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I am the curator of an exhibition on Easter Island in popular culture and I am trying to track down a few missing items. If you can assist we will acknowledge you in the exhibition.

We are aware that Kitaro visits Easter Island in a 1972 television anime. But we understand this story was either based on a manga or later translated into one.

the manga panel showing Moai statue

In which manga and how can I purchase/acquire a copy?

enter image description here

IanC
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  • Welcome to Anime and Manga. Can you please indicate what manga this is about as googling "kitaro manga" gets me [GeGeGe no Kitarō](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeGeGe_no_Kitar%C5%8D) which doesn't look right to me – Memor-X Aug 17 '19 at 23:58
  • @Memor-X *GeGeGe no Kitaro* actually sounds right to me, seeing that the first anime adaptation contained [a 1972 Easter Island episode](https://gegegenokitaro.fandom.com/wiki/Series_2_Episode_35). – Maroon Aug 18 '19 at 02:46

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As mentioned in the comment, "Easter Island Epitaph" is the 35th episode in series 2 of GeGeGe no Kitaro (1971) anime. However, the manga the story was based on is not from GeGeGe no Kitaro, but from World Mysteries series, another original manga by Shigeru Mizuki.

The World Mysteries series (世界怪奇シリーズ) contains 8 short manga:

  1. Yōkai Flower Alraune
  2. The Woman of Angkor Wat
  3. Easter Island Epitaph
  4. The Rainbow Kingdom Agartha
  5. Neko-Mata's Love
  6. Invitation from the South
  7. Persian Twilight
  8. Amagami Yumuchaac

As for the "Easter Island Epitaph" chapter itself, it has appeared in a few publications:

  1. Big Comic magazine (1968.06.01)
  2. Rainbow Country Agartha (虹の国アガルタ) (1971.03)
  3. Kaiki Shinin Chou (1985.01)
  4. He no Youna Jinsei (屁のような人生) (2009.12)
  5. The Complete Shigeru Mizuki Manga Collection vol. 69 (水木しげる漫画大全集(069) 世界怪奇シリーズ(全)／サラリーマン死神(全) 他) (2013.07)

Unfortunately, the whole publications haven't been licensed in English, so there's no way to acquire it legally. However, for the original Japanese version, The Complete Shigeru Mizuki Manga Collection vol. 69 can be purchased on:

  1. Amazon Japan: Printed Comic / Kindle Edition
  2. Yodobashi (Japanese): Printed Comic / E-book Version (need Doly app to read)
  3. Apple Books (Japanese) (digital)
  4. Book Walker (Japanese) (digital)
  5. or look for the alternatives listed on Kodansha Comic Plus (Japanese)

Sidenote: the reason why GeGeGe no Kitaro anime used another manga series was that there was not enough material to be adapted at that time. Out of 45 episodes, 23 episodes were adapted from non-Kitaro series.

References:

Aki Tanaka
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  • Thanks.That is extremely helpful and explains a few things we did not understand. Crucially, we did not realize that the anime episode was based on a different manga series. Of the publications you mention in which 'Easter island Epitaph' appears do you know if any are available on Amazon/ elsewhere as I'm having no luck. I believe it appears in this collection. Is that true? – IanC Aug 18 '19 at 11:19
  • @IanC I have edited the answer to add where you can buy it, perhaps it's better to buy the digital (Kindle/e-book) version for convenience. However, I'm afraid I can't help further on how to navigate the site in Japanese and purchase it... – Aki Tanaka Aug 18 '19 at 11:51