‘Ghost Fighter’ live-action series in development at Netflix
Netflix is working on a live-action series of Yu Yu Hakusho, localized as Ghost Fighter in the Philippines, considered one of the most influential anime and manga of the ’90s.
The news tweeted out by Netflix doesn’t give a lot of details, but the streaming giant says the series will arrive in December 2023.
Welcome to the spirit world.
— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) November 9, 2021
Based on the legendary manga by Yoshihiro Togashi, YU YU HAKUSHO - the live action series - arrives December 2023! pic.twitter.com/Wyu4RNiXo1
YuYu Hakusho follows Yusuke Urameshi, a 14-year-old street-brawling delinquent who, in an uncharacteristic act of altruism, is hit by a car and killed in an attempt to save a young boy by pushing him out of the way. Yusuke succeeds with the help of his friends Keiko Yukimura and Kazuma Kuwabara.
The legendary Japanese manga series by Yoshihiro Togashi was published from December 1990 to July 1994 before it was adapted into an anime series by Studio Pierrot.
The anime series originally ran in Japan for 112 episodes from October 1992 to December 1994.
The local dub known as Ghost Fighter, where characters’ names were changed, like “Yusuke” to “Eugene” originally aired on IBC in the mid-1990s as well as on GMA Network in 1999. An American-produced English dub of the anime later aired on Toonami from February 2002 to April 2006 under the name Ghost Files.
News on the live-action adaptation of the original series was first announced by Netflix back in December 2020.
The latest release date announcement is one of the highlights from Netflix’s Japan Festival 2021, where the streamer unveiled a massive slate of anime and anime-inspired projects currently in production, including new seasons for the Ultraman reboot, Tiger and Bunny 2, new Detective Conan adventures, and Aggretsuko season 4.
The news also comes just two weeks before Netflix drops the live-action adaptation for another hit ’90s anime, Cowboy Bebop. A One Piece live-action show is also in the works at Netflix.
