Following the reveal of the first trailer during Netflix's Geeked Week 2023 in November, we now have another trailer for the streamer's intriguing live-action adaptation of YuYu Hakusho.
Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei are all front and center as it appears that the show will be remixing the foursome's first showdown with the the Toguro Brothers. From the footage below, it's hard to tell if we're looking at a slightly different interpretation of The Dark Tournament arc of the manga/anime or if the show is mixing up the order of events.
Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think in the comments below.
The live-action YuYu Hakusho series from Netflix will debut worldwide on December 14, 2023.
YuYu Hakusho was first written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi (Hunter x Hunter) in 1990. The series has 175 chapters compiled in 19 volumes and was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump. The manga has sold over 78 million copies as of 2022.
The manga skyrocketed in popularity upon the debut of a 1992 anime series by Studio Pierrot. The anime was 112 episodes long and covered the whole manga series, which is unusual in the genre. Anime series frequently only tackle a fraction of the manga series and primarily serve as a marketing tactic to drive manga sales.
Sho Tsukikawa (You Shine in the Moonlight) is directing from a script penned by Tatsurō Mishima (Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead).
The cast for the adaptation includes Takumi Kitamura (Let Me Eat Your Pancreas, Tokyo Revengers) as Yusuke Urameshi, Shuhei Uesugi (Followers) as Kuwabara, Jun Shison (Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day) as Kurama and Kanata Hongō (Shin Kamen Rider) as Hiei.
Additionally, Kotone Furukawa portrays Botan and Keita Machida (Alice in Borderland) plays Koenma.
In a bit of inspired casting, Meiko Kaji of Lady Snowblood fame portrays Genkai while Gô Ayano (Rage The Snow White Murder Case) plays the indomitable YoungerToguro Brother.
The official series synopsis from Netflix reads, "The series follows Yusuke, a tearaway teenager who dies trying to save a young boy from being hit by a speeding car. As he looks down at his body from the afterlife, Yusuke meets a woman named Botan (Kotone Furukawa), who guides him to the spirit world. She tells Yusuke that his death was premature and unexpected, but that no one would’ve ever believed a troubled kid like him could perform such a selfless act — so there’s no place for him in heaven or hell. Yusuke is then given the opportunity to be revived after completing a trial, allowing him to be sent back to the human world to investigate demons as an Underworld Detective."