Reviews

Jun 28, 2015
I’ll admit I’ve never been keen on anime with a strong sense of art house artistry. I’m talking about the visually strange shows with unnaturally colored objects, settings designed like an abstract picture, or characters who move and look like something from a manga instead of anime. They give a sense of arrogance that they need nothing else so long as they have unique aesthetics.

Mononoke does not have this arrogance.

The show follows an enigma known as the Medicine Seller as he wanders feudal Japan and exorcises evil spirits known as mononoke. To do so, he must uncover the mononoke’s Shape, Truth, and Reason. Despite its mystical trappings, every mystery in Mononoke feels realistic. That is, they’re more about the people plagued by them than the mononoke themselves. Every spirit slain is prefaced by at least one other person whose secrets are revealed.

It’s this detective work on each ‘client’ that the Medicine Seller shows a penchant for exposing skeletons in the closet. His knowledge on the occult is matched by his intuition on other people, and perhaps eclipsed by his perpetual calm and facetious tone. In other words, the guy is hot shit and he knows it. How he became this way is never explained, but knowing the story behind that disinterested wit is secondary to the lives of the people he encounters.

From the inability to admit one’s fears to the paranoia of inadvertent sin, the show’s greatest strength is when it revels in its characters’ crippling weaknesses. Their every motive, every action, and every fault is mercilessly uncovered, and by the end of each mystery we know them better than we know the Medicine Seller. And yet, they’re not sympathetic but uncomfortably familiar. They’re reminiscent of the monsters we can easily be.

This is horror.

Horror is not about a bloodbath soaked with jump scares. Horror is the examination of the human condition as its furtive faults grant an uncanny power to do the unthinkable. It unleashes a despicable flurry whether we’re willingly heinous or acting out of desperation. This is something many horror films today fail to comprehend, but a truth that Mononoke lives by.

The show reinforces this truth through its visual direction. It rarely hides its horrors in the cover of darkness, forcing us to confront them where we think we’re safe. From unnaturally round eyes to a toothed mask, the show has no qualms about being too obvious in its frights. But rather than illicit groans of ‘get on with it!,’ it dredges a powerless feeling as if saying ‘we’re ruining your life and there’s nothing you can do about it.’

Adding to the visceral visuals is an atmospheric sound design. Empty hallways are lined with children’s laughter to unnerving effect. Chatter and banter play from a still picture to reflect a woman’s detachment from her own life. The rumbling of a train’s track traversing rises and falls with the tension of who the story focuses on. The show doesn’t lack music, but prefers mood. It ‘speaks’ with minimal effort for maximum effect.

If I had to point out one thing I didn’t like, it’s how each mystery varies in quality from one to the other, especially ‘Faceless Monster’ and ‘Japanese Chimera.’ The former treads ground the first two mysteries already covered, making it very formulaic. The latter either has no examination of the human condition, or one so understated that it’s out of place entirely. But the quality difference between each mystery is a pittance when the show is still good even at its worst. I might as well say ‘I didn’t enjoy this luxurious train ride as much as I enjoyed this luxurious cruise ship.’

This is what I mean by Mononoke not being arrogant. It knows it needs more than a unique look if it wants to be fondly remembered. There’s a conscious effort to want to make a good story as well as make the aesthetics its own. It knows it wants to be horror, and it knows what horror truly is. Through it all, more than anything else, Mononoke is simply an emotionally resonant piece.

Who knew a story about spirits could feel so human?
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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