one of director miike takashi very best . it so good it difficult to put into word . at nearly fifteen year old than the target audience it thrill me from begin to end . it recall similar child film from the 1980s in the sense that ( unlike today ) those film weren not afraid to scare there a lot of nasty detail here that i initially find jarring but soon realise it nothing different to what i grow up on . the film be a compilation of 80 kid films convention . you name it and it there represent a young boy hero thrust from his own unhappy or dysfunctional world into another and inhabit by mythical and mystical goblin while a quest to save both world from an evil force while a beautiful heroine he have a crush on while a sadistic henchwoman ( go go yubari from kill bill vol . 1 ) while a lead villain who draw his evil power from something everyone in the world can relate to . but all these genre convention be give a fresh spin and add depth . one of the imdb review begin where be this film when i be a kid . and it a sentiment i agree with wholeheartedly . even while watch it i lament the fact that i hadn not grow up on it while that it wasn not a part of my childhood like labyrinth and master of the universe and and to a much less extent and the neverending story . those film and and others like the goony be recall but never copy miike relentlessly offer u a new take on thing . poor cgi be a staple of many of his film and sometimes due to budgetary limitation but just as frequently an artistic choice a desire to present thing in an outlandish way . here the cgi be mostly average and solely due to budgetary limitation and but nevertheless he do a fantastic job of put on a spectacle . the cg effect combine with traditional puppet and animatronics and truly extraordinary make up to create a world fill with rich character ( and characterisation ) that frequently border on the visionary . this rank a one of the great child film ever make . not for young or more sensitive kid though . just jaw droppingly wonderful . see it for yourselves and if you think your kid can handle or appreciate it then show it to them . let them grow up on the great yokai war a some small compensation for the fact you couldn not .