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GeGeGe no Kitarō (2007)

Revision as of 17:44, 12 July 2018 by Still doll85 (Message Wall | contribs)
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The fifth anime was aired from April 1, 2007 to March 29, 2009. It ran for 100 episodes. This series was notable for portraying Neko-Musume as a main rather than supporting cast member and for taking place primarily at the setting of Yōkai Yokochō.

Story

"Hello, humans. My name is GeGeGe no Kitarō. If strange or mysterious things happen around you, it is undoubtedly the work of a yōkai. In many cases, yōkai just cause mischief or will only threaten humans. However, please be careful. I can't guarantee that there are other yōkai that will understand you humans like we do. There are yōkai that target and attack humans. It would mean serious trouble if you came across them. Standing your ground with human abilities alone will not be enough. The truth is, yōkai are amazing. Honestly, my friends and I are allies of humans; we're the ones that solve incidents by defeating evil yōkai. With that being said, if anything scary happens, please call out for me! My dad, Neko-Musume, Sunakake-Babaa, Konaki-Jijii and the others will continue to protect you from fearsome yōkai! Next time, we will appear in front of you!"

About

As established with the title of the first epsiode, "The Street Where Yōkai Dwell", this series stood out for focusing primarily on the lives and struggles of the yōkai like on Yōkai Yokochō. The style mixes social commentary and pop culture trends, and each episode starts with Kitarō narrating to the audience in a darkened area to build anticipation for the story.

Other unique elements to this series include the depiction of Kitarō as several decades old but still with the body of a child. He is also more willing to punish humans who commit wicked deeds, especially if children are involved. Neko-Musume is promoted from supporting cast to main heroine and appears in every episode along with Kitarō and Medama-Oyaji. In contrast, Nezumi-Otoko has a significantly smaller role, whereas in the past he appeared in all but a couple of episodes throughout the other four adaptations. Although his basic treatment was unchanged, there were several episodes early on where he barely appeared or didn't appear at all. There are also several episodes that are treated as sequels to classic stories, or episodes that are adaptations of classic stories but have a mostly original plot. In the episodes that referenced past cases, the exact details of the cases were left unclear, and elements from the original stories were mixed in with the new plot. For example, in episode #3 they mention having fought Yasha in the past and implications are made he is the same character from the fourth series. Writer Keiichi Hasegawa claims to not be aware of the referrences, but head writer Riku Sanjō has suggested it's easier for the fans to think it's the older characters.

The Yōkai Post is used less frequently, and more often it is Neko-Musume who informs Kitarō of yōkai activity.

Yōkai who had usually only made a handful of appearance in past adaptations, such as Kawauso and Azuki-Arai, are given far more screen time and battle appearances, though as a result of this, the regular Kitarō Family members have a somewhat smaller presence. Weapons like the Yōkai Ocarina and close human allies like Yumeko Tendō or Yūko Murakami are absent this time around, although there is a recurring human character in Makoto Washio. However, the team of Nurarihyon and Shu no Bon were brought back as the main antagonists. Unlike previous adaptations, Nurarihyon is depicted as a completely legitimate threat with very few comical moments, although he does show a shred of humanity. He was also depicted with more regular minions other than Shu no Bon and even gathered some as the series progressed. The Western Yōkai, who had always made only one appearance in previous adaptations, were also made recurring antagonists. Other long term plans of the series included the 47 Yōkai Warriors, allies of Kitarō's representing each of the 47 prefectures of Japan who were to be introduced gradually.

In an interview with "Otona Anime", Sanjō expressed interest in building the show to run for several years, but the series was abruptly cancelled to make room for the series "Dragon Ball Kai". A lot of stories were left unsettled and so many staff and voice actors of the series referred to the cancellation as a hiatus. In the outro for the final episode, Kitarō even implies the series may continue at a future date. Following the cancellation, Kitarō's voice actress Minami Takayama and other staff members teamed up with Shigeru Mizuki to begin campaigning for a continuation of the series, even campaigning at the World Yōkai Association's annual event in Kyoto at the Toei Kyoto Studio Park.

The entire series was shot digitally, in contrast to the previous series which didn't go digital until episode 64. It was broadcast in widescreen for the terrestrial broadcast and it was displayed in high definition, though this was actually done with upscaling. It was originally cut to full screen for analogue broadcasts, but in December 2008 this changed to letterbox.

Theme Songs

Opening
  1. GeGeGe no Kitarō - Shigeru Izumiya {Ep. 1~51)
  2. GeGeGe no Kitarō - The 50 Kaitens (Ep. 52~100)
Endings
  1. Urameshi Ya - Hidekazu Nagai (Ep. 1~26)
  2. Yōkai Yokochō GeGeGe Bushi - Junichi Suwabe (Ep. 27~51)
  3. Kakumei no Uta ~Diggin'~ - Rock'a'Trench (Ep. 52~64)
  4. Natsu no Mamono - Tsuru (Ep. 65~76)
  5. Star Fruits - Merengue (Ep. 75~89)
  6. Mikazuki to Kitakaze - Hi Lockation Markets (Ep. 90~100)

Episodes

# Title Original airdate Written by Directed by Animation director Yōkai

Cast

Main Cast
Minami Takayama Isamu Tanonaka Hiromi Konno Wataru Takagi
Minami Takayama
as
Kitarō 		Isamu Tanonaka
as
Medama-Oyaji
Youaltepuztli 		Hiromi Konno
as
Neko-Musume 		Wataru Takagi
as
Nezumi-Otoko
Shibaten
Main Cast
Keiko Yamamoto Naoki Tatsuta Jouji Yanami
Keiko Yamamoto
as
Sunakake-Babaa
Shisa 		Naoki Tatsuta
as
Konaki-Jijii
Nurikabe 		Jōji Yanami
as
Ittan-Momen
Main Recurring Cast
Yuuko Maruyama Haruna Ikezawa Machiko Toyoshima Sara Nakayama Hideyuki Tanaka Toshio Furukawa
Yūko Maruyama
as
Kawauso 		Haruna Ikezawa
as
Amabie 		Machiko Toyoshima
as
Rokuro-Kubi
Kuro 		Sara Nakayama
as
Yobuko 		Hideyuki Tanaka
as
Bakerō 		Toshio Furukawa
as
Aobōzu
Recurring Cast
Tomoko Naka Yasuhiro Takato Masato Hirano Takeshi Kusao Hikaru Midorikawa
Tomoko Naka
as
Ohaguro-Bettari
Jion-Ō 		Yasuhiro Takato
as
Kasa-Bake
Wild
Kyūso 		Masato Hirano
as
Abura-Sumashi 		Takeshi Kusao
as
Makoto Washio 		Hikaru Midorikawa
as
Kuro-Karasu
Recurring Cast
Takeshi Aono Katsuyuki Konishi Reiko Suzuki Masami Kikuchi Hidekatsu Shibata
Ai Nonaka
Takeshi Aono
as
Nurarihyon 		Katsuyuki Konishi
as
Shu no Bon
Azuki-Arai
Dracula III 		Reiko Suzuki
as
Jakotsu-Babaa 		Masami Kikuchi
as
Kamaitachi 		Hidekatsu Shibata
as
Backbeard 		Ai Nonaka
as
Zambia
Semi-Recurring Cast
Daisuke Gori Masashi Hirose Eiji Takemoto Masumi Asano Hiro Shimono
Daisuke Gōri
as
Enma-Daiō 		Masashi Hirose
as
Gokan-Ō 		Eiji Takemoto
as
Sō-Daiō 		Masumi Asano
as
Miu 		Hiro Shimono
as
Kai
Semi-Recurring Cast
Mayumi Tanaka Hisao Egawa Kouji Yada Naomi Kusumi Masaya Takatsuka Daisuke Sakaguchi
Mayumi Tanaka
as
Nurikabe's Wife
Kemedama 		Hisao Egawa
as
Tsurube-Otoshi 		Kōji Yada
as
Ido-Sennin 		Naomi Kusumi
as
Yagyō-san
Dai-Tengu 		Masaya Takatsuka
as
Tsurube-Bi 		Daisuke Sakaguchi
as
Tofu-Kozō
Semi-Recurring Cast
Mie Sonozaki Rumi Kasahara Fumihiko Tachiki Jouji Nakata Bin Shimada Chikao Ohtsuka
Mie Sonozaki
as
Aoi 		Rumi Kasahara
as
Yuki-Jorō 		Fumihiko Tachiki
as
Akamata 		Jōji Nakata
as
Yadōkai 		Bin Shimada
as
Chi 		Chikao Ōtsuka
as
Hakusanbō

Guest Cast

Voice actors who voiced main characters in previous adaptations are listed bold.

Staff

Movies

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