Gegege no Kitarou (2018) – 05

Gegege no Kitarou is definitely one of the big sleepers of Spring 2018.  It’s a season full of classic franchise revivals, but this one didn’t get much attention in Western fandom, where the Gegege no Kitarou franchise is largely dismissed as children’s pap.  It was never simply that, but I think the 2018 iteration has a chance to go down as both the best and darkest of all the TV adaptations in the franchise.

While this week’s episode didn’t have the transportive magic of last week’s, it was yet another winner.  I’m constantly impressed by how good the production values are here, proof that Toei can deliver the goods when they choose to spend the money.  The animation and music are great, and there are some really stylish flourishes too (like the moment when the screen went to black-and-white and freeze-framed).  The youkai of the week this time was no less than Kaminari-sama himself (played by Houki Katsuhisa – this show is single-handedly keeping the septuagenarian-and-up seiyuu set at work), accidentally summoned by Rat Man and put to work in another of his money-making schemes.

We actually saw a human being murdered by a youkai this week – a reporter who was uncovering the truth behind the Yakuza turned mayor working as Nezumi’s business partner.  That’s rough stuff, but in-character for this show – it’s not at all afraid to go dark.  Kitarou and friends don’t even turn up til the B-part, lured in (as Rat expected) by the news of the murder.  It’s a pretty fierce battle with Kaminari – even Konaki Jiji has to pitch in – but eventually the good guys do win out.

I also want to note that the actor doing such a great job as Medama Oyaji is none other than 81 year-old Nozawa Masako of Dragonball fame.  That’s especially notable because (and I can’t believe I didn’t notice it before) she played Kitarou in the 1968, 1971 and 2008 versions of the series.

Gurazeni – 04

I never thought I’d see the day LOOGY turned up in an anime sub, but there you go – I guess someone at Crunchyroll is a baseball fan.  But let the record show that I was the first (as far as I know) to refer to Bonda-san that way.

A couple of interesting stories this week, starting with the tale of the 41 year-old 500 home run legend that Bonda put out of commission on a hit-by-pitch.  Obviously Bonda’s dilemma when facing him again is a serious matter for him, but the real takeaway from this episode is what a cutthroat business NPB is.  Budgets are absurdly tight compared to MLB, and you actually have the Setouchi GM and his assistant rooting for their most legendary player to fail so he can be pushed into retirement and ¥400 million saved.

I hadn’t connected the dots, but as soon as the umbrellas came out I realized that the Spiders were actually the Tokyo Yakult Swallows (Tokyo’s “other” NPB team) – that’s their signature totem.  That was confirmed when we were taken to Meiji Jingu Stadium, which is where the Swallows play their home games.  Bonda is pretty damn good at soccer, as it happens – and the point here is to illustrate the gap between pro-caliber athletes (even portly relief pitchers) and amateur duffers.  It’s also a sad story of a bonus baby named Atsushi whose career was sidetracked by injuries and now sells souvenirs (but not Bonda ones) at the stadium.

Also of note – Bonda has the yips.  This is famously plaguing a lefty in MLB right now, the Cubs’ Jon Lester – whose problems seem to be exactly the same as Bonda’s.  He can throw strikes all day long, but any other kind of throw – fielded grounders, pickoffs – is a disaster waiting to happen.  Most people don’t realize just what a big deal this is, and how hard to correct – good professional careers have been wrecked by it (though Lester has developed some workarounds).  More inside baseball, I know – but for those of us that love the game, it’s pure A5 Kobe Beef.