Thanksgiving is the perfect time to settle in and binge one’s favorite shows after feasting on holiday staples, and Netflix has made that easier than ever by finally dropping the latest installment in the Mononoke franchise on Netflix. Originally released in Japan in July 2024, fans have been waiting anxiously to see the Medicine Seller make his Netflix debut. Mononoke the Movie: Phantom in the Rain is a supernatural horror film that follows the Medicine Seller from the Mononoke anime series as he arrives to the Inner Chambers to unravel an increasingly bizarre mystery that takes a dark and deadly turn.
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Being the first installment in a currently in-progress film trilogy, Phantom in the Rain is directed by Kenji Nakamura, who directed the original anime series and stars Hiroshi Kamiya (Levi Ackerman in Attack on Titan, Izaya Orihara in Durarara!!) as the Medicine Seller. The film adaptation was originally announced in June 2022 with an anticipated release window in 2023 but was later postponed to 2024. The film initially debuted in Montreal during the 28th Fantasia International Film festival before receiving a theatrical run in Japan. Shortly after, Netflix acquired the global streaming rights for the trilogy.
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Mononoke Is a Technicolor Nightmare That Every Anime Fan Should Experience
Originally produced by Toei Animation in 2007, Mononoke is actually a spin-off of an anime series from 2006 titled Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales. One of the stories in Ayakashi, which featured the Medicine Seller, became so popular that it just made sense to give him his own series, allowing him to continue on his macabre journey, facing off against many supernatural threats.
The original anime ran for 12 episodes and follows five separate story arcs. In each, the wandering Medicine Seller takes on different nefarious spirits that attach themselves to negative human emotions and plague those around them. The Medicine Seller aids those under the effects of the evil spirits by using his knowledge of the paranormal to learn the spirit’s shape (Katachi), truth (Makoto), and reasoning (Kotowari). Once he has this information, he’s able to fight the spirit directly.
Each of the five story arcs that make up the original anime series are strikingly beautiful and absolutely haunting. Despite releasing in 2007, each episode has aged gracefully and still carries the same terrifying weight as it was originally released. The newly released Mononoke film Phantom in the Rain brings all that same energy back on a feature-length scale with the striking quality one can only find in film.
This Mononoke story is self-contained and centered on a limited number of characters that the Medicine Seller is tasked with helping. We’re sure it’ll be a terrifyingly gorgeous experience to hype up fans of the franchise. It stokes excitement for upcoming installments in the franchise while rightfully pulling in new audience members to fall in love with the elusive, wandering samurai.
H/T Netflix
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