A Door to Two Worlds: Thoughts on The Morose Mononokean
The Morose Mononokean (不機嫌なモノノケ庵 Fukigen na Mononokean)
(Anime 2016)
Manga Created By: Kiri Wazawa
Studio: Pierrot+
I was curious about this anime just from the title and the promotional poster for it on Crunchyroll.
Hanae Ashiya is a first-year high school student whose ideal high school life is shattered when a mysterious fuzzy creature latches onto him and starts to drain Ashiya’s life energy. In order to get rid of this creature, he asks Haruitsuki Abeno, the master of the Mononokean, to exorcise the yokai. Yet once Abeno has done so, Ashiya is forced to become his employee because Ashiya couldn’t afford the payment fee for the exorcism.
In the beginning, Ashiya had no interest in learning about yokai and the underworld, but after going on a couple of missions with Abeno, Ashiya begins to grow fond of them.
The first comment I would like to make is the art, particularly when Abeno and Ashiya travel to the demon world. The setting is illustrated like a Japanese art scroll painting. The use of watercolors on the town and landscapes and the yellowish undertones have this antiqueness to it.
Another factor that I found interesting in this anime is the functionality of the Mononokean and the different spaces used for this story. The Mononokean is the tea room that Abeno inhabits, which is also a yokai. The Mononokean speaks through the wall scroll and possesses its own thoughts and feelings. The story takes place in the “mundane human world” and the yokai world. Yet the Mononokean is the middle ground of these two worlds and it allows one to travel to and from both worlds. Abeno is the “master of the Mononokean.” Abeno and his employees are the only ones that can control the Mononokean’s power. Abeno serves to guide yokai to their rightful home, the demon world, as oppose to roaming around the human realm.
Lastly, the central theme I got from The Morose Mononokean is the importance of lending a helping hand. In every episode, Ashiya was willing to help any yokai that is in need of their assistance even if that yokai is the deadliest or scariest. Ashiya puts the yokai first before his own well-being, which causes great trouble for Abeno at times. However, it is Ashiya’s selflessness and kindness that brings forth valuable friendships towards him and Abeno, and when these two are in need, their yokai friends come to help.
The Morose Mononokean is a fun supernatural/fantasy anime to watch when you are bored. It’s an underrated anime that I think should be given some attention.
5/5
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Just Something About LynLyn 
While I quite enjoyed this anime I just kept wanting more from it. It was always just kind of pleasant and the story rolled along which is fine but it was never particularly exciting. Mostly I just kind of wished we’d learned more about the characters or that there was a second season because it feels like we are barely scratching the surface of things in this season.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it.
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Oh yeah, I wish that there is a second season, but I doubt it. I also wasn’t expecting much since the manga is still ongoing but the simple story plot satisfied me.
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I’m stuck at episode 8. I agree with Karandi. The story isn’t that exciting enough to keep us wanting for more. I like Fuzzy so I continued watching. But now I’m stuck.
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Lol. Fuzzy is cute.
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HE IS! So fluffy!
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I liked this anime, it’s cute and vibrant and the different yokai they dealt with were interesting, but something about the anime didn’t really manage to pull me in enough. Maybe it was the narratives, maybe I was just too busy at the time when I watched it to really let myself get pulled in, but I totally get the appeal of the anime for you :).
I actually came to visit your about page to let you know I nominated you for the sunshine blogger award, but I spotted this post and thought I’d let you know along with my own thoughts on the Morose Mononokean, an anime that although I ended up dropping it, was interesting and intriguing nonetheless 😉 .
https://sebastianosblog.wordpress.com/2017/01/08/sunshine-blogger-award/
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Yeah, this anime gave you like a snapshot of the manga, but there seems to be more to the story that it can’t just be developed in 13 episodes. For example, there’s some hidden power within the main character that is only mentioned in one episode but didn’t fully develop.
Thanks for the nomination. I actually made it to my 5 person per award on that one so unfortunately, I won’t be doing a post for that. But thank you ❤
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Oh! Thank you for the review! I just recently finished watching this and will now be reading the manga. I wanted more. 😀
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No problem. I watched this anime because I like the art style of the underworld. XD
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Same here. Well, technically apart from the art style, story seemed pretty interesting enough. I’m hoping to really know more about it through the manga. 😀
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Yeah, there’s a lot more in the manga than the anime. I probably won’t read the manga since I don’t have time @_@
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Haha thank you for patiently replying to me. I’m glad to meet manga/anime bloggers. I’ve been blogging for awhile now but, this is the first time I’ve considered to really blog about the manga and anime I’ve been reading. Love your blog by the way. As for the manga, I’ve got a manga app where I read it. So, I usually read it whenever I’m on transit. A preloaded version would be a good suggested, that is if you’d want to resume reading any manga stories. There are difference between the anime adaptation and manga too. Anyhow really big thanks for the review! ^_^ I want a fluffy of my own in the future. 😀
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Thank you for the kind words, and you should definitely write about anime and manga.
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Haha I’m not that good but, thank you! I’ll give it a try. 😀
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yes yes, the WP aniblogging community is fun 🙂
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Reblogged this on Magsi rover and commented:
One of the recent anime series that I was able to watch completely during my long break from writing. I probably would be writing my own review and how I think about this anime soon but, for now. Please do check out LynLynsay.com’s review about the anime. 😀 Cheers and thanks for dropping by!
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