Ghost Re-writer
Star Wars nerds: STFU. You have no idea what it’s like to really have your childhood messed with.
the Birth of Kitaro: Mystery of GeGeGe
Director: Koga Gou • Writer: Hiroyuki Yoshino, based on the manga by Shigeru Mizuki
Starring: Toshihiko Seki, Hidenobu Kiuchi, Atsumi Tanezaki, Yumiko Kobayashi, Akira Ishida, Toshio Furukawa, Miyuki Sawashiro, Umeka Shoji, Masako Nozawa
Japan • 1hr 45mins
Opens Hong Kong March 7 • IIB
Grade: B+
Parents: heed that IIB rating. If you’re taking younger children to The Birth of Kitaro: Mystery of GeGeGe | 鬼太郎誕生 ゲゲゲの謎 as a way to introduce them to a childhood favourite, Shigeru Mizuki’s 1960s Kitaro monster manga and subsequent anime series, they’re not going to get that iteration. What they, and you, will get is a dark AF prequel about the, erm, birth of Kitaro and the hideous origin story of the town the saga stems from, and some of its most recognisable characters. Mesmerisingly feverish, borderline surreal and did we mention dark, The Birth of Kitaro is a far cry from its cutesy yokai roots. And man that’s a very good thing.
Not that there’s anything wrong with a little yokai. It’s just director Koga Gou thought he’d go down a different path. Produced to celebrate Mizuki’s 100th birthday, the film’s raked in JPY2.6 billion yen (HK$140 million) in a few months at home, and it’s easy to see why. Gou (One Piece: Episode of Sabo - Bond of Three Brothers, a Miraculous Reunion and an Inherited Will) has damned the torpedoes and run wild on his relatively blank slate – and yet you don’t hear any butthurt fan boys whining about how he’s destroyed their childhoods (well, I haven’t at least). On top of that unfettered creativity, Gou’s put together a superstar crew – animators Toko Yatabe (Weathering With You) and Hisashi Mori (Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time and Tokyo Godfathers), Mobile Suit Gundam and One Piece cinematographer Tomoyuki Ishiyama, legendary composer Kenji Kawai among others – and the result is one of the most engaging and challenging anime features in years.
Taking a break from the dark
Like most manga and their related properties, the story that propels The Birth of Kitaro is a complex tapestry of interlocking events and people, and the more you know about the original book(s) and cartoons, the more you’re likely to get from this. That said, Gou and (mostly) television writer Hiroyuki Yoshino (Strike the Blood, Heavy Object) use an efficient semi-prologue to bring newbies (or olds, the oldest series dates to 1968) up to speed, and then quickly drop everyone into the action. Veterans will get their Easter eggs, novices won’t miss a thing.
The short version: Kitaro (Miyuki Sawashiro) and his Eyeball Dad (Masako Nozawa) drop into an abandoned village, Nagura, prompting Eyeball to tell Kitaro the story of his birth 70 years earlier. It’s the mid-1950s and Japan is rebuilding following the Second World War. Ambitious Tokyo salaryman Mizuki (Hidenobu Kiuchi) heads to Nagura to cement a contract with the blood bank he works for with the Ryuga clan. The family rules the village with an iron fist, and when Mizuki gets there it’s just in time for patriarch Tokisada Ryuga’s (Tetsu Shiratori) funeral. Sure, the family is mourning, but its members are also jockeying for position of heir/CEO to the powerful family office that’s had an outsized influence on Japan’s politics and economy for decades. Into this mix Gou adds Kitaro’s dad (Toshihiko Seki) – replete with giant single eyeball – looking for his missing wife; Sayo Ryuga (Atsumi Tanezaki), a young woman who for reasons we get to later really, really, really wants to leave town; and the Ryuga’s favourite son, Tokiya (Yumiko Kobayashi), whose favour we also get to later. That’s the basic premise: family in-fighting, power grabs, unhappy children.
But whooo, boy is there more to it than that – and that’s not even counting the supernatural elements native to Kitaro as a property. Kitaro’s Ghost Tribe is well represented, as are scores of other monster types, including whatever Sayo is, and lots of richly illustrated physics-defying magic. Structured to reveal the power-driven rot (seriously, this goes fuckin’ dark) at the heart of the Ryuga clan little by little, we’re asked (duh) who the true monsters are each step of the way. Mizuki’s every bit the opportunistic dick as family, what, accountant? Katsunori Ryuga (Kazuhiro Yamaji) and the controlling, duplicitous Otome Ryuga (Yoko Soumi). Gou and Yoshino wind up with a murder mystery on their hands at one point – a really good one at that.
The main story, though, sticks to exploring how and why the half-spirit Kitaro wound up among us with two fathers, and the lengths institutions will go to in order to retain power – with a gothic chaser. The Birth of Kitaro: Mystery of GeGeGe is best experienced cold; the less you know going in, even as a vet, the better and more weight the narrative turns land with. Almost perfectly paced, with solid action sequences in just the right doses, and with plenty of gory kills – poor, drunk, slutty sister Hinoe – the colourful artwork leads to a suitably violent crescendo, one that feels right for a change. It may not be what long time fans are expecting, but what a lovely, enjoyably psychotic, fresh twist it is. Stars Trek and Wars fans would do well to follow Gou’s lead and embrace change. That, or sit down and be quiet. — DEK