Yu Yu Hakusho

In this live-action interpretation of the Yu Yu Hakusho story, we follow the tale of up-to-no-good Yusuke and unlikely allies, who secretly has a good heart, and needs to come back from the spirit world to save the day from demons. That's the gist, and it's good.

So far, so manga slash anime. It becomes more interesting however, when our anti-hero needs to make ambigious choices that are neither good nor evil, and suit our newly-found spirit detective. And most of the time, he will need to make those choices mid-fight.

As usual I will refrain from comparing it to original source matter and give it a judgement based on what this mini-series give us in the now. In short, it's both cool and alive. The fighting scenes are special because of the demon element and our cast has great comedic timing. It's on the sugary side though, just so you know.

It all really plays for fun, laughs and spectacle, and as such, it succeeds with flying colors. Plotwise it's best not to expect the world. Lots of clichés, melodrama, gushing violins and pumping horns... this is the pop-version of Japanese stories.

Also, the added CGI is on the simplistic side. And the music... You know, there's plenty of niggles to give, especially in comparison to original source material. Yet overall, you can feel the fun factor in this production, and I just had a good time gobbling this up with glee.

Overall I liked the show, but unfortunately, as this was my first experience with the characters, having never read the manga or watched it, I felt it was severely lacking in character development. I could see how an avid fan might be a much bigger fan of the live action version but for me, when it came to the last episode I couldn't understand their emotions or drive and wasn't really invested. Generally I'm the that is completely taken over emotionally from stories like this but it just wasn't happening. Like I said before though, it was good, I did enjoy it, I wouldn't tell anyone it's not worth a watch, but maybe read the manga or watch the animated version before this one for more context on the backstory.

I don't care much about changing the original script to fit into just 5 episodes. However, he was run over, which had an impact on the final fight, it didn't cause that tense air of fear. Much of this factor was because it shortened the narrative a lot.

It's a shame it doesn't have at least 10~12 episodes, it would have been possible to improve this, following the recipe of the first two episodes which, despite adapting and summarizing, everything was fine.

Congratulations to the cast, you surprised me and the battle effects, especially Yusuke's initial fights and Karazu's fight at the end. Perfect choreography and using objects from the scene well, making it more dynamic than in the anime.

The Netflix adaptation of "Yu Yu Hakusho" wasn't perfect but wasn't bad. Those new to the anime might find it a bit confusing initially, but overall, it should still be entertaining. On the other hand, fans of the anime and manga might feel that it rushes through the storyline and doesn't stay entirely true to the source material, by cramming nearly 70 episodes of the anime into five live-action episodes, creating a feature length experience if seen in one sitting. And though it keeps out many aspects from the original. It manages to retain the fundamental essence of "Yu Yu Hakusho."

The decision to exclude certain elements was interesting as animes often involve lengthy story arcs and characters that don't easily transition to live action and instead of prolonging fights across many episodes, the series combines different story elements into one cohesive storyline, which works effectively, but feels rushed. But, with only 5 episodes there's isn't much room for more.

Visually the show is quite good, although there's a moment where the CGI reminded me of the fight scene between Neo and Agent Smith in "The Matrix," giving off a video game cutscene vibe. But, it still manages to be really cool. The "One Piece" live-action adaptation was a significant improvement in bringing some eccentric anime characters and fights into live action and "Yu Yu Hakusho" is no different. The characters, especially the villains, are well-designed, and the fight sequences are very well executed and choreographed. But, like many anime adaptations, it still carries a certain cringe factor that seems to be inevitable.

Overall, despite deviating from the source material, the live-action adaptation of "Yu Yu Hakusho" offers a pretty enjoyable experience for both newcomers and fans seeking a nostalgic journey. However, it's possible that more hardcore fans might not fully embrace the adaptation due to its differences. Either way, it's a step forward for anime adaptations!

First of all, I'm a fan of the YYH anime, so was hard for me to not compare this mini-series to the anime. The story changes made was understandable to me. Especially, when it was obvious that Netflix wasn't going into the Dark Tournament saga.

There are some things this mini-series fail to deliver. I believe it was due to it being 5 episodes. One of YYH anime's highlights was the resonating backstory and motivations of the main antagonists, which the anime builds up as the story moves forward. But this mini-series failed to do that. They tried to do a quick retelling of younger Toguro's backstory with just few minutes of dialogue during the last episode. But that's weak. I think younger Toguro's backstory itself deserves one whole flashback episode. It might've made the climax battle and ending more emotionally impacting. In other words, in order for me to care about the deliverance of a tortured soul, I need to get to know the tortured soul first. If not, I won't care and don't know how to care about the deliverance. And again, this mini-series was just 5 episodes, maybe that's why they're forced to only use dialogue.

I wondered if this series was meant to be a one off and season 2 was never considered. It seemed to wrap up so nicely. Hopefully, it performs decent enough for a season 2. I want to see how Netflix would do Sensui (this antagonist is so emotionally scarred that he 7 personalities inside him). Please make at least 8-10 episodes if there's season 2, like One Piece or other Netflix original series.