Gegege no Kitaro

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Name: Gegege no Kitaro
Abbreviation(s): GGGNK
Creator: Shigeru Mizuki, Toei Animation
Date(s): 1960s-present
Medium: Manga, Anime
Country of Origin: Japan
External Links:
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Gegege no Kitaro is a manga and anime franchise originating with the 1960s comic of the same name by Shigeru Mizuki. It follows Kitaro through his many adventures with human and yokai alike. Multiple anime adaptations of Kitaro have been made over the years, with one being released every decade since 1985. The Kitaro fandom is extremely large in Japan and also has many international fans.

Many Versions of Kitaro

Each series features a somewhat different design, personality, backstory, etc. to Kitaro and his companions. Fans often draw different versions of Kitaro interacting. In fanart, important attention to detail is given to their different hair styles, vest stripes, heights, etc. to differentiate them.

Other forms of Kitaro, such as the version from the original comics, live-action movies, or the stage play, are also depicted in fanworks, though these are rarer.

Naming Conventions

In Japan, the different versions of Kitaro are typically referred to by the last name of their respective voice actress. For example, "Toda" refers to 1985!Kitaro, as Keiko Toda voiced him. There is often little distinction given between 1968 and 1971!Kitaro, as Masako Nozawa voiced Kitaro in both series. Hakaba Kitaro is usually referred to as "Hakaba."

Zoku GeGeGe no Kitaro

Zoku GeGeGe no Kitarou refers to a manga series focused on the teenage version of Kitaro. To pass as a human high schooler, he goes by the name Getakichi Tanaka. The first part of the series, renamed to After Gegege no Kitaro, took a new sexual angle on the franchise. The sequel Shin Gegege no Kitaro: Sports Madness Era, however, toned down some of the sexual overtones.

While not being reintroduced into the series proper since the manga being retconned, Getakichi gained immense popularity after Gegege no Nazo, despite not being present in the film. When physical version of the series was reprinted, it quickly sold out.[1]

Popular Japanese meme/reaction image of Backbeard saying "damn all you lolicon!"

Backbeard Memes

The villainous character Backbeard has been the subject of a popular reaction image in Japan. The meme originated in 2004 on 2chan and depicts him yelling, "Damn all you lolicon!" This later led to the gijinka meme character Beako being created.[2]

Fan Response to Nekomusume’s 2018 Design

The character Nekomusume has more variety in her anime designs than Kitaro, Medama Oyaji or Nezumi Otoko. She looks quite different in each show. The 2018 reboot has an adult, conventionally attractive Nekomusume, so she has spawned more fanart than earlier versions- but not everyone approved of the new look. Some thought her design was sexualized and/or not as monstrous or tomboyish as she ought to be.

After going through these and the other comments, the consensus seems pretty clear. The new designs are pretty cool if a little bland while the new Neko Musume has upset fans for four reasons: 1) she’s an aged up sexy version of a child character, 2) her moe style clashes too much with the rest of the Mizuki style cast, 3) she’s even less goblin-like than ever, and 4) LEGS.

https://gegege-no-blog.tumblr.com/post/170026944093/heres-a-round-up-of-replies-i-got-on-my-post

Over time, some initially disappointed fans warmed up to her design, and Nekomusume became a major selling point while the show aired.

Kitaro Tanjou: Gegege no Nazo

One of the many projects released for the 100th anniversary of Shigeru Mizuki’s birthday, Kitaro Tanjou: Gegege no Nazo is a prequel film connected to the 2018 series. Fans were eager for its release since it was first announced, but the initial burst of fanworks started once the character designs of Kitaro’s father and Mizuki were released alongside the first trailer in early September. This batch of pre-release fanworks led to the creation of the “腐向けKTR” pixiv tag, fanworks aimed at fujoshi.

Despite its minimal advertisement before showing in theaters, fan word of mouth pushed the film to become a hit, grossing over 2.5 billion yen.[3] Fans enjoyed the film’s mature handling of dark themes and bromance between Mizuki and Kitaro’s father. Shigeru Mizuki's surviving children thanked fans for the movie's success.[4]

Fanworks

Kitakita doujins for sale on Mandarake
kitaneko doujins for sale on mandarake

Doujinshi

MMDs

Fan Animation:

Ships

KitaKita

The selfcest ship of Kitaro with alternate versions of himself is very common. The most popular Kitakita ships are 1985!Kitaro with 1996!Kitaro and 2007!Kitaro with 2018!Kitaro. Kitakita is most popular in Eastern fandom, where Gegege no Kitaro has been readily accessible to watch for decades in various forms. Kitakita is less popular in Western fandom, where only Hakaba Kitaro and Gegege no Kitaro 2018 are fully translated.

KitaNeko

The pairing of Kitaro and Nekomusume, is the most popular het ship. Nekomusume is often treated as Kitaro's love interest across different series. Kitaro is usually depicted as being oblivious to Nekomusume's feelings towards him.

NekoMana

The pairing of Nekomusume and Mana Inuyama is the most popular yuri ship. It originated in the 2018 series, and official art and merchandise often tease the ship. Whenever Mana is affectionate with Nekomusume, Nekomusume often blushes.

ChichiMizu

The pairing of Kitaro's father and Mizuki is the most popular BL ship. It also may be referred to as "GegeMizu" in Western fandom. It became pixiv's top ranking ship for months after the release of Gegege no Nazo. Kitaro's father and Mizuki grow to have a deep bond during the film, which led it to having mass amounts of fanworks created for it. Mizuki gave the name "Gegero" to Kitaro's father. The two also risk their lives for one another. After a brief memory of Kitaro's father, Mizuki makes the choice to raise his son.

GetaMizu

The pairing of Getakichi Tanaka and Mizuki is a very popular fanon BL ship. It remained in pixiv's top ten ranking for months after the release of Gegege no Nazo. Despite Getakichi not appearing in the film, fans often depict Getakichi as very obsessive over Mizuki, sometimes leaning into a yandere interpretation. This is to be distinguished from the pairing of Kitaro and Mizuki, KitaMizu, as Getakichi specifically borrows the design from the Zoku series.

MeIwa

The pairing of Kitaro's father and Kitaro's mother is a canon het ship. Kitaro's mother is often referred to as "Iwako." Across all adaptations, they are the last survivors of the ghost tribe and care deeply for their son. Gegege no Nazo establishes that Kitaro's father hated humans until he met his wife. In the film, Kitaro's father spent over a decade looking for Kitaro's mother, and he cries while telling Mizuki about her.

Relationships with Other Fandoms

There is some overlap with fans of other yokai anime, like Yokai Watch. In the West, there is negativity between Kitaro fans and Dragonball Super fans who were upset that Kitaro replaced Dragonball's timeslot. Western fans are also known to mock Logan Paul and his fans due to an event happening in the first episode of the 2018 series. In that episode, which aired April 1, 2018, an annoying "ootuber" named Charatomi causes a nuisance for views and is then turned into a tree. Gaijin Goomba claimed this was meant to call out Logan Paul's behavior as a tourist[6] in Japan in January 2018, although the episode would have been mostly or totally produced before that incident occurred. Since then, jokes about Logan Paul turning into a tree have been common.

In Japan, a Persona character is often referred to as Kitaro by the fandom as an unofficial nickname, due to both characters having long bangs covering half the face.

Links & Resources

References

  1. ^ https://twitter.com/kmmmy59/status/1740957832999223642
  2. ^ https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/beako
  3. ^ https://www.animatetimes.com/news/details.php?id=1707127948
  4. ^ https://twitter.com/mizuki_naoko_/status/1732193039895203891
  5. ^ https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/konbini-convenience-store
  6. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LAmXAi9uVE
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