Interest
New Shigeru Mizuki Yokai Book Includes Previously Unreleased Work
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
The award-winning manga creator Shigeru Mizuki left a legacy of ghosts and spooky stories behind when he passed on in 2015. The characters from his Gegege no Kitarō stories are immortalized at the Shigeru Mizuki Road tourist attraction in his hometown of Sakaiminato, Tottori and in the hearts of horror fans around the globe.
Mizuki was famous for his manga about yōkai — Japanese supernatural creatures. His manga and research into yōkai is largely responsible for the popularity that yōkai stories have today. Mizuki was the first Japanese creator to win a major award at France's Angoulême International Comics Festival when he won the Fauve d'Or: Prix du Meilleur Album in 2007 for NonNonBâ. He was also honored as a Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government in 2010.
Since his passing, previously undiscovered works by Mizuki are coming to light. His daughter discovered an unpublished essay by the late manga creator discussing depictions of war in his work and Mizuki Production revealed the story draft for an unreleased "Nekoman" manga by Mizuki last year.
Kadokawa will publish 21 previously unreleased pieces of artwork by Mizuki in the book Yōkai-tachi no Iru Tokoro (Where the Yokai Are) on November 30, the third anniversary of Mizuki's death. The book includes commentary by anthropologist and folklorist Kazuhiko Komatsu with additional comments by artist Akira Yamaguchi. The book categorizes yokai, ghosts, and fairies by location.
The sixth anime adaptation of Gegege no Kitarōp premiered in April, and is also celebrating the anime's 50th anniversary. The series is streaming on Crunchyroll, and is slated to have 50+ episodes.
The manga, which began in 1959 under the name Hakaba Kitarō, has also spawned several animated movies and two live-action films. The stories center on an inhuman boy who straddles the line between the human and supernatural worlds. Drawn & Quarterly publishes the collected manga in English.
Mizuki passed away in November 2015 at 93 years old.
Source: Comic Natalie
