Netflix’s Yu Yu Hakusho ending explained: Does Toguro die?
Netflix Netflix’s Yu Yu Hakusho arrived with several surprises for the fandom. As the first season of the J-Drama ended with the fifth episode, Toguro’s fate was decided.
Yu Yu Hakusho animanga was already popular among the 90s kids, and now the live-action made every fan nostalgic. Even though the Netflix series won the viewers’ hearts, several loyal fans aren’t happy with it. That’s because the five-episodic series condensed the story that took the anime 112 episodes to complete.
The Netflix adaptation couldn’t cover every arc from the manga in its entirety due to the short length. To be precise, the five episodes covered the events from 66 episodes of the anime series. There were several elements that were left out in the live-action adaptation.
Of course, this abridged format worked well for the newcomers. Still, the series surely did a disservice to Toguro, who is probably the most exciting and complex character in Yu Yu Hakusho’s world.
Does Toguro Die in Yu Yu Hakusho live-action?
Yes, Toguro meets his dark fate in Netflix’s Yu Yu Hakusho. The final episode of the J-Drama sees his defeat at the hands of Yusuke.
In the concluding episode of Yu Yu Hakusho’s live-action, we saw several fight sequences, but the major one was definitely Yusuke vs. Toguro. Initially, Kurama, Yusuke, and Hiei team up against Toguro, but the trio still can’t bring down this beast.
After a while, Yusuke somehow manages to channel the energy of the Spirit Orb given to him by Genkai. He uses that energy to land powerful blows on Toguro. Even though he knocks down the human form of the enemy, the delinquent can’t stop Toguro from revealing his Yokai form.
After transforming into his Yokai form, which somehow reminds us of My Hero Academia’s Muscular guy, Goto Imasuji, Toguro dominates the fight. However, he didn’t finish Yusuke since he wanted to bring out the boy’s true potential. So, he threatens to kill Yusuke’s friends and almost kills Kuwabara, that actually does the job. Finally, Yusuke channels all of his energy into a single spirit gun attack, and like a traditional anime fighter, Toguro faces the attack head-on.
Surprisingly, Yusuke’s spirit gun was too much to handle for Toguro. Eventually, the Yokai acknowledges Yusuke’s strength before turning to ash. Moreover, it comes as a shock when Koenma reveals that Toguro and his elder brother turned into Yokai to grow stronger after they had to witness the deaths of their loved ones at the hands of a Yokai.
Even after getting revenge, Toguro couldn’t forgive himself, and that is why he continued living a life full of torture. He was deliberately seeking a stronger opponent so that he could be killed. That’s why, after death, Toguro chooses hell for himself. However, before that, he bids a final goodbye to his former peer, Genkai.
Yu Yu Hakusho anime vs. live-action
As previously mentioned, Yu Yu Hakusho’s live-action was a lot different from the anime. Several arcs were merged or changed in the Netflix show. For instance, Yukina’s rescue arc never saw the intense final showdown between Yusuke and Toguro in the anime.
Basically, that was Yusuke and Toguro’s first confrontation, in which both of them survived- thanks to Kuwabara, who landed the final blow on the beast to help Yusuke flee from the location. After their first meeting, Toguro returns to invite Yusuke and his friends to the Dark tournament.
On the other hand, the live-action made us bid farewell to Yusuke’s master very soon as Genkai was there until the Dark Tournament in the anime. In fact, she participated in the tournament herself.
It was definitely a creative take to shorten the story into five episodes, but killing off major characters like Genkai and Toguro doesn’t leave much room for a Season 2.
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