Monsters at War: The Great Yōkai Wars, 1968–2005
2009; University of Minnesota Press; Volume: 4; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/mec.0.0073
ISSN2152-6648
Autores Tópico(s)Cinema and Media Studies
ResumoMiike Takashi, the Japanese director of infamous films such as Koroshiya Ichi (2001, Ichi the Killer) and Zehuraaman (2004, Zebraman), surprised audiences by directing the 2005 remake of the 1968 horror/fantasy Sim, Yokai daisenso (The Great Yoked War).1 With its cast of cute folkloric monsters (generically referred to in Japanese as yokai), this was the first child-friendly movie produced by Miike, whose work is better known for excessive Tarantino-like violence, gangster stories, and blood spilled on screen. But, despite their association with simple and straightforward horror tales and family entertainment, both the 1968 classic and Miike's 2005 remake use yokai to communicate strong, if also strongly differing, political messages. This essay compares the two films and also traces the evolution of the Yokai daisenso story through several manga, anime, and live-action versions produced over the past forty years. The emergence of yokai-themed films in Japan dates from the 1960s and coincides with the television broadcast of Mizuki Shigeru's 1968-69 Gegege no Kitard animation series, based in turn on Mizuki's hugely popular manga. The series traced the adventures of the yokai boy Kitard and his monster companions, particularly their battles with various other malevolent yokai entities. Following the success of the television series, the film production company
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