Modern Depictions
As the Yōkai boom occurred there have been many modern depictions of Yōkai in media. Yōkai is now in every major media category within Japan. Pokemon, Yugioh, Ringu, Yo-kai Watch, Jujutsu Kaisen, Naruto, Monster Hunter, and many more Japanese media franchises have used Yōkai figures and folklore to enhance their stories (Foster, Shinonome 73). Yōkai have become very commercialized within Japan with many of the Yōkai's concepts and meaning being softened. Yōkai is within every media category within Japan. Yōkai have secured themselves within the greater Japanese culture at large. Yōkai have the ability to blend into modern art seamlessly as they are very malleable and have a wide range of characterization (Shamoon 279).
Main antagonist Sukuna from Jujutsu Kaisen based on the Yōkai folkstory "Ryomen Sukuna"
Anime adaptation of the Manga that launched the Yōkai Boom in the 1960's
Tsukumogami inspired Yōkai monsters in the new hit game Monster Hunter Rise.
Main antagonist Sukuna from Jujutsu Kaisen based on the Yōkai folkstory "Ryomen Sukuna"
Yōkai in Games
Pokemon is one of the largest media franchises in the world and originally started in Japan. Pokemon is surprisingly filled with Yōkai imagery and folklore. Many of the earlier Pokemon designs are based on Japanese Yōkai folklore. One of the biggest examples is the nine tails being based on Kyubi (Baird "Pokemon are just Yōkai"). Kyubi is one of the most prominent Yōkai in media. Other examples exist in the 2014 hit game Yo-kai watch. (Foster, Shinonome. 73)
Pokemon Vulpix and Ninetales are based on Kitsune and Kyubi, which are both fox like Yōkai.
Froslass is based on Yuki-Onna Yokai. Yuki-Onna is about women who freeze to death in the mountains being reborn as Yōkai.
2014 Highest selling game in Japan. Considered modern Pokemon. Based on Yōkai but a more docile version.
Pokemon Vulpix and Ninetales are based on Kitsune and Kyubi, which are both fox like Yōkai.
Group of cursed spirits (Yōkai).
Sukuna summoning his domain, which is based off the real life Sukuna temple built by Ryomen Sukuna. Located in Nichiryubuji
Character in Hunter x Hunter based on the main villain of the Japanese Horror movie Ringu, which uses the Yurei archetype.
Group of cursed spirits (Yōkai).
Yōkai in Manga and Anime
Jujutsu Kaisen is one of the highest-selling manga and watched anime in the last few years. Yōkai are represented as cursed spirits who haunt the psyche of the Japanese public. Students known as Jujutsu Sorcerers exercise the spirits. Some of the spirits are based on old folklore stories about Yokai, such as the main antagonist Sukuna. Sukuna is based on the folklore story about the Yōkai Ryomen Sukuna, which had eight arms and two faces. One of the faces is on the side. Many of the other cursed spirits are based on Tsukumogami and Yurei. Other famous depictions in anime are in Naruto, where there is a Kyubi named Kurama, which is a nine-tailed fox. Hunter x Hunter has a prominent character based on Ringu's (1998) interpretation of Yurei named Palm. The above-mentioned manga is some of the highest-selling in Japanese history.
J-Horror Yōkai
Ringu was a massively popular movie created in Japan during the Yōkai Boom. Ringu is the highest-grossing horror movie in Japanese history and inspired an American remake called The Ring (2002). Ringu further brought Yōkai into the cinema mainstream and a flurry of Yōkai based horror movies would come out subsequently. The J-Horror genre would undergo a renaissance of sorts during the increase of Yōkai in its movies (BrandStudios "Ghosts of Japan"). One of these movies is Ju-On: The Grudge. Ringu would further the Yōkai Boom by introducing it to an international audience and cementing it within Japanese cinema (Foster, Shinonome, 73).
Iconic scene of Yurei breaking through the VHS tape (television).
An example of Yurei in media.
As a result of the Yōkai Boom and Ringu; the movie Ju-On: The Grudge released to critical acclaim in Japan, and spawned American Remakes.
Iconic scene of Yurei breaking through the VHS tape (television).