History Manga / GegegeNoKitaro

* LighterAndSofter: Progressively. The 1980s and 2007 anime in particular, which made the few times someone actually ''died'' in that version much more shocking. Subsequent adaptations made the 1980s anime seem grimdark. Averted with the 2018 anime which is considerably darker and outright becomes a Horror anime at times, as well as the TruerToTheText ''Hakaba Kitaro'' mini-series, though they are still lighter than the original picture show.

* MinorlyMentionedMythsAndMonsters: Quite a lot of stories focus on rather obscure monsters, and not just from Japanese mythology. When was the last time you saw creatures from Malaysian mythology in anything other than ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTensei''?

* CreepyChild: Kitaro, specially in the original manga and ''Hakaba Kitaro''. Neko-Musume counts too.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The 2018 anime, while still kid friendly, leans more towards the grim side of the scale. There's a stronger focus on utilizing horror aesthetics than some previous incarnations.

* DoesThisRemindYouofAnything: The 808 Tanuki are clearly meant to represent fascists, and are even directly compared to them in the original manga. The 2018 version cuts that, but makes it more explicit with scenes of them arresting innocent people who are suspected of being “anti tanuki”.

* HotterAndSexier: Neko Musume in the 2018 anime, where she is taller and more mature.
** The Yuki Onna, in earlier seasons they weren’t ugly but were drawn in the same cartoony style as other yokai. In the 2007 anime however they are drawn in a more realistic style and all but [[ButterFace one]] are portrayed as unquestionable beautiful. Best exemplified by a recurring Yuki Onna named Aoi who has a cute face and incredibly large breasts.

* RealityEnsues: When coaching a girl in tennis, the yokai Hihi finds out the hard way that not only does preaching about “spirit” not work with everyone but that smacking your student around is frowned upon in modern society.

* HotterAndSexier: Neko Musume in the 2018 anime. A less recent example are the Yuki Onna, in earlier seasons they weren’t ugly but were drawn in the same cartoony style as other yokai. In the 2007 anime however they are drawn in a more realistic style and all but [[ButterFace one]] are portrayed as unquestionable beautiful. Best exemplified by a recurring Yuki Onna named Aoi who has a cute face and incredibly large breasts.
* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Heavily Zigzagged and often Subverted. Throughout the franchise we do see that humans are responsible are for many problems in the series, especially in the 2018 series where most antagonistic yōkai justify their actions by claiming they're just taking back the Earth from the undeserving, greedy and polluting human beings that stopped respecting and revering them. However we also see entire communities of humans who work to fix these mistakes and even build positive relationships with yokai. Also the those aforementioned antagonistic yokai? They are often just as bad, oftentimes WORSE, than the humans they are angry at. Furthermore, all of the most wicked characters in the series are always yokai.

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: As expected most dragons in the series are of the Eastern variety, though some such as Kouryou don’t look like any sort of traditional dragon. [[spoiler: The main villain of the 2008 movie is none other than Yato-no-Kami and for most of the movie he takes the form of a little boy.]]

* SeldomSeenSpecies: Quite a lot of stories focus on rather obscure monsters, and not just from Japanese mythology. When was the last time you saw creatures from Malaysian mythology in anything other than ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTensei''?

* {{Adorkable}}:
** Kojiro the tengu, especially when he develops a crush on Mana.
** Kitaro is also this on occasion.
** When she isn’t trying to be serious, Agnes very easily falls into this.

** One episode of the 2018 series has Kitaro become obsessed with a DatingSim featuring a character who looks a lot like (and [[CastingGag is voiced by]] the 2007 version of Nekomusume.

** The very first episode of the 2018 reboot has a vlogger, after making an ass out of himself in the middle of Shibuya, transform into a large tree. Earlier that year, Website/{{YouTube}} vlogger Creator/LoganPaul got in trouble over vlogging a hanged man in the suicide forest and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYQcU5VXde8 generally acting obnoxious in public]].

* AfterlifeExpress: Episode 7 of the 2018 anime features a cruel businessman boarding a mysterious train late at night. Throughout the trip, the man has some supernatural experiences, such as encountering the ghosts of some former employees who had [[DrivenToSuicide killed themselves after being fired]]. [[spoiler:It turns out that the man had been DeadAllAlong, having been killed by the restless souls of his dead employees, and that the mysterious train he's on is heading towards hell]].

* AfterlifeExpress: Episode 7 of the 2018 anime features a cruel businessman boarding a mysterious train late at night. Throughout the trip, the man has some supernatural experiences, such as encountering the ghosts of some former employees who had [[DrivenToSuicide killed themselves after being fired]]. [[spoiler:It turns out that the man had been DeadAllAlong, killed by the restless souls of his dead employees, and that the mysterious train he's on is heading towards hell]].

* AfterlifeExpress: Episode 7 of the 2018 anime features a cruel businessman boarding a mysterious train late at night. Throughout the trip, the man has some supernatural experiences, such as encountering the ghosts of some former employees who had [[DrivenToSuicide killed themselves after being fired]]. [[spoiler:It turns out that the man had been DeadAllAlong, and that the mysterious train he's on is heading towards hell]].

* LighterAndSofter: Progressively. The 1980s anime in particular, which made the few times someone actually ''died'' in that version much more shocking. Subsequent adaptations made the 1980s anime seem grimdark. Averted with the 2018 anime which is considerably darker and outright becomes a Horror anime at times, as well as the TruerToTheText ''Hakaba Kitaro'' mini-series, though they are still lighter than the original picture show.

* MonsterOfTheWeek: Arguably one of the progenitors of this trope. Nearly every episode features some sort of yokai that either causes problems, helps Kitaro in some way, or both. [[TropesAreNotBad The sheer variety of Yokai, both from myth and from the author himself, makes this a very strong usage of this trope]].

** The very first episode of the 2018 reboot has a vlogger, after making an ass out of himself in the middle of Shibuya, transform into a large tree. Earlier that year, a Website/{{YouTube}}r named Creator/LoganPaul got in trouble over vlogging a hanged man in the suicide forest, [[https://youtu.be/wYQcU5VXde8 among other obnoxious and disrespectful actions in public]].

* TooDumbToLive: the majority of humans who piss off Yokai either by accident or on purpose. Special mention goes to the "Not Logan Paul" who released the vampire tree spirit while recording it for his Youtube account. The yokai themselves fall under this as well, especially if they aren’t familiar with modern technology.

** Also in the first 2018 episode, Charatoi, the arrogant vlogger who [[spoiler:[[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom unknowingly]]]] removed the talisman that sealed away the episode's demon. [[spoiler:By his second major appearance however, his status of this is deconstructed.]]

** Also in the first 2018 episode, Charatoi, the arrogant vlogger who [[spoiler:[[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom unknowingly]]]] removed the talisman that sealed away the episode's demon. [[spoiler:By his second major appearance however, his staus of this is [[Deconstruction deconstructed]].]]

** Also in the first 2018 episode, Charatoi, the arrogant vlogger who [[spoiler:[[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom unknowingly]]]] removed the talisman that sealed away the episode's demon. [[spoiler:By his second major appearance however, his staus of this is [[Deconstruction deconstructed]]]].

** Also in the first 2018 episode, Charatoi, the arrogant vlogger who [[spoiler:[[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom unknowingly]]]] removed the talisman that sealed away the episode's demon. [[spoiler:By his second major appearance however, his staus of this is [[Deconstruction deconstructed]].

** Also in the first 2018 episode, Charatoi, the arrogant vlogger who [[spoiler:[[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom unknowingly]]]] removed the talisman that sealed away the episode's demon. [[spoiler:By his second major appearance however, his staus of this is [[Deconstruction deconstructed]].]]

** Also in the first 2018 episode, Charatoi, the arrogant vlogger who [[spoiler:[[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom unknowingly]]]] removed the talisman that sealed away the episode's demon.

That's the simple explanation.If you've never heard of this series, it's because it doesn't often show up in Western media, where it remains very obscure.

''[=GeGeGe=] no Kitarō'' is a well-known (in Japan) manga and anime that is largely credited for bringing back knowledge of traditional [[{{Yokai}} yōkai]] and folktales to modern generations. Written by Shigeru Mizuki, it was originally known as ''Manga/HakabaKitaro'' (Kitaro of the Graveyard). The story focuses on the adventures of yōkai boy Kitaro, who fights for peace between the yōkai and humans using a variety of strange abilities and tools. "Ge ge ge no ge" is a sound effect meant to represent ghostly laughter.

That's the simple explanation. The reality is that if you've never heard of this series, it's because it doesn't often show up in Western media because it remains very obscure, the story starts off with Kitaro himself: a "ghost boy" who is missing one eye. The empty socket is usually covered by his hair, and usually houses Medama-Oyaji (Papa Eye), literally an [[FacelessEye eyeball with a body]], who is also his father. (Yes, really.) Kitaro also has remote-controlled geta sandals, a detachable hand, and a spiky hair vest which he can use to attack enemies, as well as a few other abilities.

Other characters in the main ensemble include Nezumi Otoko, a half-human half-yōkai filthy rodent, Neko Musume, a CatGirl who can transform and habors a crush on Kitaro, Sunakake Baba, the sand yōkai woman who runs an apartment for yokai, Konaki Jiiji, an absent-minded elderly yōkai who can turn himself to stone, Ittan Momen, a sentient strip of white cloth, and Nurikabe, a large yōkai shaped like a wall.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Miage Nyudo was originally just portrayed as a supernatural GrumpyOldMan, whose main goal was simply punishing disrespectful children. His 2018 counterpart banished thousands of people to the netherworld, with he ultimate goal to TakeOver the World.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Miage Nyudo was originally just portrayed as a supernatural GrumpyOldMan, whose main goal was simply punishing disrespectful children. His 2018 counterpart banished thousands of people to the netherworld, with he ultimate goal to TakeOvertheWorld.

* LighterAndSofter: Progressively. The 1980s anime in particular, which made the few times someone actually ''died'' in that version much more shocking. Subsequent adaptations made the 1980s anime seem grimdark. Averted with the 2018 anime which is considerably darker and outright becomes a Horror anime at times.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Some of the villainous yokai will outright claim to be this, though few of them actually are.