Too condenced

Not sure why no one thought that maybe, just maybe, squeezing close to 70 anime episodes into just 5 for live action might not be such a good idea...

This unfortunately feels more like a messy recap than a complete adaptation, one that placed too much focus on the beginning and speedrushed the end

I understand that when adapting an anime to live action some changes need to be made, be it due to time constraints or to make it work on camera, but too many key moments that would've added to the worldbuilding and character developement were brushed over and lost thruout this production

I find it to be quite a pity, this series had everything going for it, adapting a beloved anime, beautifully done and faithful costume designs, a more than decent cast, Hiei was cast to perfection and i wish he would've had more chances to flesh out his character, close second goes to Koenma

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Hit or miss

Not a bad adaptation, less erratic than the anime in pace and tone, but still a bit of a flop for me

First 40ish minutes are very slow paced, although once it picks up it stays quite stable thruout the movie, but this improvement feels a bit of a too little too late situation

Casting especially was a hit or miss for me, some characters are cast to perfection, big bad Tokushiro, the hilarious Yoshitake, and psychotic twins Yohei and Kohei were the stand outs of this movie, i howevere wasn't so convinced about the two leads...
Sugimoto and Asirpa had near zero chemistry on screen, resulting in their scenes together coming off as quite lifeless.
Sugimoto does get a lot more animated when interacting with other characters though.
Asirpa on the other hand... unfortunately it seems her role is cursed for me, as i wasn't a fan of neither her live action nor her anime portrayal

On a more positive note, the action scenes are a feast for the eyes with their breathtaking fight choreography

And of course Retar is always adorable :3

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