Graveyard Kitaro

The series was officially announced by Natsuhiko Kyogoku in August 2007 during the World Yokai Conference, and it is based on the original kashihon (rental manga) version of Shigeru Mizuki's work rather than the later boys' magazine serialization, preserving the horror-manga style and character designs of that era.

According to Toei Animation, this adaptation is not considered part of the main 'GeGeGe no Kitaro' franchise, even though it was designed to serve as a prologue/prehistory to the first and second anime series.

Masako Nozawa and Kazuo Otsuka reprised their roles as Kitarō and Nezumi Otoko respectively from the first and second 'GeGeGe no Kitaro' anime series, while Isamu Tanonaka again voiced Medama Oyaji as he had in previous series, reinforcing the show's role as a shared prologue.

Actress and TV personality Shoko Nakagawa, a self-professed Kitarō fan, made a special guest appearance voicing Neko, an early prototype-like character for Neko Musume; author Natsuhiko Kyogoku also made a special guest voice appearance as the character Tompo.

The opening theme 'Mononoke Dance' was performed by Denki Groove, with lyrics by Takkyu Ishino and Pierre Taki and composition by Ishino, and its music video was styled to look like the original black-and-white manga with only select areas colored and animated.

The ending theme 'snow tears' was performed by Shoko Nakagawa, and during the chorus a small screen on the left side of the frame previewed the next episode while the background text displayed part of the next episode's script.

Despite airing in a late-night anime timeslot and competing with the concurrently broadcasting fifth 'GeGeGe no Kitaro' TV series, the show recorded unusually high ratings for its slot, with the first episode drawing a 4.8% rating.

Due to updated broadcasting standards, certain original story elements were altered for the TV airing, such as the original inciting incident involving Kitarō's parents selling blood to a blood bank causing a 'ghost disease' outbreak, and the name of a Tibetan high priest appearing in episode 10 was changed; some of these altered or unaired scenes were later restored or added in the DVD release.