111Nielsen ratings forCartoon Network telecasts, with the highest being number 30 on May 13 at a two percentshare of all viewing televisions in the country.[161] Atari stated in December 2003 that the anime was one of the top-rated television programs in North America for males ages 9–14.[107] Nielsen additionally reported thatYu Yu Hakusho tied withDragon Ball GT as the top-rated Cartoon Network program for the same demographic during the week of September 28, 2004. It was the second highest-rated show among ages 12–17 the same week.[162] Cartoon Network dropped the show from Toonami in March 2005 due to declining ratings.[48]Yu Yu Hakusho proved to be popular in the Philippines, where it was rerun several times and managed to draw more viewers in the prime time slot than both local and foreign soap operas.[59][74][163]
The animated series received a generally positive reception in North America. In January 2004,Yu Yu Hakusho was named the second best action-adventure anime byAnime Insider.[164] It was voted by the users ofIGN as the tenth best-animated series of all time.[165] Critical reviews focused on the series' attempt at a versatile balance of narrative, character development, and action sequences.Animerica's Justin Kovalsky definedYu Yu Hakusho as a character-driven series and compared it to other anime likePhantom Quest Corp.,Rurouni Kenshin, andFlame of Recca in that it successfully combines different ideas such as martial arts battles, character dynamics, the supernatural, and mythology.[2] Allen Divers of theAnime News Network identifiedYu Yu Hakusho as "one of the best action series out there", and noted consistently good storytelling and character development throughout his critique of key points of the series.[166][167][168][169] Todd Douglass Jr. ofDVD Talk declared, "It's a fun show with a great cast, a sense of humor, and a lot of action so there's no excuse not to at least give it a chance." He recommended the first three-season box sets ofYu Yu Hakusho, as well as the original box set of the Three Kings Saga, but enjoyed the show's third season more than the others because of its multiple plotlines.[170][171][172][173] N. S. Davidson ofIGN concluded that having several concurrent plot branches is not enough for an anime to succeed, but that good writing, interesting characters, and action are also necessary. He proclaimed in his review of the anime's final episodes thatYu Yu Hakusho possesses all of these qualities.[174] This was concurred upon by Joseph Luster ofOtaku USA, who summed up his feelings about the universe ofYu Yu Hakusho by stating, "Togashi's world is eternally hellish and dark, but wildly varied. The only thing that doesn't change throughout its run is the fact that you'll still be rooting for the well-defined protagonists until the credits run on the last episode."[175]
Jeffrey Harris ofIGN was more critical when looking at later episodes, and felt that the end of the show's third arc involving the villain Sensui is too similar to the finale of the second arc with Toguro. He described the episodes as trying too hard to draw sympathy from the audience for the anime's villains.[176] Despite his overall praise ofYu Yu Hakusho, Divers noted in a review about one DVD release that the show "[walks] that fine line of a solid long-running series or being a broken record".[169] He also called the artwork of the first few episodes "dated" and pointed out questionable script choices regarding the English dub.[166]
Aedan Juvet ofFunimation called the anime influential and "timeless" with classic villains, highlighting fivevillains in the series which helped the anime evolve.[177]
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