Yu Yu Hakusho Volume 2

Despite failing to make any real impression on me, this second volume of Yu Yu Hakusho was still as fun to watch as I expected. There is something appealing about a series as undemanding as this; I can just sit back and enjoy the story without needing to contemplate any bizarre plot developments or analyze complex symbolism. Basically, this is turning out to be a good old fashioned “fighting” anime, one that is not burdened by the typical genre failings of drawn out tension and an over emphasis on everyday teenage angst.

The climax of Yu Yu Hakusho #1 saw us on the brink of Yusuke’s hard fought resurrection. Having passed baby Koenma’s trick egg test by attempting to sacrifice his soul to save Keiko, all Yusuke needs to return to life now is a big sloppy kiss from one of his three closest friends; and with his drunk mother out of the equation and Kuwabara too freaked out to be convinced, Yusuke must again turn to awkward love interest Keiko to save his life.
Just to add to the tension, he needs this kiss during a small time frame or he will find himself stranded in the afterlife for the next 50 years! And at the same time, Keiko’s mother has been taken seriously ill!
It’s tense, but Keiko makes it just in time to land a big smacker-roo on the lips of the sleeping Yusuke.

So now Yusuke is alive and well, he quickly starts getting back in to the swing of things (being the local strong man and all) and rejoins high school, but as he quickly learns, resurrection comes at a high price; he is assigned to be a “Spirit Detective” and with the help of his loud mouthed new assistant Botan, Yusuke must hunt down nasty demons and send them back to where crawled up from.

His first job couldn’t be harder, with an ultra-strong band of thieves on the run from the spirit world (having stolen three mystical, rather deadly items); Yusuke is immediately called into action. Amongst these outlaws is the red-haired, indifferent Kurama and the brutal Hiei.

In what makes a refreshing change to series of this style, Yu Yu Hakusho #2 turned out to be a fast paced, action packed volume. Instead of entire episodes being devoted to characters simply staring at each other and shouting repetitive insults, Yu Yu Hakusho wastes no time and throws the viewer straight into battle after battle. Of course, this ultimately limits the impact, and even the emotional drama of the action but it certainly moves the story along a lot faster.

As was my problem with the first volume, I’m still yet to feel any real connection to any of these characters. Yusuke seems aimlessly heroic, apparently risking his life without knowing why. His distorted friendship with Kuwabara is interesting though, hinting at a future comradery. Kurama is another complex personality, conflicted between his “demon” heritage and human upbringing; I’m really looking forward to getting under his skin.

The story itself is actually quite interesting. The structure of the “after life” appears to be something of a joke (seeing the god-like Koenma get a spanking made me chuckle) and I’m looking forward to seeing how Yusuke gets on with his training competition. As said before, Yu Yu Hakusho is a fast paced series with a wicked sense of humour, not giving us a spare moment to feel bored to overly analyze the situation. The characterization or emotional depth isn’t particularly strong, but for an out and out action series, Yu Yu Hakusho #2 was time well spent.

In Summary

Yu Yu Hakusho #2 was action packed fun. While the likes of Yusuke are yet to develop any compelling personality depth and the story is still finding direction, I couldn’t help but enjoy these four episodes for what they were; back to basics “supernatural combat”!