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breakfastgrey's review against another edition
3.0
I love this cover. It’s got such a great old school comic archive vibe. The book itself was definitely dated in style, but actually reads way more modern than American comics from the same era. The story was a bit odd and bounces all over in terms of tone (horror, comedy, mystery of the week), which leads to an uneven quality. Still, there’s a definite charm at play despite its peculiarities.
smlot's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
helpfulsnowman's review against another edition
5.0
Probably should have read this one before the other one because it's the entire origin story. But you know what? Maybe it's better to just get thrown in sometimes. Pick it up as you go. It's not THAT complicated. Besides, Kitaro is a boy of legend, so it's okay if his origin is a little mysterious.
The only downside to this is it had some games at the end, like a spot the difference and shit, and I stayed up way too late doing a word search. I don't know why, somehow the text that said, "Complete this word search to be a junior yokai expert" challenged me. I was like, "I wanna be a junior yokai expert. This seems pretty easy. I'm not going to let a word search stand in my way, damn it!"
We did a lot of word searches in school when I was a kid. Lots of kids seemed to like them, but I hated that shit. I was never very good at working fast, and finding the words didn't really seem like learning, but it wasn't really fun, either. It was somewhere in between, which is like...well, if we're going to learn, let's just learn and get it over with, and if we're going to have fun, let's throw something off the gym roof and see what happens, but let's not sit here and pretend like looking over a field of letters to find words is super duper fun. How about a maze, teach? THAT'S fun. Or how about you let me make my own word search with horrible, terrible words hidden in it that I can pretend happened by accident. "Well, ASS is just an A and two S's, so it can just happen backwards and diagonally, right?"
The only downside to this is it had some games at the end, like a spot the difference and shit, and I stayed up way too late doing a word search. I don't know why, somehow the text that said, "Complete this word search to be a junior yokai expert" challenged me. I was like, "I wanna be a junior yokai expert. This seems pretty easy. I'm not going to let a word search stand in my way, damn it!"
We did a lot of word searches in school when I was a kid. Lots of kids seemed to like them, but I hated that shit. I was never very good at working fast, and finding the words didn't really seem like learning, but it wasn't really fun, either. It was somewhere in between, which is like...well, if we're going to learn, let's just learn and get it over with, and if we're going to have fun, let's throw something off the gym roof and see what happens, but let's not sit here and pretend like looking over a field of letters to find words is super duper fun. How about a maze, teach? THAT'S fun. Or how about you let me make my own word search with horrible, terrible words hidden in it that I can pretend happened by accident. "Well, ASS is just an A and two S's, so it can just happen backwards and diagonally, right?"
moonrin's review
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
jakeyjake's review against another edition
Very simple and repetitive story format, but the yōkai are super cool. I would like to find a longer format Kitaro story if there is one, maybe there is more in the anime or in a later series of the comic.
juliannehr's review against another edition
5.0
Kitaro is fun! The first story might imply a narrative, but it’s really more comparable something like Scooby Doo. There’s the cast of familiar characters, and there’s a new monster to fight each story! It’s fun, and Mizuki’s art is a great example of ‘masking.’ Definitely fun for kids, people interested in different yokai, or people who want to read Mizuki’s work without doing the heavy lifting needed to read Showa.
destiel74's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
It was a pretty cute and at the same time frightening manga. I loved seeing all the Yokai and their antics.
thecommonswings's review against another edition
5.0
I’m still very new to manga and honestly about 95% of what I’ve read has been this year. What’s fascinating about this first volume of GeGeGe no Kitarō (beautifully published by Drawn and Quarterly with just the right amount of scholarly context and witty translation) is that it feels incredibly, incredibly modern. Part of my issue with a lot of manga is the slapdash art, which sometimes feels like the bare minimum to someone not experienced with the genre.
But this is insanely detailed, with some genuinely beautiful crosshatching and intricate imagery. It’s just beautiful imagery that’s incredibly comfortable with some goofy horror comic and slapstick stuff transposed upon it. It’s sometimes a bit baffling in terms of narrative, but you soon pick up the conventions (especially the perennial sad sack antihero, the pitiful Nezumi Otoko) and Kitsaro’s eyeball dad - the forerunner of the Residents in so many ways - is a wonderful addition to the plot. The magic really is in how it mixes high and low art; pathos and slapstick; horror and absurdity; tradition and modernity. I can’t wait to read more
But this is insanely detailed, with some genuinely beautiful crosshatching and intricate imagery. It’s just beautiful imagery that’s incredibly comfortable with some goofy horror comic and slapstick stuff transposed upon it. It’s sometimes a bit baffling in terms of narrative, but you soon pick up the conventions (especially the perennial sad sack antihero, the pitiful Nezumi Otoko) and Kitsaro’s eyeball dad - the forerunner of the Residents in so many ways - is a wonderful addition to the plot. The magic really is in how it mixes high and low art; pathos and slapstick; horror and absurdity; tradition and modernity. I can’t wait to read more