Luly
Argentina
I haven't written reviews in a while, but I think my young self would hate me if I didn't write one for a long awaited Yu Yu Hakusho live action adaptation.
Here's the thing about this one: it's way too good for them to have adapted just this small portion of it and, with the script adaptation they had, they wrote themselves into a corner if they were interested to continue it.
The cast is sublime. I was expecting stellar work from Shison Jun (who you may recognize from other manga adaptations like Tricornered Window and that one shojo about a toxic monk) and Hongo Kanata (who you may recognize from other manga adaptations like The Prince of Tennis and GOTH) but Kitamura Takumi as Yusuke, Uesugi Shusei as Kuwabara, Furukawa Kotone as Botan and Shiraishi Sei as Keiko were all *chef's kiss*.
I don't think I can totally convey how very "Yusuke" Kitamura Takumi was. The facial expressions, the body language, the tone of voice. This guy got the assignment 100%. They all did.
The fight choreography was amazing, they all look so grounded and real, which is key for a shonen like Yu Yu Hakusho, in which battles are more rooted in the street fight and less on the grand effects (which we also get here, don't get me wrong).
They also did a great job with costume and make up, with added details in the classic outfits of characters like Kurama, Hiei and Yukina (the embroidery???).
The problem is that, with all the amazing ingredients they had, they still didn't have the confidence to pull a script that would allow them to continue this organically if they wanted.
Yu Yu Hakusho has four main arcs, the first one being the introduction to the world and Yusuke's detective work, the second one being the best arc in the manga/anime (and one of the best in manga/anime history maybe? am I exaggerating?): The Dark Tournament. For the Tournament to have the gravitas that it did, it required a lot of world and character building, introducing the human world and the demon world to then combine them together in this epic scenario.
This adaption merged the first and second arcs, getting rid of the Tournament setting and introducing The Big Bads of that arc in this one. They used pristine ingredients to cook only a snack.
This is not the first time (and probably won't be the last) in which an anime/manga adaptation blows the storyline in a first part, having to attempt to mend the pieces as best as possible in later adaptations, once they figure out it was a good idea to make more. Fullmetal Alchemist is a great example of that, with a first movie that changed a lot of the plot and having to fix it in the next two films, which thankfully were much better.
With this, though, it's very difficult to know how they could save it if they wanted. In order to do the Dark Tournament they'd have to change the characters they're going against or pull some writing gymnastics to justify it. And making another season with the third arc, Sensui's arc, wouldn't be at all impossible but it'd feel like we're missing the best part of Yu Yu.
I'm also not sure if there was enough room for this introduction to convey all that it had the potential to show to an audience that's unfamiliar with the source material. I think it will be entertaining and engaging to newcomers, it will most definitely interest them to know what happens to these characters next, but it would have probably been a lot more certain had they had the time to develop it more, like the anime/manga did.
All in all, it's a great adaptation, but it's disappointing that they squandered it in such few episodes, attempting to cram so much of the plot in them. If these 5 episodes would have been just the introduction of the world and characters, before the Tournament, it would have left the door clearly open for more, and I think audiences, fans and newcomers alike, would have wanted to see it. I hope they do make more, because this cast and director deserve it, but it's going to be a challenge to see how.
If I had any decision making power, though, I would also humbly request them to record the character songs because I feel they'd slay. Just saying.
Here's the thing about this one: it's way too good for them to have adapted just this small portion of it and, with the script adaptation they had, they wrote themselves into a corner if they were interested to continue it.
The cast is sublime. I was expecting stellar work from Shison Jun (who you may recognize from other manga adaptations like Tricornered Window and that one shojo about a toxic monk) and Hongo Kanata (who you may recognize from other manga adaptations like The Prince of Tennis and GOTH) but Kitamura Takumi as Yusuke, Uesugi Shusei as Kuwabara, Furukawa Kotone as Botan and Shiraishi Sei as Keiko were all *chef's kiss*.
I don't think I can totally convey how very "Yusuke" Kitamura Takumi was. The facial expressions, the body language, the tone of voice. This guy got the assignment 100%. They all did.
The fight choreography was amazing, they all look so grounded and real, which is key for a shonen like Yu Yu Hakusho, in which battles are more rooted in the street fight and less on the grand effects (which we also get here, don't get me wrong).
They also did a great job with costume and make up, with added details in the classic outfits of characters like Kurama, Hiei and Yukina (the embroidery???).
The problem is that, with all the amazing ingredients they had, they still didn't have the confidence to pull a script that would allow them to continue this organically if they wanted.
Yu Yu Hakusho has four main arcs, the first one being the introduction to the world and Yusuke's detective work, the second one being the best arc in the manga/anime (and one of the best in manga/anime history maybe? am I exaggerating?): The Dark Tournament. For the Tournament to have the gravitas that it did, it required a lot of world and character building, introducing the human world and the demon world to then combine them together in this epic scenario.
This adaption merged the first and second arcs, getting rid of the Tournament setting and introducing The Big Bads of that arc in this one. They used pristine ingredients to cook only a snack.
This is not the first time (and probably won't be the last) in which an anime/manga adaptation blows the storyline in a first part, having to attempt to mend the pieces as best as possible in later adaptations, once they figure out it was a good idea to make more. Fullmetal Alchemist is a great example of that, with a first movie that changed a lot of the plot and having to fix it in the next two films, which thankfully were much better.
With this, though, it's very difficult to know how they could save it if they wanted. In order to do the Dark Tournament they'd have to change the characters they're going against or pull some writing gymnastics to justify it. And making another season with the third arc, Sensui's arc, wouldn't be at all impossible but it'd feel like we're missing the best part of Yu Yu.
I'm also not sure if there was enough room for this introduction to convey all that it had the potential to show to an audience that's unfamiliar with the source material. I think it will be entertaining and engaging to newcomers, it will most definitely interest them to know what happens to these characters next, but it would have probably been a lot more certain had they had the time to develop it more, like the anime/manga did.
All in all, it's a great adaptation, but it's disappointing that they squandered it in such few episodes, attempting to cram so much of the plot in them. If these 5 episodes would have been just the introduction of the world and characters, before the Tournament, it would have left the door clearly open for more, and I think audiences, fans and newcomers alike, would have wanted to see it. I hope they do make more, because this cast and director deserve it, but it's going to be a challenge to see how.
If I had any decision making power, though, I would also humbly request them to record the character songs because I feel they'd slay. Just saying.
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