17-year-old Yusuke Urameshi tries to make sense of a horrific scene where he witnesses paramedics carry away his maimed body and even walk through him.
Four hours earlier a strange insect crawls out of a massive sinkhole. At school, Yusuke is chewed out by Keiko for cutting class to smoke. He then defends Kirino from bullies but is accused of bullying by a teacher and leaves school. After a brief stop at home to speak with his mother, a fight with Kuwabara, and a trip to Keiko's family's ramen shop, the insect crawls into a truck driver, causing him to go on a rampage. Yusuke pushes a young boy out of the way but is then hit by the truck.
Realizing he is a ghost, Botan appears, identifying herself as the Grim Reaper and congratulating him for figuring it out so quickly. After confirming the boy he saved is alright, Yusuke accompanies Botan to the afterlife. There he meets Koenma, the son of King Enma, who offers to resurrect him in exchange for tracking down the yokai bug. Yusuke initially refuses his offer but changes his mind after seeing his friends and family grieve for him and Keiko's guilt for telling him to die.
The bullies once again attack Kirino for standing up to him. The bug possesses him and causes him to go on a rampage and start a fire. Kuwabara attempts to stop him. Yusuke revives to save Keiko from the fire. He then confronts Kirino and attempts to drive the bug out of his body before he turns into a yokai. Awakening his spirit energy, he is able to take him down and swash the bug.
Elsewhere, a group of armed soldiers attempt to fend off a group of monsters after a trio of artifacts. After they are slain a trio of yokai appear and slay the monsters, taking the artifacts for themselves.
Tropes
- Adaptational Badass: The yokai bugs were harmless in the original, only an early sign of a greater problem to come. Here one of them is able to possess people and wreak havoc.
- Adaptational Early Appearance: In the original, Sakyo and Tarukane are introduced in the Recuse Yukina arc. Here they appear in the first episode. To a lesser extent, Hiei, Kurama, and Gouki also appear early, albeit still after Yusuke's resurrection.
- Adapted Out: Yusuke's adventures as a ghost are cut, with him being resurrected shortly after his wake. The egg that was supposed to revive him is also absent, with Koenma simply doing it himself once he agrees to it. Jyaki's role is taken over by a bug.
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: Subverted. Yusuke assumes everyone will be glad he is dead but is proven wrong at his wake when he sees several people legitimately moaning about his death.
- Attending Your Own Funeral: Downplayed as Yusuke is dead but his ghost attends his own wake.
- Back from the Dead: It didn't take long for Yusuke to come back to life, barely long enough to hold his wake.
- Body Horror: The yokai bug starts to change its host, morphing their face and turning their hand into a blade if given enough time.
- Battle Amongst the Flames: The fight against the yokai possessed student leads to a punctured fuel tank spilling onto a dropped lighter and setting several buildings on fire.
- Bully Brutality: The bullies repeatedly attack Kirino, taking his money and subjecting him to a brutal beat down when he fights back.
- Came Back Strong: Due to his brief stint as a ghost, Yusuke has access to his spirit powers, able to use them during his fight shortly after his resurrection.
- Corner of Woe: Atsuko spends the wake huddled up against the wall near the corner, clearly depressed.
- Didn't See That Coming: The afterlife bureaucracy is thrown for a loop when someone of Yusuke's background sacrifices himself to save a child.
- Discovering Your Own Dead Body: The episode starts with Yusuke walking up to a group of paramedics tending to his body.
- Demonic Possession: The yokai bug possesses people and causes them to go on a rampage.
- Dying Deal Upgrade: Koenma offers to resurrect Yusuke in exchange for becoming the Spirit Detective, which includes supernatural powers.
- Family-Unfriendly Violence: Yusuke is hit by a car and he rolls over several times as we see it run him over before tipping over.
- The Ferryman: Botan takes Yusuke across the River Styx, in this version by boat instead of riding an oar like a broomstick.
- First-Episode Resurrection: The episode opens with Yusuke's death and he is brought back in the third act.
- Fixing the Game: When Tarukane is down a lot of money, Sakyo suggests he put everything he has left on 22, which pays off. Assumes it is rigged but Sakyo denies it.
- The Grim Reaper: Botan states that in the West they call her the Grim Reaper. With her pink kimono, she doesn't fit what most people would picture.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Yusuke pushes a child out of the way of an out of control truck but is run over as a result. Given the incident was more malicious in this version, there was no Senseless Sacrifice this time.
- Hollywood Fire: Keiko runs into a burning building to save Yusuke's body. Just about everything is on fire but there is little in the way of smoke, thought she does collapse. Once Yusuke revives he quickly carries Keiko out the back before it gets much worse.
- How Dare You Die on Me!: Kuwabara is furious at Yusuke's death, saying he should still be alive.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Yusuke tells Kirino to take control back from the roundworm monster. This seems to work at first as his blade reverts to a hand but Yusuke still needs to use his newfound powers to knock him out of it.
- I Wished You Were Dead: Keiko tells Yusuke to die and feels immense guilt over it when he dies a few minutes later.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Yusuke is pretty crass but has shown to care for the weak. Kuwabara is also shown to hate bullies.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Atsuko is devastated at Yusuke's death and huddles up against the wall during his wake. Subverted when he comes back to life.
- Please Wake Up: The child Yusuke saved doesn't understand his death and believes him to be merely sleeping. A downplayed example, as he makes no attempt to wake him up.
- Rescue Reversal: Keiko rushes into a burning building to save Yusuke's body but becomes trapped. Yusuke has to come back to life to save her, carrying her out of the building.
- Resurrected Romance: Yusuke says there is no point in coming back to life if Keiko dies, promising to do whatever Koenma says if he can save her.
- Reusable Lighter Toss: The bully drops a lighter which remains lit long enough for the gasoline to reach it.
- Ridiculously Potent Explosive: The exploding motorcycle spreads across several city blocks before anyone can do anything about it.
- Shrine to the Fallen: They have a small one at the wake.
- Soulless Shell: Koenma revives Yusuke's body but it remains comatose until his soul is returned to it.
- Unwanted Revival: A variation. Yusuke turns down Koenma's offer to revive him at first but changes his mind later.
- The Worf Effect: A group of armed soldiers fails to defend the artifacts from the monsters, only for the monsters to be killed by the trio shortly after.
