Wayback Wednesday Series - YuYu Hakusho (Ghost Fighter)

Koenma (Master Jerico) lands onto Kuwabara's delinquent-like head. XD

"You can't end a good party without someone on the floor." -Yusuke Urameshi (Eugene)
"Oh! You all shut up for the shoulder-monkey!" -Kazuma Kuwabara (Alfred)
"You should know better than to corner an animal like a fox... we have a tendency to show our teeth." -Kurama (Dennis)
"My arm did not obey a certain command i gave it, so i decided it needed to be punished." -Hiei (Vincent)

During that time when I was a kid, I went to my lola's store (that shop sells some jars of coco jam and peanut butter) and watch this anime on channel 7 every sunny afternoon on a weekday. And yes, if you are a kid born in the 90's, then you should remember the series that is YuYu Hakusho (aka Ghost Fighter in the Philippines)! The anime itself is indeed one of the most celebrated because Filipino fans of this incredible anime will remember some of the awesome moments, from his epic duel with Toguro to the epic finale against Raizen. Before Hunter x Hunter became popular, it was Yoshihiro Togashi's incredible work, The manga run begins on December 1990 to July 1994, with a total of 19 volumes published by Shueisha. The anime is directed by Filipino-Japanese anime director Noriyuki Abe, who is known for directing Flame of Recca, Midori no Makibaō (yes it's that horse racing anime), Bleach (and its movies), and of course his recent work, Kuroshitsuji: Book of Circus. The series also has two movies including the second movie, Yu Yu Hakusho the Movie: Poltergeist Report. The anime, which is a total of merely 112 episodes, aired from October 10th, 1992 to December 17th, 1994. It has also two OVAs on its resume. Since the manga debuted, it has been well received, with over 50 million copies in Japan and then in 1993, it won the prestigious Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen manga. The anime itself won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize for best anime in 1994 and 1995. It has been given positive reviews by critics, which compliment its amount of action, characters and writing.

The story follows a street-brawling delinquent named Yusuke Urameshi (Eugene in the Filipino dub) who, in a death-defying uncharacteristic act of selflessness (or altruism), is hit by a car and killed in a attempt to save the life of a boy by pushing him out of the way. Later, his ghost is greeted by woman named Botan (Charlene in the Filipino dub), who introduced herself as the pilot of the River Styx, who ferries the souls to Reikai or the Spirit World, where they may be judged for the afterlife. She informs Yusuke that his act had caught even the Spirit World by a great surprise and that there was not yet a place made for him, either heaven of hell. But Koenma (Master Jerico), who is the son of the Spirit World's ruler King Enma, offers Yusuke a good chance to return his body by going through a series of tests. He later managed to succeed with the help of Keiko Yukimura (Jenny) and Kazuma Kuwabara (Alfred). Koenma later grants Yusuke the title of 'Spirit World Detective' after returning to life. Later he soon is off his first case as the Spirit World Detective; by retrieving three treasures that is stolen from the Spirit World by a gang of three demons: Goki, Hiei (Vincent) and Kurama (Dennis). Then he later on collects the three treasures with the aid of his new technique, the "Rei Gun", a shot of aura or Reiki (Spirit Energy) that is fired mentally from his index finger. There are some story arcs in the anime that you could ever remember, but my favorite from this is where Yusuke battle the Younger Toguro.

OH GOD I REMEMBER THIS.

The voice cast of this anime are indeed amazing. Nozomu Sasaki, who is known as Tetsuo Shima in Akira, voices Yusuke. Kuwabara is voiced by the great Shigeru Chiba, who is known for his roles in One Piece (Buggy the Clown), Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt (Corset), the Dragon Ball franchise (as Pilaf, Raditz, and Garlic Jr.), Bleach (Don Kanonji), and Ranma ½ (Sasuke Sarugakure). Megumi Ogata, who is known for her role as Kurama, also voiced Haruka Tenoh (Sailor Uranus) in Sailor Moon, Shinji Ikari in Neon Genesis Evangelion, Bleach's Tier Harribel, Yukito Tsukishiro/Yue in Cardcaptor Sakura, and Yugi Mutou/Dark Yugi in Yu-Gi-Oh!. Nobuyuki Hiyama's role of Hiei is indeed his breakthrough role since he debuted in 1988. Hiyama's roles were Shiro Amada in Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, Maito Senpuuji in The Brave Express Might Gaine, Gai Shishio in The King of Braves GaoGaiGar, and Uzu Sanageyama in Kill la Kill. The elderly martial arts expert who lives alone in a very large temple, Genkai (Master Jeremiah) is voiced by Hisako Kyōda (who played the older part) and Megumi Hayashibara (who plays the younger part). Other voice actors that starred in the series including Norio Wakamoto, Yasunori Matsumoto, Kappei Yamaguchi, Toshiyuki Morikawa (as Shishiwakamaru), Kazuyuki Sogabe, the great and legendary Tesshō Genda, Ryō Horikawa, Rokurō Naya, Rica Matsumoto, Masashi Ebara, Minami Takayama, Takayuki Sugō (as Raizen), and many more.

This one incredible series that will truly remember our childhood, so be sure to watch this to relive and cherish your memories in this awesome classic anime. And to end this week's Wayback Wednesday post, here's the clip when Yusuke battles Toguro.