Face Off

Britain's always-reliable Daily Mail has reported sightings of strange humanoids without faces appearing the in crowd at Wimbledon, at Elton John's white tie ball, and even the Harrods summer sale. But readers of Yokai Attack know better. They aren't aliens or mutants. They're YOKAI! "Nopperabo," to be precise:

The Nopperabo, whose name evokes the feel of something smooth and featureless in Japanese, resemble normally dressed, apparently healthy individuals, save for one major difference: a face "like unto an egg," devoid of any hint of features. Worried? You shouldn't be. Encounters with "the Faceless Ones" are rarely if ever fatal.

Believe it or not, this isn't the first time the Nopperabo have been spotted outside of their homeland. In 1959, it is said, a faceless "mujina" appeared in the restroom of Hawaiian drive-in movie theater, scaring the hell out of at least one woman who saw her. (Although "mujina" actually refers to a species of badger, a Lafcadio Hearn story of the same name has caused imagery of the mujina and the Nopperabo to become intermingled both in Japan and abroad.) Even yokai need a vacation from time to time, it seems!

(Thanks to Ed at Pink Tentacle for the heads-up!)

Comments

[llxwarbirdxll]

I admit that picture actually scared me.

[Gilles Poitras]

Using the entry in Yokai Attack! and anther source I recently added an entry for Nopperabo in the Anime Companion Supplement.

http://www.koyagi.com/ACPages/acn.html#Nopperabo

Thanks for making such a cool book, may there be many more yokai writings in your future.

[ChrisM]

don't forget the Question...

http://dcanimated.wikia.com/wiki/Question

[Mike]

It's a viral marketing campaign for Lotus automobiles.

http://jalopnik.com/397798/facelesspeople-ad-campaign-probably-attached-to-2010-lotus-eagle-debut-definitely-creepy

[MattAlt]

And here I'd been hoping it was crazed "Yokai Attack" fans.