Yu-Yu Hakusho: 
Ghost Files Vol.2
(MVM Region 2 PAL DVD)
review by Blackgloves

This sparky and inventive anime television series marks yet another successful transition from the page to the screen: like the hugely popular nineties series "Fist Of The North Star", the show is based on a Manga story which originally featured in the weekly "Shonen Jump" magazine. "Yu Yu Hakusho" - the anime, adopts a much lighter tone than its Manga counterpart, with the character designs and general appearance of the show giving it mass appeal by helping to pitch the series to a much younger audience while still retaining the high level of wit and absurdist humour that makes it equally engaging to older viewers. Animated in attractive primary colours and chock-full of zappy action sequences, this series is also memorable for portraying the administrator of the heavenly afterlife as a chubby bawling baby with a pacifier permanently wedged between his lips! It is this clever mixing of traditional cartoon elements with a completely off-the-wall sensibility that gives the show that extra kick!

The series tells the story of Yusuke Urameshi -- a fourteen year-old rebel with the reputation of being a bit of a bully at his school. But in truth, Yusuke has a troubled home life: his mother drinks and he has a stormy relationship with rival gang leader, Kuwabara, which leads to the two constantly fighting. But Yusuke has a good heart and, in the process of saving a young child from a potentially fatal car accident, is himself killed! Yusuke's self-sacrifice earns him the right to come back as a Spiritual Detective! It turns out that there are a variety of demons loose in the world causing all sorts of trouble, and with the help of his assistant, Boton -- a pink-haired female anime version of Death -- and his supervisor, Koenma (the temperamental baby whose father appears to be the devil), Yusuke is charged with bringing them to justice!

This second volume of the series features episodes five to eight and after passing the trial set by Koenma in the previous volume, Yusuke is set to be returned to life with the added bonus of a selection of super powers and the ability to see the demons who are controlling the misdeeds of the various humans under their influence. This proves a more complicated process than he bargained for: in order to be returned to life, his earthly corpse must be kissed on the lips, by someone who loves him, by midnight, in order to provide him with "lifeforce"! Yusuke's troubled life means there are not that many candidates for the job, and the three that fit the bill do not seem to be terribly reliable! Boton attempts to help by influencing the dreams of Yusuke's mother, his rival Kuwabara and a fourteen-year-old female school friend, Kayko but with time running out, prospects do not look good for the budding spirit detective!

Nevertheless, Yusuke *is* brought to life in the nick of time and sets about taking advantage of his new powers by helping out his old rival Kuwabara who is being blackmailed by a rival gang leader ... who has stolen his pet kitten! No sooner has Yusuke been returned to life though, than Koenma sends him on his first mission. And what a baptism of fire it is! Three powerful demons have escaped from incarceration and have stolen some powerful artefacts from King Yama's sacred vault: a special Shadow Sword which turns humans into demons, a supernatural mirror and the Orb of Baast which imprisons the souls of children! With these artefacts, the three demons plan to dominate the world. Since Koenma was charged with looking after these artefacts by his father before he went on holiday he will get into an awful lot of trouble if they aren't back in place by the time he gets back! Yusuke is the only detective available to go after them -- but is he up to such a demanding task when he is still learning the ropes?

With Yusuke restored to life, the series really kicks into full gear and displays the full extent of the quirky imaginative flair behind it. Besides the aid of Boton (who has also been given a material form in order to help more effectively) Yusuke has a number of spirit "devices" at his disposal. Number one is his spirit "gun": Yusuke need only point his finger and concentrate and he is able to deliver a massive blast of energy to his foe! However, he must be sparing with it since he will be temporarily drained immediately after using the gun! A demon hunter needs to know how to find his prey -- so what better piece of kit to own than a Demon compass! This looks like an ordinary compass but beeps every time a demon is in the vicinity while the compass needle points out its location! Yusuke is also able to see demons and spirits that are invisible to ordinary human eyes. The animators treat use to a menagerie of exotic demon "species", the first being an ugly little imp that reveals itself by crawling out of the mouth of the human body that it controls!

Once Yusuke embarks on his first real case, there is even more imagination displayed and some well-paced fight sequences as well -- for the three demon thieves have many exotic powers of their own! Each of them has taken possession of one of the three artefacts and so Yusuke must battle his way through each of them one by one (if they'd stayed together he would have had his work cut out). First up is Gouki, who, in human form looks like an oafish thug, but in devil form turns out to be a giant, hulk-like ogre who eats children's souls! He has stolen the orb of Baast in order to be able to catch them more effectively. Very small children are always animated in a "super-deformed" ultra-cute style in this series so when they all start slipping into a mysterious lifeless slumber all over the city thanks to Goyki's soul-catching artefact, the animation is both cute and simultaneously very spooky! When Yusuke does battle with the ruthless demon Hiei, the animation becomes even more macabre. Hiei owns the Shadow Sword artefact which enables him to turn humans into low-level demons. He kidnaps Yusuke's best friend Kayko and uses the sword on her! A third eye then begins to open in Kayko's forehead! if it opens completely before Yusuke can capture the sword and neutralise Hiei's power, Kayko will become a lumbering demon drone! Once again the animation is scary and macabre and the battle between Hiei and Yusuke is exciting and executed with great flair. The great mix of scares and humour (the sight of the babyish Koenma having his bottom spanked by his devilish dad is bizarre and hilarious!) keep this show on the ball and now it has got into it's stride it looks like becoming required viewing for anime fans.

MVM release "Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files" with a few sparse but interesting extras: there are character profiles and also a "name translations" feature which explains the significance of each character's name and how it relates to their personality. There are textless opening and closing sequences and an unusual "angle" feature is included that allows the viewer to toggle between the English and Japanese versions of these sequences. Both English and Japanese 2.0 Stereo dubs are included and one can also choose between two sets of English subtitles consisting of a direct translation of the Japanese track or the English audio track! They are substantially different from each other although they retain the same essential meaning.

This colourful and energetic anime series comes bounding to UK DVD and is well worth checking out!