YuYu Hakusho (Japanese: 幽☆遊☆白書, Hepburn: Yū Yū Hakusho), also known as Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files, is a Japanese anime television series based on Yoshihiro Togashi's manga series YuYu Hakusho and produced by Studio Pierrot. Covering the entire storyline of the manga, the series follows the adventures of Yusuke Urameshi who after dying in a car accident and after encountering Botan is now tasked to complete tasks from the Spiritual World in order to return to his world as well as fighting supernatural threats.
The series aired on Fuji Television and its affiliates from October 1992 to January 1995 resulting in two movies, an OVA compilation series, video games, toys and other merchandise.
A sequel OVA, covering the last two chapters of the manga and made in commemoration of the anime series' 25th anniversary, titled both Two Shots and All or Nothing respectively were released on October 26, 2018.
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Production and release
The series was directed by Noriyuki Abe and produced by Fuji Television, Yomiko Advertising and Studio Pierrot. The series, consisting of 112 episodes, aired from October 10, 1992, to January 7, 1995, on Fuji TV and its affiliates. The episodes were released on 23 video cassettes by Pony Canyon from January 1, 1995, to December 6, 1995. They were also released on 28 DVD volumes by Beam Entertainment, with volumes 8–14 released on March 25, 2002, volumes 15–21 released on April 25, 2002, and volumes 22–28 released on May 25, 2002. The anime differed from its manga source material by containing different levels of violence and profanity, as well as minor variations in art style from one to the other. When animating the manga series, Abe took notes from Togashi's illustrations and noted that Yusuke and Kuwabara have opposite school uniforms despite being from the same school which he found weird. He asked the editorial for the manga and they found it suitable. The visual helped to make Yusuke and Kuwabara looked like the yankī delinquent stereotype seen in other works. When Kurama and Hiei joined the main cast, the anime staff liked the contrasting colors the protagonists have, linking them to popular tokusatsu series. The team also decided to tone down the appearances of Yusuke's mother when it came to seeing his son fight. For the ending, the creators ended up shaping the end according to the manga while interspersing an original screenplay, summarizing it in a structure in which Yusuke returned after a few years in contrast to the manga where he immediately returns alongside Kurama. Mari Kitayama, a lead character designer for the anime stated that she considers Kuwabara to be the most difficult character to design. Kitayama finds Kurama to be the easiest of the main characters to design due to his well-proportioned features and considers Hiei to be her favorite.
