GeGeGe no Kitaro

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GeGeGe no Kitaro
Kitaro and his yōkai friends.
ゲゲゲの鬼太郎
(GeGeGe no Kitarō)
Demographic Shōnen
Genre Comedy, Supernatural
Manga
Author Shigeru Mizuki
Publisher Flag of Japan Kodansha
Serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine
Original run 1959 – 1969
Volumes 9
TV anime: GeGeGe no Kitaro
Director Isao Takahata
Studio Toei Animation
Network Fuji Television
Original run January 3, 1968 – March 30, 1969
Episodes 65
TV anime: GeGeGe no Kitaro (2nd)
Director Isao Takahata
Studio Toei Animation
Network Fuji Television
Original run October 7, 1971 – September 28, 1972
Episodes 45
TV anime: GeGeGe no Kitaro (3rd)/Jigoku-hen
Director Osamu Kasai
Hiroki Shibata
Studio Toei Animation
Network Fuji Television
Original run October 12, 1985 – March 21, 1988
Episodes 115
TV anime: GeGeGe no Kitaro (4th)
Director Daisuke Nishio
Studio Toei Animation
Network Fuji Television
Original run January 7, 1996 – March 29, 1998
Episodes 114
TV anime: GeGeGe no Kitaro (5th)
Director Yukio Kawazu
Studio Toei Animation
Network Fuji Television
Original run April, 2007 – NA
Game
Platform PlayStation
Released Flag of Japan 2003
Movie: GeGeGe no Kitaro
Director Katsuhide Motoki
Studio Shochiku
Released Flag of Japan April 28, 2007
Runtime 103 minutes

GeGeGe no Kitaro (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 GeGeGe no Kitarō?) is a manga series created in 1959 (under the alternative title Hakaba Kitarō (墓場鬼太郎?)) by manga artist Shigeru Mizuki. It is best known for its popularization of the folklore creatures known as yōkai, a class of spirit-monster to which all of the main characters belong. It has been adapted for the screen several times, as anime, live-action, and video games.

Contents

Kitaro (鬼太郎 Kitarō?)
Kitaro is a yōkai boy born in a cemetery, and aside from his mostly-decayed father, the last living member of the Ghost tribe (幽霊族 yūrei zoku?). He is missing his left eye, but his hair usually covers the empty socket. He fights for peace between humans and yōkai, which generally involves protecting the former from the wiles of the latter.
Kitaro has an assortment of strange weapons at his disposal, including:
  • remote-controlled geta sandals
  • a detachable hand, also remote-controlled
  • a magic chanchanko vest which can protect its wearer from danger
  • Spiny hairs which can be shot like arrows
  • Another hair which can serve as an antenna for detecting spirit activity
  • A magical ocarina (usually used for calling Ittan Momen), which contains a baton, a whip and occasionally music which has the power to damage certain ghosts.


Medama Oyaji (目玉のおやじ, or 目玉親父? Lit. "Eyeball Father")
Medama Oyaji is Kitaro's father. Once a fully-formed adult, he perished of a disease, only to be reborn out of his decayed body as an anthropomorphic version of his own eyeball. He looks small and fragile, but has a strong spirit and a great love for his son. He is also extremely knowledgeable about ghosts and monsters. He enjoys staying clean, and is often seen bathing in a small bowl.


Nezumi Otoko (ねずみ男? "Rat Man")
Nezumi Otoko is a rodent-like yōkai-human halfbreed. He has been alive for three hundred years, and in that time has almost never taken a bath, rendering him filthy, foul-smelling, and covered in welts and sores. While he is usually Kitaro's friend, Nezumi Otoko will waste no time cooking up vile schemes or betraying his companions if he thinks there's money to be had or a powerful enemy to side with. He claims to be a college graduate of the University of the Bizarre (怪奇大学 Kaiki Daigaku?).


Neko Musume (猫娘 or ねこ娘? "Cat Girl")
A normally-quiet yōkai girl, who transforms into a frightening cat monster with fangs and feline eyes when she is angry or hungry for fish. Predictably, she does not get along well with Nezumi Otoko. She seems to harbor a slight crush on Kitaro, who sees her only as a friend. She bears some resemblance to the bakeneko of Japanese folklore.


Sunakake Babaa (砂かけ婆? "Sand-throwing hag")
Sunakake Babaa is an old yōkai woman who carries sand which she throws into the eyes of enemies to blind them. She serves as an advisor to Kitaro and his companions, and manages a yōkai apartment building. The original sunakake-baba is an invisible sand-throwing spirit from the folklore of Nara Prefecture.


Konaki Jijii (子泣き爺? "Child-crying Old Man")
Konaki Jijii is a comic, absent-minded old yōkai man who attacks enemies by clinging to them and turning himself to stone, increasing his weight immensely and pinning them down. He and Sunakake Babaa often work as a team. The original konaki jijii is a ghost which is said to appear in the woods of Tokushima Prefecture in the form of a crying infant. When it is picked up by some hapless traveller, it increases its weight until it crushes him.


Ittan Momen (一反木綿? "Roll of Cotton")
Ittan Momen is a flying yōkai resembling a strip of white cloth. Kitaro and friends often ride on him when traveling. The original ittan-momen is a spirit from Kagoshima Prefecture myth which wraps itself around the faces of humans in an attempt to smother them.


Nurikabe (ぬりかべ? "Plastered Wall")
Nurikabe is a large, sleepy-eyed wall-shaped yōkai, who uses his massive size to protect Kitaro and his friends. The original Nurikabe is a spirit which blocks the passage of people walking at night.


The original manga version of GeGeGe-no-Kitaro appeared on Shonen Magazine 1966-1970. The series continued on Shonen Sunday, Shonen Action, Shuukan Jitsuwa and many other magazines.

In 2002 GeGeGe-no-Kitaro was translated by Ralph F. McCarthy and compiled by Natsuhiko Kyogoku for Kodansha Bilingual Comics. [1]

Gegege no Kitaro was broadcasted on Fuji Television in five different iterations:

  1. 1968-1969
  2. 1971-1972
  3. 1985-1988
  4. 1996-1998
  5. 2007-????

All of the above were animated by Toei Animation.

Music

The opening theme to all five series was "Gegege no Kitaro". It has been sung by Kazuo Kumakura (1st, 2nd), Ikuzo Yoshi (3rd), Yūkadan (4th), and Shigeru Izumiya (5th).

  • July 21, 1968: Gegege no Kitarō (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎?) (Retelling of Anime 1, Episodes 5~6)
  • July 12, 1980: Gegege no Kitarō: The All Seeing Eye (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 地相眼, Gegege no Kitarō Chisōme?) (Retelling of Anime 2, Episode 37)

Based on the 3rd Anime, the following have original plots:

  • December 21, 1985: Gegege no Kitarō
  • March 15, 1986: Gegege no Kitarō: The Great Yōkai War (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 妖怪大戦争, Gegege no Kitarō Yōkai Dai Sensō?)
  • July 12, 1986: Gegege no Kitarō: Strongest Yōkai Corps!Dismebark to Japan!! (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 最強妖怪軍団! 日本上陸!!, Gegege no Kitarō Saikyō Yōkai Gundan! Nihon Jōriku!!?)
  • December 20, 1986: Gegege no Kitarō: Crash!! The Great Rebellion of the Multi-Dimensional Yōkai (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 激突!! 異次元妖怪の大反乱, Gegege no Kitarō Gekitotsu!! Ijigen Yōkai no Dai Hanran?)

Based on the 4th Anime, the following have original plots:

  • July 6, 1996: Gegege no Kitarō: The Great Sea Beast (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 大海獣, Gegege no Kitarō Dai Kaijū?)
  • March 8, 1997: Gegege no Kitarō: The Obake Nighter (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 お化けナイター?)
  • July 12, 1997: Gegege no Kitarō: Yōkai Express! The Phantom Train (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 妖怪特急! まぼろしの汽車, Gegege no Kitarō Yōkai Tokkyū! Maboroshi no Kisha?)

CG Character Voices

  • In Episode 6 of the Japanese drama Hana-Kimi, the protagonist Ashiya Mizuki (Horikita Maki) is quoted as saying that Izumi Sano (Oguri Shun) looks like "Kitaro", due to the way Sano's hair is styled. Sano then said that Mizuki must be "Medama Oyaji", since Mizuki always has 'his' eye on Sano.

  1. ^ Akado retail, Kodansha International

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeGeGe_no_Kitaro"
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