Cat-Eyed Boy (Youkaiden Nekome Kozou) 01

Just in time for Halloween, Orphan presents the first episode of Umezz Kazuo's 1976 horror series Youkaiden Nekome Kozou (Spirit Legend Cat-Eyed Boy, here just Cat-Eyed Boy). Because of Makoto-chan, I always thought of Umezz Kazuo as a comedy writer, but in fact, he is best known for his horror manga and is sometimes called "the Stephen King of Japan." He wrote The Drifting Classroom, a horror masterpiece, as well as the Kowai Hon (Scary Book) series. On Baka-Updates, more than 50 of his titles are listed as horror.

Cat-Eyed Boy is a spooky tale of demons, spirits, and monsters based on Umezz' manga Nekome Kozou (Cat-Eyed Boy), which is available in English. According to Baka-Updates, Cat-Eyed Boy acts like a Trickster figure, saving the innocent and helping the wicked receive the punishment that fate metes out. The stories are mostly tales of revenge and retribution for the evil acts people do. The TV series adds a quest plot, as Cat-Eyed Boy searches for his long-lost real mother.

The first episode sets out background of the story. Cat-Eyed Boy is the son of Nekomata, a cat demon, and a human mother. Half-demon, half-human, he is shunned by both worlds. He is raised by a foster mother, Miya, who has to beg for food, and he becomes a mischievous nuisance to the village he lives in. When a demon called Nadare-Maneki (the Landslide Summoner) attacks, Cat-Eyed Boy must try to save himself and his foster mother from its relentless attacks.

Cat-Eyed Boy is unusual in several respects. First, it is not really animated. Instead, it is done in "gekimation" (graphic novel plus animation), in which special effects are added to full-length paper cutouts. This gives the show a unique and rather static look. Second, it is Orphan's first one-and-done. That is, we're not going on with the series. (Orphan has created an orphan series; wah...) The underlying reason is lack of raws. Three episodes were included as specials in the live-action Cat-Eyed Boy box set; a few more are on YouTube; and that's it.

With only one episode to work with, I don't have much information on the voice actors:

• Hori Junko (Cat-Eyed Boy) is best known as the voice of the protagonists in three Fujiko Fujio works, Obake no Q-tarou, Ninja Hattori-kun, and Chinpui. She also appeared in Wan Wan Chuushingura, Taiyou no Ouji: Horus no Daibouken, Rain Boy, Time Slip Ichimannen Prime Rose, and Makoto-chan, all Orphan releases), as well as Moomin, Akage no Anne, Cinderella Boy, and Unico.
• Masuoka Hiroshi (traveling priest) is best known for playing Fugata Masuo in Sazae-san (for more than 20 years) and Jam Ojii-san in the Soreike! Anpanman franchise. He appeared in Hidamari no Ki, the Hiatari Ryouko movie, King Fang, Nine, Perrine Monogatari, and Tezuka Osamu Monogatari: I am Son Gokuu, all Orphan releases.
• Yada Kouji (Nadare-Maneki, the Landslide Summoner) played Dr. Gero in the Dragon Ball franchise. He appeared in all the GeGeGe no Kitarou iterations through 2007, Haguregumo, Nine, and the Sangokushi movies. The last two are Orphan releases.

The director, Tsuchiya Keinosuke, helmed Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair and Wandering Girl Nell, which have been fansubbed by OldCastle and South Wind Subs.

Cat-Eyed Boy is a labor of love by Skr, who is a fan of all things Umezz Kazuo. He translated, timed, edited, and encoded the show. His friend sotoo did a translation check. Uchuu and I did QC. The encode is very large, because the underlying film stock is not in great shape; Skr needed a very high bit rate to capture all the defects. 😉

So buckle up, boys and girls, for classic Japanese horror from 45 (!) years ago. You can find Cat-Eyed Boy on the usual torrent site or download it from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.