Yuu Yuu Hakusho
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Yuu Yuu Hakusho (幽☆遊☆白書) aka Poltergeist Report |
| Abbreviation(s): | YYH |
| Creator: | TOGASHI Yoshihiro (冨樫 義博) ♂ |
| Date(s): | 1990 - 1994 (manga) 1992 - 1995 (anime) |
| Medium: | manga, anime |
| Country of Origin: | Japan |
| External Links: | Wikipedia article |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
This article or section needs expansion. |
Yuu Yuu Hakusho is a comedy manga series about a teenage delinquent who comes back from the dead to fight supernatural crime. The anime adaptation aired in the US starting in 2002, but even before that, fansubs caused YYH to be one of the more notable early animanga fandoms among English speakers.
Fans have noted the similarities between YYH and the author's later series Hunter x Hunter.
The English-speaking fandom for YYH, including fanfiction, exploded after the debut of the dub on Toonami, around the time of Rurouni Kenshin. It showed in primetime during and drew numerous fans. The final battles of the Dark Tournament were never shown on primetime, however, and fans had to buy the DVDs as they came out or watch it late night on Adult Swim to continue the storyline.
Characters
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Urameshi Yuusuke | Protagonist, starts the series as a delinquent, becomes spirit detective. |
| Kuwabara Kuzuma | Yuusuke's schoolyard rival who refuses to let Yuusuke go off and fight demons without him. |
| Youko Kurama | A kitsune who took human form to escape death after a heist went wrong. Sometimes referred to by his human name, Minamino Shūichi. |
| Jaganshi Hiei | A fire demon born of ice demons, starts as a grudging ally. |
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Botan | Works as a ferry girl on the River Styx, introduces Yuusuke to being dead, and serves as his contact with Spirit World. |
| Yukimura Keiko | Yuusuke's childhood friend and love interest. |
| Koenma | Head of Spirit World; Yuusuke's boss. |
| Kuwabara Shizuru | Kuwabara's older sister. |
| Genkai | Yuusuke's teacher. |
| Yukina | An ice maiden who lives with Genkai; secretly Hiei's twin sister. |
Pairings
In English-speaking fandom, the canon het ship Yuusuke/Keiko is popular.
The big yaoi pairing is Hiei/Kurama. In fandom, numerous pairings with Kurama were/are popular, with the main pairing being Kurama/Hiei. The creator, Togashi himself, actually initially wrote these characters with the intent to make them a couple, but declined to before publication, leaving them as 'best friends.' The subtext is still widely available in all of YYH to support them as a couple, so it makes sense why so many fans would pair them this way.
These pairings were also popular with doujinshi artists in Japan.
- Shipping Names!, Archived version, thread on ship names for the YYH fandom, from FFN community Yu Yu Hakusho Cafe, posted 4 March 2009
English Fandom
From around 2005-2012 in the US, cosplay of YYH characters was common at conventions, but as the series grew older and faded into memory, fewer YYH characters could be seen at such conventions. It is a large fandom, and many people first introduced to anime around the time YYH came out in the US often view Kurama/Hiei as their OTP that introduced them to same-sex anime couples.
Sandy Youko was one of the first fanfiction writers to introduce many viewers to Kurama/Hiei as a pairing. BlueUtopiah on LiveJournal was particularly prolific in cataloguing and compiling a list of numerous fics[1] that set the bar high for YYH fanfiction; she also wrote much of her own. In YYH, as most of the protagonists and antagonists are male, there are a wide variety of yaoi pairings to choose from. The fact that Togashi makes all his characters full and developed with a specific way of interacting with the world makes pairings possible even with somewhat minor characters.
AMVs were also popular for this anime, in particular the user Arigatomina was especially gifted at making them.
Example Fanworks
Fanfiction
AMVs
Fanart
- ア・リ・ガ・ト・ゴ・ザ・イ・ます by 0mimi3
- Does anyone remember this anime?, Archived versionby marcosilvart
- ☆, Archived version and rose whip !, Archived versionby bananasandguavas
- kurama, Archived version by ginkohs
Zines
- Jump for the Stars - cinematic-style zine featuring shounen anime series as movie posters (2022)
Meta
Ship Manifesto essays:
- Sensui and Itsuki: Devoted Dysfunction by akai_senshi, Sensui x Itsuki (Mar 2005)
- Friendship and Faith by akai_senshi, Yuusuke x Keiko (Jun 2005)
- Balancing Act by scheherezhad, Kurama x Yuusuke (Aug 2005)
- Unparalleled Intimacy by kitsunelover, Karasu x Kurama (Aug 2006)
Idol Reflection essays:
- Stripped Soul by akai_senshi, Sensui Shinobu (Jun 2005)
- Beauty from scars by kohaku_hoshi, Mukuro (Jul 2005)
- Not Just Another Love-struck Bishounen by akai_senshi, Itsuki (Jul 2007)
Music
- Urameshi an album by Anonymuz with songs based on Yuusuke, Kurama, and Hiei.
Shrine Websites
Kuwabara Kazuma: The Forgotten Angel
External links
- Yu Yu Hakusho and Yu Yu Hakusho crossovers on FanFiction.net
- YuYu Hakusho fanworks on AO3
- Yu Yu Hakusho Fanart on theotaku.com
- /r/YuYuHakusho on reddit
- yyhfanfic mailing list and info (defunct)
- YYHML Archive
References
- ^ THE YU YU HAKUSHO RECOMMENDED FANFICTION LIST, BlueUtopia at LJ, 2006