'Bitin': 'Ghost Fighter' live-action delivers nostalgia feels
MANILA, Philippines — Netflix scored another hit live-action adaptation with the right amount of nostalgia with the release of "Yu Yu Hakusho" or more popularly known as "Ghost Fighter" in the Philippines last week.
It has many '90s kids harkening back to the days when they would all rush home to catch the latest adventure of Eugene, Dennis, Vincent and Alfred as they battle the fiercest demons in the spirit world.
Those were also the days when all kids in the class, whether girls or boys, would have "Ghost Fighter" teks cards (collectible playing cards). The boys, of course, would have it for playing, while the girls would play the cards as well and vie for the cards of Dennis (Kurama), Eugene (Yusuke) and the adult Jericho (Koenma) and put it in a photo album of their crushes. Those were the days when 2D (two-dimensional) crushes were all the rage. Well, they still are today in addition to K-pop idols.
Released on the streaming platform last December 14, it remains the most watched/streamed series on Netflix Philippines at No. 1 as of this writing. It is an affirmation that after "One Piece" was released last August, "Yu Yu Hakusho" is the latest successful live-action adaptation of a manga/anime.
Signs of the live-action getting nods from many fans began when the teaser/series announcement date was released a few weeks ago. Many fans caught a glimpse of a series that is darker in tone than the anime they watched decades ago.
When "Yu Yu Hakusho" was finally released, it indeed went right into the action with less banter from Urameshi and Kuwabara and even Hiei.
It is important to note that when the anime was shown in the Philippines in the 1990s with a Filipino dub, the characters had Western names: Eugene (Yusuke Urameshi), Alfred (Kuwabara ), Vincent (Hiei) and Dennis (Kurama). Ditto for the other characters: Jeremiah (Master Genkai), Botan (Charlene), Jenny (Keiko) and Jericho (Koenma).
The five-episode series is a condensed adaptation of an anime so well-loved that it caused some disappointment with how many characters were left out. A crucial and memorable experience from watching the anime was noticeably nowhere to be seen in the adaptation.
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