#32. Gegege no Kitaro

December 31st, 2006 by Brack

I thought I'd written about this already when the fansub of episode 1 surfaced in October this year, but apparantly I didn't.

Another landmark series, GeGeGe no Kitaro is based on the manga of the same name by Shigeru Mizuki. There have been 4 anime series in 1968, 1971, 1985, & 1996.

The 1968 series has some early Isao Takahata work, the 1971 has more Takahata work with him contributing the OP and ED. Interestingly, for me, is that the 1996 contained early work from Mamoru Hosoda (Digimon Movies 1 & 2, One Piece Movie 6, The Girl Who Leap Through Time).

GeGeGe no Kitaro concerns the relationships between Yokai and humans. Yokai is a fairly broad Japanese folklore term to describe a number of supernatural creatures, which is reflected by the wide range of creatures depicted in the series. Kitaro is one such of Yokai, but unlike many of creatures appearing in the series, protects humans from the more malicious Yokai. He is a one eyed child, with hair covering his left eyesocket, and possesses a range of supernatural powers. He is invariably accompanied by his father, who following a bout of body eating disease is simply an eye (with tiny arms and legs).

The design of the central character, Kitaro, echoes through manga and anime following GeGeGe no Kitaro, for example, Sanji from One Piece, and more pertinently, Ginko from Mushishi. In many ways Mushishi uses the same raw material as GeGeGe no Kitaro to different ends.

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#67 - Akage no Anne (Anne of Green Gables)

September 26th, 2006 by Brack

Another World Masterpiece Theatre show. This time it's 1979, and it's another one directed by Isao Takahata (Grave of The Fireflies), with some input from some fella called Hayao Miyazaki. It's my understanding that this is considered the best adaptation of the novels, due to it having the room to cover a lot in it's 50 episodes. But seeing as I'm totally unfamiliar with the books or any of the adaptations, beyond putting the Kevin Sullivan (not the Dungeon of Doom one!) adaptations on the Videolog database.

However I do know this. It's Ophantainment! Which is a word, that yes, I invented.

Anne of Green Gables - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Anne Shirley is a skinny, red-haired, freckled orphan who is mistakenly sent to live with shy, elderly bachelor, Matthew Cuthbert, and his prim spinster sister, Marilla Cuthbert. They live together in the fictional town of Avonlea, situated on the charming, scenic north shore of Canada's Prince Edward Island, and had submitted a request to adopt a young boy who could work on the family farm.

The good news is that it has been fansubbed. And that torrents still have seeds.

Now I can't actually find a clip of just the opening so instead you are going to get the first episode!

Next bit:

And the last bit:

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#81 - 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother

September 14th, 2006 by Brack

Yet more World Masterpiece Theatre! This time from 1976, and based on a small part of Edmondo De Amicis' novel Heart.

3000 Leagues in Search of Mother - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

During a depression in the year 1881 in Genoa, Italy, Marco's mother goes to Argentina to work as domestic. However, his mother's letters stop coming after an indication that she is sick. 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother details Marco's journey to find his mother.

The show is notable for being directed by Isao Takahata (Grave of The Fireflies, Only Yesterday). Good news is some of it has been fansubbed by Live-eviL. Bad news is there aren't any seeds for it at the moment. Maybe with Yawara licensed, they'll return to the show.

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