Mononoke (TV series)

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This article is about the TV series. For the film directed by Hayao Miyazaki, see Princess Mononoke.
Mononoke
File:Mononoke TV 2007.png
Promotional art
モノノ怪
Genre Occult detective
Anime television series
Directed by Kenji Nakamura
Written by Chiaki J. Konaka
Ikuko Takahashi
Michiko Yokote
Manabu Ishikawa
Music by Yasuharu Takanashi
Studio Toei Animation
Licensed by
Network Fuji TV (Noitamina)
Original run July 12, 2007 – September 27, 2007
Episodes 12
Manga
Illustrated by Ninagawa Yaeko
Published by Square Enix
Demographic Seinen
Magazine Young Gangan
Original run August 17, 2007 – August 1, 2008
Volumes 2
Manga
Mononoke: Umibōzu
Illustrated by Ninagawa Yaeko
Published by Tokuma Shoten
Demographic Seinen
Magazine Monthly Comic Zenon
Original run September 25, 2013 – November 25, 2014
Volumes 2
Portal icon Anime and Manga portal

Mononoke (モノノ怪?) is a Japanese animated television series produced by Toei Animation. A spin-off of 2006's horror anthology series Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales, Mononoke follows the character of the medicine seller as he continues to face myriad supernatural perils. Mononoke takes place during the Edo Period Japan with the four class system, Samurai being the highest class and merchants (such as the medicine seller himself) being in the lowest class. Only Samurai were permitted to carry swords, which is why it comes as a shock to many of the characters that the medicine seller would be carrying a sword.

Produced by Toei Animation, the anime series was directed by Kenji Nakamura, written by Chiaki J. Konaka, Ikuko Takahashi, Michiko Yokote and Manabu Ishikawa. Takashi Hashimoto directed the animation and was the character designer, Takashi Kurahashi was the art director, its music was composed by Yasuharu Takanashi, and it was broadcast in Fuji Television's block Noitamina between July 2007 and September 2007, lasting 12 episodes.[1] Siren Visual licensed it for Australasian region.[2]

A manga adaptation of the original Bakeneko arc was published in Young Gangan between August 17, 2007 and August 1, 2008.[3][4] The individual chapters were collected and released in two tankōbon (collected volumes) by Square Enix on January 25, 2008, and September 25, 2008.[5][6] A second manga series started to be published on September 25, 2013 by Tokuma Shoten on its magazine Monthly Comic Zenon.[7] The last chapter of it was serialized in Monthly Comic Zenon on November 25, 2014.[citation needed] The series was released into two volumes on July 19, 2014, and December 20, 2014 respectively.[8][9]

Main Staff

Projector: Yōko Matsuzaki (Fuji Television Network, Inc.)

Series director: Kenji Nakamura

Character designer & Chief animation director: Takashi Motohashi

Script: Michiko Yokote, Chiaki J. Konaka, Ikuko Takahashi, Ishikawa Manabu

Art director: Kurahashi Takashi, Yumi Hosaka

CG director: Nobuhiro Morida

Producer: Toei Animation

Music director: Yukio Nagasaki

Music: Yasuharu Takanashi

Manga: Ninagawa Yaeko (Published in YOUNG GANGAN)

Plot & Characters

Mononoke follows a wandering, nameless character known only as the "Medicine Seller" (voiced by Takahiro Sakurai). The series is made up of individual chapters in which the medicine seller encounters, combats and subsequently destroys mononoke. The "mononoke" are a type of ayakashi, unnatural spirits that linger in the human world.

The Medicine Seller always proceeds in the same manner, using his knowledge of the supernatural to fend off the mononoke until he can learn the spirit's shape (Katachi), truth (Makoto) and reasoning (Kotowari). Only then can he unsheathe his sword and exorcise the demon. The English subtitles translate these three necessities as Form, Truth, and Reason.

Episodes 1–2: Zashiki-warashi 座敷童子

Plot

While spending the night in a traditional inn, the Medicine Seller stumbles upon a strange phenomenon. A pregnant woman named Shino who is desperately seeking shelter at the inn is led to the last vacant room. The room, though, is haunted by a group of Zashiki Warashi. When the Zashiki Warashi kill an assassin aiming for Shino's life, protecting Shino and her unborn child, the Medicine Seller inquires into the origin of the mononoke.

The innkeeper reveals that the inn used to be a brothel, which she owned and ran. The innkeeper forced her prostitutes to abort their children so that they could continue working; eventually, she reserved Shino's room as an offering to the unborn children. The Medicine Seller realizes that the mononoke are attracted to Shino because of their strong desire to be born. The Zashiki Warashi want Shino to give birth to them, and she agrees, much to the Medicine Seller's dismay. She pulls the talisman warding off the mononoke from her stomach. As it turns out the Zashiki Warashi that she had met upon her arrival was in fact her own child. But since it is impossible for more than one spirit to share the same body, he is forced out. As the two say farewell the spirit of her baby is replaced.

Characters

Shino 志乃（しの）

Voiced by Rie Tanaka

The pregnant woman who seeks shelter at a rainy night. She had young lord's baby when working in a landlord's house and wishes to give birth safely.

Hisayo 久代（ひさよ）

Voiced by Toshiko Fujita

The keeper of the inn which used to be a brothel she owned. The room she offered to Shino was where she forced her prostitutes to abort children.

Tokuji 徳次（とくじ）

Voiced by Kōzō Shiotani

A helper in the inn and he is also the one who assisted Hisayo to force prostitutes to abort.

Naosuke 直助（なおすけ）

Voiced by Eiji Takemoto

A killer who wants to kill Shino and her baby.

Young Lord

Voiced by Yūsuke Numata

The one who made Shino pregnant and then abandoned her.

Zashiki Warashi (座敷童子)

Voiced by Aiko Hibi

The spirit of those kids killed by Hisayo many years ago.

Episodes 3–5: Umibōzu 海坊主

Plot

Traveling on a merchant's luxurious ship, the Medicine Seller and the other passengers drift into the Dragon's Triangle, a mysterious sea full of ayakashi. Among the passengers are Kayo, a servant girl from the Sakai house of Bakeneko fame, Genkei, a Buddhist monk, and Genyousai, a minstrel and spiritualist. Through the appearance of Umizatou, an ayakashi who demands that the passengers reveal their worst fears, the group discovers that Genkei was the one who set the ship off course. Genkei explains that it was the hatred of his late sister Oyou that attracted the ayakashi and created the Dragon's Triangle—Oyou took Genkei's place in an utsurobune, a ship made from a hollowed log, and set sail as a sacrifice to appease the ayakashi. The Medicine Seller discovers that Genkei is responsible for attracting the ayakashi; unable to accept that he had been joyful rather than guilty when his sister took his place, Genkei had allowed his darker emotions to separate from him in the form of a mononoke. The Medicine Seller exterminates the mononoke at Genkei's request and restores calm to the Dragon's Triangle.

Characters

Kayo 加世(かよ)

Voiced by Yukana

A woman who knows the medicine seller in previous series (怪~ Akayashi~). She is a servant girl seeking a new job in Edo.

Genkei 源慧(げんけい)

Voiced by Ryusei Nakao

A respected Buddhist monk.

Sōgen 菖源(そうげん)

Voiced by Daisuke Namikawa

An apprentice monk following Genkei.

Hyōe Sasaki 佐々木兵衛(ささき ひょうえ)

Voiced by Daisuke Sakaguchi

A young samurai who possesses a famous sword named Kanesada.

Genyōsai Yanagi 柳幻殃斉(やなぎ げんようさい)

Voiced by Tomokazu Seki

A minstrel practicing Shugendō who is knowledgeable about ayakashi.

Tamon Mikuniya 三國屋多門(みくにや たもん)

Voiced by Yasuhiro Takato

The owner of the ship.

Goromaru 五浪丸(ごろうまる)

Voiced by Eiji Takemoto

The captain of the ship.

Umizatou 海座頭

Voiced by Norio Wakamoto

An ayakashi who demands that the passengers reveal their worst fears.

Oyō お庸(およう)

Voiced by Haruna Ikezawa

The younger sister of Genkei. She volunteered herself to replace Genkei to sacrifice for the ayakashi.

Episodes 6–7: Noppera-bō のっぺらぼう

Plot

A despairing woman named Ochou, wishing for freedom but unable to escape her oppression, confesses to killing her husband's entire family. The Medicine Seller doubts this story and visits Ochou in her prison cell to ask her for the truth, but encounters a mononoke in a Noh mask who fights the Medicine Seller and allows Ochou to escape. The man in the mask convinces Ochou that he has given her freedom by helping her kill her family, but the Medicine Seller pursues the two and reveals to Ochou that she had killed not her husband's family, but herself. Ochou married into a good family as her mother wished, but in her desire to please her mother, withstood abuse from her new family to the point of forsaking any happiness she could have gained from her life. When Ochou realizes this, the man in the Noh mask vanishes, and Ochou finds herself in her kitchen. It is implied that the man in the mask was an illusion conjured by the Medicine Seller to help Ochou escape—at the end of the episode, Ochou ignores her husband's orders and leaves her family, gaining the freedom she had long desired.

Characters

Ochō お蝶（おちょう）

Voiced by Houko Kuwashima

A woman married into a good family and in order to please her mother, she withstands abuse from her husband's family.

Man in Fox Mask 仮面の男

Voiced by Hikaru Midorikawa

An ayakashi wearing a fox mask. He can change his fox mask to other masks.

Ochō's Motherお蝶の実母

Voiced by Ako Mayama

She wishes Ochō can marry into a good samurai family because she lost her husband.

Ochō's husband お蝶の亭主

Voiced by Eiji Takemoto

He treats Ochō badly as if she is a servant.

Ochō's husband's mother 姑

Voiced by Oriko Uemura

She doesn't like Ochō.

Ochō's brother in law 義理の弟

Voiced by Hiroshi Okamoto

He treats Ochō badly.

Wife of Ochō's brother in law 義理の弟の嫁

Voiced by Aki Sasaki

She treats Ochō badly as well.

Magistrate 奉行

Voiced by Fukuhara Kouhei

He judges Ochō's case.

Episodes 8–9: Nue 鵺

Plot

Three men seeking to marry Lady Ruri, the sole heir to the Fuenokouji school of incense (Kōdō), arrive at her mansion to participate in a competition of incense only to find that the fourth suitor is missing and that the Medicine Seller has taken his place. During the competition, Lady Ruri is murdered. When the Medicine Seller inquires as to why the three suitors are so desperate to inherit the school even after Lady Ruri's death, the suitors reveal that the competition is not actually over the school of incense, but the Toudaiji, a piece of wood rumored to grant its owner great power.

Although Medicine Seller presides over a second incense contest, none of the three suitors win the Toudaiji, as all are killed. It is revealed that the suitors had already been killed by the Toudaiji, and that the Medicine Seller put on this act to make them realize their deaths. The Medicine Seller then asks the Toudaiji, the true mononoke, to reveal itself. The Toudaiji draws its sense of self-esteem from the fact that people value it so highly, yet in truth, it is nothing but a rotting piece of wood. The Toudaiji kills those who seek it, including Lady Ruri's suitors, perpetuating the bloodshed for its sake. The Medicine Seller destroys the Toudaiji, appeasing the souls of its victims, including Lady Ruri's suitors.

Characters

Ōsawa Rōbo 澤廬房(おおさわ ろぼう)

Voiced by Takeshi Aono

One of Lady Ruri's suitors. A courtier.

Muromachi Tomoyoshi 室町具慶(むろまち ともよし)

Voiced by Eiji Takemoto

One of Lady Ruri's suitors. A Samurai.

Nakarai Tansui 半井淡澄(なからい たんすい)

Voiced by Masashi Hirose

One of Lady Ruri's suitors. A merchant.

Jissonji Konari 実尊寺惟勢(じっそんじ これなり)

Voiced by Naoya Uchiba

One of Lady Ruri's suitors. The one was death before the competition.

Lady Ruri 瑠璃姫(るりひめ)

Voiced by Wakana Yamazaki

The princess who owns dōdaiji. She was murdered during the competition.

Old woman 老いた尼僧

Voiced by Yuri Kobayashi

A servant of Lady Ruri.

Girl 童女

Voiced by Kamada Kozue

A mysterious girl who suddenly appear and then disappear.

Nue 鵺

A kind of mononoke that has the face of a monkey, the legs of a tiger , the body of a Japanese Raccoon Dog and the front half of a snake for a tail.

Episodes 10–12: Bakeneko 化猫

Plot

Set in a time decidedly later than the previous arcs—implied to be in the 1920s—the Medicine Seller boards a train with several other passengers. Unfortunately, the train hits a ghostly girl on the tracks, and six passengers and the Medicine Seller are locked in the first car. The Medicine Seller questions the passengers to reveal a dark connection between them, shedding light on the murder of a young newspaper reporter. At the end of the episode the woman's spirit has its revenge, the passengers are saved, and the Medicine Seller challenges the audience to reveal to him their Truth and Reason, vowing to continue hunting mononoke as long as they roam the world.

Characters

Kiyoshi Moriya 森谷清(もりや きよし)

Voiced by Eiji Takemoto

A journalist who colludes with the mayor. Because they don't want to reveal the secret of the subway, he murdered Setsuko who knows the truth.

Setsuko Ichikawa 市川節子(いちかわ せつこ)

Voiced by Fumiko Orikasa

A journalist. A subordinate of Kiyoshi Moriya. She found out the secret of the subway and attempted to report it, but the she was killed by Moriya. She reappeared as a ghost and finally killed Moriya.

Jyutarō Fukuda 福田寿太郎(ふくだ じゅたろう)

Voiced by Hiroshi Iwasaki

The mayor.

Sakae Kadowaki 門脇栄(かどわき さかえ)

Voiced by Minoru Inaba

A police whose task is to protect the mayor.

Bunpei Kinoshita 木下文平(きのした ぶんぺい)

Voiced by Seiji Sasaki

The driver of the train. Because he was tired when driving, he wasn't able to stop the train when he found Setsuko dropped on the railway.

Nomoto Chiyo 野本チヨ(のもと ちよ)

Voiced by Yukana

A waitress in a cafe who wishes to a celebrity. In order to be known, she provided false testimony to polices about Setsuko's death.

Haru Yamaguchi 山口ハル(やまぐち はる)

Voiced by Yoko Soumi

A widow. She heard the scream when meeting her lover, but she ignored it.

Masao Kobayashi 小林正男(こばやし まさお)

Voiced by Aiko Hibi

A milk delivery boy who witness the death of Setsuko but escaped without calling the policy.

Episode List

Episode Japanese Title English Title Script Animation Director Art
1 座敷童子（前編） Zashiki-warashi（Part 1） Ikuko Takahashi Kenji Nakamura Kenji Nakamura

Kohei Hatano

 Hashimoto Takashi
2 座敷童子（後編） Zashiki-warashi（Part 2） Hisashi Watanabe Natsuki Watanabe
3 海坊主（序の幕） Umibōzu （Part 1） Chiaki J. Konaka Kazuhiro Furuhashi Mana Uchiyama Ikai Kazuyuki
4 海坊主（二の幕） Umibōzu （Part 2） Yoshihisa Matsumoto Soga Atsushi
5 海坊主（大詰め） Umibōzu （Part 3） Kohei Hatano Hidemi Kubo

Yuuji Hakamada
6 のっぺらぼう（前編） Noppera-bō（Part 1） Manabu Ishikawa Hidehito Ueda Tatsuya Oka
7 のっぺらぼう（後編） Noppera-bō（Part 2） Atsutoshi Umezawa

Hisashi

Watanabe

 Yukihiko Nakao Natsuki Watanabe

Yuji Hakamada
8 鵺（前編） Nue（Part 1） Chiaki J. Konaka Koji Yamasaki Megumi Ishihara

Hidemi Kubo
9 鵺（後編） Nue（Part 2） Hideoki Kusama

Shigeki Kuhara Kenji Hayama Megumi Ishihara
10 化猫（序の幕） Bakeneko（Part 1） Ikuko Takahashi Iku Ishiguro Kohei Hatano Mikine Kuwahara

Yuji Hakamada
11 化猫（二の幕） Bakeneko（Part 2） Hidehito Ueda Tatsuya Oka
12 化猫（大詰め） Bakeneko（Part 3） Michiko Yokote Kenji Nakamura Takashi Hashimoto

Music

Opening theme - Last quarter moon (Kagen no Tsuki / 下弦の月)
Lyrics - Ai Kawa (香和文) / Composer & Arranger - Ryōta Komatsu / Singers - Ryōta Komatsu & Charlie Kosei
Ending theme - Summer flower (Natsu no Hana / ナツノハナ)
Lyrics - Miyuki Hashimoto / Composer- Naohisa Taniguchi / Arranger - CHOKKAKU / Singer - JUJU

Manga Series

Mononoke （published by Young Gangan Comics, Square Enix）
Illustrator - Yaeko Ninagawa.
Original work - Anime「Bakeneko」by Kai 〜ayakashi〜 Production Committee.
Serialized in magazine 『Young Gangan Comics』.
Mononoke -Umibōzu- （published by Zenon Comics, North Stars Pictures, sold by Tokuma Shoten）
Illustrator - Yaeko Ninagawa.
Script - Chiaki J. Konaka.
Original Work - Anime「Umibōzu」by 〜Mononoke〜Production Committee.
Serialized in magazine 『Zenon Comics』.
Mononoke -Zashiki Warashi- （published by Zenon Comics, North Stars Pictures, sold by Tokuma Shoten）
Illustrator - Yaeko Ninagawa.
Original work - Anime「Zashiki Warashi」by 〜Mononoke〜 Production Committee.
Serialized in magazine 『Zenon Comics』.
Mononoke -Nue- （published by Tokuma Shoten）
Illustrator - Yaeko Ninagawa.
Original work - Anime「Nue」by 〜Mononoke〜 Production Committee.
  • （will be published in 2016）
Serializing in magazine 『Zenon Comics』.

Reception

The directing and art have been called "boldly confrontational."[10] It blends a murder mystery structure with "twist of supernatural and a shake of historical, peppered with plenty of stylistic experimentation." It frequently achieves "the ideal - great directing combined with great animation." [10] The Mainichi newspaper said it could not be dismissed as a mere experiment, and that the story's themes were every bit as advanced as the digital animation techniques employed.[11]

References

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External links

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