Up until Yusuke defeated Toguro in what undoubtedly went down as one of the greatest anime fights in history, it looked like things had finally gone back to normal for the young Spirit Detective. Not only were his friends safe and Genkai had been revived, but he'd started going back to his neglected coursework and had gained enough strength to protect those closest to him from any future threats.
With the appearance of the former Spirit Detective named Shinobu Sensui in the series' "Chapter Black Saga", Yusuke soon found himself up against his strongest, most cunning foe in a race to stop the barrier between the Human World and the Demon World from collapsing. The episodes of this saga forced our heroes to think more outside of the box, testing their morals and beliefs far more than their muscles, like the last arc. To help you remember some of the best moments in this arc, we've compiled a list of the 10-best IMDb-rated episodes of Yu Yu Hakusho's "Chapter Black Saga".
10 "Spirit Detective Showdown" (6.7)
After successfully defeating all of Sensui's goons, Yusuke and his companions finally confronted Sensui to rescue Kuwabara, who had been captured a few episodes earlier. Unfortunately, Yusuke finds himself separated from his friends, and is forced to battle Sensui, who quickly deconstructs his technique down to the last move. More than anything, fans were excited to get the start of a battle that had been teased since the first time Yusuke and Sensui fought in broad daylight. Unfortunately, we could've all went without seeing Sensui shirtless with all those nasty scars, but whatever floats your boat, we're here for you...
9 "Death of a Spirit Detective" (6.8)
We'd heard of anime characters dying and coming back to life, but when the same character dies and comes back to life more than once, our attention is immediately piqued. After Sensui debuted his Sacred Energy, he killed Yusuke, spurring Kuwabara to unlock the power of the extremely powerful Dimension Sword to free himself and the others from Itsuki's inter-dimensional prison. We didn't enjoy seeing Yusuke get beaten into a pulp, but we did enjoy seeing just how much Kuwabara and Yusuke's bromance had grown over the course of the series, giving us one of Chris Sabat's best performances (in the English dub) as Kuwabara reflected on their ever-evolving friendship.
8 "Moving Target" (6.9)
Out of all Sensui's subordinates, perhaps Kaname Hagiri, otherwise known as "Sniper", was one of the most dangerous. This episode displayed just how powerful and useful his ability to utilize objects to pursue targets after they've been marked was. Much of this episode is Yusuke attempting to outrun the knives and even the whole semi-truck that Sniper sends his way, but thanks to Hiei, Yusuke finds his life spared for just a few more episodes!
After Yusuke begins to lose motivation, Hiei challenges him to the rematch that fans have been waiting for since their first fight of the series. Their fight was brutal, gritty, and filled with some heavy hits that made us feel our own ribs for any cracks. If you think we're overexaggerating, try watching this scene without visuals and the only thing you'll be able to tell is that someone is getting their butt whooped.
7 "The Proof" (6.9)
After Sensui killed Yusuke, the ancestral demon blood residing within him brought on his second resurrection. This episode marks the beginning of Yusuke and Sensui's final confrontation, with Sensui using his Sacred Energy to the fullest and Yusuke growing acclimated to the increase in power brought about by his revival. Unfortunately, Yusuke's power still wasn't enough, and as the episode neared its conclusion, he found his body being taken over by a mysterious entity that left us all asking dozens of questions. The one thing we knew for certain was that he'd gotten a lot stronger, evident by the instantaneous hair growth, a staple of a successful transformation.
6 "Sensui's End" (7.1)
"Sensui's End" is the next episode after "The Proof", leaving us right where we left off with Yusuke's body having been taken over by a mysterious entity that we later learn is his demon ancestor Raizen. The main reason why this episode made it onto this list was due to the beatdown that "Raizen" gave Sensui. Not only was it kind of satisfying to see Sensui finally getting it handed to him, but watching this fight still gives us chills to this day. Not only does it remain one of the most one-sided bouts in anime history, but Sensui literally got treated like a ragdoll. We almost felt bad for the guy until we learned that he only had one more month to live anyway due to a terminal illness. With Raizen's initial introduction, this episode served as the catalyst that propelled us into Yu Yu Hakusho's fourth and final season.
5 "Power Between the Teeth" (7.5)
Since Koenma's introduction, he'd always been seen sucking on that pacifier of his, even when he adopted a teenage body. In "Power Between the Teeth", we learned that his pacifier had actually been collecting his Spirit Energy over the course of several centuries in preparation for the day he'd be forced to use his "Mafuuken", a technique so powerful that it could trap S-class demons with ease.
We also got to learn more about Sensui's seven personalities, which made us feel a bit sorry for a man who, at his core, was just as deranged and confused as anyone else trying to make sense of this world. Unfortunately, Yusuke stopped Koenma from using this attack until the next episode, leaving himself to be beaten down even more by the "real" Shinobu who finally decided to make his appearance after all of this time.
4 "The Difference Maker" (7.5)
Most of the top IMDb-rated episodes of the Chapter Black Saga relate to Yusuke's battle with Sensui, and we never expected anything less. Not only was the fight between Koenma's former Spirit Detective and his current Spirit Detective one that pushed Yusuke to his limits, but it also taught us so much about Sensui's background and motivation. The animation in this episode's action sequences were superb as Yusuke soared across the battlefield to avoid Sensui's hailstorm of Spirit Energy projectiles, and it quickly became clear that his fighting style couldn't hold a candle to Sensui's, who could attack from multiple angles. Though outclassed, Yusuke taught us all that "a good defense is sometimes just kicking a**". During the latter part of this episode, he lost his shirt, and every anime fan knows that once the shirts are off, the battle's only just begun.
3 "Kurama's Anger, Gourmet's Guest" (7.7)
While Yusuke got the privilege of defeating the younger Toguro brother during the Dark Tournament, we had been led to believe that Kuwabara defeated the older Toguro brother, but he made his reappearance in the Chapter Black Saga after taking over the body of Sadao Makihara, otherwise known as "Gourmet", a psychic with the ability to consume people and inherit their powers. Unfortunately for the eldest Toguro, he was granted a fate worse than death by Kurama, trapped in an eternal cycle of hatred by the Sinning Tree.
2 "Sleep, Doctor, Sleep" (7.8)
Taking place immediately after the main combat sequence between Yusuke and the evil virus-spreading psychic known as "The Doctor", Yusuke struggles to come up with a way to take The Doctor out without killing him in order to save those infected by The Doctor's virus.
This marks an episode where we truly realize that the fight against Sensui was more about morals than anything else.
1 "The Doctor's Disease" (8.5)
Not only is the preceding episode to "Sleep, Doctor, Sleep" also one of Yu Yu Hakusho's highest-rated episodes, but it's also one of the best in the entire series. Unlike the previous episode, this one gave us a lot more action, with The Doctor learning the hard way what happens when you threaten Yusuke's friends.