Mononoke The Movie: The Phantom in the Rain Review
The long-awaited first feature-length movie adaptation of cult classic supernatural mystery series Mononoke has come to streaming. The first movie in a planned trilogy was originally scheduled to premiere in Japan in 2023, but production was delayed after the original voice actor of the Medicine Seller, the series's central character was caught in a scandal that caused him to be dropped from the project. The Phantom in the Rain finally debuted in Japanese theaters in the summer of 2024. Netflix subsequently acquired the streaming rights and Mononoke The Movie: The Phantom in the Rain is now available for viewers around the world.
Here's Anime Away's spoiler-free review of the new movie.
A quick note to clear up any confusion before we get started with the full review: Mononoke has no relation or connection to Studio Ghibli's movie Princess Mononoke. "Mononoke" is just the Japanese word for the kind of ghost or spirit that both stories happen to be about. Beyond both dealing with the supernatural, Mononoke and Princess Mononoke actually have very little in common.
A Quick Introduction to Mononoke
Our hero, the mysterious Medicine Seller first appeared in one of the three standalone story arcs of the 2006 anthology horror series Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales investigating the haunting of a samurai family's castle. The character served as the basis for the 2007 12-episode Mononoke series. The story arcs of the Mononoke series were focused on the Medicine Seller's method of investigating mononoke by unraveling what they are, how they came to, and what they want — the exact words used for these three principles change based on how exactly they're translated. For reference, Phantom in the Rain uses Form, Truth and Reason.
The other trademark of the original Mononoke anime series is its striking, unique and mind-bending stylistic flair and eye-catching visuals. With a style inspired by traditional Japanese art, Mononoke features bright colors and vivid patterns, often in constant motion. The series also relies heavily on visual metaphor. It's clear that a lot of what is being shown on screen is meant to represent something, but the exact significance is often left up to the viewer. This also extends to the mysteries being explored in the show as well. Much of the storylines are left open-ended, few clear answers are explicitly given, and the viewer is left to try to make sense of what just happened for themselves.
The Medicine Seller himself is one of Mononoke's greatest mysteries. As a merchant, one of the lowest social classes in the time period, he's constantly showing up in places he shouldn't. He has a sword, which would be illegal for someone of his social class, and the sword is obviously magic. He's obviously immortal, he has sharp teeth and fingernails, pointed ears and facial markings that indicate he's clearly some kind of supernatural being — one of the major theories is that he's a kitsune fox spirit.
The Phantom in the Rain is Mononoke at its best
The eponymous Phantom in the Rain haunts the harem of the Edo-period shogun's palace, lashing out against the women in charge of the harem in an apparent vendetta. The two characters in the movie who get the most focus, Asa and Kame, are recent arrivals, trying to navigate the rigid, ritualized daily life and power structures of the harem and the mononoke's vendetta. The Medicine Seller is largely a background figure, though that's consistent with the original anime. The Medicine Seller is too mysterious and cryptic to make a good primary viewpoint, so he mostly lurks on the peripheries, nudging the other characters along.
The art isn't necessarily better than the original Mononoke series, but clearly has the advantage of nearly 20 years of better animation techniques and a bigger budget. The true form of the mononoke itself is a standout, manifesting in an abstract, incomprehensibly alien form that would be right at home among the Angels of Evangelion. Notably, the Medicine Seller's confrontation with the mononoke is a lot more of a proper fight scene that ever occurred in the original anime, probably as a result of the bigger budget. The soundtrack is notably more memorable than the original anime's, like the art style, blending traditional Japanese styles with modern techniques.
Admittedly, the plot can be a little hard to follow. Now, that's not because it's written badly, that's mostly just how Mononoke works. Things move quickly, a lot of things are implied or suggested, especially by subtle visual clues, but very few things are out and out explained directly to the viewer. That lingering sense of "Wait. What just happened?" may be frustrating for some viewers but is one of the key elements of Mononoke's storytelling. Of course, that just inspires multiple rewatches.
Fans of the original Mononoke anime are probably going to be all-in on Phantom in the Rain. It's the best of series on a grander scale and bigger budget, everything fans could want in a movie. Fans of stylish anime, especially supernatural themed anime like Dandadan, will probably be won over by Phantom in the Rain's sheer flair. In general, I'd recommend Phantom in the Rain to any anime fan, just so they can experience how uniquely weird the movie is. All in all, Mononoke The Movie: The Phantom in the Rain represents one of my favorite anime series at its high point and I cannot wait to experience the next two movies in the Mononoke trilogy.
The original Mononoke anime series is streaming on Netflix and Crunchyroll. Mononoke The Movie: The Phantom in the Rain is streaming exclusively on Netflix.