To commemorate the life and 100-year anniversary of the birth of renowned Shigeru Mizuki, Toei Animations announced four major projects. The “Kitarō Tanjō: Gegege no Nazo” movie was announced as one of the four projects.
The franchise first began with Mizuki’s manga under the name “Hakaba Kitarō” in 1959. It went on to be adapted into seven anime series, numerous animated movies, and two live-action films. The story details the life of Kitarō, who walks the line between the human and the supernatural realms. Kitarō is the last survivor of the Ghost Tribe.
The series speaks about the adventures of Kitarō, where he encounters other ghouls and strange creatures of Japanese mythology. He has the remains of his father – Medama-Oyaji (a mummified Ghost tribesman reincarnated to inhabit his old eyeball), Nezumi-Otoko (the rat-man), Neko-Musume (the cat-girl), and many other creatures from the folklores for company as he tries to unite the human and the supernatural world.
The movie centers around the birth of Kitarō, the secret that Oyaji Medama holds, and the mysteries that seem all too familiar yet remain unknown to all. The latest “GeGeGe no Kitarō” anime was its sixth television adaption which aired in April 2018 and continued to broadcast until March 2020 containing 97 episodes in total.
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New Teaser Visual Unweils Premeire Date
The newest teaser visual of Kitarō Tanjō: Gegege no Nazo film that was revealed on Thursday includes the premiere date set for the opening of the movie. In the latest visual posted on Toei Animation’s official website, November 17 was announced as the opening date in Japan. The official Twitter page of Kitarō Tanjō: Gegege no Nazo also tweeted the same.
The visual was designed by Touko Yatabe, who is also credited as the character designer for the movie. Touko Yatabe was “GeGeGe no Kitarō’s” third ending sequence unit director and also has worked as assistant director on “Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time”.
Gou Koga is directing the film at Toei Animations. He is known for his work as a director in the anime “Gegege no Kitarō: Nippon Bakuretsu!!”, “One Piece Episode of Sabo”, and “Digimon Universe: Appli Monsters”. The screenplay is being handled by Hiroyuki Yoshino who is known for his notable screenwriting in “Macross Frontier”, “World Trigger”, and also working on 13 episodes of “GeGeGe no Kitarō” in 2018.
The role of Kitarō in the 2018 adaptation “GeGeGe no Kitarō” was brought to life by “Miyuki Sawashiro”. Miyuki is well renowned for her roles as “Sinon” in Sword Art Online II, “Kurapika” in Hunter × Hunter, and “Raiden Shogun/Raiden Ei” in Genshin Impact. “Masako Nozawa” played the role of Medama Oyaji.
Nozawa is the voice of “Son Goku”, “Son Gohan”, & “Son Goten” in the popular anime franchise Dragon Ball. Both will reprise their respective roles for the upcoming film along with Toshio Furukawa (“Piccolo” in Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, “Portgas D. Ace” in One Piece, and “Satotz” in Hunter × Hunter), who had taken up the role of Nezumi-Otoko.
The visual by Touko Yatabe depicts Kitarō, his father, and Mizuki (another main cast) is unveiled for the first time in a suit holding an infantry gun surrounded by multiple Jizo statues. The visual also contains the slogan “The most scary as the origin”.
The series has spanned for over 60 years, first as a manga and then with its multiple anime adaptations. In that span, the fan following of the series that first popularised the yōkai (A class of spirit monsters) has steadily increased. Now, the fandom is ready to receive not only the newest story in the series but also partake in enjoying Shigeru Mizuki’s brilliance once again. With multiple cast returning in their original suits, the excitement of the fans for the film’s release is palpable in the air.
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