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GeGeGe no Kitaro

Recently I came across an old anime from Japan that has been a big hit from 1968 to several movies in 2007 and 2008 named GeGeGe no Kitaro. I felt like sharing what I've seen and learned of this anime with anyone who might take an interest in it.
Please note, however, I don't have all the facts.

Backstory
Ages ago a human man married a yokai woman, but due to an unnatural illness, the man rotted into nothingness, except for his right eye. As for his wife, she died sometime after he did, but from her grave came a small yokai boy. The spirit of the father wanted to be with his son so badly that it reincarnated itself as a tiny figure with an eyeball for a head and named the child "Habaka Kitaro" (Graveyard Kitaro).

Plot
The main plot of the series is that Kitaro, who is of both human and yokai parentage, seeks to make the world peaceful for both humans and yokai alike. Unfortunately, the age of science has begun and humans are starting to disbelief in yokai or the ancient legends of Japan.

For their part, most of the yokai are angered by the way humans believe they are the only living creatures on earth, and seek to teach the humans lessons in the form of everything from abducting children to replacing entire townspeople with Daruma dolls. Some also view Kitaro as a traitor for wanting to protect humans and are aware of his reputation.

Although adults may disbelieve in yokai and Kitaro, children believe in them. Whenever a child feels something unnatural going on is the work of a bad yokai, they send Kitaro letters asking for help.

Characters
Kitaro: A yokai boy who always wears a chanchanko vest that he can use to distract his opponents with. Like his mother, Kitaro lacks a left eye and hair hangs down to cover the closed socket.
Kitaro's body seems to function as a type of battle robot, as one of his hands is detachable and fingers on both hands can be launched like missiles before reappearing. Likewise his greta sandals seem to have a life of their own, as when they're kicked off in a fight, they normally hit the target without fail. His hair also has interesting functions; he can launch strands of his own hair like arrows and one will stand up when he senses the presence of another yokai.
Kind, polite and considerate, Kitaro always puts the safety of others first, even if that happens to include his enemies. He has once or twice sacrificed himself in order to protect not only his friends but the world. When direct attacks fail to work, Kitaro will always attempt to reason with whatever adversary he's facing, often questioning why bad/misguided yokai are behaving the way they are. But just because he is a nice kid doesn't mean he can't be as sneaky as other yokai; once having tricked three enemies into timetraveling back to the age of dinosaurs, then leaving them to the mercy of a curious and hungry t-rex.
Kitaro is popular among human children and adults who still believe in and have received help from him and his friends, as well as a large number of peaceful yokai. He is the one both humans and yokai often turn to when there's a problem.

Medama Oyaji: Kitaro's loving father. When he was human and wed a yokai woman, he succumbed to a disease that caused him to rot into nothingness, leaving only an eyeball behind. He had such a strong spirit that the eye became his new form because he wanted to remain with his son after the death of his wife.
Medama is nothing more than a tiny figure with an eyeball for a head, making him the smallest of the regular characters. He is often seen sitting in a bowl of hot water or on Kitaro's head riding in his hair. Although he doesn't usually do much and doesn't seem like he'd last long in a physical fight, Medama is very wise and cares deeply for Kitaro, often giving out information of yokai, spirits, and Japanese culture that concerns legends and myths.

Nezumi Otoko: Translated, his name literally means "Rat-Man", and he possesses all the negative stereotypes of rats; he will often join the side of Kitaro's enemy Nurahiyon when the latter promises payment and hasn't taken a bath in all the three-hundred years he's been alive, leaving him EXTREMELY foul-smelling to humans (though oddly enough, other yokai don't seem to be bothered by his stink at all). Not only is he aware of his offensive odor, but uses it as a mild weapon, breathing his foul breathe in the face of a small child after realizing he had no money to "pay for Kitaro's services" while acting as a "mailman", but was punished by Neko Musume. Although he claims to be a college graduate, he's often seen whining about how hungry and poor he is. Nezumi often wears a cloak (sometimes yellow, light gray or blue), bucked teeth, whiskers or whisker-like growths on his face, and large eyes that make it appear he's wearing glasses. A catch-phrase for him seems to be "I'll listen to whatever you say" as a means to avoid bodily harm or death.
Despite all of his faults and siding with enemies (no matter how many times), Kitaro views him as a friend, while the others--normally Musume--often waist no time in physically punishing him for endangering their lives, causing trouble, or telling lies.
Although he doesn't look or dress the part, Nezumi can apparently pass for human and often seeks to gain recognition and profit from the Japanese population by claiming to be an authority on yokai, going so far as to claim "all goblins take orders from me" and taking credit for Kitaro's work.

Neko Musume: Her name translates to "Cat-Girl" and appropriately enough has a hate/hate-relationship with Nezumi Otoko, often slashing him across the face when she's angry, or annoyed (or jealous), even if Nezumi has done nothing to warrant it.
Normally she is a sweet and quiet girl and cares a great deal for her friends, especially in times of battle. If she is mad, though, her eyes will take on a ghoulish glow and her teeth become pointed fangs; this normally happens when Nezumi is around. Like Kitaro, she passes enough for human to go into town and is rarely seen apart from him.
In 1968 she had a bowler-purple haircut, but in more recent years is seen with tomboyish orange-brown hair with a stubby ponytail. Musume's clothes are normally a pink dress and a bow in her hair, pink being her favorite color.
Neko Musume harbors a slight crush on Kitaro and can become jealous whenever Kitaro is getting attention from other girls, but, like previously stated, she takes her jealousy out on Nezumi by scratching him or pouting. In 1985 to 1988, her main rival for Kitaro's attention seemed to be Yumeko Tendou, a human girl Kitaro saved from a mirror spirit and on whom Nezumi had also developed an immediate crush of his own. She called Nezumi stupid for flirting with Yumeko, stating "yokai can't fall in love with humans", only for Yumeko to say otherwise, that yokai and humans must live peacefully, then taking Kitaro's hand and asking if he agreed, much to Musume's annoyance.

Sunakake Baba: A short woman yokai often dressed in a purple cloak with long white hair. She acts as advisor to Kitaro and normally accompanies him on his missions. As her name translates to "Sand-Throwing Hag", she is able to cast sand in the eyes of Kitaro's adversaries. Sunakake Baba is also a type of landlady in a boarding house for yokai, an occupation she shares with Konaki Jiji. Being as old as she is, she is also wise, but often finds herself confused by the actions of Kitaro.

Konaki Jiji: A short yokai with a potato-shaped head often wearing a black smock and furry pelt of some sort. He shares landlord responsibilities with Sunakake Baba in a yokai boarding house, as well as follows Kitaro and his friends on adventures. His primary weapon is to latch onto someone and increase his own weight in order to buy his companions time (or to pressure information out of Nezumi when he's betrayed Kitaro). Konaki can imitate the cry of an infant.

Ittan Momen: A flying strip of cloth that sometimes seems to extend itself, as Kitaro and his friends often use it for transportation. Momen is brave and dependable, often throwing itself into a fight and wrapping itself around the enemy to buy time. It's more or less a strip of cloth with arms and piercing yellow eyes.

Nurikabe: A large wall-like yokai with sleepy eyes. Nurikabe is loyal and brave to a fault and serves as a walking barrier to Kitaro and company in times of battle. His loyalty and bravery is best shown when insectoid monsters terrify the human city and he is bitten by one. Later he risks his own life to protect Kitaro and Nezumi from the centipede that the monsters merge together to form and gaining aide from Musume, though to no avail on her part. It was during this time that his wife and children are shown; a pink nurikabe wearing a showercap and several light-blue ones with alert eyes. Their presence astonished Kitaro, Musume and Nezumi, as they knew nothing about Nurikabe's private life until then.

Nuraihyon: He is Kitaro's enemy. An old man yokai who deeply resents to Ghost Tribe, whom Kitaro and his father are the only surviving members. Nuraihyon feels Kitaro doesn't deserve to be called a yokai because he fights to protect humans. Oddly, though, he seems to be in a business of his own and often interacts frequently with humans; during his debut he was blowing up opposing office buildings with the aide of his servant Red Face and a bribed Nezumi.
Nuraihyon normally appears with a plot to exterminate Kitaro either with the assistance of his goofy servant Red Face, bribing Nezumi Otoko to lure Kitaro and his friends into a trap, or recruiting a foreign being to help him. While he normally seems cool and calculated, like most yokai he can succumb to childish wonderment and be outdone by his own lack of thinking. Once he tricked an exorcist into thinking Kitaro and his friends were bad and gained the aide of a Beru, failing to exterminate Kitaro due to the truth coming out and being betrayed respectively.
He also sometimes works with Snakebone Baba.

Red Face: Nuraihyon's servant is an oni with a semi-gapping mouth, rows of tiny white teeth, white hair, and large gazing yellow eyes and, as his name suggests, a red face. Medama stated that Red Face merely scares humans for fun and indeed sometimes it's questionable if he shares his master's views and goals. Given his appearance, one could assume Red Face isn't that bright, which is half-true and half-false; he once paid Nezumi to help him find yokai to kill Kitaro, he wasn't aware that the yokai found were elderly and terrified at the thought of fighting Kitaro, but at the same time paid Nezumi with what turned out to be nothing but enchanted leaves (which is what Nuraihyon normally does).

Yumeko Tendou: A highschool girl and friend to Kitaro and company. She appeared in 1985 in the episode "Mirror Jiji", kidnapped by the old yokai in an amusement park's house of mirrors. Her father was assured the police would find her, while her little brother Hoshiro and mother suspected a yokai had taken her. Hoshiro went to mail a letter to Kitaro to find Nezumi trying to make profit from the letters. Finding out Hoshiro had no money, Nezumi instantly crumbled the letter and was punished by Musume for his scam. After an ensuing fight, Yumeko was revealed to be granddaughter to the girl who kept Mirror Jiji's mirror and safely returned.
Yumeko is considered very cute by most and Nezumi developed and instant crush on her. When comparing her to Musume, he mentally commented "What a difference", and Musume was offended that Mirror Jiji didn't try to kidnap her the way he had Yumeko, as he was known to watch over pretty girls. After being saved by Kitaro, she seemed to develop a crush on him, to the annoyance of Musume. She was also polite to Nezumi Otoko, but in the following episode when he followed her school bus on a school picnic, she claimed not to know him to avoid embarrassment.

Hoshiro Tendou: Yumeko's little brother who, along with their mother, still believes in yokai. When Yumeko was kidnapped by Mirror Jiji, Hoshiro was upset but planned to send Kitaro a letter. He met Nezumi Otoko who wanted payment for delivering the letter, and upon hearing Hoshiro had no money, crumbled the letter and was soon physically punished by Musume who introduced herself to him. Hishiro teasingly asked if she was Kitaro's girlfriend. Throughout the whole episode, Hoshiro was quite brave for his age and delighted to have his sister back in the end.

Kawauso: Translates to "river otter". Appeared as a regular character in 2007. Kawauso is possibly as young as Kitaro and Musume, as he's seen as Musume's partner in a baton pass game. This little river otter is at his best when in the water and like Momen can be called on to perform long range searches. He normally wears a straw hat and a type of vest.

Rokurokubi: A woman yokai with a long stretching neck, which she loves to stretch out whenever she gets the chance. She appeared with Kawauso, Kasa-obake, and Yobuko as a regular character in 2007. She appears to have some sort of relationship with Musume, though whether sisterly or antagonistic is not all that clear to me yet.

Tsurube-otoshi: A giant disembodied head with a foolish expression. He loves to drop from the sky and startle anyone around. Tsurube-otoshi mostly appears in the closing credits, landing behind Musume and Rokurokubi and making them fall face-forward.

Yobuko: A bucktoothed, one-legged yokai that appeared in the series in 2007. He will stand in one place and call out, then listen for who calls back.

Kasa-obake: A living umbrella with one eye, two arms and a single leg. He doesn't seem able to do too much other than fly, hop around, and keep his friends dry in the rain.

Bad and Misguided Yokai This list includes yokai and spirits Kitaro has fought and outsmarted, including Nuraihyon, Red Face and on occassion in the past, Nezumi Otoko.

Snakebone Baba: An old yokai woman who now and then works with Nuraihyon. She was first seen after Nuraihyon thought he had killed Kitaro by burying him in quick-drying cement, only to find the day after that his hand seemed to have a mind of it's own when he tried to blow up an opposing building. Snakebone Baba realized that Kitaro was still alive and using his spirit energy to control Nuraihyon's hand, and had a plan to get rid of the boy once and for all with some poisoned sake. She apologized to Kitaro after he was dug out and suggested they have a party, but Kitaro wasn't fooled and had a plan of his own. Kitaro took them to a hut with a turning wheel that could take them to anywhere in the world and took them back to the time of dinosaurs. Red Face and Nuraihyon were incredibly impressed and ran out of the hut on Kitaro's urging, but Baba tried calling them back only to be literally kicked out along with them. Kitaro left them to the mercy of a hungry T-rex, but it's clear they survived due to future appearances.
Snakebone Baba would appear to be more cautious and have more sense than Nuraihyon, as stated before that she didn't go rushing off to see dinosaurs.

Futakuchi-onna: Translates to "two-mouthed woman". One of the three "rulers" of Goblin Castle and abducted a boy at a night-hours arcade as part of Tantanbo's plot to turn children into yokai. She also kidnapped Nezumi in the middle of his televised bragging on the abductions. Futakuchi can manipulate her hair to act as extra limbs for lifting and holding things or her victims and generally looks like a demonic woman with pointed fangs and glowing eyes. As her name implies, she has a second mouth; in the back of her head under her hair. She was the first adversary Kitaro faced in Goblin Castle and probably would have eaten him if Sunakake hadn't arrived and thrown sand in her face. Blinded, Futakuchi-onna fell over the castle's railing and presumably died.

Cyclone: One of the rulers of Goblin Castle. He generally looks like a bald man with pressed lips, giving the impression he's blowing out wind. Cyclone can turn himself into the very wind himself and swoop around at amazing speed. He kidnapped a child actress as part of Tantanbo's plot to turn children into yokai. After Futakuchi-onna's presumed death he harassed Kitaro and Sunakake until Ilan Momen arrived and wrapped wrapped itself around Cyclone, squeezing information out of him for how to return Goblin Castle to the ground. While it's presumed Futakuchi and Tantanbo died in the castle, it's never made clear if Cyclone perished with them.

Tantanbo: A gigantic, disembodied mamalian head with rows of sharp teeth and enormous glowing yellow eyes. The ruler of the structure known as Goblin Castle which he made float in the air. Tantanbo, Cyclone and Futakuchi-onna each abducted a child with the purpose of turning them into yokai as a means of revenge for the humans' "arrogance" in assuming they were the only ones living on earth. His saliva and gaze can turn anything into stone. After preaching that Kitaro should work for him instead of protect humans, the two fought. It was only with the help of Sunakake and Surikabe that Kitaro managed to avoid the monster's attacks. Sunakake blinded Tantanbo in the right eye with her sand and Kitaro blinded him in his left eye with his vest. In his pain, Tantanbo fell through the hole in the floor he had created at the top level of Goblin Castle. As Goblin Castle proceeded to crumble, it can be assumed the fall killed him.

Cat Hermit: Recruited by Red Face to fight for Nuraihyon on Nezumi's assurance of his skill. Until then Cat Hermit had lived by the sea in an old hut by himself, but took up Nezumi's offer after his home fell apart. He wasn't pleased with the other two Nezumi presented to Red Face, seeing them as foolish and weak. Upon hearing he was expected to fight Kitaro, he and Skeleton Man tried to sneak out of Nuraihyon's compound only to be caught.

Skeleton Man: As his man implies, he seems to be bone-thin and wears headgear that may hold a third eye above the other two and wears a skirt of dead grass. He formerly snuck around gold courses to steal golf balls until being caught and recruited by Nezumi for Red Face. Skeleton Man and Cat Hermit formed a rivalry until they realized Nuraihyon wanted them to fight and kill Kitaro--a prospect which horrified both of them--and decided to work with Cat Hermit in attempted escape and lies of how they killed Kitaro out of Nuraihyon's view; both attempts failing with comedic effect.

Bean Head: A large yokai with a bean-shaped head and eyes and mouth in the wrong places. He was recruited by Red Face for Nuraihyon to fight Kitaro along with Cat Hermit and Skeleton Man. In truth, however, it seems he is very stupid and probably didn't have a clue what he was meant to do. Mostly he spent any scenes focused on him either eating, sleeping, looking at and chasing butterflies, or picking his nose.