The original Yōkai (妖怪) series was a series of three films produced by Daiei and released by them from 1968 to 1969. The franchise was rebooted for the first time with the Yōkai tengoku (妖怪天国) series, directed by Macoto Tezka and released direct-to-video from 1986 to 1990, for a second time with the Yōkaiden (妖怪伝) series, originally directed by Tomoo Haraguchi and premiered from 2000 to 2004, and for a third time with the Great Yokai War (妖怪大戦争 Yōkai Daisensō) series, which as of 2021 encompasses two theatrical movies, both directed by Takashi Miike. All of the various reboots of the franchise by having appearances by many of the same yōkai (a class of relatively low-ranking supernatural creatures in Japanese mythology) with similar character designs. The two Takashi Miike movies are not true sequels as they have different lead characters, but they are linked by having some of the supporting cast of yōkai played by the same actors, and the second movie is marketed as a sequel.
A young boy with a troubled home life becomes "chosen," and he stumbles into the middle of a great war of yōkai (a class of mythological creatures), where he meets a group of friendly yōkai who become his companions through his journey. Now he must fight to protect his friends and free the world of the yōkai from oppression. The yōkai originate in Japanese folklore and range from the cute and silly to the disturbing.
Kei Watanabe is a fifth grade elementary school student. He has inherited the hunter's blood to hunt yōkai. To save the world from being destroyed, Kei Watanabe challenges a war against the yōkai.
