Kitarou Tanjou: Gegege no Nazo

Before seeing the movie, I recommend that you watch one episode of Graveyard Kitaro and one episode of the sixth in the series, which was recommended to watch beforehand on twitter. I think it makes the movie more interesting and more moving. I actually went to the theater the day before to see those two episodes only.

・I think that the movie is more enjoyable if you like Kitaro, even if you are quite old due to the complete respect to the original work.
・The visuals of Kitaro's father and Mizuki are good, and the movie has a lot of female audience because of that.
・The movie is ... a buddy movie of Kitaro's father and Mizuki.
・There are many smoking scenes, so they may be cut or changed if the movie is released or distributed outside of Japan.
・Good action and good drawings.
・Good horror movie.
・Friendship between fathers and a buddy movie.
・Pure love
・Incest
・Rural customs and mysterious rituals
・The story or mystery part reminds me of the movie "「犬神家の一族」The Inugami Clan," written by Seishi Yokomizo and directed by Kon Ichikawa.
・The story and mystery part is reminiscent of the movie "The Inugami Clan" by Kon Ichikawa, written by Masafumi Yokomizo.
・The voice cast is too gorgeous, and there is no one who is not good.
・The karma of human beings simmering in the cauldron of hell (without salvation).
・Many people are crying before and after the ending scene.
・Kitaro, Medama Oyaji, and Neko Musume don't appear in the movie very often, so I don't recommend this movie to those who want to see them as the main characters.
・It is a work for adults, and some people who went to see it with their children left the theater halfway through.
・Some people think it is grotesque, but the grotesqueness is about the same level as Demon Slayer, or even a little higher.

I think people who like Kitaro series, Fate series, Type-Moon related works, Kyogokudo series such as Jutsu Kaisen, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Blue Seed, Mouryou no Hako, etc. will like this work, or at least get hooked on it.

As for my opinion, I'd rather read other people who went to see it, so I may turn it off.

Gegege no Kitaro is a manga first published in 1960. Kitaro is the last of the ghost tribe, a link between humans and Yokai. He is not one nor the other but stands on the line between.

The manga and the anime (which the latest was the sixth iteration aired in 2018) hardy allowed more than one chapter for his backstory (manga) and the anime decided it was so iconic that it didn't even need one, it was just rehashed in one of the OPs visuals.

The movie starts before this as Mizuki, a reporter, is sent to the countryside to investigate a story. This ... turns into a murder mystery ignited via a dispute over inheritance with supernatural elements hanging over the tale.

Story is great, animation is amazing without the use of CGI.
It has some dark elements which include Incest and body horror so something to be aware of before going in.

Do you need to know anything about gegege no Kitaro to watch this?

Honestly, no. The only link is that the ending is the iconic birth of Kitaro that is the starting point of the manga but that's about it.

I do think fans of horror, hand drawn animation & yokai will like this. Fans of the show will love it though the usual cast barely make a cameo as this isn't their story so don't go in expecting to see them much.

Overall a very atmospheric movie.

Right off the bat I can honestly say that I had completely forgotten about watching Gege 2018 before I saw this movie listed, it was just another supernatural comedy with an interesting story but not peculiarly memorable.
But upon giving this movie a watch, oh my.
Even if you have not watched the Gege 2018 or don't know anything about this series, both manga and anime, you will be pleasantly surprised.
For me, especially as someone who hates CGI in anime, I was astonished by no CGI in this anime. This contributed greatly to the atmosphere and scenes. I always like the hand-drawn feel more and had ... not anticipated it here.
The atmosphere is great with music deepening the feel and enjoyable characters.
I loved this art style and feel more than in Gege 2018.
If you are thinking about watching Gege please start with this movie. It gives you so much information about the whole world.
Grab some beer and get ready for an amazing movie.