Dekin no Mogura

When university students Kuriaki Magi and Yaeko Kirihara witness a man receive a fatal blow to the head, they can barely believe it when he flees the scene unscathed. Once they catch up to the victim, Momoyuki Mogura, they learn that he is immortal.

While Magi and Yaeko initially presume Mogura is delusional, their opinion of him changes as they begin seeing apparitions. As Mogura explains, those are spirits of dead people that produce demon fire, a light that guides the spirits after death. Stripped of the right to carry the fire, Mogura has spent years collecting the products from spirits, hoping to one day enter the afterlife. With Magi and Yaeko now helping him find more spirits, the mysterious Mogura may finally achieve his peculiar dream.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Mogura, Momoyuki Main

Nakamura, Yuuichi Japanese

Kirihara, Yaeko Main

Fujii, Yukiyo Japanese

Magi, Kuriaki Main

Ookawa, Genki Japanese

Nekozuku, Kyouko Supporting

Tanezaki, Atsumi Japanese

Nekozuku, Kyoushirou Supporting

Murase, Ayumu Japanese

Inukai, Shio Supporting

Fujita, Akane Japanese

Ukigumo Supporting

Shouji, Umeka Japanese

Shoplifter Supporting

Niwa, Masato Japanese

Hanada Supporting

Ueda, Kaya Japanese

Kirihara, Miyama Supporting

Yamazaki, Satoshi Japanese

Ishiodori, Hiroshi Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Yamada, Haru Sound Director

Fujita, Shinzou Script, Series Composition

syudou Theme Song Composition, Theme Song Performance, Theme Song Lyrics

Reviews

Dec 28, 2025

patkarunungan

Recommended

The Earthbound Mole has been recommended as one of those hidden gems during Summer 2025. Indeed, it's worth watching.

We have two college friends, Kirihara Yaeko and Magi Kuriaki, meeting what seemed like an injured man, Mogura Momoyuki. It turns out that Mr Mogura is actually immortal and must labour for a while to get back to the afterlife. Meanwhile, Yaeko and Kuriaki's meeting with Mr Mogura awakens their ability to see supernatural beings.

Its studio, Brain's Base, has been in business since the mid-90s, coming from the former staff of TMS. Their anime seem obscure, except for a few: Golden Kamuy, Natsume's Book of Friends S1, ... and To Your Eternity S1.

Its director, Ishiodori Hiroshi, did a decent job at this anime, despite not being unpopular, and it seems to be on a budget. He is a seasoned director, even though the anime he directed aren't really that big. He directed the overlooked sequel to the OVA of Bubblegum Crisis, namely Bubblegum Crash, for instance.

This anime has a distinct art style and character design. This is due to Tanabe Youko, who also had a hand in 'How I Attended an All-Guy's Mixer.' I wasn't impressed, though, with the character design in the latter. The art style carries this anime more than its animation.

When you think about an anime involving yokai and other Japanese paranormal beings, one would think that such anime is scary, like in Hell Teacher 2025. Not this one, and the art style reinforces that this should not be taken seriously. Instead of horror, this leans more into comedy, similar to Toilet-Bound Hanako.

The Earthbound Mole has a dry sense of humour, and together with the amusing background musick, you can't help but feel part of a well-orchestrated satire, if you will; that there is an underlying inside joke that the characters (and you, the viewer) are expected to get. The script is witty (thanks to Fujita Shinzou), and you can't help but quietly laugh.

The background musick is in par with the art style as something that makes this anime stand out. It is timed well with the script and humour. This aspect is credited to the sound director, Yamada Haru, who also worked as the sound director for Hotel Inhumans. (His sound direction on the Yaiba remake, while decent, pales in comparison to the original, which is why I wasn't that impressed compared with Hotel Inhumans and The Earthbound Mole.)

I almost missed this gem, and I should thank the person who brought this up in that hidden gems thread.


NOTA BENE: A grade of 6 out of 10 means that I find this anime slightly above average, and I enjoyed watching it.

A 6 means a decent score and one notch above average. If you're the kind of viewer who treats anything below a 7 as irredeemable, I'd encourage a broader, more nuanced approach to rating.

My enjoyment spectrum lies from 4 to 10. If I have scored an anime below 4, I actively dislike it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Oct 29, 2025

sluggishly

Recommended

An outlier in the garbage pile being released over last decade. Has plot, has actual characters, makes sense, interesting concept and execution, decent budget ( it looks nice, to me ok? if ur not into the art style what can i say).


LONG REVIEW:
Plot:
Dekin no Mogura is technically about a strange hermit guy who's trying to collect enough spirit fire from ghosts to be able to ascend into the afterlife. In practice this, what u could expect to be his major goal gets very quickly muddled and ends up as a sideline quest of the protagonist and his friends sitting around chilling and then randomly hearing ... or stumbling upon some situation that turns out to involve ghosts. Hell, by the end of the anime i feel like he lost more fire than collected (he can use it as a power to heal people instead of collecting it basically).
It's a lighthearted story, with fun youkais or spirits showing up in each new episode, focused mostly on silly banter and interaction between the characters, leans much more into comedy and lighthearted slice of life atmosphere over darker or solemn tones.
There is an interesting amount of realism to the supernatural world and spirits, its not just "lets exorcise all the evil spirits" or "there is good spirits and bad spirits" or "let's become friends with all the spirits and help them", but rather a nuanced approach of case by case.

Characters:
The protagonist, Mogura is a well designed character. He's a good-natured busybody but its not like he wails or despairs over the people he couldn't help, but rather acknowledged some people have to save themselves, u cannot just fix their problems for them.
As a fan of stories about immortal characters that go beyond just a gimmick but rather affect their personality and outlook on life, i liked it, but i'm a bit disappointed we didn't get more of that in here. The slice of life/comedic segments are definitely focused over showcasing Mogura's wisdom and experiences (he's at least few hundred years old), the difference between how someone in his unique position and other characters view any situation. There is some underlying intrigue and mystery about his past and the place he resides in but it isn't very thoroughly featured or explored, more like hinted at.
At times, it feels like Magi, the young college student that starts seeing the supernatural after meeting Mogura, is more of a protagonist than he is, since more of the story is from his point of view and more of his thoughts are shown.
I enjoyed pretty much all the characters but i wouldn't say any of them beside Mogura are much to write home about, if ur looking for for sth with flashy unique badasses or shiny waifus for example, this is not it. This anime is about the wholesome and cozy atmosphere created by the daily life with a sprinkle of weirdness in form of youkais and philosophy or character study, not rly about the characters themselves.
Usually, i strongly prefer protagonist-centric anime, so although i can appreciate what having a huge cast brings in in this case, i would probably still enjoy this anime a lot if it instead took a form of us learning more and more about Mogura and his past and other characters leaving the stage after their episodic stories instead.

Technicalities:
I found the soundtrack fitting and memorable, not to the lvl of iconic osts the likes of Yuki Kajiura, Yasunaru Takahashi, Sawano Hiroyuki or other distinctive osts but still good.
The budget definitely felt sufficient, no weird off-putting drops in quality, no 3d models running around awkwardly, for the record there is not much to animate but again, standards these days are so low i feel like its mention worthy...
The dreamy pink and purple hued backgrounds provide a unique atmosphere, kinda reminiscent of Mob Psycho and Dark Gathering, which clashes in an interesting way with the more slice of lifey laid back vibe of the anime, and although i liked it a lot some might just find it weird and disjointed looking, with the art used on characters looking like it belongs in a different anime altogether. The character design in general also feels kinda short and childlike? (think opposite of Code Geass or CLAMP), i suppose it fits with the fairy-tale colored tone of the backgrounds but it does give off an unnecessarily perhaps infantile impression.
As for opening and ending, i liked both songs a lot (i'm a huge syudou fan so i am biased >_<). The op might be a bit too energetic or bubbly? like it could make u think there is gonna be more action happening than there is. The ending on the other hand nicely shifts from sounding more mysterious at the beginning into lighthearted one which i think reflects animes inherently mysterious premise balanced with funny light shenanigans well.

Prospects:
The manga is still ongoing but i doubt this kinda anime sequel would be in high demand, so i wouldn't rly expect a sequel in general or at least anytime soon. The story, or rather the personal journey of Mogura feels incomplete, but since that's not the focus of the anime it's not a big issue and can be enjoyed regardless.

SHOULD U WATCH IT?
- if ur starved for sth with soul and someones good taste in it, u might enjoy it
- if u like lighthearted youkai stories, u might enjoy it
- if u like cozy anime without drama, conflict, or depressing shit, u will probably enjoy it
- if u don't need tits moe blobs hot ikemens or other forms of fan service in ur anime at all, u will likely enjoy it
- if u like to have a grounded, concrete, or action packed experience tho, probably don't watch it


At the end of the day i would say its well made but kinda lacking. There is some mystery elements but they're very background, some psychological elements but not fleshed out. I can enjoy comedy and slice of life but i cannot consider it of high fictional value by themselves, am not a fan of it in general basically and prefer sth else.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Oct 29, 2025

Otaku_Senpai

Mixed Feelings

I did like the backgrounds which sometimes seemed to be water colored hand drawn, but I was not happy with the character designs. I mean look at the guy in the poster. He is the lead guy and not very impressive looking. There were too many times I was bored and when animation seemed stiff. The ghosts in the show look ok though some of their charter design look odd. What I appreciated most is both our protagonists and antagonists are very limited in scale of what the powers they can dish out. There is no super hero or arch villain.

I ... do see the potential in the story. I think this will make a better show as a live action Tv series or live action movie with good casting.


My Rating: 6/10 (Okay)

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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	Poll: Dekin no Mogura Episode 12 Discussion Stark700 - Sep 21, 2025	35 replies	by KONRADD »» Nov 8, 2025 1:04 AM
	Poll: Dekin no Mogura Episode 9 Discussion Stark700 - Aug 31, 2025	24 replies	by Epiroogu »» Oct 19, 2025 5:43 AM
	Poll: Dekin no Mogura Episode 8 Discussion Stark700 - Aug 24, 2025	24 replies	by Epiroogu »» Oct 19, 2025 5:25 AM
	Poll: Dekin no Mogura Episode 7 Discussion Stark700 - Aug 17, 2025	17 replies	by Epiroogu »» Oct 19, 2025 5:03 AM
	Poll: Dekin no Mogura Episode 5 Discussion Stark700 - Aug 3, 2025	20 replies	by RGreatDanton »» Oct 11, 2025 5:29 PM