The Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of GeGeGe (Kitaro Tanjou: GeGeGe no Nazo) anime movie is returning to Japanese theaters starting October 4 JST in an altered, R-15-rated form with the word Shinseiban added to the title.
Aside from the rating bump (the original was PG12), The Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of GeGeGe Shinseiban has had “retakes” done to 327 cuts and also sports re-recorded audio.
A visual and trailer for Shinseiban have been released.
The Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of GeGeGe originally premiered in November 2023 and grossed 2.79 billion yen (~US$19.11 million). It was in the running for Best Animated Movie at the 47th Japan Academy Award, taking home an Excellence Award.
The Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of GeGeGe was created as part of a 100th year Birth Anniversary project for the late GeGeGe no Kitaro creator Shigeru Mizuki. In the movie, Medama-yaji and Kitaro enter the ruins of Nagura Village, causing the former to recall the events that occured there 70 years ago.
The GeGeGe no Kitarofranchise was birthed in 1960 with the start of the Hakaba Kitaro rented manga, which received an anime adaptation that premiered in 2008. The GeGeGe no Kitaro manga series arrived in 1965, and the first GeGeGe no Kitaro anime was broadcast from 1968 to 1969. The latest anime series in the franchise started airing in 2018.
Crunchyroll describes the 2018 anime as:
Nearly twenty years into the 21st century, people have forgotten the existence of Yokai. When a number of unexplainable phenomena plague adults of the human world with confusion and chaos, thirteen-year-old Mana writes a letter to the Yokai Post in search of answers, only to be greeted by Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro…
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Staff
• Director: Go Koga (Gekijou ban Gegege no Kitaro: Nippon Bakuretsu, Digimon Universe: App Monsters)
• Scriptwriter: Hiroyuki Yoshino (World Trigger 3rd Season series composer and scriptwriter)
• Character designer: Toko Yatabe (Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time co-assistant director)
• Animation production: Toei Animation
Cast
• Toshihiko Seki as Kitaro’s father (in his non-Medama-oyaji form)
• Hidenobu Kiuchi as Mizuki
• Atsumi Tanezaki as Sayo Ryoga
• Miyuki Sawashiro as Kitaro
• Umeka Shouji as Neko Musume
• Masako Nozawa as Medama-oyaji
Source: @kitaroanime50th