To commemorate the release of the "real version" of "Kitaro Birth: The Mystery of Gegege," a retake and redub of 327 cuts from the sixth season of the TV anime "Gegege no Kitaro," based on the manga by the late Mizuki Shigeru, on October 4th, a pre-release party will be held on the 3rd, the day before the release, and a stage greeting will be held on the 5th, with Seki Toshihiko, who plays Kitaro's father, Kiuchi Hidenobu, who plays Mizuki, and director Koga Go. Both will be held at Marunouchi TOEI (Chuo-ku, Tokyo). The pre-release party will include an advance screening of the "real version," and after the screening, director Koga, screenwriter Yoshino Hiroyuki, and character designer Yatabe Toko will appear on stage. On October 6th, a stage greeting with Kiuchi will be held at MOVIX Hiyoshizu (Saihaku-gun, Tottori Prefecture).
To commemorate the stage greeting, a new cut depicting the buddy duo of Kitaro's father and Mizuki has also been released. Cuts were released of the scene where Kitaro's father reveals his true identity and past to Mizuki for the first time, the scene where Kitaro's father and Mizuki are gazing at something with an island floating on a lake behind them, and the scene where the two stand in front of a barrier at the end of the story.
The "real version" is "the horror story that the production team originally envisioned," and the retake cuts include a cut that revives the horror scenes that were originally envisioned in the storyboard. "Kitaro: The Birth of GeGeGe No Nazo" was rated PG12 (viewers under the age of 12 require advice and guidance from a parent or guardian), but the real version is rated R15+ (viewing prohibited for those under 15).
"Kitaro: The Birth of GeGeGe No Nazo" was released to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Mizuki's birth. This is the first time in about 15 years that a movie version of "GeGeGe no Kitaro" will be released since "GeGeGe no Kitaro: Japan Explodes!!," which was released in December 2008 as the movie version of the fifth season of the TV anime. The main characters are Kitaro's father (formerly Medama Oyaji) and Mizuki, and the "story of Kitaro's fathers" is told for the first time. It was released on November 17, 2023, and was a hit, with box office revenue exceeding 2.78 billion yen, and it was also a hot topic when it was selected for the Outstanding Animation Award at the 47th Japan Academy Awards.
