Why the Yu Yu Hakusho ending remains a sore spot for Togashi, explained

The Yu Yu Hakusho ending is something that the anime and manga community still discuss to this very day, especially because this iconic '90s series is the creation of the author of Hunter X Hunter, Yoshihiro Togashi. The man himself has shaken the internet this week with his statements surrounding the future of Hunter X Hunter and the sharing of its potential endings in case he is unable to finish the series in the coming years due to health problems.

It's no surprise that this gave a lot of fans flashbacks of the Yu Yu Hakusho ending, which is still considered a major sign of Togashi's creative burnout and overall disappointment with the manga industry. In many ways, it could be considered a cautionary of what happens when editors and higher-ups keep pushing a successful series for all the wrong reasons.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the Yu Yu Hakusho ending.

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The story behind the Yu Yu Hakusho ending

The Yu Yu Hakusho main cast (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Yu Yu Hakusho is a very good example of artistic progression and is the exact period when Yoshihiro Togashi went from a fairly standard mangaka to one of the industry's finest. The series started in the early '90s as an episodic story that focused on ghost stories and then turned into a classic battle shonen, and then a deconstruction of the genre, which in hindsight, highlighted Togashi's tendencies that would be in full display in Hunter X Hunter.

The series was selling extremely well and the anime adaptation by Studio Pierrot was very well-received too, but it was during the latter portion of the Chapter Black arc that the cracks began to show. Togashi was struggling a lot with back problems, something that plagues him even to this very day, and was having a creative burnout because he didn't know how to move forward.

He felt he did everything he could have done with these characters and thought of deconstructing them even more in the final arc, Three Kings, but his mental health and physical health-related issues were far too great.

This is why the arc and the Yu Yu Hakusho ending are so rushed: Yusuke's fight with Yomi is not even shown in the manga and the entire saga happens in just 21 chapters, which makes it the shortest in the entire work.

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The aftermath of the Yu Yu Hakusho ending

Perhaps the biggest sign that the Yu Yu Hakusho ending was rushed in the manga was the fact that Studio Pierrot had to add a lot of anime-original material to complete the final arc, which included the final battle between Yusuke and Yomi. This would be unheard of in today's industry. However, Togashi has been very candid and honest about his reasons to end the series on his own terms.

The mangaka has been clear that he didn't feel any enjoyment in writing or drawing during the series' final chapters and felt too much pressure, which is why he chose to go for an abrupt ending. This has proven to have an impact on Togashi with Hunter X Hunter, because he doesn't have to hit any deadlines and releases chapters at his own pace, which is probably for the best, considering his health issues.

While the Yu Yu Hakusho ending has some good moments, such as Yusuke actually losing the final battle (another Togashi subversion of shonen expectations) and him reuniting with Keiko on the beach, most people agree that a series of that quality deserved much better. However, Togashi's issues at the time made his decision very logical.

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Final thoughts

The Yu Yu Hakusho ending still plays a role in Togashi's decision-making and fans are hoping that Hunter X Hunter doesn't suffer a similar fate. It's one of manga's all-time greats and deserves an ending fitting to the legacy it has built over the years.