Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		2.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Kitaro Blu-ray Movie Review

The monsters are coming! The monsters are coming!

Reviewed by Dustin Somner February 1, 2009

The mythology of yokai has been present in Japanese culture since the 1600’s. In a nutshell, they are spirits or monsters that possess spiritual or supernatural power, and inhabit the same space and time as we do. Many wildly inventive yokai have been created by various artists and storytellers over time, and they often have fascinating stories behind their motives for living among us. Unfortunately, in our modern age of science, I doubt many residents of Japan live in fear of coming into contact with a yokai (though it will continue to be an excellent method of keeping young children in line).

Kitaro is a live action movie released in 2007, bringing the yokai mythology into a modern setting. The film is based on the GeGeGe No Kitaro manga series by Shigeru Mizuki (created in 1959), which has seen numerous adaptations over the years in the form of anime, video games, and live-action films. Although Kitaro is clearly geared toward a young audience, there is still a lot to like if you can leave your brain at the door and soak up the imaginative tale.

See if you can spot the Yokai wearing a dress and sporting a catcher's chest guard.

Kitaro is a 350-year-old Yokai that lives in the forest with his father (an eyeball with legs and arms), the Sand Witch, Cat Girl, and an old Yokai named Jijii. Although Kitaro is a yokai, he looks human (aside from the silver hair), and is known to help out the humans when they run into trouble with misbehaving yokai. As the film opens, a young boy sends a letter to Kitaro asking for help with ghostly monsters that are terrorizing his apartment building. We come to find out that a land developer has enlisted the aide of a foul yokai named Ratman, who has paid other yokai to help him clear the building of it’s residents. Kitaro comes to the aide of the residents and the boy, and puts the misbehaving Yokai in their place.

Following this encounter with the young boy, Ratman stumbles upon a mystical stone that will endow it’s owner with great power. Not knowing the true power of this gem, he pawns it, and the stone is stolen by the young boy’s father (who has been out of work and badly needs money to care for his two children). The father gives the stone to his son, and is immediately arrested by police. Now the boy needs Kitaro’s help more than ever, as he and his sister become the targets of Ratman and a group of fox yokai who want the power of the stone for their own diabolical reasons.

I was surprised to find myself enjoying Kitaro as much as I did. The trailers I had seen for the film prior to watching it on Blu-ray were campy, and gave the whole production a low-budget feel. For that reason, I mistakenly went into this viewing with low expectations for what I was about to see. The special effects are good but not great, with a mostly smooth incorporation of CGI and old-school techniques. They could have been more polished, but rarely stooped to the level of made-for-television fair. The story itself is charming in a childish way, but does contain some blatant plot holes that only younger audiences will be able to forgive (such as a sudden death about halfway through the movie).

The acting is quite good, with the exception of the main character. Kitaro is played by Eiji Wentz, a member of the pop duo WaT. Wentz has apparently been involved in music and acting since the age of 4, but you wouldn’t know it from watching him in this film. I’m assuming he was chosen for this role in an attempt to attract teenage girls (his poster is probably on the wall of a few young fans), but he just doesn’t measure up next to the supporting actors. In addition, someone should have pointed out to the director that a young man should never have to run in wooden sandals. There is a scene where Kitaro is running to catch up with the young boy, and he looks hilarious trying to run in his clunky, wooden sandals.

Kitaro Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

BCI Entertainment presents Kitaro in a 1080P transfer, framed at a native 1.85 aspect ratio. Utilizing the AVC codec, the bitrate hovers between 15 and 20 MBPS through the majority of the runtime. Although I've seen some excellent transfers with a lower bitrate such as this, Kitaro demonstrates a disappointing level of clarity and definition. Small object details are often lost in the pervasive softness. Close-up shots appear more detailed than distance shots, but even those scenes appear to be a bit hazy.

On the bright side, the color spectrum is vivid, with accurate fleshtones on all characters besides Kitaro (who stylistically has a somewhat pale look to him). Black levels and contrast are spot on, and detail never diminished during the few scenes that incorporated shadows. Edge halos weren't a problem, but I did see some digital noise on a water surface in the initial scene at Kitaro's house. One other minor quibble worth mentioning, is the presence of color bleeding around edges on 2 occasions (look for a purple edge to the sister's pink sweatshirt when she is standing close to water). Although it's not very distracting, it is still a flaw that larger displays will pick up.

Kitaro Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three audio tracks included on this Blu-ray release. The default Japanese track (provided you have the equipment to decode it) is presented in DTS-HD MA 6.1. The second Japanese track is a 6.1 TrueHD track. Both of these tracks are improperly labeled on the back of the Blu-ray case as 6.1 DTS ES and 6.1 Dolby EX. It certainly would have helped BCI with their marketing of this release if they had correctly listed the lossless tracks on the case, but nevertheless, it is a nice surprise. After switching back and forth between the DTS and TrueHD tracks, I prefer the TrueHD track by a wide margin. The DTS track is subdued, and seemed to lack the punch that the TrueHD track delivered. There is a noticeable volume difference between both tracks (TrueHD is substantially louder), but even with turning up the DTS track, I still could not recreate the same level of quality as the TrueHD track.

The True HD mix is exceptional in almost every way. Dialogue is well balanced during the action sequences, and never came across as too quiet or overpowering. Bass response is accurate, surround separation was well defined with good spatial range, and I never noticed the presence of distortion in the mix. In fact, the only mark I have against the audio, has to do with a noticeable delay between the on-screen action, and the audio mix during a courtroom scene around the 58 minute mark. A gavel is pounded twice, with the audio strike occurring a split-second behind. Fortunately, this occurrence only happened during that scene, and the timing during the rest of the film was perfect.

The only English dubbed track is presented in lossy 5.1 Dolby Digital. I only spot-checked this mix, but the voice actors came across too over-the-top for my taste. If you really hate subtitles, this is the track for you, but otherwise I would avoid it like the plague.

Kitaro Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The supplemental materials are slim, and everything (including the trailers) is presented in 480P, with a 2-channel Dolby Digital track.

Trailers and TV Spots: we are given an assortment of 3 trailers, and 7 television spots.

Yokai in the City Television Special: Perhaps the point of this 36-minute feature was lost on me, but I don't see any benefit in putting yourself through this. Basically, we are given a series of yokai monsters (people dressed in monster suits) that are filmed walking around the city in both staged and non-staged encounters with humans. I'm assuming it was made with the intention of getting laughs resulting from reactions on the street, but 99% of people just walk right past and ignore the passive antics of the goofy monsters.

Making of Yokai in the City: Why oh why is this included instead of a "making of" supplement dedicated to the main feature on this disc. Even more pointless than the actual series of specials, this feature simply shows people getting in and out of their costumes, and being told what to do by the director. Skip it.

Lastly we have some other trailers (also presented in 480P) for films from BCI or Funimation.

Kitaro Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kitaro is a fun, imaginative romp into a world of fantastic creatures that are overflowing with personality. Given some of the subject matter in the film I wouldn't recommend it to the youngest of audiences, but any child old enough to follow the subtitles is likely old enough to handle the content. If you're a "grown-up" like me, your opinion will boil down to whether or not you like this sort of thing. It surely isn't the type of movie I would recommend to everyone. The Blu-ray is a mixed bag, with video quality that is slightly below average, and audio quality that ranks up near the top of foreign films I've seen on Blu-ray. Offered at a low MSRP (and discounted at most retailers), Kitaro will make a worthy addition to your collection should you decide to give it a spin.