With his new Spirit Detective powers and some special training from Genkai, Yusuke Urameshi is now a fully fledged superhuman hero. Good thing, because the bad guys awaiting him in “Yu Yu Hakusho: Second Wind” are nastier and tougher than any he’s met before — and it has some truly stunning consequences at the very end of this two-disc set.

The four comrades enter the castle and immediately find foes awaiting them: the self-assembling stone beast Genbu, whom Kurama fights with his deadly rose whip; the blustering white tiger Byakko, whom Kuwabara is determined to defeat with his energy swords; and the cruel ice master Seiryu, who enrages Hiei until the tiny swordsman decides to cut him apart. Obviously they all get their fair share of injuries.

But while his friends battle minor minions, Yusuke has to defeat the most powerful and terrifying of the Saint Beasts — Suzaku, who controls lightning and can duplicate himself seven times over. Meanwhile, the demonic insects on Earth are possessing dozens of people all over the city — and if Yusuke doesn’t stop Suzaku somehow, the possessed victims will kill Keiko and Botan.

But Yusuke receives an even more sensitive assignment after that — rescue a beautiful ice maiden from a human crimelord. To complicate matters, Kuwabara has fallen in love with her, and she’s also Hiei’s twin sister. But as the boys fight their way into the fortified mansion, they can’t even imagine the danger that is guarding the ice maiden… and just slavering for a fight with them. What’s more, it will draw them into the most horrific fight of their lives: the legendary Dark Tournament.

Things have certainly picked up in “Second Wind,” now that the main cast of “Yu Yu Hakusho” has been introduced. We’re treated to grotesque demonic opponents, superpowers, nasty spells, and lots of action-packed sequences involving fists, lightning, lava, ice, swords, yoyos and rose vines. And the villains get way worse with each successive battle, particularly when Yusuke and Kuwabara go up against the Toguro Bros.

It’s not all action, though. There’s some romantic stuff between the bickering Yusuke and Keiko (“The clerk thinks I’m stealing stuff!”), as well as Kuwabara’s adorable crush on Hiei’s sister. And there’s a pretty hefty dose of humor as well — the pacifier-sucking Koenma and his overworked office ogres, Kuwabara’s love headband, or the inter-team banter (“It smells girly! I don’t think I like it.” “Oh yeah, he should be a real tough guy like you and be obsessed with kittens”).

Yusuke has become a solid anti-hero now that he’s gotten some power and discipline, and his determination to take out Suzaku really shows how far he’s willing to go to stop the bad guys. Not to mention his obvious love for Keiko. And Kuwabara both shows his newfound powers to kick butt, and his softer side when he develops a massive crush on Yukina. It’s very cute.

The crabby, lethal Hiei is still something of an enigma here, but we see some glimpses of what he’s really like — he clearly adores his sister, and he shows flickers of iron-clad honor that prompt him to support his teammates (and condemn those who kill their own). And Kurama rounds out the cast nicely, being graceful, elegant, intelligent even in a hopeless fight, and extremely deadly when he has a rose in hand.

“Yu Yu Hakusho: Second Wind” cruises smoothly through the second half of one arc, and into the beginning of another — and it promises to get even nastier from here.

While it is nicer having only two discs in lieu of 5, it didn’t come without sacrifices: Most of the extras I enjoyed on my 3-episode discs, such as the helpful kanji explanations, didn’t carry over to this one while it seems the trailers multiplied. Also, there is some problem with the subtitles as captioning for the hearing impaired is not an option so if you’re hard of hearing, you can only really watch the Japanese version.

All in all, if you have not been collecting them and want to catch up, this is an excellent buy. However, I would not sell all of your old DVD’s in order to make room for this one. Think of it as your travel and/or sharing version.