I don’t know about the rest of you readers. But, I’ve been a hardcore Mononoke simp since it’s initial release back in 2014. Now that we have an additional movie scheduled for 2024, I am back on my Mononoke Bullshit. That means the rest of you have to read about it. Spoilers for the very first Mononoke from the 2014 series. 

General Narrative

The Medicine Seller (Kusuriuri) is the main character—and a rather mysterious individual. He travels around Japan selling medicine. His real motivation is to find and defeat Mononoke, a type of spirit or apparition (ayakashi) that is often found around human suffering. While this is not overtly stated, Mononoke are often attached to places and people that are related to emotionally charged situations.

Most of the Mononoke that the nameless Medicine Seller encounters are variations on famous types of Yokai. Included in the original series are a darker take on the Zashiki-Warashi, Umibōzu, Nue, and Bakeneko. Those familiar with those mythological creatures will note the differences between the standard lore and their presentation in Mononoke. 

Aside from the occult applications, this is one hell of an anime. It was considered avant-garde at the time, and I have very rarely seen its style replicated. 

Exorcism

Before the Medicine Seller can exorcise a Mononoke, it must discern three pieces of information about each creature. These three are Shape (Katachi), Truth (Makoto), and Reasoning (Kotowari). 

Shape refers to their form. In the case of the first Mononoke, the creature’s Shape is Zashiki-Warashi. This is the easiest to discern. 

Truth refers to motivation or desires. What does the Mononoke want? In the case of the Zashiki-Warashi, they want to be born into the world. And they also want their story revealed. 

Reasoning refers to the origin of the Mononoke. Why did they manifest in the first place? In the case of the Zashiki-Warashi, they were caused by multiple deaths of children before they could be born. i.e. They were forcefully aborted by the brothel madame and became resentful. 

Applications

This is a paradigm of magic that fits very well with multiple others. In essence, this is a manner of acquiring Intimacy with targets of your magic. Aside from the Medicine Seller, there are no other magic users presented within the context of the paradigm. But, at the same time, normal people can very well fall victim to Mononoke, and even end up dead—or worse. Most of those people tend to be acting with selfish or otherwise hostile motivations. So your milage may vary on how dangerous this paradigm is. 

Generally, I think this paradigm fits in very well with many magical practices. When physical ties to someone or something cannot be gotten (tag locks) these three pieces of information may be very useful. I could also see this applying well to those who specifically do spirit work. If you don’t know a spirit’s specific identity, these three facts do create intimacy with the target.

Note, this is not necessarily just for exorcism. The ‘key’ that these provide do create a link, and that could allow you to make friends, gain an ally, learn more information, or just about anything else. In terms of humans, these three truths can act as a medium for connection, including banishing them from your lives much like an exorcism.

While we may not have a very cool sword that opens and closes its mouth, I think a divination method or a specific item such as a pendelum could work. If anyone figures out how to make a sword that opens and closes its mouth, do let me know! I implore all of you not to sleep on this anime, or its new installment.