'Gegege no Kitaro' Latest News: Key Visual Art Features New Human Heroine and a Host of Returning Characters

By Emmanuelle Espiritu, Christian Post Contributor Friday, February 23, 2018

A new key visual art has been released for the upcoming Japanese supernatural comedy anime series "Gegege no Kitarou."

The image, which can be seen above, features a girl named Mana Inuyama at the center, surrounded by the popular franchise's eight regular characters, including Kitaro, Medama Oyaji, Nezumi Otoko, Neko Musume, Sunakake Babaa, Koniki Jijii, Nurikabe, and Ittan Momen.

Mana is the 13-year-old new human heroine, whose adventures and misadventures with the supernatural will be the focus of the newest anime adaptation of Shigeru Mizuki's classic 1960s manga series.

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The upcoming series will be set in modern-day Japan, wherein the concept and very existence of yokai have almost been forgotten. It is for this reason that the people are easily confused by the unexplainable phenomena that have been occurring frequently.

In order to settle these disturbances, Mana took it upon herself to write a letter via the Yokai Post, to ask Kitaro for assistance.

The original manga series was originally titled "Hakaba Kitaro (Kitaro of the Graveyard)" and has been adapted into six television series, including the "Hakaba Kitaro" anime released in 2008. The upcoming 2018 series will be the seventh television adaptation of Mizuki's popular work.

It has also spawned several animated movies, as well as a couple of live-action films, all of which centered on an inhuman boy named Kitaro, who straddles the borders of the human and supernatural worlds.

The upcoming series will be directed by Kouji Ogawa, with Hiroshi Ohnogi handling the series composition. Sorato Shimizu serves as both character designer and chief animation director, while Yasuharu Takanashi and –yaiba– collaborates to compose the music. Fuji TV, Yomiuri Advertising, and Toei Animation are producing the series for modern audiences.

"Gegege no Kitarou" will premiere on Sunday, April 1, at 9 a.m. JST on Fuji TV, replacing "Dragon Ball Super."