The Anime Backlog – Yu Yu Hakusho Season 1

The sun’s out today but it’s still damn cold, however, I found a workaround for that whole “going outside” issue I mentioned last month. That goal was, in part, to increase physical activity. My job has me at a desk all day, and I’m approaching 40. I’d like all my joints to work for the foreseeable future. I got one of those desk treadmills, thinking I could set it up along with a movable mini desk so I could work and walk simultaneously. The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry, and in this case, my lack of spatial awareness and one built desk later means I have a treadmill and a desk that do not fit together neatly.

Oh well, after using the treadmill, I realized that I probably put too much faith in my ability to walk and type simultaneously. So instead, I decided to put it in front of my TV and go for walks while watching something inspiring: the Yū Yū Hakusho kids kicking yokai ass.

Let’s get one thing out of the way quickly. I only watched season one (specifically, episodes 1-26) for the sake of this column, so read on with that in mind.

Note: This column will routinely include spoilers. Reader discretion is advised.

Yū Yū Hakusho Season 1

Why Is It Important?

Listen, Yū Yū Hakusho is one of the best-selling manga series of all time. Yoshihiro Togashi is a legend in his own right. It’s a challenge in and of itself to quantify the long-lasting effect Yū Yū Hakusho had on shonen battle manga. Yū Yū Hakusho was the shonen series of the early ’90s, paving the way for Naruto, Demon Slayer, and JJK. Its cast of iconic characters and well-paced action continues to hold a place in anime fans’ hearts. The series was voted #15 in 2006 in a TV Asahi poll ranking the best anime of all time.

It was also exceptionally successful in North America, running on both Adult Swim and Toonami, landing it in the top-rated TV programs for ages 9–14-year-old boys. This might make it even more surprising that I never watched a lick of it prior to 2025. I was part of the Toonami generation, but I was there for Sailor Moon and Tenchi; I caught one-off episodes of Dragon Ball Z and Gundam Wing in the meantime, but it wasn’t until I was looking up background information that I was aware this aired on Toonami. The commercials must have slid out of my brain somehow.

Several well-known animators’ careers began with the Yū Yū Hakusho anime series. Series director Noriyuki Abe made his directorial debut with this series before later helming the Great Teacher Onizuka, Bleach, and Boruto anime adaptations. Viewers can also see storyboard work by none other than Akiyuki Simbo before he garnered recognition for setting the stylistic look of Shaft. There’s also some interesting staff crossover between Yū Yū Hakusho‘s anime adaptation and Naoko Takeuchi‘s Sailor Moon anime, including screenwriter Katsuyuki Sumisawa (who is rather prolific in iconic anime from the period).

Does It Live Up to Its Reputation?

Shonen Jump adaptations are a huge blind spot for me, except for very current adaptations. I mentioned above that I am familiar with Dragon Ball Z, and I can tell you who all the characters are and the major anime arcs. Due to its age, I had even less knowledge of Yū Yū Hakusho going into it. I knew the characters and had heard how beloved the Dark Tournament arc is (even though I didn’t get to it for this write-up). I went in expecting a very familiar flavor, albeit one I thought would be, at best, tolerable for someone with little interest in powerscaling and over-explained attacks.

I enjoyed Yū Yū Hakusho way more than I expected. Kazuma Kuwabara quickly rose to the top of my favorite characters list with his goofy earnestness. Botan, although relegated to mostly swinging around a baseball bat in the latter half of the season, is premium best girl material. She’s charming and sassy with a great sense of fashion. Her design has an attractive timeliness, and I remain flummoxed that she hasn’t had the staying power of some of her peers.

I was also surprised how much the format mirrored what I loved about its magical girl contemporary, Sailor Moon. The fights were intense, and I found myself enthralled whenever Yūsuke or Kuwabara had to get inventive with their current array of attacks, whether it was bouncing the Rei Gun off a mirror or Kuwabara using the Rei Ken as a vaulting pole. Most fights include a creative element instead of just bigger and bigger energy blasts.

Yū Yū Hakusho episodes, excluding the opening and ending credits and recap, are a tight 18 minutes. Each episode goes down easy, making it comfortable, fast-paced viewing. I was happily surprised to see the first season isn’t bogged down by long-winded attack explanations that made shows like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure difficult for me to get through. There’s no playground-level “Oh yeah, well my power does this, so it nullifies yours” BS. Both “training arcs” are sped through in five-minute montages. The first season is not interested in padding out the audience’s time, letting us get right into Yūsuke and the team’s yokai-fighting adventures.

Somehow, I made it this long without knowing that Kurama is voiced by Megumi Ogata, which is an impressively embarrassing oversight on my part. Thankfully, it’s been rectified, and Yū Yū Hakusho will continue to be my workout show until I’ve watched all 119 episodes. I need more of Hiei being an angry little guy, and hopefully, Kuwabara and Yukina can handle their long-distance yokai love affair.

Watch It or Remove It?

Final Verdict: Yes. The episode count is intimidating but this first season goes down smooth.