tek's rating: ½

YuYu Hakusho the Movie: Poltergeist Report
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Okay, I guess this is the second movie based on the series Yu Yu Hakusho, though I believe they're both non-canonical. It was a bit jarring for me because the voice cast was different from the series, and also because Kuwabara was called "Kuwahara." Also I should say I have no idea when it was set in relation to the series. But anyway, there was like heavy rains and flooding in the spirit world, and Koenma gave Botan something to bring to Yusuke in the human world. (I should also say, I think Koenma's father was referred to in this movie as "Enma" instead of "Yama.") Um... so, Botan falls out of the sky, badly hurt, and Yusuke catches her. She manages to tell him to go to some shrine and meet someone called Hinageshi, before she passes out. Keiko shows up, and Yusuke tells her to take Botan to Genkai's temple, while he and Kuwahara go to the shrine, where they rescue Hinageshi from some demons who were attacking her. She's a guide to the spirit world, something like Botan, I guess. (There's clearly some history between the two of them, which is barely hinted at.) Anyway, later Yusuke, Kuwahara, and Hinageshi go to Genkai's place, and Kurama and Hiei also show up. Kurama reports that the spirit world has been completely covered by water. Hinageshi believes that those responsible are from the Netherworld, which had lost a war with the spirit world long ago.

Anyway, Hinageshi wants everyone to go to these five elemental sites, to release energy which could restore the spirit world, but instead the sites are destroyed by Yakumo (the king of the Netherworld), and three demon gods who worked for him. The bad guys also show up at Genkai's temple, where they abduct the unconscious Botan (who was being tended by Yukina), having discovered that she had hidden within herself this sphere of power Koenma had given her, which was the source of the Netherworld's power. So, Yuusuke, Kuwahara, Kurama, and Hiei, along with Hinageshi, will have to try to rescue Botan and stop Yakumo from turning the human world into a new Netherworld.

Anyway... I kind of feel like all this would sort of make more sense if you're familiar with the show, but at the same time, I definitely liked the show better. And I think if you know anything about shonen anime, you probably won't be lost even if you've never seen the show, so all in all, I have no idea whether you'd like the movie better if you've seen the series or if you haven't. Once I got past the different voices, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great, either. There were some decent fights I guess, though for most of the movie, the heroes got their asses kicked. But naturally, they won in the end. And that's pretty much all I can think to say. I'm glad to have seen the movie, but I doubt I'll ever feel like watching it again.


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