KAPPA NO SANPEI: YOKAI DAISAKUSEN

Manga artist Shigeru Mizuki already started interest in the Yokai/ghost genre with his beautifully drawn horror manga/comics which began in late 1950’s and through out the 1960’s. Popularity picked up in 1966 with the release of AKUMA KUN a live action TV series produced by Toei Productions and based on Mizuki‘s manga. 1968 would change everything and be considered the year of the Yokai in Japan. Now with the “Yokai Boom” in full swing, fans would get their fulfillment of ghostly anime and feature films. Daiei released the first two theatrical features in their Yokai trilogy, 100 MONSTERS and THE GREAT YOKAI WAR, Daichi Doga added an anime TV series YOKAI NINGEN BEMU, and finally Toei’s animated version of Mizuki’s manga GEGEGE NO KITARO hit the airwaves. Toei Productions also added one more live action feature to the mix as well, KAPPA NO SANPEI: YOKAI DAISAKUSEN (SANPEI THE KAPPA: THE GREAT GHOST STRATEGY).

Kappa no Sanpei begins with a young boy Sanpei Kawahara (Yoshinobu Kaneko)(AKA KAGE, WATARI) and his two friends exploring the attic of his house. The three come upon a museum-like room full of creepy artifacts, taxidermies and a statue that resembles a mythological water creature known as a Kappa . The Kappa is holding a scroll that mentions the Kawamura family name which puzzles Sanpei. Soon they are drawn to a door in the room which opens, to reveal a stairway leading downward into darkness. Sanpei begins to go down the steps when they suddenly disappear and he falls into a dark abyss leaving his friends behind.

Sanpei lands in a swampy wetland where a giant gillman-like hand grabs him and takes him away. He awakens on a stone slab surrounded by strange people who seem not to happy he is there. Soon Sanpei realizes he’s in the ancient forbidden country of the Kappa who despise humans for driving their race into hiding. The Elder Kappa sends Sanpei to be sacrificed, when a huge tree monster Mizu-Oni (Water Demon) suddenly rises out of the ground. Mizu-Oni attacks the Kappa temple grabbing it’s people with long tentacle-like branches, draining the water from their bodies which is the life-blood of a Kappa and leaves them as dried up carcasses.

The Mizu-Oni grabs a young Kappa princess Kan (Matsui Yachie)(THE SNAKE GIRL AND THE SILVER-HAIRED WITCH) and takes her away. Sanpei goes to the Elder Kappa with Kan’s guardian Rokubee (Fuyukichi Machi)(AKA KAGE, HENSHIN NINJA ARASHI) and offers to help. Elder Kappa lets Sanpei return to his house to get matches to burn Mizu-Oni. When Sanpei returns home he runs into a weird man snooping around in his house, Itachi Otoko (Weasel Man)(Ushio Kenji)(KAMEN RIDER, JAKQ DENGEKITAI VS. HIMITSU SENTAI GORANGER). Sanpei chases him out, but Itachi Otoko who is now bumming food, becomes an ally in later episodes. Sanpei quickly grabs the matches and returns to the Kappa’s temple. Before Sanpei and Rokubee leave to battle Mizu-Oni, Elder Kappa casts a spell on Sanpei which gives him the powers of a Kappa.

Rokubee and Sanpei finally find the monstrous tree demon. Sanpei tests his new abilities by firing off water shurikens at the behemoth with no effect. The new boy Kappa starts striking matches and can’t get one lit, while the demon closes in. One of Sanpei’s hands are touched by Mizu-Oni and it is immediately dried like that of a real Kappa. Realizing the situation has elevated from bad to worse, Rokubee makes his way to a boarded up sealed well which contains a flammable liquid. Rokubee sucks up all of the liquid until his belly looks as if he is pregnant. He runs back to aid Sanpei who is fighting alone. Rokubee lets the demon tree absorb all of the liquid from his body leaving him a dried up corpse. Finally Sanpei lights a match and throws it at Mizu-Oni, which along with the absorbed liquid from Rokubee causes it to be engulfed in flames and defeated. Sanpei soon finds Rokubee’s and Kan’s bodies, dried up and lifeless, so he throws them into a lake which replenishes their liquids and brings them back to life. Sanpei’s hand is restored too. Now that Kan is saved Sanpei is sent back home only to find Itachi Otoko again. Sanpei asks where his mother is and is told she had been taken away to the Yokai world. Throughout the 26 episode series Rokubee and Kan help Sanpei search for his mother while running into a wide variety of ghosts, demons and other hellish creatures which they must defeat. Kappa no Sanpei is another black and white classic tokusatsu show that has a fun light-hearted atmosphere along with some cool creepy yokai. The soundtrack by Asei Kobayashi is loaded with a very effectively used theremin to add that horror vibe.

Introduction to Kappa

Kappa are supernatural creatures which live both on land and in water. They are as tall as a four or five year old child. They have a beak-like snout, and fins on their hands and feet. They also have a shell on their back, and a water-filled dish on their head. As long as the dish is full of water, kappa keep their supernatural powers. Although kappa harm people sometimes, there are also many tales where they have helped people. They are very curious. They often appear in cartoons because of their lovable images. Kappa love sumo wrestling and cucumbers. That is why cucumber sushi rolls are called "kappa maki". "Okappa" are bobbed hairstyles because they look like the kappa's hairstyles. Kappa are excellent swimmers. There is a saying "Kappa no kawa nagare (a drowning kappa)" which means, even an expert can make mistakes sometimes. (Kappa Intro from GoJapan.about.com)

AKUMA KUN

 1966 was a great year for Japanese children’s television. With the “Kaiju Boom” moving full steam ahead, there was still room for other memorable tokusatsu and anime. Shigeru Mizuki’s super popular ghost and goblin manga GEGEGE NO KITARO was already spooking millions of readers, thus creating the “Yokai Boom”. However, this was not the only work by Mizuki that got attention. In October 1966, Toei Prod. rolled the cameras for a live action version of Mizuki’s supernatural story Akuma Kun (Devil Boy) which ran simultaneously with the manga in Shonen Magazine. The black and white TV series ran for 26 episodes and starred Mitsunobu Kaneko (GIANT ROBO) who was also Johnny Sokko.

Akuma Kun starts out with a funeral in procession under a dark, ominous sky. The back doors of the hearse suddenly open and the casket comes crashing out. Before the eyes of the horrified mourners, the casket opens and the body rises, then floats away into the forest. Later a group a boys come upon the lifeless body now devoid of eyes. Only one boy Shingo Yamada (Mitsunobu Kaneko) seems unafraid and intent on finding the answer to this strange mystery. Looking around, he sees an old man watching nearby in the woods. The strange man turns and walks slowly away almost beckoning Shingo to follow. Shingo is led to an old abandoned well in the middle of nowhere. The old man becomes a glowing figure and floats into the well. Shingo, now convinced the old man is behind the strange happenings, follows the old man down the dark well. Exploring a maze of underground passages, Shingo comes upon a large room. A shaft of light points down to a giant circular stone slab, with strange hieroglyphic-like writings and numbers on it. The old man steps out of the shadows and introduces himself as Doctor Faust, assuring Shingo he will not harm him. Faust explains that he has spent hundreds of years, guarding against the appearance of demons in our world, which he fears has already begun. Faust takes Shingo to a baptismal-like font, then begins to play a hypnotic melody on magical instrument known as Solomon’s flute.

Images of demons and spirits begin to ripple through the water, among them is the creature responsible for the corpse, the eye stealing demon, Ganma. Shingo, still unafraid, realizes his whole life is about to change. Faust brushes Shingo’s hair to one side revealing a birthmark. This is the mark of Shingo’s destiny, to step in and protect the world as a demon fighter. Knowing his life is in it’s last hours, Faust dedicates his remaining time on earth to show Shingo how to summon the only being that can help save humanity.

The surprise is that this savior just so happens to be a devil. Materializing at the spoken word of Faust, which is repeated by Shingo, Meliesdes Niche Mephisto (Yoshio Yoshida) steps out of the stone circle, which is now revealed to be a gateway to hell. Joining forces seems to be a doomed idea from the start, since Mephisto arrogantly refuses to have any part of saving the human race from demons. Only by signing a contract, Mephisto can be used to battle against this threat to humanity. Mephisto almost succeeds in eluding this request, by attempting to tear the document in half. Faust quickly plays the magic flute, causing great pain to the snobbish pointy nosed devil. Faust releases Mephisto from his agony only after he signs the contract. Shingo is now handed the flute and is advised to keep a watchful eye on his devil companion. Faust’s time has now ended and fades away into thin air. Aware of the dangerous task ahead Shingo and Mephisto fly off to stop the demon Ganma.

Mephisto doesn’t fit the look of your traditional devil, red, horns, pitchfork, etc. Instead he is quite the gentlemen, dressed in a tuxedo, top hat, and cape. The only thing unusual is the bump on top of his head that radiates with pain when he is being punished by the melody of the flute. Mephisto is armed with a jewel capped cane that can be transformed into sword, drill, and even a flame thrower, The cane can also warp time, magnify energy from the sun, and also can give the power of flight. Unfortunately, the pointy nosed devil would rather be chasing women than saving the world. Instead of using the flute, sometimes Shingo would use Mephisto’s passion for chocolate or a magazine of bathing beauties to steer him in the right direction. In episode 10 “Daimajin of Shiba”, Mephisto is summoned back to hell, a request that he is unable to deny. Mephisto decides to let his younger brother, Shira Sultan Mometto Mephisto, take over in his place. The brothers reunite later in the series.

Akuma Kun is rich in memorable visuals and atmosphere. Being black and white adds to this sense. Whether it’s ghosts, ghoulish mummies, or the woman of the snows, embracing her helpless victim in her arctic clutches, the show has a creepiness reminiscent of silent era horror. The soundtrack is primarily jazz oriented which gives a cool vibe. Other tracks include everything from electric guitar to ghostly chants (apparent in the opening credits). The special effects and monster suits are outstanding for their time. The multi-eyed demon Ganma in episode 1 is a good example of Akuma Kun‘s uniqueness . Akuma Kun is a monochrome gem, surely to please any kaiju fan.

MONOCHROME ANIME: GEGEGE NO KITARO

GeGeGe no Kitaro was created by manga/comic artist Shigeru Mizuki (AKUMA KUN, KAPPA NO SANPEI). Shigeru Mizuki is a legendary artist of horror and yokai manga. Yokai literally translated means, a ghost, an apparition, or a spectre, to which Mizuki is responsible for keeping it’s folklore alive in Japan. The brilliant artist who lost his left arm in World War II, got his start telling his stories using kami-shibai(story telling using picture cards)as his medium.

Originally titled HAKABA KITARO(Graveyard Kitaro)for the rental-manga scene in 1959, Mizuki’s most famous story was later serialized in Shonen Magazine as GeGeGe no Kitaro in 1965.

GeGeGe no Kitaro tells the story of a young boy who is the last remaining family member of the “Ghostly Tribe” (Yurei Zoku). Kitaro was born in a graveyard just as his parents passed on. His mother was a witch and his father a mummy. The mummy dad’s eyeball leaves it’s eye socket and grows arms and legs. This way Kitaro’s father is reincarnated as Daddy-Eyeball (Medama-Oyaji)so he can still raise his son. Kitaro grows up to fight monsters, ghosts, and goblins, to keep peace between the paranormal world and human beings. Kitaro is aided in his fight for peace with the help of a variety ghastly characters Cat-Girl (Neko-Musume), Rat-Man (Nezumi-Otoko), Old Man Crybaby (Konaki Jijii), The Sand-Witch (Sunakake-Babaa), Rollo-Cloth (Ittan-Momen), and Wally Wall (Nurikabe).

In the 1960’s Japan was already experiencing the “Kaiju-Boom” because of the huge wave of giant monster movies (GODZILLA, GAMERA, MOTHRA, etc.) over running movie-goers. The popularity of GeGeGe no Kitaro and other works by Shigeru Mizuki spawned the “Yokai-Boom”. Kids started going crazy for horror and ghost manga. So in 1968 GeGeGe no Kitaro became a hit anime TV series released by Toei Animation. The 65 episodes released in black and white, captured the nice creepy atmosphere of the classic manga stories as well as new original ones created for the show. Even though some stories are gloomy and the characters are scary, the show is light-hearted and really fun.

Cast of Characters:

Kitaro: a young boy who is the last of the “Ghostly Tribe”, who spends his days keeping peace between yokai and humans. Kitaro who is missing his left eye sometimes carries his father in the empty socket. His weapons include, remote control sandals, snake handcuffs, detachable hands, magical vest, a chameleon tongue, blows flames, yokai detector, and can shoot strands of hair like needles. One of my favorite things Kitaro can do is he can fly from place to place with the help of ravens carrying him and his friends.

Daddy-Eyeball: The extremely intelligent father of Kitaro, is gifted with the knowledge of all yokai and their habits. The walking and talking eyeball, rose to life from his own dead mummy corpse to watch out for, and aid his son. During down time, he likes to relax in a nice cup of warm tea or coffee.

Cat-Girl: Cute girl always at Kitaro’s side, who is not able to control her craving for fish. Don’t get her angry or you’ll see her feline teeth come out as she attacks.

Rat-Man: The bottom of the barrel when it comes to loyalty. Rat-Man would stab his own mother in the back for money. Somehow or another he turns out okay at the end by aiding his companions in his own miserable way. Look out he fights by breathing his bad breath on you or with flatulence.

Old Man Crybaby: A very strange man who’ll cry like a baby, until you pick him up or he jumps on you. Old Man Crybaby has the ability to turn to stone so heavy he’ll crush his victims under the tremendous weight.

The Sand-Witch: A kind old women who cares deeply for Kitaro. Always ready to fight, the Sand-Witch can throw sand at her victims eyes, that comes from within her body.

Rollo-Cloth: Faithful kite-like companion of Kitaro, who can fly his friends quickly anywhere. Beware Rollo-Cloth can wrap his cloth body around his enemies and strangle them to death.

Wally-Wall: The giant stone wall from the mountains that is a perfect barrier against any attacks. Wally-Wall can increase his size at will or fall over and smash any threat.

Since the 1968 TV program, GeGeGe no Kitaro has been re-introduced to a new generation of yokai fans every decade, spawning new color TV series, as well as theatrical movies, both animated and live-action. But nothing beats the creepy and ghoulish atmosphere brought to you with the glorious black and white version.