Sandy
Smash Champion
Fourteen-year-old Yusuke Urameshi is having a typical day. He's cutting class, arguing with teachers, and getting into fistfights with his rival Kuwabara. But when Yusuke dives in front of a speeding car to save a little boy, things take an unexpected twist! As a result of his self-sacrifice, Yusuke is taken to the Spirit World where he meets Koenma, a 700 year-old ruler with the body of a toddler - pacifier and all!
There's no room for laughs, as Koenma gives Yusuke an ordeal that could restore his life - or end all chances for revival. Yusuke has reclaimed his life, but has only one day to be revived by someone's kiss -- And that someone might be his old nemesis Kuwabara!
Back in the flesh, Yusuke finds he can see supernatural creatures hiding in the living world. But with this strange new ability his adventure is only beginning. It seems Yusuke has become a Spirit Detective, and must track down evil spirits in order to stop them from fulfilling their diabolical plans!
The History of Yu Yu Hakusho
Yu Yu Hakusho ran in the 80-90's in Japan, during the same time that the famous anime Dragon Ball Z was running. During this run, Yu Yu Hakusho was one of the few shows to rival Z in popularity. The show description is just a brief touch on the surface, however - this anime has tons of depth to it, spawning 112 episodes, 4 specials, and 2 movies. Kurama, one of the main characters, was recently voted the "Most Popular Anime Character Of All Time Among Females."
Characters
Yusuke Urameshi
Yusuke Urameshi was your insanely strong, class-skipping, authority-resenting 14-year old punk. However, after dying in a car accident and saving a little boy's life, Yusuke was introduced to the characters that would make him the Spirit Detective of Earth, a person who solves various demonic crimes that plague both the Living, Spirit, and Demon Worlds. He retains this role throughout the whole series, at first solving smaller crimes which formed the "Spirit Detective Saga," and then winning the Dark Tournament, solving a very large crime, and competing in the Makai Tournament.
Kazuma Kuwabara
While his first name is Kazuma, he is called Kuwabara throughout the whole series. At the beginning, he was Yusuke's complete rival, although he was the loser in all of their matches. Even still, after Yusuke saves his cat's life, the two quickly become best friends. Kuwabara does not fight in Season 4, as he leaves that to the other three Spirit Detectives while he studies to go to a good college. He also has a strange passion for cats.
Suichi "Kurama" Minamino
Suichi's body is inhabited by the spirit of a fox, whom is called Yoko Kurama when he undergoes a transformation. This spirit gives Kurama intelligence, speed, strength, and Spirit Energy, making him the cool, calm, and collected fighter he is througout the series. Suichi is an A-student, it is not known in the Dub yet whether this is due to Yoko's intelligence or his own.
Jaganshi Hiei
He is called Hiei throughout the whole series, and is a very powerful fighter. Hiei was implanted with the Jagan Eye, which gives him immense power, allowing him to perform dark techniques. Hiei performed the "Dragon of the Darkness Flame" technique during the Dark Tournament. It paralyzed his arm, but Hiei trained it back to working strength. He now bandages his arm, and the bandage is torn apart when he usually performs any technique that involves the Jagan Eye. He had a horrible childhood, being abandoned by his mother's people.
Yoko Kurama
Yoko Kurama is a Spirit Fox, whose hobby was picking and opening locks in Demon World. One day, however, he was careless, and was shot down by a hunter. Before he died, he transferred his spirit into an unborn human boy, and in 15 years, he had regained much of his power. Now, Kurama can transform into Yoko Kurama, and he has used various methods to perform this technique throughout the series. Yoko Kurama provides Kurama with many of the resources he has in the series, inhabiting his body even when his form is not present.
Keiko Yukimora
Keiko is Yusuke's childhood friend, maybe even something more. She is depicted primarily as Yusuke's girlfriend throughout the series, and finds it increasingly hard to deal with his job of Spirit Detective. At his funeral when he died at the beginning of the series, she (along with Kuwabara) was the only classmate that cried, as all of Yusuke's other classmates were there happily, and Yusuke assumed they were all there because they were getting extra credit. However, Yusuke and Keiko share a strong bond that will never be broken.
Botan
Botan is one of the first characters introduced to us at the beginning of the series. She is the Grim Reaper, and informs Yusuke of his status with the Spirit World. She convinces him to go through the ordeal to return to life. She then helps Yusuke and informing him of his cases. Botan frequently introduces us to new gadgets throughout the first season, and then becomes a personal assistant to Koenma.
Koenma
Koenma is the young ruler of Spirit World. Despite his child-like appearance, he is really over seven-hundred years old. At first, he seems to send Yusuke and company into battle without any regard as to whether they come back alive, let alone in one piece. He also is rather narcissistic about his status and power. Often, he takes his problems out on George the Blue Ogre, who is always with him. In the Dark Tounament, Koenma disguises himself as a teenager so that Yusuke and the others would take him more seriously. The only thing Koenma fears more then anything is his fathers wrath. At the end of Season 3, he disobeys his fathers direct orders, and hides out in the Human World to avoid punishment.
Blue Ogre/George Saotome
George is the Head Ogre of the Spirit World. He delivers reports that he recieves to Koenma, and also follows Koenma around to keep him out of trouble. Often, he is seen getting pounded or verbally abused by Koenma. So much that he usually complains about his current job.
Shizuru Kuwabara
Shizuru Kuwabara is Kuwabara's older sister. She has a bad smoking habit, but is always there for her brother. Although she doesn't express much emotion during the series, deep down, she cares for every member of the team. She frequently disciplines Kuwabara in his studying habits during the fourth season.
Rinku/Link
During the Dark Tournament, Rinku was a member of Team Rokuyukai. He fought first, and he fought against Kuwabara. The little chap proved to be quite a match for Kuwabara, using his Spirit Energy through his yo-yos. He nearly killed Kuwabara, but you'll have to wait and see how Kuwabara gets himself out of that one. He then supports Yusuke during the Dark Tournament's final match and makes another appearance in the fourth season for the Makai Tournament.
Chu
In the Dark Tournament, Chu was the final and strongest member of Team Rokuyukai. He first appears when the two members of Team Rokuyukai who had not yet fought tried to run for their lives after seeing their supposed team leader Zeru get exicuted by Hiei. Chu kills the two cowards and wonders drunkenly out into the arena. He at first seems like a rather clownish alternate fighter. But in battle he is all action. He is a master at drunken fighting. And gets stronger the drunker he gets. He supports Yusuke during the final match with Toguro and also makes another appearance in the fourth season to battle in the Makai Tournament.
Jin
During the Dark Tournament, Jin was a member of Team Masho. He fought fourth, after Kurama had killed Gama, Touya had survived his battle with Kurama, and Yusuke had killed Bakken. Things were not looking good for Team Urameshi, and Yusuke fought Jin. This match proved to be one of the most stunning in the series, as Jin has the power to control the air, allowing himself to fly at will, wrap mini-tornadoes around his fists, and all sorts of other things you could do with his power. After losing to Yusuke, he then supports him during the Dark Tournament's final match and makes another appearance in the fourth season for the Makai Tournament.
Touya
Touya is the second member of Team Masho that Kurama had to face. When Touya first stepped into the ring he wanted to avenge the death Gama, one of his mates. At first it seemed like it was going to be an easy match, because Gama had paralyzed Kurama and had also sealed Kurama's power. Fortunatly for Kurama, he regained the ability to move again just in the nic of time. Touya's power is over ice. He can ensnare his victims with in a barracade of frozen air. He blow ice darts as well as forming ice over one of his arms so it creates a sword. He deeply believes in honor and even tries to convince Risho, Team Masho's leader, to stop cheating in order to gain victory. He supports Yusuke during the final match and appears again later in the Makai Tournament, the fourth season.
Yukina
[Yukina (雪菜) is a fictional character from the manga/anime series Yu Yu Hakusho. She is the twin sister of Hiei. Her seiyū is Yuri Shiratori, and her English voice actresses are Susan Huber and Jessica Dismuke in the FUNimation Dub and Veronica Taylor in the US Manga Corps Dub. Her Latin American voice actress is Azucena Hernández.
Yukina was born as an ice apparition (Kōrime, 氷女, literally Ice Woman), the same as her clan. But she was also born with a twin brother Hiei. Her twin brother was the forbidden child who was never supposed to exist, and was "killed" by being thrown off a cliff, despite his mother's desperate pleas. However, Yukina grew up to search for her twin brother, in full hopes that he was still alive.
Ice apparitions have special abilities relating to snow and ice, and have light healing abilities. In addition, when they cry, their tears become gems, which are highly valuable in the human world.
Yukina is first introduced in Yusuke's fourth case, where she is caged in an isolated room of talismans by Gonzo Tarukane, a greedy rich man who uses her to gain tear jewels to sell for money on the black market. Yusuke and Kuwabara are to save her from Tarukane, but Hiei ends up finding out about Yukina's whereabouts, and rushes to find her as well.
Hiei and Yukina eventually meet after she stops him from killing Tarukane, but Hiei has no intention of telling her that he is her brother, so he watches over Yukina silently.
Yukina has also appeared in the Dark Tournament and Three Kings sagas, as well as the Yu Yu Hakusho movie Poltergeist Report. It is also revealed at the end of the Three Kings saga that Yukina had spent the last year living with Genkai.
She also gets along well with animals, especially birds. She is a kind-hearted, caring, and somewhat naïve. Yukina does not understand the affection shown to her by Kazuma Kuwabara. She refers to him as Kazuma, unlike most of the characters within the series, aside from Kuwabara's sister, Shizuru Kuwabara.
In the English dubbed and Japanese subbed version of the anime (in the beginning, after Yukina is rescued from Tarukane--the human who tortured her for five years) Hiei tells Yusuke that Yukina and he have different mothers. This is clearly not true, since it's later revealed that they are, in fact, fraternal twins. A possible reason for this deception is that in the beginning of the series Hiei doesn't trust Yusuke as much, and sees no reason to make it common knowledge that they are very closely related; full siblings as opposed to only half-siblings.
