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Kitaro's Yokai Battles

Kitaro's Yokai Battles

Current price: $15.95
Publication Date: April 9th, 2019
Publisher:
Drawn and Quarterly
ISBN:
9781770463196
Pages:
216
Usually Ships in 1 to 5 Days

Description

The spooky yokai boy Kitaro is back for his sixth book, and this time he has a pile of monsters to beat

Featuring seven stories by Japan’s beloved monster master Shigeru Mizuki, Kitaro’s Yokai Battles features some of Kitaro’s strangest foes yet—including his good pal Nezumi Otoko, who decides that he should be the star of the comic. With friends like these . . . who needs enemies?

But enemies seem to be all Kitaro has. He faces off against villains like the yokai Hoko—who has an evil scheme to corner the market on pickled daikon radish—and the Amifuri Tengu, who always brings the rain. Things get hairy in “The Great Hair Battle,” when Medama Oyaji’s friend Kemedama begs for Kitaro’s help against an attack of giant wigs. The massive mud monster Dorotabo gets down and dirty with Kitaro, and the red-tongued Akashita swoops down from above. And these are just a few yokai from the hilarious cast of characters in Kitaro’s Yokai Battles.

The stories in this volume are collected from the late-1960s golden age of Gegege no Kitaro, and appear here in English for the first time in a kid-friendly edition, uncut and unedited, with translations by the Mizuki scholar Zack Davisson. In addition, there are bonus features like “Yokai Files,” which introduce the folklore of Japanese monsters, and the sixth installment of the “History of Kitaro” essay by the series translator Davisson. Kitaro’s Yokai Battles is the perfect blend of humor and horror.

About the Author

Born March 8, 1922 in Sakaiminato, Tottori, Japan, Shigeru Mizuki is a specialist in stories of yokai and is considered a master of the genre. He is a member of the Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology, and has traveled to more than sixty countries around the world to engage in fieldwork on the yokai and spirits of different cultures. He has been published in Japan, South Korea, France, Spain, Taiwan, and Italy. His award-winning works include Kitaro,Nonnonba, and Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths. Mizuki's four-part autobiography and historical portrait Showa: A History of Japan won an Eisner Award in 2015.

Praise for Kitaro's Yokai Battles

“Family-friendly horror done well is hard to find, making this series valuable as both an introduction to a classic manga character and purely enjoyable reading.” —Booklist

“A fantastic blend of realism, traditional Japanese painting, and cartoon art in every chapter. The breadth of Mizuki's talent is impressive.” —Anime News Network