This time, the official report of the stage greeting held to commemorate the release of the film on Saturday, October 5th has arrived!
Toshihiko Seki, Hidenobu Kiuchi, and director Go Koga appeared at the event. They talked about the highlights of the “real version” and their gratitude to the fans who support the work.
One day after its release, a commemorative stage greeting for the animated film “The Birth of Kitaro: The GeGeGe Mystery – True Version” was held at a movie theater in Tokyo on Saturday, October 5th, with voice actors Seki Toshihiko (who plays Kitaro’s father) and Kiuchi Hidenobu (who plays Mizuki), as well as director Koga Go, taking to the stage.
“The Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of GeGeGe”, produced to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Shigeru Mizuki’s birth, was released in November last year and became a huge hit. It was also shown overseas and caused a great stir, and it has been decided to screen it again as “The Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of GeGeGe – Real Version”, which has the same horror as the production team had originally envisioned.
On this day, when tickets for the stage greeting were sold out, Seki was touched upon by the huge success of “Kitaro Birth: Gegege no Nazo,” and laughed as he recalled, “I never thought it would become such a long-running film. I really felt it was a big hit when my agency asked me to send a congratulatory message for the film reaching 1.5 million viewers.” Regarding the theatrical release of “The Genuine Version,” he commented, “I never thought that a film that had already been shown in theaters would be shown in theaters again after being completely polished…Of course, that has never happened in my life, and I don’t think it will happen again. I feel that I have been given the opportunity to appear in a great film.”
Kiuchi also expressed his gratitude to the fans who supported the production, saying, “It’s all thanks to you all!” and proudly stated his contribution to the film’s success, saying, “I myself have visited the film many times, bringing with me juniors and acquaintances who hadn’t seen it yet.”
Director Koga was also thrilled, saying, “I asked for word of mouth on the first day of the previous screening, but I never expected it to spread this far…” “The Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of GeGeGe” has also spawned escape games and cinema concerts, and he couldn’t hide his surprise at the expansion of the world of the work, saying, “Each of these events was filled with love, and it was a happy year for me too.” Seki immediately retorted, “The happiness continues!”, and the audience erupted in thunderous applause.
The “real version” has 327 new cuts, and the blood is a brighter red than the version released last year, giving the film a new life. Seki commented, “I was surprised at how much the impression changed just by changing the color of the blood. The vividness of the blood, the amount of blood shed. It was literally a blood-filled extravaganza! When the blood splattered all the way up to the ceiling, I thought, ‘Wow!'” Kiuchi reiterated the story’s structure and clever foreshadowing, saying, “You need to go into the village many times to think about the story. I think that’s what led to the box office success.” He was impressed by the powerful storytelling.
Seki also talked about his favorite scene, saying, “In order to express the superhuman strength of Kitaro’s father, I didn’t add any unnecessary acting to the action scenes and relied on professional animation. Also, the scene where he drinks with Mizuki over a fire is a scene where their trust in each other grows, so I had to act it carefully. At the same time, it’s also one of my favorite scenes.” Meanwhile, Kiuchi revealed, “I love the scene where Mizuki, feeling anxious, walks through the tunnel to enter the village. The scenery unique to the Japanese countryside is wonderful.” Director Koga revealed a little-known secret, saying, “The village where the story is set is actually based on a real place… It’s a small village deep in the mountains, and it actually has a shrine.”
The film was also well-received in 4DX. All three had seen the film in 4DX beforehand, but Seki, who was experiencing it for the first time, said, “I didn’t expect the chair to move that much, and I screamed when I saw the 4DX explanation screen (which varies by theater). In the rainy scenes, the mist blew in with the wind, so my glasses fogged up! I had to wipe my glasses, put them on, wipe them, put them on again and again. But it was fun,” he said, sharing his story of his first experience, which had the audience in stitches. Kiuchi also seemed to have enjoyed 4DX, saying, “It was fun because even in places where I thought, ‘What? Here?’, I would hear a bang!”
最後に古賀監督は「この映画は皆さんに育てていただいた幸せな映画です。この先もずっとこの映画の事を忘れずにいてくれたら嬉しいです」と感謝を述べた。木内は「まさか1年後にブラッシュアップした『真生版』を劇場で見ていただけるとは夢にも思っていませんでした。アニメーターの皆さんが327カットという大変な作業を粘り、こだわったお陰で完成しました。1年間作品を応援して愛してくれた皆さんの想いがアニメーターさんたちの背中を押したのだと思います」と本作に関わった方と紡いだ映画だと実感。関は「皆さんのお陰を持ちまして『真生版』が新たなスタートを切ることが出来ました。前作同様に沢山の皆さんに見ていただき、可能であればいつの日か、また“鬼太郎の父”として皆さんと再会できることを夢見ています」とさらなるヒットに期待を込めていた。
すでに昨年公開された『鬼太郎誕生 ゲゲゲの謎』とあわせ、累計観客動員数が200万人を突破（10月5日（土）19時時点）した本作！冒頭からエンドロールまで見逃せない、再び語られる鬼太郎の父たちの物語が、今年も勢いを増しさらなるムーブメントを巻き起こす！是非、劇場のスクリーンで体感していただきたい。
■日時：10月5日（土）
■会場：丸の内TOEI スクリーン１（〒104-8108 東京都中央区銀座3-2-17）
■登壇ゲスト（敬称略）：関俊彦（鬼太郎の父役）、木内秀信（水木役）、古賀豪監督
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