| |
|
|
 |
Gegege no Kitarō: Sketches
 Home/Change Series
Kitarō 5, the most recent CGI version of the series, began in 2007 and is still running. This collection mostly consists of animators’ sketches from Episode 92, which focuses on the plight of a little scaly webfooted yōkai creature who arrives on the scene with a surfboard strapped to his back. “Little Surfer Dude,” as I dubbed him (“LSD” for short), appeals for help to an impressive personage who seems to be a fish yōkai. As this character is usually seen holding a shakojou, a ritual staff with metal rings attached associated with Buddhist rituals, I’ve nicknamed him “The Fish Monk.” (This holy man should not be confused with that indispensible cleric at any Catholic Lenten fundraiser, the Chip Monk.)
Kitaro and his friends are having tea at the Fish Monk’s shrine when LSD arrives; after a discussion, they agree to help him, and the confrontation that follows (with a dudecidal rogue wave, of course) includes a virtual catalogue of the magic arsenal of the Kitaro-tachi. I don’t know how the episode resolves, for water entities are notoriously hard to subdue, but LSD displays a lot of attitude in the sketches, and so he presumably carries the day in typical Toei style.
The artist has a likeably distinctive style, using a lot of fine “scribbling” in gray or colored pencil, then working up the final contours and expressing in an extremely fine, authoritative graphite pencil line. The sense of character design is sharp, as is the animator’s command of foreshortening, so the art is a treat whether or not one knows the exact plot. Toei’s house style excels in quirky minor characters and vivid action scenes, and this gallery amply displays these strengths.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
8.66/10 
9.38/10
8.91/10 
74 votes