Yōka (story)

Yōka (妖花) is a GeGeGe no Kitarō story that was first published as a chapter of the Shonen Magazine run. It has been adapted for the 1968, 1985, 1996, 2007 and 2018 anime versions of GeGeGe no Kitarō.
==Characters==
<tabber>
|-|Shonen Magazine=
*Kitarō
*Nezumi-Otoko
*Kawauso
*Hanako Hanada
*Yōka
|-|1968 Anime=
*Kitarō
*Medama-Oyaji
*Nezumi-Otoko
*Hanako Hanada
*Yōka
*Oni
|-|1985 Anime=
*Kitarō
*Medama-Oyaji
*Nezumi-Otoko
*Neko-Musume
*Ittan-Momen
*Kawauso
*Hanako Hanada
*Gasha-Dokuro
*Yōka
*Ōdako
|-|1996 Anime=
*Kitarō
*Medama-Oyaji
*Nezumi-Otoko
*Kappa
*Hanako Hanada
*Yōka
|-|2007 Anime=
*Kitarō
*Medama-Oyaji
*Nezumi-Otoko
*Neko-Musume
*Sunakake-Babaa
*Ittan-Momen
*Kuro
*Tsurube-Bi
*Mayumi
*Yōka
*Guha
*Aguri
</tabber>
==Plot==
At the apartment of Hanako Hanada, the flowerpots by her window sprout flowers that quickly grow into her room, covering the walls. Her landlady comes in and remarks that they grew again like the years before and asks about her situation. Hanako explains that she found out that the flowers only blossom in southern jungles and that they should not be able to bloom in cold places like Japan. Her landlady tells her of a man who just came, claiming to be a Yōkai Doctor. She does not want to as he will likely charge a lot of money, but is told to give him a try before heading to work.
Just as her landlady says this, the man she is talking about, Nezumi-Otoko, enters and inspects the flowers, calling them Yōka. He offers his service to protect her, but she declines and goes off. At her work place, her co-worker informs her that she has a visitor, who turns out to be the rat Yōkai she just met. He is persistent on his offer and tells her he will be waiting by a bridge. Her co-worker asks what is wrong and she tells her of her flower problem and that the rat Yōkai will get rid of it for 100,000 Yen. Her co-worker tells her to send a letter to Kitarō, as he will do it for free. She does so and several days later she is visited by the Yōkai boy and she explains her situation to him. He says he will have to travel to find the source, where she asks to accompany him as she has a feeling she should go. He allows her to come and tells her to go to the shore the next night.
At the shore the next night, Hanako sees a giant Clam being steered by Kawauso and is invited by Kitarō. Not long after Nezumi-Otoko comes wanting to join them, the two meet and he tells her to be silent about their previous conversation. They go from island to island to find the source. They eventually arrive on an island, where war took place and find a large tree where the source is buried under it. The Yōkai dig until they find the corpse of a Japanese soldier with a ring that says "Hanada". Hanako cries as she recognizes the ring and realizes that its her father's corpse. She realizes that her father sent the flowers to watch over her. With this, all the Yōka scattered their petals, dyeing the place red. Afterwards the four travellers lay her father to rest and depart from the island.
==Remakes==
===Manga===
*Shigeru Mizuki's Strange Yōkai Tales - Yōka (妖花)
===Anime===
;1968 Anime
:Episode 32 - Yōka (aired August 11, 1968)
;1985 Anime
:Episode 71 - Gasha-Dokuro of Yōka Forest (aired March 21, 1987)
;1996 Anime
:Episode 30 - Yōka! Memories of a Summer Day (aired August 4, 1996)
;2007 Anime
:Episode 96 - Bizarre Romance! The Yōka's Temptation (aired February 22, 2009)
;2018 Anime
:Episode 20 - Memories of the Yōka (aired August 12, 2018)
==Gallery==
Category:GeGeGe no Kitarō (Shonen Magazine) chapters