In 1994, the ending of the ‘Yu Yu Hakusho’ manga faced a lot of criticism from the fans, leading Noriyuki Abe to change its representation in the anime version. With that, manga creator Yoshihiro Togashi answered the backlash and issued a public statement explaining the sudden end of the series.
Saying that he felt relieved to end the manga, the artist revealed:
“It’s not that I’ve lost all emotional attachment to the work, but I feel that my stress levels had greatly surpassed my will to work. The six months leading up to the concluding chapter felt awfully long to me.”
Togashi also explained that he was forced to continue the story while the manga was actually set to end in December 1993. He mentioned the reason behind his initial plan as follows:
“There were many reasons for this, all in all about 50 big and small ones, but in broad strokes, there were the major reasons: 1. My body. 2. Thoughts I had about what it means to draw manga. 3. Desire to do other things than work.”
During the rest of his message, the artist talked about the stress he went through due to the workload of making ‘Yu Yu Hakusho.’ He said the series ended because of his ‘selfishness,’ as he wanted to take time for himself and his other projects.
Still, while Togashi finished the main storyline, new media related to it kept coming through the years. Most recently, Netflix announced plans for a live-action adaptation of the series, with Kazutaka Sakamoto confirmed as director.
In 2022, IGN reported that Takumi Kitamura would be joining the cast of the upcoming version, alongside Kanata Hongo and Jun Shishon, with the actor explaining:
“The original work is a universal and unique masterpiece and a reason why Japan is so proud of its strong manga and anime culture. I am happy to share the masterpiece of Yu Yu Hakusho with the world, and I hope we can create something people everywhere will enjoy.”
Following the announcements, Netflix revealed the release date of the new ‘Yu Yu Hakusho’ show as December 2023 and introduced some character posters, which you can see below.
