Anime: Mononoke

Mononoke is an extremely compelling horror anime. Treachery, greed, complacency, cruelty, jealousy, etc. take center stage. Evil spirits called Mononoke are born from these emotions and the situations that give rise to them, and they then come back to take revenge.
Enter the Medicine Seller (his name is never given), who seeks to discover the Form, Truth, and Regret of the malevolent Mononoke by piecing together the testimony and reactions of the people around him. After he has all of these elements in place, he can draw a magic sword and vanquish the Mononoke. His task is made harder by various forms of guilt and panic from the other characters as they struggle with their own inner demons. Throughout this whole process the Mononoke tries to batter its way past protections and rip people out screaming or suddenly strike them dead where they stand.

Art
Mononoke is an artsy anime. It’s not afraid to go places no anime has gone before. There’s tears with details of snowflakes at the tips, there’s insanely bright colors and intricate patterns on every square centimeter of the screen, there’s a wrinkly effect to the whole thing as if it’s all seen through crumpled saran wrap. It’s not what you usually think of when you imagine pretty anime, to say the least. But it works. Its psychedelic, but if you give it a chance it can be a fascinating watch. Really, it’s a remarkable mix of old Japanese art styles and fresh originality. In its own way, it’s beautiful. You just have to give it a chance, and then get used to it, before its merits become apparent.
Mononoke primarily takes place in the Edo period and portrays some lovely traditional costumes, hairstyles, and makeup. For the actual character designs, it goes from dog-ugly to neutral for most of the people. Then there is the Medicine Seller, who is the only attractively drawn character in the anime, a point which the characters themselves frequently reference. Even he, though, looks pretty bizarre.

Sound
The voice actor for the Medicine Seller turns in a performance that is like the art; unusual, compelling, and beautiful in a strange way. The voice actors for the other characters often have grating base voices. However, they manage to render their characters’ emotions perfectly from horror to hysteria, guilt to despair. The sound effects during the attacks of the Mononoke are well chosen and increase the suspense and horror considerably. The background music has soaring, compelling vocals and heart-wrenching instrumental versions that are nothing short of fantastic. The instruments chosen also fit the time period very well. On the other hand, the opening and ending do not seem to fit the story at all, nor were they good pieces of themselves. I found the opening to be such a mood killer that I skipped it every time.

Story & Rewatch Value
There are several story arcs that aren’t really related to each other and have their own unique Mononoke and cast of characters.
Every story arc is so intense that it’s almost hard to watch. First you have the Mononoke trying to come in and rip everyone open, which has lots of tension to it. Then you have all these people dealing with that in their own ways. There is a mystery element brought in because the Medicine Seller must understand the Form of the Mononoke, its Truth, and it’s Regret before vanquishing it. So he needs to know what it is, why it is, and what its purpose is now. Even though that knowledge is being hidden bit by bit by each individual character and is drenched in darkness, guilt, and blood. Accordingly, each character struggles before admitting to their own involvement in the making of the Mononoke. As a result there are multiple plot twists per arc and the viewer is kept guessing till the very end and sometimes beyond.
The story also gains a lot through multiple viewings. That’s because of a few things. Firstly, there is tons of symbolism and philosophical questions in each story arc. Secondly, the repugnance of people’s actions and the motives to their behavior, as well as their individual efforts to hide their secrets and dodge questions, means that the series retains its spine-tingling qualities even when you know exactly who is going to be ripped apart when. Another thing is that this has a very deep basis in Japanese folklore and customs. The more you know about them, the more you will get from this series, so Mononoke is something you can go back to later on and see whole new elements to as you gradually absorb more of that knowledge.

Characters
The protagonist, the Medicine Seller, is rather unique. He’s put in a role where you would expect him to have some grand purpose or at least be trying to help the people around him. But he never really gives a sign that’s the case. Sometimes he seems as scary as the Mononoke he’s up against. He’s cool and mysterious and somehow offputting, but more than anything else he is charismatic. The voice actor really helps with this impression; every word he says seems filled with hidden meaning. You can’t take your eyes off him during a scene, but for all that intense scrutiny you don’t have a good picture of him at the end. Let’s just say he’s one of my favorite characters. Ever.
As for the rest of the characters, that mostly exist in just one story arc… They don’t have lots of dimension, but fit the roles they need to in the plot. What really shines in all the character portrayals is their reactions to what’s going on. They are put in life-threatening, terrifying, completely bizarre situations. Every character reacts to what’s going on around them differently, and every single reaction feels incredibly real. It’s awesome. I don’t even know how to explain it. Just watch it, and you’ll see what I mean.

Value & Enjoyment:
Mononoke is a unique and compelling anime. I recommend you watch it even if the art style turns you off at first, because it is a masterpiece. Rewatch value is extremely high, and I am buying this the moment it is out in stores. Mononoke is dark, disturbing, and deep. It’s probably not something kids will enjoy for those reasons.
It’s rare for an anime to give me chills, but this one did, and I enjoyed every second of it. I only wish that it was 26 plus episodes instead of 12…

There is actually a bit more to this anime, it has an additional arc that was featured in the anime Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror (aka Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales), episodes 9-11. That arc was actually aired before this, and was so good that the makers were given a full series.

Mononoke is one of the most original shows I have ever seen to date yet. From storybook like visuals, to mysterious characters and story, which is so full of weird things and japanese mythology that sometimes is hard to follow - Mononoke offers some of the most enigmatic anime moments ever. Hmm, at least to draw some sort of image I can hint at best that Mononoke is something what you would get after combining Playstation 2 game Okami with already a pretty weird anime Mushishi. Like Mushishi Mononoke follows episodic plot development (though one story usually takes two or three episodes). Like in Mushishi, in Mononoke there is but one character, who while introducing himself as a medicine seller is actually Mononoke hunter. I'm probably not exaggerating to call him the most enigmatic main character in any anime to date yet. Even after finishing the whole show I have not got a single idea about what his motives are, who he really is and what the hell he is even thinking when smirking at people being eaten by Mononokes. Yet that doesn't mean that he is a bad character, actually he is great and even might have had the potential to become one of the best leading characters ever. However, thanks to the show's short nature and heavy story, characters are only given supporting roles to the plot that unfolds. And he fulfills his supporting role perfectly. Basically Mononoke is one of the few shows that just have to be seen to be fully understood. I highly doubt it's even possible to convey it's real atmosphere in words.

If you enjoy shows of similar nature to Mushishi, by any means, give Mononoke a shot. While it might not be as good as Mushishi it's pretty close to it. Though at the same time it's so different that you might as well like it more than Mushishi. Oh yeah, if you are interested in traditional japanese folk tales, then whoa, this show is going to be your paradise. It's like a folk tale picture book come life.

Animation: 8/10

Have you ever played Okami on Playstation 2? If yes, then you will feel nostalgic while experiencing this show's visuals. Yes, it's like that, like a traditional japanese picture book with living things walking around. Rain, wind and other environment stuff is depicted not like in real world, but like in paintings, hence to say the animation is not realistic. But god, anime doesn't really need realism, let's leave it for live action. In the end Mononoke's environment art is not only extremely original, but really satisfying as well.

Unfortunately I can't say the same thing about character designs. While Medicine Seller has some of the best male design I have ever seen yet, minor characters, who appear in one or two episodes look quite bad. And when I mean bad I mean that sometimes their proportions are so messed up that it turns you off. Sometimes it's hard to make difference between 10 and 21 year old girls. Though I still can't neglect the fact that even these designs are really original.

Sound: 6/10

Music is probably the only non extraordinary aspect of this show. There are one or two good tracks, but there is also a lot of silence. While music (and also both opening and ending themes) do a pretty good job at maintaining show's atmosphere, they don't really do much anything else. I can't really imagine anyone listening to this show's OST.

Story: 8/10

Mononoke packs some of the best short stories anime has to offer. They are confusing to the level where you can't really let yourself blink even once as to not miss some information. Well, it's mostly thanks to that it's very heavily based on japanese ancient mythology, which is beyond exotic to the most westerners.

Actually the only thing that holds the story back is its episodic nature. At least I can't really be touched by story which I know doesn't really lead anywhere. Well, even though Mononoke doesn't tell any epic stories, it can still kick most of the long anime stories asses with its short skits. Since to kill Mononoke you have to know its Form, Truth and Regret, you have to solve all the mysteries behind her coming into being. That leads to some of the best mystical detective stories around, also giving some really heavy insights in human psychology.

Character: 6/10

There is but only one steady character in the show, and you bet, he doesn't talk much. He never even tells anyone his name during the course of the show. Heh, but you sure have a chance to learn that he knows something more than other people around him... including you. You don't even have a chance to see him scared, or surprised, or even showing any real "human" emotion. Even when there was a scene where everyone were being showed their biggest fears, he only calmly smirked while looking at his biggest fear in the face. Well, but you sure realize that he is going to kill any Mononoke he finds, no matter the means, though you never learn if its for some kind of purpose or just his sick way of having fun. Either way, it's sure not to save people lives, as he usually let's Mononoke eat everyone around him before slaying it. -_-;

Myers-Briggs personality type indicator:[/b]

Medicine Seller - INTJ (B)

Show Spoiler

Value: 8/10

Some of the best art accompanied by a very confusing, but interesting story, containing truckloads of japanese folk myths. Whoa, I must be stupid not to re-watch it again. Actually, it's one of these shows I could show to everyone regardless of their interests. As you could say that Mononoke is as different from conventional anime as it is different from live action movies.

Mononoke is a horror anime with a heavy emphasis on the darker elements of humanity. Despite that, what most people are likely to focus on is that the presentation is a sort of cross between traditional Japanese art and a drug trip.

Animation:
The animation is the most remarkable quality of a series with many remarkable points. As I mentioned above, it's primarily based on traditional Japanese art. This, however, applies mainly to the line-work. The method of colouring used puts in textures where one would normally expect flat colours. Although this is often used to make it look like watercolours, it's also frequent used to put strange patterns everywhere, and the colour chosen are based on what what makes it look interesting, not reality.

It's not just the colouring method that's unusual, though. Mononoke is very fond of using hard cuts, including to things like flashbacks, which can be very disorienting. There's also a tendency to show things in a series of steps, instead of animating it (I'd assume this is not a budget failure, as it's animated beautifully the rest of the time, and these occurrences are infrequent). Another notable oddity is to make background characters obviously background. Although the manner used varies depending on the arc, but it's universally obvious and hyper-stylized. Each arc has it's own oddities, as well...

The character designs a possibly the weakest part of the visual. With the exception of the Medicine Seller, they're somewhat ugly, and border on the repetitive (although the series doesn't last long enough for this to be an issue).

The art becomes increasingly less idiosyncratic as the series progresses, in every manner. I assume this was intentional.

Sound:
The sound is all very well done. The music fits well, and is quite Japanese. The voice acting is solid, with the Medicine Seller's voice acting standing out as being exceptional.

Story:
The story is split into five arcs of two or three episodes each. Each arc is self-contained, with the exception of a character in the second arc having appeared in the original Bakaneko arc in Ayakashi. As one would expect with a set up like that, chances are not everyone will find all of the arcs to be as enjoyable as the others (I liked the second and fourth the most).

Roughly similar events happen in each arc. Supernatural events happen, and the Medicine Seller has to find out the truth before he can kill the Mononoke. There's a fair amount of variation as to how all of that happens, though, so it doesn't get repetitive.

Character:
Mononoke is heavily character based. Most of the arcs involve heavy character development for one of the characters, and the rest frequently get dark secrets. Makes it more of a pity that the characters don't recur.

The Medecine Seller himself is an interesting character. He manages to have a definite personality despite not doing much, and is more mysterious than any of the Mononoke he kills.

Mononoke Review:

Bold and beautiful. Mononoke is an anime that you will either like it or hate it.

Animation:

The animation styling and presentation is extremely unique. From the water colour on Asiatic canvas paper, pale colouring, inked character outlines, stop animation and slow frame rate, the studio tried very hard to mimic traditional Japanese and Chinese scroll paintings, and they had succeeded brilliantly. The use of stop animation complemented the show extremely well, it created additional value to the horror scene, and it makes our main character and the mononoke even more mystifying. The main character design is very unique, with its long and loose hair design, sharp and critical eye and facial expressions, it makes makes him seems like an outsider who are merely critically observing the events, which suited the character perfectly. I only have one problem with the animation, the presentation is definitely not for everyone. This is simply too bold and may turn many people away from this show due to its heavy Asiatic styling.

Sound:

There are few pieces of OST music, and they are all done in traditional Japanese instruments. Due to the stories are based on Japanese folk laws and novels, these bygone era sound has complimented the show extremely well. The opening theme sing is cleverly chosen, the sound is extremely cynical and have a negative yet somewhat pessimistic overtone, together with the animation styling, it has given us a good impression about the stories in the show. Now to the voice over. I think most people would think that the main character's voice over being rather flat and extremely slow. Overall, there aren't much tonal variations or emotions in his performance, so we feel like he was reading rather than performing the script. However, this only helped to highlight the strength of the character because as I said before, the main character is not the real player in the story, he is more like a facilitator that draw various parties together to identify and seal the mononoke.

Story and character:

The story is episodic base, with each story lasting from 2-3 episodes. Since there are only 12 episodes in total, I bet you think that there aren't much of a character development. This is absolutely true. In fact, we didn't even find out what is the name of the main character, not to mention his history and motive. This is usually a bad thing, but this is not the case for mononoke. The strength of this series lies in each of the smaller stories, and we do see how each of the other characters develop in these smaller stories. Their motive, regret and why the mononoke exist is deeply linked to their previous actions and feelings. This helped to create some powerful x-file like mystery stories with an abstracted moral lesson in the end. Even with its slow pace, it kept me on the edge of my seat and wanting for more. One bad point about the story is that it might require the viewers to have at least some level of Asiatic culture understanding, as well as had read some traditional Chinese and Japanese ghost stories in order to fully appreciate this series.

Value and enjoyment:

I absolutely enjoyed this series. Although it is a bit short, I do realise that if these sort of episodic based stories are to be continued for a full 26 episodes series, it will become too tedious to watch. I find that even though we didn't learn much about the main character, it is a good idea for him to become a mystery as he is merely a facilitator, in the end, if the main parties that was involved didn't feel remorse and change their action, even with the mononoke being disappeared, they are not really free. The only drawback is that this show is seriously not for everyone. In the end, I will give it an overall 8 here.

I enjoyed the series and hope you do too. The review is based on the Shinsen-Subs fansubs, which are very good. If you took the time to read this, I'd appreciate it if you'd rate the review, and maybe leave a comment or two. Thanks for stopping by!

If only they'd had more time! Mononoke is an offshoot of Ayakashi-Samurai Horror Tales, and if you liked Bake Neko arc in that series, you're sure to like this one. "Mononoke" continues the story of the medicine seller from the "Bakeneko" arc of "Ayakashi," as he continues to exorcise various mononoke, or vengeful spirits. It's visually different from almost every other anime out there. But don't let the ukiyoye-inspired visuals drive you away, because there are wonderful stories here. The Japanese staple of ghost stories is marvelously fleshed out, and the series only suffers from a shortage of time ( and perhaps money) as it reaches its too-soon end. There are 5 main arcs in the 12 episodes. If only they had a little longer run, this might have been a modern masterpiece.

Animation: 8
This might be the highest variation among reviewers, because it's intentionally stylized, non-fluid, almost choppy animation. The style will remind you of Japanese woodblocks from the ukiyoye school, and as a result, immediately you understand it's a completely Japanese story. Faces are not fully animated, and tend to flatness. Motion is somewhat limited, so don't expect samurai sword-fights. But given what the director Kenji Nakamura (Cowboy Bebop) was going for, it sets atmosphere and establishes style.

The color palate is full to the point of riot. The character designs are unique and (except for Baka Neko in Ayakashi) nobody looks like anyone else. It took a while for me to understand what Chief Animation Director Takahashi Hashimoto (Ayakashi, Karas) was attempting to do. Almost hallucinogenic, it's a visual feast, but don't expect any cinematics (lens flare, forced perspective, etc). Given the limitations that the style imposes, I think they succeeded. It gets an 8.

Sound: 9
Technicals: The sound is amazingly well matched. Foley work is superb, and the sound stage is expansive and directional. The OP runs after the "setup" of of the story. I am not completely sold on the choices for sound effects, so I'd rate this an 8.
Seuiuu: Voice actors are very competent, expecially the main character of the medicine seller (is he ever named?), as voiced by Takahiro Sakurai (Haseo in .hack/Roots, Robspierre in Chevalier d'Eon). 9 for seiyuu.
Music: OP is "Kagen no Tsuki" by Ryouta Komatsu and Charlie Kosei, and reminds me of a French gypsy band; very interesting. Lots of Japanese flutes and drums and atmospheric music in every episode, not much seems repeated but there are thematic elements in every arc. ED is "Natsu no Hana" by JUJU, and is an effective ballad JPOP. 9 for music.

I can't fault the sound at all, and I love Japanese cultural music, but then again, there was nothing "totally amazing" about it, so I give it a 9.

Story: 10
With the exception of one arc, I found the stories compelling and fully realized. The theme is that the medicine seller (as in Mushi-shi) can exorcize a mononoke when he knows the "essence" of the mononoke. each story arc stands more-or-less alone. There is a little bit of character development, but not enough to say it drives what is otherwise a plot-driven series. I think this is the strongest part of this short series, so it gets a 9+ to 10-. It misses only a bit from having full marks.

Character: 8
The series is too short to have much character development, and the main character has entirely too much mystery around him, and not enough background to give him depth. However, every story has a considerable amount of character built into the story, so it's not absent, just not a notable strength. There are not many children or teens in it, as most of the characters are over 21, so the moe factor is limited to what you think of men with makeup. The character design by Takashi Hashimoto is unusual, but very effective. It's a horror story series, after all. I generously rate it an 8- because I'd like to see more.

Value and Enjoyment: 8 and 9
The acid test of a series is: would you like to see another flight (12-13 episodes)? The answer for me is yes, I'd like to visit with the characters, as long as the stories are as good as the first 3 or Bake Neko. The second test is, would it sell on DVD in R1? I think it's an acquired taste, and possibly have trouble finding it's market, but I'd buy it just because it's so unusual (as was Texhnolyze, for that matter). 8 on value.

Did I have fun watching? Yes! And I'd do it again, because there is a certain amount of density to every story, as well as visual treats. 9 on Enjoyment.

Conclusion Mononoke is the equivalent of a night spent telling ghost stories on campout. It's fun, interesting, and compelling stories told without slash or creep. Like a trip to the funhouse: loads of fun for the family.