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Yu Yu Hakusho, Vol. 2: Artifacts of Darkness

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To quote Monty Python: "Yusuke's not quite dead! He's getting better!"

And "Yu Yu Hakusho Volume 2: Artifacts of Darkness" has a lot going on in a mere four episodes -- it has to bring our punky anti-hero back to life, reset everything for more action and supernatural thrills, and introduce the rest of the main cast. It's actually done fairly gracefully, although the character of Hiei is pretty unrecognizable compared to his later appearances.

Yusuke has won back the right to live once more. But the only way is for someone he knows to kiss him at a certain time, with permanent death as the alternative... meaning he might have to resort to getting smooched by Kuwabara. And his return is conditional -- now he's working for Koenma as Spirit Detective, a sort of supernatural cop with a "spirit gun" in his fingertip.

And his first case is a nasty one: three powerful artifacts have been stolen from Koenma by a demon trio, including the mysterious red-haired youth Kurama and the ruthless three-eyed demon Hiei. Yusuke has a rough enough time defeating the ultrastrong demon Goki, but the case turns out to be more complex than he expected when he learns Kurama's complicated motives for stealing his artifact -- and that Hiei has a nasty fate in store for Keiko.

After a rather bland string of opening episodes, "Yu Yu Hakusho Volume 2: Artifacts of Darkness" is where the series really blasts off. Once Yusuke's back in his body and a newly appointed Spirit Detective, suddenly the storyline gains a lot more potential -- there are apparently little nasty demons crawling around the town (taking Kuwabara's cat hostage) and big strong ones plundering Spirit World.

Most importantly, this volume also introduces two vital characters who later become regulars: the elegant fox-demon-turned-demi-human Kurama, whose love for his mother leads him to desperate actions, and the brutal three-eyed Hiei. Hiei comes across as rather 2-D and inexplicably spends a lot of time taunting Yusuke for no reason, but Kurama is a very striking guy, especially since he establishes early on that he used to be very different both in body and mind.

And though the first episode is a bit slow, these stories are peppered with some fun comic relief ("DON'T YOU THINK YUSUKE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THAT!?") and some clever action scenes, such as Yusuke finally figuring out a way to defeat the thuggish Goki and elusive Hiei. But there are also some sweet moments (Kurama's reunion with his mother) and a bit of romance between Yusuke and his semi-almost-girlfriend Keiko.

"Yu Yu Hakusho, Volume 2: Artifacts of Darkness" is when the series really takes off, and it provides some intriguing new characters as well. A bit slow at first, but it starts improving once the hero stops being dead.