Netflix has just announced that series based on the horror-themed martial arts graphic novel series, Yu Yu Hakusho, will become the latest addition to its slate of live-action manga adaptations, The A.V. Club reports. The streaming giant is also working on new adaptations of Cowboy Bebop and One Piece. News of the Yu Yu Hakusho series broke via the Netflix Japan Anime Twitter account, and was confirmed in English on the NX account one hour afterwards.
According to CBR, the program will be distributed as Netflix original series and will be produced in cooperation with Akira Morii (Mozu) from Robot Communications. Robot’s recent projects with Netflix include the international release of the 3D animated film Dragon Quest: Your Story and live-action series based on the survival horror manga Alice in Borderland, which came out on December 10.
If progress is made with Netflix’s live-action Yu Yu Hakusho series, it will be the first live-action incarnation of the property made available to an international audience. The only other authorized live-action adaptation thus far has been a hugely popular 2019 stage play written and directed by Chuji Mikasano (Tokyo Ghoul), ComicBook.com reports. A sequel to the stage play is allegedly coming to auditoriums across Japan before the end of the year, according to ComicBook.com.
Aside from the stage play, the only other major Yu Yu Hakusho production in the past few years has been a pair of animated short films that adapt the manga chapters “Two Shots” and “All Or Nothing,” as reported by Anime News Network. The short films were packaged as an exclusive feature of special twenty-fifth anniversary Blu-Ray box set that compiled every episode of the Yu Yu Hakusho anime series, which aired in Japan during the early 90’s. U.S. distribution rights for these original video animations have allegedly been secured by Funimation, who famously supervised the anime’s stateside release, Anime News Network reports.
The entirety of Yu Yu Hakusho‘s award-winning anime adaptation is free to stream on Tubi TV and Funimation’s streaming platform. All nineteen volumes of the original manga have been translated into English and are available to purchase through most major book retailers.