DVD Corner

Yu Yu Hakusho Season 2 Blu-ray Review

Action anime lovers will get a kick out of the second season of “Yu Yu Hakusho.”

Season 2 (which contains episodes 29-56) is set during the fighting competition known as the Dark tournament. The plot centers on the show’s heroes who makeup Team Urameshi (Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei and a mysterious masked fighter whose identity is revealed later). Viewers can expect to see plots involving: Kurama battling Roto, Hiei facing off against Zeru from Team Rokuyokai, Yusuke battling Chu (also from Rokuyokai), a 3 on 3 battle between Team Urameshi and Dr. Ichigaki Team, Yusuke and Kurama facing off against Team Masho (which consists of Gama, Bakken, Risho, Toya, and Jin), Yusuke training, Hiei fighting Kuromomotaro, Kurama turning into his demon form, Kuwabara (and later the mysterious masked fighter) against Shishiwakamaru, and the masked fighter taking on Suzuka. The season ends with Team Urameshi’s big battle against the powerful Team Toguro.

There’s no denying that “Yu Yu Hakusho” is very reminiscent of the wildly popular “Dragon Ball Z.” Like DBZ, the show is filled with tournament battles, multiple episode spanning action sequences, a rag tag group of heroes, and awesome displays of powers (such as wind moves, demon forms, the spirit gun, etc.). With that said, ‘Hakusho’ still manages to have an identity of its own thanks to a large cast of unique characters and a well established universe.

Granted, the show can be repetitive, downright unoriginal, and even an endurance test (the build-up to the fight between Yusuke and Chu goes on forever!), but the episodes are exciting and action packed. Each fight manages to be more intense than the last. By the team Team Toguro shows up, you’ll be left wanting to pick up the third season to see what happens in the tournament next.

If you’re worried that the action overpowers the character moments, don’t be. There’s plenty of characterization to be found in these episodes especially with the masked fighter. I could go into more depth about the character, but I’d rather not spoil the surprise for viewers.   

Video/Audio:

Upon receiving this set, I was most curious about the picture quality on an older anime series (the original airdate for this season was back in 1993). After viewing this set, I’m here to tell you that the fullscreen 1080p is one of the best catalogue title transfers I have seen for a Funimation release. Honestly, it looks just as good as DBZ does (if not better) in hi-def. Fans will be amazed at how much more vibrant the colors are. There are some dirt specs here and there, but it’s nothing to be too concerned about. If you already own the DVD set, it is well worth upgrading to the Blu-ray set.  

This set contains English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0. The English track packs more of a punch when it comes to the action. The English dub is solid, but not spectacular. Generally, I find the 2.0 tracks to be rather tame, but this particular one is fairly high quality so that should please fans who prefer playing the original language track.  

Extras:
* Trailers for “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood,” “Soul Eater,” “Dragon Ball Z Kai,” “One Piece,” “Dragon Ball Z,” “Spice And Wolf,” “Burst Angel,” “RideBack,” “Blue Gender,” “Yu Yu Hakusho,” and Funimation.com.

* Textless opening and closing songs.

October 16, 2011 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Yu Yu Hakusho Season 2 Blu-ray Review, Yusuke