Gegege no Nazo: Kitarō Tanjō takes Japan’s box office by storm
Kitarō Tanjō: Gegege no Nazo's box office success continues as it climbs to the number two spot in Japan Will this highly anticipated film make its debut in the US? Stay tuned for updates
Shigeru Mizuki’s Kitarō Tanjō: Gegege no Nazo was released in Japan last week and has quickly become a box office success. Toei Animation produced the first anime film adaptation of the franchise in 15 years as one of four projects commemorating what would have been Mizuki's 100th birthday.
Based on the 1960 manga series by Shigeru Mizuki, this story is a modern retelling of a Japanese folktale from the early 20th century, featuring enigmatic creatures known as yōkai. The plot centers around Kitarō, the last survivor of the “Ghost Tribe,” who lives on the border between the human and supernatural world. The dark fantasy film follows his adventures with ghost-like beings from Japanese mythology.
Directed by Go Koga, the filmmaker behind Digimon Universe: Appli Monsters, this fantasy-horror film premiered in Japan last Friday and is already proving to be a box office success!
Kitarō Tanjō: Gegege no Nazo reaches number two in Japan
Kitarō Tanjō: Gegege no Nazo opened on November 17, 2023. And, by the end of its opening weekend, has already climbed to number two in the Japanese box office charts.
Kitarō Tanjō: Gegege no Nazo sold 111,500 tickets and earned 160,160,620¥ ($1.07m) over its opening weekend, ranking behind Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus One for the third consecutive weekend. It currently stands ahead of Eiga Sumikko Gurashi: Tsugihagi Kōjo no Fushigi na Ko, which earned $637,600 over the same weekend.
Will Kitarō Tanjō: Gegege no Nazo debut in the US?
The film hasn’t yet announced the official US premiere date. Although, it will be available for streaming on Crunchyroll sometime in the near future.
Kitarō Tanjō: Gegege no Nazo trailer
On November 15, 2023, the film released its final trailer.
Based on the 2018-2022 anime series, the new movie takes place in the 1950s and explores the enigma surrounding Kitarō's family and his father, Medama Oyaji. It marks the first film in the anime franchise since GeGeGe no Kitarō: Nippon Bakuretsu!! in 2008.
While you wait for the film to debut in the west, why not check out Netflix’s Akuma Kun series – another commemoration project for Shigeru Mizuki?
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Editor's P/S
1. I am a fan of the Gegege no Kitarō franchise and I am excited to see the new film, Kitarō Tanjō: Gegege no Nazo. The film is a modern retelling of a Japanese folktale from the early 20th century, featuring enigmatic creatures known as yōkai. The plot centers around Kitarō, the last survivor of the “Ghost Tribe,” who lives on the border between the human and supernatural world. The dark fantasy film follows his adventures with ghost-like beings from Japanese mythology.
2. I am impressed by the film's box office success in Japan. It opened on November 17, 2023, and by the end of its opening weekend, it had already climbed to number two in the Japanese box office charts. The film has not yet announced an official US premiere date, but it will be available for streaming on Crunchyroll sometime in the near future. I am looking forward to seeing the film when it is released in the US.
