Netflix brought Yu Yu Hakusho to life in a new live-action series, and I’m here to share my take on it. As I already discussed about plot and characters of ‘Yu Yu Hakusho’ as much as I can in my previous article. Do check it out – Appeal of “Yu Yu Hakusho”: Unraveling Its Enduring Popularity

Here I’m gonna talk about the good and not-so-good stuff in Netflix’s Yu Yu Hakusho Live-action. Of course, my views could be different from yours. So, whether you’re a big fan or just curious, let’s join a journey into the spirit world of Yu Yu Hakusho – Let’s dive in!”

Live Action Adaptation

Staff

  • Director – Sho Tsukikawa
  • Producer – Akira Morii
  • Executive producer – Kazutaka Sakamoto
  • Script – Tatsuro Mishima
  • VFX supervisor – Ryo Sakaguchi

Cast :

Image courtesy – yuyuhakusho_fb

The Story adaptation

Yu Yu Hakusho is known for it’s gripping storyline that oozes out thrilling adventure with blend of emotional and action scenes. As for Live-Action :

  • It’s not strictly along the line with manga or anime. They kinda mixed the storyline to sum-up the most of arcs within limited episodes.
  • LV doesn’t includes many major plots and revolves the whole story around the main cast only.
  • Netflix tooks it’s creative freedom and tried to blend plot in a way that it appeals to the new audience just like it did with one-piece.

If I have to sum up, as a fan of YYH anime, I’m kinda disappointed with such a short episodes to complete such a brilliant arcs. They didn’t do justice to the story but as for the new audience who haven’t watch anime, they would find LA to be pretty good and amazing both with story and characters.

Image courtesy – yuyuhakusho_fb

As I watch this in one shot and didn’t feel bored so, from that side, Netflix did make it enjoyable.

The characters

No matter how good actors are, it is always quite hard to bring that one hundred percent vibe of animation into real life. Nevertheless, YYH LA actors did an amazing work portraying the anime character to their core, given the limited episodes. This limited time actually bounces back to the story as :

  • The soul of characters are missing, making their personality kinda bland. You don’t understand their aggression or emotions for each other.
  • Characters’ emotional bonds are missing.
  • Viewers who have watched the anime or read manga – can definitely feel the emotional connection but that connection is missing in the LA. New viewers won’t be have that emotional appeal to these characters.

Indeed actors did good job with whatever time they’ve got.

Netflix decision to short down the series to just 5 episodes is actually an injustice to actors who have the potential but didn’t get much time to show that.

Apart from the anime,

  • I loved new Botan and Kuwabara portrayal.
  • Takumi Kitamura kept the energy of Yusuke.
  • Jun Shison as Kurama is such a beautiful casting.

Action – CGI

One word – amazing. The action sequence was beautifully choreographed. The lightning-fast speed with better camera works feels so good to the eyes. I heard the team that choreographed the action sequence in Ruruonin Kenshin was behind this, so I had no doubt in their ability.

CGI are amazing for a tv series even better than One-Piece LA. Despite being in low budget side, it overpowers the OPLA in this section.

  • Action-sequence, fights are top tiers.
  • CGI and action-sequence blends well enough to give of an immersive experience to its viewers. I personally like the Kurama – Karasu fight scene, it was so beautiful to watch.
  • It’s the strongest part of LA.
Video credits – Netflix Japan

Despite the budget constraints, the team did amazing work and I would definitely love to see their work in other live-actions that involve such action-packed sequence.

The Misses in live-action adaptation

  • Limited episodes : The story has so much to explore and they just cut it short down to a mere 5 episodes.
  • Missing Emotional bond : Due to limited episodes it rushed a lot of stuffe, Live-action didn’t give much chance to explore the bond between characters and thus all interaction seems bland. It’s quite evident during Genkai-Yusuke training
  • Skipped the important elements: It still bothers me that they just brush off Spirit Detective and Dark Tournament Saga in such a casual way. They also skipped many other important elements from the story just for the sake of fast progression of plot or it could be just budget issues.
  • Pro Fans dilemma : If you have already read manga or seen anime, your brain will definitely nitpick in the story and somehow bicker your taste. So, kindly watch it as a reboot.
  • I personally missed the ‘Hohoemi No Bakudan’ OST. This ost holds the charm of YYH for me.

The Hits of Live-action

  • Upgrade that make sense : although they did so many changes in original story yet it would make sense for a new audience. The progression is natural and the audience still gets what’s going on in the series.
  • CGI and Action: The ‘best part’ is CGI combined with beautifully choreographed action-fight scenes. In the first episode the truck accident and Botan teleportation to the spirit world are by far by favorite. Kurama- Karasu fight scene can stay rent-free in my heart.
  • True to the spirit of Yu Yu Hakusho : the adaptation is true to the original characters and story. Though they skewed it a little bit here and there but still didn’t lose their focus from true spirit of YYH and combined with immersive cgi and action they delivered the best at hand.
  • Re-branded characters: YYH is set in the 90s and LA characters are more modern and edgy with their vibes. The actors did an amazing job by balancing the characters as naturally as they could. I watched it as a reboot and they didn’t disappoint.

In a nutshell, Yu Yu Hakusho Live-Action is enjoyable and worth a watch. As a pro fan, the more the expectations you have, the more misses you feel. We have to bear the fact that most of the arcs that the original YYH has, in terms of sheer volumes, are hard to squeeze into live-action.

Animation provides flexibility and achieving the same with a live-action is a tedious job. Therefore, the live-action needs to be toned down to not come off as cringe or sloppy and the YYH LA team did a great job of bringing this gem in a way that is enjoyable for the majority of the audience. Hope we get to see the S2 soon with this amazing cast & crew.

That’s all!