Welcome to Astral Animations, where we'll examine the imports of Japanese animation currently available in the United States.
This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the movie.
That said, on to the review!
Yu Yu Hakusho comes with its own background that I won't get into, but here are the basics: 1) Yuusuke and his friends--Kurama, Kuwahara, and Hiei--are all spirit detectives in the employ of the Spirit World, possessed of various abilities both physical and spiritual; 2) originally there were four worlds--the Spirit World, the human world, the Demon World, and the Netherworld--but in a great war the Spirit World destroyed the Netherworld and banished its king into the depths of space; and 3) the emperor of the Spirit World couldn't master the source of the Netherworld's energy--the Power Sphere--and attempted to hide it, hoping that it wouldn't cause any more trouble.
A strange phenomenon has buried the Spirit World beneath tons of water, forcing Lord Koenma, son of the Emperor, to remove the Power Sphere from its hiding place and ordering his messenger, Botan, to take it to Yuusuke for safe keeping. It is too much for her to bear, however, so Yuusuke searches for another messenger from the Spirit World, Hinageshi, in hopes that she'll know what to do. She knows, but it's too late, for Yakumo, King of the Netherworld, has arrived on Earth with his three Demon-Gods intent on locating the Power Sphere and determined to transform the Human World into a new Netherworld. Yuusuke and his friends seek out the five elemental sites in hopes of using the stored spiritual energy there to restore the Spirit World. Yakumo and his minions, however, prove more powerful than anticipated, and turn the five sites' energies into Netherworld power, leaving things worse than when the whole thing started.
Words can't do justice to this 90-minute anime. The visual depictions of the characters was well done, especially the facial expressions of shock, determination, and anguish. The various explosions of power that each character used was likewise impressive. I like Kuwahara's Spirit Sword and Yuusuke's Spirit Gun is really cool, but Hiei's Black Dragon Wave is probably the most graphically and visually impressive to behold. Of course, Kurama's Rose Whip isn't any laughing matter either, and when they bring the four spiritual weapons/attacks together...
The story is a serious one. Especially poignant are Kurama's remorseful--and manipulated--feelings for his former and apparently resurrected partner, Kuronue, but Yuusuke's frustration and anger at his easy defeat at Yakumo's hands and his failure to protect those he cares about is similarly endearing. There are occasional humorous points, though. Towards the beginning there is one fighting scene when Kuwahara inadvertently destroys one of the lanterns at Hinageshi's temple while fighting a demon. "Uh, I didn't mean to do that," he says afterwards.
I can't say much else--not without giving away everything else--but I really enjoyed this movie. Whether it was the English vocal cast doing an especially good job of providing decent and emotion-filled dubs or the coupling of said dubs with the visual representations that made it so good I can't say. However, the movie as a whole is an impressive movie-length work and considerably better overall than some of the American-made animated cartoons.
You can purchase Poltergeist Report--Yu Yu Hakusho on videotape in its English subtitled or English dialogue versions at any video store that sells Japanese anime. You can also order it at the U.S. Manga Corps website.
Interested in buying this video? You can! Just follow the link to order the English subtitled VHS version or the English dubbed VHS version. You can also visit the Stellar Video Store for other titles.
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