The Great Yokai War

Original title: Yôkai daisensô

2005
PG-13
2h 4m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

A young boy is chosen as the defender of good and must team up with Japan's ancient spirits and creatures of lore to attempt to destroy the forces of evil.A young boy is chosen as the defender of good and must team up with Japan's ancient spirits and creatures of lore to attempt to destroy the forces of evil.A young boy is chosen as the defender of good and must team up with Japan's ancient spirits and creatures of lore to attempt to destroy the forces of evil.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.3/10

2.7K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 3 wins & 1 nomination total

Photos105

+ 99

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The film contains several direct references and homages to the work of Shigeru Mizuki, the manga artist who is generally credited with bringing the tradition of yokai tales into the modern day via the comic-book medium. The young hero researches yokai by traveling to Mizuki's birthplace of Sakaiminato and visiting the museum dedicated to his work there; the actual museum, and its bronze statues of his most famous characters, including GeGeGe no Kitaro, are shown in the film. Later in the plot, when the yokai Ittan Momen shows reluctance to fight, another scolds it by saying "You're always really brave in those comics with Kitaro!"

Quotes
Kawahime, the River Princess: People live in ignorance. Constantly turning a blind eye. Those that let go of their past, have no future.

Connections
Featured in Horror's Greatest: Giant Monsters (2024)

User reviews29

Review

Featured review

7/10

odd, entertaining kid's film

Watching The Great Yokai War really felt like going back to childhood. To that youthful time watching movies on a Saturday afternoon that were a little fanciful and that I, at 9 or 10, couldn't quite follow but still enjoyed.

The movie is utterly bizarre, as a young boy is chosen to battle against a great evil with the help of Yokai, which are fantastical folkloric Japanese creatures.

The story is fast paced, doesn't always make sense, is very weird, and is sometimes pretty violent and disturbing for a kid's movie.

It's hard for me to judge the visual quality of this movie because I found a low-rez version on youtube. All I can say for sure is the creatures themselves are tremendously entertaining.

I watched this movie because I'm ever in the search for something weird and not too dark from director Miike, who make The Happiness of the Katakuris but mainly makes movie that sound so dark I can't bring myself to watch them. Yokai War isn't as good as Katakuris, but it is entertaining.