You Should Watch the Horror Anime ‘Mononoke’ Now That It’s On Netflix
Mononoke is one of the weirdest and most unique horror anime out there. Now it’s on Netflix, and it deserves to be your next binge-watch.
Earlier this month Netflix added the horror anime series Mononoke to the streaming service. And if you have Netflix and haven’t had a chance to watch the 2007 series yet, now is the perfect opportunity. But what makes Mononoke special and why should you care about this fifteen-year-old anime? Well…
Nothing Else Looks Like Mononoke
The art style in Mononoke is wild. Not pretty cool, not pretty and imaginative, but absolutely buck wild. The colors and patterns make a world that’s surreal and always seems to be moving on its own. And sometimes this adds to the horror of the series itself. I will say that if you have sensitivities to flashing screens this should be a problem; I have friends who have complained of headaches and worse. But if this isn’t the sort of thing that would bother you, it’s fantastically weird and uniquely beautiful.
The Horror Stories Aren’t Scary But They’re Still Great
Mononoke is definitely within the horror genre. There are ghosts and monsters and curses. Grudges are held from beyond the grave and violence happens. But none of the stories are scary. Instead, each haunting is set up like a mystery where the Medicine Seller-slash-Mononoke Slayer has to get to the bottom of who, what, and why in order to vanquish the evil spirit. When bad things happen, it’s usually to bad people who wronged the spirit in their life. Mostly, the mononoke want recognition and justice to move on, and that’s what the Medicine Seller is there to do.
But this means that we as the audience get to watch a small, spooky mystery become unraveled. Some of them aren’t that difficult, I definitely saw where at least a few of the stories were going based on setup and clues. But all of them are thoughtful and heartbreaking.
It’s Subbed and Dubbed
I do most of my best anime watching while I’m multitasking at work or wrangling a toddler; life is busy and I don’t always have the time to sit here and dutifully read subtitles. I can’t tell you how many slightly older shows I want to finish, but they were never popular enough to get the dub treatment and I don’t have time to sit still and focus on reading the screen. So it’s nice when a show has the option. And Mononoke on Netflix absolutely does.
There’s a Film Coming Out
Not to be confused with Princess Mononoke, the horror anime is scheduled to celebrate its fifteenth anniversary with a movie in 2023. We don’t know much about the movie aside from that Takahiro Sakurai won’t be returning to voice the Medicine Seller, and based on the general layout of the show, I doubt there will be any consistent plot to remember in order to understand this film. But knowing the general gist of things may help potential audience members fall into the rhythm of the movie a little faster.
Have you seen Mononoke? Which story was your favorite? Who do you think should play the Medicine Seller now? Let us know in the comments!
Ja ne, adventurers!
