New Yu Yu Hakusho Anime Special Getting English Release from Funimation

Yoshihiro Togashi’s Yu Yu Hakusho celebrated its monumental 25th Anniversary in a big way in Japan last year, and the anime surprisingly came back for two special episodes adapting materials that never made it into the original anime series. These OVA specials featured the original Japanese cast and staff behind the original run of the series making their grand return, and fans outside in Japan have been wondering if they would get to see this big anime comeback someday. Luckily Funimation has confirmed that we’ll be getting an English subtitled and dubbed release for the OVA episodes soon.

Funimation announced during their panel at New York Comic Con, and detailed further on their official website, that the two Yu Yu Hakusho comeback episodes will be releasing with both a dub and sub take. The cooler thing is the confirmation of some of the English cast in tow with Justin Cook and Christopher Sabat announcing they’re returning for the dub.

Produced by Studio Pierrot, who animated the original anime series as well, the anniversary OVA features the returning staff of director Noriyuki Abe, and the voice cast of Nozomu Sasaki as Yusuke Urameshi, Shigeru Chiba as Kazuma Kuwabara, Megumi Ogata as Kurama, and Nobuyuki Hiyama as Hiei.

Justin Cook, who provided the voice of Yusuke, and Christopher Sabat, who provided the voice for Kuwabara, will be returning for the English dub. Commenting on this return, “Anytime we can return to the skins of these characters,” Cook stated, “That’s awesome.”

Covering two different stories, the OVA adapts “Two Shots,” which is a side-manga story revealing how Kurama and Hiei first met, and “All or Nothing,” the second-to-last chapter of Yoshihiro Togashi’s original manga which sees Yusuke and the gang try and solve a major terrorist crisis. These stories were never adapted into the original anime for the series, and were received pretty well upon their release in Japan next year.

While these two short episodes aren’t wuite the major anime return fans have been clamoring for, at least fans in the United States will finally get to witness this comeback. Hopefully the rest of the English dub cast will be coming along for the ride too.

Yu Yu Hakusho was originally created by Yoshihiro Togashi for Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in 1990. The story follows Yusuke Urameshi, a teenage delinquent who loses his life when he is hit by a car trying to save a child’s life. After passing a series of tests, Yusuke is allowed to return to the living world but with a few caveats. With the gained ability to see spirits and demons, Yusuke is given the title of “Underworld Detective” and must solve various cases of spirits running amok in the living world.