Yu Yu Hakusho Live-Action Review: Fun Binge for New Fans, but a Shallow Homage for OGs

WARNING: This review contains spoilers for Netflix’s live-action Yu Yu Hakusho, as well as the original anime and manga.

Unlike a lot of die-hard anime fans, I’ve never been one to get up in arms over live-action adaptations, no matter how silly or overly campy they tend to be. The way I see it, the original source material will always be available to enjoy (barring the abuse of greedy streaming companies), and the better version will be what gets discussed for years to come, anyway.

No need to cry about “ruined” childhoods and certainly no need to harass actors if the live-action doesn’t live up to its predecessor.

That said, I’ve been a hardcore Yu Yu Hakusho fan since I watched its U.S. premier on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim almost 22 years ago. So, when Netflix’s live-action adaption began streaming on Dec. 14, almost 29 years since the anime’s finale aired in Japan (Dec. 17, 1994), I knew I had to watch it. I also knew I’d be a bit uncharacteristically sensitive about this new approach to my favorite anime of all time.

Yu Yu Hakusho has been close to my heart for decades and despite watching its finale air in the U.S. when I was 11 years old — the series has somehow managed to grow alongside me all these years. At almost 29 years old, I’ve binged the Yoshihiro Togashi classic more times than I can count and each time I walk away with a new life lesson, a new observation, and more admiration than the last re-watch.

So, I can admit my sentimental feelings toward the series could be contributing to my disappointment in Netflix’s version. It isn’t awful. I’m not punching holes in the wall or tagging Netflix in ominous social media posts. However, the live action just felt like a shallow speed-run of a series that was stripped of its spirit (pun intended).

It was a watered-down homage that could have been great had it not been flattened to 5 episodes, each with less than an hour run-time. I wasn’t hoping for a shot-by-shot remake, and I certainly expected some things to be changed or omitted entirely. What I didn’t expect was an omission of personality. I also didn’t expect a SparkNotes run-through that zips past the moral of the original story.

But, before we get too far into my gripes with the live-action series, I want to touch on aspects I enjoyed.

The Music

While the opening and ending themes sounded more like a rough draft of the Stranger Things soundtrack, the background music contained small samples of the anime’s original synthy jams interpolated throughout. Like a dog hearing a special whistle, my ears instantly perked up whenever a familiar sound peeked through the epic score. The approach was fun, clever, and nostalgic.

Speaking of clever and nostalgic, I almost jumped off my couch and burst into song during the first episode when the Japanese version of “Smile Bomb” played through the speakers of a character’s truck.

Slightly unrelated, but I also screamed with laughter when that same truck violently ran over a stoic Yusuke Urameshi (more on him later). I guess Netflix figured a freight truck would be a more jarring death than the initial ’92 sedan — and they were right.

Another musical standout is the Limp Bizkit-esque anthem first played during Yusuke and Kuwabara’s initial on-screen encounter. I tried looking up the name of the song and scanned the credits to no avail, but it’s the one that goes “I’m a Yankee for life! Yankee for life!” It’s cheesy but also fits the vibe of the two delinquents it accompanies.

Kuwabara

Kuwabara is easily my favorite character in this adaptation and the only one who still retains at least some of the same charm as their anime counterpart. Kazuma Kuwabara is a man of honor, a fighter with a strict moral code, a bull in a China shop, and a goofy loverboy all rolled into one. And Netflix’s interpretation of the character manages to embody all of those things, even if key Kuwabara moments from the source material are omitted by the show’s break-neck pace.

I couldn’t help but kick my feet and squeal when Kuwabara happily obliged to Yusuke’s request to be treated to ramen — the latter’s way of confirming the duo’s friendship. Watching Kuwabara smile and walk off with his arm around his new buddy made me feel all warm inside.

The two’s bromance was always a highlight of the series, and it’s great the live-action included new scenes to explore that.

Kuwabara is also a man who values his friendships, always putting his life on the line for his ragtag gang of misfit students Sawamura, Kirishima, and Okubo. This was shown in the original series when Kuwabara takes a vow of no violence for a week and allows himself to get beaten up so Okubo doesn’t lose his job and his ability to support his family.

The live-action cut this plot point and instead shows Kuwabara remorseful over his inability to save Okubo from severe burns during a fight with a demon. In the battle’s aftermath, Kuwabara visits a hospitalized Okubo every day, bringing food and gifts. When the boisterous teen becomes solemn after seeing the extent of Okubo’s injuries, he vows to become stronger to protect his crew and joins Yusuke in his training under Master Genkai.

Kuwabara is played by Japanese actor Shuhei Uesugi. Unfortunately, I don’t speak Japanese, so I can’t speak too much to Uesugi’s acting, but I can say his body language, facial expressions, and overall energy did the character justice. Uesugi’s Kuwabara looked genuinely heartbroken and helpless as Okubo’s back became engulfed in flames.

And I giggled at how this same Kuwabara became adorably flustered and touched after Yukina, the kidnapped ice maiden, said she liked him and his friends for rescuing her.

Kuwabara is beloved by most Yu Yu Hakusho fans for bringing levity and heart to the series, and this live-action at least brought that to life.

Kurama vs Karasu

Episode 4 was definitely the strongest of the five episodes, due in no small part to the showdown between the fox demon-turned human Kurama and the sadomasochistic Karasu.

Fun fact, Kurama vs. Karasu is my favorite battle in Yu Yu Hakusho because it’s one of the bloodiest and most heartbreaking scenes in the Dark Tournament — plus Karasu is the only opponent to genuinely rattle Kurama to the point Kurama thinks he really might die in the ring.

Netflix’s interpretation captures Karasu’s attraction to Kurama and the villain’s sensual nature. The show includes the scene where Karasu silently sneaks up behind the redhead to gently run his hands through his hair before softly teasing Kurama about maintaining his fragile human form.

Like in the anime, Karasu’s desire to kill is motivated by lust and he can’t help but flirt with Kurama in between dropping literal bombs onto the character — making for an entertaining game of cat and mouse.

I especially love how the fight ended with Kurama defeating Karasu by inconspicuously hiding seeds in the latter’s wounds throughout the fight before willing them to bloom. Viewers are then taken inside Karasu’s body where we see threads of green vines cutting into his blood stream and lacerating arteries.

Honestly, there’s no other way for me to say this: It was badass and shows how Kurama is always thinking 10 steps ahead of his foes.

Set Designs and VFX

Yusuke’s neighborhood looks busy, gritty, and congested with buildings towering just inches apart from one-another, tied together by webs of clotheslines as floods of people mill about underneath. Spirit World is a dimension bathed in various shades of purple and spotted with twinkling lantern lights, giving it an ethereal appearance.

While the overuse of VFX and CGI were sometimes too obvious and made certain scenes look like shots from a videogame, I found the settings breathtaking nonetheless.

Which is why I would have loved to see how production could have handled Demon World’s appearance. Demon World is only spoken about a handful of times in the Netflix series, and the only look we get at this world is when Yusuke briefly glances behind him as he and his crew leave a lush green and beachy Hanging Neck Island at the end of the fifth and final episode.

Where the Live-Action Fell Short

While I wish I only had good things to say about this adaptation, the fact remains I was still very disappointed in how my favorite series was treated and here’s why:

One-Dimensional Characters

While a lot of care was given to the live-action’s fight scenes, almost none seemed to be given to the actual characters’ personalities. Yu Yu Hakusho’s mangaka, Yoshihiro Togashi, is a master at crafting characters who are fully realized, nuanced, relatable, and multi-dimensional. They’re what separate Yu Yu Hakusho from so many other Shonen series.

Netflix’s interpretations of the cast, however, came across as if someone had briefly scanned a Wiki article about each character but didn’t really take the time to explore their nature.

I’m unsure if the run-time was so short that audiences weren’t given a chance to get to know Yusuke and his friends, or if those behind the project didn’t see the value in the their nuances — but the result is characters who are even less dimensional than the series’ 2D source material.

This is most apparent in the show’s protagonist, Yusuke Urameshi, who spends all 5 episodes with his back slouched, hands in his pockets, and mouth curled into a half snarl — only showing the slightest emotion during fights.

Yes, Yusuke is a delinquent and a ferocious fighter but that only scratches the surface of who he is. He’s also funny, loud, full of clever quips, has a heart of gold, and displays good sportsmanship. These are traits viewers pick up on over the stretch of the anime’s 112 episodes and the manga’s 175 chapters.

But these traits are never on display in Netflix’s adaptation. Instead, viewers are treated to a silent, stoic bad boy who is closer in personality to Hiei than he is to the Yusuke who served as the beating heart of the anime and manga. In short, he was boring.

The sidelining of Yusuke’s character traits also sidelines the overarching moral of Yu Yu Hakusho — that Yusuke was always a likable and charismatic person, he just hadn’t found his purpose yet and wasn’t in an environment that brought out his best qualities.

This lesson about the importance of finding your niche to discover where you thrive best is squashed in exchange for a much simpler lesson of “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Groundbreaking.

Other characters were also shallow husks of their original counterparts. Kurama is clever and soft spoken but also slightly mischievous and a bit of a prankster in the anime. Who can forget all the times he’d slyly taunt Hiei about hiding his relation to his twin Yukina.

Or when he bleated like a lamb and made a funny face to get his enemy to laugh his way into defeat.

But, like Yusuke, he’s only quiet and straight-faced throughout the live action, only hinting at his cleverness and past cruelty briefly in his fight with Karasu in episode 4.

Spirit World’s grim reaper, Botan, maintains her bubbly demeanor in Netflix’s adaptation, but that’s about it.

While the anime and manga show Botan form a close attachment to Team Urameshi and friends by tagging along on missions, the live-action sees her mostly pop in to deliver a new task for Yusuke before running back to Lord Koenma’s side.

If you’ve only ever seen the live-action, you’d think Botan barely cares about the crew or the fate of the world at all. She’s just a giggly bystander looking to her boss to explain to her (and the audience) whatever’s going on.

We don’t even get a glimpse of Yusuke’s love interest, Keiko’s, fiery personality until the final episode when she helps Yukina escape her captors by punching a guard in the groin and putting him in a headlock. No famous Keiko slap or snarky comeback for Yusuke, like in the original series. For 90% of the Netflix adaptation, Keiko is just a smiley childhood friend who sees the best in a boring, silent protagonist.

Telling, Not Showing

This issue irked me as a writer and storyteller myself — the tendency for Netflix’s Yu Yu Hakusho to explain to audiences what happened instead of showing them.

For example: When Kurama recounts to Yusuke his origins as a fox demon and his current human form, anime and manga fans are treated to images of an ethereal fox digging into forbidden treasure before being chased down and mortally wounded by a hunter. We then see the fox’s spirit travel through the night sky before finding refuge in the womb of an unsuspecting pregnant human woman. Then, we see this fox be reborn as a baby before growing into a toddler, a pre-teen, and finally a young man.

In the live action, however, Kurama simply sits still on a bench and stares forlornly into the distance as he shares his story with Yusuke. No flashbacks, no vivid imagery — just two guys talking in a park.

The same happens again when Botan tells Koenma (and the audience) that Younger Toguro began his evil path after a demon rampaged his dojo and murdered his students 50 years ago. The anime and manga show scenes of the carnage and Younger Toguro’s deep despair over failing to save his students. The Netflix version, however, simply shows Botan telling Koenma the tale while they watch over Yusuke’s battle with the antagonist.

This overreliance on dialogue takes away from the beauty, brutality, and impact of these scenes. Why should I care about Toguro’s past or Kurama’s bond is with his human mother if I can’t see how we got here?

Unearned Rewards

Finally, this is my second biggest problem with the series after it’s lack of personality. Due to the short runtime and the condensing of several different arcs into just five episodes, crucial plot points were bulldozed over and completely omitted, making many of the characters’ wins feel unearned.

For instance, in the original story Genkai grants Yusuke most of her spirit energy in the form of an orb called the “Spirit Wave” because she knows she’s too old to defeat the Toguro Brothers herself and it’s the only way for Yusuke to win against them.

Upon receiving her energy, Yusuke immediately starts writhing on the ground in agonizing pain as his bones appear to break and his body bleeds profusely. He remains like this for hours, prompting Genkai to try to take the orb back, fearing he wasn’t ready. He curses at her to let him take on the challenge of acclimating to the orb. After hours of torture, Yusuke finally finds the strength to retain this new power and narrowly escape the crumbling cave Genkai left him in.

The was especially touching because it shows how determined he’s become and how he’s learned to believe in himself over the course of the series. It also marks a huge turning point in his relationship with Genkai and audiences see she regards him almost as a son.

But, in the live-action, there’s no such drama. Yusuke trains with Genkai in the mountains for a while, newly determined after seeing Kuwabara discover his spirit sword and not wanting to be outdone.

After his training is over, Genkai simply says her Spirit Wave represents her hope in him. She passes on her powers to him, and he absorbs the wave into his stomach without so much as a flinch. No build-up, no pain. She might as well have said, “Here ya go” and he respond “Thanks.”

In the original story, Yusuke witnesses Genkai’s death at the hands of Younger Toguro. Yusuke cradles her lifeless body and weeps into the night before deciding her death won’t be in vain.

He later uses his Spirit Gun to shoot a massive bomb of energy into the sky, hoping it’s bright enough for Genkai to see it from the heavens. It also serves as a warning to the Toguro Brothers that he’s stronger than ever and he’s going to take them down in the Dark Tournament.

Again, no such fanfare in the Netflix rendition. After painlessly absorbing Genkai’s powers, Yusuke shoots his Spirit Gun into the air just to show the audience that he can. He hasn’t witnessed Genkai’s death or had to haul his broken body from a crumbling cave. In fact, Genkai dies off-screen when Yusuke is away, and, of course, is only told (not shown) by Koenma during battle.

It makes his development feel unearned and rushed. Again, what are the stakes? Why should I care? How hard was it to get to where he is? Watchers of the live-action would never know if they don’t read the manga or watch the anime.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I’m confused about the purpose of this mini series. Was it meant to be a brief homage to the original anime and manga that has been beloved for more than 30 years? Was it supposed to be a bite-sized introduction to the series? Or, was it simply a cash grab as Netflix (and other companies) try to capitalize off of anime’s newly mainstream popularity?

I don’t think I have to explain which one I think it is.

Either way, if you enjoyed Netflix’s live-action take on Yu Yu Hakusho, but haven’t seen the anime or read the manga, I encourage you to do so if you want to get the full scope of the story. Yu Yu Hakusho is a fun, heartfelt underdog story about a young man with no hope who learns who he is and where he belongs in the world.

It’s full of action, down-to-earth characters, cunning villains (you have to meet Sensui, he’s terrifying), and, above all, spirit. Oh, and you’ll actually see Demon World and all its wild inhabitants, instead of just hearing about it. The anime is available to watch on Crunchyroll and the manga can be read on Viz.