Clap for the Kappa

It's sort of surprising that Japan's Kappa... cute creeps that appear as half-turtle, half-hominid river spirits... aren't better known outside of their native haunt considering how hugely popular they are there. I mean, the Kappa is probably Japan's most famous monster. From the great Shigeru Mizuki's adorably weird Sanpei the Kappa to the classic brushy comic strip work of Kon Shimizu (Kappa Tengoku, Kowataro the Kappa, etc.) which became the spokesmonsters of Kizakura Sake for many decades, Kappa are a big part of Japanese pop culture. Not that these river-dwelling pranksters are a modern phenomenon, though... no, sir! Kappa are venerable Yokai, and have been a part of Japanese folklore for centuries. I was just re-watching Miike's The Great Yokai War again, and loving the depiction of Kawataro the Kappa (named for the Shimizu character? See responses...). Frankly, you can't have a Yokai movie (from the Yokai Monsters trilogy from the 1960's, to the recent monsterpiece Kibakichi) without a Kappa! This guy Kyoichi Shimazaki, AKA Ghostman, has some really wonderful effects makeup and behind the scenes images on his site, including the stunning Kappa creation pictured below. Wish I knew what it was created for, but I can't read Japanese.Follow the links and discover the Kappa, my friends. But don't get too close to the water!

I Heart Coo

Just got back from Kitchener after catching one of the last of this years' flicks in the Waterloo Festival For Animated Cinema, and, wow, Keiichi Hara's Summer Days With Coo was just what I was looking for! A great 'boy and his monster' story with plenty of funny, scary, and tearful moments... like E.T. with traditional legend replacing Science Fiction. It's no secret how much I love yokai (and Kappa in particular) so I went in fairly excited. I'm very happy to say that the film exceeded my expectations. It's impossible to avoid comparisons to Miyazaki considering the subject matter and ecological/ anti-development undertones, but the fact that this film holds up well under that comparison is saying something. From MAP, director Hara says, "Summer Days with Coo is very special to me. It was more than 20 years ago that I first read the original story and a great many things have happened between then and the realization of this film. Throughout my career, the concept has always been in my mind and I am very happy that I have finally had the opportunity to direct it as a film..." Official movie website here with loads of artwork. I sure hope this becomes available on the North American marketplace soon so I can share it with my kids.