Netflix's Yu Yu Hakusho Makes One Death Way More Brutal

Netflix's Yu Yu Hakusho makes Yusuke's death way more brutal in the live-action series.

By Nick Valdez

Yu Yu Hakusho has officially made its live-action series debut with Netflix, and has surprisingly kicked off with a much more brutal death for Yusuke Urameshi with its first episode! Yoshihiro Togashi's classic action series is still held in high regard as one of the most influential to this day, so it was quite a surprise to many fans that a new live-action series would be bringing the classic to life in a whole new kind of way. This made itself known pretty early on as Yusuke met a much more brutal kind of death to spark the series. 

Yu Yu Hakusho opens with Yusuke Urameshi saving a young boy and sacrificing his own life in the process. This is ultimately what leads him down the path of becoming a Spirit Detective as the afterlife was surprised at his good deed despite his prickly nature, but fans were surprised even more by the live-action take on it. While Yusuke was hit by a vehicle in the original manga and anime, the Netflix series bumps this up to a far more aggressive and brutal death that really hits home in live-action. 

How to Watch Yu Yu Hakusho Live-Action 

Yu Yu Hakusho's live-action series makes quite a few changes that don't stop with Yusuke's death. Not only is his initial death far more brutal, but his trajectory as a Spirit Detective changes as well. The live-action series only runs for five episodes, but it draws upon multiple arcs from Yoshihiro Togashi's series to create a new kind of story. While characters are the same, the order and speed from which some of the events play out are a lot different than fans might have expected. So it's full of surprises. 

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Netflix teases Yu Yu Hakusho as such, "The manga revolves around Yusuke Urameshi, a junior high school student who spends his days getting into fights and dies in an accident while trying to protect a young child. As he grapples with the fact that he is looking down on his dead body, a woman named Botan, who calls herself a guide to the spirit world, relays to him the shocking truth: no one expected a delinquent like Yusuke to die performing an act of goodness, and there was no place for him in either heaven or hell. Thus, Yusuke is given a chance to be revived, and after passing his trial, he becomes an Underworld Detective. From there, Yusuke becomes entwined in a mystery that envelopes the human, demon and spirit worlds. The spectacular adventure of Yusuke will now become a live action series on Netflix."

What did you think of Yu Yu Hakusho's live-action series? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

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