Yu Yu Hakusho: manga

Released: 1990                

Author(s): Togashi Yoshihiro     

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Comedy, Martial Arts, Romance, Shounen, Supernatural

Plot:
Urameshi Yusuke was a 14 year old boy who didn't care about the rules. Known in his town as a tough teen delinquent he didn't attend classes often and was respected by everyone around his school because of his strong style of fighting. He never lost a fight. 

But even though Yusuke was like this, he had a kind heart no one knew about. One afternoon, one selfless act cost him his life. He saved a boy from being rolled over by a car a thus, became a ghoul because the gods didn't expect this kind of action from him. Botan, the scorter for the souls in the crossroads, confirm to him that he didn't have any place to be, not in heaven or hell. 

Because his situation is something rarely see, Koenma, the pacifier-sucking judge of the dead, offers him a test of revival. After many hardships, Yusuke is revived and is assigned to be a detective of the Spirit Realm investigating demonic cases in the human world. He ends up knowing he posseses spiritual abilities and together with friends from Reikai (Spirit World), Makai (Demon World) and Ningenkai (Human World) he fights off the evil that threatens the three worlds.

Personal Apreciation: (please be aware of some spoilers)

Rank:  (from 1 to 10) 9

Usually girls who reads Shoujo don’t like the “fighting mangas” (or at least the ones I’ve known) but for me is completely different, if it’s good, bring it on!!! I encountered this manga after I saw the anime in Cartoon Network, I happened to watch it just because I was bored and there wasn’t anything else in the TV, but after half an hour I was eager for more.

I think maybe most guys wouldn’t like it because is not that fierce (i.e.: Akira, Afro Samurai) but still, I consider it a good manga with lots of good characters which you get to know one way or another; and also, whenever you think is over, it comes back at you with a new challenge. Each time the guys mature with new tournaments, fights or new enemies so really, there's no boring here. In short, I loved it!

Characters:

Urameshi Yūsuke: A student at Sarayashiki Junior High School. His lack of attendance, constant fighting, and bad habits have earned him the label of a problem teen or teen delinquent among most of his teachers and classmates. What no one really knows is that below that bad boy attitude he does care for the ones who deserve it (Keiko, his mother, Kuwabara whether he is willing to accept it or not and the rest of his team mates). His most common attack is the Rei Gun (Spirit Sphere). He concentrates his energy into his right index finger and release it as a bullet. He can only do one shot per day, but later on the manga he becomes Genkai's apprentice, with her, he learns a lot of ways to use his Reiki (Spiritual power). Yusuke ends up maturing and becoming a good leader who earns the respect of those who fight against him. Nearly at the end of the manga we discover he is part demon, which now puts him in the "S" level and becomes one of the Three Kings of Makai.

Kuwabara Kazuma: Also a student of Sarayashiki Junior High School. Everyday, (or as soon as he heals) he asks Yusuke for a fight, obviously, he always lose. He has his little gang, but neither of them are bad kids, and even though Kuwabara is known as N°2 (after Yusuke of course) everybody knows he loves kittens. He posseses a high level of physic Rei (kindda like a sixth sense), though not as acute as his older sister Shizuru, and develops his ability throughout the manga. Kuwabara ends up being a really important part of Yusuke’s team and he is the one that never gives up, always fight back and definitely cares for everyone in the group, including Hiei.

Kurama: Known in the  Ningenkai as Minamino Shuichi. He really was a demon thief, a Youko (What a fox transforms into after living 100 years. Empowered with Rei abilities. The most well known are the nine-tailed-spirit-fox, who is able to transform into anything at will, as well as induce illusions), but 15 years ago, he was injured by an skilled hunter an was forced to seek refuge in the Ningenkai with only his spiritual body. He lay dormant in the fetus of a woman and decided to wait. If he could bare the life of a human for 10 years, he would go back to what he used to be, because for now he only has lower level powers. But, there was an ocassion in which his foster-mother saved him from harm sacrificing herself, since then, he could not longer denied that he considered her his real mother and loved her as such. 

He meets Yusuke when his is with another two demons who have stolen three treasures for the Spirit world. Kurama stole the Mirror of Darkness, a mirror who will grant the user's wish but at the costs of his life. He wanted to use this to save his mother from a terminal illnes. When Yusuke learns about this, he helps Kurama by givin half of his lifeforce and so, the mirror grants the wish without killing either of them. This make Kurama trust Yusuke even more and from then on they became friends and allies. 

His power is to rule whatever seed there is in the three realms, his most used weapon is a rose whip, so strong that it can can even steel. 

Hiei: He is the son of one Ice Maiden. The Ice Maidens are a tribe living in Hyouga (Ice River, the ice country the maidens live in), their lives is so long that sometimes considered almost endless. They live alone, up in the sky, sorrounded by clouds, and every 100 years they give birth to a child all by themselves. The child is always a girl, and grows up to be the spit image of her mother. They live so secluded because whenever one of them interacts with a male of another race, the children they'll give birth will always be male, and they'll always be violent, reckless and cruel. 

Hiei was born as one of the twins of the Ice Maiden, Hina. Whenever the maidens gave birth, they would shed only one tear which crystallized into a jewel known as Hirui Seki; this time however, Hina shed two tears. The elders of the tribe sealed Hiei with talismans and bandages, and asked Rui, Hina's best friend, to toss him away. Rui gave Hiei his Hirui Seki and asking him to come back to kill her, she let him go. Hiei survived and swored to get his revenge. 

Years later he lost his Hirui Seki and asked Shigure, the master surgeon of the Demon World, to give him a Jagan (Evil Eye) to look up for this stone and the Ice River. In his way he finds out he has a twin sister and he decides to look up for her as well. Later on he meets Yusuke, when he is with Kurama and other demon, he stole the Demonic Sword, able to turn any human into a Demon. 

He is an expert of the sword and when the Dark Tournament ends, he shows he has is the one and only true master of the Black Dragon Hellfire (Jaō Ensatsu Kokuryūha). He is part of Yusuke's team, and even when it seems that he couldn't care less, he does care. At the end of the manga, he is appointed to be a guardian of the portals between Ningenkai and Makai. 

Genkai: She is a legendary Reiki master, her speciality is the Rei-Kohadou (Movement of the Spirit Force or Spirit Wave). She appears when she is looking for an apprentice to pass her teachings onto. Yusuke ends up being the chose one after defeating Rando, a demon who stole habilities.  

Besides using the Rei-Kohadou for combat, Genaki also uses this technique to heal and purify. When she uses it like this, her body suffers a change because of the great power she is managing, leading to a temporary reversion, meaning, she looks 50 years younger. When she dies at the end of the manga, she leaves her vast land to Yusuke and his friends.