Yu Yu Hakusho is a Japanese television series developed by Akira Morii and Kazutaka Sakamoto for Netflix. It is a live-action adaptation based on the manga by Yoshihiro Togashi (the same author as Hunter X Hunter)and was produced by Robot Communications (known for productions such as Alice In Bordeland and the recent Godzilla Minus One). The five episodes that make up the series arrived on the platform on December 14, 2023.
A second chance
Yusuke Urameshi (Takumi Kitamura) is a young man hooligan seventeen year old who spends his time between one fight and another. One day, while trying to save a child from a car accident, he dies and finds himself wandering as a spirit. Since his death was not foreseen from the afterlife and no one expected someone like him to carry out a similar gesture, Yusuke is granted the chance to return to life.
After the resurrection, Yusuke is appointed “Spirit World Detective” to be able to face a terrible threat which is manifesting itself in the world of humans: the world of demons (or gods Yokai) is interfering more and more with that of men and the consequences could be catastrophic. It's Yusuke's turn, with his people new astral powersto avoid all this, and will have new friends/allies on his side (Kuwabara, Hiei and Kurama).
A formula that works?
Over the years, they have tried several times to make gods Live Action taken from manga, and the results were disastrous (to name one, the emblematic Dragon Ball: Evolution). It is not always true that if a product works in one visual context, it can also work in the same way in another. Also Netflix triedand some results were not the best (for example, the feature film with real actors of death Note). But just recently something has been changing in this vein, and the streaming giant has shown that, just because past adaptations haven't been the best in the past, doesn't mean there can't be better ones.
Netflix recently decided to experiment as you should and decided to create a series of Live Action based on manga (first One Piece, now Yu Yu Hakusho, and others planned such as My Hero Academia). A few months ago, the first season of One Piece arrived and was incredibly successful, so much so that it had more views than Stranger Things And Wednesday (Wednesday). The Live-Action based on Oda's work demonstrated that if you put passion and commitment into it, the results are more than positive. This thread serves to unite both manga veterans and new ones who want to get closer to the current story. If with one piece they did it, why not do it again? In fact, now it's Yu Yu Hakusho's turn (in Italy Yu Yu of the Ghosts).
A particular result
In the case of Yu Yu Hakushothere was some false steps. The series has its ups and downs, but that doesn't mean it isn't a must-see. Actually, it is anyway succeeded on certain aspects, but the production could have concentrated better on others. There are five episodes (each lasting between 49-55 minutes) and, considering several important events that manifested themselves in the original work, are results a bit few, and to this were added a couple of very obvious defects, such as a slightly too rapid pace, and the omission – combined with the change in temporal placement – of some events. But now let's go into a little more detail.
First of all, we analyze the narrative context. We start from one pilot episode and introductory which flows with right pace and presents the universe of Yu Yu Hakusho well, introducing the protagonists and clarifying the relationships between them and their personal stories, which little by little come to intertwine in the same horizontal plot. Indeed, the process of mourning was also represented with a delicate and sensitive touch. In the writing of the first episode, you see that the author of the manga himself got his hands on it and the well-established direction makes clear the assumptions on the direction that the work will take, as the episodes continue.
In some scenes, veterans will shed a smile, but also a few tears, while new fans will curious to know more. Furthermore there is also that right amount of engaging action, manifested in well-choreographed and made a little crude fight scenes, thanks to that pinch of the right blend of fantasy and horror.
A sharp acceleration
From the second episode, everything changes. The rhythm begins to be a little too fast and we get to anticipate events which in reality, should have occurred much later, and even omitted some vertical plots and insights that had their importance in the manga.
In short, he gets out of it a mix of the first two sagas of the manga, taking some events from both, where a rather linear plot is built, but one that flows with too obvious a speed and which omitted events such as The Four Venerable Beasts or the clash against Rando. This will not please those familiar with both the manga and the anime and newbies will be a little confused. However, the curiosity to read the manga or watch the anime to find out more will remain, because the series is certainly interesting and not boring, even if a few more episodes and some in-depth analysis would not have been displeasing. However, we hope for a more detailed second season (or even a third), because the material would definitely be there!
Speaking of verdict, these flaws don't mean this adaptation doesn't deserve a chance, because it has merits as a good involvement in history and one good characterization of the characterswhich are similar to their paper counterparts.
THE fighting I am well choreographed and there is a well-established editing that makes the transition from one battle to the next very clear and not confusing. The actors chosen for the roles are more or less almost all spot on and the writing of the characters is quite acceptable. To help everything there is a colorful photographyhowever another obvious flaw is a CGI That it's not exactly the best.
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