Netflix’s Live-Action Yu Yu Hakusho Fails The Dark Tournament Arc (& Makes Season 2 More Difficult)

WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Netflix’s Yu Yu Hakusho season 1.

Netflix’s Yu Yu Hakusho live-action series fails the anime’s Dark Tournament arc and makes it way more difficult for season 2 to happen. While the newest Netflix anime adaptation keeps the essence of Yu Yu Hakushonamely the dynamic between Yusuke and his friends, it makes some significant changes to the source material. Not only does Yu Yu Hakusho skip over most of the arcs from the Spirit Detective saga, but it also ignores one of the best portions of the anime.

Whereas Netflix’s One Piece season 1 covered most of the mini-arcs from the East Blue saga, Yu Yu Hakusho condensed over 60 anime episodes into a five-hour live-action story. Although changes from the source material were expected, Yu Yu Hakusho's ending disregarded what can be considered one of the best tournament arcs in anime history, the Dark Tournament. Even though there are dozens of tournament arcs in anime, from Dragon Ball to My Hero Academia, Yu Yu Hakusho’s version of this trope is iconic and timeless. The live-action incorporates elements from that arc but in a completely different context.

Netflix’s Yu Yu Hakusho Skips Over The Dark Tournament Arc

In theory, the Dark Tournament should indeed not be included in the first season of a Yu Yu Hakusho adaptation. The tournament only begins in episode 26 of the anime, and the Spirit Detective saga has more than enough material for five live-action episodes. Still, Netflix’s Yu Yu Hakusho combines portions of the Dark Tournament with the Yukina rescue arcresulting in an essentially original story that very little resembles the source material. There is never a “demon world tournament” in the Yu Yu Hakusho live-action series, yet many of anime’s Dark Tournament fights happen in the adaptation, except in different contexts.

For example, Kurama fights Karasu toward the end of Yu Yu Hakusho‘s live-action, whereas Hiei fights Bui. However, both of those fights are only supposed to happen in the Demon World Tournament and not during Yukina’s rescue. Rather than contests fighting to win a competition, both Karasu and Bui are henchmen deployed to prevent Yusuke and his friends from entering the mansion and rescuing Hiei’s sister. Likewise, Yusuke fights Toguro’s final form and kills the villain right awaywhich is supposed to happen at the end of the Dark Tournament saga and not in their first encounter. Lastly, Toguro kills Genkai offscreen after attacking her temple.

Why The Live-Action Yu Yu Hakusho Disregards The Dark Tournament Arc

The live-action Yu Yu Hakusho seems to have tried to tell a self-contained story within five episodes that would not necessarily ask for a sequel. The pacing of the Netflix series is relatively close to that of the two movies, with the first half covering Yusuke’s journey as a Spirit Detective looking for the three artifacts, and the second half covering the rescue of Yukina. However, the live-action show still incorporates key fights that were only supposed to happen much later in the story, essentially killing any chances of a Dark Tournament adaptation. With Toguro and Genkai both dead already, the story cannot properly continue.

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A Dark Tournament building up from the live-action ending would have to change a lot about the source material. Curiously, Netflix’s Yu Yu Hakusho also skipped the Genkai tournament. Instead of holding a competition to see who was worthy of becoming her successor and receiving her Sacred Energy, Genkai simply accepts Yusuke as her apprentice. While it made sense to “fast forward” some of the Yu Yu Hakusho arcs to craft a more consistent story that could be told across five TV episodes, condensing all of the Dark Tournament saga into a couple of fights was a risky decision that ultimately played against the adaptation.

The Dark Tournament Arc Woul’ve Been Perfect For Yu Yu Hakusho Season 2

It is unclear whether there are plans for Yu Yu Hakusho season 2. However, the first season plays out as a very self-contained story that leaves little to no room for a continuation. In the anime, it only takes a couple of episodes after Yukina is rescued and the younger Toguro is defeated for Yusuke to be invited to the Demon World Tournament. Yu Yu Hakusho’s best scenes come from the Dark Tournament arc onwardto the point the Spirit Detective saga is sometimes wrongfully referred to as “skippable” or “filler.” Therefore, saving this part of the story for later would have made for an exciting second season.

If there are no plans for Yu Yu Hakusho to continue, then merging the Dark Tournament saga with the initial arcs makes sense. Still, even though the pacing of the show is not a problem, steering away that much from the manga and the anime may not have been the best strategy. There could still have been a self-contained ending to Yu Yu Hakusho season 1 that didn’t feature elements like Toguro’s death or his encounter with Genkai in the other world. If Yu Yu Hakusho season 2 does happen, it will be interesting to see how it continues the story now that so much has been changed.

Yu Yu Hakusho (2023)

Release Date

December 14, 2023

Cast

Takumi Kitamura, Shuhei Uesugi, Jun Shison, Kanata Hongô

Seasons

1