The strength of this show is the stories so I'll start with that. As much as I like an over-arching storyline all five of the stories in this show were memorable and strong stories on their own part. Each story is given enough to flesh out character motives and back story while also giving us quite a great deal of action when in reality they are only ever move into a few rooms. For a Japanese-style ghost story collection it requires not a lot of knowledge of Japanese culture, which makes it more accessible. (Just maybe wiki Genji Monogatari before watching the Nue episodes.) All the stories are well-paced and have satisfying conclusions. The only one I can think of which perhaps I did not enjoy as much as the rest would have to be the Sea Monster one. But even then I was fascinated by the concept of the hollow boats and the fact that one of the supposedly one-shot characters actually questioned the Medicine Seller's motives. This is probably just me being hard on it because I loved the rest so much (particularly the first and the last one.) (9)
The sound design of this show is very well done. In short, it replaces any type of body horror they could show, and somehow that is more creepy than actually showing it. For example, in episode two at an especially creepy moment, not to get too far into spoilers, they show cracked daruma dolls and strips of cloth. That image itself is not scary, symbolic, but no enough to get goosebumps over. However, with the sounds that go on during that sequence you actually feel violated in a way because even if it is just symbolic representation on screen the noise is enough to make you not want to look. (9)
It's a shame though, if you close your eyes. The art style for this show is very unique and the sheer amount of detail they put into their backgrounds is lovely. This show is probably one of the most screencap-able ones as it is fashioned to look like a painting in every frame. Also, symbolic representation is something you don't see very much in anime nowadays. My only complaint is that sometimes the characters look a little, shall we say .. off? Sometimes facial features aren't consistent and there are these odd rare cases where the characters move a little unnaturally especially in the mouth without any reason in the story to do so. It can be a little jarring, but it doesn't happen often. But, when this anime does movement well, they do it very well. I remember being really taken with is one shot of the Medicine Seller's feet while he's running through a train car on geta. (8)
As mentioned before, the real strength of this show lies in it's strong writing and atmosphere. When you are not being simultaneously dazzled and confused by the imagery, the sound is genuinely creepy (and well timed with the animation, I might add) but there is also our main character who is, in his own respects, unsettling as well, right down to the way he delivers each line. He has this genuinely odd habit of making long unnatural pauses in the middle of each sentence. His features are quite demonic even compared with the most unattractive members of the cast and his clothes aren't like what the rest of the cast wears. (Given, he does make a comment about this in one of the episodes but that was mainly to explain why he was dressed like that in that time period.) The only problem in the character department is that, given the format of the show, it can only develop a character other than the protagonist for a certain period of time. But they do do a good job with the time they have with these characters as finding out what their motivations are is essential to each of the plots. But, because the show needs to keep the protagonist enigmatic, they cannot have just one big episode where they explain his back story like so many other animes feel they need to do. While we don't have to sit through a long back story session, I do feel a little disappointed that we don't learn more about the Medicine Seller because he is, in fact, that mysterious. (7)
My enjoyment (10)
Objective score overall (8.5/10)
I'd recommend this show to, well, anyone actually. Even those who are not considered 'anime fans'. Mononoke is Japanese horror storytelling at it's finest. With impressive art and sound direction and the strength of the writing to tell very Japanese tales without having to have a PhD in Asian studies. Whether it's for unique eye-candy or for the simple pursuit of a summer ghost story, it's a good watch.
