Yusuke Urameshi, the main character of the series, is a teenage delinquent. He's 14 years old and constantly gets into trouble at school during the times he bothers to even go there. Yusuke's mother, an alcoholic, had him when she was 14 and is raising him as a single mother. Yusuke doesn't have many friends; his main friend is a girl named Keiko Yukimura. They have known each other since childhood and are classmates at school. As the series progresses, Keiko becomes a love interest for Yusuke.
The series begins with Yusuke having a particularly bad day. He actually goes to school, but is chewed out by Keiko for his behavior. He also has run-ins with school officials. After ditching school, Yusuke's rival, Kazuma Kuwabara, challenges him to a fight. Yusuke ends up easily beating the other boy.
As Yusuke walks along, he sees a little boy playing with a ball near the street. Yusuke lectures the boy about the unsafe behavior, but then spends time making funny faces at the boy and entertaining him. After crossing the street, Yusuke sees the boy playing with the ball again, and the ball rolls out into the street. Yusuke sees the boy going into the street, and a swerving car heading toward him. In an uncharacteristic act, Yusuke tries to save the boy's life... but he ends up being struck and killed by a car.
His ghost is greeted by Botan, a young woman who flies on a broomstick and serves as the pilot of the River Styx. Her job is to ferry souls to the underworld to be judged for the afterlife. Botan tells Yusuke his uncharacteristic act of helping the boy caught the Underworld by surprise. Since he wasn't expected to die yet, there's no room for him in either heaven or hell.
Koenma, the son of the Underworld's ruler, gives Yusuke a chance to return to his body. After being brought back to life, Yusuke is hired by Koenma as an Underworld Detective. It's Yusuke's job to investigate supernatural activity in the Human World.
The animation in the series reminds me a lot of the animation in the Ranma 1/2 series, and the tone and feel of both series are very similar. After watching Yu Yu Hakusho, I would recommend this series to anime viewers who are 15 or 16 years of age and older.
| Yu Yu Hakusho | 112 | 1992-1994 | Noriyuki Abe | Studio Pierrot | FUNimation Entertainment |
| Yu Yu Hakusho: The Movie | N/A | 1993 | Noriyuki Abe | Studio Pierrot | FUNimation Entertainment |
| Eizou Hakusho | 2 | 1994 | Noriyuki Abe | Studio Pierrot | FUNimation Entertainment |
| Yu Yu Hakusho the Movie: Poltergeist Report | N/A | 1994 | Masakatsu Ijima | Studio Pierrot | Central Park Media |
| Eizou Hakusho II | 4 | 1995-1996 | Noriyuki Abe | Studio Pierrot | FUNimation Entertainment |
