Inu230 9

The first special takes place about a year before the start of Yu Yu Hakusho. Rei is searching for Yukina, he meets Kurama and mistakes him for an agent of Yatsude. The second special takes place after the end of Yu Yu Hakusho and is about rescuing Koenma and Botan who have been captured. The main characters reunite to enter the Spirit World in search of their friends and to put a stop to the radical religious “purification”. While each special is about 13 minutes long the short runtime isn’t disappointing. It’s been quite a while since the TV series ended and while this reviewer binged the anime a couple years ago the specials put the viewer right back into the world. So even if its been a couple of decades since watching this anime fans shouldn't feel josteled. The animation has been refined so some may dislike the change but none of the characters are hard to identify or appear to have been overlooked in their crisper design. Each one has maintained his or her recognizable features, now they’re just a bit cleaner. Not every character is back though so some may be disappointed that their fav(s) is/are absent. The introduction of new characters blends with the well known characters and for the first special in particular getting to see Kurama as he was as a younger guy was particularly appealing. The person he was before he joined a team, how he reacted to the presence of demons and how he cared for his classmates - a girl in particular. There’s not much comedy in the first special but when Kazuma makes his appearance in the second some chuckles should be galvanized. The lighting in the first one is particularly dark which matches well with the story - demons being a nuisance and consuming humans. The second one isn’t as dark though even though it’s about destruction on a much larger scale which seems a bit odd. The animators may have wanted to keep the main cast bright but it can be viewed as an oversight or unbalanced vibe for the specials as a whole. Stories: There are no glaring issues with either special that contradict or undermine anything from the TV series. The main concern(s) may be the run time - a pretty common comment when it comes to specials - and the desire to see more or for a continuation from the main plot. Of course it's fine to just sit back and enjoy a couple stories features some characters that haven't been shown before but there is some meaning: The overall message of these specials is about how superstitions or gut feelings can be wrong but that does't mean they should be underestimated. -- There may be some more for these characters.