Yu Yu Hakusho - The Movie - Poltergeist Report

Yu Yu Hakusho Poltergeist Report is something of a mysterious gem in the YYH community. Many haven't heard of it and many are perplexed how Funimation (the company who holds the license for YYH) has not dubbed it and released it for wide distribution. The way that I first came across this obscure film is perhaps the same way others in America saw it through Blockbuster. Yes, back in the nostalgic sepia colored past when we rented movies, I saw this movie in my Blockbuster's small anime section and being a YYH fan I picked it up. I can still remember the jarring effect of Central Park Media's dub on my young ears upon first watching it. The way I experienced YYH was through the Funimation dub first on Adult Swim then on Toonami. Seeing Yusuke and the gang being voiced by people I wasn't familiar with confused my young brain, but shortly into the movie I got over it. From what I can recall as a kid I enjoyed this movie and I'm happy to say that feeling is true today, however I do have some complaints:Animation: This movie is in DESPERATE need of a remaster. The image is very dull and at times blurred. What's so funny though is that there is actually some spectacularly animated scenes here. You can really tell that the budget went through a growth spurt for this movie. The only thing holding it back is how it's aged.Voice Acting/Scripting: They tried. That's basically all I have to say on that. At times there are success bumps in the road, but overall it's lacking. The scripting was a little off too. I dont know how they translated it but there are times when the characters say things that come off as very uncharacteristic and odd. Also, it should be a crime for Kuwabara to be voiced by any other other than Chris Sabat.Story: The story isn't too bad, but it doesnt feel wholly original. Imagine the Four Saint Beasts chapter of YYH with a bigger budget. It's still much more interesting than the Golden Seal movie.Would I recommend this film? Most definitely. I'm a big Dragon Ball fan and often I'll say how I feel like DB is one of those shows that really didn't need to continue. YYH is the opposite. After seeing this movie again I am craving more YYH content. Fortunately I have my Blu-Rays handy to satisfy my addiction. For my fellow Spirit Detective fans out there I would say Poltergeist Report is definitely something to add to your collection!

The "God-Warrior" subgenre of anime basically focuses on teams of human warriors gifted with extraordinary powers who are chosen to fight against gods/demons with major world-conquering ambitions. The original God-Warrior anime is generally considered to be Saint Seiya; others include Yoroiden Samurai Troopers ("Ronin Warriors"), Shurato, and the parodic approach of Sailor Moon. YuuYuu Hakusho broke several of the standard tropes, starting with not being a five-team (four main characters), and eliminating special costumes. Then they made sure to be distinct by making all of their characters not-nice people. The nicest one is Kuwabera, a gang leader who's always lived his life by his fists but who shows a surprising secret heroic streak. The others range down from there, with the sarcastic Yuske and the fox-demon Kurama about equal and the demonic Hiei (who appears to be Vegita's [DBZ] love child, judging on appearances) coming in dead last on the "Guy I want to actually MEET" sweepstakes. Because of these changes, YuuYuu was able to provide some plotlines and approaches the others could not, keeping it fresh even while it otherwise followed genre conventions to the letter. The YuuYuu Hakusho movie epitomizes all of the best features of YuuYuu Hakusho, including the characterizations, the twists of plot, and the dramatic battles. The villains are actually rather inventive for a show which like so many anime has only buttkicking as its _raison d'etre_, and the grand finale against the dark god, king of the Netherworld, Yakumo, is worth the price of the DVD all by itself. If you like fighting anime, this one is a must-have for your collection.

Great movie to a great anime

I like the show but I am bit picky on the English voice actors. I like originals. The other voice actors are fine just like originals. The 3 star is for the resolution. Its not really a full screen, nor wide screen, nor 4:3 ratio screen, it is more box screen (not sure of right term). It just look like a video with a black rectangle background so that the video never touches the edges of the tv at a big margin. Other than that it was just fine. TV had a overscan which made screen the video to almost fit the entire screen with some black background edges on the right and left sides about less than half an inch and the top and bottom was stretch a little bit that cut off just a bit of the video still not bad.. just wish it was standard 4:3, full screen, or widescreen.

Alright, first of all this movie was great. I loved every minute of it. It had a nice arc in story and felt appropriate as well. But for the love of anyone who has seen the english version back then and now of the show, please just put it in japanese and subtitled, unfortunately the original voice actors are not here. It's a real shame, they really set the mood and these new guys just didn't seem to get any of the characters or learn from their predecessors. I could only tolerate it for about 5 minutes before I had to change voices, and since the japanese tend to keep their voice actors it was a fun ride from beginning to end. This was the only reason why it's not a 5/5 in my book.

This movie kicks some serious ass! Yusuke and the others have to stop the Netherworld from assimilating into the living world. Everyone is there, including Genkai for a bit. The final battle is so awesome that I can't describe it, you have to see it to believe it. But believe me, the final battle is worth everyhing and more! The voices are different from those in the TV series so it sounds a bit odd to a hardcore fan and, for some strange and bizarre reason, Kuwabara is called "Kuwahara". For those of you who know the series, you'll probably rewind the DVD/VHS and do a double take like I did. Despite that, it still has the attitude, humor and action that is found in all Yu Yu Hakusho DVDs. All in all this DVD is just screaming to be watched by ANYone who loves anime in general, let aloe Yu Yu fans!