Iso-Onna (
Appearance[]
In the manga, Iso-Onna is large, serpentine yōkai with the arms and head of a lady. She has long hair, and a face with prominent brows, snake-like eyes, a curved, pointy nose, a gaping mouth with sharp teeth and a long tongue. She has a long, dark body with light spots, a segmented belly, and scaly, muscular arms.
In the manga, Iso-Onna's baby has a round head and body, large pupils, big lips with only one tooth, and wears a hat and no clothes.
Except for the third and fifth anime adaptations, the true identity of Iso-Onna is the baby she holds.
Personality[]
In the manga, Iso-Onna is an evil yōkai that kidnaps children. However, she is shown to care about her baby just like any mother should. Her baby is shown to act a lot more intelligent, cocky, and violent compared to a typical child, and is shown to underestimate Kitarō's endurance like most villains.
In the 1968 anime, Iso-Onna is characterized similarly, and also laughs when people like Kitarō are in danger. Her baby is similarly cocky and an under estimator of their opponents, but is also shown to act more like an actual baby, needing to be babysitted and crying when people like Nezumi-Otoko tease and pinch them. However, unlike human babies, Iso-Onna's baby actually is actually capable of doing something about it, shown by them kicking, spitting, and punching Nezumi afterwards. Iso-Onna's motherly love t her child is shown again where the two hug each other before turning into stone.
History[]
Manga/First Anime[]
She appears along with her baby in episode #56 of the first anime adaptation, Iso-Onna. She first appears to abduct a fishermen, and later his partner alongside other villagers using her whirlpool and tongue.
When hearing about her, Medama-Oyaji says that Iso-Onna is a yōkai that rises every hundred years. When him and Kitarō head to her spot, she disguises one of her hairs as an eel-like sea snake to eat Medama-Oyaji, however he's saved by his son. It later wakes up again to knock over Nezumi-Otoko, revealing its true form. The rest of Iso-Onna shows up and gets met with Kitarō's Hair Needles, a bamboo stick, and his Geta. When she gets driven off, she takes in Nezumi-Otoko, who fell into the ocean.
While in her lair, Iso-Onna leaves him in charge of her child, as she's of to get some manjū for them, and reappears when she notices the hanyō bullying her child. She later shows up with her child to have a rematch with Kitarō, and this time succeeds in defeating him. Her plan is to can him and all the other people she captures into an inescapable, octopus-like pot.
When Kitarō wakes up, he starts to attack Iso-Onna and defeats her via blunt force trauma from her lair's own walls. She is last seen using her last bit of strength to comfort her child until both of them turn into stone.
In Kitarō Kunitori Monogatari, she was later summoned by Kitarō along with Umi-Kozō, Nurunuru-Bōzu, and Umi-Nyōbō to destroy an underwater base of Mu Empire.
1985 Anime[]
She appears along with her baby in episode #7 of the third anime adaptation, Yōkai Iso-Onna and Her Child.
1996 Anime[]
She appears along with her baby in episode #68 of the fourth anime adaptation, Rough seas of legend: Iso-Onna!.
2007 Anime[]
Iso-Onna and her son activating the power of the 47 Yōkai Warriors in the 2008 movie.
She appears along with her baby in episode #56 of the fifth anime adaptation, The Forbidden Cape! Iso-Onna. She is one of the 47 Yōkai Warriors and the representative of Nagasaki. Her mark is located on her baby's diaper. They briefly reappeared during the climax of the 2008 movie GeGeGe no Kitarō: Nippon Bakuretsu!!.
Powers and Abilities[]
Rain Casting in the 1985 anime.
Hair Manipulation in the 2007 anime.
Expansion:
Extendable Arms:
Weight Control:
Ingestion:
Water Manipulation:
Thundercloud and Rain:
Legend[]
Illustration of Iso-Onna by Shigeru Mizuki.
The Iso-Onna is a yōkai found in fishing villages all over Kyushu, and similar yōkai, such as Nure-Onna and Daki, can be found among many regions of Japan. In the Kumamoto Prefecture, the Iso-Onna invades boats via a mooring line and lays her long hair on a person to suck their blood out. In the Shimabara Peninsula, by placing three strands of woven mat hair on top of one's kimono, one can avoid being attacked by Iso-Onna.
Her appearance varies between regions, but she is always described as her top half being human and her bottom half being blurred like a ghost or serpentine in nature. She has many different names, and all of them seem friendly enough including:
- Iso-Onago (磯女子) = rocky shore girl
- Umi-Onna (海女) = ocean woman
- Umi-Hime (海姫) = ocean princess
- Umi-Nyōbō (海女房) = ocean wife
Because of their close mythological origins, Mizuki's design for the Iso-Onna and Nure-Onna's design are interchangeable with one another.
Trivia[]
Nure-Onna's design with influences from Iso-Onna in the 2007 anime.
- The Iso-Onna story was told in the 56th episode of both the 1968 and 2007 anime adaptations.
- One of Kami-no-Sei in the manga has an appearance of Iso-Onna.
- Nure-Onna's design in the 2007 anime adaptation bears several reseblances to the yōkai illustration of Iso-Onna.
References[]
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| | |
|---|---|
| Manga | Kitarō • Nezumi-Otoko • Kiba-Gurui • Hyakume • Mammoth-Otoko • Adobarana • Tsuchi-Korobi • Iso-Onna • Werewolf • Frankenstein • Mummy |
| 1968 Anime | Kitarō • Kiba-Gurui • Chimi • Muku-Jara • Akanbei • Chōkōzetsu • Dozaemon • Notaribō • Nowake-Baba • Rokurobei Support: Hyakume Child • Tsurube-Bi |
| 1985 Anime | Kitarō • Nezumi-Otoko • Neko-Musume • Sunakake-Babaa • Konaki-Jijii • Ittan-Momen • Nurikabe • Mammoth-Otoko • Gangi-Kozō • Daruma • Karakasa-Kozō Commentary: Yumeko Tendō • Medama-Oyaji |
| 1996 Anime | Kitarō • Neko-Musume • Sunakake-Babaa • Konaki-Jijii • Ittan-Momen • Nurikabe • Azuki-Togi • Fūjin • Wanyūdō • Kasa-Bake • Ball Yōkai |