Kitaro DVD Review, vol. 7

(All rights belong to their owners. Images used here for review purposes only.)

GEGEGE NO KITARO MAGAZINE DVD SERIES, VOLUME 7




I haven't mentioned it earlier, but as we get farther into the series, the magazines accompanying the DVD are getting shorter. Just as I'm running out of new things to talk about with the mags, the editors are, too. What's consistent from issue to issue are the introductions of various feature monsters, the inclusion of the one-page Original Art write-ups on one-shot monsters that appear in the episodes on the DVD, 3-page summaries of those episodes, the "Where's Yamada" column, the "History of Kitaro" page, the double-sided posters, and random filler. Volume 7 is 24 pages, including the front and back covers.



(Ittanmomen)



The feature monster this time is , a 30' x 1' enchanted bolt of cotton. According to the sidebar, Ittanmomen originated in Kagoshima prefecture (where I'm staying now), in the town of Kouyama (present-day , at the south end of Kyushu). Its primary characteristics are the ability to fly and wrap itself around people (presumably to smother them). It's susceptible to fire, scissors and knives.



(Mizuki Road Map.)



It kind of looks like the editors are running out of posters, as well. Side one is the SHINYA NO DAIKETSUSEN (Late Night Big Blood Battle), but the reverse is just a map showing 51 of the bronze statue locations along the Shigeru Mizuki Road in . Note that apparently Sakaiminato has people in Kitaro outfits as part of the sight-seeing tour.



(Iyami)



The one-page monsters include: Ittanmomen, Ookubi (Big Neck or Big Head), Honeonna (Bone Woman) and Iyami (Bad Feeling).Ookubi seems to just be a large head that floats through the sky. Honeonna is a bone monster. Iyami looks like a woman from the back, but a bearded man from the front.)



(Honeonna from the TV episode description.)



The TV episodes are: OOKUBI (Big Head, 04/06/72), IYAMI (Bad Feeling, 04/13/72), AKANAMI (Grime Licker, 04/20/72) and(Daidarabocchi, 04/27/72). The special is a highlight of the , the themed trains running to Sakaiminato, and part of the Mizuki Road. I'll mention here that up to volume 5, there had been little special videos of things like Mizuki's toy room, or a walking tour of Mizuki-related stuff in Chofu. That disappears with volume 6 and is replaced by an Easter egg (press the right arrow on the DVD controller to highlight the TV on the main menu, then press Enter). In both volume 6 and 7, the egg is just a 10-minute piece with the sounds of someone walking in geta (wooden sandals) on concrete with wind blowing in the background. The video is of geta marks moving across the screen in different directions. Funny once or twice, but a waste of disk space, eventually.
Full Post