Netflix Japan Festival 2021 is off to the races this week with a slew of ambitious new projects well on the way from here through the next few years. In doing so with announcements of projects such as a second season of Alice In Borderland, a second installment of animated series Tiger & Bunny, Beat Takeshi biopic Asakusa Kid and more, they’ve confirmed their commitment to a live-action Yu Yu Hakusho series with a premiere date set for December 2023.
Netflix’s official description of the series reads as follows:
The legendary hit manga of the 1990s golden era of Weekly Shonen Jump finally gets a live-action drama adaptation!
Published for four years from 1990 in Weekly Shonen Jump (Shueisha), Yu Yu Hakusho captured the hearts of readers when its protagonist shockingly dies in the very first chapter. The vivid and charming characters have been captivating fans for more than 25 years up until this day. This famous masterpiece is finally receiving a live-action series adaptation.
The story revolves around Yusuke Urameshi, who spends his days getting into fights. One day, he dies in an accident while trying to protect a young child, and 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 quickly becomes entwined in a mystery that envelopes the human, demon and spirit worlds. This story of Yusuke’s adventure will now be transformed into a drama series with stunning visuals unique to Netflix.
The update comes nearly a year after Japanese outlets went abuzz with word on the series; Casting rumors also began circulating since then but I’m not here to aggregate anything that hasn’t been affirmed by the production just yet.
ROBOT COMMUNICATIONS INC.’S Akira Morii is producing the series with Netflix Content Acquisition Vice President Kaata Sakamoto executive producing.