Line #68 YMMV/YuYuHakusho


1	For YMMV items relating to the [[Series/YuYuHakusho2023 live action adaptation]], see [[YMMV/YuYuHakusho2023 here]].
2
3	* AdaptationDisplacement:
4	** The anime is much more well-known than the manga. Reasons for this that are cited are Studio Pierrot's practice of AdaptationDistillation and to some extent PragmaticAdaptation in [[AdaptedOut compressing]] EarlyInstallmentWeirdness of Yusuke's pre-resurrection errands (which lasted for two volumes in the manga, but only five episodes in the anime), omitting certain details that were considered unnecessary [[DarkerAndEdgier grittiness]] (for example in the manga, Yusuke, who is a teenager, was established as being a smoker. The anime completely removes this aspect of his character even if only to avoid controversy with [[CensorshipBureau public moral censors]]) and even some degree of AdaptationExpansion in turning minor plot points into mini-subplots.
5	** Kurama has black hair in the manga, but good luck trying to find a fanart that ''doesn't'' feature him with the anime’s SignificantGreenEyedRedhead color scheme.
6	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
7	** Kurama: Is Kurama really as sweet as he seems or is he really a ManipulativeBastard who is willing to do anything to get what he wants? You decide!
8	** Younger Toguro: was he truly steeped in his BloodKnight philosophies and [[spoiler:satisfied with his death at the hands of a WorthyOpponent]], [[TheAtoner a man tormented by his guilt of several regrets]] [[DeathSeeker feeling the need to die at the hands of another hero, believing himself to be the same monster as the one who shattered his beliefs]], or [[StealthMentor a man who saw a young man and secretly tested him so that the boy wouldn't go down the same path as he did]]? Perhaps a combination of all three, but deep down a man with a broken heart. At the same time, Toguro's [[spoiler: attempts at redemption]] led to him ruining several lives including forcing Bui into slavery and murdering several ProudWarriorRace demons with no remorse. Not to mention he kept [[CompleteMonster his brother]] around with him to murder carelessly and ''was'' taking part in a plan to destroy mankind that would've succeeded had Yusuke not been strong enough to beat him, so attempting to see him as a martyr falls rather flat to some viewers.
9	** The fact that Yusuke and his mother Atsuko are despised '''far''' more than would be normal for an AlcoholicParent and her delinquent son (especially by Yusuke's teachers), plus [[spoiler: the fact that they descend from a woman who ingested corpses to provide her medical services (something ritually impure according to Shinto)]] has created a very minor fanon about the Urameshis being members of the heavily discriminated ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burakumin burakumin]]'' group. The fact that Atsuko has {{yakuza}} connections in the manga doesn't help, since ''burakumin'' men make 60% of the yakuza membership (due to how hard it is for them to find better work).
10	* AlternateSelfShipping: Youko Kurama×Shuuichi Kurama is seen occasionally in fanfic, but they're not usually portrayed as the same person.
11	* AntiClimaxBoss:
12	** After showing off his powers for a bit, [[spoiler: Hagiri]] is suddenly defeated in one panel by Hiei's arrival. [[spoiler: Gourmet, or rather Elder Toguro wearing his body]] is taken out in a similarly quick manner.
13	** Dr. Ichigaki turns into a OneWingedAngel form, but gets taken out in ''[[CurbStompBattle one punch]]'' from Yusuke in the manga, or [[AdaptationalBadass after a slightly longer but mostly one-sided beatdown in the anime]]. Of course, [[CatharsisFactor nobody was complaining]].
14	** In the manga, it's none other than Yomi. After a brief exchange in the fight, the story jumps to some time later with Yusuke commenting on what happened. The "Anticlimax" part doesn't come from Yomi not living up to his hype -- he [[spoiler:defeats Yusuke but loses the next round due to exhausting himself]] -- but from not seeing the fight.
15	** For being strong enough to make it to the semi-finals of the Dark Tournament, [[spoiler: Shishiwakamaru]] and [[spoiler: Suzuki]] each go down very quickly against [[spoiler: Genkai]], despite the latter being in a ''severely'' weakened state. [[spoiler: Suzuki]] especially seemed to be set up as a legitimate threat, earning some wariness from Kurama and Hiei.
16	* AssPull:
17	** At the end of his fight with Karasu, Kurama uses an attack that kills Karasu in exchange for using his own lifeforce as a catalyst to do so, explicitly stating it will kill him. A moment after he does so and the fight "ends", he gets up alive and well with no issues, and the only downside is that he "loses" the fight by virtue of being knocked out before Karasu was killed. The story justifies this by saying that Kurama's normal form's power increased each time he used his Yoko form, hence why he survived, but this is never hinted at being a thing prior, so it comes out of no where to ensure he survives.
18	** [[spoiler:Yusuke being part-demon]] came right smack out of nowhere with no foreshadowing whatsoever and led the Sensui arc to a very anti-climactic conclusion. Never once was it hinted that Yusuke's family history was important, and it goes against how he was originally a BadassNormal dragged into the events of the series because he sacrificed his life to do good. It also robbed the others of a chance to take down the BigBad on their own, which was seemingly what the original intent was. The following arc explores the idea, but it feels more like an attempt to explain the twist instead of naturally following up on it.
19	** The reveal at the end of the story that [[spoiler:the majority of demon-related crimes in the human world were caused by King Enma brainwashing demons and setting them loose to be caught so that Enma's administration could pad their numbers of closed cases. It's revealed that though there were occasional actually criminal demons, most demon related killings before Enma's brainswashings started came from contracts with humans using them to assassinate other humans. This flies in the face of literally the entire story as almost universally every demon that has been seen has hated humanity and generally been blood thirsty, and the Chapter Black arc's main threat was a doorway to the demon world opening, allowing them to flood Earth and feed on humanity. Yet in the aforementioned chapter, it's noted that the entire barrier between the human and demon world has been removed entirely. It is rumored that Togashi wanted the series to end and was worried that he either would be forced to stay on it or another writer might be put on to continue it, so possibly he [[TorchTheFranchiseAndRun chose to have an ending that wouldn't allow for any possible continuation.]]]]
20	* BaseBreakingCharacter: Shinobu Sensui. Some like him as a [[EvilIsCool suave]], [[ThePhilosopher intellectual]], clever FallenHero turned Misanthropic Villain, though detractors feel that he is ridiculously over intelligent and powered.
21	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The subplot of Mr. Iwamoto trying to frame Yusuke for stealing from his classmates in Episode 6. There was really no purpose to it other than letting Yusuke use the Psychic Spyglass, which was ultimately its only use in the story.
22	* BrokenBase: The meaning of the "Forever Fornever" text that appears at the last caption in the anime finale has been debated for years, and no one is sure what it is, if there is really any.
23	* CatharsisFactor:
24	** Gonzo Tarukane is a ruthless, cruel, and greedy gangster who tortures Yukina for her rare and highly-valuable pearl tears and is willing to do anything for profit, no matter how horrible. So seeing him lose his fortune on a bet that was rigged in Sakyo's favor and being laughed at by the other Black Black Club members for it, getting [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown bloodily beaten into unconsciousness]] by Hiei and then going insane before being [[AssholeVictim executed]] by Younger Toguro is incredibly satisfying.
25	** Elder Toguro's [[FateWorseThanDeath ultimate fate]] [[spoiler: of being trapped inside the Sinning Tree and relieving his worst nightmare of being unable to hurt Kurama no matter how much he slashes and cuts him up]] also counts, given what an depraved sociopath he was. Another example for Elder Toguro is the fact that right after being defeated by Kuwabara from within their Dark Tournament finals match, his own younger brother, who finally had enough of him and his dishonorable tactics, brutally takes him out in just two hits that came very close to killing him.
26	** The Dark Tournament spectators [[spoiler:having their lives drained by Younger Toguro]] after spending the entire arc cheering for Team Urameshi's death and for Team Toguro to kill them is incredibly satisfying to watch.
27	* CommonKnowledge: Everyone "knows" that [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Mr. Takenaka]] is Yusuke's school principal. Actually, he's Yusuke's homeroom teacher; the fact that he's shown scolding other teachers for being disrespectful to Yusuke gives the understandable but inaccurate impression that he has some kind of authority over them.
28	* CompleteMonster:
29	** [[CardCarryingVillain Elder Toguro]], in contrast to his [[NobleDemon honorable younger brother]], is a depraved sadist who cast aside his humanity to [[DemonOfHumanOrigin become a demon]]. During the Dark Tournament, Elder Toguro promises two bested opponents that he'll spare one depending on who wants it more. When one begs for his life, Elder Toguro kills him, then murders the other because he hates keeping promises. During his match against Kuwabara, Elder Toguro uses his shapeshifting powers to torture the latter both physically and [[MindRape emotionally]] by reenacting the murder of his friend Genkai. Nearly being killed by his brother for his dishonorable tactics, Elder Toguro allies with the genocidal Sensui. Tricking a psychic named Gourmet into eating him so he can hijack his body, Elder Toguro torturously eats him alive from the inside out, reveling in his fear as he [[DrivenToSuicide drives him to suicide]]. Gaining his host's ability to absorb the power of whomever he cannibalizes, Elder Toguro eats the telepath Murota alive and intends to do the same to Kuwabara, with the end goal of using Kuwabara's power to open the barrier to the Demon World and allow the demons to KillAllHumans.
30	** Gonzo Tarukane in the English dub was given more crimes than in the original Japanese. While Tarukane desires wealth above all, he kidnaps the innocent snow maiden Yukina due to her tears producing rare jewels and tortures her [[ColdBloodedTorture physically]] and [[MindRape emotionally]], even having the man who tried to rescue her gunned down. Adding to his crimes, Tarukane puts animals through horrible genetic experiments and founded the sinister Black Black club, making him responsible for the torture and murder of countless innocent demons. Tarukane shows that [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters that humans can be just as vile as even the worst of demons]].
31	** Chikou is the "father"/owner of Mukuro, the Makai ruler. He outfitted her with cybernetics to turn her into his sex-slave at birth, and started raping her as soon as the procedure was complete. This continued throughout her childhood until she disfigured herself with acid so she'd be too unattractive for him to be interested, at which point he simply threw her out. Just to make sure she wouldn't try to kill him later on, he implanted Mukuro with false memories of him having been nice to her before. He had to implant these memories because he'd never shown her any kindness in her life.
32	%%* CreepyAwesome: The Toguro Brothers, Karasu, and Shinobu Sensui.
33	* CrossoverShip:
34	** Pairing Botan with Soma Cruz from ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' is popular since they are Death/Dracula in teenager form.
35	** Yusuke and [[Franchise/SailorMoon Usagi Tsukino]], since the creators are married in real life.
36	* CultClassic: Not nearly as popular as ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', its rival at the time in the west, but it has a fierce following.
37	* DiagnosedByTheAudience: Sakyo, mostly in the anime. He barely emotes even at the most extreme situations, rarely shows satisfaction from his misdeeds, and although is rationally aware of the extent of his own villainy, seems to genuinely lack the ability to comprehend it. While it is made evident that Sakyo is mentally disturbed, his personality brings echoes of a neurodevelopmental disorder.
38	* DieForOurShip:
39	** [[WordOfGod Yoshihiro Togashi]] actually wanted Mukuro and Hiei to be in a relationship, but many Hiei/Kurama shippers hated the ship, partially because of this trope and partially because Mukuro had the misfortune of being introduced near the end of the series' run.
40	** Maya Kitajima from the manga and OVA also has this to some extent. Almost 90% of the few mentions she gets in the fandom are about how much of a "bitch" and a "slut" she is... merely for having a crush on her ''classmate'' Kurama!
41	* DracoInLeatherPants:
42	** Sakyo gets this ''in canon'' in the anime, which gives him a romance with Shizuru and an AlasPoorVillain death. In the manga, he never gets involved with Shizuru at all, and certainly nobody mourns his passing.
43	** Sensui in the Japanese fandom. Japanese fangirls have said they want to date and/or marry him. In the United States... [[AmericansHateTingle not so much]].
44	* EndingFatigue: The final arc and epilogue somehow managed to drag on ''and'' feel rushed at the same time. The Three Kings arc ends right in the middle of Yusuke and Yomi's fight, with all the outcomes of the tournament simply told to the reader after the fact. And then after that is the multi-chapter epilogue that's basically just a large series of unnecessary one-shots (enough to take up an entire tankobon,) ending with one more conflict that's resolved easily, but once again ends right in the middle. Not to mention that [[spoiler: Genkai's second and final]] death occurs off-panel during this part, and what would've been her very last appearance in the manga is after the cut-off point.
45	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
46	** Oddly enough, the second judge during the Dark Tournament saga, Juri, proved to be a decently popular character despite only being in the show for the last quarter of that arc. The first judge, Koto, is also pretty well-liked.
47	** Not to mention Chu and Jin, two characters who remain popular despite comparatively little screentime. Of course one of the factors of Chu's darkhorseness is because of his voice being Creator/NorioWakamoto. As well as being a WildCard badass turning the trope of the usual TrainingFromHell [[CurbStompBattle results]] into a balanced and unpredictable fight.
48	** And of course there's Hiei, who according to WordOfGod was just supposed to be a StarterVillain (clear with his more psychotic personality and "true demon form" showing), but whose popularity launched him to the status of one of the four main characters. WordOfGod mused this was especially true of the manga incarnation, whereas Kurama seemed to be the fan-favorite in the anime adaptation.
49	** Kirishima, one of Kuwabara's friends, was ranked 9th place in the first popularity poll despite his minor role.
50	* EvilIsCool: Younger Toguro. Sakyou also deserves props for managing to still be a compelling NonActionBigBad in a WorldOfBadass, especially with Younger Toguro as his DragonInChief.
51	* FanDislikedExplanation: Some viewers dislike the reveal that the Toguro brothers were only Class-B ranked Demon's in the Chapter Black arc, feeling that it was a cheap way of trying to raise the stakes by using a SortingAlgorithmOfEvil to make Sensui's goals more dangerous than initially presented. It doesn't help that it makes the brother's claims of having been made the "strongest class of Demons" feel weird in retrospect, since the story doesn't address that statement, nor that the final arc doesn't make the supposedly more powerful Demons feel as powerful as the brothers.
52	* FashionVictimVillain: Even the most hardcore fans will usually admit that Sensui's first Sacred Energy Armor ([[https://yuyuhakusho.fandom.com/wiki/Shinobu_Sensui#Known_Techniques.2FMoves as can be seen here]]) looks silly. His other Sacred Energy Armor, which places emphasis on speed and offense, is more likely to be an aversion.
53	* FriendlyFandoms:
54	** With ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', due to the ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond is Unbreakable]]'' arc of ''[=JoJo=]'' and ''Yu Yu'' both running in ''Weekly Shonen Jump'' at around the same time, both manga sharing similar characterizations and themes, and their authors being friends. Yusuke's name being close to Josuke with both of them dressing as delinquents and having the kinda slow Kuwabara and Okuyasu as their friends helps comparisons.
55	** The same could be said for ''Manga/DragonBall'' fans, due to them both concurrently during TheNineties as well as the Creator/FUNimation English dubs that came out on Creator/{{Toonami}} during the early [[TurnOfTheMillennium 2000s]], making fans of both series come together.
56	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff:
57	** Though it was renamed ''[[DubNameChange Ghost Fighter]]'', many Filipino [[TheNineties '90s]] kids fondly enjoyed and remembered this show as one of the few animes that aired on local television prior to the rise of cable TV and internet in the mid-'90s. Because its popularity in the country, it earned high ratings in the primetime block than local and foreign soap operas, and was rerun several times on Creator/GMANetwork (the channel that broadcast the show) from time to time.
58	** The series is also fondly remembered by Brazilian anime fans who grew up with it in the '90s. Along with it airing in Rede Manchete (a channel which went defunct in 1998, but to this day is remembered as the main anime and tokusatsu hub at the time), it is also remembered for its dub, which contained plenty of local slangs and phrases which became {{memetic\|mutation}} (see below).
59	* GrowingTheBeard:
60	** For the series, the Four Saint Beasts arc. This was when the main quartet (Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei) comes together for the first time and kick ass against the eponymous antagonists of the arc itself, all while establishing their own distinct personalities and fighting styles.
61	** For the manga, it was when Yusuke got revived and became a Spirit Detective.
62	** The dub version was GrowingTheBeard for Creator/FUNimation, who worried some fans because of the massive changes seen in their previous English dub of ''Anime/DragonBallZ''. Sticking close to the original script and having voice actors with more experience (due to ''[=DBZ=]'') helped put them on top of the anime dubbing community.
63	* HarsherInHindsight:
64	** The Armed Church of the True Disciples, who appeared in the next to last chapter of the manga are eerily similar to modern day religiously-motivated terrorist groups, most notably [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aum_Shinrikyo Aum Shinrikyo]], who committed the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack only months later. In retrospect, [[AdaptedOut omitting]] that chapter was wise on Studio Pierrot's part.
65	** After the Dark Tournament, Kuwabara wonders if Yusuke lost his powers after his fight with Toguro. In Yoshihiro Togashi's next long-runner, ''Manga/HunterXHunter,'' [[spoiler: Gon loses his ability to use Nen after a heated battle]] after the Chimera Ant Arc.
66	* HilariousInHindsight:
67	** On the subject of Mr. Akashi, he's a SadistTeacher who deliberately tries to get one of the main characters expelled from school and he is voiced by Sean Schemmel in the English dub. Sounds an awful lot like [[Anime/YuGiOhGX Dr. Crowler]], doesn't he?
68	** [[http://yuyuhakusho.wikia.com/wiki/Zeru Zeru]] of the Jolly Devil Six has an uncannily similar resemblance to [[Literature/TheTwilightSaga Edward Cullen]].
69	** In mixture of this and HeartwarmingInHindsight, in a manga-exclusive story at the end of the fifth volume, when Kurama saves Yusuke and Kuwabara from a gang of riled street thugs, who have mistaken them for a duo of half breed demon [[CriminalDoppelganger look-alikes]], by throwing a rose, he quips that they can call him Tuxedo Mask. Years later Creator/YoshihiroTogashi and Franchise/SailorMoon creator Creator/NaokoTakeuchi would marry. Megumi Ogata would voice Sailor Uranus in the later seasons.
70	** Kurama's fight with Roto leaves him with a temporary X-shaped scar on his left cheek. A few years later Megumi Ogata would provide the voice of Kenshin Himura for the ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' Drama [=CDs=].
71	** In the English Dub, Creator/SonnyStrait's character tries to kill Creator/TravisWillingham's character. [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003 In their next roles]] together they'd have the polar opposite relation, playing best friends.
72	** Yusuke dying by getting hit with a truck/vehicle when selflessly saving a child (and finding out that he's NotQuiteDead and has a chance for revival) was a rather unique concept for its time. Years later, the premise of 'dying via truck' ends up being overused and parodied as [[TrappedInAnotherWorld a tool to get reincarnated to another world, creating a whole genre.]] Yusuke hilariously becomes the codifier of modern Isekai anime, with the truck that hit him being the prototype of the memetic Truck-kun.[[note]]Isekai anime has been around in ''Yu Yu Hakusho''[='=]s airtime, but they didn't use 'getting hit by a truck' scenario as the enabler.[[/note]]
73	* HoYay: Tons. ''[=YuYu=] Hakusho'' is the granddaddy of {{shonen\|demographic}} series using this trope to grab at the female demographic.
74	* InformedWrongness:
75	** In the Chapter Black Arc, Kuwabara bails on a mission to go to a concert instead, which is painted as a selfish and irresponsible move by the rest of Team Urameshi. Normally, it would be, but Kuwabara's powers suddenly stopped working at the start of the arc, and he doesn't like Yusuke treating him as helpless on top of that. So him deciding not to help at first, while flawed, makes sense at the time.
76	** Early in the Three Kings Arc, Yusuke gets scolded and rejected by Kuroko because he told a demon that he didn't fault him for eating humans. The thing is, Yusuke didn't say it was okay for him to eat humans, but rather, he understood why because some demons need to eat humans to live.
77	* JerkassWoobie:
78	** Hiei. It's not revealed until the third and final arc though.
79	** Yusuke, to a lesser extent. When Yusuke initially turns down the chance to come back to life, Botan is pretty alarmed to discover that, ''at 14-years-old no less'', Yusuke's totally convinced that [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing everyone he knows, including his own mother, will be glad that he's dead]]. It's attending his own wake and being shown that he's ''dead wrong'' that convinces him to come back.
80	* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: In a show with vile pieces of work such as [[{{Sadist}} Elder Toguro]], [[MadScientist Dr. Ichigaki]], and [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil Chikou]], the most hated characters are [[SadistTeacher Mr. Akashi and Mr. Iwamoto]]. The former for sabotaging Kuwabara's test so that he would fail, causing Okubo to potentially lose his job, the latter for framing Yusuke for petty theft, and both for insulting Yusuke at his own wake.
81	* MagnificentBastard:
82	** [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Sakyo]] is a charming, charismatic member of the Black Black Club who [[RagsTORiches came up from nothing]]. A born sociopath who despised his honest, loving family, Sakyo graduated from [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals torturing animals]] into high stakes gambling where he amassed a fortune to join the demon-trafficking and torturing Black Black Club. Deciding to advance even further, Sakyo plays the group's founder Gonzo Tarukane by secretly paying off the Toguro brothers when Tarukane hires them as bodyguards, rigging the gambles he makes with Tarukane by having the Toguro brothers take a dive against [[Characters/YuYuHakushoTeamUrameshi Team Urameshi]]. Setting up his team to fight in the Dark Tournament, Sakyo takes a curious liking to Shizuru Kuwabara and protects her during the events while also manipulating and eventually disposing of the rest of the Black Black Club, before gambling his own life on Toguro's victory in order to insure he can see a portal opened to the Demon World out of sheer morbid curiosity. When Toguro is defeated, Sakyo immediately [[FaceDeathWithDignity offers his life without complaint]], bidding a last fond farewell to Shizuru first.
83	** The [[NobleDemon Younger Toguro brother]] sold his soul 50 years ago to become a powerful demon after winning the Dark Tournament in despair over the deaths of his students and the knowledge of his impending mortality. In present, having grown disillusioned with his life, he manipulates the events with Gonzo Tarukane to see if Yusuke Urameshi is a worthy adversary and forces him and team to join the Dark Tournament. Toguro manipulates Yusuke into becoming stronger while also keeping him from making Toguro's mistakes before the final match. After killing Yusuke's mentor, his former teammate and lover Genkai, Toguro is dissatisfied with Yusuke's strength and seemingly murders his friend Kuwabara to force him to fight all out, only to reveal he faked Kuwabara's death. Unlike his twisted elder brother, Toguro never sold his pride along with his soul and displays a true sense of honor, grateful to give his all against a final worthy adversary.
84	** [[BrokenAce Shinobu Sensui]], the "Black Angel", was once a brilliant young Spirit Detective whose idealistic view of humans was shattered by the Black Black Club. Years later, Sensui uses the depraved Chapter Black tape to recruit a group of psychics to his side as Team Urameshi goes after him, manipulating all his enemies and allies alike to achieve his goals and weaken Yusuke's team. In one instance, Sensui forces Kurama to duel in a game against a little boy, with the boy not knowing he will die if he loses. Sensui is aware Kurama will do it, but knows it will shake him up too much to be of use in fighting Sensui at his best later, while also knowing a guilt-stricken Koenma will use up too much power restoring the boy to life. Sensui also uses his multiple personalities to bear the burdens of his crimes, revealing his true self in time to defeat and even kill Yusuke before opening a path to the demon world, with his true goal being an elaborate suicide attempt to die at the hands of a powerful demon to atone for taking so many demon lives in the past. Passing as a dark mirror to Yusuke himself, Sensui remains one of his most sympathetic and fascinating enemies.
85	** [[GuileHero Kurama]] was once an infamous demon bandit named [[AsianFoxSpirit Yoko Kurama]] until he was nearly killed by a Demon Hunter and was forced to reincarnate into the human fetus of the nearest human woman living as Shuichi Minamino. Upon joining [[Characters/YuYuHakushoTeamUrameshi Team Urameshi]] and aiding Yusuke in his missions he would win his battles not just with power but though intelligence making him a [[TheChessmaster master planner]] when it comes to fighting his enemies even before the fight begins. Manipulating his enemies into thinking they have the advantage when in reality they were already defeated leading to instant deaths or fates worse than death. Even when forced to work for Yomi he still shows his strategic side when dealing with Yomi’s arrogant second in command by turning his minion against him and relaying false information, taking both his position and his life in the process. Intelligent and ruthless Kurama has proven himself to be one of Yusuke’s most allies.
86	** [[MaouTheDemonKing Yomi]] is one of [[Characters/YuYuHakushoTheThreeKings The Three Kings]] of the demon world and is the central antagonist during the Three Kings Saga. Originally serving Kurama back in his days as Yoko, he was an impatient and headstrong thief whose recklessness eventually caught up with him costing him his sight. After learning from his mistake he would eventually become one of the most powerful and intelligent demons in existence and carve out his own empire. Upon Raizen's upcoming death Yomi begins his plan to [[TakeOverTheWorld conquer not only demon world but also the human and spirit worlds as well]], hoping to end the squabbling. He would be one of the few people who can outsmart Kurama by holding his family hostage and testing him to see if he was worthy of becoming his second in command while competing with the current one. After meeting with Yusuke and hearing his proposal to have a fighting tournament rather than a war he reluctantly agrees to his terms for the Makai Tournament, his warrior's spirit is reawakened and decides that he wants to achieve his goal of ruling the three worlds if he can earn it. When he loses the tournament he accepts the [[GracefulLoser loss with grace]] and goes on a journey with his son leaving his empire behind, parting as friends with Kurama.
87	* MemeticMolester: Compared to other examples, Risho gets a mild variation of this. It's rare to find a fanfic starring Team Masho that doesn't at least mention him molesting Touya, even more so if the said fanfic in question is a [[HoYay Jin/]][[FanPreferredCouple Touya]] one...
88	* MemeticMutation:
89	** "Words Can't Hurt Me These Shades Are Gucci." [[labelnote:explanation]]a catchphrase associated with characters wearing sunglasses. It initially started as a parody image macro of Yusuke wearing sunglasses in the fifth episode before growing to include various other characters.[[/labelnote]]
90	** "That guy's got horns... That's not normal. Well, not gonna ruin my day." [[labelnote:explanation]]Yusuke's dub quote upon seeing a demon's true form in a cafe frequently makes the rounds on Tumblr and Twitter, sometimes to describe another UnusuallyUninterestingSight.[[/labelnote]]
91	** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTzBAE5cXiQ Gusto mo bang makita ang aking isandaang porsyentong lakas?!]]'' [[labelnote:explanation]]Literally "Do you want to see 100% of my power?!" Originated from a Tagalog GagDub of the Yusuke vs Younger Toguro match in the Dark Tournament, the video itself being a FountainOfMemes in the Filipino fandom. (WARNING: Video in the link contains VERY strong language...)[[/labelnote]]
92	** ''Anong Gentle Gentle?'' [[labelnote:explanation]]"What 'Gentle' 'Gentle'?" From the same Tagalog GagDub, basically used for mocking anyone perceived to be soft.[[/labelnote]]
93	** ''Mga mahihinang nilalang!'' [[labelnote:explanation]]"Weak creatures!" Also derived from the Yusuke vs Younger Toguro fight, this time from another Tagalog GagDub, this is basically the Filipino version of [[Memes/{{Naruto}} Madara's "Weakness disgusts me" reaction face]].[[/labelnote]]
94	** ''[[FinishHim Tapusin! Tapusin!]]'' [[labelnote:explanation]]Literally "Finish them!", a chant used by Filipino fans during hype moments, most prominently in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games E-Sports and Taekwondo events. Originated from Episode 43 of the anime.[[/labelnote]]
95	** "You shouldn't talk. It makes you sound stupid." [[labelnote:explanation]]Yusuke says this to Mr. Iwamoto after a misunderstanding with two students gets him scolded. This is often used as a response to an idiotic or controversial statement.[[/labelnote]]
96	** ''Ah, eu sou Toguro!'' [[labelnote:explanation]]"Ah, I'm [Team] Toguro!" The chant of the Dark Tournament crowd in the Brazilian dub whenever Team Toguro took the stage. It came from a chant that was very popular in soccer matches at the time, which went ''Ah, eu tô maluco!'' ("Ah, I'm so crazy!")[[/labelnote]]
97	** "[[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants Oh, no! He's hot!]]" [[labelnote:explanation]] After the cast for the Netflix remake was revealed, many had this response to Kuwabara's actor, subjecting him to AdaptationalAttractiveness.[[/labelnote]]
98	* MoralEventHorizon:
99	** Even with his FreudianExcuse, some fans still can't forgive Toguro for [[spoiler: his brutal murder of Genkai, massacring half the tournament stadium, and even his false-killing of Kuwabara]].
100	** Elder Toguro. [[spoiler: Three words: Genkai puppet show. Even Sakyo is grossed by it.]]
101	*** Arguably [[spoiler:taking over Makihara's body and torturing/killing him from the inside. ''And enjoying it thoroughly''.]]
102	*** And then [[spoiler: as Gourmet, he ate the mind reader, Murota, who had helped Yusuke and company out earlier.]]
103	** What Ichigaki did to his "test subjects" will make you want to reach through the screen and strangle him.
104	** Despite being fairly minor in comparison to later episodes Mr. Akashi certainly crossed this in Episode 3 when he [[spoiler: nearly takes away a member of Kuwabara's gang's job which his family needs to survive for attacking a group of thugs harassing Keiko, only relenting when Kuwabara promises not to fight for a week. After Kuwabara stays true to his word and takes beating after beating, he adds the condition that all the members must pass their biology test with full knowledge that they're BookDumb. And when they all pass thanks to Yusuke helping Kuwabara study from beyond the grave, he erases one of Kuwabara's answers bringing him down to failing, then proceeding to rub it in his face when that he failed his friends. [[LaserGuidedKarma This backfires as Mr. Takenaka was there when he edited the answer sheet, resulting in him being scolded and forced to bump his grade back up.]] ]]
105	** Both Mr. Akashi and Mr. Iwamoto crossed this in the first episode where they [[SpeakIllOfTheDead insulted Yusuke at his own funeral]], [[KickTheDog believing that he only saved the child because he was trying to mug him]]. They only stop because Mr. Takenaka chews them out. Mr. Iwamoto only goes downhill from there in Episode 6 when he frames Yusuke for stealing from his classmates, assaults him when he denies it, and insults his mother to goad him into hitting him, giving him an excuse to expel him. When Yusuke outs him as the thief, he claims that he must have planted the items on him.
106	** Sensui crossed it when he manipulated Amanuma, a 12-year-old boy, into working for him and [[spoiler: deliberately left out the negative consequences of his power just to serve as a distraction to Team Urameshi, leading to his death]]. Kurama in particular was infuriated by this action.
107	* {{Narm}}:
108	** Sensui's sacred energy armor. Not only does it look stupid, but he just had to make it worse by saying, "I'm a living, breathing, sentient tank!"
109	** Funimation's dub had Yusuke's near-constant use of calling something "Stupid X" (ex: "I'm here to kick your stupid ass!") in the earlier episodes. This was gradually phased out around the time of the Dark Tournament arc.
110	** Both Latin American and European Spanish dubs had their problems dubbing this show:
111	*** The European one, while featuring some good voice performances, becomes unintentionally funny due to the ''horrid'' translation of the dialogues and the fact that its dub director, Joaquín Gómez, insisted in voicing almost half of the male characters of the series by himself. The latter is especially notable because Gómez is not a man of a thousand voices, which makes all his characters sound awfully similar.
112	*** The first Latin American Spanish dub, while not having the same problem of a single actor doing many voices at once, on the other hand, fails in ''both'' translation and voice acting at the same time. This is partly because the show was one of the earlier dub jobs done in Estudios Pegaso in Cuernavaca, rather than Mexico City, and many of their voice actors were rookies with very few roles under their belts at the time, and it ''shows'', to the point the quality of the dub was one of the reasons YYH failed to made a good impression to Latin American audiences, and having to made a newer dub, this time in Mexico City, in order to replace the Cuernavaca one.
113	* NarmCharm:
114	** Funimation's dub has a lot of odd choices from a voice perspective, including weird accents like Jin's Irish sounding accent, and a number of the voice actors have weird line deliveries or sound really flat at times. In spite of all that, the dub is widely held in high regard, because not only do many of these moments make characters more memorable or funny, but the dub is still really good even with those aspects.
115	** The Beautiful. Suzuki. Just watch Episode 50. [[spoiler:Watching an [[NeverMessWithGranny old lady]] royally kick [[WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries a gay clown's]] ass all over the place with nothing but her bare hands is pretty damn hilarious.]] Suzuki's antics along with Genkai's responses to them are really what makes it work.
116	** The [[Creator/VizMedia Viz]] localization of the manga is an odd case - while it doesn't shy away from the more adult elements of the source material the way that the characters talk can be... odd, at times. Hiei calling Yusuke "Po'dnah", Kuwabara threatening to "Haul [Byakko's] tuckus down here" the vibe can veer closer to "Your Gen-X uncle trying to be cool" than "demons and street toughs". Thankfully this almost always happens in moments that leaned comedic anyways, so it can lend a kind of off-kilter charm.
117	* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: ''Makyō Tōitsusen'' for the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis is considered one of the best fighting games for the console, thanks in part to Creator/{{Treasure}} developing it along with its four-player combat system. Said combat system would later be used for a SpiritualSuccessor in the form of two ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' games (''The Blade of Fate'' and ''Dark Souls'') for the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS, with the latter two also being developed by Treasure as well.
118	* NotBadassEnoughForFans: Keiko gets this for being one of the [[{{Muggles}} few characters who doesn't have any powers]], as well as getting emotional in distressing situations. Some of her detractors would go far as ignoring and ''outright'' denying anything good she's ever done in the series. Creator/YoshihiroTogashi himself revealing that he didn't like her as a character doesn't help.
119	* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: With the exception of ''Makyō Tōitsusen'' as already noted above, none of the games stand out as particularly noteworthy, but some of them (such as ''Tournament Tactics'' and most infamously ''Spirit Detective'', the both of them being released for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance and both leaving Japan) range from either mediocre to terrible at best.
120	* QuestionableCasting: The most criticized aspect of the Spanish dub, aside from the awful translation and overuse of Joaquín Gómez's voice, is the voice casting for the main characters. Detractors typically point out that Kuwabara and Hiei sound too much like elderly men, Yusuke's voice is just too funny to be taken seriously in dramatic moments, and for Kurama, while his voice actress sounds really ''a lot'' like Megumi Ogata, it's painfully clear that she had no previous experience voicing male characters at that point. In contrast, the first dub of the second movie, which was done by a different cast, is felt to have much better casting choices (although whether they live it up acting wise is very hotly debated).
121	* RetroactiveRecognition: A crapton, with a few good examples listed above. Most notable is Creator/VicMignogna as Uraurashima and Bui (though, for the latter, you wouldn't tell that was him just by listening to him), though Creator/TravisWillingham as Yanagisawa is notable as well.
122	** Before she was [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries Pikachu]] and [[Manga/OnePiece Tony Tony Chopper]]? Creator/IkueOtani did the voice of Shura, Fubuki Sato and the boy Yusuke saved.
123	* TheScrappy: Mr. Iwamoto, who is disliked for being a SadistTeacher who seems to dislike Yusuke and Kuwabara just for existing. While he should be considered a HateSink, he's also hated for being a huge KarmaHoudini after he tried to frame Yusuke for stealing (and in the anime, giving Mr. Akashi the idea to erase Kuwabara's test answer).
124	* SeasonalRot: The Three Kings arc, which Togashi was forced to do by his editor's order, suffers from this. Common criticism involves Kuwabara being DemotedToExtra, the heroes not being heroic and an attempt to replicate the Dark Tournament arc but made most of the fights anti-climatic. The manga has it even worse at it showed about five battles that were very short.
125	* SignatureScene: Yusuke's HeroicSacrifice at the beginning of the series is remembered by everyone.
126	* SlowPacedBeginning: The first two volumes of the manga consisted of Yusuke doing good deeds as a ghost until he was brought back to life. Not many lost sleep over the majority of those chapters getting cut from the anime.
127	* StrawmanHasAPoint:
128	** He's completely ridiculous in every other respect, but Suzuki is right that people tend to aggrandize things that are shrouded in mystery, this being the reason he gives for keeping his "beautiful" face hidden under clown makeup.
129	** The Koorime are made to appear to us as heartless bitches who would willingly condemn a child to death just because his mother [[HalfHumanHybrid made him with someone]] [[FantasticRacism from a different race]] and he looks "a little" {{creepy\|Child}} at birth. Even his sister, by far the purest creature from the series, thinks their whole kind deserves to be killed for what they did to her, her mother, and her brother (although she also expresses that she sees it as a form of MercyKill). The problem is, their point is completely valid. All the male offspring so far have killed many Koorime, who can only reproduce at intervals of over a century. And Hiei was only [[RetiredMonster saved]] by ThePowerOfFriendship. Although they never seem to question if perhaps it's their ''[[CreateYourOwnVillain shunning of the child]]'' that causes the violent retribution in the first place.
130	** A minor example from the Dark Tournament arc is George suggesting Hiei attack Bui while the latter is busy removing his armor. While the girls chew him out for suggesting such a dishonorable act, they seem to forget a very important detail. The tournament isn't an officially-sanctioned martial arts competition. It's BloodSport where the only consistent rules are 1) No interfering with the match. 2) Stay in the ring. When most matches are won by killing your opponent, every fighter should be a CombatPragmatist. There's also the fact that Botan said that Hiei would never do something so dishonorable. Umm, did she forget that he used to be a murderous criminal in the past and at one time tried to turn her best friend Keiko into a demon during his first battle against Yusuke?
131	** Mr. Akashi and Mr. Iwamoto are no doubt irredeemable jerk asses, but their attempts to get Yusuke and Kuwabara expelled aren't unjustified, as they weren't exactly model students. While Kuwabara made an effort to be a straight-A student and avoid his delinquent lifestyle, it was implied that Yusuke never improved his school life.
132	* SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing:
133	** The Funimation dub of the series is one of the earliest examples. While there were some issues, like [[BarelyChangedDubName name pronunciations]] and the occasional DubInducedPlotHole, the voice acting was well done and it had plenty of amusing Woolseyisms. It's widely agreed that regardless of the quality of the voice acting, the dub has the better script.
134	** The Brazilian dub is still fondly remembered by anime fans for its natural sounding performances and use of local slang and jokes, some of which became memes.
135	* TheyChangedItNowItSucks:
136	** Some reactions when the show was ported to Toonami from Creator/AdultSwim as the shift to weekday afternoons meant it had to be edited losing some of the luster of the fights that come off as awkward without the uncut content. Even worse was that the show only reached the Saint Beasts Arc when it was on Adult Swim, denying fans of seeing the Dark Tournament and Chapter Black arc uncut on TV.
137	** The ''Meikai Shito Hen'' movie was released in Spain many years before the anime itself was, and it featured a completely different voice cast that got replaced by the series's when it was redubbed. Although the latter is the most known dub, among other things for having a (very slightly) better translation and voice acting, many people feel the first dub had much better casting choices (see WTH, Casting Agency? below)
138	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
139	** Early on, we are introduced to Rando, a very sadistic demon who steals other peoples' fighting techniques and then kills them so that he can be the only one who knows said techniques. He is the main antagonist of the series' first arc and nearly kills both Yusuke and Kuwabara. However, he is defeated when one of his techniques backfires, and he is never seen again, even though he is not killed or permanently incapacitated. Rando could've been a recurring villain who had new techniques every time he was seen, always itching to torture and kill Yusuke for humiliating him and handing him his first defeat, but he never came back.
140	** Mr. Takenaka, Yusuke's homeroom teacher. He was the only person at Sarayashiki Junior High that believed in Yusuke and Kuwabara's potential [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre to better and improve themselves]]. There was a lot of potential for him to even be a father figure for Yusuke himself.
141	** Some fans were disappointed that Bui, the only surviving member of Team Toguro, did not show up for and compete in the final arc having become more powerful like Chu, Jin and others had become.
142	** Kuwabara's friends, Kirishima, Okubo, and Sawamura, could have made interesting editions to Team Urameshi. They could have been the three teens that developed powers during the Chapter Black Saga instead of three complete strangers.
143	** Similarly, the Psychics, Kaito, Yana, Kido, and Murota, didn't have their potentials explored. Out of all of them, only Kaito actually played a part in the final battle during the Chapter Black Saga, as Kido spent most of the arc in the hospital, Yana stayed outside of the cave with Botan, and Murota [[spoiler: was unceremoniously eaten by Gourmet]]. After the Chapter Black arc, they were ordered by Genkai to never use their powers again.
144	** Kuroko was introduced early in the Saga of the Three Kings as the first Spirit Detective and Sensui's predecessor. She and her family are shown to have interesting character traits, and yet she is quickly written out of the series after Yusuke decides to go to Demon World.
145	** The Armed Church of the True Disciples could have been an interesting KnightTemplar faction among the good guys. Instead, they're dealt with rather easily in the penultimate chapter of the manga, show barely any personality and present less of a threat than the WireDilemma they force Yusuke to solve.
146	* TooCoolToLive:
147	** Raizen, who was the strongest demon, even on his deathbed. He was still able to trounce the BigBad in Yusuke's body and then did the same ''to'' his descendant even minutes from death.
148	** Younger Toguro and Karasu are villainous examples, with the former being a demon with both extreme brute strength and an overwhelming presence while the latter is one of the few people that outsmarts Kurama as well as managing his overwhelming power with elegant grace.
149	** Sensui [[AmericansHateTingle despite his hate]], is both this and TooPowerfulToLive.
150	* ToughActToFollow:
151	** Although considered a good villain with complex motives, Sensui is often seen as a weaker villain than Younger Toguro. Though Sensui has more overall impact in terms of his role as the previous Spirit Detective, Younger Toguro's rivalry with Yusuke, his tragic history with Genkai, and his compelling relationships with Elder Toguro and Sakyo stick out more due to the build up he gets. It doesn't help Sensui that the final battle against him has the extremely controversial AssPull that Yusuke had Demon heritage, making the battle feel anticlimatic compared to the more natural build up and usage of Genkai and her Spirit Orb.
152	** The Three Kings arc is viewed by many to have failed to live up to the standards set by the Dark Tournament and Chapter Black arcs. That Togashi had not planned to even conceive and write this arc but was made to do so by the mandates of his publishers and editors is very transparent in how the arc's events play out.
153	* ValuesDissonance:
154	** [[https://www.fandom.com/articles/yu-yu-hakusho-rewatch-in-2018 As noted here,]] the series dates from a time when heteronormatism was the status quo. There's a few off-color jokes about HomoeroticSubtext and Yusuke once mocks minor villain Miyuki for being UsefulNotes/{{transgender}} ("You're not a ''real'' crossdresser, you just can't make up your mind!"), neither of which would pass muster nowadays.
155	** While Yusuke's and Keiko's relationship has aged well for the most part, some of his actions towards her would be classified as sexual harassment. While the series does acknowledge his behavior as not acceptable in-universe to an extent, as he is frequently slapped by Keiko for his advances, it's unlikely that any woman would find this kind of behavior endearing or acceptable today.
156	** During the Creator/CartoonNetwork broadcasts, the UsefulNotes/NonNaziSwastika on Kazemaru's forehead was removed. The censors were unaware that it was the traditional Buddhist ''manji'', not a Nazi hakenkreuz. The English translation of the manga instead just adds a NoteFromEd in the margin explaining it.
157	** When Yusuke sees the crowd of people lining up to be Genkai's next student, the dub changed his line to him comparing them to the freaks at a comic book convention. While it does fit his character to make such a comment, it would instead come off as [[TakeThatAudience insulting the audience]] who are more likely to go to such events. Especially after TheNewTens when comic-book conventions started to become less stigmatized.
158	** Out of all the [[ScaryBlackMan scary black men]] that show up in the Dark Tournament arc, [[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/a/uploads/square_medium/0/6342/157221-179537-makintaro.png Makintaro]] looks the most like a blackface caricature, complete with sambo lips. Stereotypes of black people were and still are acceptable in Japan, unlike in the west.
159	* ViewerGenderConfusion:
160	** Touya is a very pretty boy, which would be fine. But he's also an ice demon, and the best known race of ice demons has been established to be entirely female. He is established to be a different species but it's still enough that some fans swear he's female.
161	** Kurama is infamous for this, to the point where the Filipino dub thought he was a girl and named him "Denise." Of course, they later caught on to it and retconned his name as "Dennis."
162	** Genkai is easy to mistake for an old man for first time viewers. This is mostly due to her lack of feminine features. Like with Kurama, the Filipino dub mistook Genkai for the opposite sex and named her "Jeremiah."
163	* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: The series depicts a lot of death, violence and sexual humor...but it was published in a Shonen magazine (Magazine/ShonenJump, specifically). In fact, in 2004, an American kid got in trouble for buying the manga at a school book fair due to its sex and violence.
164	* TheWoobie: Kiyoshi Mitarai, a.k.a. Seaman, suffered a great deal from bullying before joining Sensui. Also, Yukina in her introductory arc; she secretes jewels when she cries, and Tarukane will naturally [[KickTheDog go to great lengths]] to get them.
165	* {{Woolseyism}}:
166	** The implied romance between [[spoiler: Younger Toguro and Genkai]] is much more accentuated in the dub, making their scenes far more heart-wrenching.
167	** Toguro's final form was described as being him powered up to being "100% of 100%", or "100% over", which seemed to mean he had gone beyond his limits, but is a bit confusing and weird to accept. The dub changs it to "more like 85%" and TRUE 100% to make a bit more sense.
168	** During the flashback of Itsuki meeting Sensui, Sensui asks if Itsuki has any regrets, and Itsuki names a TV show and a (at the time) celebrity who would be performing on it, which surprised Sensui because he watched the show too, and realized how similar Youkai were. They obviously couldn't name the TV show or celebrity in the dub because people wouldn't catch it; but they still get the point across by having Itsuki say, "My favorite TV show will be airing its final episode tomorrow, and I want to see how it ends".
169	** Both the English dub and the translation of the manga do an excellent job of translating Kurama's challenge to Kaito, in which if they say any of the forbidden letters -- one is added from the back of the alphabet each minute.
170	** Watching the dub while having more literally translated English subtitles enabled, it is apparent that the dub script is often more colorful and, in the case of Botan and Koenma's explanation of plot points early on, better at getting certain aspects of the plot (specifically, just how the show's depiction of the afterlife and revival process works) across.
171	** In Episode 3, part of the conflict was Okubo losing his permission to have a job. In Japan, students can't get jobs unless they have permission from their school because it could interfere with their studies. Naturally, the school having authority over a student's employment might have some Americans scratching their heads. So, in the dub, it was mentioned that Okubo's job was working at the school, which makes a little more sense to American viewers (for example, work-study).
172	** The dub localized "Youkai" as "Demon. While this isn't ''entirely'' true, it actually ''does'' fit the context in which Youkai were used in this particular manga.

Context YMMV / YuYuHakusho