‘Yu Yu Hakusho’ Live-Action Adaptation Debuts at #1 on Netflix

It’s time to say arigato gozaimasu to Yu Yu Hakusho fans all over the world. According to Netflix, the live-action adaptation of the classic anime and manga series managed to rank #1 among the most-watched non-English titles from the streamer ever since its premiere last Thursday. In their weekly Top 10 report, Netflix announced that the new series was watched by 7.7 million people, and it made the top 10 of the most-watched in 76 countries. In the U.S., Yu Yu Hakusho debuted at #5.

This is the best-case scenario for a new show like Yu Yu Hakusho, whose ratings inform Netflix that there’s an interest for more episodes. In fact, fans will tell you there are way more stories to cover, since Season 1 of the show had only five episodes and there’s still a lot more content that can be used from the source material. So far, the live-action series has adapted pretty much one arc from the Yoshihiro Togashi (Hunter x Hunter) story – even though it took some liberties that fans didn’t see coming in order to wrap that arc.

At the same time, series showrunner Sho Tsukikawa managed to construct a first season that works as a standalone feature in case it gets canceled – and we know that happens more often than not at Netflix. Season 1 leaves virtually no loose strings for the future, which doesn’t mean the story can’t go on but that particular arc is wrapped in case we don’t get to go back to it.

Is ‘Yu Yu Hakusho’ Renewed For Season 2?

So far, Netflix hasn’t announced if there will be a Season 2 of Yu Yu Hakusho. While the numbers certainly give hope to fans, we still don’t know what elements factor in when Netflix is deciding which shows to renew and cancel. We do know that audience is a factor, though, and that aspect is covered. The thing is, sometimes these decisions take time – just to give an example, Japanese hit series Alice in Borderland was only renewed for Season 3 nine months after the premiere of Season 2.

Yu Yu Hakusho stars Takumi Kitamura as Yusuke Urameshi, Shūhei Uesugi as Kuwabara, Sei Shiraishi as Keiko, Keita Machida as Koenma, Kotone Furukawa as Botan, Kanata Hongô as Hiei, Jun Shison as Kurama, Ai Mikami as Yukina, Gorô Inagaki as Sakyo, Gô Ayano as the younger Toguro, Ken’ichi Takitô as the older Toguro and Meiko Kaji as Genkai.