Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage
This review contains spoilers
- I've not been a huge fan of Mononoke. Even the show I liked but didn't love. I have always loved the art, which is why I watched it to begin with.
- I think the main problem I've had is that while it's interesting, its exploration of dark themes have always been intellectual and never emotional. Great art hits both because humans need both. You see this reflected in how the Medicine Seller (who's so cool and just walks around saying cryptic and cool shit until he eventually gets down to business) needs to find the form, truth and reason before he can unsheathe his sword and slay the mononoke.
- So the failure of the series and first chapter is that it gets the form (beautiful mixture of traditional Japanese animation and 3D models) and truth (a plot where fun things happen), but not the reason (the emotion).
- But here, it hits the reason. It focusing on grief from an abortion might be the reason. It just feels so personal, even though I can't relate to it. A mononoke trying to burn itself and a woman burning herself, declaring herself as "unforgivable" is really powerful stuff.
- It is also nice that these movies don't overstay their welcome. 85 minutes or so is good for this content.
- So until now, the series as a whole has been either a 70 or a 75. But I like The Ashes of Rage a lot more.
- I think the main problem I've had is that while it's interesting, its exploration of dark themes have always been intellectual and never emotional. Great art hits both because humans need both. You see this reflected in how the Medicine Seller (who's so cool and just walks around saying cryptic and cool shit until he eventually gets down to business) needs to find the form, truth and reason before he can unsheathe his sword and slay the mononoke.
- So the failure of the series and first chapter is that it gets the form (beautiful mixture of traditional Japanese animation and 3D models) and truth (a plot where fun things happen), but not the reason (the emotion).
- But here, it hits the reason. It focusing on grief from an abortion might be the reason. It just feels so personal, even though I can't relate to it. A mononoke trying to burn itself and a woman burning herself, declaring herself as "unforgivable" is really powerful stuff.
- It is also nice that these movies don't overstay their welcome. 85 minutes or so is good for this content.
- So until now, the series as a whole has been either a 70 or a 75. But I like The Ashes of Rage a lot more.
Mini Review: What I loved about the first chapter I love about this one: the art, lore, the Medicine Seller, etc. I mean, Mononoke is astonishingly beautiful and while I don't have much knowledge of Japanese folklore (which makes understanding some of this a little more difficult), it's still cool. But whereas I couldn't get emotionally invested in the first chapter, this one hit. There's always a lot going on so it's a little hard to follow but it explores things like grief well.