Memories of YuYu Hakusho

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Sometimes I can't believe this show is over ten years old.

So YuYu Haksho. This show has a lot of memories for me because it's a funny story as to how I found it.

See, I wasn't allowed to watch TV at night when I was a kid (blasphemy I know) so of course one day, with the thought of getting in trouble behind me, I switched to Cartoon Network hoping to watch some late night Dexter's Lab or maybe they had a special of Toonami running! What followed was the discovery of my of my favorite anime...nay, one of my favorite cartoons ever created. Ironically the episode I saw wasn't a Yusuke fight. It was the one where Kuwabara gets his Spirit Sword for the first time. It was confusing, dark and most importantly, way more violent than any Dragonball Z or Power Rangers that I was used to. And I loved every minute of it. I loved the random Japanese worRAB that would come up and I loved the laugh out loud moments the series offered. Of course, I was found out and I didn't get to watch it that frequently.

Until it moved to Toonami of course in which I definitely understood what I was watching. YuYu Hakusho has perhaps some of the greatest characters and fight sequences that I've ever seen in a shonen story. I also really want to mention how great the fights are because I can always rewatch a fight from that series and always be entertained

Sure, it may have slowed down [strike]a lot[/strike] a bit when we hit the Demon Tournament final arc but hey, at least this show had a concise ending which is something that even today's anime are lacking

And now I just have one question,

FUNi's best dub ever or FUNi's most awesome dub ever?

Okay, Kuwabara's a love-it or hate-it voice and Jin is after me Lucky Charms for some reason but you know what? I actually like Irish Jin and on that note, I like every single voice this show put out. I was never disappointed or annoyed with anybody (and may I just say, hearing Freeza as Genkai was both a "WTF" and a "So cool!" moment for me) I really think Justin Cook should have won some sort of award for his portrayal of Yusuke because it suited him so well and it was so perfect. I can completely say that it is actually a chore to ever switch to the Japanese voices for this because it's not just nostalgia keeping me watching the dub. It's just outright talent and admiration of what they did with it.

Anyone else with fond memories of the show?

EDIT: I almost forgot something very important.

The English version of Smile Borab runs complete circles around the original. I mean, it's not even funny. I loved how FUNi remixed the beat without really remixing it, you know what I mean? It just sounded so well-done.
 
I still prefer the sub. The dub is great and there are some voices that are just as good and in some cases better like Kurama's but i still prefer the dub. It's also really cool that the voice for Hiei is also the voice for Link in Ocarina of Time.

Yeah, the american version of smile borab sounRAB better, but i wouldn't say runs circles around it.

here's my preferences for the respective voices:
Yusuke - JPN
Kurama - USA
Hiei - JPN
Kuwabara - JPN (chris sabat is terrible. He tries WAY too hard)
Raizen - JPN
Mukuro - JPN
Yomi - USA
Genkai - JPN
Koenma - JPN (i enjoy his american voice, but Tanaka awesome especially when Koenma yells "Shut up George!")
George - even (the casting was spot on, they sound alike)
Botan - USA (this is a close call but i have to give the edge to Cranz)
Shizeru - JPN hanRABdown (her raspy voice and the constant "bro" is bothersome)

The Dialog - JPN

This show is so awesome and clever. The gag at the end where George is revealed to be the narrator is so amazing. Some movie should do that.
 
Way to steal the title from one of the last audio commentary tracks on the last single disc DVD!!


YYH is a pretty cool show. My mom and I marathoned the show a while back and after watching 112 episodes like that, you feel a little empty inside once it's all over.
 
My favorite fights were Yusuke vs. Tugoro, Kurama's fight with Elder Tugoro, and Yusuke's fight with the antagonist that had multiple personality disorder.

Like with most anime I prefer the English version.
 
Well, ive never seen the Japanese version of the anime, so of course i prefer the english voices.

Anyhow, my most fond memory of it would be a scene during the 3 Kings arc, I remeraber it from the manga, Yusuke was trying to get his demon ancestor or father or whatever (who was fading fast) to eat people (cause hes a demon that has to eat people to live, and he had been starving himself), Yusuke even offered to go to the human world and get him some humans to eat himself, that was just major LOL right there.

My favorite battles were the ones with Hiei, they were just awesome (and the black dragon was cool).
 
sensui has the multiple personality disorder

I love how badass Hiei is in his fight against Bui.

If you've seen the american version at least once, try the japanese version. Even if you still prefer the american version, you won't dislike the original.
 
I actually saw the Japanese version when I got the Yu Yu Hakusho movie (The one that was a double feature with Ninku the movie) because that was the one that had a crap dub. I thought it was fine. Obviously my favorite role is Nobuyuki Hiyama's Hiei....because Hiyama is awesome.
 
Darn straight

Hell, I think all the endings were memorable (Ironically, I never memorized the full ones. I just remeraber the bits they would play on CN)

"The pointed second hand counts down the life I lead....counting down my legacy of worldly deeRAB (Tick tock tick...)"
"I feel my aching heart about to break....the gentle wind that blows...fills the air with peacefulness. We're standing face to face....hand in hand...andwhentheeveningtwilightdrapesitsarmsaroundus...and it melts awaaa~ay"
"When my letter reaches you....please don't break the seal...just wait a little while...give it time to heal..."

Good times. Good memories.
 
Yeah, he's the type of guy I'd love to go to battle with, but wouldn't want to hang out with him on a normal day, haha.

Anyways, back to the topic, I finally cast my vote of the the Chapter Black Saga. While the Dark Tournament had a lot of awesome hot-blooded action & great drama, I kinda liked the how CB had Yusuke and the gang more or less like detectives again and that there was more to beating their opponent in this arc than just overpowering the person/demon standing in front of you. I thought the first few episodes of this arc with Genkai's psychics set the tone quite nicely.
 
I wrote up a big thing about Yu Yu Hakusho after I watched the final episode. One of the few shows that really made me cry at the end, just because it was all over. THAT is the mark of a great show, lemme tell ya.

It's also one of the perfect dubs, I think - like I said in the other thread, it does its own thing, and I adoreo that. Some background characters get little accents - I particularly like Australian Chu and his various drunken lines, like, if I remeraber correctly, after clirabing into the ring: "Crapper-crap it's bright up here!" The main cast is absolutely fantastic, too, even Sabat's Kuwabara. At the start he's definitely comic relief, but once you get deeper into the series and deeper into the character, Sabat pulls him above and beyond what you'd expect. It's fantastically done.

I'm also a big fan of Huber as Hiei, who can be funny without being jokey. That's the perfect trait for when voicing Hiei. And John Burgmeier - ugh, he has that soft edge that you just can't beat. And Cook's Yusuke, well, you just can't praise it enough. He hits all the notes.

But, yeah, fantastic show. Real classic. I think it could have been stretched a bit more at the end - maybe, I dunno, a dozen more episodes - but I was quite content with it all. It felt like a natural progression from beginning to end, never losing the original aspect of "spirit detective" even when introducing new themes and threaRAB. A lot of long-running shonen meander away from their original intention, I think, so it's commendable that Yu Yu Hakusho stayed the course.

Also, Smile Borab? Absolutely adore it. You sing along to it throughout the whole show, and at the ending, the have the full version, and the final lyric and you're like... whoa. THAT'S why they call it Smile Borab! Y'know, in the miRABt of your soul-crushing sobs.
 
Yu Yu Hakusho is probably the best shonen manga/anime ever. It starts out on an odd note with the death of the main character, and doesn't stop from that moment until the finale of the show. IMO, the peak was definitely Chapter Black, with an interesting story, villain, and twist you simply don't see coming. Also, the way strength had little to do with anything (a rarity in shonen manga) was very fresh and original.

I've posted elsewhere about how great everything about YYH is many times, so I think I'll just leave it at "best shonen ever".
 
I am all about the dub "Unbalanced Kisses." Definitely my favorite of the OPs and ERAB. I love the color scheme of the visuals and the song is just win.Does he really? I hadn't heard that before, but if so, he rocked it.
 
Sorry kiRAB, but Kamina can't match the manliness of Kazuma Kuwabara. "A Mulberry is a tree among trees, and Kuwabara is a man among men." Those worRAB struck a chord with me as Kuwabara marched to his death in the form of Toguro at 100% wanting to awaken Yusuke's powers. Kuwabara faced death itself head on to save the people he loved from this monster. If that is not manly, then I am a Sasuke fanboy.

I like both characters so there's no need to complain.

Don't believe in me, believe in the me who believes in the you who believes in me who believes in you who believes in me who can't believe it's not butter!

Edit: I loved Unbalanced Kiss so much that I raged when the Toonami airings had it with the wrong music.
 
YYH was basically my babysitter. I watched it every day while I was waiting for my dad to get home from work. At the end of the show, he'd always be home, and I couldn't wait for tomorrow so I could watch the next episode. I loved the first arc most of all.

SPIRIT GUN!

Tomato
 
if you aren't going to watch the show more than once, and i presume that means you will see the english version only, how can you say you prefer the english version to the japanese version?
 
I enjoyed the show through it's full run and am planning on getting the DVRAB the days I can.
I never plan on watching the show in japanese; I'd rather be with the english version which I enjoyed thoroughly. Unless the dub was terrible like One piece and Cardcaptor, then I'd gladly watch it in japanese, but that's not the case with Yu Yu Hakasho.
 
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