Class of 2003

First Adult Swim Show To Air On Toonami

First Non-DB Related FUNimation Series To Air On Toonami

When Adult Swim launched a Saturday night action block back in 2002, Yu Yu Hakusho was the marquee franchise. Williams Street knew that this series, which was one of the few major Dragon Ball Z competitors to actually beat that legendary franchise in viewership, would be successful Stateside, as did FUNimation, who translated the series for the North American market. And they were right. For a time, Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files was the most popular show on the new Adult Swim Action block. FUNimation even released a press release praising the show's success. However, Cartoon Network wasn't too thrilled about that press release, considering that FUNimation focused on the demos that AREN'T Adult Swim demographics, particularly younger viewers.

A little over a year later, in March 2003, Cartoon Network moved the series to Toonami as one of the main parts of the rebuilding process of the popular block. Toonami aired the initial run of episodes that aired on Adult Swim in an edited form, much to the dismay of otakus that were too cheap to buy the releases, as well as premiered two cycles of episodes, including its current cycle airing on Saturday nights.

Yu Yu Hakusho is spiritually Dragon Ball Z's successor. It mixed the voyage element of the early seasons of Dragon Ball and the over-the-top fighting spirit of Dragon Ball Z. Of course its fights seem a lot more classy than the level-envious battles between the Saiyans and the ever-evolving villians of DBZ. Yusuke, Kurabara, Kurama, and Hiei aren't so much into reaching the next level rather than kicking their opponents' butts.