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Forum - View topicREVIEW: Yu-Yu Hakusho Live-Action Series Review
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malvarez1
Posts: 2148 |
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I honestly enjoyed a lot of this more than One Piece - but they crammed in way, way too much. Over 100 chapters in a handful of episodes? It’s so frustrating, because everything else in the show, from the acting to the effects to the fights are so well done. But it really feels like they’re trying to wrap up the show in as little time as possible. Genkai’s death is so much worse in this version because we only met her a few minutes ago, and the main cast’s chemistry isn’t as believable here.
Ultimately, this is why One Piece is better, despite YYH doing a lot of things better - it feels like a normal-paced adaption. |
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residentgrigo
 Posts: 2617 Location: Germany |
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The first ep combines things in a good way and works, the second ep stumbles a bit due to too many new characters showing up at once with neither Yusuke nor Kuwabara settled in. Ep 3 to 5 are the rushed mess I expected the full show to be and will make the costliest arc (Dark Tournament) impossible to accomplish if a sequel is made. S1 ends on volume 13, chapter 112 in a 19-volume series!
The whole show is budget-cut central and the lack of demonic realms or even spaces isn´t what one should expect from a series titled "Poltergeist Report". If I wasn´t familiar with the source material then I might have dropped the show. Yusuke and elder Toguro worked best. The barely developed Hiei (Japan´s favorite) worked the least. The bad wigs and cosplay-ish costumes are other strikes against the show. The wire and TV budget CG heavy action scenes sit somewhere in the middle and are badly edited. Some work, some don´t. I would love to know what can be done with the infamously unfinished and compromised final arc of the manga (the anime did its best) but that is a S3 problem and I likely don't have a second one in me. 5/10. |
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tintor2
 Posts: 2167 |
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Honestly, part of my problems of this adaptations was that they tried being way too faithful. It doesn't make sense that Yusuke and Kuwabara are 14 and their hairstyles... Ironically, whenever it was raining Yusuke looked like an actual normal person. Kurama's actor didn't play too emotions despite having such an important arc to the point his transformation into a demon was way anticlimactic without even some music.They turned Keiko once again into a damsel in distress rather than giving Yusuke a more original motivation (that was the point of episode 1) too. At least in this version Yusuke doesn't defeat Hiei in the dumbest way.
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db999
Posts: 346 |
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Yeah while I mostly agree with the review I did like it way more than a C- personally, I'm leaning towards a C+ maybe a B- if I'm feeling generous. 3 and 4 were really rushed, but I thought episode 5 was really well-paced, even if I do agree the events therein shouldn't have been this season. I event think 5 episodes would've been fine for the the arcs it covered, minus the Dark Tournament stuff which should've been season 2. I'm still hoping to get a season 2 since my favorite arc is Chapter Black, but it's a shame we didn't get a good adaptation of the Dark Tournament arc.
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Greed1914
 Posts: 4660 |
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It's genuinely surprising to me that they didn't take a cue from the setup to the Dark Tournament to make that as a hook for a possible season 2. Something about Toguro showing up, crushing Yusuke, and leaving him with the challenge to become worthy to face him again worked so well. Maybe they went into this assuming it was a one-and-done thing, so they needed to get that in there, but it's just weird to see an arc that ended up being the majority of the anime's episodes condensed so hard.
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AiddonValentine
 Posts: 2359 |
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I'm mostly processing that they got Meiko Kaji to play Genkai.
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Beatdigga
 Posts: 4631 Location: New York |
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Yeah, that had me turn my head a bit. She’s a legend. As for the show, I liked it, but I recognize that it’s a very condensed story and the way the story was originally told was superior, with this being rushed. All the actors did fine though and the fight scenes were great. The problem was simply trying to do so much in so little time, as opposed to One Piece, which felt much more even and took its time with the material it had. Still, compared to Cowboy Bebop it’s Emmy worthy, since there’s no cringy dialogue and the characters all work rather well. |
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residentgrigo
Posts: 2617 Location: Germany |
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The anime is better than the manga on both an artistic and narrative level. Nothing left out is missing (the early spirit detective stories are bland and distract from the main story and Vol 18-19 are a mess), especially after the 2018 OVA. It´s one of the best-directed shows of the 90s and some of the most iconic bits are anime original. 5 cours (60-65 eps) are all that would be needed to adapt every page and expand 4 Kings so 112 eps + an OVA for the equivalent of 17 volumes, material to fill about 2 volumes is left out, isn´t something that could exist past the 90s. Minus One Piece. The slow pacing is the one strike against it, minus the manga itself being just ok. A readaptation can only work if the new team is equally willing to improve, trim and expand the source text.
Level E and HxH are better in manga form for all that care. |
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everydaygamer
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I feel like they did as well as they could with a series that relies heavily on tournament arcs. That kind of thing wouldn't easily translate to live action.
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MrPuzzles
Posts: 152 |
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Yeah. It was pretty bad. I honestly don't see what they attempted to accomplish by squishing it down so much. Like, I don't even know who this is for. For fans of the anime, it's like watching a youtube reenactment of a few fights here and there. For newcomers, everything just happens way too quickly for it to be a feasible entry point.
What a weird project. |
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Cardcaptor Takato
 Posts: 5243 |
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I think one of my nitpicks with it was that the Dark Tournament didn't take place in front of a live audience It was just weird how the fights all took place in a confined warehouse when part of the charm of any tournament arc is the audience commentary. I was also disappointed in the lack of Kuwabara's sister.
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SenpaiDuckie
ANN Community Manager
 Posts: 531 Location: PH |
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I will admit the first two episodes were great... but that's it.
The thing with Japanese live-action is that they really do tend to change the plot, especially when it's an anime with supernatural/fantasy elements (e.g., Death Note, which are some parts of it; Attack on Titan the Movie; and Sailor Moon). Acting can get over the top, and the plot can be squished into several episodes. Let's not forget the Visual Effects and all of that.. but sometimes, it's just not bearable to watch. There are some great Japanese live action, such as Nodame Cantabile!, Liar Game, Rurouni Kenshin, Nana, and heck.. even Gokusen (despite the long monologues of Yankumi but hey, the actress is the one who did Sadako). The acting, once again, may be overexaggerated, and yet, being faithful to the plot, the live-action is good, especially when they have a great cast. And over time, the actors' acting becomes more natural. With Yu Yu Hakusho, I wished they did not cram the story in 5 episodes. They have a good cast as well. The first two episodes were a great introduction of Yusuke, and the light production was great. It's just... not the Yu Yu Hakusho I know and grew up with. hence, *goes back to watching the anime* |
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MrPuzzles
Posts: 152 |
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30th Anniversary blu-ray box set is back in stock! |
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BadNewsBlues
Posts: 6358 |
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It would’ve translated to a live action setting with a bigger budget. |
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Lord Geo
Posts: 2695 Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey |
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Yu Yu Hakusho literally only has two tournament arcs (the Dark Tournament & the Demon World Tournament), and in the original manga only one of them was even told in full, as Togashi suddenly skipped a good portion of the Demon World Tournament to go straight to the finale. To call that "relying heavily" on that kind of story arc is exaggerating a bit. Also, as mentioned before, you can absolutely translate a tournament arc to live action. Just look at a movie like Bloodsport or even the original live-action Mortal Kombat movie from the 90s. |
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