Summary
- The
Phantom in the Rain
movie promises a more abstract and visually stunning take on
Mononoke
‘s colorful and macabre tales. - Returning director Kenji Nakamura pushes the visuals to the limit, transforming the Inner Palace into a place covered with bizarre hues.
- The movie maintains the biting social commentary and prestigious narrative style of the original anime, exploring the dark world of imperial politics.
The supernatural horror anime series Mononoke is coming back in a big way, with its upcoming movie, The Phantom in the Rain, showing studio EOTA doubling down on its unmistakable art style. Fans in search of fresh visions of horror or anime ought to look forward to its premiere. While no international release date has been given, its presence online makes it hard to imagine it being locked away in Japan.
Mononoke is renowned for its colorful and macabre tales, and the latest trailer for the movie shows that the creative team is leaning even further into that concept. The end result is likely the most abstract the series has ever been, making the original 2007 anime look plain by comparison.
It bodes well for both fans of the anime and skeptics of the relatively young studio for handling this project.
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Mononoke Beautifully Renders Terror Of the Imperial Courts
The movie is a visual feast that lives up to series’ core themes
While the series’ style was already unmistakable back in the day, Phantom in the Rain’s trailer shows returning director Kenji Nakamura pushing the visuals to the limit: where the bright colors and patterns were saved for key objects and characters, the entirety of the Inner Palace the movie depicts is covered with bizarre hues. Even the Medicine Seller is almost unrecognizable with his new color scheme that incorporates heavy purples. These exciting visuals prove what anime is capable of, and celebrate the power of animation as a medium, more than ever, thanks to the visual quality the movie’s budget affords.
But though Phantom in the Rain looks to be more extravagant, its story seems to be the same biting fare as the original anime. The monsters birthed from human emotions made for some pointed commentary on society, historical and otherwise. With the movie taking place in the living quarters of the emperor’s concubines, it looks like there will be plenty of unspoken criticism about what sort of monsters would be born in the dog-eat-dog world of imperial politics. The colorful environments that disguise and exaggerate the dark secrets only allow Mononoke to lean into its strengths and provide a familiar horror experience.
Mononoke’s Resurgence Matches Studio’s Own Rise
Produced by Studio EOTA
The movie is the first standalone production for studio EOTA, which had until then served as a support studio. Nonetheless, the visuals put out in the new trailer beautifully replicate the original Toei Animation anime from 2007, and should be an encouraging sign that the staff understand what Mononoke is and how to amplify it further.
While its July 26 release is only for Japan as of now, the fact Netflix is currently housing the original TV series means there is keen interest in the series worldwide. With any luck, Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain will become viewable overseas, too.