Episode 37 had been edited for theatrical screening premiered on 1980-07-12, along with Mahou Shoujo Lalabel: Umi ga Yobu Natsuyatsumi and tokusatsu movie Denshi Sentai Denjiman.
Because the 1971 anime is a sequel to the previous anime, no remake episodes were made. Because of this, nearly half of the episodes are actually adaptations of some of Shigeru Mizuki's non-Kitarou stories. In the previous anime, this was only done twice towards the end of the run, with the episodes Umi-Jijii and Namahage. Many of these stories were originally self contained and ironic, leaving little room for Kitarou to intervene. Some of these episodes featured Kitarou briefly and sometimes without him actually getting involved, deviating from the general "children's hero" theme of the rest of the series. On the other hand, because much more of the social satire and horror was left in this time around, it could be considered a more faithful adaptation of the essence of Mizuki's work. Of all the GeGeGe no Kitarou anime, this was the one to feature the most social commentary and irony.
Unlike the previous anime, which was rarely rebroadcast, the 1971 anime was rebroadcast several times in the following years, usually during the summer.
Another factor in this series being more mature and dramatic is that most of the Toei staff that worked on it was transferred from the recently completed Tiger Mask.
While 45 episodes were produced, the original broadcast had a full 52 episode run thanks to many episode being aired as reruns. These episodes were Yokai Cloth (rebroadcast March 16, 1972), Shibito-Tsuki (May 18, 1972), Ghosts of Angkor Wat (June 8, 1972), Gyuuki (July 6, 1972), Gyaku-Mochi-Goroshi (August 3, 1972), Mammoth Flower (August 31, 1972), and Hell's Water (September 14, 1972).