Ah the classic shows, whether they introduced us long ago to this wonderful myriad of worlds called anime, or simply looking for what the blazes everyone is talking about. This one I recommend to anyone looking for just a good time but some progressive story as well.
We start with archetype anti-hero Yusuke Urameshi, rebellious teenager, I think they like to use the world ruffian. Only in a unique take, he is starting out dead. Yes you read that right, main character starts out dead off the bat. Fortunately this is only a minor issue, well more or less. Botan, the "Grim" Reaper, shows up and is of course a cute lass floating in air and a bit of an air head in her speech patterns. This unusual beginning leads to hilarious introductions to the main cast humans and the leader of the Spirit World, Koenma in baby form is truly hilarious.
The tone of the show from the outset is tongue in cheek, and Yusuke is a bit blunt with both words, and fists. Even so you start to pull for him because it is obvious he just likes the world simple, and in striking distance. After a short arc of trials, he is returned to life, but of course he is now gifted to be doing a new job, what with all his free time from skipping class, to be Spirit Detective.
At first it all seems about enjoying the fighting and expanding our view of this world, but it quickly takes a serious turn when we meet Kurama, a demon in a human body, merger not possession. He steals an artifact that he wants to use to save his human mother at the cost of his life, but Yusuke quickly steps in to offer his own after seeing his family and friends deal with his first death.
That contradiction of loving fights, but putting his life on the line for something more noble goes on through out the series as it begins to become far more serious. The involvement of Genkai as his teacher and role model, see smart ass old lady that kicks demon ass, and the massive arc of the Dark Tournament that revealed far deeper relations between the main and supporting cast.
We also of course see Yusuke develop into an older smart aleck that becomes insanely powerful only after facing true monsters that just wanted to kill for the fun of it or for their own twisted motives. That is one thing about this series I liked a lot, there was honest to goodness evil of both monster and human, and often the humans were worse. Our heroes are not perfect or innocent at all, they have done cruel things and good things, and often they do things that seem to contradict what we expect, but somehow it all weaves well together.
The last arcs deal with two aspects most show skirt around. Fighting and killing monsters to protect people seems just fine, but what if a group of people are the enemy and the only way to stop them is to kill them? Up to this point it was a pure monster brawl, demons galore and only demons killing humans. Some truly twisted story points here but massive progress for our characters culminating in an all out brawl in Demon World between Yusuke and his predecessor Sensui.
The final wrap up takes us where we again have avoided for the most part, the depths of Demon World, as we learn Yusuke has an ancestor still kicking around and that blood has been allowed to reach its potential in him thanks to his training with Genkai. It seems to become more serious with each arc, but in this we return to the simpler joy of bringing serious issues, like inter-world peace, to fist fights.
Surprisingly I have found that with rewatching this series I hardly ever skip an episode or arc, I watch it beginning to end and enjoy it all again. Not always true of second or third rounds of a show. The final episode makes a nice bookend and while not all questions are answered, it is pitch perfect for how we began, with a punch to the gut and lots of laughs. Highly recommended once again for anyone and there are TONS of episodes so enjoy!
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