Yu Yu Hakusho (2023)

30 ans dans tes dents

Sans connaître le manga et sans apprécier particulièrement les combats titanesques des shonens des années 90, peut-on encore prendre du plaisir à visionner l'équivalent de 60 épisodes de Yuyu Hakusho en seulement 5 parties de 45min. Étant dans ce cas, je me permets de donner mon avis sans faire référence au manga, mais d'un point de vue uniquement "dramastique". Pour l'analyse chirurgicale, d'autres le feront très bien, puis ce qu'une semaine après la sortie, on en est déjà à plus de 20 critiques. Mais voici la première d'un français ne connaissant pas le manga, et ça, c'est de la vraie fantasy.

M'étant, moi-même arrêté au premier épisode de One Piece en manga, anime et en live, me plonger dans Yuyu Hakusho était plus qu'improbable, mais le casting ne pouvant que séduire les fans de J-Dramas, la curiosité était trop forte. Avec un Yusuke magistralement interprété par Kitamura Takumi, habitué des rôles de Yankee, mais aussi apprécié par toutes les générations pour ses chansons pop sucrées, Netflix s'assure un succès programmé. Tout du moins en Asie, après les sueurs froides de la pré-sortie One Piece. Son regard son attitude et son don de soi dans les scènes d'action en font la star de la série, même si on a parfois l'impression de revivre des scènes de Tokyo Revengers. Dommage, l'effet Waouh aurait été plus fort sans ça. Les autres Stars ne sont pas en reste, rendant cette adaptation multigénérationnelle au possible. Le casting regroupe Uesugi Shuhei, Shison Jun, Hongo Kanata, Machida Keita, Ayano Go, Takito Kenichi, Shiraishi Sei, .... n'en jetez plus,SVP. La série ne peut plaire qu'à tous dramas lovers. Bien sûr le surjeu est inévitable en costume flashy. Les méchants sont vraiment méchants et souvent grotesques. À part Takito Kenichi, qui pour une fois est vraiment flippant, avec sa taille de 1 mètre. Ayano Go, qui est pourtant l'acteur le plus doué de sa génération livre, peut être du fait des effets de muscles ratés, une prestation disons, ... étrange. Les héros, parés de leurs couleurs chatoyantes (le Sentai, n’est pas loin) sont qu'en même kakkoï au possible. Et il faut bien dire que les combats sont magnifiquement orchestrés.

Heureusement, car ces 5 épisodes n'ont presque que ça à nous montrer faisant l'impasse sur énormément de flash-back et donc de background des personnages. Ses flash-back, si caractéristiques au shonen et qui permet de souffler, de s'attacher au personnage, de donner de l'émotion et du sens à tous ces combats, manquent cruellement. Les séries Netflix sont toujours trop frileuses et lissées. Elle ne sert, ici, qu'à raviver la flamme de ceux qui l’ont vu en animé, il y a 30 ans maintenant. Les autres ne comprendront rien à la formation des deux héros, façon réclusion en montagne, expédiée en 10 min et se terminant par le meurtre de leur maître, qu'ils venaient à peine de rencontrer. Cette version fast-food qui gâche tout, perdant complètement le sens des rites initiatiques dans le shonen et le sens de l'amitié qui se construit au long cours après s'être tant combattu. Les ennemis d'y hier deviennent collègues dans le même épisode. Les transformant de Nemesis en meilleurs potes d'un simple changement de décors. Il y avait de quoi faire autant de saisons que de nouveau personnage majeur. Le machisme du siècle dernier, lui, reste bien présent, reléguant la femme à la copine qui supporte le beau héros. Dommage, on gardera cette adaptation pour la proposer à ceux qui voient encore les dramas japonais, comme des versions TV des shojos mangas, même si ce sont les mêmes acteurs qui y jouent. Il permet au moins de leur faire découvrir un peu de Yankee et Yokai. Le meilleur du Japon, quoi.

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"Before you start complaining, why not start practicing?"

Yu Yu Hakusho had considerable story to tell with numerous characters in a very short amount of time. For the most part, and for someone completely unfamiliar with the source material, it succeeded.

The story was streamlined and relatively cohesive. The main characters and their characteristics were fired out with the speed of a 22. Yusuke was the tough rebellious teenager who helped out those in distress but didn’t want anyone to know it. Keiko had been friends with Yusuke since childhood and knew all of his foibles and strengths. Kuwabara was Kusuke's rival who couldn’t help but respect the opponent he desperately wanted to beat. After the accident that transformed Kusuke’s life, a plethora of Yokai and supernatural beings were brought in as well as the requisite human baddies.

YYH covered enemies to friends, training sessions, coming of age, and the old end of the world ploy. I enjoyed the enemies to friends and strangers to friends storylines. There were backstories and characters given short shrift, but in a 5 episode drama they did a fairly good job of forming the characters. The hair and costume colors were bold. I have found it helpful when watching dramas or movies based on anime to think of them like Western superhero movies. The flamboyant hairstyles and costumes make much more sense to me now. At least no one was wearing yellow spandex, although Koenma’s pacifier was truly bizarre. One of those things that might work better in animation than live action. The CGI was well done for a drama and there was plenty of it. The episodes kept things moving with fights using supernatural weapons and abilities. The battles pulled double duty by covering up a basic story. If there was a drawback to the fights, a few of them went on too long. The acting was all over the place, from competent to-adequate, completely over-the-top, and barely registering a pulse.

Yu Yu Hakusho felt more like a long movie in some ways rather than a very short drama. As in a movie, characters were given just enough development to differentiate them and understand their motivations. With a myriad of characters involved, both good and evil, the writers managed to wedge in as much backstory and world building as they could. Overall, I found this supernatural fantasy to be comprehensible and entertaining with the forged friendships and creative fights being the highlights.

27 Dec 2023

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Full of action without a soul!

Before I start my review, I want to say something, so people can understand why I think, this is just another below average Japanese adaption!

I LOVE Yu Yu Hakusho since I was 10! I still remember that every week when the new episode aired in my country, I recorded every episode on my VHS. Yes, I'm that old, I used a VCR.😅 Then I watched all the 112 episodes, over and over again. I've seen the anime at least 50 times. So, when I say, YYH is my favorite Anime, I'm not exaggerating at all. When I first saw the trailer for this adaptation, my first thought was that it looks cheap, like basically every Shounen Fight adaptation that was made in Japan. Even tho the casting looked good, and the best part in this adaptation is the cast and the acting, I don't think I can name other positives.

The worst thing in this show is not the fact that it's only 5 episodes. They literally adapted 66 episodes from the anime in 5 episodes! Okay, okay, technically this isn't true, because they left out some side-stories, not to mention important characters and backstories. The worst part is not this. The fact is, if you never watched the anime, I don't think you're going to feel anything towards the characters. Sometimes it made me emotional, BUT only because I know these characters already, and I know why those things happened. Also, why these characters acted like the way they did.

If you never watched the anime, maybe you'll feel that it was a fun, because it is action packed and there's no slowing down, not even for a second. Still, I don't think you will have any connection with the characters. This adaptation is like a recap of 66 episodes. You will know the basics, but what's the point watching a recap when you can watch the whole story with real emotions, and you can see the whole journey and character developments? Not to mention, you'll understand why these characters became friends. They completely left that out from the show. This is like when you play an online game with strangers. They're not your real friends, but it's still fun, except that you will forget about them after you closed the game. This show is exactly like that!

So, yeah, it's not bad, but you're going to forget everything and everyone after you finished it.
I don't see the point of having another recap season. The best part in this show is the fight scenes, the acting, and the fact it will make people watch the anime!

Lastly, I have to say that the OST (the songs and the score too) was boring. One of the best part of the anime is the score!
Also, the VFX is not always bad, but it wasn't anything special. It's a typical Japanese CGI anime adaptation.

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Disappointed

The first episode started great, it's a high budget production and episode one made that clear for me. I went in with high expectations, ready to get invested, to get emotional to understand the story and the characters.
But none of this happened. Characters are very static, I don't know where they are popping from or why, what their aims or aspirations are.
I could only tell who's good or who's evil. But felt no connection to the story. No build up.
I feel like there's a huge part of the story missing. All there is, is fights and fights. Nothing else.
It was kind of a waste of time for me, sorry.
Love the actors, their performances and the cinematography though.

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Fast-paced Action Thrills. Here we go..

As an avid fan of the beloved manga, this is like a sweet treat. I didn't put any expectation and guess what? I watched the whole thing in one seating, (wait, so it was done right, right?) Hmmm sadly not so much, it's not perfect but even after all that, I'm finding myself wanted for more. Why?

It is a fast paced action thrills that really focus on the fighting sequences. I was amazed by it and would abruptly screamed myself out coz' it reminds me some pages of the manga. I giddy myself over Genkai throwing the walnuts. >___<

The cast ensemble although its not quite being portrayed accurately but pretty much matches the vibes of what these characters represents. For me, Urameshi stands for Second Chance, Kurama for Gratitude, Hiei for Salvation, Kuwabara for Loyalties, Genkai for Hope and
Toguro for Despair. If only their depth of backstory was told in more detail and subtle way.

You may hate or love this live adaptation BUT a BIG kudos to the action choreographer/ special effects team coz the fighting sequences are CRAZY!!!

Yes, it had potential to be even greater, but I am not going to complain about it.

As always; Would I spend another 5 hours of this?
You can count on it, any day, any time. :)

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An Entertaining Fiasco: The Anime is Better, but...

(No spoilers about the Netflix version, but there may be some from the anime.)
It has taken me weeks to write this because I am torn. It wasn't until I watched a review on YT that my feelings about this entertaining fiasco congealed. The "live action" version of YuYu Hakusho, easily one of the best, most well written shonen anime/manga of all time is not a true adaptation. Rather, it's a re-telling of the story I've loved for almost 30 years. It has aspects of the anime and manga, but it's its own beast all together. Fans of the story may be torn. Those who have never seen the anime will probably really like it. I mean there's nothing to dislike. I can not see anyone hating it though. I have dubbed this retelling YuYu Hakusho: Netflix hen.

In case you don't know Yusuke Urameshi is a 14 year old yankee (Japanese term for teen thugs, gang members, etc.). He's an excellent fighter and e seems hard on the outside, but he really has a good heart. After an accident Yusuke undergoes trials assigned by, Koenma, the son of Enma, King of the Underworld, to become a spirit detective. He forms a team with once rival, Kuabara, and 2 demons (Kurama and Hiei) to rid the world of demons. That's Yu Yu in a nutshell. The only difference, which isn't much, is that Yusuke in the Netflix version is 17.

The good
Netflix's version is fast paced and action packed. If that's all you're looking for, you won't be disappointed. The CGI was a little ify here and there, but forgivable. The cast is good. I only recognized Takito Kenichi, who was perfectly creepy as the Elder Togoro brother, but for the most part the cast is solid. There's no mistaking who is who. While I didn't like the portrayal of Yusuke at first, he did grow on. The actor that played Kubara, however, was fantastic. He didn't necessarily look like Kuabara (his size and hair color being notable), but he embodied the spirit of Kuabara down to the walk. He was truly perfect.

The bad
Why was Koenma an adult from jump? Why didn't they explain the pacifier? They made him look like a damn perv sucking on binky for no reason. What they did to Kurama was a travesty. The cutting of Hiei's story and introduction was equally as sad. That brings me to what is really sad..the rush job. Why did they try to put 1/2 the story into 5 hours? They tried to cram over 60 anime episodes (approximately 30 hours of content) into 5- 1 hour episodes. Who does that? Why? Where's the fire? Why the rush? All questions I asked myself when I realized there was no episode 6. My only hope is that there is a 2nd season and they will have managed to work in some significant arcs and characters they omitted, especially the Dark Tournament. You guys don't know how badass any of them are with seeing the tournament.

The music was good at least I think it was. To be 100% I don't remember it. Re-watch? Hmm I'll probably re-watch it. I mean why not? It's only 5 episodes!

Fans of the anime: Netflix hen is decent. It's not the story you know, but it's not not the story either. It's a solid 6.
New YuYu fans: it's good. If you like fight scenes and action, you'll probably enjoy it enough to give it 7.5-8. However, you do yourself a huge disservice by not watching the anime.

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Best Fight Scenes!!

I thoroughly enjoyed the fight scenes as well as the Yokai's depiction.

My favorite is Kurama, he is so pretty in both human and especially in Yokai's form. I love his gifts too

I'm not a big fan of ML because his fighting style just seems reckless to me. I much prefer Kurama, and even Hiei.

Overall, it's enjoyable to watch, esp the fight scenes. Also love seeing animation coming in 3d forms like this!

The story is normal but okay for a short drama like this. What bothers me the whole time is...Yukina has healing power, but the WHOLE time, she is watching and standing still...she could have like walked over to any of them and heal them, instead of waiting until everything is over? lol

Other than that, I find this a good watch. I won't mind a S2, but maybe different ML with similar spirit world concept or sth

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Fighting scene execution wins!

Another anime franchise that Netflix decided to pour out their budget for a live-action. Yu Yu Hakusho, popularized in my country as “Ghost Fighter,” is a notable series during the 90s and early 20s. The anime became part of my childhood happy memories and after reading the announcement for a drama version, I am thrilled and somehow scared at the same time.

The production quality did not disappoint. We were served with realistic visual effects, the iconic costumes of the characters, and most especially the execution of the fighting scenes that deserve applause. Nevertheless, I can’t help but notice that they fast-forward the sequence of the story by cutting some major parts from the original version. It is understandable since they need to fit everything with only five episodes in total but I never expected to see everything in one sitting. To be honest, I was expecting to see them fight in the tournament in the demon realm.

The actors portrayed their roles nicely too. I love the perfect appearance of Kurama and the moment he turned into the white fox. They give justice to the characters although some of the cast aren’t that great compared to what I imagined them to be. Still, everyone did a good job handling their specific roles.

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Was expecting more

I am a huge fan of the original anime, so when this was announced for Netflix I was hyped!

And then it was released.

Dammit, I wanted to like it so much but the Netflix series ruined a lot of the good stuff with the anime. I liked the actor playing Yusuke, he was likeable, but they took huge liberties with the story to squeeze as much as they could into 5 episodes. They took many of the beginning arcs and stripped them down and tried to squeeze them into 5 episodes. Why? Was it a budget thing? They completed skipped some important character development arcs such as the Genkai Tournament, the 4 Saint Beasts, and the best arc the Dark Tournament. For example, instead of Yusuke earning a place as Genkai’s student, he is just taken to her home in the mountains and starts training.

The action scenes were really good for sure, but they butchered all the great character development and stories that made Yu Yu Hakusho great to begin with.

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Don't Let Your Curiosity Waste Your Time

The biggest mistake is to fuse, mash, and cramp more than half of the manga into a mere 4-hour miniseries.

By condensing and mashing up so many integral arcs together, what essentially make "Yuyu Hakusho" the masterpiece that it is are all gone, stripped and simplified into a dull and boring show about four misfits with no common goals, trying to survive in every episode. You can tell that the cast really tried and did their best but the script itself was far too messed up to salvage.

With so much to tell and so little time to do so, "Yuyu Hakusho” is just another adaptation that tries hard to impress but fails horribly. Filled with rushed pacing, messy and questionable plot, and tons of loopholes, this is 4 hours of your life you will regret wasting.

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