Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
If nothing else, the 2024 anime “Mononoke the Movie: Phantom in the Rain” is a frenzied, beautiful burst of colors, and if you’re a ‘subtle, monochrome’ kind of person, this fantasy-horror movie’s palette might seem overwhelming!
Directed by Kenji Nakamura, who also helmed the 2007 mini-series Mononoke, this 2024 film version follows a similar plot: a mysterious medicine seller travels across medieval Japan, hunting down malevolent spirits known as “Mononoke.” This time, he arrives at the Ōoku, the imperial harem of the ruling Shogun, a place filled with beautiful women tasked with ensuring the birth of a male heir. Two young women, Kame and Asa, newly arrive at the Ōoku to serve as handmaids. As they train for their roles, a series of eerie events unfold, prompting the medicine seller to confront the Mononoke haunting the premises.
From the very first scene, it’s the bright, colorful 2D artistic animation style of “Mononoke” that will keep most viewers hooked to each moment in the movie. Just like the series, the artwork looks like it’s hand painted on aged paper, or like the animation has been cast on an old wall via a projector. The decoration within the gilded rooms of the Ōoku is stunning, with gorgeous painting all over its walls and sliding doors. Several transitions in the movie are achieved dramatically through the loud closing of the ornate sliding doors, which add a seamless rhythm to each changing scene.
Mononoke is 90 minutes long and dizzily paced; the story unfolds so quickly that it can be hard to keep up with what’s really happening. However, as the plot progresses, the writers answer almost every question that arises, particularly for viewers unfamiliar with the older series. For instance, in some scenes, the women in the Ōoku are shown to be faceless, and this initially serves as a metaphor for their invisibility and lack of identity as maids. But when characters within the film also start noticing something wrong with their faces, the medicine seller explains that the Mononoke is capable of inducing hallucinations.
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In one scene, almost all the women in the Ōoku appear faceless, except for Kame and Asa, the new arrivals. This is because they still have their individual identities intact and haven’t yet been broken by the strict rigors and rules of the place. While Asa is mature, intelligent, and hopes that working in the Ōoku will help her become a scribe, the cheery and clumsy Kame is more interested in making it to the inner chambers of the Shogun. Despite their contrasting personalities, the two young women quickly form a friendship. However, while Asa immediately catches the eye of Lady Utayama, who wields all the power in the Ōoku, Kame is seen as more of a troublemaker.
Although some suspect the newcomers might have something to do with the eerie happenings, the truth is that their arrival awakens a spirit who was once part of the Ōoku. The medicine seller must uncover the secrets of this spirit to defeat the vicious entity, unraveling a tragic Pandora’s box in the process. The climactic minutes of “Mononoke the Movie: Phantom in the Rain” is a charged, crazy face-off between the medicine seller and the spirit, with the latter attempting to claim more women as its victims. And just when you think the medicine-seller has solved the case, a little twist indicates the worst isn’t over, and the film ends with the promise of a part 2.
Rating: 7.5 on 10. Stream Mononoke on Netflix.
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