Absence may indeed make the heart grow fonder, but I was already pretty fond of Gegege no Kitarou 2018.  Still, there’s nothing like missing out on something to remind you of how much you should appreciate it, and this series’ remarkable professionalism and wit was certainly missed last week.  It might have looked at home on an anime schedule once, but this adaptation sticks out like a sort thumb now – and all the more so when one looks ahead to the next few seasons.

The notion of Nezumi-otoko falling in love fits in very nicely with this version of Gegege no Kitarou.  While all canon versions have “humanized” him (Ratman is more human than anyone else in Gegege Forest, after all – 50%) the 2018 has perhaps dwelt on that side of him a bit more.  Nezumi-otoko has been involved in romantic subplots any number of times down the decades of this franchise’s existence, but more often than not he’s been in his usual trickster role – trying to manipulate a woman for financial reasons.  The tables have turned in this episode, and it’s not without pathos.

It should never be forgotten that Nezumi-otoko is Mizuki Shigeru’s favorite character (and not without reason), and the one he said was most indispensable to telling this story.  Pathos should be his middle name, really – Ratman may be a scoundrel and a malodorous fellow, but he’s also an exile from both human and youkai society.  He’s lived a very long time, mostly alone.  His connections to the Kitarou circle mean something to him, this is obvious – because he’s had few connections in his miserable life.  The actor who plays Nezumi-otoko in this version, Furukawa Toshio (a veteran of six GGGnK incarnations) is 72 years old.  That’s astounding, as he plays the role with remarkable vigor and joie de vivre. but there’s a distinct “old soul” weariness to the performance, too.  It’s another great casting job for this series.

In this tale, Ratman announces (via the youkai mailbox) that he intends to marry Ishiyama Youko (Uchida Maaya). She turns out to be much different than Team Kitarou expects – a gorgeous young woman who Nezumi weds in a quite conventional ceremony he borrows money from the yakuza to pay for.  This all seems rather too good to be true – especially when the newlyweds end up at an onsen ryokan and their wedding night seems to be developing along conventional lines as well.  When the other shoe (inevitably) drops, it turns out that “Yoko” is in fact the Sekiyou, a youkai who meets lonely men, gains their confidence, then massages them till they fall asleep and “does whatever she wants” with them (“where do I sign up?” is no doubt the response from many quarters).  Sekiyou could obviously have chosen more wisely in this case, but that’s another way in which the usual GGGnK scenario is flipped on its head.

The most interesting part of all this for me, truthfully, is the reaction of everyone in Ratman’s family (and yes they are that, make no mistake) to this development.  Neko-musume is jealous that he “beat her” to the altar. Sand Witch is (as usual) wearily trying to see the best in the situation, and Konaki Jiji is wryly approving of the way Nezumi-otoko has traded up. When it all turns bad – as we always knew it would – everyone rallies around Ratman in their own way, even as he continues to be loyal to the woman (youkai) who wronged him and makes his family’s life difficult as they try and avenge him.

That’s the thing about all this – the dynamic is very much that of a typical Japanese family, human, youkai or otherwise.  Kitarou is the good son of whom everyone’s proud, Nezumi-otoko the black sheep who’s always causing trouble and trying everyone’s patience, but ultimately still in their hearts.  Not to get all sentimental, but it’s that family dynamic which ultimately makes Gegege no Kitarou work as a cohesive story and not just an episodic fairy tale, just as it has in many guises over the past half-century.  His name may not be in the title, but I think it’s Nezumi-otoko who ultimately connects to more of the audience than anyone else – either because they have a little bit of him inside them, or have a family member who fills the same role.