YūYū Hakusho Anime Watch Order: Including the OVAs & Movies
YūYū Hakusho is a manga written and drawn by Yoshihiro Togashi, published in Japan in the Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine and published by Shūeisha in 19 volumes between 1990 and 1994. An anime series adaptation of 112 episodes produced by the Pierrot studio was broadcast between October 10, 1992 and January 7, 1995 on the Fuji TV channel. Two anime films, YūYū Hakusho: The Movie and YūYū Hakusho the Movie: Poltergeist Report, were released on July 10, 1993 and April 9, 1994 respectively. Several OVA episodes have also been produced.
In this article, we are going to focus on the adaptations of the YūYū Hakusho anime, as we are going to bring you the proper chronological watch order for the whole series.
YūYū Hakusho watch order by release date
In this section, we are going to bring you an overview of the YūYū Hakusho works in the proper release order:
- YūYū Hakusho, Season 1 (anime, 1992–1993)
- YūYū Hakusho: The Movie (movie, 1993)
- YūYū Hakusho, Season 2 (anime, 1993–1994)
- YūYū Hakusho, Season 3 (anime, 1994)
- YūYū Hakusho the Movie: Poltergeist Report (movie, 1994)
- YūYū Hakusho, Season 4 (anime, 1994)
- Eizou Hakusho (OVA, 1994–1996)
- TWO SHOTS / All or Nothing (OVA, 2018)
In the next part of this article, we are going to tell you how you should watch the series in chronological order.
YūYū Hakusho chronological watch order
In this section, we are going to give you a chronological overview of the works in question:
TWO SHOTS (OVA, 2018)
The students explored an abandoned mannequin factory where ghosts were said to live, but to their surprise, they were eaten by a demon. Later, other students from Kurama’s class discussed going there and heard about the previous people’s disappearance. Maya Kitajima asked Kurama if he believed the rumors that it might be an alien abduction, but Kurama was skeptical.
Later that evening, as Kurama walked through the school, he was approached by a demon he had previously defeated, who told him that he now had a powerful ally. Kurama chased him away but Kitajima followed him and finally saw him. She saw him talking to the demon. Because of this, she thought he was a psychic and was happy to know this as she also had some spiritual sensitivity (it is implied that this was due to Kitajima’s recent intimacy with Kurama).
When Kitajima and Kurama returned home, she confessed her feelings to him, but since Kurama was a demon herself and didn’t want to risk her classmate’s life, she had to refuse. Kitajiima decided to leave, but Kurama sensed the demons’ presence and stopped them. They were then attacked by the Demon Bandit Hiei and Kurama summoned a Leaf Blade to protect his classmate. They then took the fight elsewhere and told Kitajima to run, but before she could, she was kidnapped by a demon.
YūYū Hakusho, Season 1 (anime, 1992–1993)
Yusuke Urameshi is 14 when YuYu Hakusho begins. He is Sarayashiki Junior High School’s toughest student. He regularly fights with Kuwabara. He is a stereotypical badass, with a poor attendance record and who gets into fights with other kids at school. It is even revealed in the manga that he drinks, smokes, and gambles. As Yusuke skips school and is neglected by his mother, he wanders around town.
Yusuke encounters a little boy playing on the street and scolds him for it. This upsets the child, so Yusuke entertains a child by making silly faces. The little boy ignores his advice and goes back to the street to chase his ball and, you guessed it, a car comes down the street and Yusuke pushes him out of the way. Yusuke is hit by the car and killed.
As a ghost, Yusuke is greeted by an atypical version of the Grim Reaper; a lively and cheerful young woman named Botan. She informs Yusuke that no one in the Spirit World expected him to die and risked their life to save the little boy.
YūYū Hakusho: The Movie (movie, 1993)
The movie begins with Botan flying through the sky in the human world looking for Yusuke. Yusuke and Kuwabara were fighting bullies on their summer vacation. Botan flies down and picks them up. They run off to the spirit world and he tells them that Koenma has been kidnapped.
George shows them to Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei and Botan where he happened to a capture of Koenma’s video camera, and they were restricted from vacations on a beach when they enjoyed a gigantic demon who seized Koenma. The giant demon, who calls himself Garuga, asks for Enma’s Golden Seal to be delivered to him in the fearsome Magma Valley before dawn in exchange for Koenma’s life.
Whoever has the Golden Seal controls the spirit world. After this, Yusuke and Kuwabara start running and soon they will find a number of demons trying to defeat them. They hit some and keep running after huge boulders start falling everywhere. Koenma is surrounded by a giant demon and a little boy. Yusuke and Kuwabara arrive in the forest and are attacked by a stone demon tree. They fight until a flying demon comes and bears the golden seal. Yusuke and Kuwabara get trapped in a cage.
YūYū Hakusho, Season 2 (anime, 1993–1994)
Yusuke dates Keiko (against his will) as it is revealed in the Spirit World that Toguro initiated his fight with Yusuke to give away Sakyo Tarukane’s fortune. After the two talk about Yusuke’s potential, Toguro kills a crazed Tarukane and leaves. Toguro meets Yusuke and forces him to come with him. Toguro then reveals 60% of his power, scaring Yusuke and Kuwabara, who were watching from afar.
Yusuke then agrees to the Dark Tournament since Hiei and Kurama were also watching. In preparation, Yusuke continues to train with Genkai while Hiei and Kurama train Kuwabara. The foursome reunite at the boat for the Dark Tournament, while an unknown fifth fighter joins. The five get on the boat and Yusuke falls asleep due to his training.
The host then announces that only one team will be allowed to participate in the Dark Tournament and the contestants will have a battle royale, with Team Urameshi being the last one standing.
YūYū Hakusho the Movie: Poltergeist Report (movie, 1994)
The film begins in the spirit world, where the River Styx is flooding due to rain. As the rain continues to fall, the entire spirit world is submerged in water. Koenma gives Botan an unknown sphere which he orders him to deliver to Yusuke before the water drags him to the bottom. As she flies through the storm, Botan is struck by lightning and sinks to the bottom, in the world of the living and falls on top of Yusuke’s school terrace.
Fortunately Yusuke was skipping classes there and he catches her. She tells him that she has to find Hinageshi before she passes out. Yusuke asks Keiko to take Botan to the Genkai temple while he, along with Kuwabara, search for Hinageshi.
On the way they come across a bunch of demons attacking a girl, Yusuke and Kuwabara rescue her and she tells them that she was Hinageshi. She is taken to the Genkai temple, where she gathers the rest of the gang and Hinageshi tells everyone about a fourth world, the Lower World (Meikai).
YūYū Hakusho, Season 3 (anime, 1994)
The Chapter Black Saga is the third saga of Yu yu hakusho, where the main antagonist is a former spiritual detective and most of what happened in this saga is directly and indirectly caused by the Black Club.
YūYū Hakusho, Season 4 (anime, 1994)
The story takes place immediately after Shinobu Sensui is defeated. Become sick due to the interference of a demon in his fight with Sensui, Yusuke Urameshi finds himself confronted with a serious existential crisis. Not knowing where to turn, he heads to Genkai to figure out what to do next. After exposing him to his sardonic quip, Genkai suggests they consult with the original Spirit Detective for Earth, Kuroko Sato.
Yusuke does so, only to interrupt the visit of three messengers from the Demon World, who claim to have all the answers he was looking for. They inform him that the demon who had possessed him during his battle with the renegade ghost detective was actually his ancestral demon father Raizen, one of the Three Kings of the Demon World who is now on the brink of death due of his refusal to be his only acceptable food, people, eat.
They also tell him that he will accompany them back to the Demon World to meet Raizen head-on whether he likes it or not.
All or Nothing (OVA, 2018)
This part of the second OVA follows the exact events of the manga’s epilogue. Here, Shunjun appeared in front of Yusuke. He told the young Spirit Detective that the gate to the courthouse had been confiscated and Koenma and Botan were being held hostage while the terrorist demanded that the demons be removed from the human world and the barrier be restored.
After Shunjun explained the situation to him, Yusuke called the ruler of the Demon World Enki and asked him to gather his former friends. When Team Urameshi was reunited, they left their bodies and went to the Spirit World. At the gates, Hiei used his eye to gather information on enemy numbers, Team Urameshi itself, and hostage locations.
With Kurama’s help, they devised a plan and needed Kuwabara’s help to get in, but since he wasn’t sure about creating a dimensional portal, Hiei lied about the enemy getting ready. to attack the city and worried Yukina and Kuwabara. Immediately after that, Kuwabara used his dimension sword and they were able to enter the place.
Eizou Hakusho (OVA, 1994–1996)
The first two episodes are special recaps focused on Team Urameshi’s matches in the Dark Tournament, with some character songs playing in the background. The first VHS became available on September 21, 1994, and the second on October 5, 1994. In the first episode, Yukina refuses to be in the picture as it would “steal her soul” while Yusuke and Keiko argue. Kurama and Yusuke forcefully lure Hiei into the recording, as shown in Episode 1.
In the second episode, Koto attempts to interview Team Urameshi (all of whom are silent and ready to fight), but is afraid of their answers. When Kurama starts emitting her Yoko form’s aura, she runs away and is thrown in the trash dumped by the audience for her failure, as shown in Episode 2.
Eizou Hakusho II actually consists of four separate volumes. Each volume focuses on one of the main characters; Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei or Kuwabara. Each episode is essentially a summary of each character’s involvement in the series. The first VHS became available on December 16, 1995, and the fourth on February 7, 1996.
