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RIP Shigeru Mizuki pic.twitter.com/28Zrgt5vzd

— ray n. (@themistern) November 30, 2015

My friend Ray posted this on Twitter after hearing the news of Shigeru Mizuki's death.

It's actually thanks to Mizuki that Ray and I are friends. One October Ray tweeted some Halloween themed fan art at the official Shonen Jump twitter and they retweeted it. I noticed Nezumi Otoko tucked in behind the Shonen Jump characters and couldn't resist pointing it out."Hey! Is that Nezumi Otoko from Gegege no Kitaro? :D" And he replied with a drawing of Kitaro and Medama Oyaji pointing at the camera with the caption "You're right!" Then he followed me and our friendship slowly grew from there. Now we tweet at each other almost every night, have Skype chats, and share injokes. Even if he can be a dumb bunny sometimes I'm grateful to have a friend like him. And if it weren't for Shigeru Mizuki Ray never would've drawn that Nezumi Otoko and I wouldn't've had the courage to tweet at a stranger.

It's probably also because of Mizuki that I'm friends with Zack Davission. Not precisely sure how though. I think Zack just has some kind of sixth sense for anything yokai or Shigeru Mizuki related. It's like all you have to do is mention Gegege no Kitaro and *POOF!* there he is.

(Zack's a really cool guy btw. He does the official translations of Shigeru Mizuki's manga for Drawn and Quarterly and you should totally check out his yokai blog and book on Japanese ghosts! XD )

But it's not just my friends that I have Mizuki to thank for! If Shigeru Mizuki's Gegege no Kitaro hadn't brought yokai into the media spotlight when it did then yokai would've ceased to have any relevance in Japanese modern culture. And then there would be nothing to inspire generations of Japanese artists to create anime and games like Pokemon, Spirited Away, or any video game with wide variety of monsters. And in turn those things wouldn't be around to inspire people around the world.

I can't be too sad at Mizuki's passing. Given his advanced age I knew it had to happen sooner or later but more importantly he had already left a huge legacy behind him. He created monsters both fierce and friendly and weird worlds for us to explore and surround ourselves in. He preserved Japanese folklore, not just by recording it but by breathing new life into it. His work has touched the lives of thousands and thousands of people of multiple generations and not just in Japan but around the world as well. Some in obvious ways, some without realizing it, and some on a very personal level. There's not many people in the history of human existence that can have that kind of influence.

Thank you for everything, Mizuki-sensei.

(Gosh, I didn't mean to turn this into a huge memorial post when I started writing but I guess I had a lot to say. ^^; )

#rip shigeru mizuki #yokai #gegege no kitaro #Ray N.#friend's art #zack davisson #friends #kitaro #nezumi otoko #medama oyaji