It's been over thirty years since the anime version of Yu Yu Hakusho debuted on October 10, 1992, and Crunchyroll is ready to celebrate by releasing a special 30th-anniversary edition Blu-ray set that fans of the series will be dying to obtain.
The series Yu Yu Hakusho was the first big hit by future Hunter x Hunter creator Yoshihiro Togashi, who would later go on to create the popular (still ongoing) series Hunter x Hunter. The manga version of Yu Yu Hakusho ran from December 1990 to July 1994 for a total of 175 chapters, while the anime aired from October 1992 to December 1994 for a total of 112 episodes. The story follows young Yusuke Yurameshi, a 14-year-old boy who dies in a car accident and is recruited as a Spirit Detective, working for the afterlife's bureaucracy to solve supernatural mysteries in exchange for being brought back to life. The series escalates from there, as Yusuke begins to encounter people like the demon-descended Hiei and Kurama, as well as his Spirit Detective predecessor who came to hate the way the reincarnation cycle works, eventually placing the entire world's fate in the balance.
To celebrate the anime series' anniversary, Crunchyroll announced a new Blu-ray set. The 30th anniversary Blu-ray release of the series will include all 112 episodes as well as 2 never-before-dubbed OVAs which have recently been done by the original cast. The set will also feature exclusive 30th-anniversary artwork to celebrate the series' legacy. Other special features include three special featurettes totaling 98 minutes: one is a retrospective on the Yu Yu Hakusho series as a whole, another is a behind-the-scenes look at the design of characters and the world, and the last focuses on the Yu Yu Hakusho trading card game, which was printed from 2003 to 2005, during the series' first English language airing. Finally, several episodes will receive special commentary tracks from actors, writers, ing cast, and even the sound-mixing crew, as well as text-free versions of the series' iconic opening and ending credit sequences.
What Makes This Box Set Worth Checking Out?
The inclusion of two otherwise untranslated OVA episodes is a big bonus for fans as well, although exactly which OVAs these are has not been clarified as yet. Yu Yu Hakusho's available OVA episodes include the six-part Eizou Hakusho, which features clips of major battles played alongside character's "image songs" intermixed with some new animation revealing what happened to the characters after the series ended, as well as "Two Shots" and "All or Nothing." The latter two were created for a Japanese Yu Yu Hakusho Blu-ray release in 2018, with one adapting an unnumbered bonus chapter of the manga that reveals how Hiei and Kurama met, and the other adapting unused elements of manga chapters 174 and 175, which did not play into the anime's ending. These 2018 OVAs are most likely the ones included.
As Togashi's first big break, Yu Yu Hakusho is worth a watch for fans of Hunter x Hunter who may not have checked out the creator's other works yet. Fans familiar with Togashi's health issues may be surprised to learn that these problems first cropped up during the Yu Yu Hakusho manga' s original run, not Hunter x Hunter's, which explains why the latter series has been given leeway for such long hiatuses. The fact that Togashi was given such leeway with Hunter x Hunter proves how well-loved the creator is. Fans of Togashi's work like Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter have every reason to celebrate as the latter makes its manga return and the former celebrates a landmark anniversary.
The Yu Yu Hakusho: 30th Anniversary Blu-ray Box Set will be available on January 31, 2023, from Crunchyroll, and pre-orders are now available.
