Home :: DVD :: Art House & International  

Asian Cinema
British Cinema
European Cinema
General
Latin American Cinema
Ninku/ Yu Yu Hakusho

Ninku/ Yu Yu Hakusho

List Price: $19.95
Your Price: $17.96
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 >>

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Mixed Reviews - 4 stars YYH and 2 for Nunku = 3 overall
Review: The Yu Yu Hakusho Movie is great IF you are already familiar with the series. If you don't know a thing about Yu Yu Hakusho you're going to be lost. It jumps straight into the story without giving you any background information. If you have the basics of the manga or the TV series you won't have any problem enjoying it. Plot: Koenma(jr) gets kidnapped with Yusuke and team racing to the rescue.

As for the Ninku Movie all I can say is to picture the Simpsons as Martial Artists.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: 2 Movies, 30 Minutes Each
Review: This DVD contains two short theatrical movies from the "Ninku" anime series and the "Yu Yu Hakusho" anime series. "Ninku" is about three Ninku (ninja-like) warriors: Fusuke (the bug-eyed boy), Aicho, and Toji. Also part of the group is Toji's sister Rihoko, played by the excellent Japanese seiyuu Hayashibara Megumi. Thier biplane crashes and when the go to apply for bodyguard jobs in the nearby town, they discover a group of imposters has taken their name.

In "Yu Yu Hakusho", Koenma-sama (Lord Koenma) has been kidnapped and the randsom demand is the Golden Seal of Enma-sama (King Enma). Botan enlists the help of Yuske and Kuwabara and they are soon joined by the rest of their team -- Hiei and Kurama. Now they must rescue Koenma-sama and keep the Golden Seal out of the enemy's hands.

Since this was not done by FUNimation, the English dub cast of "Yu Yu Hakusho" is different. Not only that, but the English script is such that the characters, especially Hiei, come off different from how they are in the Japanese version. The subtitles for both movies are very readable which is good. No honorifics are used and the Ninku subtitles are especially suspect in spots. The Japanese audio for "Yu Yu Hakusho" is just awful. It was done in *MONO* for crying out loud! What is that about? There was no excuse for this on the DVD.

Bottom line: Two fluff movies which are little more than slightly longer "filler" TV episodes. If you are a fan of either series, you'll want to check this out for fun. Otherwise, don't break your neck trying to add it to your collection.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: 2 Movies, 30 Minutes Each
Review: This DVD contains two short theatrical movies from the "Ninku" anime series and the "Yu Yu Hakusho" anime series. "Ninku" is about three Ninku (ninja-like) warriors: Fusuke (the bug-eyed boy), Aicho, and Toji. Also part of the group is Toji's sister Rihoko, played by the excellent Japanese seiyuu Hayashibara Megumi. Thier biplane crashes and when the go to apply for bodyguard jobs in the nearby town, they discover a group of imposters has taken their name.

In "Yu Yu Hakusho", Koenma-sama (Lord Koenma) has been kidnapped and the randsom demand is the Golden Seal of Enma-sama (King Enma). Botan enlists the help of Yuske and Kuwabara and they are soon joined by the rest of their team -- Hiei and Kurama. Now they must rescue Koenma-sama and keep the Golden Seal out of the enemy's hands.

Since this was not done by FUNimation, the English dub cast of "Yu Yu Hakusho" is different. Not only that, but the English script is such that the characters, especially Hiei, come off different from how they are in the Japanese version. The subtitles for both movies are very readable which is good. No honorifics are used and the Ninku subtitles are especially suspect in spots. The Japanese audio for "Yu Yu Hakusho" is just awful. It was done in *MONO* for crying out loud! What is that about? There was no excuse for this on the DVD.

Bottom line: Two fluff movies which are little more than slightly longer "filler" TV episodes. If you are a fan of either series, you'll want to check this out for fun. Otherwise, don't break your neck trying to add it to your collection.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: 2 Movies, 30 Minutes Each
Review: This DVD contains two short theatrical movies from the "Ninku" anime series and the "Yu Yu Hakusho" anime series. "Ninku" is about three Ninku (ninja-like) warriors: Fusuke (the bug-eyed boy), Aicho, and Toji. Also part of the group is Toji's sister Rihoko, played by the excellent Japanese seiyuu Hayashibara Megumi. Thier biplane crashes and when the go to apply for bodyguard jobs in the nearby town, they discover a group of imposters has taken their name.

In "Yu Yu Hakusho", Koenma-sama (Lord Koenma) has been kidnapped and the randsom demand is the Golden Seal of Enma-sama (King Enma). Botan enlists the help of Yuske and Kuwabara and they are soon joined by the rest of their team -- Hiei and Kurama. Now they must rescue Koenma-sama and keep the Golden Seal out of the enemy's hands.

Since this was not done by FUNimation, the English dub cast of "Yu Yu Hakusho" is different. Not only that, but the English script is such that the characters, especially Hiei, come off different from how they are in the Japanese version. The subtitles for both movies are very readable which is good. No honorifics are used and the Ninku subtitles are especially suspect in spots. The Japanese audio for "Yu Yu Hakusho" is just awful. It was done in *MONO* for crying out loud! What is that about? There was no excuse for this on the DVD.

Bottom line: Two fluff movies which are little more than slightly longer "filler" TV episodes. If you are a fan of either series, you'll want to check this out for fun. Otherwise, don't break your neck trying to add it to your collection.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Ehhh.....
Review: When turning an anime series into a 30-minute movie, it's very important to consider what type of series you're changing. The Ranma 1/2 movie that was 30 minutes, for example, was still good, because most Ranma episodes are self-contained stories. YYH on the other hand, usually has stories that can take 5-30 episodes to tell. Sadly, the movie is over very quickly, and ends before we can really have an established story. Yes, they save the day(and Koenma) in the end, but it just feels like a rush. As for the dub, it was okay, I guess. It is better than the other movie's dub, though, which featured the voice cast from the Slayers and 4Kids. This actually does have a few decent dub actors, including excellent voice actor Stven Jay Blum(Cowboy Bebop's Spike, Big O's Roger Smith, GTO's Onizuka, as well as guest voices on US stuff like What's New Scooby-Doo and the Powerpuff Girls), and even David Hayter(voice of Solid Snake in MGS and Lupin in COC, as well as scripter of the X-Men films) as none other than Kurama(!). If you're a hardcore fan, you may want to get it, but others should either rent or try the other movie instead.

As for Ninku, well, that was just weird.....

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Ehhh.....
Review: When turning an anime series into a 30-minute movie, it's very important to consider what type of series you're changing. The Ranma 1/2 movie that was 30 minutes, for example, was still good, because most Ranma episodes are self-contained stories. YYH on the other hand, usually has stories that can take 5-30 episodes to tell. Sadly, the movie is over very quickly, and ends before we can really have an established story. Yes, they save the day(and Koenma) in the end, but it just feels like a rush. As for the dub, it was okay, I guess. It is better than the other movie's dub, though, which featured the voice cast from the Slayers and 4Kids. This actually does have a few decent dub actors, including excellent voice actor Stven Jay Blum(Cowboy Bebop's Spike, Big O's Roger Smith, GTO's Onizuka, as well as guest voices on US stuff like What's New Scooby-Doo and the Powerpuff Girls), and even David Hayter(voice of Solid Snake in MGS and Lupin in COC, as well as scripter of the X-Men films) as none other than Kurama(!). If you're a hardcore fan, you may want to get it, but others should either rent or try the other movie instead.

As for Ninku, well, that was just weird.....


<< 1 2 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates