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Yu Yu Hakusho's New Original Anime Reveals Story Details, Staff, Cast
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
This year's 23rd issue of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine revealed more details on Wednesday for the upcoming original animation for the Yu Yu Hakusho anime.
The anime will adapt the "Two Shot" bonus chapter from the manga's seventh volume, as well as the manga's penultimate chapter "All or Nothing." The "Two Shot" chapter tells the story of how Kurama and Hiei met, while "All or Nothing" shows the main characters reuniting to solve a hostage crisis in the spirit world. The anime will feature a returning staff, including director and storyboarder Noriyuki Abe at the studio Pierrot. Returning cast members include Nozomu Sasaki as Yusuke Urameshi, Shigeru Chiba as Kazuma Kuwabara, Megumi Ogata as Kurama, and Nobuyuki Hiyama as Hiei.
The OVA will bundle with the fourth part of the anime's 25th Anniversary Blu-ray Box collection. The fourth part will ship on October 26 in Japan.
The first part will include the "Spirit Detective" arc (episodes 1-26), as well as both movies, and will ship on July 27. The set will be the first Blu-ray Disc release for the second movie. The second set will include the 40-episode "Dark Tournament" arc and will ship on August 28. The third set will include the 28-episode "Sensui" (Chapter Black) arc and will ship on September 26. The fourth set will include the 18-episode "Demon World" arc as well as the OVA. All four sets will also include clean openings and endings.
Yoshihiro Togashi (Hunter X Hunter) published the original Yu Yu Hakusho manga from 1990 to 1994. Viz Media began publishing the manga in its English edition of Shonen Jump in 2002, and it also released all 19 volumes. The manga follows 14-year-old delinquent Yusuke Urameshi, who dies after saving a child in a car accident. The Spirit World is surprised by his death and offers him a chance to come back as a "spirit detective" who is tasked with defeating demons.
The television anime adaptation ran from 1992 to 1995 and is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The series also inspired two films and two original video anime (OVAs). FUNimation Entertainment released the television series and OVAs on home video in North America. Media Blasters and later Funimation released the first film, and Central Park Media released the second film. The television series ran on Adult Swim and later Toonami.
The franchise is inspiring a new Yu Yu Hakusho 100% Maji Battle (100% Serious Battle) smartphone game from KLab Games that reunites the anime's cast members and is slated to launch this year. Mobcast and eitarosoft are additionally developing a new smartphone action role-playing game for the franchise.
