Yu Yu Hakusho
Director
Nobuyuki Abe
Production
Fuji TV, Studio Pierrot
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
112 episodes
Year
1992
Yu Yu Hakusho Volume 5: The Beasts Of Maze Castle
By otaku_kei
14th Aug 06  So does anyone remember this show? It has been almost a year since the last volume of Yu Yu Hakusho was released and I have to say that without the brief update at the start of the opening episode on this disc I would have been left completely adrift as to just what is going on. So quick recap: Yusuke Urashima is the latest Spirit Detective, policing the underworld and the encroachments on the real world. In his latest assignment he has had to travel to the demon realm to face down the demon beasts of Maze Castle. Tagging along are his friends and compatriots Kuwabara, Hiei and Kurama. When we left this quartet last time they had just defeated the first of the Beasts, and were now moving deeper into the castle seeking the source of all the recent demon activity on Earth. But in a shounen fighting series such as Yu Yu Hakusho, it does not take long before the heroes wind up facing the next opponent in a long list of adversaries. Ever the proud fool, Kuwabara steps forward to face down this next opponent alone and has to go through the genre staple of being beaten to within an inch of his life before managing to overcome the seemingly unstoppable villain in the closing minutes. Kind of like the Rocky films, but with better acting. I am left wondering whether Yusuke and his friends would just do better by all getting stuck in at the same time? Surely 4 against 1 are better odds to win? This genre plot convention is then repeated in each following episode, but now with Hiei being the one to step forward and fight against the odds. Whilst this makes for a very predictable show, Yu Yu Hakusho still manages to deliver energy and excitement into these predictable showdowns by finishing the fights relatively quickly. Unlike many shounen fighting series that can let combat run for several episodes each fight here is wrapped up across one episode, sometimes two. As such the audience is still engaged with the on screen action, rather than watching merely to discover the outcome. Yu Yu Hakusho is a welcome return to the UK scene, but it is yet to be seen whether the extended hiatus between volumes will effect this show's success. Based on the quality of the title there is absolutely no reason why this show cannot build on the success it had achieved. As far as shounen series go this is without a doubt the best on the UK market, but whether it will be able to hold the standard of storytelling and audience interest across the coming volumes has yet to be seen. At the moment though this show is a lot of fun!
R2 DVD Notes
Features: English Language 2.0; Japanese Language 2.0; English Language Subtitles; Character Profiles; Testless Opening & Closing; Name Translations
Release information: OUT NOW
Notes: Well its nice to see that with the long hiatus between volumes that MVM have not allowed the quality to drop on the presentation of this show. The A/V quality is pretty much as good as this show is going to get, and the extras are to the same standard as previous volumes. A welcome return for a long overdue series.
-- otaku_kei 14th Aug 06
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