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Synopsis:
Things seem to go from bad to worse for Yusuke Urameshi. All he wanted to do was go to school, especially since he hadn't
been there for 10 days. Of course, he gets hassled by his only friend Keiko and the teachers don't help much. Ok, fine, he's
considered one of the biggest bullies at school, but deep down he's not so bad. In fact, he does sacrifice his life to save
a small boy.
Now Yusuke has a chance to return to the world of the living. Since there's always a catch with these things, he has to
face a trial given to him by Koenma. Along the way, Yusuke learns more about the people closest to him. Little does he realize
how badly he has misjudged Keiko and his long time rival, Kuwabara. He has to move quickly to get these two to watch over
his body so he has something to return to!
Review:
Yu Yu Hakusho is the third series brought to North America by FUNimation. This new series acts as the lead-in show for Cartoon
Network's Adult Swim Action Block on Saturday nights. After building an audience for two months, FUNimation has released the
first four episodes in Vol. 1: Yusuke Lost, Yusuke Found. This outstanding series gets a wonderful treatment in this DVD release,
containing the new English dub, the original Japanese soundtrack and a nice set of extras.
Studio Pierrot handled the artwork and animation for Yu Yu Hakusho. Begun in 1992, the show's art and overall design feels
a bit dated. Character designs follow the standard Anime template, but retain a lot of diversity for the various characters.
Detail is kept light, considering this show was on a TV budget in Japan. The majority of the main cast is still in school,
so costuming follows the standard Japanese school uniforms. Other costumes and designs follow traditional Japanese costumes
(for the spirit world beings) and standard clothing for the modern era. The animation is very fluid and consistent, ideal
for this high paced action show.
Both the English and Japanese casts are well suited to their roles. The Japanese version sets a mature line with a lot
of the dialogue, delving heavily into a lot of traditional Japanese afterlife beliefs. The English script follows pretty close
in tone, but does make a few alterations based on a North American TV audience. Some of the impact of the Japanese version
is lost in the script: (Yusuke's surprise to learn he will be meeting King Yemma becomes surprise that he'll meet royalty
in the English version.) Many of the alterations center around religious beliefs and potential sexual innuendo, which despite
the relaxed editing on Adult Swim, still are too risqué for an American TV audience. The language of the English dub remains
mature though, with a healthy sprinkling of TV accepted swear words.
The extras contained in Yu Yu Hakusho are a departure from the norm for FUNimation releases. Featured are character profiles,
textless songs, name translation and some sign translation. The name translation is a nice extra because it shows some of
the double meanings of the character names. Anime characters traditional have a "higher" meaning to their names.
It often reflects their true nature as seen by the series creators. The sign translations reflect this as well with many allusions
to Ghosts and other spirit puns.
The episodes of this disk trace Yusuke's path from life to death and back to life again. The real focus of this story
arc is to setup the overall premise of the show, and introduce the main players. Each episode does a great job of focusing
around one character, taking time to introduce them to the audience. Pacing for the show is rather quick, with a definite
beginning and ending to each episode. The story is continuous, but fits in nicely with an episodic format.
Each character in this series is not always what they appear to be. Yusuke himself is quite surprised as he learns more
about himself and those immediately around him. The character development in these first four episodes go a long way in presenting
dynamic and likeable characters. Each of the main characters feels alive, and capable of a lot of growth.
Overall, these episodes also do a good job of suspending disbelief and making the whole setting work together. There is
quite a lot going on, as the groundwork is set up for the long series that follows.
Grade (on a scale of 10): 100(LOL)
Yu Yu Hakusho - Vol 16 & Vol 17
Dark Tournament Finals
The finals of the Dark Tournament have finally arrived and both Team Toguro and Team Urameshi are ready for action! After
the dramatic end of one of their own, Team Urameshi is forced to find a replacement to meet the requirements of the tournament.
From there, it's all out chaos and destruction as the battles commence. Each of the members of Team Urameshi must dig deep
to find it within themselves to overcome the battles they fight. In comparison to what they face now, the prelims were a cakewalk!
FUNimation's latest releases in the exciting Yu Yu Hakusho series have arrived, beginning the final round of the Dark Tournament
for Team Urameshi. Continuing on the established pace of previous volumes, the action moves quickly into the final round with
plenty of action and surprises to keep the fans happy. Mixed in with the excitement is plenty of story to help develop each
of the main cast. While the focus is on the final round of the Dark Tournament, there's a lot more going on than simply another
round of combat.
With such a long series, it's hard to come up with exciting extras for each individual volume. Both DVDs contain the standard
mix of character profiles, textless songs and a standard set of trailers for other FUNimation releases. Each volume also contains
a small set of liner notes translating the special moves of the fighters as well as a bit on the kanji seen in a few of the
episodes. Each of the discs this time around contains only three uncut episodes.
Maintaining the tone set with the established cast, the English actors work well as their particular characters. There's
no sign of fatigue on this long series as the cast continues to deliver their lines with strong feeling. The script itself
stays in line with the original Japanese, helping to deliver much of the original impact of the Japanese cast. Being a life
and death battle, the cast is still playing with the darker side of many emotions and continues to deliver a consistent performance.
Throughout both discs, the animation remains top quality for a standard Studio Pierrot show. Based around the fighting
tournament, there are a lot of heavy action sequences to keep the animators busy. The animation remains smooth, and the action
sequences exciting as the show moves through its paces. The only downside comes in the middle of volume seventeen with a set
of animation a bit off from the standard set by the other episodes. Being a TV series, this is a common enough affect as animation
is sometimes rushed to get a show to air. Slapped right in the middle of two normal looking episodes, the affect is a bit
more jarring than if the show had been seen separately. Overall, the animation and artwork remain top quality for standard
TV viewing.
The Dark Tournament final round is all about excitement, and the episodes presented this time around do not fail to keep
viewers on the edge of their seats. While sticking with a bit of the typical good vs. evil format, the viewer is kept on the
edge as the good guys must find new ways to save the day. Yu Yu Hakusho has hit its stride past the 50 episode count, and
continues to prove why its one of the best action series out there. While the action is dramatic, the series remains witty
allowing for a few comedic moments to help lighten the mood. The tone remains overly dark, but there is still hope for the
good guys as they battle their way through the final round. In the middle of all of this action, each of the main characters
is forced to grow, creating a nice dynamic in character development that isn't often seen in simple action shows. Each of
the main characters has their own personal motivations for being in the tournament, so it's nice to see that play out in the
dialogue and storyline.
Yu Yu Hakusho remains an exciting tale exploring more than the standard good vs. evil action storylines. While the final
round is taking its time to play out, the storyline remains strong as each character gets their time to shine. The Dark Tournament
is definitely one of the high points of the entire Yu Yu Hakusho series creating some nice dramatic high points for character
development. While fans may be a bit disappointed at only getting six episodes in these two volumes, they shouldn't be disappointed
at what they find inside.
My Say
Yu Yu Hakusho is one of the most interesting Animes i have ever seen i mean the art the plot the background every thing about
it just makes it all so perfect.with its colorful chareters and awsome image's all of it just makes me think when i first
saw it i immediately fell in love with it no matter what i did i coulden bring myself from watching it i was obessed now its
getting even better.i still have yet to see the movies and i sooooooooo wanna see them but yea ANYONE WHOS READING THIS!!!
honestly i must highly recomend you watch it if you havent
WATCH YU YU HAKUSHO AND YOU'LL KNOW WHY I LOVE IT SSSSSSOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!
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other info
Alternative title:
(Japanese)
Ghost Detectives
Ghost Files
Poltergeist Report
Ending Theme:
#1: "Homework ga Owaranai" by Matsuko Mawatari
#2: "Sayonara Byebye" by Matsuko Mawatari
#3: "Anbaransu na Kisu wo Shite" by Hiro Takahashi
#4: "Taiyou ga Mata Kagayaku Toki" by Hiro Takahashi
#5: "Daydream Generation" by Matsuko Mawatari
Random Stuff
Yu Yu Hakusho is a solid series with a well-established story and character base. Yusuke Lost, Yusuke Found establishes the
basic premise of the series as well as introducing the major players. Yu Yu Hakusho mixes a lot of different genres to paint
a story with. There's something for everyone, including action, comedy, mystery and romance. Throw into that mix a group of
dynamic and likeable characters, and Yu Yu Hakusho is sure to become a staple of every Anime lover's collection.
Personally, I love this anime. It only improves in quality and character depth as it progresses. Anything post Dark tournament
is pretty amazing. The series is pretty unique (though it caters to a lot of anime cliche, like the abusive martial-arts character
that never admits he likes the girl he spends his time with). It''s jot my favorite anime, but it has enough redeeming factors
to watch it all the way through episode 115.
Rant ensues:
I''ve seen a lot of negative comparison''s to Dragon Ball Z in these reviews- probably because most of the reviewers started
watching anime with that series. The general impression I get is that early dubbed "intro" anime are frowned upon.
This is rediculous and short-sighted, but that discussion belongs elsewhere. The comparisons between Yu Yu Hakusho and DBZ
are pretty minimal, with only one (1) area of the show reminding me of it- The final battle of the dark Tournament. It reeked
horribly of DBZ''s Frieza battle, which, imho, is rather a tribute to the other show''s creator. I''ve heard references to
resurrections- this, unlike DBZ, is not a major element to the show. The PLOT of the show is about Yuske''s resurrection-
a deal he made with the Son of King Yama. His assistant is the Grim Reaper. This has NOTHING to do with Dragon Ball Z. As
I mentioned, his deal is with the son of the ruler of the spirit world. It only makes sense that one time in the late middle
of the series Genkai (a very important old lady) is granted a second chance at life as well, thanks to her pivotol role in
helping save the Earth. Someone said it is plagued with fights similar to DBZ''s where "it takes 10 episodes to power
up". This is false in every essence. The longest battle in the show is the final battle of the Dark Tournament, which
is something like 3 and 1/2 episodes. Personally, fi the final boss battle lasted less than an episode, I''d feel gyped. But
that''s just me.
There is something these ''new-to-anime'' types seem to fail to realize as they cast off the "immature" anime
that they''ve become too sophisticated for- there is a REASON these shows ran 100-200 episodes: They were SUCCESSFUL. Any
show that runs long in length gains similar attributes to others. For this same reason, I''ve seen Inuyasha, Ranma 1/2, etc.,
compared to Dragon Ball Z. Yu Yu Hakusho, like these other mainstream anime, were successful, because they cater to the lowest
common denominator of viewers- they cater to everyone. They have comedy, romance, and action.
Yu Yu Hakusho: Episode 1
When I first read Cartoon Network's new Adult Swim lineup, I couldn't believe it. Yu Yu Hakusho on American cable TV? Everyone
has one anime series that gets them out of the Dragon Ball/Sailor Moon phase, and Yu Yu Hakusho was mine. I've seen every
episode that's been fansubbed about a dozen times, and I know the series inside and out. Out of curiosity, I watched the premiere
of Yu Yu Hakusho on Adult Swim - mostly because I wanted to know what kind of a job FUNimation did on it. We all know how
bad their Dragon Ball Z dub was, and I wanted to see if their treatment of YYH would be similar. As a long-time YYH fan, I
felt that if anyone was qualified to judge how faithful FUNimation's dub was, it was me.
In a nutshell, Yu Yu Hakusho is about a tough high school kid named Yuusuke who dies and is brought back to life as a
spiritual detective. He and his companions solve cases and hunt down fugitives from the underworld. I'm not going to go into
the story here in much depth, since there are plenty of places online with YYH info. This article is primarily a review of
FUNimation's dub as compared with the original series.
So I hit record on my VCR, sat back with chips & pop, and watched with anticipation. The Adult Swim disclaimer came
on, and the first thing I saw was Botan, the blue-haired oar-riding angel of death, doing a cute little spin with the "whoosh!"
sound effect that signals the beginning of the Yu Yu Hakusho theme, "Hohoemi no Bakudan." This was a huge surprise;
was Cartoon Network actually going to show the original Japanese opening to the show, complete with animation and music? Yu
Yu Hakusho has one of my favorite soundtracks of any series, and all of the opening and ending songs are excellent.
But as the opening continued, I realized that even though the animation was the same, the theme song was literally translated
into English. Now, the Yu Yu Hakusho theme, like many other anime theme songs, sounds good but doesn't really make any sense
or have anything at all to do with the series. It's not as noticeable in Japanese, since I can forget about how inane the
lyrics are, but the English word-for-word translation didn't sound half as good as the original version. Still, I saw promise
in this, because the use of the original opening music and animation (including kanji for the credits, if I'm not mistaken)
showed respect for the original medium that the DBZ dubs sometimes lacked.
I was impressed with the voice acting in the dub. Yuusuke's voice is perfect, as is his sort-of-girlfriend Keiko's. They
both have semi-generic voices that aren't distracting, but have enough emotion to make their characters work. Yuusuke has
this weird thing where he sometimes sounds like Fred from Scooby-Doo, but it doesn't happen enough to be a nuisance.
This is not to say that the voices are perfect, however. Yuusuke's rival, Kuwabara, has a voice that makes him sound like
a big dumb muscle-bound extra from DBZ, which might get annoying in the long run. In the Japanese series, Kuwabara is goofy
looking and has a goofy voice, but he's not stupid by any means. In fact, since he's the weakest of the spiritual detectives
for a large part of the series, he has to defend himself with brains instead of brawn. He's even smarter than Yuusuke, in
a pinch. Thus, my first impression of Kuwabara wasn't a good one. Later in the episode, however, there's a scene of Yuusuke's
wake where Kuwabara shows a lot of emotion, and it was pulled off well. That scene redeemed Kuwabara in a sense, because it
showed that his voice actor could, well, act.
The biggest letdown was Botan's voice. In the Japanese series, Botan has a young, girlish voice, but in the dub they gave
her a fake British accent. Why? I mean, a British accent would be OK, but get a real Brit to do it! As it is, it fades in
and out, like she can't decide what she's supposed to sound like. It gives her an almost matronly air, instead of the bubbly
personality she has in the Japanese version.
The thing that impressed me most was how little they actually changed. All of the music is the same as the original. That
blew me away. I was totally expecting DBZ-style video game techno music, but not only did they leave in the excellent original
score, it sounded like they either remastered or rerecorded all of it for the dub, because the quality is excellent. They
left in the classic YYH eyecatch, and had only one commercial break in the middle of the show, Japanese-style, instead of
breaking it up into thirds like they did with DBZ.
The dialogue is almost word-for-word perfect, which has the added bonus of making all the characters faithful to their
Japanese counterparts. There were only a few seconds of censorship, involving a boob or panty joke near the beginning, but
I assume that was Cartoon Network's doing instead of FUNimation's. The only major difference was the preview of the next episode,
for which they changed the music and the voiceover. In the Japanese version, Yuusuke always does the preview, but Botan did
it in the first episode of the dub. Still, the faithfulness to the original series was striking. FUNimation put a lot of work
into this series to make it a quality production, and it shows.
All in all, I'm VERY impressed with the job FUNimation did with this. It's like they're atoning for their treatment of
DBZ, which many fans of that original series hated with a passion. I do want to catch the next few episodes, because there
are a few more characters whose voices I want to check out. One voice I'm hoping they do right is that of Koenma, the interim
ruler of the underworld who happens to be a baby. He's a huge character later in the series, and hopefully they don't make
me listen to a whiny kid's voice.
But based on this first episode, there's not much I personally would have done differently. I never thought I'd be saying
this, but FUNimation has an excellent dub here. I wouldn't mind filling in the gaps of the episodes I've seen with FUNimation's
dub, although they are scheduled to release bilingual DVDs. That would be great, since right now the only way to see the whole
series in English is on the atrocious Hong Kong bootleg DVD set, which seems to have been translated by Koko the sign-language
gorilla.
In short, I liked this dub. It wasn't perfect, but it was damn close - way closer than I was expecting. To tell the truth,
I'm really picky when it comes to dubs; usually I refuse to watch them. But not only did I not refuse to watch this one, I'll
watch it again, and that's a huge compliment.
So bravo, FUNimation. All that mean stuff I said about you back when I was obsessed with DBZ, I take it all back. You
have redeemed yourself.
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