Thanks to the invention of Tiktok, I am often reminded of shows that I watched long ago giving me a rush of nostalgia. After hearing the English op of Yu Yu Hakusho on that hell app, I had to go back and watch the whole thing. It is quite the experiencing revisiting this show as I am being bombarded with 90s Shonen tropes. Though I am reminded of Togashi's favorite inclusion: the gay.

As this is an early work, Togashi's execution of trans and gay characters is, in my opinion, clumsy yet I do give him points for trying and for even having representation in the first place. Both in Japan and here in America, gay representation was rare and it was even rarer to see a trans character, so even though it is a clumsy representation, it was representation and it was in a popular series.

I also realized that 12 year old me and 22 year old me are big brained for liking Hiei.