Picking up where the “Dark Tournament Saga” left off, Yusuke Urameshi and his allies, Kuwabara, Hiei & Kurama return home. Suddenly, Team Urameshi meets three teens with spirit energy. After playing mind games, the team join forces with the teen trio to prevent demons from emerging from an underground gateway into the real world or else an apocalypse will destroy humanity. They’re only hope? Defeat a group of seven powerful demons. Their leader, Sensui is stronger than Young Toguro.
YuYu Hakusho: Chapter Black Saga aired in 2004 (same year Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3 came out) on Cartoon Network’s block, Toonami. Funimation later released a remastered uncut version of Chapter Black Saga on DVD/Blu-Ray. As an anime enthusiast, I wanna share my thoughts on the third saga before My Hero Academia’s eighth and final season streams in 2025 on Crunchyroll.
Today’s review contains no SPOILERS.
Powerful & Weak Aspects
Powerful: Voice Actors reprise their roles and they all did a superb job for their respective performances.
Animation brings elements to life such as character models, lighting, environmental locations and fluid movement.
Action Sequences are pretty good. Yusuke going head-to-head with Sensui is definitely worth a lot of buildup.
Humor has some funny moments. Gotta love Yusuke’s trash talk.
Yusuke’s chemistry with his Kuwabara, Kurama & Hiei serves as the main highlight.
Courtesy of Character Development, Hiei becomes more compassionate towards Yusuke. He came a long way going from loner to a close friend.
Pacing didn’t take forever going from Point A to Point B.
Kuwabara’s favorite band, Megallica is a play-on-word of heavy metal bands Megadeath & Metallica. The latter’s one of my favorite rock bands.
Opening Credits has a different look. Still has that awesome tune, “Smile Bomb.” Admit it, you can’t skip the intro. Makes me wanna dance.
As I’ve mentioned on my previous reviews, Yusuke’s my favorite Shonen Jump hero.
We learn about Sensui’s backstory. A former spirit detective who went off the deep end. He’s a lot more powerful than Younger Toguro.
Yusuke and his friends become stronger acquiring significant power boosts. Short answer, “No pain, no gain.”
A big reveal towards the end of the arc changes everything going back to the very first episode.
We’re introduce to the Demon World. A parallel universe where powerful demons reside.
The final episode of Chapter Black Saga sets up the fourth and final story arc known as,
“Three Kings Saga.”
Weak: A prominent character’s unexpected return in the Dark Tournament Saga felt like a cop out. If you’re fully aware who the character is, you probably know who I’m talking about.
One character’s named, Sea Man. I’m not kidding. That’s actually his real name. Every time I hear his name, I think of that one character from “South Park.”
The name of the crime syndicate is called, Black Black Club. Really? Couldn’t think of a better bad guy group like the Hellfire Club off of “X-Men?”
The Final Verdict: B-
YuYu Hakusho: Chapter Black Saga isn’t a magnificent or a dud. Just plain average. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Chapter Black Saga isn’t a bad story arc like Bleach’s Bount Arc. The latter’s an unnecessary nonsensical filler arc. If you wanna introduce a friend to YuYu Hakusho, watch all four sagas.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 