Mokke

Living life where the strange and supernatural exist side by side with the everyday - it's unsettling at times, sure, but also kind of fun and fascinating, like you've just accepted that weirdness is part of the normal routine. Like even within the boundaries of horror, there's warmth and coziness to be found, it is quite therapeutic. That's Mokke for you, a little known series from 2007.

Mokke is like the long forgotten, younger sibling of Mushishi. Now I don't necessarily mean that as a diss towards Mokke, far from it actually. When even Mushishi and Natsume's Book of Friends are considered hidden or 'forgotten gems' ... among the general community these days, then that makes it all the more true for Mokke's case and especially how underappreciated it is. Synonymous with the anime itself, Takatoshi Kumakura isn't exactly a household name in the animanga industry. He published several manga in the past decade with modest success, but despite his track record he's mostly unknown to the majority of audiences. With a bit of detective work on the net, turns out Mokke was his only manga that was greenlit for a proper anime adaptation.

If I was told to describe my experience with Mokke, its like a slow, boring, fun, enjoyable, captivating, nostalgic, relatable and hectic stroll through a quiet Japanese countryside. Admittedly, those terms are a bunch of oxymorons haphazardly brought together, but I can't explain it any better. Simply put, Mokke conveys the recurring themes found in various media such as the coming-of-age, existential crises, embracing failures, losing loved ones, facing your fears - all of which are just some of the stepping stones to maturity. However, it also acknowledges the existence of the metaphysical, accepting that there are things out there you can never fully fathom yet must coexist with. Importantly, it delivers these messages rather loosely, without sounding preachy or it being forced down your throat. The overall structure of Mokke tend to follow a formulaic style of "X happens at the start, trouble and/or hilarity ensues, resolved by the end of the episode". The progression from mystery to final twist varies in quality from one episode to the next. As a whole, if this pattern isn't your cup of tea then frankly you're better off dropping the idea of watching Mokke altogether.

Similar to the aforementioned series, Mokke deals with supernatural entities, namely the youkai, which is just a broad term for it in Japanese folklore. These ethereal beings are generally morally black-and-white: there are good ones, bad ones and then everything in between. There are youkai who are helpful, ones who tease and troll others and lastly there are also malicious and vengeful youkai, the types that physically harm people. Just as a heads-up, Mokke does have its fair share of horror elements, but that's to be expected with a show that deals with the supernatural. Heck, few scenes straight-up give off creepy, Junji Ito vibes. But calling the whole show "horror" would be kinda disingenuous - plenty of Mokke is rather chill and sometimes downright lackadaisical.

Mokke features a bunch of characters. Some of the supporting cast make reappearances throughout the show, while the rest just have single instance roles. But only three people truly mattered namely Shizuru, Mizuki and their grandfather. Unless if you count their kitty cat, Mike-san then that's four in total. I'll talk about them in more depth a bit later.

Mokke's 'mostly' episodic nature routinely alternates between the two Hibara siblings, namely Shizuru and Mizuki. Either you have Shizuru-focused, then followed by a Mizuki-focused episode and sometimes both. However, there's subtle character growth that occurs in the background as the series progresses, but ultimately each one acts like an standalone arc. The girls deal with the various types of youkai that appears in each episode. While this approach run the risk of feeling repetitive but thankfully a 24 episode & 2 OVA runtime felt just about right, without overstaying its welcome. Now, here's where the experience kinda end up being rocky. The biggest issue is that the episodes not exactly made equally. By the time the show's concluded, my memory's already gone hazy regarding a majority of Shizuru's episodes. There were a few notable ones, such as a youkai that enchants people with feelings of lovey-dovey and a whimsical 'ghost musical thing' that stood out. Besides that, many of them are just straight up unmemorable.

Contrary to that, a considerable amount of Mizuki's episodes had a lasting impact even months after I've completed the anime. Though I have to admit that I do have some personal bias towards Mizuki. Anyway, similar to Shizuru's episodes, many of Mizuki's episodes often involves her getting caught in precarious situations with the youkai which commonly leads to day-to-day mild inconveniences much to her chagrin, or sometimes worse, life-threatening. The laughing ghosts, Mountain witch, 'Teoimono' ("wounded animal"), just to name of few. The ending of the show was surprisingly bittersweet.

Let's analyze the characters some more. Firstly is Shizuru, who in my opinion, is the more muted and bland of the sisters. She's usually reserved, quiet and passive - a reactive type character, who rarely draw attention to herself. The only distinctive trait that she possesses is an ability to see spirits. Her fashion choice strikes me as that of an senior office lady. Anyways, her experiences are not that relatable on a personal level, but beyond that she's just mostly mundane.

Last but not least is the main highlight character, Mizuki Hibara. Compared to the older Hibara sibling, Mizuki is the more extroverted, colorful, energetic, and proactive type. In simpler terms, she's your typical tomboy. She's shown instances of being selfish, self-centered and bratty, but at her age many kids act the same. She also takes on the role as the comic relief character, or is just there to lighten the mood to ease out the tense moments. Historically speaking, characters that exhibits these qualities typically might come out as intolerable, but her character is handled believably well. Unlike Shizuru though, Mizuki doesn't have the ability her sister has. Instead, like moths to a flame, she attracts all manners of youkai, so more often than not Mizuki becomes a prime target for possession. This conundrum leads to all kinds of shenanigans throughout the show, some lighthearted and funny, while others quite unsettling. Now from the sound of it, Mizuki doesn't exactly scream "bright". Nevertheless for someone her age, it is completely plausible that she'll now and again act impulsively and fall into her own whimsical desires or youthful curiosity.

Both studio Madhouse and Tezuka productions done a remarkable job at visuals. The visuals still look great, the fact that this show is almost two decades old. Artstyle is a bit unique - to loosely put it - it does stand out among the crowd. There's few occasional hiccups such as low-quality looking scenes but for the most part it remained consistent throughout the show and these are simply nitpicks. I'm no audiophile but both Opening and Ending themes were also solid. OP "Kokoro no Ato" and ED "Panorama" are nice, though the OP does have the edge here. Kokoro no Ato leans towards sentimental rock beats, aiming to evoke feelings of nostalgia and deals with the pain of separation in its lyrics. While Panorama went for a more easygoing, chill vibe with lots of J-Pop tunes. When it comes to discussing seiyuu roles, they also have several well-known talents such as Nana Mizuki, who voices...Mizuki (I see what you did there...), Ayako Kawasumi who plays Shizuru, and Aya Hirano with a support role just to name few. The amount of seiyuu star power and polished production values indicates that this had relatively decent financial backing behind it. There's nothing much to say here, but all in all Mokke has done a commendable job at its audiovisuals.

With the vast number of shows out there, Mokke may just be a drop in the bucket in an ever-growing industry and one that's easily overlooked. While its far from a masterpiece, let alone what I'd consider an 'excellent' show, it expresses itself admirably in multiple areas. Furthermore, it is one of those Seinen shows that you may come to appreciate the older you get or as time goes by, because it depicts the spark of youth, as well as the hardships of growing up in a believable manner. You could even come away with some lessons on maturity, in my opinion. Now where the show mostly falters at, is the buildup from the mystery to the twist per episode which can be quite hit or miss. Wrapping things up, who is this show for? Well, if you're itching for an iyashikei gem that deals with various themes (and of course, ghosts) we experience in life, then that's an easy recommend. But if you're unsure, the tried-and-true approach of jumping in blindly into the first couple of episodes should suffice as a litmus test.

General view and expectations:
Mokke is a show centered on two girls, Mizuki and Shizuru, with Shizuru being the older sister. These girls can interact with spiritual creatures (ayakashis), unlike other people. The plot unfolds in a slice-of-life format, where the two girls engage in daily activities like normal students, while these creatures also appear. Each episode has its own plot separated from the others, with different contexts. Most of the time, it presents itself as a calm atmosphere with a focus on a serious plot, similar to Serial Experiments Lain and others, but obviously without all the tension or nonsensical plots.

My expectations for this ... show were either a mediocre anime, or a darker anime style, or perhaps something aligned with the themes of Studio Ghibli. However, I was surprised. The messages in each episode made me think about various aspects of life. I noticed that the demographic was intended for all audiences, but it's really filled with concepts that teens or adults can understand and appreciate.

Development and work out of plot:
In the development, there are episodes without links. However, there is a chronological progression, and also a growth in Mizuki and Shizuru. For example, I can't give any spoilers here, but Mizuki had an egocentric personality, and her peers were forced to follow her in some arbitrary decisions. After certain situations, she changed and realized what happened. This also occurred with the presence of Yokais, who participated similarly to other humans. The ayakashis can be hostile or friendlier, depending on their personality. People's problems are always subject to their expectations, personality, and other situations. However, the plot is free for all different demographics; ideas and reflections presented here are only understandable to seinen, the target audience for this show. Every episode follows the same pattern: Mizuki or Shizure are engaged in their activities and somebody finds themselves in a situation. Then, other situations happen, leading to a climax with a good or satisfactory ending and many reflections. I particularly liked these reflections.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, I really recommend this show. Mokke is a true hidden gem of anime. Many anime actually don’t have the same vibe; it was forgotten long ago in the industry. My final score is 8.

Such a hidden gem! This show is really under the radar. You know, I've watched a lot slice of life supernatural genre but this one hooked me. So the story is about Hibara sisters, Shizuru and Mizuki. Their usual daily lives that is actually unusual. Shizuru, the elder, can clearly see spirits/ghosts while Mizuki, her younger sis, is prone to spirits and easily possessed by them and can sense spirit's presence as well although she cannot see as clear as her big sis. Due to this supernatural phenomenon, they live in their grandparents' house because their grandpa and grandma can also sense and see spirits ... so they understand the situation of their grandchildren. This is also why their parents trust them. Don't forget their little cat, Mike, also recurring character and has its own episode. From this anime, you will know several japanese yokai/ghost. Each episode title refers to the yokai name so the show is episodic, one episode is not related to another episode.
Visual: decent. Probably because it's from 2007.
Music: surprisingly great for slice of life genre. OP slaps, ED soothing.
Most importantly, I really like the atmosphere, because the setting is in the small village where the background is still natural, like ricefield, pond, river, forest, etc.
I also think this anime is family friendly, however the very first episode kinda DARK but the rest is just fine and barely I found fanservice.