GeGeGe no Kitarō

Episode 21

Not every episode has to touch on some big life lesson. Granted, GeGeGe no Kitarō has made a specialty of such stories, but this week reminds us that the old standbys of friendship conquering all can still be told in an engaging way that doesn't involve teaming up to defeat some major big bad. The yokai who learns this lesson is Takuro-bi, a flame spirit sort of like a more evolved will-o-the-wisp, whose terrifying exterior belies the sweet soul within. Takuro-bi, the living embodiment of flame, suffers from extreme loneliness because he can't touch others without hurting them. He desperately wants friends and to be accepted by the other yokai in a way beyond “Hey, Takuro-bi exists.” Naturally this makes him ripe for Rat Man's picking – when he tries to scam Takuro-bi out of money by having him “accidentally” burn up Rat Man's (empty) wallet, he realizes that by taking advantage of the flame's desperate loneliness he can make as much cash as he wants. Naïve Takuro-bi just needs one simple incentive: Rat Man will be his friend.

In a way, Rat Man does deserve some credit for Takuro-bi's happiness. Without his avaricious nature and tendency to take advantage of whoever happens to be handy, Takuro-bi and Amefuri-kozo would never have met. Rat Man sets up shop at an amusement park with two shows – a flame-based one for Takuro-bi to perform in and a “future robot” stage. Unbeknownst to Takuro-bi (or Kitaro, for that matter, who as always is keeping an eye on his untrustworthy companion), inside the robot costume is another yokai, Amefuri-kozo. As you may be able to tell from his name, Amefuri-kozo is a rain yokai. He takes the form of a boy in a kimono with an umbrella on his head, more like a hat with a veil than the novelty umbrella you may be imagining. As shy as Takuro-bi, if not more so, Amefuri-kozo and Takuro-bi begin working out their performance jitters together, forming a firm bond as they do so. But because the timid Amefuri-kozo hasn't told Takuro-bi that he's not actually a robot, things are set up to go wrong when Rat Man has the robot show dismantled and Takuro-bi thinks that he's killed his only true friend.

There are some very basic themes of children's literature explored in this episode that prove that the series is equally adept at handling the foundations of the genre just as well as it breaks them. Takuro-bi's desperation for friends and acceptance allows him to fall into Rat Man's clutches, but in meeting Amefuri-kozo he realizes that Rat Man was never really his friend at all. This is the usual tale of the kid getting involved with a bad crowd and having to realize that they're just using him, told through a yokai lens. Not only is Rat Man taking advantage of those weaker and more vulnerable than he is, he's also essentially picking on those who are different – Takuro-bi's unable to touch others without burning them and Amefuri-kozo is clearly uncomfortable with his role as a rain-bringer, something not always welcomed by people looking to do something outside.

At first blush, Takuro-bi and Amefuri-kozo are total opposites, not the kind of people who would normally be drawn to each other – heck, Amefuri-kozo's got a paper umbrella on his head and Takuro-bi burns paper. But by overlooking those things, the two are able to bond over their common problem, and Takuro-bi comes to realize that he can touch Amefuri-kozo because he can't burn water, a major facet of Amefuri-kozo's make-up as a yokai. The episode does a good job of showing this – when Takuro-bi touches the robot costume when Amefuri-kozo is wearing it, it doesn't burn, but when we see him holding it empty, the metal is definitely starting to melt. It's Amefuri-kozo himself who makes the difference, and that's where the heart of this episode is: true friends don't hurt each other. Rat Man was never Takuro-bi's friend because he was always just in it for his own profit, what he could get from the relationship. All Amefuri-kozo ever wanted was Takuro-bi himself.

This episode doesn't have the subtlety of some of the more challenging material. It doesn't have a grand message, and Kitaro plays a negligible role. But it definitely handles one of the staples of kids' shows with aplomb, proving that even without something big to say, GeGeGe no Kitarō is an underrated gem.

Rating: B+

GeGeGe no Kitarō is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.