WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.339 You are now listening to Cryptid Cocktail Party. 00:00:40.570 --> 00:00:42.490 Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of 00:00:42.490 --> 00:00:44.189 Cryptic Cocktail Party, a show where we have 00:00:44.189 --> 00:00:46.189 a few drinks, share a few laughs, take a dive 00:00:46.189 --> 00:00:48.090 into the unknown. I'm your host, Dave. Joined, 00:00:48.109 --> 00:00:50.450 as always, by my wonderful co -host, Sarge. How's 00:00:50.450 --> 00:00:53.590 it going, Sarge? I'm phenomenal. Phenomenal? 00:00:53.609 --> 00:00:56.350 I saw a bald eagle. Oh, shit. Yeah, I was just 00:00:56.350 --> 00:00:59.030 driving down the street. Like, it was just in 00:00:59.030 --> 00:01:01.289 my neighborhood, flying overhead. That's the 00:01:01.289 --> 00:01:03.350 most American thing I could ever think of. I 00:01:03.350 --> 00:01:08.609 know, right? I was like, yeah, I'm free. That's 00:01:08.609 --> 00:01:10.849 awesome, man. I bet it was beautiful. Did it 00:01:10.849 --> 00:01:13.230 bring a tear to your eye? Majestic. Of course 00:01:13.230 --> 00:01:16.689 it did. Just a single tear. Yeah, America's coming 00:01:16.689 --> 00:01:19.549 back. I don't know why. I just picture you taking 00:01:19.549 --> 00:01:21.530 your hat off, putting it over your heart, and 00:01:21.530 --> 00:01:25.250 saluting it with just a single tear. Gorgeous 00:01:25.250 --> 00:01:32.950 motherfucker. Well, that's good. That has to 00:01:32.950 --> 00:01:36.810 be a good omen, I think, right? I think so. I 00:01:36.810 --> 00:01:39.290 think it's a strong omen. It's got to be. I mean, 00:01:39.310 --> 00:01:41.569 too bad it's not a strong open for our technology 00:01:41.569 --> 00:01:45.069 because we are running on borrowed time here. 00:01:45.390 --> 00:01:47.530 Yeah, I know. Because we could not get this shit 00:01:47.530 --> 00:01:52.129 to work for the life of us. Yeah, but with that 00:01:52.129 --> 00:01:55.849 said, I'm happy that you're, I don't know, that 00:01:55.849 --> 00:01:59.069 the ghost of Thomas Jefferson blessed you today. 00:01:59.069 --> 00:02:03.530 I don't know. You've had an eventful weekend. 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:08.479 I did. It's my wife's birthday today, and we've 00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:13.780 done literally all the things, so I'm tired. 00:02:14.759 --> 00:02:18.520 It was fun. I enjoy celebrating my wife. She's 00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:21.819 a great person, so I'll do whatever she wants 00:02:21.819 --> 00:02:23.800 to do for her birthday. It's worth the sacrifice. 00:02:24.360 --> 00:02:26.460 I mean, I didn't really sacrifice anything. Mrs. 00:02:26.520 --> 00:02:28.639 Cryptid Cocktail Party, I hope you've had a wonderful 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:31.219 birthday. Yeah, it's her birthday today, so happy 00:02:31.219 --> 00:02:34.639 birthday to my wonderful wife. She's not going 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:39.400 to listen to this. Happy birthday anyway, madam. 00:02:39.780 --> 00:02:41.599 Yeah, I'll get it out there. But sorry, since 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:44.020 we're running on borrowed time, you want to just 00:02:44.020 --> 00:02:46.879 dive right into this? Let's just dive in. No 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:50.340 lube. Let's go. All right. So again, we are going 00:02:50.340 --> 00:02:52.699 to be continuing on our journey, our Yo -Kai 00:02:52.699 --> 00:02:55.379 journey. Do you remember the breakdown of Yo 00:02:55.379 --> 00:02:56.919 -Kai and all that stuff that we did last week? 00:02:56.979 --> 00:02:58.460 So you're good. I don't need to explain anything 00:02:58.460 --> 00:03:00.919 further to you, I assume. No, no, we're good, 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:02.479 we're good. I got a pretty good handle on it. 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:04.599 There's nature ones, there's some that is just 00:03:04.599 --> 00:03:06.979 objects in your house. I get it. Okay, good. 00:03:08.580 --> 00:03:11.599 So, every so often in rural Japan, there are 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:13.539 nights when the landscape seems to fall into 00:03:13.539 --> 00:03:17.500 an unusual silence. The wind stalls out, the 00:03:17.500 --> 00:03:19.919 insects stop calling, and the stillness feels 00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:22.479 kind of weighted, as if something massive is 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:24.419 passing through the darkness just beyond the 00:03:24.419 --> 00:03:27.060 fields and just beyond your line of sight. Some 00:03:27.060 --> 00:03:29.439 say if you listen carefully on nights like this, 00:03:29.500 --> 00:03:31.500 you might catch a faint clattering of something 00:03:31.500 --> 00:03:35.120 in the distance, a dry, uneven, kind of like 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:38.379 a rattling echoing through the silence. Now, 00:03:38.419 --> 00:03:41.159 the sound isn't tied to any footsteps or movement, 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:43.300 and it kind of comes and goes, drifting in and 00:03:43.300 --> 00:03:45.699 out. Sometimes it seems far off. Sometimes you 00:03:45.699 --> 00:03:48.020 could swear that it was right behind you. Then, 00:03:48.180 --> 00:03:51.819 just as suddenly as it began, it stops. What 00:03:51.819 --> 00:03:54.379 follows next is a sudden ringing in your ears, 00:03:54.379 --> 00:03:56.780 almost like an internal alarm that something 00:03:56.780 --> 00:03:59.819 has drawn near but still unseen to you. Only 00:03:59.819 --> 00:04:02.199 after the ringing sets in does whatever is out 00:04:02.199 --> 00:04:05.039 there make itself known. An immense silhouette 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:08.259 rises slowly from the darkness. The moonlight 00:04:08.259 --> 00:04:10.560 catches the contours of bleached and cracked 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:13.659 bone, its hollow eye sockets glowing with a pale 00:04:13.659 --> 00:04:16.600 green flame. The earth just seems to kind of 00:04:16.600 --> 00:04:19.500 shrink beneath it. Right now, you are face to 00:04:19.500 --> 00:04:21.970 face. with the gashadakuru. Are you familiar 00:04:21.970 --> 00:04:24.910 with this at all, Sarge? Not at all. I didn't 00:04:24.910 --> 00:04:29.730 think you would be. It sounds like a very fancy 00:04:29.730 --> 00:04:32.850 dish that I would get at a sushi restaurant. 00:04:33.029 --> 00:04:38.670 Kind of, yeah. I mentioned it briefly on the 00:04:38.670 --> 00:04:41.889 last episode of the episode before that. I did 00:04:41.889 --> 00:04:45.050 a whole episode on this years ago. before your 00:04:45.050 --> 00:04:47.610 time and i kind of feel like since we're doing 00:04:47.610 --> 00:04:50.949 yokai i should redo it i realized after reading 00:04:50.949 --> 00:04:53.389 through the old script that i got a bunch of 00:04:53.389 --> 00:04:55.370 shit wrong and no one called me out for it so 00:04:55.370 --> 00:04:58.629 way to go listeners this is on you um yeah you 00:04:58.629 --> 00:05:01.569 failed yeah so i figured we'd give it a bit of 00:05:01.569 --> 00:05:06.050 a redo uh kind of fit it more into the series 00:05:06.050 --> 00:05:09.610 we're doing now and uh just get your opinion 00:05:09.610 --> 00:05:11.550 on it i already got the other person's opinion 00:05:11.550 --> 00:05:13.649 who cares i need yours now Does that make sense? 00:05:14.670 --> 00:05:18.230 Fuck that guy. No, I'm just kidding. Yeah. All 00:05:18.230 --> 00:05:22.629 right, so you're not familiar at all. Nope. Okay. 00:05:22.910 --> 00:05:27.750 So the Gashatakuru is what you would call a composite 00:05:27.750 --> 00:05:30.470 yokai. It's a single monster formed from the 00:05:30.470 --> 00:05:34.790 combined spirits of many. It isn't the ghost 00:05:34.790 --> 00:05:37.110 of one person, and it isn't a creature with any 00:05:37.110 --> 00:05:40.480 sort of personal identity or motive. Instead, 00:05:40.759 --> 00:05:43.519 it takes shape when large numbers of people die 00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:47.279 violently or miserably and are then left unburied. 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:49.699 Because in Japanese belief, the spirits of the 00:05:49.699 --> 00:05:53.319 unburied, known as the muen butoke, they hang 00:05:53.319 --> 00:05:55.939 around in a state of frustration, hunger, and 00:05:55.939 --> 00:05:58.959 resentment. And when all those neglected souls 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:02.180 accumulate, like after wars, famines, or plagues, 00:06:02.279 --> 00:06:05.519 their collective rage can merge into one unified 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:09.529 force. That is the... Gashadakuru. Now this gives 00:06:09.529 --> 00:06:11.970 the Gashadakuru traits associated with a bunch 00:06:11.970 --> 00:06:13.790 of different traditions. It's got the bitterness 00:06:13.790 --> 00:06:16.949 and rage of the onryo, the neglect tied to those 00:06:16.949 --> 00:06:19.930 spirits, and the destructive power of the goryu, 00:06:20.050 --> 00:06:22.449 which are the spirits of like wronged warriors. 00:06:23.350 --> 00:06:26.449 So instead of a single ghost with a story, the 00:06:26.449 --> 00:06:29.589 Gashadakuru embodies collective suffering. It's 00:06:29.589 --> 00:06:34.209 quite literally a mass grave given a body. And 00:06:34.209 --> 00:06:36.029 you're probably wondering, well, what does that 00:06:36.029 --> 00:06:39.490 look like exactly? Maybe. I'm guessing it doesn't 00:06:39.490 --> 00:06:43.430 look like Voltron. It does not look like Voltron. 00:06:43.569 --> 00:06:46.689 But it is a Voltron -like ghost of many parts 00:06:46.689 --> 00:06:50.970 becomes one. Kind of, yeah. It's weird that that's 00:06:50.970 --> 00:06:54.029 immediately where my mind went. No, that's actually 00:06:54.029 --> 00:06:56.189 kind of a good way to describe it. Or like when 00:06:56.189 --> 00:06:59.269 the Power Rangers, they all turn into one. Yeah, 00:06:59.269 --> 00:07:01.449 it's kind of like that. But you're with me so 00:07:01.449 --> 00:07:04.649 far as to kind of the vibe this thing's given 00:07:04.649 --> 00:07:07.410 off. Yeah, it's a very cool idea, actually. I 00:07:07.410 --> 00:07:10.589 like it a lot. Yeah, so the Gashatakuru can only 00:07:10.589 --> 00:07:14.189 be described as a big fucking skeleton. It stands 00:07:14.189 --> 00:07:17.029 anywhere from 30 to 90 feet tall, built entirely 00:07:17.029 --> 00:07:19.870 from the bones of people who died violently or 00:07:19.870 --> 00:07:23.750 miserably. So this is like soldiers left to rot 00:07:23.750 --> 00:07:26.449 on battlefields or victims of famine and plagues 00:07:26.449 --> 00:07:29.779 that no one bothered to bury. and it's their 00:07:29.779 --> 00:07:32.540 bones and the souls inside them that merge and 00:07:32.540 --> 00:07:35.439 fuse into a single, starving, and very pissed 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:38.579 -off monster. The skull is massive, has hollow 00:07:38.579 --> 00:07:40.879 eyes with pale green flames flickering in its 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:43.879 sockets. Every movement this thing makes, its 00:07:43.879 --> 00:07:46.779 ribs grind together with a dry scraping noise 00:07:46.779 --> 00:07:49.379 that was once described as sounding like teeth 00:07:49.379 --> 00:07:55.639 chewing on teeth, which is such an awful sound. 00:07:56.040 --> 00:07:59.170 And since it's a skeleton, There isn't any like 00:07:59.170 --> 00:08:01.689 muscle or sinew to hold it together. Instead, 00:08:01.850 --> 00:08:04.730 the rest of the body is held together only because 00:08:04.730 --> 00:08:08.050 of pure hatred and spite that is holding the 00:08:08.050 --> 00:08:13.490 joints in place. It's kind of like your average 00:08:13.490 --> 00:08:16.069 MAGA voter. True. I was going to say not on like 00:08:16.069 --> 00:08:23.889 me, but. The one thing that we share is that 00:08:23.889 --> 00:08:26.069 we're both held together by spite and anger. 00:08:26.589 --> 00:08:31.670 Now, despite its size and general unnervingness, 00:08:31.829 --> 00:08:33.850 the Gashadakuro doesn't stomp around destroying 00:08:33.850 --> 00:08:36.950 cities and villages like Godzilla. This thing 00:08:36.950 --> 00:08:40.509 stalks you. It hunts people traveling alone on 00:08:40.509 --> 00:08:43.230 dark, quiet roads, usually after midnight, and 00:08:43.230 --> 00:08:45.309 it can move in total silence, slipping through 00:08:45.309 --> 00:08:47.450 the darkness without so much as a snapping of 00:08:47.450 --> 00:08:50.129 a twig underfoot. Except for the grinding ribs. 00:08:51.019 --> 00:08:55.980 Well, you only hear that when it wants you to 00:08:55.980 --> 00:09:02.639 hear that. It's pretty much virtually unseen. 00:09:02.940 --> 00:09:05.960 You don't know it's near you until it's a little 00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:09.000 too late. Okay. Yeah, so people only realize 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:11.700 it's near because their ears will suddenly start 00:09:11.700 --> 00:09:14.580 ringing, and that's accompanied by a sharp, painful 00:09:14.580 --> 00:09:16.500 pressure, like something invisible is trying 00:09:16.500 --> 00:09:18.759 to pop your skull off your neck. And it's in 00:09:18.759 --> 00:09:22.379 that moment. like that ringing, that's when it 00:09:22.379 --> 00:09:24.639 has chosen you to be its next victim. And once 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:28.220 it chooses you, it's not good because the gashat 00:09:28.220 --> 00:09:30.759 accrued doesn't just kill people. It's actually 00:09:30.759 --> 00:09:34.379 way worse than that. Older accounts say it just 00:09:34.379 --> 00:09:36.460 scoops you up like that lady in the King Kong 00:09:36.460 --> 00:09:38.360 movies, but instead of being kind and gentle 00:09:38.360 --> 00:09:41.200 with you, it just crushes you. It just squeezes 00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:43.600 the life out of you and then just tosses your 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:47.340 limp body. Like a toothpaste. Yeah. Then it just 00:09:47.340 --> 00:09:49.580 drops your limp body on the ground like a used 00:09:49.580 --> 00:09:53.100 napkin. More modern retellings go even further 00:09:53.100 --> 00:09:55.200 and say that this thing will pick you up by your 00:09:55.200 --> 00:09:58.039 torso. bite your head clean off and then proceed 00:09:58.039 --> 00:10:00.539 to squeeze your blood down his throat like a 00:10:00.539 --> 00:10:04.720 human Capri Sun it's uh it's not great I mean 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:06.799 given the alternative of being like squeezed 00:10:06.799 --> 00:10:09.820 until your head pops off yeah at least it's biting 00:10:09.820 --> 00:10:11.779 your head off first so that like you don't feel 00:10:11.779 --> 00:10:16.360 a lot of pain that's true either way it still 00:10:16.360 --> 00:10:20.950 sucks it's not Yeah. It's all bad. Yeah. Then 00:10:20.950 --> 00:10:23.029 once it's finished feeding, it just tosses whatever 00:10:23.029 --> 00:10:25.929 is left of you aside before disappearing back 00:10:25.929 --> 00:10:29.970 into the darkness. Weapons are useless against 00:10:29.970 --> 00:10:32.830 it and it feels no pain. There isn't much you 00:10:32.830 --> 00:10:35.210 can do to stop this from happening, which sucks. 00:10:35.330 --> 00:10:37.809 It only stops hunting when the rage of the spirits. 00:10:38.360 --> 00:10:40.340 burns out or when the dead are finally given 00:10:40.340 --> 00:10:42.320 the funeral rites that they didn't get when they 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:44.940 died. But until that time, it just kind of wanders 00:10:44.940 --> 00:10:47.480 around hungry and relentless, guided only by 00:10:47.480 --> 00:10:51.379 the fury of hundreds of forgotten souls. How 00:10:51.379 --> 00:10:56.960 are you feeling so far? Not great. No? No, it's 00:10:56.960 --> 00:11:00.919 a little sad. Yeah, it is kind of a bummer. Yeah. 00:11:01.659 --> 00:11:04.039 That's all you got? I'm just thinking of all 00:11:04.039 --> 00:11:07.990 the things that have happened to Japan. In, like, 00:11:08.009 --> 00:11:10.549 the last hundred years. And how many of these 00:11:10.549 --> 00:11:12.509 giant skeleton guys they probably got walking 00:11:12.509 --> 00:11:15.070 around? Probably more than you'd like. Yeah. 00:11:15.330 --> 00:11:20.889 One is too many. One is too many, but a bunch 00:11:20.889 --> 00:11:24.110 of them, that's kind of sick. Yeah. You know, 00:11:24.210 --> 00:11:26.409 if they weren't so pissed off, I feel like that'd 00:11:26.409 --> 00:11:28.909 be kind of rad. But they are. I wonder if they 00:11:28.909 --> 00:11:32.590 fight each other. Like Pacific Rim style? Yeah, 00:11:32.649 --> 00:11:35.470 like a bunch of emo kids arguing about who's 00:11:35.470 --> 00:11:39.639 sadder. I don't think they're sad. I think they're 00:11:39.639 --> 00:11:43.639 angry because they were just left to rot in a 00:11:43.639 --> 00:11:45.860 field somewhere or they were just completely 00:11:45.860 --> 00:11:47.340 forgotten. All right, so like a bunch of hardcore 00:11:47.340 --> 00:11:52.100 kids arguing about who's angrier. Yes, sure. 00:11:52.720 --> 00:11:56.460 Now, the origins of the Gashatakura were tied 00:11:56.460 --> 00:11:59.919 to a very real fear in Japanese history. What 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:02.120 happens to the dead when no one is left to care 00:12:02.120 --> 00:12:04.519 for them? Now, traditionally, the spirit of a 00:12:04.519 --> 00:12:07.460 person who dies without burial or memorial rites 00:12:07.460 --> 00:12:11.519 become a moen botoke, a restless, neglected soul 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:13.879 that is unable to move on to the afterlife. Now, 00:12:13.879 --> 00:12:16.179 when this happens on a small scale, they become 00:12:16.179 --> 00:12:19.200 just your normal run -of -the -mill boilerplate 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:21.720 wandering ghost. But when it happens to hundreds 00:12:21.720 --> 00:12:24.539 or thousands of people all at once, the consequences... 00:12:24.990 --> 00:12:28.850 are far bigger. Periods of war, famine, and plague 00:12:28.850 --> 00:12:31.049 often left bodies unburied, scattered across 00:12:31.049 --> 00:12:33.669 fields, riverbanks, or whole villages that were 00:12:33.669 --> 00:12:36.809 abandoned. Now, without funerary rites, those 00:12:36.809 --> 00:12:38.990 spirits linger in states of hunger, frustration, 00:12:39.289 --> 00:12:42.110 or just straight -up rage. The gashadakuru emerges 00:12:42.110 --> 00:12:44.330 at the moment when that collective resentment 00:12:44.330 --> 00:12:46.990 reaches a breaking point, when the spiritual 00:12:46.990 --> 00:12:50.029 weight of so many neglected dead fuses into one 00:12:50.029 --> 00:12:54.340 massive, overwhelming entity. Now, this would 00:12:54.340 --> 00:12:56.539 explain things like its size, its aggression, 00:12:56.820 --> 00:12:59.419 its hunger, and its persistence. It haunts at 00:12:59.419 --> 00:13:01.419 night because the unburied dead were believed 00:13:01.419 --> 00:13:03.440 to rise in the hours when the boundary between 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:06.600 the living and the supernatural were at its thinnest. 00:13:06.659 --> 00:13:08.820 It cannot be harmed because there's no single 00:13:08.820 --> 00:13:11.639 body or spirit to destroy. Like I mentioned previously, 00:13:11.860 --> 00:13:15.360 it only disappears when the energy animating 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:18.120 it finally burns out or when the spirits that 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:21.720 form it receive the rites they were... previously 00:13:21.720 --> 00:13:25.120 denied so in a cultural sense the gasha takuru 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:28.639 is a reminder of the burden the living oh the 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:32.639 dead you don't want a 90 foot tall bloodthirsty 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:35.259 bone monster eating you at night just bury your 00:13:35.259 --> 00:13:39.620 dead that's all you need to do yeah yeah no no 00:13:39.620 --> 00:13:41.700 sounds like a lot of work though like after a 00:13:41.700 --> 00:13:46.559 war or a famine yeah but i mean maybe it's a 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:50.669 bigger thing you know war is bad don't let people 00:13:50.669 --> 00:13:52.669 have i don't know i don't know dude yeah like 00:13:52.669 --> 00:13:55.029 don't wage war i guess would be the the lesson 00:13:55.029 --> 00:14:02.029 you learn yeah um but uh i think we solved war 00:14:02.029 --> 00:14:07.450 man god damn i think did we just solve war fuck 00:14:07.450 --> 00:14:10.070 dude do you want a gasha decorum because because 00:14:10.070 --> 00:14:15.080 this is how you get a gasha decorum Now, even 00:14:15.080 --> 00:14:17.440 though the Gashatakuru is a relatively modern 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:20.580 yokai in terms of its official name, which I'll 00:14:20.580 --> 00:14:23.399 explain what that means later, the image of a 00:14:23.399 --> 00:14:25.919 massive skeleton monster has deep roots in Japanese 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:28.559 art and storytelling, especially during the Edo 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:31.120 period. Now, if you haven't picked up on this 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:33.539 during our last few episodes, artists of the 00:14:33.539 --> 00:14:36.100 time were obsessed with ghosts, vengeful spirits, 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:38.960 and all sorts of supernatural shit, and skeletal 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:41.480 figures appeared all the time in woodblock prints, 00:14:41.620 --> 00:14:43.740 illustration, and even in, like, kabuki theater. 00:14:44.179 --> 00:14:46.960 The most influential of these images comes from 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:50.419 a 1844 woodblock print by the artist Udagawa. 00:14:50.860 --> 00:14:54.379 kuniyoshi titled takayashi the witch and the 00:14:54.379 --> 00:14:56.980 skeleton specter the print shows like a massive 00:14:56.980 --> 00:14:59.580 skeleton forcing its way through the ruined interior 00:14:59.580 --> 00:15:02.820 of soma castle summoned by princess takayasha 00:15:02.820 --> 00:15:06.159 daughter of famously executed rebel leader tayara 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:10.240 no masakado as she confronts like a like a government 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:13.960 sorcerer now obviously i can't tell you the whole 00:15:13.960 --> 00:15:17.179 story of the rebellion and all that stuff, but 00:15:17.179 --> 00:15:19.679 obviously like the real rebellion led by Tarano 00:15:19.679 --> 00:15:23.080 Masakado or what happened after his execution 00:15:23.080 --> 00:15:25.299 had nothing to do with sorcery or giant spirits, 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:28.879 but in these, in these Edo period retellings, 00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:32.399 she calls, she calls forth the bones of her father's 00:15:32.399 --> 00:15:34.879 fallen soldiers to avenge his execution and the 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:36.960 men who were left to rot on the battlefield after 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:39.440 the rebellion was crushed. So like artists and 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:41.600 storytellers of the day reshaped this legend 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:44.460 into a quote unquote, like. Based on a true story. 00:15:44.899 --> 00:15:47.820 Supernatural fiction. And it's this depiction. 00:15:47.960 --> 00:15:54.059 Of that. That Koniashi came up with. That becomes. 00:15:54.279 --> 00:15:57.279 One of the era's most iconic images. And it's 00:15:57.279 --> 00:16:00.159 this image. A giant skeleton looming over the 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:02.700 characters. It's ribs stretched wide. Skull pressed 00:16:02.700 --> 00:16:04.580 against the rafters. That would pretty much become 00:16:04.580 --> 00:16:07.919 the visual blueprint. For how these skeletal 00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:10.100 apparitions. Would be portrayed going forward. 00:16:10.460 --> 00:16:13.419 And even though. Konoyoshi's creature wasn't 00:16:13.419 --> 00:16:16.059 called the Gashadakuro at the time. Its appearance 00:16:16.059 --> 00:16:18.000 strongly informed the design of what we know 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:20.639 it as today. That's so badass. Yeah, like there 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:22.919 were other earlier Edo period artworks that featured 00:16:22.919 --> 00:16:26.879 like skeletal ghosts, skull spirits, and other 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:29.519 types of like bone -based baddies. And it's these 00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:35.279 older depictions combined with Konoyoshi's depiction 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:38.139 that laid down like the entire aesthetic foundation. 00:16:38.889 --> 00:16:41.490 that the gashadakuru will like eventually inherit 00:16:41.490 --> 00:16:45.850 are you with me so far yeah like all i keep getting 00:16:45.850 --> 00:16:49.730 this like almost intrusive thought about like 00:16:49.730 --> 00:16:52.450 a gashadakuru that's that's mostly just the spooky 00:16:52.450 --> 00:16:56.269 scary skeletons guys okay so you just hear like 00:16:56.269 --> 00:17:02.710 xylophone music it's coming again it's like a 00:17:02.710 --> 00:17:09.680 like a circus burndown What's wrong with me? 00:17:09.779 --> 00:17:11.539 I don't know, because this is kind of like a 00:17:11.539 --> 00:17:17.160 serious thing. It's like famine and plague victims. 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:19.119 You're like, yeah, but what if it was... That's 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:21.180 what I said. Like, if a circus burned down, it 00:17:21.180 --> 00:17:30.700 would be better. Yeah, I guess. God damn it, 00:17:30.700 --> 00:17:33.039 I'm a terrible person. No, I love it. It's great. 00:17:35.889 --> 00:17:38.990 When you were talking about how if they fight 00:17:38.990 --> 00:17:41.390 each other, it's just two emo kids. And then 00:17:41.390 --> 00:17:44.630 I had to go right into what it actually is. I 00:17:44.630 --> 00:17:46.089 was like, oh no, Sarge is going to feel real 00:17:46.089 --> 00:17:55.430 bad about that. Just a big slap fight. So how 00:17:55.430 --> 00:17:58.589 and when did the Gashatakuro get to be the Gashatakuro? 00:17:58.789 --> 00:18:01.609 Well, like I said a few times now, this thing 00:18:01.609 --> 00:18:06.980 is a... The Gashiro as a named yokai is a modern 00:18:06.980 --> 00:18:10.180 creation. The name doesn't show up in classical 00:18:10.180 --> 00:18:12.759 folklore at all. It actually made its debut in 00:18:12.759 --> 00:18:15.279 the 1960s when there was a huge renewed interest 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:17.319 in the supernatural in Japan, especially post 00:18:17.319 --> 00:18:20.579 -war. Folklorists and writers around the time 00:18:20.579 --> 00:18:23.500 began publishing these large encyclopedias of 00:18:23.500 --> 00:18:25.460 all the different yokai and supernatural beings. 00:18:26.119 --> 00:18:29.269 One of the... Clearest early written references 00:18:29.269 --> 00:18:32.390 comes from the modern folklorist Morihiro Saito, 00:18:32.529 --> 00:18:35.089 which includes the creature in his yokai guides. 00:18:35.289 --> 00:18:38.150 He, along with other authors, pretty much standardized 00:18:38.150 --> 00:18:40.869 the gashadokuro, not only in name, but in its 00:18:40.869 --> 00:18:45.569 traits. Like a skeleton 10 to 15 times the size 00:18:45.569 --> 00:18:48.490 of a human, formed from people who died violently 00:18:48.490 --> 00:18:52.250 or were left unburied, silent until it decides 00:18:52.250 --> 00:18:54.430 it doesn't want to be, the ear ringing, the hole 00:18:54.430 --> 00:18:56.650 turning you into a human gogurt, all that stuff. 00:18:57.289 --> 00:19:00.170 And by giving this thing a name and a consistent 00:19:00.170 --> 00:19:03.089 pattern of behavior and a clear origin, these 00:19:03.089 --> 00:19:05.950 20th century folklorists took what had just at 00:19:05.950 --> 00:19:08.849 that time been kind of imagery and art and turned 00:19:08.849 --> 00:19:12.130 it into a fully realized yokai. And the people 00:19:12.130 --> 00:19:14.930 fucking loved it. This thing very quickly became 00:19:14.930 --> 00:19:17.829 a staple in modern yokai guides and museum exhibits 00:19:17.829 --> 00:19:20.609 standing right alongside all the older creatures, 00:19:20.609 --> 00:19:25.109 despite it being a very recent. So basically, 00:19:25.190 --> 00:19:28.029 even though the imagery of a giant skeleton has 00:19:28.029 --> 00:19:30.990 existed for God knows how long, the Gashadakuru 00:19:30.990 --> 00:19:33.569 that we know and love today was really only born 00:19:33.569 --> 00:19:36.569 just a few decades ago, which is crazy. Yeah. 00:19:37.269 --> 00:19:40.930 Yeah. So now that this thing's got a name. Thanks, 00:19:40.990 --> 00:19:46.130 Home Depot. Dude, I was trying to find a way 00:19:46.130 --> 00:19:48.609 to fit in a Home Depot skeleton joke in here 00:19:48.609 --> 00:19:54.119 somewhere. And I couldn't figure it out. This 00:19:54.119 --> 00:19:55.880 whole time, that's all I could think about. Yeah, 00:19:55.960 --> 00:19:57.759 and then I just forgot about it and didn't even 00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:00.039 come back to try and attempt it. But yeah, no, 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:03.680 that's... The thing is, the Home Depot skeletons 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:05.880 are just built out of the shattered dreams of 00:20:05.880 --> 00:20:11.900 all its minimum wage employees. Yeah, if a Home 00:20:11.900 --> 00:20:17.960 Depot burned down, that's what... So now that 00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:20.000 this thing's got a name, it's got defining characteristics, 00:20:20.200 --> 00:20:22.980 it's a nightmare, and it didn't take very long 00:20:22.980 --> 00:20:25.599 for it to break free from folklore books and, 00:20:25.640 --> 00:20:28.119 like, museums into mainstream pop culture. The 00:20:28.119 --> 00:20:30.160 concept of a giant man -eating skeleton powered 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:33.400 only by unbridled rage is too good to not try 00:20:33.400 --> 00:20:35.000 and make a quick buck off of, you know what I 00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:38.660 mean? One of the most famous nods to the Gashatakuru 00:20:38.660 --> 00:20:41.460 appears in the Ghibli film Pompoko, where the... 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:44.240 The shape -shifting tanuki create a massive skeleton 00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:47.059 illusion to terrify humans. And this is far from 00:20:47.059 --> 00:20:50.259 the only anime to reference this thing. Probably 00:20:50.259 --> 00:20:54.019 the most famous would be in Naruto. Sasuke has 00:20:54.019 --> 00:20:57.420 the Sasano ability. It is one of the forms of 00:20:57.420 --> 00:21:00.980 a skeletal Sasano, which is literally just... 00:21:01.450 --> 00:21:04.710 The Gashatakuru. Video games also embrace this 00:21:04.710 --> 00:21:07.589 thing as well. It appears as a boss in Nioh, 00:21:07.589 --> 00:21:10.130 and variations of it pop up in franchises like 00:21:10.130 --> 00:21:12.269 Castlevania, Dark Souls, and The Legend of Zelda. 00:21:13.069 --> 00:21:15.569 Dungeons & Dragons also borrowed the concept 00:21:15.569 --> 00:21:17.750 and features a big ol' skeleton guy known as 00:21:17.750 --> 00:21:19.630 the Otakuru. I don't know if you're familiar 00:21:19.630 --> 00:21:22.829 with that at all. No. I didn't know D &D picked 00:21:22.829 --> 00:21:26.130 that up. Oh, yeah. That's very cool. Yeah. So, 00:21:26.170 --> 00:21:28.049 yeah. Once given a name and a proper identity, 00:21:28.309 --> 00:21:30.289 it was like the perfect blend of old folklore. 00:21:30.970 --> 00:21:33.869 and modern horror aesthetics and it's now one 00:21:33.869 --> 00:21:35.569 of the most recognizable creatures out there 00:21:35.569 --> 00:21:37.630 like you may have you may not have known its 00:21:37.630 --> 00:21:40.069 name at the time but you've definitely seen this 00:21:40.069 --> 00:21:42.970 before and now you know when you see it what 00:21:42.970 --> 00:21:46.150 it is so there you have it sarge that is the 00:21:46.150 --> 00:21:48.789 gashatakuru a yokai that somehow manages to be 00:21:48.789 --> 00:21:51.470 both modern and ancient as hell simultaneously 00:21:51.470 --> 00:21:56.490 how you feeling about it you good I have to wonder, 00:21:56.589 --> 00:21:58.670 like, I know we just joked about it, but I have 00:21:58.670 --> 00:22:00.710 to wonder if that's kind of where the allure 00:22:00.710 --> 00:22:05.250 came from for Home Depot to get the, like, 12 00:22:05.250 --> 00:22:09.009 -foot skeleton. Maybe. I mean, it's not as big 00:22:09.009 --> 00:22:13.470 as the Gashatakuru, but... Yeah, but I've actually 00:22:13.470 --> 00:22:15.910 seen bigger. I've seen ones that are, like, they 00:22:15.910 --> 00:22:18.849 look like they're about 20 feet tall. Maybe. 00:22:18.970 --> 00:22:22.380 It'd be cool... cool halloween decoration it's 00:22:22.380 --> 00:22:24.259 an awesome halloween decoration and i couldn't 00:22:24.259 --> 00:22:28.299 figure out why they did it i was like why what 00:22:28.299 --> 00:22:32.579 no one is that tall so like why would you have 00:22:32.579 --> 00:22:35.319 it the bible not that i have a problem with it 00:22:35.319 --> 00:22:38.680 i was just like i don't understand like it's 00:22:38.680 --> 00:22:40.599 cool that it exists but like where did the idea 00:22:40.599 --> 00:22:44.259 come from and maybe in some small way it was 00:22:44.259 --> 00:22:47.400 uh inspired by this It could be. I have no idea, 00:22:47.500 --> 00:22:50.119 but a cool idea would be to get one of those 00:22:50.119 --> 00:22:52.819 giant things and then just at its feet, just 00:22:52.819 --> 00:22:56.519 put like a miniature replica of like Kyoto or 00:22:56.519 --> 00:23:01.180 something. Tokyo. Yeah. Like really put it to 00:23:01.180 --> 00:23:03.400 scale. You know what I mean? I think that'd be 00:23:03.400 --> 00:23:06.819 really cool. Agreed. Yeah. Yeah. I don't, I don't, 00:23:06.819 --> 00:23:09.980 I probably, like I said, this, like the concept 00:23:09.980 --> 00:23:13.970 of a giant skeleton. has been around forever 00:23:13.970 --> 00:23:18.809 so i'm sure it's partially inspired by that or 00:23:18.809 --> 00:23:21.430 just people are like a big skeleton spooky i 00:23:21.430 --> 00:23:23.549 have no idea yeah i'm thinking like maybe they 00:23:23.549 --> 00:23:26.750 saw a picture yeah maybe they saw a picture or 00:23:26.750 --> 00:23:28.609 something we're like oh that's a cool idea let's 00:23:28.609 --> 00:23:31.829 do that guy it could be um yeah but how you feeling 00:23:31.829 --> 00:23:33.650 about this you got any thoughts questions concerns 00:23:33.650 --> 00:23:38.470 um i honestly like this is uh like i keep saying 00:23:38.470 --> 00:23:40.390 this but like this is probably the coolest one 00:23:40.390 --> 00:23:42.230 we've talked about yet It's one of my favorites 00:23:42.230 --> 00:23:44.750 for sure. I just like the idea of it. Yeah. I 00:23:44.750 --> 00:23:47.150 like the, I like the, like the concept behind 00:23:47.150 --> 00:23:50.250 it. I like, it's just sorrow and rage and like 00:23:50.250 --> 00:23:52.190 an amalgamation of all that. That's what I mean. 00:23:52.569 --> 00:23:55.230 Yeah. It's such a fucking cool concept. And then 00:23:55.230 --> 00:23:58.769 like the, the reasonings behind it are cool. 00:23:59.190 --> 00:24:00.730 Cause it's not like, this one's not really like, 00:24:00.789 --> 00:24:03.009 it's a cautionary tale, but it's not really a 00:24:03.009 --> 00:24:06.650 cautionary tale. It's just like, Hey, yeah. Just 00:24:06.650 --> 00:24:09.509 respect the dead. Exactly. I think I watched. 00:24:10.119 --> 00:24:12.099 I don't remember what it was on, but there was 00:24:12.099 --> 00:24:18.259 some kind of documentary -style thing on the 00:24:18.259 --> 00:24:23.299 wandering spirits after the tsunami. And how 00:24:23.299 --> 00:24:26.859 there's this guy who tries to provide comfort 00:24:26.859 --> 00:24:30.259 to the spirits. And that's what I was thinking 00:24:30.259 --> 00:24:32.619 of when you started talking about this. I was 00:24:32.619 --> 00:24:35.240 like, oh man, I wonder if they've come up with 00:24:35.240 --> 00:24:37.359 one for that. I don't know. Because that would 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:41.529 be an understandable... yeah outcome my only 00:24:41.529 --> 00:24:44.690 my only thought when i was writing this and i 00:24:44.690 --> 00:24:46.490 was reading about it and stuff like that is uh 00:24:46.490 --> 00:24:50.470 it says that it can only be quelled like it'll 00:24:50.470 --> 00:24:53.769 only be stopped when the rage that the spirits 00:24:53.769 --> 00:24:57.789 feel burns out or when they're given their funerary 00:24:57.789 --> 00:25:00.329 rights and i was just thinking like what if only 00:25:00.329 --> 00:25:04.990 like 12 got their funeral like what what if not 00:25:04.990 --> 00:25:07.630 all the spirits got up it just loses the leg 00:25:09.969 --> 00:25:12.250 like it's just a chunk of it's got like it just 00:25:12.250 --> 00:25:13.789 like it's coming to get you and its arm falls 00:25:13.789 --> 00:25:16.589 off yeah like a few ribs like a few ribs go missing 00:25:16.589 --> 00:25:19.750 or something like it's lower jaw falls like that's 00:25:19.750 --> 00:25:22.990 because at that point like it's not all the spirits 00:25:22.990 --> 00:25:25.269 or does it get replaced by other spirits like 00:25:25.269 --> 00:25:27.109 they're like they're gonna be one gashatakuru 00:25:27.109 --> 00:25:32.470 at a time so as some go away right but then maybe 00:25:32.470 --> 00:25:34.210 it gets replaced by spirits that really don't 00:25:34.210 --> 00:25:36.150 really have that much business being mad like 00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:38.579 One spirit just had a really rough day. Yeah, 00:25:38.599 --> 00:25:41.920 they're just indifferent spirits, I think. Yeah, 00:25:41.980 --> 00:25:44.359 that leg's just a little skinnier than the others 00:25:44.359 --> 00:25:46.779 because it's just made up of kind of pissed off 00:25:46.779 --> 00:25:51.799 spirits. Yeah. I don't know. That's just a thought 00:25:51.799 --> 00:25:54.240 I had. Now I need to know the answer to that, 00:25:54.339 --> 00:25:56.799 and I'll do some digging. I highly doubt there's 00:25:56.799 --> 00:25:58.859 an answer, but I want to know. We need to find 00:25:58.859 --> 00:26:03.539 another folklorist. We need answers right now. 00:26:04.240 --> 00:26:07.539 Exactly. All right, yeah, that's it, Sarge. That 00:26:07.539 --> 00:26:09.900 was a good one. It's a fun one. It's a fucking 00:26:09.900 --> 00:26:11.960 badass. It's not a long story because, again, 00:26:11.980 --> 00:26:15.640 it's like a newer yokai. Yeah. It's only like 00:26:15.640 --> 00:26:19.420 60 years old. So there's not many stories involving 00:26:19.420 --> 00:26:22.839 the Gashatakuru because it wasn't around at the 00:26:22.839 --> 00:26:25.140 time when these stories were being told. There 00:26:25.140 --> 00:26:27.559 are stories of, like I said, skeleton creatures 00:26:27.559 --> 00:26:30.599 and big skeletons, small skeletons, just skulls, 00:26:30.599 --> 00:26:33.019 but they're not really Gashatakuru stories, if 00:26:33.019 --> 00:26:35.769 that makes sense. Right. So I didn't want to 00:26:35.769 --> 00:26:40.210 spend time. So when we began this journey, the 00:26:40.210 --> 00:26:42.769 name Yo -Kai was very familiar to me and I couldn't 00:26:42.769 --> 00:26:45.789 remember why. Okay. And why was it? There's like 00:26:45.789 --> 00:26:48.869 an anime when I was a kid called Yo -Kai Watch. 00:26:49.309 --> 00:26:52.450 Okay. And apparently it's a watch that this kid 00:26:52.450 --> 00:26:55.109 wears and it's basically like a ripoff of Pokemon. 00:26:56.069 --> 00:27:00.069 Okay. But it's Yo -Kai instead. And I thought, 00:27:00.089 --> 00:27:02.920 how fucked up is this? If I remember correctly, 00:27:03.119 --> 00:27:05.740 all of these things have some weird sexual fetish 00:27:05.740 --> 00:27:08.400 part to them, like the three buttholes on the 00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:11.420 kappa, or the one we did last week, which is 00:27:11.420 --> 00:27:13.460 just like a hot lady who turns into a spider. 00:27:13.900 --> 00:27:18.740 They're not all sexual. Well, yeah, this one, 00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:20.680 that's why I didn't bring it up before, because 00:27:20.680 --> 00:27:23.200 this one's not sex at all. It's just anger. But 00:27:23.200 --> 00:27:27.180 also, I mean, some of them can be horny. Yes, 00:27:27.400 --> 00:27:30.779 that is true. Yeah. They're not all horny. Obviously, 00:27:30.779 --> 00:27:32.579 the horny ones make for better stories. But also, 00:27:32.640 --> 00:27:34.400 the cap is not horny. I mean, yeah, it is. It 00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:36.599 kind of... It is. He's got three buttholes and 00:27:36.599 --> 00:27:38.559 he puts his fist up your butt. Yeah, and it's 00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:44.180 known to assault. Yeah, you're right. God damn 00:27:44.180 --> 00:27:47.380 it. So then I was like, man, that fucking cartoon 00:27:47.380 --> 00:27:52.000 is really fucked up. Well, some of those older 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:55.680 animes from like the 80s are pretty horny. And 00:27:55.680 --> 00:27:56.880 they were meant for children. No, I think it 00:27:56.880 --> 00:27:59.640 was like the 90s. It was like the late 90s. Oh, 00:27:59.700 --> 00:28:01.339 God. I'll have to look into that. It was called 00:28:01.339 --> 00:28:04.440 Yo -Kai Watch. So was the watch a Yo -Kai? No, 00:28:04.519 --> 00:28:08.039 I think the watch summoned the Yo -Kai. So it 00:28:08.039 --> 00:28:10.299 was actually more of like a ripoff of Ben 10 00:28:10.299 --> 00:28:19.359 and Pokemon. All right. Hell yeah. I'll do some 00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:20.839 digging on that and see what I can find. Maybe 00:28:20.839 --> 00:28:22.440 my wife's seen it. She's seen a lot of fucking 00:28:22.440 --> 00:28:26.480 weird anime. Yeah. It was like a kid's show. 00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:31.019 I remember it now. Yeah. I don't remember what 00:28:31.019 --> 00:28:33.059 we were talking about, but I think that's all 00:28:33.059 --> 00:28:36.900 we got. Yeah, that's it. Yeah, shorter episode. 00:28:37.799 --> 00:28:39.299 Because again, there weren't that many stories 00:28:39.299 --> 00:28:42.680 because it didn't exist and I didn't want to 00:28:42.680 --> 00:28:46.059 tell stories that were just kind of loosely related 00:28:46.059 --> 00:28:48.259 to it. I thought that'd be weird because we can 00:28:48.259 --> 00:28:50.799 cover some of the other skeleton ones later and 00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:53.559 tell the stories in the actual context that they... 00:28:53.980 --> 00:28:56.299 should be told and not in relation to something 00:28:56.299 --> 00:29:00.539 that is newer. But yeah, that's it. Sarge, you 00:29:00.539 --> 00:29:02.160 got anything you want to say to the audience 00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:06.500 before we do all our normal stuff? Yeah. Follow 00:29:06.500 --> 00:29:10.660 me on the interwebs. Just Google Sarge the Destroyer. 00:29:10.660 --> 00:29:12.519 I'm on all the socials. You'll find me. Yeah. 00:29:12.599 --> 00:29:15.220 And if you can't find him, most of the links 00:29:15.220 --> 00:29:17.720 to his stuff, I believe, are in the link on our 00:29:17.720 --> 00:29:20.559 Instagram, which is at cryptic cocktail. You 00:29:20.559 --> 00:29:22.420 can follow us on TikTok, Crypto Cocktail Party. 00:29:22.759 --> 00:29:24.799 Please leave us a rating and review. It definitely 00:29:24.799 --> 00:29:30.500 helps get the show in people's ears. Share anything 00:29:30.500 --> 00:29:32.140 you can. If you got a favorite episode, make 00:29:32.140 --> 00:29:34.619 sure you share that. Make sure people are aware. 00:29:35.440 --> 00:29:38.099 And I think that's all I got. With that out of 00:29:38.099 --> 00:29:39.759 the way, Sarge, would you like to say goodbye 00:29:39.759 --> 00:29:42.059 and I love you to the audience? Goodbye and I 00:29:42.059 --> 00:29:42.460 love you.