Absolute Anime

Fields	USA Info	Japanese Info	Image
Name	Yusuke Urameshi	Yuusuke Urameshi
Alias	Numbskull
· · ·	Dimwit(to Genkai)
· · ·	Slacker(to Genkai)
Race	Human, with some demon	Human, with some demon
Gender	Male	Male
Age	14 years old(ages throughout the series)	14 years old(ages throughout the series)
Hair	Black(with a slight green tinge due to hair gel)	Black(with a slight green tinge due to hair gel)
Eyes	Brown	Brown
Height	5'8"	About 173 cm
Weight	About 144 lbs(source: estimated based on height)	About 65.3 kg(source: estimated based on height)
Status	Spirit Detective	Spirit Detective
Quote	"I'm gonna kick your ass!"
Voice	Justin Cook(TV)	Nozumu Sasaki
· · ·	Rik Nagel(movie)
Debut	Episode 1	Episode 1
Anime	Yu Yu Hakusho	Yuu Yuu Hakusho
· · ·	Yu Yu Hakusho: Poltergeist Report	Yu Yu Hakusho: Bonds of Fire

Last I checked, this character's cosplay outfit was available at Moon Costumes.

The story all begins when Yusuke Urameshi, a crude, rambunctious, selfish, seemingly uncaring young man with an even less caring mother and a reputation for being a toughest fighter in town (and he is, too) did something so unexpected that no one, not even the Spirit World [Reikai] had been expecting it.

He did something genuinely good...and ended up roadkill for it.

Because of the unusual circumstances, Yusuke is given an opportunity to be revived. He is reluctant at first...but after he learns just how much me meant to others, he agrees to try. It's a rough, brutal ordeal and in the end relies on both the goodness hidden deep in his tough exterior and the feelings others felt for him...but he ultimately succeeds and rejoins the world of the living.

In exchange for his new lease on life, Yusuke is appointed the Living World's [Ningenkai's] Spirit Detective. You see, being a resurrected human has its side effects. Having been a ghost once, Yusuke has become spiritually sensitive, giving him the ability to see intruders to the Living World [Ningenkai] otherwise invisible to ordinary humans: ghosts and demons [youkai] and the like. He also now has a special technique that gives him a much more potent weapon than sheer physical force: his Spirit Gun [Rei Gun], a concentrated bolt composed of the sum of his spirit energy. Originally, he's limited to using the technique once a day, but in the course of his cases, he receives special training to further boost his spiritual abilities and give him advanced techniques like the Shotgun (a multi-shot Spirit Gun burst). Also, he receives various devices from the Spirit World [Reikai] to assist in his missions (such as a spyglass and a communicator).

Later on it is stated in the series (just before the Saga of the Three Kings, and several times during it) that King Yama terminated the Spirit Detective Department, thus making Yusuke an ex-spirit detective. Also, his Demon Energy is that of an S-class Demon (not surprising considering Raizen is S-Class).

Express yourself! Post questions and comments in the Absolute Anime Forums, or contact me about any corrections.

Yusuke finds out that he is part-demon, and that he is related to Raizen, one of the three rulers of Demon World. Raizen is a battle demon. In his full demon mode, Yusuke's hair turns white-white and very long, and he gets demon markings on his face and body. Known as the Mazoku, he learns to control it, turning his hair back to black, which he later cuts. The markings fade until he brings his demon power back, and then they reappear.

There is some controversy over whether Raizen is just Yusuke's ancestor, or if he is actually Yusuke's father. In chapter 173, The Picture of Peace, of the final volume of Yu Yu Hakusho manga, Atsuko is seen talking to a gentleman off to the side of Yusuke's noodle shop. They both speak of the past when Yusuke was three years old. The manga may not say it directly, however, the whole conversation and attitude between the two highly suggests that the man is Yusuke's dad.

Also, it's said that Yusuke calls Raizen "father", but what Yusuke really says is "oyaji", which really just means "old man". And besides, he calls Genkai grandma, but she's not really his grandmother. Plus, they specifically say in the episode where Raizen decides to stop eating humans, that he slept with a human woman and she had such an impact on him that he decided he'd rather starve to death than continue to eat humans. Yusuke's father is unknown, but his mother is a descendent of this woman. Oh yeah, and when Yusuke dies by Sensui's hand and the SDF comes, they tell about him having the demon blood and how it passed many generations and how that Yusuke was the only one able to sustain the kind of power that Raizen has. So to sum up, Raizen is Yusuke's ancestor, NOT his father.

It is also said that Raizen awoke the demon inside Yusuke and gave Yusuke his powers, but according to what I've been able to find on the web, that is not quite correct either. Yusuke realized his powers on his own when his heart stopped beating after he was defeated by Sensui. Then Raizen took control of Yusuke's body, which is when his hair turned all white, so perhaps Yusuke realized his powers, but Raizen helped to unleased them?

Express yourself! Post questions and comments in the Absolute Anime Forums, or contact me about any corrections.

Yusuke Urameshi is your average teenage boy living in a street fighter world... with knives. He is killed when he pushes a little boy out of the way of an oncoming car. He arrives in the Spirit World, a place with many demons, but is reincarnated into his own body back on Earth where he pulls detective duty with his assistant, Botan (the grim reaper).

Express yourself! Post questions and comments in the Absolute Anime Forums, or contact me about any corrections.