Yusuke Urameshi dies when he is struck by a car. But he become a ghost, and goes through the events which led up to this moment -including going to school for the first time in 10 days, getting yelled at by his childhood friend Keiko, getting yelled at by teachers and getting into a fight with his rival Kuwabara, whom he easily defeats.

He then saves a kid, Masaru, by pushing him out of the path of a speeding car, leading to him getting hit instead. He realizes that he's a ghost, just as Botan, a guide to the spirit world, appears. She reveals that Yusuke has died for nothing -if he hadn't done anything, Masaru would have miraculously survived, and it means there's currently no place for him in Heaven or Hell. But she does ask him if he wants to undergo a trial to return to life. Yusuke initially says no, but she tells him to go and watch his wake and think it over.

Yusuke does so and after witnessing the responses to his death by Keiko, Kuwabara, Principal Takenaka and his own mom, he changes his mind. Botan takes Yusuke up into the sky, as they head to Spirit World.

Manga differences

-In the manga, one panel has a pool of blood next to Yusuke's head. The blood is missing in the anime.

-The manga has Yusuke smoking when he's on the school roof, in the anime he's not smoking.

-Similar to the above, the two boys with the wallet are also seen smoking in the manga, but in the anime they aren't.

-The manga is slightly different with the two wallet boys -Yusuke charges them with a "name dropping fee" and asks for 500 yen, which they give him. Iwamoto then appears and doesn't notice a wallet, he instead notices a cigarette, which he blames on Yusuke. In the anime, Yusuke never asks for any money from the boy, and Iwamoto notices the dropped wallet instead.

-Again, when Yusuke leaves the school, he starts smoking in the manga, only for Takenaka to bash him on the head and take away his cigarette packet. In the anime, Yusuke is about to chew some gum instead of smoking.

-Yusuke fools Takenaka with a small doll of himself in the manga, in the anime, he uses a toy ear.

-In the anime, Takenaka clutches his back after Yusuke leaves. He doesn't do this in the manga.

-When Yusuke enters town in the manga, some people shut their doors and look away. Yusuke mutters that his rep is so low because everyone blames any shoplifting incidents on him -although he admits it is mostly him. In the anime this was cut, replaced with a shot of Yusuke kicking a can and making a couple of people move away from him.

-In the manga, Kuwabara already looks a bit beaten up when he first appears, such as having some bruises and a plaster on his face. In the anime he looks fine when he makes his debut.

-The manga has Botan explain that Masaru would have survived by his ball acting as a cushion. This dialogue was cut from the anime.

-When Masaru thanks Yusuke, the manga has Yusuke say not to thank him, as he didn't do anything worth anyone's thanks. This dialogue was cut from the anime.

Notes

-The anime's opening sequence features the song "Smile Bomb", sung by Matsuko Mawatari. This song would be used as the show's intro theme for the entire series, although the opening animation would change at certain points. The opening features numerous characters, a few of which who won't actually appear in the series for a while -such as Hiei and Kurama (who make their first appearances in episode 6) and Byakko (episode 15).

-The credits sequence features the song "The Homework Never Ends", which is also sung by Matsuko Mawatari. Again, like with the intro, the credits sequence features several characters who won't appear in the series for many episodes, including Chu (first appears in episode 30), the Toguro brothers (episode 22) and Bui (episode 43!) -given the show usually aired once per week, viewers in Japan who weren't reading the manga would have to wait almost a year to see some of these characters!