Customer Reviews

YuYu Hakusho, Vol. 1

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
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YuYu Hakusho is an awesome manga. It is about a kid named Yusuke. Yusuke starts out his day normally. He goes to school, gets kicked out, goes home, gets lectured by his drunken mother, beats up Kuwabara (his rival), and that's just a normal day.
Then Yusuke meets this kid who is playing in the street. Yusuke does one selfless act by saving the kid from a car that would have hit him. Yusuke dies and meets Botan, or death in english.
Yusuke learns that if he wants to live again, then he has to raise an egg. But he needs to do good deeds or the egg will eat him when it hatches. So Yusuke, with the help of Botan, goes around doing selfless acts.
Yusuke encounters a spirit dog and his over-attached owner, Kuwabara his rival, and a "temporary resurection." YuYu Hakusho (ghost files in english) is truly a great manga. Read it.

I first read Yu Yu Hakusho about 10 years ago when I was translating Japanese books and comics as a way of understanding the language better. This volume right here came out of nowhere, not just in how cool the story was, but because the damn thing made me cry twice. TWICE, in the same book! I recently found the version this page is for (volume 1 in English) when going through my closet, and sure enough, those two parts STILL get tears out of me. That's not to make it sound like Yu Yu Hakusho is a depressing or constantly emotional comic, but very rarely do comics get that much out of me. Aside from that, this is an excellent start to the series, and anyone who might've seen the animated series first will love the comics as well.

Yusuke is a ruffian, plain and simple. He skips school a lot, lives at home with his mom who isn't really there for him, and is always getting into fights. One day, he sees a kid chase his ball into the street as a car's coming right at him. For once, Yusuke does a noble thing and runs over and pushes the kid out of the way, dying as a result. He's suddenly seeing the situation from the sky now that he's a spirit in limbo, and he meets Botan, a kind of grim reaper, though she's actually pretty cheerful. This volume covers Yusuke looking down on other people about to die and doing good by helping with the situations, and later covers him dealing with the few people close to him. It's pretty cool, and off the top of my head, I can't think of any other series like this at the time it came out, and even today.

I'm not easily impressed or moved, but like I said earlier, when something moves me to tears, it's gotta be something really good. When Yusuke watches over a little boy who gets bullied by other kids that make fun of his dying dog, that was pretty bad right there, but how it all turns out wasn't sad, but done in a neat way that made me cry because of how sweet it was, and because I was happy. You'll just have to see it for yourself. The art style in these books is great too, and Yoshihiro Togashi does a good job of drawing facial expressions without going all goofy like a lot of other artists would do.

There's only so much I can say about a single volume of Yu Yu Hakusho without ruining everything, so just go ahead and give this volume a shot. These books are cheap, and are something you'll want to read again soon after. This is only the first volume, and it gets even better later on.

Yu Yu Hakusho was a very well-planned, well-drawn, and well-figured manga. It was my second manga I've read, and got me really interested in the artwork of Japan. Reading Yu Yu Hakusho caused me to become interested in other mangas, such as Rurouni Kenshin (READ IT), Naruto, and others...the author did very well with it. Read it! Honestly, I'm not joking. You'll like it. Yusuke, the main character, is a work of art and someone you can't help but laugh at...his misfortune and stupid bad luck make the book worth the while reading!

This manga was excellent! I wasn't impressed with the manga, when I saw it in Shounen Jump, because I didn't know what was going on! But when I got this graphic novel, I was reading it every other day, just to feel the thrills of it.
For younger audiences, there are what parents would call 'bad words' in it (as in many manga), so if you don't want your child or yourself, for that matter, to be exposed to these words, then stay away. ;)
I liked the art in this book. And how the artist expresses everyone's feelings so well. Especially how a kid would act when he or she doesn't understand the concept of death. I was sad when I read some parts of it, but some things are humorous, all the same.

Yoshihiro Togashi, Yuyu Hakusho, vol. 1 (Viz, 1990)

I went the opposite way I normally do with YuYu Hakusho: I caught the first episode of the anime on ColoursTV one night, purely by accident, and was captivated enough to pick up the manga. Now, "picked up the manga" makes it sound like this was a cakewalk. It was not. My library system is of the type who autmatically tosses all graphic novels into the kidlit section, including such toddler-friendly stuff as Preacher, Watchmen, and Hellblazer, so you can imagine how much care they take with the labelling of volumes in the online catalog. (I've been trying to get volume 1 of Love Hina for three years without success.) The first six-- yes, six-- times I ordered this book, I got volume 3. At least they're consistent. I mean, me trying to get my hands on volume 1 of YuYu Hakusho was like Bilbo trying to get Smaug's treasure. Well, without all the adventures. And without Gollum. (Though I sometimes wonder about a few people who work at my branch of the library.) And it took longer. And I hear some of you asking why I didn't just buy it. Come on, I keep getting volume 3 from the library, which is four miles away, I'm gonna trust someone in SEATTLE to come up with the right book? Besides, it's the principle of the thing.

In any case, all that verbiage was there to prompt you to ask me if it was worth it. Go ahead, I'll wait.

...thank you. Yes, yes it was. The story: Yusuke Urameshi is an eighth-grader in Tokyo who spends his time fighting and cutting class. He's bound for hell, until a sudden selfless act saves his soul, but ends his life. Because of the quandary, the afterlife doesn't know what to do with him-- so Koenma, the junior lord of the underworld, offers Yusuke a chance to return to life. With the help of Botan, Yusuke's spirit guide, Yusuke must raise a spirit egg-- and what hatches from that egg will be determined by the good or evil in Yusuke's soul. It's loads of fun, one of the better first issues I've read over the past year or so. *** ½

"Plot": Yusuke Urameshi sees a little boy wander into the street to retrieve a soccer ball. Without thinking, Yusuke dives in the path of an oncoming car to save the child. The child end up unharmed, but Yusuke ends up being killed from the collision. He gets a visit from the spirit world, and learns that they were not expecting him to die, and are offering him a second chance at life. The whole story is not about him trying to get his life back, and the remainder of the series has nothing to do with that.

I give Togashi serious props for killing off the main character in the very beginning of the story. That is very hard for writers to pull off.

From the very beginning this manga has some very classic looking comic art, which makes it very obvious that Togashi drew this strictly by hand. I'm a fan of hand drawn comics; there is a serious amount of technique and skill involved in it. As the series progresses, especially during the dark tournament saga, the artwork becomes so detailed, which in comparison to the first volume, is more than I expected.

If you are looking for a complicated plot, you won't find it here. This is more of a character story, and the plots are along the lines of the hero stopping the villain. It is not by any means boring, and each mission is relatively fast paced and offers great challenges for the characters and their skill sets. But the key thing here really is the character development. They each have lengthy back stories, distinctive personalities, and are all especially close as both teammates and friends.

The supporting female characters are well delivered, and they play excellent roles as love interests and even become part of the smaller plots/sagas. There isn't a whole lot I can say about the characters because I don't want to spoil anything, there are plenty of surprises from start to end.

If you want to compare this to the television show, I'd say they are both worth your attention. With the exception of volume 19, I prefer the manga over the show. Whatever you do, DO NOT watch the television show in the English dub. It's not "bad", but it's confusing, and better understood in Japanese with subtitles.

This story is geared more toward a male audience, with the main characters all being men, and the women being very cute and sweet. It is not sexist, because the female characters are not push overs, and they are not treated like objects. With the exception of the romance between Keiko and Yusuke (this is obvious from the very, very beginning), there really isn't much in this that is aimed at my gender.

The gore is present but not over the top. There is some language, but again, not over the top. If you are under 16, you probably shouldn't read this.

This story is also very fun, and it has some light hearted moments that make it a very endearing read. Anyone who loves martial arts, character stories and good old fashioned hero vs. villain should definitely get into this comic.

I'll tell you, no matter if it sounds harsh: at first, the artwork is quite questionable.
I've said at first, and I mean at the very first, only the first act.
Besides that, I gave it 5 stars because, all in all, it's a great manga, with an original storyline, GREAT character design, and wonderful artwork (besides the fact I've mentioned before).

Don't get me wrong, I LOVED the yu yu hakusho anime. But then they... EDITED IT!! (softly crying);_;
I mean come on!! They just tore that show apart! It would have been better off canceled.
...ANYways, back to topic. This manga is one of the better ones. It truly sucks you in and keeps you there. And fans of the former show will be impressed to see how things differ from the two but still keep you liking both.
I originally read this in Shonen Jump, which is an AWESOME magazine. (with the exceptoin of DBZ.)
Tho it's sligtly different, all the touching moments in the story are still there.
All in all a truly wonderful manga with heartfelt moments now, and non stop action in the future!!
...I am not twelve, and KURAMA RULES!!!!!!!!!

This book is the perfect start to a great series! It's the kind that can make you laugh and cry in just the first two chapters. For those who have only seen the anime, you have to read the manga! There are differences, but it's mostly the same. Viz did a good job of translating it, making all the characters sound like themselves. You meet most of the main (and priceless) characters. It's a great introduction to a great story.

I loved the edited TV show, but I don't get the channel it's on. So I tryed the book. I love all of the new sences and details they left out of the show (well, most of them). It moves a lot slower, but it makes up for it emotion waves ;p. Very funny, full of action. More Keiko and tons more peoples!