For YMMV related to Hakaba Kitarō, see its page.
- Anvilicious:
- The 2018 series hits you on the head with a big one right out the gate: don't play in traffic, and never put Social Media Before Reason.
- Also, in the fourth episode, Kitarō and Medama Oyaji tell a young human boy who crossed over in the GeGeGe Forest, the dwelling place of all yōkai, because of his fascination with the ancient mythology, that the fastest, safer and best way to get to know more about them would be returning home and spending as much time as he could with his old grandmother, listening to her tales and keeping them alive.
- Awesome Music: The music that plays when the Yokai Beast destroys Tokyo is an ominous, traditional sounding track that really hammers in that the humans are dealing with something they don’t understand.
- Complete Monster: (2018 anime):
- Backbeard is the wicked ruler of the western Yōkai. A monstrous tyrant who intends to complete the Brigadoon and convert humanity to his zombified Yokai slaves, Backbeard exterminates the Hantu of Malay for not submitting to him, attacking Gegege Forest to massacre the Japanese Yokai within, and sends his servants to cause chaos throughout Japan. Also attempting to force the young witch Agnes to sacrifice herself, Backbeard had forced her mother to do the same to protect her and her sister Adele, who Backbeard likewise is fine with sacrificing to complete the Brigadoon. Backbeard shows no regard for any collateral damage, trying to kill Kitaro's young human friend Mana, gloating that nothing matters but submission to him.
- Tamamo-no-Mae, the Nine-Tailed Fox, is the last, and worst, of the Four Traitorous Yokai Generals and the one who massacred the Kidoshu village, leaving only one survivor. Escaping the underworld, Tamamo-no-Mae overflows it with souls to empower herself, using her doubles to seduce world leaders so she may start a war between Japan and another nation to flood the netherworld with even more souls for power until she unleashes them on Earth, gloating how she will destroy both worlds in her quest for power.
- Cult Classic: The franchise has only managed to reach cult status outside of Japan, though it's slowly becoming more popular thanks to the 2007 anime and especially the 2018 anime with its official Crunchyroll subs.
- Ensemble Dark Horse:
- Neko Musume is without a doubt the most well-known outside of Japan. Many people know her without knowing the series. Same with the 2018 anime in Western territories, more than partly due to it having a readily available English release.
- Sunekosuri has gotten popular for being an adorable cat, as well as a Tragic Monster whose episode is widely regarded as one the best, even to people who aren’t normally fans of the franchise.
- Hanako San’s cute design and status as The Woobie has also made her popular. It also helps that she’s a well known Urban Legend, who many people were excited to see appear in the show.
- Backbeard also seems to be quite popular, to the point where he's even made appearances in other media.
- Fandom Rivalry: The 2018 series has a one-sided one with the Dragon Ball Super fandom, because they blame it for the series temporarily ending and taking its Japanese TV time slot.
- Heartwarming in Hindsight:
- When asked by people why he helps out humans so much, Kitarō responds that it's because a man named Mizuki was kind to him and his people when they needed it. You could probably say the same of youkai tales in general, due to "some guy named (Shigeru) Mizuki" contributing to youkai tales being popular with the public again instead of letting those tales die out.
- Mizuki, in most incarnations of the myth, was an hard working man tasked by Medama Oyagi to care for a newborn Kitarō, the last child of a now extinct tribe of powerful yōkai died while hiding from mankind. Shigeru Mizuki had always been known for its interest for the supernatural, and he published an illustrated Encyclopedia of Japanese yōkai. In a way, he fostered the latest myth, a new ghost story for the XX and the XXI century, and by doing so he ensured the entire Japanese mythology wouldn't die, as through Kitarō many young children will learn about the past.
- Also, when young Yuta tells Kitarō and Medama Oyaji that he wants to learn about yōkai and befriend them, they direct him to his old grandmother, telling him to listen carefully to her stories as a way to bond with them. Shigeru Mizuki's whole career started when, as a child not older than Yuta, an old woman named Fusa Kageyama (immortalized in his comics as Nononba) told him every myth she knew.
- Hilarious in Hindsight: Episode 89 of the 90s adaptation had Neko Musume becoming insecure about her young age, and going through a Plot-Relevant Age-Up thanks to the powers of the Monster of the Week. This becomes ironic considering her actual Age Lift in her 2018 incarnation.
- Even better: Kitarō's Night Tales featured a beautiful cat girl named Neko for several chapters. Aside from her reactions to rats or ratlike things, she otherwise looked like a regular human girl. Perhaps her Hakaba predecessor started leaking into her design?
- Ho Yay: The Kitaro Birth incarnations of Daddy Eyeball and Mizuki very quickly became this. Of particular note is the fact that both play a paternal role for Kitaro growing up at separate stages, but in this adaptation they're both alive in the same time frame and practically raise Kitaro together. Official art of the men and Kitaro doesn't help.
- Les Yay: Mana Inuyama of the 2018 idolizes Neko-Musume immensely. She also has several moments with Agnés, who while standoffish towards the rest of the cast becomes very close to the girl, and becomes genuinely worried for Mana's wellbeing.
- Magnificent Bastard (2018 anime): The ruthless Nurarihyon seeks to elevate the Yōkai above humanity. Having released the Four Treacherous Generals from the underworld to wreak havoc and sow tensions, Nurarihyon plays the part of a businessman who helps humans antagonize Yokai, allowing him to gain their loyalties when they grow tired of Kitaro's peaceful ways. Putting his plan into action, Nurarihyon allies with Backbeard and the Western Yokai, only to betray and poison them when he judges their usefulness to him to have expended.
- Memetic Mutation: You damn lolicons!
- Mis-blamed: The 2018 series had nothing to do with Dragon Ball Super's hiatus; Toei Animation previously announced that Dragon Ball will be on hiatus so the staff would be able to work on the Dragon Ball Super: Broly movie.
- Moe:
- Bubbly, and kind hearted Mana Inuyama of the 2018 series.
- After being revived as a child, Mini-Neko Musume is absolutely bursting with Moe.
- Nightmare Fuel: Some of the more evil youkai are creepy.
- Also, the backstory of some neutral or benign spirits, like Zunbera, once a beautiful human girl died of mercury posioning common in beauty products and resurrected as a yōkai granting beauty to vain girls, and Kani-Bōzu, the former guardian of a young princess, sealed and revived centuries later to find out he failed and his ward died.
- Older Than They Think: Western viewers were certain that the vlogger causing trouble by breaking talismans in the 2018 premiere was supposed to be a callout on the Logan Paul incident, and even nicknamed him as such. In reality, it was a common plot in the series to show reckless humans messing with things they thought were harmless and paying the price; this version just added in a social media component to keep up with the times. Given the Production Lead Time (the Logan Paul video had been posted 4 months prior to the premiere), it's unlikely it was a direct reference, but the Values Resonance definitely makes it stick out.
- Shocking Moments:
- After spending a season as a simple Monster of the Week series, episode 11 shakes things up in a major way. An army of Tanuki invade Japan and actually succeed, in the process petrifying Kitarō and releasing a monstrous Yokai Beast that destroys part of Tokyo.
- The Great Yōkai War itself: a single member of the alliance of Western yokai, Wolfgang the Wolfman, is effortlessly able to slay every single Malay Yōkai, the last group of them in front of Kitaro, smash Nurikabe to pieces, beat Neko-Musume and Sunakake-Babaa fighting him together with Konaki-Jijii stuck on his back and almost kill Kitarō himself before Kitarō is told to shoot at him with silver bullets. The Western Yokai's reaction? Send a healed Wolfgang back to the GeGeGe Forest with Victor Frankestein, Carmilla and Adel to get revenge.
- The Great Yōkai Alliance: Nurarihyon allied with Backbeard who declare war on humans and attack them, causing great damage and casualties. This then result into the anti-youkai act bill to be passed and humans fighting back against youkai terrorists. Kitarō try to calm things by contacting the prime minister to form an alliance against the youkai extremists but instead he end up being shot to death in front of his friends and the episode ends with Ratman joining the Great Yōkai Alliance because while he hates it, he hates the humans who are responsible for Kitarō's death even more.
- Superlative Dubbing: The series had a relatively large following in Latin America thanks to the dub version of the 1996 series, much like other series' having been dubbed in the early to late 90s (like Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon or Slam Dunk, to name a few).
- Ugly Cute: Nanashi's true form is revealed to be an orb with the mind of a baby.
