Episode 369: Yu Hakusho (Eps. 13-24)

“I'm gonna be completely honest, that shit was kind of boring.” That’s Aaron, midway through the latest batch of Yu Yu Hakusho episodes, describing the arc where Yusuke and the gang fight the Four Saint Beasts. It’s a moment of real uncertainty — the kind that makes a rewatch podcast interesting. For a few episodes, the hosts of Anime Cherry Bomb weren’t sure the show had held up. But then something shifted. The next arc — saving the ice maiden Yukina — pulled them back in. This summary covers episodes 13-24 of the 1992 supernatural adventure anime, based on the manga by Yoshihiro Togashi (of Hunter x Hunter fame), directed by Noriyuki Abe at Studio Pierrot.

The Four Saint Beasts Arc: Overstaying Its Welcome

The first major story block in this batch is the fight against the Four Saint Beasts, a quartet of demons holed up in a labyrinthine castle. The hosts agree that this arc has pacing problems. Yusuke’s fight drags across multiple episodes — “like he took like freaking 50,000 Thunderbolt attacks,” Jay notes — while the fight scenes for Kurama and Hiei are each wrapped up in a single episode. Kuwabara’s fight, split between a bridge and a lava pit, also feels padded. The problem is compounded by the fact that the arc intercuts Yusuke’s battle with a B-plot of Botan running through a school with Keiko, which doesn’t add much tension.