- Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24
- Audio Codec: Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0, English Dolby TrueHD 5.1
- Subtitles: English
- Region: AB (No Region C)
- Rating: Not Rated
- Discs: 3
- Studio: Funimation
- Blu-ray Release Date: May 31, 2011
- List Price: $44.98
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Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Series
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0.5/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Series
[Rating:3.5/5]
Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files is the anime series based on the original manga series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi. Originally adapted and directed by Akiyuki Arafusa and Noriyuki Abe and aired in Japan from 1992 to 1995, the series was licensed and brought to the English-speaking market by Funimation where it aired on television in the U.S. From 2002 through 2006 in various edited and uncut versions.
The series is a no holds barred, straight up anime fighting series, like Dragon Ball meets the paranormal world. It focuses on the teenaged Yusuke Urameshi, a delinquent who rather than going to school, spends his days getting into street brawls and hanging around gangs. But in an unlikely act of altruism, Yusuke runs in front of a speeding car to save a little boy’s life and ends up dying. He becomes a ghost and is met by Botan, a beautiful young woman claiming to be the Reaper, working for Koenma, son of the king of the Underworld. They offer him a chance to get his life back through a series of trials. Eventually, Yusuke does earn the right to return to his body and the world of the living through the help of his friend Keiko. He is endowed with superhuman powers and enlisted as a Spirit Detective, working to track down demons in the land of the living.
From this point, the series becomes increasingly action-dominated, as Yusuke is faced with a series of fighting tournaments and increasingly powerful opponents, not unlike Dragon Ball. It is nicely done in its visual style and brings together the usual mix of fantasy, paranormal, and martial arts for a satisfying anime experience.
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
This is an HD native 1080p AVC transfer from film. It arrives with a 1.33:1 framing and it looks rather good, all things considered. There is a little bit of source damage evident on occasion and grain is sometimes a little on the course side, but overall, it shows a good level of detail, well-defined line art, and stable, vivid color reproduction.
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
English or Japanese, you get a lossless Dolby TrueHD mix. The English is 5.1 and the Japanese 2.0. Neither mix is very adventurous. The English 5.1 uses the surrounds for extremely subtle ambient sound and the stereo imaging across the front channels is narrow. The Japanese 2.0 mix presents another extremely narrow stereo track that may as well be monaural. Either one will give clear and clean dialogue.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0.5/5]
There isn’t anything here outside of the obligatory trailers and textless opening and closing theme songs:
- Textless Opening Song “Smile Bomb”
- Textless Closing Song “ The Homework Doesn’t End”
- Trailers:
- Sgt. Frog
- D.Gray-man
- Disgaea
- Hero Tales
- Kenichi
- One Piece
- Yu Yu Hakusho
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3.5/5]
Funimation has done an excellent job on this production. Although purists will definitely want to stick with the Japanese audio track given the wide divergence in the translation, this release offers up solid visuals with cool martial arts action and just the right amount of fantasy.
Additional Screen Captures
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[amazon-product]B004GZZGWC[/amazon-product]
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Series
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0.5/5]
