YuYu Hakusho is one of the most beloved 90s anime and has earned the position of one of the best-selling manga of all time. It was created by Yoshihiro Togashi, one of the best manga artists of all time, who created the masterpiece Hunter x Hunter.
Even though they released it in 1990 with an old animation and art style, fans still enjoyed its anime and manga counterparts to the utmost. The major reasons behind its huge success are its inspiring characters, self-contained story, tournament arcs filled with action scenes, and captivating villains.
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As a result, it’s a great opportunity for fans of the franchise or newcomers to enjoy this masterpiece in an entirely new avatar. The officials already released YuYu Hakusho live action on December 14, 2023, with a total of 5 episodes on Netflix. So let’s get straight to its genuine review and find out how great they have done in it and where they lack.
Plot of YuYu Hakusho Live Action
The live-action series of YuYu Hakusho follows the original storyline as its anime and manga adaptation depict. The story revolves around a delinquent high school boy named Yusuke Urameshi. In his school life, he often gets involved in fights with other delinquent students.
One day, while saving a child in a car accident, he unfortunately lost his own life. Later, he get a second chance to relive his life in a spirit world and resurrected as a spirit detective. Now, he begins solving several supernatural cases along with other spirit detectives by using his incredible martial arts skills and keen intelligence.
YuYu Hakusho Live Action: Review
YuYu Hakusho Live Action perfectly adapts the theme of its original series in all aspects. Even though it just consists of a total of 5 episodes, it succeeds in bringing its characters to life. Whether looking at its plot, character building, or fight scenes, Netflix did such a commendable job.
Moreover, the best thing about this live action is that it does not only focus on the titular character, Yusuke Urameshi. The series also gave enough screen time to the other three main characters (Kazuma Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei) and their character development.
The only underwhelming factor in the series is its undetailed adaptation of source materials. However, it’s very obvious because they just released five episodes, so what more can we expect from a five-episode series? Now, let’s move forward to the overwhelming factor that makes its live action worthy of watching.
Netflix’s High Production Value
Netflix, one of the biggest streaming platforms in the world, produced the series and gave it a huge budget. As a result, the officials do not hold back on spending enough money to make it a faithful adaptation. Their high budget is easily seen in the top-notch visuals and captivating music of the series.
As we all know, the YuYu Hakusho series is set in a spirit world filled with supernatural elements and epic action sequences. That’s why they have to spend a large budget on their production value, which Netflix also knows very well.
Here are the production teams for the film:
- Original creator: Yoshihiro Togashi
- Executive producer: Kazutaka Sakamoto
- Producer: Akira Morii
- Production Studio: Robot
- Director: Sho Tsukikawa
- Script: Tatsuro Mishima
Spectacular Visuals and Talented Cast
Just like the original series, YuYu Hakusho Live Action is visually appealing and brings a sense of nostalgia. We should definitely appreciate Ryo Sakaguchi for his excellent supervision of the VFX and digital effects done in the series.
Along with great direction and scripting, visual effects also play a major role in making the series more appealing and bringing its characters to life. On the other hand, the most important thing about any successful live action is their choice of cast.
Netflix again did a great job in hiring some of the most talented performers for this live action, who perfectly suit their respective roles. They not only suit their respective characters in terms of look; they also perfectly mimic the original characters.
Out of all the cast members of the series, Takumi Kitamura, who portrayed the role of Yusuke Urameshi, emerged as the top performer. Moreover, Takumi Kitamura is one of the best Japanese actors who plays lead roles in several popular live-action films, such as Tokyo Revenger, Let Me Eat Your Pancreas, Tonkatsu, Hell World, and so on.
Here are the major cast members of the film:
- Takumi Kitamura as Yusuke Urameshi
- Jun Shison as Kurama
- Kanata Hongo as Hiei
- Keita Machida as Koenma
- Kotone Furukawa as Botan
- Meiko Kaji as Genkai
- Sei Shiraishi as Keiko Yukimura
- Shuhei Uesugi as Kazuma Kuwabara
Conclusion:
Overall, YuYu Hakusho Live Action is a must-watch for fans of its original series and also for newcomers who are interested in action-adventure storylines. Moreover, Netflix did a great job adapting the original manga into live action, and all of their past projects have received great responses from fans, especially Netflix’s One Piece Live Action success.
That’s it for the post! We hope you found this review to be useful and will definitely give YuYu Hakusho Live Action a try. Stay tuned for more of the latest anime news and upcoming live-action anime adaptations.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. Who produced the anime adaptation of the series?
Studio Pierrot produced the anime adaptation of the series and released it in 1992 with a total of 112 episodes.
2. How many anime films did the franchise have?
The franchise released a total of two feature films; they released the first one in 1993, and the second one in 1994.
Source: Netflix
