‘Yu Yu Hakusho’ (2023) Netflix Series Review - An Unexciting Adaptation

Yusuke, played by Takumi Kitamura, is someone who is not easily surprised. Look at the moment when he realizes that he is no longer alive. Someone else would have screamed or cried for his life. Yusuke, though, casually accepts that he has died. It's an enjoyable scene, and sadly, Yu Yu Hakusho doesn't have many such delights. It's packed with well-executed, well-rendered fight sequences, which, after a while, become utterly exhausting. The CGI work is impressive. I liked how a villain twisted and disfigured his body like a supernatural freak. But these visuals, ultimately, act like a shiny cover. They sparkle all right. However, their charm dissipates once we realize that Yu Yu Hakusho has nothing else to provide. It doesn't help that the final confrontation is covered with such empty sentimentality that you wish someone would just punch you in the face so that you don't have to sit through the rest of the fight.

Yu Yu Hakusho is adapted from a manga written by Yoshihiro Togashi. Tatsuro Mishima worked on the screenplay, and Shô Tsukikawa directed the series for Netflix. The problem with this live-action adaptation becomes evident almost instantly. The culprit is the writing. The characters' situations and their relationships are not developed organically. Everything seems to be directly imported from the source material. Yusuke, Kurama (Jun Shison), and Hiei (Kanata Hongô) team up because that's what probably happens in the manga series. Their team spirit feels forced, and artificial. Even Yusuke and Kuwabara's (Shûhei Uesugi) friendship comes across as insincere. Moreover, Keiko (Sei Shiraishi) loves Yusuke because that's what is written in the script and that's what happens in Togashi's comic. The prepackaged emotions prevent us from buying into anything. A mother grieves for her dead son, but she, along with her feelings, quickly disappears from the screen. She is just a blip.

There are other sentimental moments (the reunion of siblings as well as two lovers in the afterlife), and they are the weakest part of this series. The bad guys in Yu Yu Hakusho behave like cartoons. They are billionaires who bet on fights and watch the event live on TV screens. It's all a Squid Game for them. Sakyo (Goro Inagaki) wants to end the world by erasing the line between the Demon World and the Human one, but who cares? Yu Yu Hakusho's world is pretty trivial. We never think real humans live in this setting. It seems as if the show was made by people who just wanted to see cool action scenes. They might just be like those billionaires who enjoy watching the final fight.

Perhaps people who have read the manga would find this live-action series more comprehensible. If I had skipped the recaps that arrive at the beginning of each episode, I wouldn't have known that Kuwabara breaks the rock with a Spirit Sword. The characters don't take the names of all the weapons, and it's through these recaps that I also got to know that Yusuke is tasked with retrieving Rapacious Orb, Mirror of Darkness, and Conjuring Blade. There are some other things that leave you perplexed. For instance, how is Yusuke's soul able to touch Keiko's teary face? How is Kuwabara able to see Botan (Kotone Furukawa), the grim reaper? When did Keiko get her wrestling lessons? Yu Yu Hakusho probably thinks we all have read the source material. Still, this lack of basic narrative explanations makes this adaptation amateurish. It's a good vs evil story made for dimwits.

Final Score- [3.5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times