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Despite various voices from left and right, Japanese cinema seems to be a in a good place, particularly during the last few years, and Nippon Connection proved the fact quite eloquently, with a truly brilliant selection for its 2025 editions. Either comedies or dramas, anime or shorts or documentaries, all categories included a number of movies of quality, in a testament to the job done by the programming team. The restrospectives and the screening of movies like Mizoguchi’s “The Water Magician” with accompaniment by benshi Ichiro Kataoka and live music by Günter A. Buchwald were the cherry on top. The audience filled the screening rooms, with them particularly enjoying two comedies, “Kaiju Guy“, which eventually got the audience award, and “Hotspring Shark Attack”.

Check our full coverage in the articles below.

1. Short Film Review: Confession (2025) by Mai Nakanishi

Mai Nakanishi crafts a haunting work that excels particularly in its atmosphere.

“GeGeGe no Kitaro,” originally known as Hakaba Kitaro, is a Japanese manga series created in 1960 by Shigeru Mizuki. It is best known for popularizing the folklore creatures known as yokai, a class of spirit-monsters to which all the main characters belong. The series has been adapted for the screen multiple times, including anime, live-action, and video games. The latest adaptation began in 2018 with an anime series that ran for almost two years and totaled 97 episodes. “The Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of GeGeGe” is a prequel to this series, released in Japanese cinemas in 2023 to strong box office performance, followed by an uncut version a year later.

Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of Gegege is screening at Nippon Connection

The story is set in 1956 and initially follows Mizuki, a blood bank employee who travels to a remote village after the death of the patriarch of the Ryuuga family, a man...

2025 marks 10 years since the passing GeGeGe no Kitaro creator Shigeru Mizuki. And in honor to celebrate Mizuki's continued influence, a series of new projects will kick off this year. Fans in Japan can enjoy rebroadcasts of classic Kitaro episodes, followed by the return of the stage show this summer. Fuji TV and other stations will first broadcast GeGeGe no Kitaro: My Favorite GeGeGe Generation starting April 6. The weekly feature will welcome the many voice actors who have played Kitaro over the decades, each choosing their own favorite episodes to discuss: GeGeGe no Kitaro voice actresses The lineup includes: Masako Nozawa (Series 1-2) Keiko Toda (Series 3) Yoko Matsuoka (Series 4) Minami Takayama (Series 5) Miyuki Sawashiro (Series 6) Toko Yatabe, the character designer for the film The Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of GeGeGe has drawn a new illustration for the upcoming feature, showing Mizuki's studio and Kitaro as he has appeared across the many seasons.

The official website for the Tokyo Anime Award Festival (Taaf) announced the winners of its 2025 Anime of the Year awards on January 31, 2025. The awards are given to the most outstanding anime works or individuals from all works that were screened, broadcasted or streamed in the fiscal year 2024. The selection process begins with a vote by anime fans to select the 100 best works (20 theatrical films and 80 TV series). From those 100 works, "Best Work" (Feature film and TV series categories) and "Individual Award" awards were voted on by a wide range of animation industry professionals, including producers, creators, other media and stores handling anime merchandise. Additionally, the "Anime Fan Award" was selected by voting by the general users. The "Best Work" award in the feature film category went to Look Back , an anime film adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto's ( Chainsaw Man ) coming-of-age manga of the same name. The 58-minute film produced by...

The Tokyo Anime Award Festival (Taaf) unveiled its 2025 Animation of the Year winners on Jan 31, 2025, with Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End taking the top prize in the television category and Look Back winning in the animated film category.

The Taaf jury selected winners from anime that premiered between Oct 1, 2023, and Sep 30, 2024.

The festival also recognized outstanding individuals across various creative roles and announced the recipients of its Lifetime Achievement Awards.

The Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of GeGeGe won the Anime Fan Award with 21,316 votes, reflecting its enduring popularity among viewers.

Individual Category Winners: Original Work/Screenplay: Hiroyuki Yoshino Director: Kiyotaka Oshiyama Animator: Toko Yatabe Background/Coloring/Visual: Mai Ichioka Sound/Performance: Evan Call Lifetime Achievement Awards: Producers: Masami Iwasaki and Takayuki Yoshii Animators: Kazuhide Tomonaga Color Designers: Sachiko Nonaka Editors: Shuichi Kakesu Music Directors: Seiji Suzuki Voice Actors: Kenyu Horiuchi

The 2025 festival will take place in Tokyo from March 7-10, 2025.

Source: Official Website,...

The official website for The Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of GeGeGe (known as Kitaro Tanjou: GeGeGe no Nazo in Japan) announced today that its R15+ version, subtitled Shinsei-ban ("genuine edition"), is set to release in Japan on October 4, 2024. The Shinsei-ban will be screened with 327 scenes retaken and sound re-dubbed to express “the horror story as originally envisioned by the production team.” A trailer and a poster visual for the R15+ version have been released. "Shinsei-ban" poster visual Japan's Film Classification and Rating Organization defines the “R15+” rating as: "Films in this category contain materials that are highly stimulating in its depiction of theme or subject matter and is not suitable for children under 15 years of age in terms of comprehension and judgment. Therefore, this rating is intended for audiences 15 years of age and older, with no one under 15 years of age allowed to see the film." To commemorate...

This summer, fans can relive the music of the film Kitaro Nazo - GeGeGe no Tanjo at a special orchestral event. The music of the film will be the basis of a cinema concert in August, featuring guest appearances from people behind the movie. A poster announcing the event has been released, featuring new art of Kitaro's father and Mizuki by the film's character designer, Toko Yatabe: Related: Kitaro Tanjou - GeGeGe no Nazo Anime Film Reveals New Trailer, Cast The concert will be performed by the film's composer, Kenji Kawai, with the Kitaro Tanjou - GeGeGe no Nazo Special Orchestra. Scenes from the film will be screened to accompany the music. In addition, Hidenobu Kiuchi (who plays Mizuki in the film) will appear to talk with Kawai about the film's appeal and behind-the-scenes stories. Additionally, merchandise featuring the event's artwork will be sold at the venue and at the official Toei Animation store.

Since its theatrical release in Japan on November 17, 2023, the all-new anime feature film Kitaro Tanjou: GeGeGe no Nazo has continued to do well at the box office and has received critical acclaim. Thanks to strong critical response and word of mouth, the film had stayed in the Japanese weekend box office top ten for 11 consecutive weeks and won the Excellent Animation of the Year award at the 47th Japan Academy Film Prize . According to the latest report by Animate Times , the film has earned 2,531,116,700 yen (17.03 million Usd) on 1,771,490 admissions in 80 days from November 17, 2023, to February 5, 2024. It has already become the top-grossing film in the whole GeGeGe no Kitaro franchise, including live-action films. The previous top-grossing anime film in the franchise was Gegege no Kitarou: Nippon Bakuretsu released in December 2008 and earned 420 million yen (2.84 million Usd). Related: Kitaro Tanjou: GeGeGe no Nazo Becomes Top-Grossing Film in Series Franchise The film, set in the 1950s,...

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the GeGeGe no Kitaro original manga author Shigeru Mizuki 's birth, the all-new anime feature film Kitaro Tanjou: GeGeGe no Nazo opened in 253 theaters in Japan on November 17, 2023. According to the latest report by Animate Times , the movie has earned 2,344,966,920 yen (15.83 million Usd) on 1,643,274 admissions from November 2023 to January 2024 — becoming the top-grossing film in the whole GeGeGe no Kitaro franchise, including live-action films. Thanks to strong critical response and word of mouth, the movie has also stayed in the Japanese weekend box office top ten for ten consecutive weeks since its opening. Related: Kitaro Tanjou: GeGeGe no Nazo Anime Film Reaches 2 Billion Yen in Japan The previous top-grossing film was the first GeGeGe no Kitaro live-action film starring Wentz Eiji as Kitaro, which was released in April 2007 and earned 2.34 billion yen (15.8 million Usd) from its total domestic run. The second live-action film starring Wentz,...

It is confirmed today that the cumulative domestic gross of the all-new anime feature film Kitaro Tanjou: GeGeGe no Nazo has reached two billion yen (13.81 million Usd) on 1.45 million admissions in 53 days since its release in Japan. Now it has become the eighth top-grossing Japanese anime film of 2023. Along with the Netflix series Akuma-kun , the 108-minute film was produced to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the GeGeGe no Kitaro original manga author Shigeru Mizuki 's birth. It is set in the 1950s and tells the story of Kitaro's birth and the hidden mystery of his father, Medama Oyaji. Go Koga served as director, alongside screenplay writer Hiroyuki Yoshino and character Touko Yatabe ( Evangelion Rebuild assistant director). The Toei Animation-produced film opened in 253 theaters in Japan on November 17, 2023, earning 160 million yen (1.08 million Usd) on 111,500 admissions to make its second place debut in the weekend charts . Supported by strong word of mouth,...