CXCIII: "Gegege no Kitaro"

Old, and remade quite a number of times, Gegege no Kirtaro, originally called Kitaro of the Graveyard, is an anime that has aged well, but is constantly remade with better visuals each time. However, they are made by the same people. Originating from a manga, there is plentiful media done off of this title.

The story centers around a certain youkai named Kitaro, who is, aside from his mostly decayed father (who's a walking eyeball... no kidding), is the sole survivor of the Ghost Tribe. He is a youkai with a sense of justice, entrusted with fighting for the peace of both his kind and humans, which usually pits him against aggressive youkai that threaten the human race. Armed with several strange weapons, and assisted by plenty of allies, Kitaro tackles any and all comers that threaten the peace of the two races.

Since 1968, it has been retold time and again on a decade basis, making a total of 5 different TV Anime versions. In addition, in between the 2007-2009 run, there as a brief 2008 version titled Hakaba Kitaro. In all, the series is lengthy, lasting for a total of 451 episodes, which is quite a feat. There is also a live-action film, an anime film, as well as a Sony PlayStation game, but it's safe to assume none of these saw US daylight. In fact, I only came across this by sheer luck through the site Veoh, though other dark areas of the internet also has something in regards to one of the characters, Neko Musune. Save for those means, I won't say it's impossible, but finding anything about this series here in the US would be a hassle, as the media itself is scarce here. Toei Company and Toei Animations are the studios that made these titles. Naturally, there is no US license, therefore no legit English dubbing whatsoever. The time span and episode count for each are as follows:

• TV Anime 1: January 1968 - March 1969 (65 episodes)
• TV Anime 2: October 1971 - September 1972 (45 episodes)
• TV Anime 3: October 1985 - March 1988 (115 episodes)
• TV Anime 4: January 1996 - March 1998 (114 episodes)
• TV Anime 5: April 2007 - March 2009 (100 episodes)
• Hakaba Kintaro: January 2008 - March 2008 (11 episodes)

I'll go with a good 7 of 10 for Gegege no Kitaro. Despite being old, and different from what I expected, it sure caught my interest, and honestly, despite its age, I'd watch this over again over Hell Girl anyday.