As of January 2025, Hakaba Kitaro is streaming on RetroCrush!
It brought me a thrill of excitement to watch it legally with English subs, nestled in with local lawyer commercials. There is something to be said about its unique brand of horror, and how the instability of post-WW2 Japan feels similar to that of contemporary America. But more than that, it’s just really funny, and I love how accurate the anime is to Mizuki’s art style. At only eleven episodes, it’s the perfect introduction to the world of Kitaro!
So, let’s all go to hell together, ok? ❤️
Now, as we all know, the yūrei zoku – the ghost tribe, which Kitaro is the last of — is not from Japanese folklore, but is a Mizuki invention (citation needed). After watching the 1956 film Crazed Fruit and looking into related taiyō zoku (sun tribe) works, I couldn’t help but wonder– was this what Mizuki was riffing on?Like…the sun tribe prospers and has cash to splash while the rest of Japan is in ruins. The ghost tribe is genocided and Kitaro’s parents have to sell blood for healthcare that doesn’t work.The sun tribe benefits from both Western and Japanese structures of power, and have the status symbols to prove it. All the ghost tribe has is their ancestral chanchanko (that striped vest).The sun tribe gets to play all day in the light. The ghost tribe has to slink in the shadows to survive.My knowledge and understanding is limited to what’s in English, so this is grossly reductive. Still, it’s been fermenting in my mind the past year. Anyway, I painted this on Mizuki’s death day anniversary in 2024, based on a picture from his recent episode of Manben: Behind the Scenes of Manga with Urasawa Naoki. It was a very motivating and informative episode!Despite the uncertainty of the times to come, may we always have food and the touch of loved ones!
