Fans greet upcoming 'Ghost Fighter' live-action series with hope and doubt

MANILA, Philippines — So, you might have heard that Netflix had picked up "Yu Yu Hakusho" aka "Ghost Fighter" for a live adaptation? This should be good news but the reaction was anything but overwhelmingly welcoming. 

Of course, many were excited hoping it would "give justice" to their childhood dreams. But there were a lot who were apprehensive after a series of anime/manga made into live action falling short of expectations. 

Most of those who were in doubt were those who watched the live adaptation of "Death Note".

"Remember when Netflix made 'Death Note' live action?" wrote Marco Roque on the comments section of GMA News' Facebook page. The network is known for airing the Tagalog-subbed anime in 1999 but prior to it airing the show, it premiered on IBC-13 in the mid-1990s. 

"Death Note" is a manga created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata published in Weekly Shonen Jump from 2003 to 2006. It was adapted into an anime series and several films including the 2017 "loose" adaptation by Netflix.

There were others who gave their benefit of the doubt. 

"As long as its as good as the live action 'Rurouni Kenshin' or at least 'Bleach'... I'm good," commented Azura Luna. 

"Rurouni Kenshin" is highly regarded as one of the few well-loved live action adaptation based on an anime/manga. It was also shown as a Tagalog-dubbed anime in the now-defunct Studio 23. "Bleach" live action movie had relative success as fans either loved or hated the adaptation of Tite Kubo's manga, which was also made into an anime and was shown in GMA-7. 

"Natawa naman ako sa caption. 'Tapusin. tapusin.' Pero sa tingin ko naman maganda ang result nito kasi Japanese ang producer and some actors are also Japanese. Maganda rin naman ang ibang pinuproduce ng Netflix kagaya ng 'Alice in Borderland.' Malay naman natin," wrote another fan, refering to Haro Aso's manga that was published from 2010 to 2015.  Netflix released its live adaptation this month. 

"Ghost Fighter" was the title of the aired Tagalog-dubbed show in GMA-7. The leads had Western sounding names like Eugene, Dennis, Vincent and Alfred. 

Originally titled "Yu Yu Hakusho" by series creator and illustrator Yoshihiro Togashi, the serialized manga was published in "Weekly Shonen Jump" and was made into an anime series from 1992 to 1995. 

It tells the adventures of Yusuke Urameshi (Eugene), a high school student who often figures in a fight. He dies in an accident while trying to protect a young child. It was during his time in limbo that he is recruited as a "spirit detective" fighting demons in the spirit world. Along the way, he befriends an unlikely group of people: his rival and the gangly Kazuma Kuwabara (Alfred), the brooding and mysterious Hiei (Vincent), and the gorgeous looking man who loves roses Kurama (Dennis). 

For sure, they will appear in the adaptation as well as Genkai (Master Jeremiah) and the pacifier-loving, ruler of the spirit world, Koenma (Jericho). It would be nice to see the Taguro brothers seeing action in the live adaptation, too. 

So, are you ready to blast your "Ray guns"? 

We sure cannot wait.