Zero Frights: Kitaro in Comic Form (2013-2019 - manga)

The late Shigeru Mizuki’s Kitaro always was a hard series to get into in English--maybe that’s not too surprising given how heavy it is steeped in Japanese folklore, but for many it always felt unfair to miss out on such a well regarded part of Japanese animation and comics. Recently, this all changed with the newest television series: GeGeGe no Kitaro (2018) finally getting picked up for official simulcast release in North America, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Europe. Finally a large portion of the English market can watch Kitaro every week just like the fans in Japan. However this was not the first time that Kitaro came to the English market, so let’s talk about the other mainstream Kitaro release in English: the manga.

In 2013 the Canadian comic publisher Drawn and Quarterly released the conservatively named ‘Kitaro’, a collection of famous Kitaro manga chapters that were hand picked by translator Zack Davisson (Devilman (1972), Captain Harlock (1977), Showa: A History of Japan (1988)) and approved by Mizuki himself. This collection stands at 8.7” tall and 6.4” wide, making it much larger than your average manga volume--just about the same size as Seven Seas’ Classic Collection, for those who may be familiar with those releases. With such large paper, the book really gives Mizuki’s unique artwork the room it deserves and is jam packed with over 430 pages of encyclopedia entries on yokai, essays about Mizuki himself, and of course the manga chapters. Have you ever been curious what the heck “Ge Ge Ge” even is? Well, these essays will finally put that to rest! This book has everything a fan could want, and has been one of my absolute favorites in my entire collection.

Sadly, this particular book has since gone out of print. For the longest time you could still find it on the second hand market (i.e. used through Amazon, eBay, or Barnes and Noble) for a fairly cheap price, but it lately has seemed to gone up quite a considerable amount since last I checked. Is it just a spike for Halloween?--I hope so. But fright not, as ‘Kitaro’ was just the first of many releases Drawn and Quarterly would put out. In 2015, they announced that they will release 7 more volumes worth of Kitaro manga, each containing around 150 pages. The books in these releases are all still in print and can be found anywhere where manga is sold. 

This new set of 7 Kitaro volumes starts with ‘The Birth of Kitaro’, where you guessed it, the chapters surrounding Kitaro's origins is the main focus. Each book continues this pattern where they have at least one major story arc, like ‘Kitaro Meets Nurarihyon’ covering chapters with one of Kitaro’s greatest enemies: the Nurarihyon, and ‘Kitaro: The Great Tanuki War’ covering the Tanuki War story arc (fans of the recent 2018 anime should remember this story from episode 11: Conquer Japan! The 808 Tanuki Army, and episode 12: Capital Annihilated! The Terrifying Yokai Beast). So far there has been a total of 5 volumes released, with the 2 remaining volumes coming next year. Each volume just like the original 2013 ‘Kitaro’ contains yokai encyclopedia entries, and essays about Mizuki. The subsequent essays in the 5 volumes I have so far as well as the 2013 ‘Kitaro’ have been a large part of my research for these latest blog entries. Essays about the creators and their works are some of my favorite parts about classic manga releases, and these beefy essays by Zack Davisson really don’t disappoint.

I really have to say as a quick aside, that I’ve enjoyed flipping through all these manga volumes again and rereading a lot of the stories to get myself in a Halloween mood--not to mention to also prep for all these recent Zero Frights blog posts. With the 2018 GeGeGe no Kitaro anime now covering The Great Yokai War--and giving it the premium treatment, no less--I have really enjoyed reading that story again in particular, and laughing at the small things. Stuff like how Konaki Jiji drowns Frankenstein’s monster in the original, and how the Witch was just an ugly old hag before, but now we have two, very beautiful witches--which don’t get me wrong, is pretty nice. I really have been enjoying this new modern take on The Great Yokai War, as well as most of the modernization in the show in general, but if Toei wants to bring back Frankenstein’s Monster getting straight up murdered in cold blood by Konaki Jiji who proceeds to give zero fracks, I am game.

There is a part of me that loves that despite the fact that the major staying power of the Kitaro franchise is tied into the many television appearances it has enjoyed over the past 50 years in Japan, that it was the manga that got a wide release in English markets first before any of the animes did. Shigeru Mizuki’s work has always had this mesmerizing nature to it, and while all the animes out there are fantastic and capture a lot of his spirit, there is just something special about the work he did himself, the art he penned, the pages he storyboarded, and the way his Kitaro looks. I can’t get enough of Mizuki’s mangas, and I am really glad that we finally have easy access to them in English. Now if you excuse me, I think I am going to read some more of his work and enjoy what’s left of this spooky time of year. Happy Halloween!

Zero Frights: Devilman in Comic Form (1972-2012 - manga)

The majority of my Devilman coverage in this year’s Zero Frights has been all anime related, but the Devilman franchise covers a wide variety of entertainment mediums from animation, to video games, to comics, to live action, and more. I decided it’s high time I got around to talking about some of the other Devilman entries outside of just anime. That’s why I’m going to wrap up my Devilman coverage by looking at some of the Devilman manga that are currently in print in North America. Sadly, Go Nagai’s presence in the North American market place has been lackluster to say the least. In many European markets Nagai is huge and his books sell incredibly well, with tons of his work translated into French, Spanish, and Italian, but sadly for the longest time Nagai’s works could just never catch a break in English speaking markets. Much of this can be attributed to his work being too controversial for America in the 80’s and 90’s ... well sort of.

It isn't as if the American comics market didn't have some incredibly visceral, graphic, and downright upsetting content as well, oh no, the American comic scene may have very well been ready for Nagai, but the American manga market wasn't. Manga was just getting its footing in the North American market and had many set backs. It took a lot of effort from many corporations to finally give the medium a fighting chance in book and comic stores, and getting American readers to warm up to vastly different manga was a herculean task as well. While there are some weird experimentations like the Fist of the North Star release in the late-80’s, it was much too dangerous to put the incredibly young North American manga market at risk with Nagai’s more risqué and graphic works. Sadly as the market place matured, much of his backlog became too old to be deemed profitable by that point as well--really missing their chance. However, recent years have seen a renaissance in retro anime and manga, and the market for classics have never been this healthy so we’re finally seeing the floodgates slowly open on Nagai’s works.

Seven Seas’ has been leading the pack with a fantastic line of retro manga in their Classic Collection series: including the likes of Space Pirate Captain Harlock, Space Battleship Yamato, Cutey Honey, and you guessed it, Devilman (1972). They also have a few more recent Devilman titles in print to boot. Let’s take a look at some!

Devilman Classic Collection (1972-79) - Like I said above Seven Seas’ Classic Collection line is really high quality. I love these huge hardcover tomes; this Devilman volume has over 680 pages and is about half of the entire manga, with the second half coming out in November. I really can’t recommend their Classic Collection line enough. As far as the manga itself goes, while Devilman is famous for its violence and sexual content, I think a lot of the 70’s campiness is often overlooked. This book is pretty goofy at times, and it may seem at odds with the graphic content, but this is where a lot of the fun from its era comes. This collection also contains all the chapters from the semi-sequel series Shin Devilman which featured time travel shenanigans. So one minute you’re reading a Devilman chapter where a child is being tortured to death by their monstrous parents, and the next minute it's a Shin Devilman chapter where Akira and Ryo are Quantum Leaping through time hoping the next jump will bring them back home. Thankfully Shin Devilman takes place during the original 1972 Devilman so this isn't really a continuity issue, but it being there can lead to some pretty hilarious connotations you don't usually see in most Devilman anime, like for instance, did you know Adolf Hitler was actually tricked into hating Jewish people by demons? I mean, yeah, the legendary ending of the 1972 original manga is one thing, but why aren't more people talking about Shin Devilman? This Hitler chapter, man, I just can't even. All jokes aside though I love this odd mixture of goofy and horrid; these two Devilman series make a great collection together and are a fantastic retro read that any fan of classic manga owes to themselves to check out.

Devilman Grimoire (2012) - Hey, did the original Devilman TV series ever sound interesting to you but you wished it was just as violent and sexual as the original manga series? Well do I have a manga for you! Devilman Grimoire by Rui Takato, is an interesting twist on the classic formula, where the demon Amon really does manage to posses Akira Fudo--it's Amon that's the one truly calling the shots here and in full control as the protagonist, but instead of going on a killing spree, he falls head over heels for Miki, himself just like Akira did. Miki is such a goddess even a demon can get a crush on her! With his newfound love, Amon lies and pretends to be Akira Fudo, and helps Miki fight off the many other demons now possessing people. This has become one of my favorite manga I've read this year, and each volume really tops the last. The sheer amount of fan service to the original TV series is insane, but there is also so many other nods and references to everything else in the franchise from Devilman Lady to Mao Dante. This is a series made by a huge fan of Devilman for other huge fans of Devilman, and I highly recommend it.

Devilman vs Hades (2012) - Much like Cyborg 009 vs Devilman, this is another cross-over that is hard to talk a lot about because of the sheer amount of spoilers for their respective series, but is a really well made homage to said series. I came into Team Moon’s Devilman vs Hades with zero expectations but came out really surprised how great it was. On paper Devilman fighting the villain of Great Mazinger seems rather odd, but it works incredibly well here in this book, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that it takes place in the post-apocalypse. Seeing the whole Hades title made me figure this manga would take place mostly in Hell, but a large chunk of it is in the destroyed ruins of Earth after the infamous ending of the original 1972 Devilman manga (so it is best to read this right after that). Seeing what remains of the Earth after the way the 1972 manga ended is a large part of what made this series for me. The fantastic artwork is both a blessing and a curse however, as when it works it is incredibly detailed and jaw dropingly beautiful, but there are more than a handful of times when the art is just incredibly hard to decipher what is even going on in the panels. There would be times where I would find myself thinking "it's pretty, but, what just happened?" Overall though, a really fun read that I did not expect.

Thank you so much for reading all my Devilman coverage this year, it has been one heck of a ride producing this much writing on Devilman in these past three weeks, and I hope you were able to enjoy it. Please look forward to Zero Frights shifting gears next week into GeGeGe no Kitaro! I have a lot I want to say about this franchise as well before Halloween is over, so there is still plenty horror based content to read here.