All The Tropes

GeGeGe no Kitaro: Difference between revisions

Page Discussion

GeGeGe no Kitaro (view source)

Revision as of 21:10, 17 February 2017

988 bytes removed ,  7 years ago
merge Category:Franchise and Category:Franchise Index into Category:Franchises
VisualWikitext
m (Mass update links)
 
(12 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown)
Line 12:
'''Neko Musume''' (Cat Girl): A normally-quiet yōkai girl, who transforms into a frightening cat monster with fangs and feline eyes when she is angry or hungry for fish. Predictably, she does not get along well with Nezumi Otoko. She seems to harbor a slight crush on Kitaro, who sees her only as a friend. She bears some resemblance to the bakeneko of Japanese folklore.
 
'''Sunakake Baba''' (Sandspray Hag): Sunakake Babaa is an old yōkai woman who carries sand which she throws into the eyes of enemies to blind them. She serves as an advisoradviser to Kitaro and his companions, and manages a yōkai apartment building. The original sunakake-baba is an invisible sand-throwing spirit from the folklore of Nara Prefecture
 
'''Konaki Jijii''' (Crybaby Geezer): Konaki Jijii is a comic, absent-minded old yōkai man who attacks enemies by clinging to them and turning himself to stone, increasing his weight immensely and pinning them down. He and Sunakake Babaa often work as a team. The original konaki jijii is a ghost which is said to appear in the woods of Tokushima Prefecture in the form of a crying infant. When it is picked up by some hapless travellertraveler, it increases its weight until it crushes him.
 
'''Ittan Momen''': Ittan Momen is a flying yōkai resembling a strip of white cloth. Kitaro and friends often ride on him when traveling. The original ittan-momen is a spirit from Kagoshima Prefecture myth which wraps itself around the faces of humans in an attempt to smother them.
Line 22:
The original manga ran for about five years, between 1966 and 1970, and multiple versions have been written since, developing a rather different canon as the series progressed. (Kitaro especially is much weirder and much less child-friendly in the original.) The different anime versions have been running more or less from 1968 to the present, with the most recent series starting in 2008. It has also been adapted into multiple live-action versions and video games, as well as earning a place in several theme parks, like Fujikyu Highland. The creator's hometown of Sakaiminato has also been marked with multiple statues of the various characters in recognition of the series' influence.
----
{{franchisetropes}}
=== Tropes exhibited in at least one version of this series include: ===
* [[Alternative Character Interpretation]]--: In Japanese mythology, the Nurarihyon is a rather benign yōkai best known for being a moocher. ''[[Ge Ge GeGeGeGe no Kitaro]]'' reinterprets him as a devious villain.▼
* [[Author Avatar]]--When Mizuki addresses the audience directly, it's through Nezumi-Otoko. Even outside of this series.
▲* [[Alternative Character Interpretation]]--In Japanese mythology, the Nurarihyon is a rather benign yōkai best known for being a moocher. ''[[Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro]]'' reinterprets him as a devious villain.
* [[Animal Jingoism]]: Neko Musume and Nezumi Otoko are cat and rat, and therefore she attacks him when things go awry.
* [[Art Evolution]]--: The most obvious sign is Neko-Musume, who was progressively drawn less pudgy and had her hairstyle changed from a bowlcut to a more natural-looking short cut that also went from [[Adaptation Dye Job|black to red]]. Compare the drawings in the picture above to [http://www.fujitv.co.jp/b_hp/kitaro/kitaro_chara.html the 2007 Character Roster] for yourself.
* [[BadassAuthor inAvatar]]: AWhen NiceMizuki Suit]]--Generallyaddresses the easiestaudience waydirectly, toit's notice whenthrough Nezumi-Otoko. thinksEven heoutside struckof itthis bigseries.
* [[BreathBadass Weapon]]--Ain lota ofNice ''yōkai''Suit]]: haveGenerally these.the Oneasiest away similarto note,notice when Nezumi-Otoko's halitosisthinks he canstruck subdueit peoplebig.
* [[Breath Weapon]]: A lot of ''yōkai'' have these. On a similar note, Nezumi-Otoko's halitosis can subdue people.
* [[Came Back Wrong]]--: Medama-Oyaji is technically a Type 4: He died at the very beginning of the series, but when Kitaro emerged from his mother's grave (long story) concern for the newborn son (again, long story) resurrects him... however the only part of the body that hadn't decayed by that point was his left eye, which formed into the Medama-Oyaji that everyone is familiar with. This grisslygrisly origin of both Medama and Kitaro can be viewed in the much darker [[Hakaba Kitaro]]'s first episode. Although Hakaba is a mostly separate continuity to Gegege, Kitaro's origin in both is essentially the same.
* [[Catgirl]]--: Neko-Musume, natch.
* [[Clothes Make the Superman]]: Kitaro's vest and sandals.
* [[Continuity Nod]]--: The third episode of the 2007 series is basically a rematch with the Yasha, a soul-eating musical yōkai that the gang faced in the 1986 series.
** The 1968 series too. Episode 2, in fact.
*** In the brief flashback, the animation seems to be intentionally made to look retroactively black and white, similar to the 1968 visuals.
* [[Darker and Edgier]]--: The 2008 anime ''[[Hakaba Kitaro]]'' took the series back to its horror roots and away from kid friendliness.▼
* [[Dawson Casting]]--The most recent live-action movie went out of its way to simulate the look of the 1980s anime version, except that Kitaro and Neko-Musume were played by adults. This was "justified" in-story as them having hit puberty without the older yōkai having noticed, but the actors were still clearly older than the age their characters were.
* [[Did Not Do the Research]]--: The series features an "American yokaiYokai" called the ''Buckbaird''. They probably meant the European ''Bugbear''.▼
** Also [[Beauty Equals Goodness]]; the [[But Not Too Foreign]] actor playing Kitaro was [[Bishonen]] instead of short and creepy looking.
* [[Dirty Coward]]--: Nezumi-Otoko, for a more literal interpretation than most.▼
▲* [[Darker and Edgier]]--The 2008 anime ''[[Hakaba Kitaro]]'' took the series back to its horror roots and away from kid friendliness.
▲* [[Did Not Do the Research]]--The series features an "American yokai" called the ''Buckbaird''. They probably meant the European ''Bugbear''.
▲* [[Dirty Coward]]--Nezumi-Otoko, for a more literal interpretation than most.
** He is in fact a [[Lovable Coward|Lovable]] [[Cowardly Sidekick]]. [[The Hero]] had his ass saved by him plenty of times.
*** Usually from situations Nezumi-Otoko had caused by his greed and cowardice in the first place, naturally.
* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]--: Some of the more irritable yōkai are all about this.
* [[Dracula]]: At least three Draculas have been seen: the original Dracula, Dracula II and Dracula IV.
* [[Ear Worm]]: ''Ge... ge... ge ge ge no [[Have a Gay Old Time|geee...]]''
** Considering the subject matter, this doubles as [[Hell Is That Noise]].
* [[Eye Scream]]--: Kitaro's father lives in his eyesocket.
* [[Faceless Eye]]--: Medama-Oyaji and Backbeard
* [[Fartillery]]--: About the only ability of note that Nezumi-Otoko possesses in addition to halitosis.
* [[Fetish Fuel]]--:Aoi, the beautiful yuki-onna from the 2007 series.
* [[Greed]]--: The dictionary would have Nezumi-Otoko's picture next to the word.
* [[Green Aesop]]--: Sort of, several of the episodes have humans' abuse of the environment anger the local nature yōkai.
* [[Half-Human Hybrid]]--: In the 2007 series, Sunakake Baba explains this as reason for Nezumi-Otoko's questionable relationship with other yōkai and his penchanceperchance for dabbling in human society.
* [[Heel Face Revolving Door]]: Nezumi-Otoko can always be trusted to be untrustworthy, in the older series more than the more recent ones.
* [[Hey, It's That Guy!]]: the live action movie has [[Kamen Rider the First|Cobra Kaijin]], [[Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger|Rijie]], [[Red Cliff|Gan Xing]] and [[The Last Samurai|Taka.]]
* [[Honest John's Dealership|Honest Nezumi-Otoko's Dealership]]
* Immortality: The Youkai are all immortal beings, although just how immortal is often up for grabs. Although Kitaro can survive all sorts of seemingly death insured fates, and even be regenerated or resurrected if the need calls for it...it does seem sometimes that Youkai ''can'' be killed. Kitaro's race was killed off ''somehow'' after all. The specifics however are never really explained.▼
* [[Immortal Immaturity]]: Although Kitaro does display wisdom and sensibility far beyond his appearance, he's also many times shown very childlike impulses and feelings. Nezumi Otoko, Neko Musume, and other "childlike" Youkai have all displayed this quality at times as well.
▲* [[Immortality]]: The Youkai are all immortal beings, although just how immortal is often up for grabs. Although Kitaro can survive all sorts of seemingly death insured fates, and even be regenerated or resurrected if the need calls for it...it does seem sometimes that Youkai ''can'' be killed. Kitaro's race was killed off ''somehow'' after all. The specifics however are never really explained.
* [[Immortality Begins At Twenty]]: Not quite twenty, but Kitaro was born the old fashioned way (albeit out of his dead mothers' grave), but aged from being an infant, to a pre-teenpreteen adolescent whose remained that way ever since. Certain works of disputable canon have poked at the idea of Kitaro physically aging to adulthood though, and although it's established that he's immortal, it's never been specified whether or not Kitaro is meant to be a child forever, or if maybe his race (The Yurei Zoku or "Ghost Tribe") simply age far slower appearance wise.
* [[Just Eat Gilligan|Just Kill Nezumi-Otoko]]--: ''Most'' of the time, anyways. There ''are'' exceptions.
* [[Lighter and Softer]]--: Most of the adaptations. The 1980s anime in particular, which made the few times someone actually ''died'' in that version much more shocking.
* [[Limited Wardrobe]]: Self-explanatory, Kitaro and co outfits don't change within the various series.
** Occasionally averted by Nezumi-Otoko's penchanceperchance for [[Badass in Aa Nice Suit|suiting up]] when the smell of success is in the air, and Neko-Musume in the 2007 series with dabbling in various fashions.
* [[Living Forever Is Awesome]]: The very theme song in all its incarnations over the decades explicitly says that the Youkai never die, in such a way to make it sound like a ton of fun! However there's also many instances of this trope's opposite, located below.
* [[Memetic Mutation]]--: [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/beako-damn-all-you-lolicon You damn lolicons!]
* [[More Teeth Than the Osmond Family]]: Neko Musume. ''Yikes''.
* [[Nightmare Fuel]]: Some of the more evil youkaiYoukai are ''creepy''.▼
* [[Name's the Same]]: Partially averted. Well-known [[New Age]] musician Kitaro took that stage name in honor of this manga, but written with different kanji.
* [[The Noseless]]: Dracula IV after Nezumi-Otoko accidentlyaccidentally snatched his nose off trying to get at Medama-Oyagi.▼
▲* [[Nightmare Fuel]]: Some of the more evil youkai are ''creepy''.
* [[Pokémon-Speak]]--: Nurikabe (at least in the 80s series)▼
* [[No Export for You]] Almost none of the Manga has been translated into english, not even through scanlantions.
** This is beginning to change, slowly but surely with scanlations.
▲* [[The Noseless]]: Dracula IV after Nezumi-Otoko accidently snatched his nose off trying to get at Medama-Oyagi.
▲* [[Pokémon-Speak]]--Nurikabe (at least in the 80s series)
* [[Prehensile Hair]]: Kitaro's hair can be used as a rope. The Yasha in each series is a strangling hair monster.
** The Otoroshi also has this kind of hair.
Line 77 ⟶ 71:
* [[Soul Jar]]: In most appearances, the Yasha kept stolen souls inside ''balloons''.
* [[Tomboy and Girly Girl]]: The 80s anime brought a human girl to the main cast as the Girly Girl Counterpart to the rather boyish Neko Musume.
* [[Who Wants to Live Forever?]]: Despite the casts' generally okay view with living forever, as they have eachothereach other, with Kitaro in particular this sentiment occasionally rears its ugly head. A few times, even in the live action movies, Kitaro has shown a quiet but very apparent longing to have human friends and love...but is often stopped, sometimes by his father behind his back, by the notion that outliving friends or a love is just too painful for Youkai and is generally avoided. This has led to many scenes of Kitaro walking lonesomely away from humans he had just helped, or staring longingly at a world he can never really be a part of.
* [[You Dirty Rat]]: Nezumi Otoko
* [[Youkai]]--: ''Every''-fucking-''where''
 
{{reflist}}
Line 88 ⟶ 82:
[[Category:Manga]]
[[Category:Ge Ge Ge No Kitaro]]
[[Category:GeGeGe no Kitaro]]
[[Category:Franchises]]
[[Category:Anime of the 1960s]]
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/585897...1472542"