Based on the manga series of the same name, Yu Yu Hakusho follows a hotheaded teenager who is resurrected after his death to be a detective for the Spirit World. The series is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
17-year-old Yusuke Urameshi is a reckless and ill-tempered student, but he is also kind-hearted.
He keeps getting into fights for various reasons — sometimes due to anger and at other times to protect those who are weak.
One day, a yokai from the Demon World enters the Human World, even though the two worlds are separated by a boundary that was created by the Spirit World.
The yokai possesses a truck driver’s body and causes several accidents. Yusuke saves a little boy, Masaru, from getting hit by the truck.
Yusuke dies while saving Masaru and is visited by a woman named Botan, who is his guide from the Spirit World.
Yusuke’s soul is not sent to Heaven or Hell, as nobody expected a troubled boy like him to die saving someone else.
Botan then takes Yusuke’s soul to the Spirit World, where he meets her boss King Enma Jr., who is also known as Koenma.
Enma offers to resurrect Yusuke. In exchange, Yusuke will have to work as a detective for the Spirit World.
The job of a Spirit Detective entails solving cases involving yokai that have invaded the Human World.
As Yusuke believes that people who knew him would be relieved to know that he is dead, he rejects Enma’s offer of becoming a Spirit Detective.
However, he changes his mind when Botan makes him attend his wake, and he sees his mother and childhood friend, Keiko, grieving for him.
The yokai that had caused the accident possesses one of Yusuke’s classmates and starts a fire that almost kills Keiko, who risks her life to save Yusuke’s body.
Yusuke then takes Enma’s offer and asks him to save Keiko. He fights the yokai and manages to use his spirit energy to defeat it.
Now that Yusuke will be working as a Spirit Detective, Enma resurrects him, and Yusuke reunites with his mother and friends.
Yusuke’s next task is to retrieve three dangerous objects that were monitored by the Spirit World until yokai thieves stole them.
The first thief is Goki, a yokai who feeds off human souls. He has stolen the Repacious Orb that allows him to suck human souls.
Yusuke fights Goki, who has taken the souls of several children, including Masaru. Yusuke defeats him by using the Spirit Gun and retrieves the orb.
The next thief Yusuke has to fight is Kurama, who has stolen the Mirror of Darkness, an object that will grant him whatever he desires.
When Yusuke finds out that Kurama plans to return the mirror after saving his dying mother, he decides not to fight Kurama.
Later, Yusuke comes to know that the mirror claims the life of the person who makes the wish, so he saves Kurama by giving half of his own life to the mirror.
Yusuke manages to retrieve two items, but getting the third one proves to be challenging. Yusuke does not stand a chance against the third thief, Hiei.
Hiei has stolen the Conjuring Blade, which grants its wielder their desired ability. Hiei wants to use the blade to find his long-lost sister, who is also a yokai.
With the help of the blade, Hiei opens the Jagan Eye, which, among other things, allows him to locate anything.
To face him, Yusuke needs to get stronger, so he is sent to train with a woman known as Master Genkai.
Kuwabara is one of the people who were extremely upset when Yusuke died. He considers himself Yusuke’s rival but has yet to win a fight against him.
Apart from Yusuke, Kuwabara is the only one who can see Botan, which is why he believes Yusuke when he tells him about being a Spirit Detective.
Kuwabara wants to be as strong as Yusuke, so he also goes to get trained by Master Genkai and learns to wield a Spirit Sword.
Master Genkai teaches Yusuke, who hones his abilities under her tutelage, that sacrificing something valuable to gain power is not real strength.
Yusuke realizes that the world is counting on him and promises to honor that trust, which leads to Master Genkai entrusting him with her Spirit Wave Orb.
She knows that Yusuke will soon be facing extremely powerful opponents, so she wants him to carry the orb inside him.
Trouble comes in the form of a man named Sakyo, who loves gambling. He makes yokai fight each other to entertain the rich and make money.
Sakyo has discovered the place where the boundary that connects the Human World and the Demon World exists.
He does not want the Demon World to be separated from the Human World, so he is building a machine that would allow the yokai to enter the Human World.
Once Master Genkai passes on her Spirit Wave Orb to Yusuke, she is killed by Sakyo’s right-hand yokai, Toguro, who is also her old friend.
Soon after, Keiko is kidnapped by Toguro’s older brother, Elder Toguro, and taken to Kubikukuri Island, where Hiei’s sister, Yukina, is being kept.
Kurama informs Hiei and Yusuke about Keiko and Yukina’s whereabouts and joins them to rescue the two girls. Kuwabara also tags along.
Sakyo has kidnapped Keiko and Yukina because he wants to bring Hiei and Yusuke to the island, where he intends to make them fight dangerous yokai.
On the island, Kurama and Hiei fight two yokai while rich men enjoy their fights and place bets. On the other hand, Kuwabara and Yusuke look for Keiko and Yukina.
Ending explained:
Gambling with the fate of the Human World
Kurama and Hiei struggle to defeat their opponents, but they succeed eventually. Meanwhile, Keiko and Yukina manage to escape.
Kuwabara finds the two girls and fights Elder Toguro to keep them safe. However, even after getting mutilated by the Spirit Sword, Elder Toguro survives.
Sakyo makes Yusuke fight Toguro. Since all his clients place their bets on Toguro, Sakyo has arranged for Toguro to lose deliberately.
At that very moment, Sakyo’s machine opens a wormhole that allows yokai from the Demon World to enter the Human World.
Enma creates a barrier to prevent the demons from entering the Human World, but he knows that the barrier will not hold for long.
Recognizing the impending threat, Enma visits Sakyo, who proposes a gamble. If Yusuke defeats Toguro, Sakyo will shut down the machine and kill himself.
Seeing that Kurama and Hiei have come to fight alongside Yusuke, Enma agrees to place his bet on Yusuke, leaving the fate of the Human World in his hands.
Toguro’s reincarnation as a yokai
Even together, Kurama, Hiei, and Yusuke are no match for Toguro. Kuwabara, Keiko, Yukina, and Elder Toguro also arrive at the scene.
Elder Toguro then reveals that Toguro was human before he became a yokai. 50 years ago, a yokai named Kairen appeared to fight Toguro.
The yokai won and devoured Toguro’s students, which led to Toguro choosing to become a powerful yokai.
Elder Toguro also reveals that Toguro killed Master Genkai. Then, Toguro, irked by his babbling, smashes him to pieces.
Yusuke vs. Toguro
The news of his mentor’s death enrages Yusuke. While his powerful attacks force Toguro to take his yokai form, they are not enough to defeat him.
As Toguro wants to face a powerful opponent, he inflicts a fatal wound on Kuwabara, intending to upset Yusuke and motivate him to fight more fiercely.
As a result, Yusuke’s spirit energy becomes as powerful as that of Toguro, but it is very unstable. Even in such a state, Yusuke remembers Master Genkai’s teachings.
He refuses to become like Toguro by throwing away everything that he values, including his friends, in order to grow stronger.
Yusuke’s final attack kills Toguro. He dies after thanking Yusuke for being a worthy opponent who forced him to use all his power.
After his death, Toguro voluntarily chooses the worst afterlife for himself. On his way there, his soul encounters Master Genkai’s soul.
Toguro warns her that Yusuke’s power is just starting to reveal itself. If Yusuke goes astray, he might end up like Toguro.
New friendships and beginnings
Yukina has the power to heal people, and she manages to save Kuwabara’s life. Since Sakyo lost the bet, he shuts down the machine and kills himself.
As he has found Yukina, Hiei returns the Conjuring Blade. He now considers himself Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuwabara’s friend.
When Yukina tells him about her long-lost brother, Hiei gives her a necklace made of her ice tear but lies to her about not being her brother.
Yusuke and Keiko leave the island with their new friends. On the other hand, Elder Toguro’s head becomes food for seagulls.
Also Read: 1670 ending explained: Does Jan Pavel become famous like he wanted?
