The Great Yokai War

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Although known mainly for Gorn, Japanese directory Takashi Miike has produced films in a wide variety of genres, including children's films.

The Great Yokai War is a fantasy-horror film which tells the tale of a young boy caught in a war between traditional Japanese folklore creatures known as Youkai. Young Tadashi Ino is declared the "Kirin-rider" at a local festival, not knowing that the title will soon become literal. He becomes the Reluctant Hero in a war between the traditional Youkai, and a new, mechanical version created by the evil Yasunori Kato to take over the world. The film is an homage to the Yokai Monsters series of films created in the 1960s by the Daiei Motion Picture Company.

Noted for its similarities to The Neverending Story.

Tropes used in The Great Yokai War include: