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It will be finished as soon as possible. We're working as fast as we can, sheesh! |
Shōjō (
Appearance[]
In The Great Yōkai War, Shōjō is a middle-aged man with red skin, long, red, frizzy hair and bushy eyebrows, and wears a red kimono and pants, and also has a strap around his shoulders holding three sake bottles. He often wields a long, bamboo stick with Shide tied on the top. In the manga adaptation by Shigeru Mizuki, Shōjō has larger eyes with yellow sclera and blue pupils, no eyebrows, and lighter skin.
In the sequel, The Great Yōkai War: Guardians, Shōjō now has a large mane and beard that is darker and less frizzy, large pointy ears, and hairy knuckles. He now wears a darker red haori, a light green sash on his abdomen, brown pants, and hairy, dark brown boots. The stick he wields is thinner and wooden.
Personality[]
History[]
2018 Anime[]
Shōjō is mentioned by Medama-Oyaji as one of the many red-faced yōkai who could have been the one who released the Four Treasonous Generals.[1]
The Great Yōkai War[]
The Great Yōkai War: Guardians[]
Powers and Abilities[]
Voice Mimicry: In the film, Shōjō is shown to perfectly imitate the voice of Tadashi Inō's grandfather.
Hair Manipulation: Just like Kitarō and Sunakake-Babaa in the GeGeGe no Kitarō series, Shōjō in the film has the ability to sense Yōkai Activity with one of his hairs. This is shown just before he sees the attendants of The Festival of Darkness.
Durability: In the first film, Shōjō survives a large explosion caused by Yasunori Katō's defeat.
Equipments[]
Staff
Legend[]
Shōjō illustration.
The Shōjō, also known as Xing-Xing, and Sheng-Sheng (狌狌, Live-lively) in Chinese, is a creature described in Chinese herbology books like the Bencao gangmu (1596) before being introduced to Japan.
The Chinese Geography Book Shānhǎi jīng (The Classic of Mountains and Seas) describes the Shōjō as living in a mountain called Zhāoyáo zhī shān (招摇之山), described to be west of China and the peak of a mountain range called Què shān (鵲山 Magpie Mountain). They're described to resemble humanoid apes but with white ears, and often walks by crouching, and runs like a human but faster. If their meat is eaten, the consumer will inherit their swiftness. In a addition to the Shōjō, Què shān houses a tree called Mí gǔ (迷穀), which is where the former gets its speed from. It is said that this tree is as black as grain, but its flowers can illuminate the surrounding area, so having these flowers means one will not get lost. There is also a spirit in these mountains that often interacts with humans, rich in gold and silver treasures that resemble leeks and is very generous. Finally, these mountains are home to a flower named Zhù yú (祝餘, I wish you Good Luck), that makes whoever eats feel like they're in paradise.
Shigeru Mizuki believes that yōkai were more carefree in remote areas during the olden times, but were eventually demonized by humans that encroached and destroyed their land, forcing some like the Shōjō to migrate to other places like Japan.