Common Name: Fukigen na Mononokean
Alternative Names: The Morose Mononokean
Score: 7/10, 3/5
Length: 2 Seasons of 13 Episodes
Genre: Action, Comedy, Drama, Supernatural
Summary: For all his life, Ashiya Hanae has been able to see the supernatural beings that haunt and inhabit the mundane world. Seeing doesn't necessarily translate to understanding, though, since his noticing them often causes him to unwittingly draw their attention and cursing him in the process. One day, after being possessed by a furball-like demon, Hanae runs into a young man who serves as an intermediary between the supernatural and human world, Abeno Haruitsuki. In payment for ridding him of the hairball's curse, Abeno takes the gifted Hanae on as an apprentice exorcist for the Mononokean. As he studies under Abeno, though, Hanae quickly learns that there might be more to these spirits and demons than he initially thought. What's more, they might be the key to learning about why Hanae has the ability to see them and whatever became of his long-lost father.
Review: Yokai or demon/spirit stories have always been something of a mixed bag when it comes to the world of anime. Equally inclined to be used for comedy as they are horror, action, and even romance, there's no real limit to what the genre can and has been used for. Take, for example, the massive difference in how that general theme is used with shows like Hoozuki no Reitetsu, Jigoku Shoujo, and Youkai Watch. Despite being wildly disparate series, they all hinge on that same obsession with the supernatural, mythical, and otherworldly. The only real difference with each iteration of that obsession is the perspective we're meant to regard the supernatural from, based on the intended genre. With comedies, we're meant to see how absurd a lot of Japan's supernatural creatures really are when you look at them objectively. With action and horror, we see how intimidating and horrifying those creatures can be when we are unprepared to deal with them. Meanwhile, slice of life series and romances essentially work to humanize the inhuman by showcasing how these creatures might live alongside humanity. And then, lastly, you have those strange shows that try to balance multiple genres while tackling a supernatural theme. Some shows can manage those genres well and end up being pretty decent, like Noragami with its balance of action, comedy, and a little sprinkling of romance. Most titles, though, only reach a state of mediocrity because they settled on being a jack of all trades but master of none. Now, while Fukigen na Mononokean occasionally feels like it might fall into the first category, it ultimately ends up being firmly planted in the latter when all is said and done.
Despite my calling it mediocre, don't think for a moment that I don't like it.
To put it as bluntly as possible, Mononokean simply tries to do far too many things. What genre this show falls into sways erratically back and forth with each story. In one segment, we'll get a comedy story of the main characters being confused for yakuza when some kids catch them making a mess of a playground for the sake of a monster looking for its home. In another, we'll get an absolutely soul-crushing story about learning to let your loved ones go for their own sake. Then, out of nowhere, the show will dedicate a good four minutes to one of the characters advancing the actual plot while the rest of the cast is off working on the story of the day. Yet, while that formula could accurately be described as an episodic filler show with some light sprinklings of a story, I can't say that it doesn't work. Over the course of all this episodic content, we get to get a real feel for the main cast of characters as they engage with a wide variety of scenarios. For example, while the character of Ashiya Hanae can be quickly summed up as your typical cinnamon bun protagonist that's too ignorant to do any intentional harm, we get to see the various sides of that personality over the course of each episode. Unique strengths and flaws of that character become more apparent as he faces problems he's never had to deal with before and clashes with his co-star, Abeno Haruitsuki. Despite being pure, innocent, and kind to a fault, we see his backstory and personality unfold as he digs his heels in on some issues and falls to pieces on others. For example, once he learns to make friends with the youkai of the human world, he becomes their champion and will go out of his way to help them. The minute he sees how scary they can be, though, he starts to hesitate a little more and subsequently grows as he learns to overcome that fear. Then, through that growth, he eventually learns to strike a balance between the mundane and supernatural worlds that is similar to but also different from Abeno's own approach to how youkai-human issues should be handled.
And that, of course, ultimately leads to them forming the typical yaoi pairing where
they care for one another but end up butting heads over the littlest things.
Just because this formula works doesn't mean that it's perfect, though. Issues with the tone, pace, and consistency crop up almost constantly over the course of the series. And, to make matters worse, the episodic format makes it very easy to feel like nothing is actually happening over the course of the show. The first season, for instance, pretty much exists for one, sole purpose: get Ashiya to overcome his instant fear of any new youkai and learn to, instead, instantly care about their well-being. In other words, the first season simply works to push toward an inevitable conclusion. Since Ashiya is already depicted as someone that's empathetic to a fault, it just figures that we would learn to care about the youkai once he'd gotten enough exposure to their way of thinking and how they generally function as individuals. In other words, the minute Ashiya became best friends with a youkai that had possessed him just because it wanted a friend, there was no question that he would eventually feel the same way about any other non-aggressive being. Yet, despite that being the ultimate goal, Abeno spends the entirety of the first season talking down to Ashiya for getting so attached to them. As the master of the Mononokean, an intermediary organization that monitors youkai in the human world and send them to the spiritual realm when it becomes clear that they can no longer coexist with human society, it makes sense that Abeno would be something of a stern boss that emphasizes his neutrality toward the members of each world. Yet, because he's established early on as someone who likes youkai better than people, Abeno often ends up looking like a hypocrite whenever he scolds Ashiya for his self-sacrificial behavior.
You never know when it comes to youkai shows really. Maybe bashing your head on a rock
unlocks some latent power or breaks a seal or something equally unreasonable.
Yet, despite the issues of the first season, things actually start to come together in the second. For starts, something like an actual main storyline starts to develop that also works to rationalize some of the character issues that didn't really get addressed in the first. For instance, while it is fairly evident that Abeno might scold Ashiya as a means to keep him safe from more dangerous youkai, that thought is actually affirmed. One of the second season's big plot points is, in fact, that Ashiya has become the target of one of the spirit world's most powerful youkai, a crow demon known simply as "the Executive." As such, the Executive makes its power and influence known as some of the show's episodic youkai end up being pawns of the Executive's greater plans, observing and outright attacking Ashiya whenever possible. Then, to take the story one step further, the question of why the Executive has it in for Ashiya brings forward the question of what Ashiya's long-lost father might have to do with the Mononokean. So, while still looking very much like an episodic series, the second season functionally works to actually pull on the various threads that are simply name-dropped in the first season. From Abeno's history with his predecessor, Aoi, to the origin of Ashiya's supernatural abilities, the second season fleshes out the intrigue that was present within the show all along. Whether it's worth sticking through a season of nothing to get to that intrigue ultimately boils down to personal preference and tolerance but it is gratifying to know that there is some benefit to sticking with a mediocre.
I suppose that's a good a place as any to stop.
The unfortunate thing about this kind of series, though, is that there really isn't all that much to talk about. With the first season being little more than a prologue centered around an inevitability and the second being the follow-up that picks up all the threads that were hinted at, very little critique can be offered other than a summation of events. All the more so when most of the show's episodes could be enjoyed on their own. So, all that can really be said is that the show works. The main characters, despite being nothing new concept-wise, play off one another well and do a fairly good job of making us care about them and the youkai they come to serve. Ashiya, for example, does a good job of getting the youkai to actually talk things out and explain their situation in a way that would convince him and, by proxy, us to care about their plight. In comparison, Abeno's cold, stoic personality adds a level of intrigue as we try to puzzle how he actually thinks and why, particularly when it comes to how his view of youkai differs form Ashiya's. As these two bounce off one another and come together to solve the youkai problem of the day, the show maintains at least a base level of interest that peaks when a particular episode proves to be something special. What that ultimately means, though, is that the series as a whole is filled with far more valleys than peaks. That being said, it should come as no surprise that I don't really feel inclined to recommend Fukigen no Mononokean. As much as I like the show, it struggled to hold my interest and only really kept me hooked because of a few standout episodes, most of which are in the second season. Still, I'd argue that it isn't necessarily bad either. It's just one of those shows that you could pass the time with if you have nothing else to watch but, considering how many shows are airing these days, that should never be an issue.