Netflix’s Yu Yu Hakusho Is Better Than I Expected

netflix yu yu hakusho live action anime (1)

Forgive me for being a doubter, but live-action One Piece didn’t just suddenly change the world overnight. Yes, it was good, but it took years of deliberation to nail down the tone and scripting. The average live-action adaptation of manga and anime stories is stilted, misses the point, and in some cases, feels insulting to both the fanbase and the original creators – see Dragonball Evolution.

So even though Netflix’s live-action One Piece was actually very enjoyable, I’m still not quite ready to just give the benefit of the doubt to any old series that lands on streaming services. That’s the mindset I had when I started watching Netflix’s Yu Yu Hakusho. I’m not the biggest fan of the original series, but I watched it, and it helped give me a newfound respect for mangaka Yoshihiro Togashi, who also created Hunter x Hunter.

Related: Hunter X Hunter Fighting Game Gets A Name And A Trailer

Both YYH and HxH are reflections of Togashi’s mindset and his position in life, the twists and the turns of the stories correlate directly with his own mood (as seen in author comments and interviews) and ongoing health issues. It’s art in the truest sense, because it is the human condition. Some story beats are simply Togashi musing on ideas, others feel like he’s lashing out in frustration. But no matter what, it’s enthralling.

That’s a lot to live up to – and again, that comes from someone who said just two paragraphs ago that they weren’t “the biggest fan” of the series – so I had no reason to believe that Netflix’s Yu Yu Hakusho would do anything but disappoint. But then I watched the first episode, and it was enjoyable. I watched the next, and it was fine. And that disappointment just never set in.

YYH is the story of Yusuke, who dies immediately as the story begins. A delinquent all his life, the powers that be were ready to send him straight to hell – only he died saving a child. Yusuke is granted a second chance at life as long as he acts as a “Spirit Detective” and works to defeat evil Yokai that are plaguing the human world.

It makes sense that Yusuke would feel like a unique protagonist in the ‘90s, but even now, in 2024, Yusuke feels different. Jotaro Kujo is the posterchild for this era of shonen protagonists, but his younger incarnation would rarely let the hard-ass mask slip. Bleach’s Ichigo makes for a better comparison, but even then Yusuke feels more independent and developed from the start, instead of simply being a reactive hero with a bad attitude.

Yusuke, along with his rival Kuwabara and Yokai pals Kurama and Hiei, fight against the nastiest beasts in the Spirit World, and in this series that involves rescuing Yusuke’s childhood friend Kieko from the series’ most infamous villain, Toguro.

Things don’t quite play out the same way as in the anime or manga – the Dark Tournament set up is pretty significantly different, and honestly, isn’t given the necessary build-up – but it stays just faithful enough to satisfy. There are plenty of practical effects and action too, which often look great, and highlight how rough a lot of the CGI can be. Elder Toguro looks surprisingly good in places, and suitably freaky, but then Hiei does a dash and it looks silly.

The Toguro fight has to be the most disappointing part. Toguro gets muscly under his jacket, and at this point there’s still a decent amount of practical action and effects happening, but as soon as Toguro transforms into his hideous, gnarled form, he basically stops moving. I guess the costume just wasn’t very mobile, but it ends up being a huge disappointment, especially since the costume actually looks pretty cool.

Yu Yu Hakusho isn’t perfect – neither the original manga, nor this live-action series – but I can’t help but enjoy it. Maybe my expectations going in were just so low that I’m blinded by mediocrity, but I truly enjoyed watching Yu Yu Hakusho, and as long as a potential season two focuses more on practical action than dodgy CGI and bulky costumes, I will absolutely be watching more.