Yu Yu Hakusho/Ninku: Double Feature Mediablasters 60 minutes English/Japanese English Subtitles 1/30/2000

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The idea of this DVD is not something that sits entirely well with me, two completely different 'movies' from two completely different shows, both of which were well past the point of being considered "old" and not too well known (at that time) in the US in the same package? Are people honestly going to care about this? The way I figure it, either Mediablasters was looking to release something for the hardcore fansubbing crowd or they got the licensing rights to this show for six dollars and figured 'Hey, we might as well'. When you consider that you can find this thing for about $11 online, depending on how hard you look, that's not a terrible guess. Yu Yu Hakusho is the story of Yusuke. Yusuke's dead, but of course you don't know that because you're not a fan of the show. They don't really go to any extent to TELL you this and that's not a total surprise. If you're watching this movie, the assumption is probably that you've got at least a -little- background with the show. When you watch the Homicide movie they don't go to any lengths to inform you that Pemberton is a detective. The difference is that being a detective is something important to the story, and something you'd be able to guess. Yusuke being dead doesn't really seem to impinge on his life or social status any.

Yusuke and his best buddy Kazuma are in a bid of trouble when this thing starts. Or logically they would be, as they're facing off against a crew of twenty or thirty punks who seem to think that the heroes are encroaching upon their turf. You know what I say? Big deal! It's a freaking construction yard! But I would imagine that Yusuke and friends don't much appreciate being told what to do, that, or they just plain like cement mixers. Maybe a little of column A, a little of column B. This is when their witch-like, oar riding and totally useless in a fight female companion Botan flies in to tell them that their best buddy Prince Koenma is in some trouble. After a brief amount of exposition where a mild mannered demon tells them how Koenma was captured the Yusuke crew is off to save him. What does saving a baby spirit prince entail? Running, a LOT of running. I don't even think The Running Man had this much running in it, and Yu Yu Hakusho certainly doesn't contain nearly as many clever one liners. However, what it DOES have is a very femnine guy, voiced by a woman, who is sure to be a fan favorite (because his type always is). Yu Yu Hakusho : The Movie is a 25 minute fight scene. Eventually the protagonists get tired of having to stop in their cardio workout every few minutes to deal with evil tree monsters and just start running THROUGH the fights. Classic.

The Ninku 'movie' fares a bit better in my eyes, though still not great when you figure that I have no idea who these characters are, nor do I really care to find out. The Ninku squad were a group of guys who were instrumental in saving the world during some war from what I can gather. Despite this, they're relegated to flying around in a busted up Bi-plane and never having enough food. This is for whoever thinks never having enough food is funny/original: It's not! In fact, the most original thing in this show is the lead ninja's character design. If I were to venture a guess, I'd imagine that Fusuke's power is SCARING THE HELL OUT OF ANY ENEMY HE MEETS. Look, I'm no prized pig myself, but at least I can make the claim that my pupils don't take up the greater area of my eyeballs. The plot of the movie involves the Ninku clan running into a group of imposters and showing them off via grade school "The more you know" PSAs. So what you're telling me is that as long as your heart's in the right place you can feel free to steal from townsfolk and even get rewarded for it! Sounds like a sweet deal to me, and the imposter (pictured right) doesn't even have to deal with the reject of a face that the real Fusuke has.

As you've already guessed, the imposters eventually have to show their mettle and run away like cowards while the real Ninku warriors go about saving the village from total descruction at the hands of the evil guy and his back up Glam rocker. Then, in a not so surprising display of generosity, the real saviors decide to give the reward money to the struggling circus folk who were impersonating them. Forget that! If it was me in that situation I'd give them a belt across the face and tell them that if they wanted to keep on getting on, they better set their sights on Bobo the elephant. But maybe the rest of you don't share my sentiment, I don't know. Ninku: The Movie is still ridiculous, but at least there's some seriously slick choreography going on in the fight scene at the very end. Barring any comments on his general apperance, that little Fusuke fellow really knows how to break it down in a way that I'd call half Capoeira/half monkey guy from Bloodsport. But a good fight scene really isn't enough to justify the purchase of this, even if you can get it for half the price of some other random show. Despite the overwhelming lust this awesome cover art inspires in me, I'm pretty sure you could do without picking this thing up. I certainly wish I had.