I love watching classic horror anime and manga. There are lot of dark vibes in them. Not only that they have specific depth in the old animations which you can't find in the modern one as they are more CGI focused. In old horror anime, every dark shade in the anime, kind of show you the depth of the horror animators of those times tried to put across.
Mononoke is more of that category of anime. It started as pretty odd anime style but in later 2 installments it improved a lot of it's execution both animation and story wise. If you like horror anime that deals with supernatural creatures and the stories of their nirvana then you are going to love Mononoke anime.
Let's start the review of Mononoke.
Image Credit : animelist
Story
Mononoke is often mistaken as the "Princess Mononoke" anime on the search due to the popularity of the later. The mononoke we are reviewing here is the spin-off of the bakenako story arc of Ayakashi. The ayakashi is a classical horror anime with the darker stories which were later adopted by many manga and anime writers. This spinoff has three arcs in total. First arc was in the late 90s which has pretty old yet classical animation. This animation was later improved in next two arcs.
The anime has total 12 episodes that you will enjoy.
Image Credit : animelist
Just like the medicine seller in the Mushishi anime. You will find one cold faced yet extremely cunning medicine seller moving from one village to another. In the journey he meets various types of the supernatural and the other worldly beings. Unlike the mushishi anime, here the beings are not cured but trapped and sent to another world where they belong. Mushishi on the other hand keeps the balance of humans and the creatures to maintain their balance on earth.
Here you will find each story being different and the effort taken by the medicine seller to deal with the supernatural forces is pretty much interesting. You may find most of those paranormal activities and the scare jumps are not strong yet they are beautifully painted and makes you think about those supernatural forces.
Art & Animation
In 1990s and 1980s Japanese anime had various type of the paper cut animation style. And they made this animation style mostly for some of the small stories or short story based animation series. And it worked out in that time. Considering we are in 2021. Many of the kids and the adults may not like this old animation style. The art however is pretty beautiful and gives you classical vibes especially if you like different art that has the cultural vibe in it.
Image Credit : animelist
The later two arcs however are improved animation which does not follow the same art type as that of the first arc. You may find the animation much different in rest two arcs. Art like this is not easy to find these days, and the paper cut animation type even more rare in any studios these days. I doubt modern population may even appreciate this classical art style in near future.
Character
You don't find many characters in the mononoke. As the story arcs are designed in such way that you are going to focus on the medicine seller who is nameless here. And he is being addressed as the medicine seller and not the real name with surname etc. Which is kind of odd considering mushi shi has the ginko san mentioned in the story. I assume that the mononoke authors want us to focus on the medicine seller for his work instead of his backstory etc. Supernatural twists and the stories are what they want you to focus on.
Image Credit : animelist
I'd say each story that you watch within it will keep you engaging if you appreciate the classic horror. Unlike modern horror it wont drag you quick but gives you feeling of the scenario before putting the horror in front of you. Which is pretty much hard these days to find.
What's not to like about Mononoke?
Some people may not like the animation style. Some people won't find the jump scare or anything creepy if they are used to slow burn horror style. I personally loved both those items so its not the reason I wont like it. But papercut type animation, audio in it and also watching this in sub may not be for all.
Should you watch this?
Absolutely go for it. If you like classical beautifully drawn animation and also good horror of that time. You are going to love the series. Though you may find yourself finishing the 12 episodes in one sitting if you binge watch. The series is out there on both Netflix and Crunchyroll depending on your region settings, you can find them.
If you like classical horror and don't mind experiment with old papercut animation style, then this is a good anime to watch over this weekend.