*DISCLAIMER: TRIGGER WARNINGS: GORE, INCEST, ABORTION* also if you are epileptic, there are a lot of flashing and bright colors watch at your own risk!!!!!!!!
Mononoke is a dynamic, dramatic and suspenseful anime about a mysterious wanderer who is only known as "the medicine seller" who travels from place to place in search of the Mononoke (harmful spirits who are not at rest which can cause death, disease or injury). he has a special sword to kill the Mononoke which needs Form, Truth and Reason (in some subs its regret).
STORY 10: the basic story is really interesting. i dont think ive ever come across any sort of anime like this before. in the anime there are 12 episodes which are broken down into 4 arcs (obviously each arc lasting 3 episodes). the three episodes are basically allocated to finding one of the three things needed to summon the sword to kill the Mononoke (one episode to find truth, the next to find form, the last to find reason then a new arc starts). I thought that was really interesting because if they were to try and fit all of that into one episode it would almost be undigest-able and the series would have gotten boring. the arcs were exciting and fresh. they were also VERY creepy and VERY gorey. if you have a faint heart or a weak constitution please dont watch!
ART 10: the art was absolutely beautiful! the colors, the drawing style, the animation, were all fantastic. first impressions are the most important and when i saw the first episode my mind was blown. it was fantastic!! the animation was very choppy at points for dramatic effect and such but as the series went on all of the jump cuts and such really didnt happen that much almost as if animation itself was going through time (because there is a time skip im going to assume the series takes place over a long period of time)
SOUND 10: sound is really important in animes like this because its a horror series so the ambient noises and music really have to be on point and in my opinion they were!! every creepy moment had eerie ambient noises in the background to fix perfectly. i was always on the edge of my seat watching this!! even the softer moments had the perfect soundtrack to it.
CHARACTERS 10: the medicine seller was displayed perfectly. the viewer really doesnt know much about him other than he is a humanoid with supernatural powers that doesnt seem to age that has the power to put mononoke to rest. we really dont know his back story and i think that fits the mysterious vibe of the anime. it really isnt even about him personally but him getting the mononoke. the supporting characters in each arc were great too! they all had their own personal stories to share and their own emotional burdens to work through. it was honestly amazing how the animators and producers packed so much into something so short
ENJOYMENT 10: i loved it. i loved the topics. i loved feeling uneasy. i loved the jump scares. i loved the characters. i loved the music. i loved the animation. i loved the color scheme. i loved the concept. i loved what time it took place. i loved the historical significance of the mononoke. i loved he idea of the arcs. i loved it all. i finished the series in like 3 hours because i was watching the episodes back to back. i never got bored or tired or anxious for something exciting to happen.
OVERALL 10: i loved it. i want everyone on earth to at least see the first episode. it was so captivating you have no idea!!! I LOVED IT!!
