Covers for all seven volumes
Starting in March 2016 with Shigeru Mizuki’s Kitaro: The Birth of Kitaro, Drawn & Quarterly will be publishing a seven-volume collection featuring Shigeru Mizuki’s most well-known character. This new collection is a nice follow-up to D+Q’s single volume of Kitaro that was released in 2013. There will be a new volume of Kitaro every season through winter 2018 and each book will be printed in a ‘kid-friendly’ format. D+Q is known for their nice publications so I hope ‘kid-friendly’ doesn’t mean ‘crappy’.
Here are the titles of each volume and the release schedule:
The Birth of Kitaro (Winter 2016)
Kitaro Meets Nurarihyon (Spring 2016)
The Great Tanuki War (Fall 2016)
Kitaro’s Strange Adventures (Winter 2017)
Kitaro the Vampire Slayer (Spring 2017)
Kitaro’s Yokai Battles (Fall 2017)
The Trial of Kitaro (Winter 2018)
D+Q has been publishing other selections from Mizuki’s large output of manga including: Nononba, Onwards to Our Noble Deaths (a story based on Mizuki’s own experiences in World War II), Showa: A Tale of Japan, and the forthcoming Shigeru Mizuki’s Hitler. Including Kitaro, these volumes really showcase Mizuki’s incredible storytelling talents: ghost stories, autobiographical works, and historical accounts are all wonderfully drawn and poignantly told. I strongly recommend any of Mizuki’s works and D+Q have worked hard to publish excellent translations of his stories.
Kitaro has been adapted many times into animation since beginning publication in 1960 and I am including below the original opening sequence from the first television anime . The song will stay with you forever.
Teatime with Godzilla 