TV-Series
Description
Aobouzu presents as a young male with a slender frame, fair skin, and long blue hair paired with bushy blue eyebrows and light chin stubble. A single horn rises from his forehead directly above a typically closed third eye. He typically wears blue robes fastened by a purple sash-like obi and red cloth gauntlets detailed with silver metal plates covering the backs of his hands. On journeys, he often dons a wide, woven Sandogasa hat.
He struggles with farewells, habitually slipping away quietly after visits without saying goodbye. His notably poor sense of direction frequently leaves him lost, requiring Yobuko's help to navigate.
His history includes an appearance in the manga *Kitarō Yawa*. In the 2007 anime, he stars in episode 17, "Wandering Priest Aobōzu," and plays a significant role in a flashback during episode 85. This flashback shows Aobouzu calming the young Kitarō when Kitarō's uncontrolled yōkai powers devastated a village, forging a lasting bond that led Kitarō to see him as an older brother and affectionately call him "Ao-niisan" (Big Bro Ao). He also appears in the animated film *GeGeGe no Kitarō: Explosive Japan!!* (2008) and briefly in the live-action film *The Great Yōkai War*.
His primary supernatural ability involves his third eye. Opening it generates highly realistic illusions capable of deceiving foes, such as tricking Nurarihyon into believing he had killed Kitarō when he had only stabbed Kitarō's foot. He is also a proficient combatant, skillfully wielding a rokushakubō (six-foot staff) against other yōkai. His equipment includes this staff and talismans.
The character draws inspiration from the aobōzu yōkai documented in Toriyama Sekien's 18th-century illustrated book *Gazu Hyakki Yakō*. Sekien's depiction shows a one-eyed Buddhist priest near a thatched hut, with no accompanying text defining specific traits. The aobōzu is considered a precursor to the hitotsume-kozō yōkai. The kanji "ao" (青) in his name can also signify "inexperienced," suggesting an interpretation linking the figure to an understudied priest. Design elements were reused from *Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare*, and his facial features in the 2007 anime closely resemble Gōsuke from the 1996 anime series.
He struggles with farewells, habitually slipping away quietly after visits without saying goodbye. His notably poor sense of direction frequently leaves him lost, requiring Yobuko's help to navigate.
His history includes an appearance in the manga *Kitarō Yawa*. In the 2007 anime, he stars in episode 17, "Wandering Priest Aobōzu," and plays a significant role in a flashback during episode 85. This flashback shows Aobouzu calming the young Kitarō when Kitarō's uncontrolled yōkai powers devastated a village, forging a lasting bond that led Kitarō to see him as an older brother and affectionately call him "Ao-niisan" (Big Bro Ao). He also appears in the animated film *GeGeGe no Kitarō: Explosive Japan!!* (2008) and briefly in the live-action film *The Great Yōkai War*.
His primary supernatural ability involves his third eye. Opening it generates highly realistic illusions capable of deceiving foes, such as tricking Nurarihyon into believing he had killed Kitarō when he had only stabbed Kitarō's foot. He is also a proficient combatant, skillfully wielding a rokushakubō (six-foot staff) against other yōkai. His equipment includes this staff and talismans.
The character draws inspiration from the aobōzu yōkai documented in Toriyama Sekien's 18th-century illustrated book *Gazu Hyakki Yakō*. Sekien's depiction shows a one-eyed Buddhist priest near a thatched hut, with no accompanying text defining specific traits. The aobōzu is considered a precursor to the hitotsume-kozō yōkai. The kanji "ao" (青) in his name can also signify "inexperienced," suggesting an interpretation linking the figure to an understudied priest. Design elements were reused from *Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare*, and his facial features in the 2007 anime closely resemble Gōsuke from the 1996 anime series.