WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Netflix’s Yu Yu Hakusho.
Yu Yu Hakusho’s ending makes some major changes to the anime and kills off important characters quicker than the source material did. The latest Netflix live-action anime adaptation covers all of the Spirit Detective saga, although a couple of arcs are skipped over or merged into one. However, the rescue of Hiei’s sister is combined with fights from another saga entirely, with Yu Yu Hakusho’s episodes 4 and 5 featuring a “pocket version” of the Dark Tournament.
After Yusuke learns that Hiei did not kidnap Keiko, a new group consisting of Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei, and Kuawabara is formed. Together, they go to the island where Sakyo and his men are keeping both Keiko and Yukina. Yu Yu Hakusho ends with Yusuke defeating and killing Toguro after the villain uses all of his strength for the first time. The main Yu Yu Hakusho characters are last seen on a boat going back home, while Younger Toguro meets Genkai’s spirit in the other world. Yu Yu Hakusho episode 5 also features a brief mid-credits scene of Older Toguro’s head left alone in the sand that plays out as a joke.
Why Netflix’s Yu Yu Hakusho Is Only Five Episodes Long
Netflix’s live-action Yu Yu Hakusho series is only five episodes long but covers a significant portion of the anime, which ran for 112 episodes.
Is Younger Toguro Really Dead? Yu Yu Hakusho’s Final Fight Explained
Toguro revealed his final form
Yu Yu Hakusho episode 5 sees Young Toguro using 100% of his power to fight Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei. While Yusuke’s friends were very helpful, the fight came down to whether Yusuke’s Spirit Gun could take down Toguro’s final form. A classic anime trope is how the protagonist will think about their friends or their mentors and find the strength they need to defeat the villain. This is what happens in Yu Yu Hakusho’s final episode, with Yusuke channeling all his spiritual energy and using Spirit Gun Mega to kill Toguro. The villain’s body turns into ashes, and Toguro’s death is confirmed by his meeting with Genkai in the other world.
Yusuke killing Toguro during their first encounter is a major deviation from the source material. While Younger Toguro is indeed defeated during the Yukina rescue arc, the villain never uses all of his strength against Yusuke and Kuwabara. Additionally, it is Kuwabara who gives the final blow against Toguro, and the villain returns a couple of episodes later to invite Yusuke to the tournament. Yu Yu Hakusho’s finale combined Toguro and Yusuke’s first fight with their deadly final match from the Dark Tournament saga in what was perhaps the biggest change from the anime made by the live-action adaptation.
Yu Yu Hakusho’s Ending Combines The Dark Tournament With Yukina’s Rescue
Toguro only dies much later in the anime
Yu Yu Hakusho’s final two episodes featured fights and deaths that were only supposed to happen much later in the story. Whereas the Netflix series begins as an adaptation of the Spirit Detective saga, with Yusuke investigating the disappearance of three special artifacts, it ends up loosely covering the Dark Tournament saga. In the anime, after Yukina is rescued, Toguro returns to invite Yusuke and his friends to the Dark Tournament, a martial arts competition put together by rich and powerful criminals like Sakyo. The Dark Tournament saga is arguably when the anime reaches its peak, yet the live-action adaptation skipped over it.
For example, the Kurama vs. Karasu and Hiei vs. Bui fights were only supposed to happen at the end of the Dark Tournament. Likewise, Genkai is not killed by Toguro in her temple so soon. Instead, she participates in the tournament. Lastly, in the anime, the battle between Yusuke and “100% Toguro” is the climax of the tournament. Netflix’s Yu Yu Hakusho tried to be a more self-contained story, with no mentions of a future tournament. With Younger Toguro, Genkai, and Sakyo all dead by the end of episode 5, it is safe to say there will not be a live-action Dark Tournament.
Younger Toguro’s History With Genkai In Yu Yu Hakusho Explained
Toguro and Genkai were roughly the same age
Yu Yu Hakusho establishes that Younger Toguro has a history with Genkai, Yusuke’s master. In the anime, the connection between those characters is not revealed right away. More specifically, Toguro’s backstory only begins to be unfolded during the Dark Tournament fights. In the live-action adaptation, Botan quickly learns that Toguro and Genkai once taught martial arts in a dojo they created together. However, this dojo was eventually attacked by Kairen, who killed dozens of Toguro’s students. While this is not made clear in the series, both Younger Toguro and his older brother chose to be demons after winning a previous tournament, which pushed Genkai away.
This is why Younger Toguro sees Genkai in the other world after his death. It is also why Genkai transforms into a younger person at some point – Toguro remembers when they last saw each other before they went separate ways. Since the Toguro brothers became demons, none of them aged, which is why they appear to be much younger than Genkai. Toguro’s conversation with Genkai as he is transitioning from the human world to Hell is sort of his redemption, with the villain all but admitting that he wanted to find someone strong enough to defeat him once and for all.
Why Hiei Doesn’t Tell Yukina He Is Her Brother
Yukina never learns Hiei is her brother
Hiei is the brother Yukina is looking for, yet he never reveals his identity to her. This is because Hiei is ashamed of what he has become – someone who kills and hurts others. Additionally, Hiei believes that being close to Yukina can cause her life to be even more dangerous than it already is, even though she is a target regardless of her connection to him. Yukina will always be in danger due to her ability to turn tears into pearls, but Hiei prefers to protect her from afar. Interestingly, Yukina does not learn the truth in the anime either.
How Yu Yu Hakusho’s Ending Differs From The Anime
Episode 5 loosely matches episode 66 of the anime
Netflix’s Yu Yu Hakusho covers roughly 66 episodes of the anime, which ran for 112 episodes. Still, even though the live-action show technically covers almost half of the original show, it does so by skipping certain arcs and merging others into a different story. In the anime, the Yukina rescue mission does not include Kurama fighting Karasu or Hiei fighting Bui. Additionally, Younger Toguro is not killed by Yusuke in their first fight, and it is Kuwabara’s technique that saves the day. Sakyo does not kill himself at this point of this story either – his bet against Koenma only happens during the tournament.
Does Yu Yu Hakusho’s Ending Set Up A Season 2?
The series covered a lot of arcs already
Yu Yu Hakusho’s ending doesn’t leave much room for Yusuke’s story to continue. By combining the Dark Tournament and Spirit Detective sagas, Netflix’s Yu Yu Hakusho made it difficult for a new season to do something different from the first one. The deaths of Toguro, Sakyo, Genkai, Karasu, and Bui mean that a Dark Tournament adaptation would have to be very different from the source material. If the live-action Yu Yu Hakusho is meant to be a one-off story, the changes to the anime make sense. However, if Yu Yu Hakusho season 2 happens, it will either have to be an original story or skip to the Chapter Black saga.
