The Great Yokai War

2005 2h 4m JA

😐

6.3

MID

🍅

74%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.4

IMDB

★6.3TMDB · 78🍅74%Rotten Tomatoes●63Metacritic★6.4IMDB · 2,722

ComedyFantasyAction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A young boy with a troubled home life becomes "chosen," and he stumbles into the middle of a great war of yōkai (a class of mythological creatures), where he meets a group of friendly yōkai who become his companions through his journey. Now he must fight to protect his friends and free the world of the yōkai from oppression.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Ryunosuke Kamiki
Tadashi Ino
Hiroyuki Miyasako
Sata
Kaho Minami
Yōko Ino
Riko Narumi
Tataru Ino
Shiro Sano
"Mysterious" Editor
Miyuki Miyabe
Arimasa Osawa
Yuu Tokui

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Takashi Miike
Writers: Hiroshi Aramata, Takashi Miike, Mitsuhiko Sawamura
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 21 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Great Yokai War (2005) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Takashi Miike, shot by Hideo Yamamoto. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Koji Endo. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Yasushi Shimamura shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ryunosuke Kamiki and Hiroyuki Miyasako and Kaho Minami carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0425661 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 78 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Takashi Miike directs. Hideo Yamamoto behind the camera. Koji Endo scores. Yasushi Shimamura cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 21 years ago.
2Part of the "The Great Yokai War (2005) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
3Directed by Takashi Miike, shot by Hideo Yamamoto. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Koji Endo. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Yasushi Shimamura shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Ryunosuke Kamiki and Hiroyuki Miyasako and Kaho Minami carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt0425661 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 78 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Hideo Yamamoto
Original score: Koji Endo
Editing: Yasushi Shimamura
Production design: Takashi Sasaki
Runtime: 124 min · 2h 4m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $12,148,397
Box office: $15,787,492
Return: 130% of budget
Original language: JA
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The Great Yokai War (2005)
Rotten Tomatoes: 74% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 63/100
IMDB rating: 6.4/10 · 2,722 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

3 wins & 1 nomination

Part of

The Great Yokai War (2005) Collection

The original Yōkai (妖怪) series was a series of three films produced by Daiei and released by them from 1968 to 1969. The franchise was rebooted for the first time with the Yōkai tengoku (妖怪天国) series, directed by Macoto Tezka and released direct-to-video from 1986 to 1990, for a second time with the Yōkaiden (妖怪伝) series, originally directed by Tomoo Haraguchi and premiered from 2000 to 2004, and for a third time with the Great Yokai War (妖怪大戦争 Yōkai Daisensō) series, which as of 2021 encompasses two theatrical movies, both directed by Takashi Miike. All of the various reboots of the franchise by having appearances by many of the same yōkai (a class of relatively low-ranking supernatural creatures in Japanese mythology) with similar character designs. The two Takashi Miike movies are not true sequels as they have different lead characters, but they are linked by having some of the supporting cast of yōkai played by the same actors, and the second movie is marketed as a sequel.