Yōkai Castle

Yōkai Castle
Name
Japanese	妖怪城
Rōmaji	Yōkai-jō
Location statistics
Located in	Various
Controlled by	Tantanbō (Former) Nurarihyon (2007; Former)
First Appearance
Manga	Yōkai Castle (1966)
Anime	Series 1 Episode 3 (1968)
Portrayals
2007 anime	Masami Suzuki

Not to be confused with Nurarihyon's Yōmajō and Qi's Yōkai-jō.

The Yōkai Castle (妖怪城 Yōkai-jō) is a castle that is featured in the story, Yōkai Castle. In the fifth anime, it is one of Nurarihyon's minions along with its Four Spirit Dragons.

History

1968 Anime

The Yōkai Castle is featured in the third episode of the first anime adaptation, Yōkai Castle.

1985 Anime

The Yōkai Castle introduction

The Yōkai Castle is featured in the first episode of the third anime adaptation, The Mysterious Yōkai Castle Appears!!

1996 Anime

The Yōkai Castle is featured in both episode 66 and 67 of the fourth anime adaptation, Ominous Clouds! Yōkai Castle (Part 1) and Ominous Clouds! Yōkai Castle (Part 2). 

2007 Anime

Yokai Castle Controller

In the fifth anime adaptation, the Yōkai Castle is featured in episodes 61, 72 and 85.

Episode 61: This episode is centered around the original Yōkai Castle story, featuring Tantanbō, Futakuchi-Onna, and Kamaitachi, but it also introduces the Yōkai Castle controller. After a fire breaks out due to Jigoku's power within Kitarō, Tantanbō spits out the controller onto the floor and uses it to call the four towers in for reinforcements. Taking advantage of Tantanbō's desperation and panic, Kamaitachi snatches the controller and hands it to Nurarihyon while Kitarō faces off against Tantanbō. Since the castle was beginning to get consumed by flames, Kitarō had to let Nurarihyon and the others get away so he could escape as well. At the end of the episode, the castle is severely damaged, yet Nurarihyon laughs after grasping the power of the Yōkai Castle that he can mobilize anywhere. He states that it will take a long time for the castle to be repaired, but plans to face Kitarō again when it is fully repaired and awakens.

Episode 72: In this episode, the Yōkai Castle is repaired and it is established that the it needs the power of Yanari to awaken. They first enslave the Yanari and force them to use their power, but it doesn't work. Kamaitachi then incites fear in them so they would try harder, but the castle still does not awaken. Shu-no-Bon arrives with one additional Yanari, but is told by Nurarihyon that he will get fired for revealing the castle's secrets in addition to returning with only one Yanari. Shu-no-Bon cries and runs, but gets caught in the crossfire between the Kitaro family and Nurarihyon's minions. The Yanari find Shu-no-Bon's misfortune hilarious, and willingly pour all of their power into the castle for giving them a good laugh. The castle finally awakens, and Nurarihyon awakens the Wind tower, revealing the Wind Dragon. Kitaro spots a Yanari trapped under rubble and disregards the Wind Dragon in order to save it. He and the others are immobilized by wind and were about to be finished off. Right as the Wind Dragon attacked, Yadōkai saves the Kitaro family by bringing them into his world of darkness. They retreat to Yōkai Yokochō in order to figure out how to face this new and powerful Yōkai Castle.

Invincible Yōkai Castle

Episode 85: Its childish personality and voice was first portrayed in this episode, and it is revealed that the Yōkai Castle is much more powerful than it was in its previous appearances. It ate many of Japan's yōkai, in addition to awakening all four of its towers and revealing the dragons (Fire, Earth, Water and Wind), gaining tremendous power. In this state, it was called the Invincible Yōkai Castle (無敵妖怪城).

Soon, Nurarihyon welcomes Kitaro into the castle. He tells him that since the Yōkai Castle is adorable, he just had to give it want it wants. He first supplied the castle with "Yōkai Food" to give it power, referring to all of the yōkai it has consumed so far. He also states that the castle craves Kitarō the most. The next thing the castle wanted was a bride. This bride was Miu, who was captured and put under their control. Kitarō let his guard down after trying to get Miu to return to her senses, and is eaten by the castle.

Complete/Perfect Yōkai Castle

With the power gained from eating Kitarō, the Yōkai Castle finally enters its final stage: the Complete or Perfect Yōkai Castle (妖怪城完全体). Miu purposefully gets eaten by the castle to find Kitarō in order to lend him her power. The other yōkai that were eaten pitch in as well, becoming Yōkai Warriors in the process. Kitarō unlocks the Jigoku key and releases its power, consuming the castle in flames once more. They all escape and the castle sinks to the bottom of the sea. When the castle asks Nurarihon what will happen to it now, he responds by saying it will revive again and that it should just wait for a while. When the castle asks how long "for a while" is, Nurarihyon simply walks away.

As a Character: Having been awakened by Nurarihyon, the Yōkai Castle looks up to him as a father and refers to him as such. Since it was still young, it has a childish personality and voice.

Fifth Anime Gallery

Yōkai Castle in the 5th anime (character).

Fire Dragon (炎龍), one of the castle's four spirit dragons.

Earth Dragon (土龍), one of the castle's four spirit dragons.

Water Dragon (水龍), one of the castle's spirit dragons.

Wind Dragon (風龍), one of the castle's four spirit dragons.

2018 Anime

The Yōkai Castle is featured in the third episode of the sixth anime adaptation, Tantanbō's Yōkai Castle.