Yoshihiro Togashi’s Yu Yu Hakusho is often held in high regard by fans as one of the best action series of all time, but which of its many arcs are actually the best decades later? Yu Yu Hakusho is held in such high regard by fans as it often launched some of the ideas that fans would see in later action hits. Its dark atmosphere and characters went on to inspire other modern day hits like Jujutsu Kaisen, and it’s one of those franchises that fans are still hoping to see return with a full reboot someday.
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It’s hard not to see why as after all these years, Yu Yu Hakusho still has quite a few story arcs that hold up very well in the modern day. It’s been aging gracefully even after all these decades, but some of its arcs hold up better than the others. Breaking down all of the anime’s episodes across its many arcs (some of which have been broken down even further to fully highlight them), you can read on below to find out which Yu Yu Hakusho arc holds up the best.
8). Rescue Yukina (Episodes 22-25)
Although the “Spirit Detective Saga” technically includes five different arcs, it’s best to break them down individually as they really are all separated missions that Yusuke partakes. The weakest of the missions by far is unfortunately part of the Rescue Yukina Arc as it’s really just used as a way to build up what’s coming next in a much better saga. This one sees Yusuke teaming up with Kuwabara to rescue Hiei’s sister Yukina from a crooked businessman, and it’s the first time that Yusuke runs into his biggest enemy, Toguro.
But as an arc itself, the fights within aren’t ultimately that memorable. It really was just kind of a bridge between the end of Yusuke’s usual Spirit Detective adventures and what would come next, and it’s not exactly one that’s especially interesting when rewatching compared to the others.
7). The Beasts of Maze Castle (Episodes 14-21)
By comparison, The Beasts of Maze Castle is a much more entertaining mission that Yusuke embarks on. It’s got a great hook to start as it forces him to team up with former foes Hiei and Kurama, and it’s revealed that the two of them are much stronger than Yusuke might have realized during their initial encounters. The Beasts themselves aren’t really compelling (and they’re not meant to be) but this was a pretty intense mission.
Compared to the smaller stakes that Yusuke had been dealing with before, the Earth was in danger of being overrun by demonic bug zombies with Keiko and Botan in the center of that terror. It was a much bigger adventure than seen in the series before, and even led to Yusuke almost sacrificing his own life to save the day.
6). Genkai’s Tournament (Episodes 9-13)
Coming before both of those arcs is one of the more fun early outings for Yusuke as a Spirit Detective. Needing someone to train him how to better use his growing Spirit Energy, Yusuke seeks out a mysterious psychic that can teach him a new technique. But there’s a twist in that the psychic is not only hosting a tournament to determine their next student, but there’s a powerful demon hiding among the ranks hoping to steal the technique for himself.
It’s got a lot of fun moments as Yusuke uses his quick wits and survival techniques to make it through the various tests and fights to get to the top of the tournament, and Kuwabara grows with his own technique as well. It’s a rather fun, self-contained way to shake things up early on.
5). Three Kings Saga (Episodes 95-112)
As the final arc of the series, the Three Kings Saga unfortunately has a lot of issues. It’s much longer than the previous entries on this list (and one after), but it is marred with a lot of issues series creator Yoshihiro Togashi was facing at the time. The creator was burning out towards the end, and was facing numerous health issues that would have a much greater impact on future works like Hunter x Hunter. So as the series comes to its end, it can’t help but feel rushed.
The series introduces much more of the demon realm, and three of the powerful deities that have been in a delicate stalemate for control. But despite all of the ideas it introduces (along with revealing Yusuke’s surprise demon father), it then throws it out the window with a non-ending. It’s not really satisfying when a final tournament is enacted and thrown together, and you can’t help but feel like something’s missing when it ends.
4). Artifacts of Darkness (Episodes 6-8)
Artifacts of Darkness is another rather short arc, but it’s much more monumental than the entries seen thus far. This arc sends Yusuke on a new mission to recover three artifacts stolen by powerful demons, and two of these demons end up playing a huge role later. This is secretly an arc meant to establish two of the main characters we’d see through the rest of the series, Hiei and Kurama, and used this to establish their dynamic with Yusuke we’d see later.
Hiei would be a prickly rival that Yusuke constantly wants to fight (and vice versa), and Kurama would ultimately be revealed to be a kind demon who only wanted to save his human mother. It leads to a shockingly emotional resolution where Yusuke once again nearly sacrifices his life to save someone else, and it’s still one of the brightest spots of those early adventures.
3). Chapter Black Saga (Episodes 67-94)
The Chapter Black saga has such a cool idea. After everything Yusuke goes through to save humanity, he discovers that there’s a former Spirit Detective that wants to destroy it instead. Discovering the very worst humanity has to offer, Sensui thus decides to use his power to force open the demon realm and basically purge it all. This arc does suffer through its use of new human psychic opponents that feel a step down from what Yusuke fought before, however.
The psychics all have unique abilities with their own gimmicks, but much of it feels like it’s kind of just wasting time until Yusuke and Sensui get more time to interact with one another. It’s a cool idea that felt like it could have been much bigger, it just seems weaker compared to how everything was much more intense in the arc before.
2). Yusuke’s Ordeal (Episodes 1-5)
You might be surprised to find out that the very first arc ages as well as it does all these years later, but Yu Yu Hakusho really had it nailed down from the beginning. The anime was the even better version of the experience in this case too as it narrowed down Yusuke’s earliest ghost adventures to just the most important story beats from the manga. When the young Yusuke is hit by a car and dies, his ghost is left in limbo as the Spirit World did not expect him to go out so heroically.
Before the anime begins his Spirit Detective fights in full, the first few episodes of the anime are an outright 1990s classic that still hits hard. He sees his funeral, he sees how others mourn him, and ultimately figures out that his life is worth living. It’s a lot for such a young kid to go through, and it really sets the tone for the entire anime as fans learn what Yusuke’s really made of.
1). Dark Tournament Saga (Episodes 26-66)
If you’re talking the best of the best in Yu Yu Hakusho, however, there really is no other way you can end that conversation without putting the Dark Tournament saga at the very top. It might be yet another tournament shortly after Genkai’s tournament, but it’s the most effective story in the entire run. It might have been so good that the series peaked here, to be completely honest, as there was so much packed in.
Not only were fans given a ton of unique characters, powers and match ups as a result of this tournament, but it had some of the series’ biggest moments with Genkai’s death, Yusuke’s final fight against Toguro, Kuwabara’s fake-out sacrifice, Hiei’s Dragon of the Darkness Flame, Kurama having multiple fights in a row, and all of the new allies they were able to meet on the way. Yu Yu Hakusho was at its best here, by far, and it’s still the best arc decades later.
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