Mononoke

[Drunk Monk]

Mononoke The Movie: The Phantom in the Rain

 

This is a series and a trilogy of movies now. I started part 3 and got horribly confused until I realized it was part 3, then went back to start at the beginning (of the movies).

Part 1 - Phantom in the Rain (2024) is allegedly a feature length movie that emerged from the TV series. It’s about two young gals joining an ooku (the courtesan harem for the emperor) where there’s intrigue and politics. They are indoctrinated with rituals to pledge their loyalty and servitude and must drink sacred water with the other 2000 women there. There’s a medicine seller who is more like a demon hunter, and he’s sensing the presence of a Mononoke - a vengeful demon - haunting the ooku.

Where this anime shines is its style. It’s complex backgrounds and hyper glaring color schemes and visually overwhelming. It’s too much to take in whilst trying to read subtitles. So much to see. It’s like ukiyo on acid. There’s stylish touches like how scents are represented by floating Mon-like circles, the scenes being parsed by sliding doors with illustrations of umbrella yokai. All the walls are covered with murals which move like paintings in Harry Potter. And the Mononoke is a psychedelic multicolored blob that seeps across walls and floors malevolently. It’s the kind of over the top visuals that would shine on a warehouse wall at an underground rave.

Netflix labels this as horror but it’s not that horrifying. It’s more surreal. 

I enjoyed it enough to add part 2 to my queue. Not sure that I’ll give it a D00M rec tho. It’s a bit like hardcore anime and y’all ain’t into that genre so it’d be better for you to start with toned-down stuff - anime-lite. KB might enjoy the visual composition. 

More to come..

[Drunk Monk]

Part 2 - The Ashes of Rage (2025) The sequel takes place a month after the first film, picking up more or less where the first one left off. We're back at the ooku and there's another Mononoke rising, which brings back the medicine seller. I should've noted that the medicine seller wields a magic sword that has a demon face in the pommel that moves about like Mary Poppin's parrot-handled parasol. It can only be drawn after certain conditions are met and can slay Mononoke. 

The sequel is even more intense artistically. The graphics are so ornate, with colorful background murals adorned with yokai symbols and a Mononoke that's like flaming sperm. This one is more graphic, depicting more sex. There's no full on nudity except the emperor's butt as he does his 'night work' with the lead courtesan. Again , the inner politics are confusing with its secrets and subservience. There's the internal tension of which courtesan might bear and heir. And notably, the courtesans are of all races. The creepy monk finally gets his. The Mononoke burns its victims up from the inside. The final battle takes place in some sort of alternate dimensional plane and is crazy colorful. My retinas get exhausted trying to take it all in. 

This is a stronger film than the first, more unabashed about its hyper visual style. Still not D00M recommended. It's too deep anime for y'all. 

I'm planning to watch the final installment of this trilogy over the weekend, if not tonight.

[Drunk Monk]

Curse of the Serpent (2026) ends the trilogy with one more Mononoke, a serpent that was like a long string of prayer flags. A lot is revealed and I think it all made sense but it was so overwhelming visually and it kept flipping back and forth through time and dimensions which made it tough to follow. But still, it’s visually over the top, like no anime I’ve seen before. It’s all about design and triangles in the end, which makes the trilogy work even better. I enjoyed it overall for its fresh vision. Still not D00M recommended. Start with something easier, like Totoro. Y’all ain’t ready yet.