Factually, Yuyu Hakusho shouldn't have gone past the Sensui arc.

[ScottyFamalam]

That was when Togashi started becoming burnt out, hence the sloppier artwork. Instead of forcing the story to continue, he should have just ended it right there. No Yusuke dying for a second time, no Yusuke being retconned to be part demon, no Three Kings arc, etc. Sensui would have made perfect sense as a final villain, anyway, seeing how much of a foil he is for Yusuke. Have Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama beat him in a group effort and end the story right there.

 

[BedroomBully]

It should’ve just ended with Toguro.

Sense was great, but the actual ending
of chapter black sucked balls.
And it was only to set up the last arc.

 

[ScottyFamalam]

It should’ve just ended with Toguro.

Sense was great, but the actual ending
of chapter black sucked balls.
And it was only to set up the last arc.

Just fix the ending and remove the actual last arc. And lol nah the Sensui arc was hella stupid. Turned Hiei into a dumbass (and barely utilized him), most of the psychics were lame and the ending pretty much ruined the series. The only silver lining was Sensui himself, but he was also silly with his last minute seven personalities and "Sacred Energy". That part where he turns his arm into a gun was really stupid, too. The plot was really getting off rails toward the end of the arc; the series would have been better off if it ended at Toguro, but the Sensui arc could have been tolerable with a different ending. Yusuke defeats his predecessor with the help of his allies and that's it.

Togashi sucks as a professional. Constantly rushing chapters out with sloppy artwork (especially when you have the choice of getting assistants to help you out and only choose to draw everything yourself out of pride), going on hiatuses and abruptly ending his series. If you're feeling burnt out, then you don't asspull a bunch of random shit at the last minute for the story to continue; you just end it so your body and mind can recover. Clearly Togashi could have ended the story at the Sensui arc without skipping the final fight, given how much he drew afterward before reaching his breaking point in the Three Kings.

You'd think with how burnt out he got with Yuyu Hakusho, he'd refrain from doing another long-running series, but then he does Hunter x Hunter and goes a ton of hiatuses. I feel it's an insult to all the other artists at Weekly Jump for Togashi to be given so much leniency. If he simply drew shorter works like Toriyama did after Dragon Ball, then he wouldn't have to do this. And if he really wanted to work on another long-running series, then he could have just hired another artist to draw for him.

 

[Symbiote]

I hated how they just told him his dad was the demon king and didn’t really explain anything.

 

[BedroomBully]

I hated how they just told him his dad was the demon king and didn’t really explain anything.

One of the biggest asspull plots imo.

Like I said, they should’ve ended with Toguro,
or finished up the series with 1-2 shorter arcs like they started off with in the beginning.

 

[Yoshi]

I actually thought the Sensui Arc was badass, especially for a battle shonen. Dark Tournament was good too but it was cliche.

 

[ScottyFamalam]

Yeah, it should have just ended at Dark Tournament lol. I was wrong when I said Togashi started to feel burnt out in the Chapter Black arc; he actually started to feel burnt out at the start of the Dark Tournament arc. Everything that came after the Dark Tournament was much worse, anyway, so he simply should have ended the series right there. It'd be a lot more fondly remembered that way.

 

[ScottyFamalam]

@BedroomBully wat is the best way to translate the title Yu Yu Hakusho

 

[BedroomBully]

@BedroomBully wat is the best way to translate the title Yu Yu Hakusho

It’s a proper noun(固有名詞), or coined word, so there is no meaning or best way to translate it.
At best, you’ll have to look at each Kanji
or dissect the name into several parts to assume or interpret what it means.

the 白書 Hakusho part of the name is supposedly based on White paper, an official publication of a government newspaper, or news report.

幽遊(Yu Yu) is just 2 kanjis straddled
together in order, there is no word or actual meaning for it in the dictionary.
You’ll have to dissect it into 2 parts for each kanji.
幽 is usually a kanji associated for spirit or ghost, and 遊 is commonly used for joy, playing, playfulness or the free will to move around.

So I guess you’d end up with something
like “Spirit joy report” if you want to forcibly make a meaning for it.

 

[ScottyFamalam]

It’s a proper noun(固有名詞), or coined word, so there is no meaning or best way to translate it.

The title was originally supposed to be 幽遊記 (Yuyuki), which was inspired by 西遊記 (Saiyuki). Is Saiyuki not supposed to be translated, either?

西 = West
遊 = Journey, Travel, Wander, Visit, going somewhere, etc (it could also mean "coming from somewhere")
記 = Record

So, it literally means "record of going to the west", but it's usually just called "Journey to the West" in English. Is it incorrect to translate Saiyuki as Journey to the West because it's a proper noun or whatever? Even though everyone calls it Journey to the West?

At best, you’ll have to look at each Kanji
or dissect the name into several parts to assume or interpret what it means.

the 白書 Hakusho part of the name is supposedly based on White paper, an official publication of a government newspaper, or news report.

Supposedly? 白書 (Hakusho) literally means "white paper" in Japanese, which is what they use for government reports, files, documents, records, etc. I thought you were a native speaker fammy fam

I'm pretty sure Togashi didn't intend for the title to be unintelligible gibberish in Japanese. There are obvious connotations that tell us what the intended meaning is, even if it doesn't come out as catchy in English. Frankly, "Yu Yu Hakusho" is as weeaboo of a title as it gets lmao. Any English viewer is gonna be confused as to what the fuck it means. I remember when some people thought it was supposed to be "Yu Yu Haku Show" lol. If you dub a series then translate the title so they understand it

幽遊(Yu Yu) is just 2 kanjis straddled
together in order, there is no word or actual meaning for it in the dictionary.
You’ll have to dissect it into 2 parts for each kanji.

幽 = Dark, hidden, gloomy, underworld, netherworld, etc.

There's definitely a "ghost" or "spirit" connotation that Togashi went for. Ghosts and spirits are hidden in the dark and come from the underworld/netherworld. Unsurprisingly, they're a big focus in the series.

遊 can mean "play" in Japanese but it also means journey, travel, wander, visit, going somewhere, etc as I said before. From what I've gathered, it mainly means "play" in Japanese and "traveling", "wandering", etc in Chinese. While Yu Yu Hakusho is a Japanese series, its title evolved from Yuyuki, which was based on Saiyuki, the Japanese name for the Chinese story "Journey to the West".

Yusuke becomes a wandering ghost, or spirit, at the start of the series so I don't think this is coincidental. Would the title more accurately mean something like "report on wandering ghosts"? Or "report on visitations from the underworld"? Or "Underworld Visitor Report" ? "Hidden Visitor Report"? "Wandering Ghost Files"?

Also, I have seen the theory that the two Yu's are short for 幽霊 遊猟 (Yurei Yuryo). The title Yu Yu Hakusho is stylized as is stylized as 幽☆遊☆白書; those stars are supposedly supposed to represent abbreviated kanji. Apparently that's a common thing in Japanese.

幽霊 (Yurei) means ghost. 遊猟 (Yuryo) means "recreational hunting". If it's true that Yu Yu Hakusho is short for those words, then wouldn't the title be something like "Ghost Hunting Report" in English? It would make sense since Yusuke is called a Spirit Detective in the series and he hunts stuff like ghosts.

Fun facts: The subtitle for the 1998 English localization of one of the movies was "Poltergeist Report". The subtitle for the 2000s Funimation dub was "Ghost Files". The Filipino dub localized the title as "Ghost Fighter".

All of these would have been better titles than weeb ass "Yuyu Hakusho" huehue

 

[BedroomBully]

The title was originally supposed to be 幽遊記 (Yuyuki), which was inspired by 西遊記 (Saiyuki). Is Saiyuki not supposed to be translated, either?

Because 西遊 is an actual word in Japanese?
Lmao.
It’s a 500+ year old Chinese story,
Comparing that to some Japanese mangaka who got lucky to be where he’s at is lol.

I thought you were a native speaker fammy fam

We don’t have any proof to confirm why he went with that name, unless there’s an interview I’m missing?
Is this your lame attempt at getting back at me for calling you a PM? Huehue
Get better at trolling.

確証 (Yuryo)

That reads かくしょう(kakushou)actually.
-proof, positive proof, confirmation etc.

hunter would be 狩人、猟師
Hunting would be 狩る、狩猟

 

[ScottyFamalam]

That reads かくしょう(kakushou)actually.
-proof, positive proof, confirmation etc.

Oh my bad lol. I meant to say 遊猟 (Yuryo) which means "recreational hunting"

 

[BedroomBully]

Sure it’s a possibility that’s what
the 遊 part stands for.

 

[ScottyFamalam]

Looked more into it and the stars are just hyphens. They appear in Yu-Gi-Oh's logo, too. Yu-Yu-Hakusho is how it's intended to be romanized.

"White report" is a term that exists in the Englsh language, but I still say "report" is better as it rolls off smoother.

幽 literally means "hidden", "secret", "dark", "gloomy", etc with connotations to the netherworld or astral plane.
It's kinda confusing what the 遊 means as it can mean both playing and traveling (or moving around).
白書 is literally "white paper", synonymous with "report" and "guide".

There are a lot of ways that the title can be interpreted, but looking at the series, "report on hidden/secret/dark/strange/supernatural/paranormal/gloomy/spooky/ghost(ly)/etc activit(y/ies)" is most likely the meaning Togashi went for when you look at the series. "Poltergeist Report, "Ghost Files", "Ghost Fighter", etc are fine localizations but I would have gone with "Spirit Report", "Spirit Files", "Spirit Fighter", "Spirit Hunter", etc or even "Spirit Detective" like Yusuke is called in the Funimation dub lol

 

[Symbiote]

I always thought it was Spirit Files.

 

[ScottyFamalam]

Thinking about it more, seeing as the inspiration was Journey to the West 西遊記 (Xīyóujì in Chinese and Saiyuuki in Japanese), perhaps the title is meant to be interpreted as meaning, "report on a journey to somewhere hidden away/secret/dark/gloomy/etc"? So, then it could be translated as "Secret Journey Report"? "Hidden Journey Report"? "Faraway Journey Report"? Perhaps calling it "Netherworld/Underworld Journey Report" would be better given what the series is about.

Also, 西遊記 literally translates to "West Journey Chronicle". Since the "chronicle" part is left out of "Journey to the West", maybe you can remove the "report" (白書 Hakusho) part? Togashi did say that "Hakusho" was arbitrary; he originally wanted to put "Ki" (記 Chronicle) and later admitted that it wouldn't have made a difference if it was "Den" (伝 Legend) or "Monogatari" (物語 Story). He went with Hakusho simply because it happened to pop into his mind. I'd say it's not necessary.

So, then the title would become something like "Journey to the Secluded"? "Journey to the Netherworld/Underworld/Spirit World"? "Netherworld/Underworld/Spirit World Journey"? But then again, the series isn't really about going to the underworld, or afterlife; it's mainly about supernatural things occurring in the physical world, or the "land of the living" as one might call it. Maybe "underworld" could be a double entendre for both the land of the dead and the criminal world in the series? Or perhaps you could call it "Underworldly/Otherworldly Journey"? Using "underworldly" or "otherworldly" as adjectives gets the point across that it's about all sorts of things related to the underworld, rather than the underworld itself.

Honestly, I think it would have been best to just localize it as "Spirit Detective"; that's a term totally specific to the series and most of the story focuses on Yusuke as a Spirit Detective, anyway. Even after losing his job as one, he opens his own agency at the end of the manga. I do like the sound of "Spirit Journey" and "Spirit Quest", though, even if they sound a bit too generic.

 

[BedroomBully]

So have any of y’all watched the Netflix live action?
Tempted to watch it but in fear that it’ll ruin
the manga/anime for me.

 

[ScottyFamalam]

Keiko was truly an awful character.

 

[BedroomBully]

Keiko was truly an awful character.

Botan definitely stood out more

 

[ScottyFamalam]

The only remotely notable female character was Genkai.

And she was ultimately just Toguro's bitch KEK. After the Dark Tournament arc, all she does is take up space; should have kept her old ass dead.