Yu Yu Hakusho’s Yusuke Stuns in New Gender-Flipped Cosplay

The world of fanart and cosplay can offer fans a window into different worlds, and one cosplayer just stunned with her version of the Spirit World’s problem child, Yusuke Urameshi, from Yu Yu Hakusho.

Yoshihiro Togashi’s original series Yu Yu Hakusho follows delinquent teen Yusuke Urameshi and his misadventures as Spirit World’s newest Spirit Detective. The supernatural/martial arts series lasted from 1990 to 1994 in Weekly Shonen Jump and served as a sort of prototype for Togashi’s next breakout series Hunter X Hunter. The 1992 anime adaption would air in Japan and later in the US in 2002, featuring an illustrious cast of voice actors like Dragon Ball VA Christopher Sabat as Kazuma Kuwabara. Two OVA movies Yu Yu Hakusho: The Movie and Yu Yu Hakusho the Movie: Poltergeist Report, would air in 1993 and 1994, followed by the 2019 “Two Shots” and “All or Nothing” OVA episodes. Netflix recently announced a live-action series set to premiere in December 2023 with no official trailer or casting.

Social media influencer and cosplayer Shellanin recreated the sassy mouth spirit cop in a gender-bent cosplay she shared on Twitter under the hashtag #CurlyCosplay. A signature hashtag the cosplayer created to promote her afro curly cosplays within the cosplay community. Her gender-flipped cosplay features Yusuke’s green school uniform with dress pants and a button-up shirt. With curly green highlighted hair and a loaded Spirit Gun ready to aim and fire, Shellanin’s cosplay is a true testament to the main shonen character.

Yusuke’s Spirit Gun is a powerful weapon that utilizes condensed spiritual energy similar to Dragon Ball Z’s Spirit Bomb and Kamehameha blast. Koenma demonstrates to Yusuke that he can blast away any target by forming his index finger and thumb into a figurative gun. Yusuke learns to grow his Spirit Gun through gruesome training under his master, Genkai, who would also become a main fighter in the Dark Tournament arc.  As a Spirit Detective, Yusuke meets demons Hiei and Kurama and become friends (unbeknownst to Hiei) and join as a team in the Dark Tournament with Kuwabara, Koenma, and Genkai.

Unfortunately due to Yu Yu Hakusho’s popularity, Togashi would end the series abruptly for health concerns. The Yu Yu Hakusho creator admits wanting to end the series at Chapter Black but was pushed to continue the series beyond his initial conclusion. Regardless of the manga’s end, Yu Yu Hakusho still remains a fan favorite amongst anime/manga fans especially for cosplayers like Shellanin.