Welcome back Blerders and Nerders! I wanted to write up some short recommendations for people who want to get into anime. These posts will include older anime as well as more recent ones as I come across them. Please note that these are MY recommendations of anime to start with. There are no other influences other than my own thoughts and experience. Without further ado…. Newbies…I give you Yu Yu Hakasho!
Yu Yu Hakasho
Yu Yu Hakasho started as a manga which ran from December 3, 1990 to July 25, 1994. The animation ran from October 10. 1992 to December 14, 1994 and was distributed and licensed by Funimation. You may have seen this when Adult Swim was just starting out as well as on Toonami during the day.
Now, Yu Yu Hakasho follows a young student named Yusuke Urameshi who acts uncharacteristically and is killed by a car. He is then visited by the plucky Grim Reaper, Botan who tells him that he needs complete a series of tests to be able to get back into his body. This series of various events puts him in line to become a Spirit Detective for the Spirit World. After he finishes his trials, he comes back to life and officially becomes a Spirit Detective. Yusuke continues to get stronger along a foes turned friends that pits them against the worst that the Human and Demon world have to offer. (Source)
Why it’s a good starter:
- Straight forward story and characters.
- Awesome character development. This is for both the heroes and villains.
- Contains some of the best animated fights in anime history. No debating this.
- Everything happens in a linear fashion. There are also no “filler” episodes to take up time and space. All story, all the time.
- The characters are more relatable than you think. You really get enjoy and question certain characters and it’s wonderful.
- It has more adult themes than some soap operas.
- Doesn’t focus on animated women features but have strong women characters.
Why it may not be a good starter:
- May move too fast for someone new to anime. No fillers means you may have to pay a little bit more attention.
- It has a total of 4 seasons which someone new may not want to sit through.
- Older animation (it is an older anime series after all).
- Some video streaming services only have the Japanese audio.
- If you do watching with the Japanese audio, know that Kuwabara has THE most annoying voice I have heard in an anime (imo).
I suggested this anime because this anime is a bit more popular than most, even with it being an older anime series. With it being popular, it’ll be easier for whoever your having to watch this to ask questions to understand if need be. For the most part, this anime is very easy to get people into thanks to it’s linear story and characters. It is also one of the few anime I love watching in english.
Yu Yu Hakasho can be view on Crunchyroll, Hulu and Vrv. Hulu has the sub and dub versions so you have your choice. I hope you guys enjoy! Until next time…Nerd out!