#kibakichi

[alkhawarizmi]

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from KIBAKICHI SFX MAKING + PANEL DISCUSSION at HMV SHIBUYA (2003)

[gojira-ekkusu]

[chernobog13]

Have you ever watched a samurai movie and thought it would be better if it had werewolves in it?

Or have you ever watched a werewolf movie and thought it would be better set in feudal Japan?

Then this is your lucky day!

Kibakichi and Kibakichi 2 are films from 2003 (the sequel was released three months after the first) that feature a protagonist who is both a samurai AND a werewolf!

The films are very loosely based on a manga of the same name.  They feature lone samurai Kibakichi, who is not strictly a werewolf, but a type of wolf yokai who can appear as a man.

In his travels Kibakichi encounters - and battles - other yokai, bandits, yakuza, and demons.  He also battles the only other survivor of his tribe, a female werewolf yokai, who manages to kick his @$$.

These are not great films by any stretch of the imagination.  Kibakichi’s werewolf costume is goofy looking.  Many of the yakuza look like they are extras from The Matrix, wearing black leather trench coats and armed with hand grenades and machine guns.  The fight scenes try to be stylish instead of good.  Kibakichi, in werewolf mode, jumps around far too much when he’s supposed to be fighting.

Nevertheless, there is a kernel of a good idea or two in these films.  And they have a sort of goofy charm to them, if you don’t go in expecting a chambara masterpiece.

And I’ve been told, on very good authority, that one’s enjoyment of these films increases exponentially with the consumption of alcohol.

[kaijutransmissions]

NEW EPISODE: TOMOO HARAGUCHI HORRORS!  MIKADROID, SAKUYA, KIBAKICHI!

For another October horror edition of the podcast, Byrd, Matt and Tom discuss the directorial work of Japanese special effects maverick, Tomoo Haraguchi!  Primarily known as a makeup artist and monster maker on films such as the Heisei Gamera trilogy, Ringu 0, Ultraman Mebius, and others, he also directed a handful of horror films.  We discuss his straight to video debut Mikadroid: Robokill Beneath Disco Club Layla, his Yokai spectacle Sakuya: Slayer of Demons, and his Yokai westerns Kibakichi and Kibakichi 2.  We also discuss his prolific career, partnership with Shinji Higuchi, and more!  But first, Byrd reports back from the Nightmares Film Festival in Columbus, we discuss our October horror viewings, and we follow up on some confusion on Beware the Blob!

-iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/kaiju-transmissions-podcast/id1128609095?mt=2

-Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/If5jtjd3y7mtkeqfmewnxir5jhq

-Podbean: https://kaijutransmissions.podbean.com

-Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kaiju-transmissions-podcast/the-kaiju-transmissions-podcast?refid=stpr

-Android: https://subscribeonandroid.com/kaijutransmissions.podbean.com/feed/

[akasleepyoni]

Ryûji Harada in "Kibakichi: Bakko-yokaiden", 2004.