Yu Yu Hakusho 2023 Netflix Series Review
I don't know about you but i am a big fan of Togashi's work. For anyone who doesn't know who Togashi is, i am talking about the guy who created Yu Yu Hakusho in the form of manga and Hunter X Hunter as well. These 2 are considered his masterpiece and Hunter X Hunter is my favorite anime as well.
If you have read the manga or have watched the anime there are many similarities between Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter X Hunter but that's for another time. Now it's quite common in Japan that before something comes as anime, it's usually starting as Manga. There is the option of Novel as well but Manga is a way more common method.
The manga was originally serialized from December 1990 to July 1994. The anime adaptation which had around 112 episodes aired between October 1992 to December 1994. To understand the impact this manga/anime had and has, the manga had over 78 million copies in circulation worldwide by 2022 which makes it one of the best-selling manga series out there. After Yu Yu Hakusho a similar story happened with Hunter X Hunter making Togashi quite well-known and with an outstanding fanbase around the whole and not only in Japan.
With the rise of anime and live actions through Netflix like One Piece, for example, Yu Yu Hakusho was a no-brainer i guess. If you have already a big fanbase then that equals views. At the same time though, it doesn't mean that the viewers will take the show lightly if it's a mess. Thus on December 14, 2023, YU YU Hakusho live-action was released.
Plot
I don't plan on writing a lot of things about the plot as i believe that the vast majority that decided to watch the show already have watched the anime or read the manga. At the same time if you are someone that hasn't watched it yet, i strongly and i repeat STRONGLY SUGGEST to read the manga or watch the anime first.
Pretty much the story is the following, we have a delinquent schoolboy named Yusuke Urameshi who doesn't care that much about school, talks back o everyone and is a great fighter let's say. At the same time though, he has a poor heart and doesn't use his strength to week people but instead to only help others.
Due to that, he saves a young kid from a certain death and basically dies in the kid's place. He visits the spirit world but it turns out his death was unexpected and no preparation has been completed yet. Koenma, the kid of Enma gives him a chance to be resurrected provided he works for the Spirit World as an investigator and solving related spirit/human/demon cases.
What I Liked and What I Didn't
Let's start by presenting the good side first. The acting is quite good and Netflix paid attention to some details that make the show greater and fans enjoy it more. Details that not even the anime adaption had like the funeral photo of Yusuke for example.
The use of CGI and in general the demons and powers displayed were quite amazing as well and looked like they actually did some great work and not something up for some views and quick profits. The most amazing thing about the show though, that made me enjoy it so much despite some negatives that i will later say, is the fight scenes.
The fight scenes of this show were freaking awesome. I didn't expect them to be that good especially when you take into account the use of powers, but oh boy congrats to everyone because the outcome is even better than some martial movies/series.
Now the Bad side. The live-action has only 5 episodes. As you can imagine a lot of things would be cut out. I thought that these 5 episodes would be regarding the events that took place before the Dark Tournament arc. Turns out that i was completely wrong and Dark Tournament was part of it.
Also, it turned out that there is no actual Dark Tournament as well. In fact as it used to be with many live-actions the whole plot changed completely. It's like the story of how he met the gang and then directly they fought with Toguro his brother and his team. No in-between tournament fights and thus all these characters were dropped.
Also, the training part- the Genkai part was shortened as hell and as a result besides the lack of everything, there is also a lack in character development was basically nobody gives a @@ about anyone. Not even they become friends. It's basically like a story in an alternative universe.
I suggest watching it keeping that in mind and don't expect to see what you saw in the anime or read in the Manga. If you watch it with that mindset you will enjoy the show if not you will be utterly disappointed.