A Second Look at Yu Yu Hakusho
Foreward
The following is not meant to be a review of the YYH Collab at all, more the ramblings of a fanboy who enjoys both the anime and Puzzle and Dragons. Instead, what you will find are my thoughts and critiques of the design choices GungHo made with the Cards and Dungeon for the YYH collab. I should note that the thoughts and predictions found herein are my own, and only my own. They do not represent what GungHo ultimately decided for the collab or has planned for the future. This post is merely meant to incite conversation. I will cover pieces of the anime in the post that are 100% spoiler material, however I will cover everything with a spoiler tag. That said, Yu Yu Hakusho ended 25 years ago, if you haven’t seen it you’re doing yourself a disservice by not watching it.
In addition, in this post I’ll be focusing on the new cards added to pad during the second revival.
Needless to say, there will be spoilers for Yu Yu Hakusho ahead.
Introduction
Before reading further, I suggest that you read my first write up for this collab I wrote last year when NA got the collab (assuming you haven’t already), as I’ll be touching on it quite a bit in this post and make references to the characters and cards I mentioned. In addition, you can also read my history with Yu Yu Hakusho and learn why I love the anime as much as I do.
If you don’t want to read my previous post and want a quick rundown of what Yu Yu Hakusho is about, PDX Moderator Flandre has you covered:
In my first article, while I had a favorable reaction to what GungHo gave us, I talked about a few things I felt they missed the mark on; and even made some speculations for what we could have seen. Now that we actually got a revival, we can touch back on what I thought before and compare; so let’s review!
Differences Between the First Collab and Revival
The elephants in the room are the new cards
and Splits
. Before, I mentioned that the collab seemed to focus on the Dark Tournament arc, as most of the cards and even the collab dungeon revolved around that part of the story. With the revival, however, these new cards bridge the gaps that Sensui
, Hagiri
, and Raizen
made in the original collab.
How So? Click the spoiler to find out.
and Hagiri
were villains in the next arc, the Chapter Black arc, and Raizen
was one of the kings the arc after that references, the Three Kings arc. Further more, Sensui and Raizen have another connection that played out at the climax of the Chapter Black arc: Raizen had taken control over Yusuke in order to mop the floor with Sensui’s body.The clip below is time stamped to the point I’m speaking of, however I’ll be making references to events that also take place within the 3 hours of footage below, feel free to watch all of it if you have the time (or, ya know… the entire series cause it’s really, really, good)
(Skip to 2:38:00 if the timestamp fails)
In the video, starting from the time stamp, we see Yusuke and Sensui exchange blows, but Raizen (Yusukes ancestral father), decides to step in and teach both his boy and Sensui a lesson in how to be a badass by taking over Yusukes’ body through the demon blood that awoke within him that the two share.
You might be asking where I’m going with this. Well, the thing is with the release of these new splits, it made me rethink my original conclusions that:
- The YYH Collab wouldn’t return.
- The Collab focused solely on the Dark Tournament Arc.
Now that we actually have a revival, it makes me think… did GungHo Plan this a year ago? Yes, MOST of the cards seemed to focus on the Dark Tournament, and even with this revival, we got three more Dark Tournament characters; but looking at this in a wider spectrum we can deduce that just because the main four, Botan, and Koenma are major characters in the story doesn’t mean they were added on that main principle… and I can explain why.
There are four major arcs in Yu Yu Hakusho, The Spirit Detective Arc, the Dark Tournament Arc, The Chapter Black Arc, and The Three Kings Arc. When I wrote my previous review, I didn’t think outside the box enough, and I thought GungHo added cards to represent the series primarily based on the dark tournament given how the dungeon was based on it and had Elder Toguro…
Now, let’s ignore the Dark Tournament motif, and simply place characters on this chart based on when they appeared in the story using the art on each of their cards, and I WILL include cards twice based on evolutions.:
| Arc | Spirit Detective | Dark Tournament | Chapter Black | Three Kings |
| Characters |       |
         |
 |
 |
Yusuke and Kuwabara were only seen in those outfits during the final round of the Dark Tournament. That aside, looking at it this way, the spread is much more even, leaving the Chapter Black and Three Kings arcs somewhat empty… until the revival came!
| Spirit Detective | Dark Tournament | Chapter Black | Three Kings |
|
|
|
|
Both of my only complaints (if we ignore my Puu issue) in my last article were the way GungHo represented Hiei and Sensui; as the evo’s we got for them really undersold their true power from the story; and while Hiei’s new Uvo
being added is inexplicable, Sensui’s new Uvo
alongside Yusukes
however, bridge the gap between Chapter Black and Three Kings and are the pinnacle of each characters power. So I really wonder, even though it was a disappointment to not have Sacred Energy Armor Sensui in the first round of the collab; maybe GungHo planned it that way. afterall, it’s not unheard of for old shounen manga collabs to have revivals
(even if some never return
).
In addition to all of this, GungHo also added The Beautiful Suzuki, another character I mentioned in my first article who I felt should have been added (he even gives an orb skin!). Shishiwakamaru and Itsuki are solid additions, and I really don’t have strong feelings one way or another on if they should have been added. The one thing they did do, is they even went one further and did something I didn’t even think about before and gave Genkai a new Uvo.
About what we got.
My opinions on this revival are nothing but favorable, so most of what you’re about to read are just me praising everything; most of my issues are in other missed opportunities.
The New Splits
Mazoku Yusuke
This new split has Yusuke take on a form which resembles his ancestral father, Raizen
; so having him become a row leader like his papa, while still having a bit of uniqueness in varying leader skills was a nice touch.
Master of the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, Hiei
As mentioned before, the fact they didn’t play off of Hiei’s mastery of this technique irritated me with the first iteration. Super glad they gave him a split evo that showed this badass technique!
Sacred Armor Sensui
Like Hiei, I was also disappointed that they didn’t implement Sensui’s Sacred Armor ability with the first iteration.
Spirit Sword Master Kuwabara
I didn’t mention Kuwabara before, and honestly I really should have as he came into his own during the Chapter Black arc. This new split takes that version of Kuwabara and makes him into a better card and really lets him shine.
Spirit Wave User Genkai
This was something I didn’t even consider, and opened the door for other potential future evos. For people who don’t know much about YYH, seeing Genkai get younger in an evolution may seem confusing. This is due to how the Spirit Wave works. The Spirit Wave is Genkai’s ultimate technique and upon using it causes the user’s body to revert to the form in which they were most powerful in their lives; which for Genkai is the form we see in her card.
The New 6 Stars
Both 6 Stars are two of the three kings referenced in the Three Kings arc (the other being Raizen). Their additions were both solid.
Mukuro
We didn’t really get to see Mukuro fight that much in the story due to everyone refusing to fight her out of fear. The only person we see fight her is Hiei; who loses. This is because Mukuro is able to stave off his Dragon of the Darkness Flame technique and come out of it nearly unharmed… but it did enough damage to her that causes Mukuro to lose to another lesser demon later on.
Which is why I feel she has that beefy 80% Shield on her leader skill under the condition she’s at full HP.
Yomi
The main antagonist of the Three Kings arc, as his wish is to allow demons to consume as many humans as they wish; a stark contrast against Raizen and Mukuros’ beliefs of self-reliance and coexistence respectively. Yomi’s greatest skill is his Demon Absorption Wall, which is able to negate all Demon Energy; something super handy considering everyone he fights in the Three Kings arc is a demon. This skill makes him invulnerable to almost everyone he fights against… other than Yusuke who happens to be a half-breed and have both demon and spirit energy.
This ability is reflected well in this active skill, which provides a 100% shield.
The New 5 Stars
Suzuki being added was big for me, as I mentioned he should have been added before over Hagiri. Itsuki is a solid addition a well, while I’m impartial to Shishiwakamaru’s presence.
The Beautiful Suzuki
While I’m pleasantly pleased of his addition, and even more so the YYH Skin is attached to him; I do wish they gave him an evolution that presented him in his more serious and much less annoying normal self; and not the show stopping clown we all know and hate. Read my first post as to why I’m glad he was added.
His awakenings and Leaderskill makes him seem like a jack of all trades type; which makes sense as in the story he’s the person who gives the rest of his team (including Shishiwakamaru) their various tools and weapons they each use in the Dark Tournament; having mastered each technique himself without the need to use tools.
Itsuki
Itsuki was Sensui’s right hand, and a very loyal one at that. Having worked with Sensui for a long time stretching back to when he worked alongside him, he’s come to admire and even fall in love with the ex-Spirit Detective. He had two duties during the Chapter Black arc; to carve the hole into Demon World from the living world, and to hold back Yusuke’s friends while Yusuke and Sensui exchanged blows. The fact he has a 3 turn delay is nice to show this ability of his.
Shishiwakumaru
Shishiwakumaru was one of Suzuki’s teammates during the Dark Tournament, and had two special items. First was the Cape of No Return, which would send it’s prey to a random location in the three worlds. The second is the Banshee Shriek; a sword that mutated from an object known as the Trial Sword; a special item given to Shishiwakamaru by Suzuki. This sword allows Shishi to summon the souls of long dead demons and use them as energy for attacks.
The only thing I feel represents the abilities Shishiwakamaru has in the show are his demon killer awakenings.
Missed Opportunities
I’ll standby the other missed opportunities I mentioned before, so if you’re interested in those go check out my previous article. However, as PAD changed over the last year, so has the way they give out collab stuff. One thing that they’ve done in collabs such as Fate/Stay Night and Sword Art Online is adding special monsters to the Monster Exchange and Monster Point store; something that GungHo neglected to do this time around.
So what could they have added? Well, Elder Toguro could have easily been an Exchange Card, same with Sakyo. But let’s say they still have Egg Machine potential and look for other characters they could have added.
Exchange Monster Candidates
Rando
This guy legitimately terrified me as a twelve year old watching the series for the first time. Rando was a demon and primary antagonist who appeared during the Genkai Tournament, an event Genkai held in order to find her successor (who would eventually be Yusuke). His whole premise was that he had successfully stolen the techniques of and killed 99 different psychics and intended on making Genkai his 100th victim. His plans were stopped by Yusuke due to the greatest fluke in the entire series. (Spoilers obv)
Yukina
Yukina is an ice demon and Hiei’s biological sister. She’s introduced as a captive of Tarukane, a gangster and member of the Black Black Club (something I explained in my previous article) and her rescue is the starting point for the Dark Tournament arc. Originally Yusuke was tasked to rescue her before Hiei showed up and murdered every human and demon in Tarukane’s compound, which would have resulted in Spirit World needing to take action against Hiei. After her rescue, she becomes a prominent supporter for Yusuke and his friends as she stays near them feeling that they would lead her to her long-lost brother; who, unbeknownst to her, is Hiei.
Monster Point Candidate
Leilan… I mean Suzaku
I actually mean both! Suzaku is the penultimate antagonist of the Spirit Detective arc, and the leader of the group known as the Four Saint Beast. Each of the Four Saint Beast represents an animal of one of the four cardinal points of Chinese mythology; just as Leilan and her sisters
do in PAD.
My idea is this, similar to how we have cosplay cards
in PAD; Leilan cosplaying Suzaku’s outfit would be a great addition to the MP Shop. Okay yeah it’s a bit of a stretch but can you blame me for thinking about it? The very least is he could be added on his own to either the Exchange or MP Shop.
Forever Fornever… again?
That’s all I have to say! As said before, I was incorrect in thinking that YYH wouldn’t return, which I’m very glad about! So it’s safe to say we’ll see Yusuke and his friends in the future. What will we get then? Well maybe we’ll get what I mentioned earlier, maybe we’ll even get equip evo’s in the same vein as the FMA or SFV Equips; however we’ll just have to wait and see. So far, I’m really glad with that we got, and I feel GungHo has hit a bullseye with this collab and am certainly hype about possible future revivals!