Alternate Versions of 2008 Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro Anime Movie Planned

Toei Animation has revealed plans to customize its upcoming Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro: Nihon Bakuretsu!! anime film for the six regions of Japan that will screen the film. Among the variations planned are a costume that cat-girl character Neko Musume wears that will reflect the characteristics of the screening region. For example, screenings in the northern Hokkaido/Tohoku area will include Neko Musume dressed as a “yukinko” snow fairy. Screenings in Kinki/Kyoto area will include Neko Musume as a maiko (apprentice geisha). Screenings in southern Kyushu/Okinawa region will depict Neko Musume costumed as a “shisa” lion-dog. Ideas for the Kanto/Koshinetsu, Chubu/Hokuriku, and Chugoku/Shikoku regions are still being discussed. While the overall plot of the film will remain constant among all six versions of the film, several minutes of animation are expected to change for each version.

The idea was proposed by the film’s production staff to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the “Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro” anime. Fuji TV’s current Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro television series will take part in the campaign beginning in September when different spirits from all over Japan will face off against spirits from other countries in the anime TV show. Through a voting process on the show’s website, fans will be able to decide which spirits make an appearance, and the whole ensemble will unite for the first time in the movie, which opens in December.

The Moegaku 5 anime television series earlier this year utilized a similar tactic by airing the same weekly episode with a co-star of a different nationality in each daily episode.

Source: Tokyograph