GeGeGe no Kitarō


GeGeGe no Kitarō, originally known as, is a Japanese manga series created in 1960 by Shigeru Mizuki. It is best known for its popularization of the folklore creatures known as, a class of spirit-monster which all of the main characters belong to. This story was an early 20th-century Japanese folk tale performed on. It has been adapted for the screen several times, as anime, live action, and video games. The word GeGeGe in the title is similar to Japanese sound symbolism for a cackling noise but refers to Mizuki's childhood nickname, a mispronunciation of his given name.
Selections of the manga and the theatrical live-action films have been published in English, simply titled Kitaro. The 2018 anime series is streamed with English subtitles as GeGeGe no Kitaro. The publisher of the North American English manga is Drawn & Quarterly.

Plot

GeGeGe no Kitarō focuses on the young Kitarō—the last survivor of the Ghost Tribe—and his adventures with other ghouls and strange creatures of Japanese mythology. Along with: the remains of his father, Medama-Oyaji ; Nezumi-Otoko ; Neko-Musume and a host of other folkloric creatures, Kitarō strives to unite the worlds of humans and Yōkai.
Many storylines involve Kitarō facing off with myriad monsters from other countries, such as the Chinese vampire Yasha, the Transylvanian Dracula IV, and other such non-Japanese creations. In addition to this, Kitarō also locks horns with various malevolent who threaten the balance between the Japanese creatures and humans.
Some storylines make overt reference to traditional Japanese tales, most notably the folk tale of Momotarō, in which the young hero defends a Japanese territory from demons with the help of the native animals. The Kitarō series "The Great Yōkai War" draws a great deal of influence from this story, with Kitarō and his friends driving a group of Western ghouls away from an island.
While the character of Kitarō in GeGeGe no Kitarō is a friendly boy who genuinely wants the best outcome for humans and alike, his earlier incarnation in Hakaba Kitarō portrays him as a much more darkly mischievous character. His apparent lack of empathy for humans combined with his general greed and desire for material wealth drives him to act in an unbecoming manner towards the human characters—often deceptively leading them into nightmarish situations or even to hell itself.

Characters

;
;
;
;
;
; Konaki-jiji
; Ittan Momen
; Nurikabe
; Nurarihyon
; Back Beard

Analysis

The character Kitarō can be seen as an extension of artist Shigeru Mizuki himself. “Gegege,” a childhood nickname derived from Mizuki’s own mispronunciation of “Shigeru,” ties the creator and creation together. Mizuki’s own loss of a left arm in World War II mirrors Kitarō’s hidden eye, while Medama-oyaji might be read as the embodiment of a guiding force, perhaps even a symbolic stand-in for Mizuki’s missing limb.
Kitarō’s world is populated by both original yōkai created by Mizuki, such as Nezumi-otoko, and adapted figures from earlier folklore. Mizuki’s work frequently drew on sources like Kunio Yanagita’s Yōkai Meii and Toriyama Sekien’s illustrated catalogs, rendering visible many beings that had only existed as vague textual descriptions. For instance, Yanagita describes the “Sunakake-babaa” as an unseen yōkai found in Nara Prefecture. Mizuki transforms her into a vivid character. Similarly, the yōkai “Nurikabe”, an invisible wall that obstructs nighttime travelers, is given form as a blocky creature with eyes and legs.

Media

Kamishibai

The Kitarō story began life as a in 1933, written by Masami Itō and illustrated by Keiyō Tatsumi. Itō's version was called ; the title is generally written in katakana to distinguish it from Mizuki's version of the tale.
According to Itō, her Kitarō was based on local legends describing the same or similar stories. It is also said to be a loose reinterpretation of the similar Japanese folktale called the 子育て幽霊 or "The Candy-Buying Ghost", which were inspired by Chinese folklore from 12th to 13th centuries.
In 1954, Mizuki was asked to continue the series by his publisher, Katsumaru Suzuki.

Manga

Kitarō of the Graveyard was published as a rental manga in 1960, but it was considered too scary for children. In 1965, renamed to Hakaba no Kitarō, it appeared in Shōnen Magazine and ran through 1970. The series was renamed GeGeGe no Kitarō in 1967 and continued in Weekly Shōnen Sunday, Shōnen Action, Shukan Jitsuwa and many other magazines.
In 2002, GeGeGe no Kitarō was translated by Ralph F. McCarthy and compiled by Natsuhiko Kyogoku for Kodansha Bilingual Comics. Three bilingual volumes were released in 2002.
Since 2013, compilation volumes of selected manga chapters from the 1960s have been published by Drawn & Quarterly, with English translations by Zack Davisson and an introduction by Matt Alt in the first compilation volume. Drawn & Quarterly later published a large collection of Kitaro manga under the title Kitaro, with Jocelyne Allen as the translator. Zack Davisson wrote the volume's afterword.

Anime

Seven anime adaptations were made from Mizuki's manga series. They were broadcast on Fuji Television and animated by Toei Animation.
The opening theme to all six series is "GeGeGe no Kitarō", written by Mizuki himself. It has been sung by Kazuo Kumakura, Ikuzo Yoshi, Yūkadan, Shigeru Izumiya, the 50 Kaitenz and Kiyoshi Hikawa. The song was also used in the live-action films starring Eiji Wentz. In the first film, it was performed by Wentz' WaT partner Teppei Koike.
In January 2008, a series based on Hakaba Kitaro, premiered on Fuji TV during the late night hours in the Noitamina block. and unlike the usual anime versions, it is closer to Mizuki's manga and is not part of the existing remake canon. It also features a completely different opening theme song and ending theme song.
A seventh series, announced in early 2018, directed by Kōji Ogawa and written by Hiroshi Ohnogi started airing on Fuji TV on April 1, 2018, to celebrate the anime's 50th anniversary. The series concluded on March 29, 2020, as it entered its final arc, the "Nurarihyon Arc", on October 6, 2019. It streamed on Crunchyroll, making it the first Kitarō anime to be available in North America.
An English dub aired as Spooky Kitaro on Animax Asia. Hakaba Kitaro was released with English subtitles on DVD in Australia and New Zealand.
A rebroadcast program of all six of the franchise's television series, titled GeGeGe no Kitarō: My Favorite GeGeGe Generation, aired on Fuji TV and other channels from April 6 to September 21, 2025. The theme song for the program is a rendition of "" by Ado while the ending theme for the first half is "Party of Monsters" by Kiyoshi Hikawa featuring Tetsuya Komuro. For the second half, the ending theme is titled "Yami ni Goyōshin", performed by.

''GeGeGe no Kitarō'' series

''Hakaba Kitarō''

Films

; 1968 series
  • GeGeGe no Kitarō
; 1971 series
  • GeGeGe no Kitarō: The Divining Eye
; 1985 series
All films in the 1985 series produced by Kenji Yokoyama
FilmJapan
release date		Directed byWritten byAnimation directed by
GeGeGe no Kitarō: The Yokai ArmyTakeshi ShiratoHiroyuki HoshiyamaYasuhiro Yamaguchi
GeGeGe no Kitarō: The Great Yokai WarOsamu KasaiHiroyuki HoshiyamaYoshinori Kanemori
GeGeGe no Kitarō: The Strongest Yokai Army! Disembark for Japan!Yugo SerikawaHiroyuki HoshiyamaYasuhiro Yamaguchi
GeGeGe no Kitarō: Clash! The Great Rebellion of the Dimensional YokaiHiroki ShibataJunki TakegamiSatoru Iriyoshi & Hiromi Niioka

; 1996 series
  • GeGeGe no Kitarō: The Great Sea Beast
  • GeGeGe no Kitarō: Obake Nighter
  • GeGeGe no Kitarō: Yokai Express! The Phantom Train
; 2007 series
  • GeGeGe no Kitarō: Japan Explodes!!
; 2018 series
;Other
  • Yo-kai Watch Shadowside: Oni-ō no Fukkatsu — crossover film with the Yo-kai Watch series

    Live-action films

Two live-action films have been released. The first one, Kitaro, was released on April 28, 2007. It stars Eiji Wentz as Kitarō and Yo Oizumi as Nezumi Otoko. The film follows Kitarō as he tries to save a young high school girl, Mika Miura, while also trying to stop the powerful "spectre stone" from falling into the wrong hands. The live-action film makes extensive use of practical costumes and CG characters to depict the cast of.
The second film, Kitaro and the Millennium Curse, was released on July 12, 2008. Wentz reprised his role as Kitarō. It follows Kitarō and his friends as they try to solve a 1000-year-old curse that threatens the life of his human companion Kaede Hiramoto.

Video games