Posted by OP Sequence
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OP: 「ココロの跡」 (Kokoro no Ato) by 小坂りゆ (Kosaka Riyu)
Watch the OP! Mirror 1, Mirror 2
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Energetic and cheerful, Mizuki (voiced by Mizuki Nana) wanders around the vast countryside fields in search for nadesico(as in carnations, not the battleship!). She stops by a gathering of bright, pink wildflowers, thinking they are carnations until she checks her trusty field guide, which states otherwise. Rats. Right behind her back, a group of dark figures form and merge menacingly, but quickly disappear as Mizuki turns around.
“I thought I felt something near me.”
She shrugs of the thought and scurries off deeper into the fields in search of the elusive flower. Away from the wildlife, we are introduced to Mizuki’s onee-san, Shizuru (voiced by Kawasumi Ayako) who is busy doing chores. Shizuru is a girl with the ability to see spirits/youkai (the anime AND the manga names this ability 見鬼/kenki); she also explains that her younger sister is easily haunted by these same youkai as well (referred to as having 憑坐/yorimashi). Shizuru briefly mentions her grandfather as well, a person knowledgeable with folklore who serves as their guardian.
Shizuru and her grandparents are about to have supper but with Mizuki still wandering off in the wilderness, she decides to go look for her. She finally finds Mizuki amidst a flowerbed of carnations and brings her home, the dark blob-like spirit still roaming around in the vicinity.
With six flowers collected, Mizuki is keen on gathering the last flower for nanakusa, the rich yellow 女郎花 (ominaeshi – Patrinia scabiosifolia). Wanting to help, Shizuru follows along and the two search for the ominaeshi in different areas of the plain – that is, until Shizuru’s sixth sense-of-sorts kicks in. Worried that something may have happened to Mizuki she runs to her side, only to find Mizuki knocked unconscious from staring into the spirit that kept following the young imouto for so many days.
Mizuki, thankfully, suffered no permanent damage but Shizuru is upset with what happened. Their grandfather talks about the girls encountering a youkai called a mikoshi (みこし）, which is capable of “draining” the life out of people who continually stare at it, and he forces Mizuki to skip a day of school and remain at home. Like with so many young children (especially with the imouto, as many series seem to show these days) however, Mizuki chooses to disobey her ojii-chan and sneaks out of the house, more determined than ever to gather the ominaeshi before nanakusa takes place. With very little concern for her own safety, she runs off into the more perilous mountainous areas of the countryside (her sister fortunately sees her running off and desperately chases after her).
The youkai mikoshi appears yet again before Mizuki in the mountainside, and she faints as she is transfixed at the sight of the spirit…
Shizuru panics and as she approaches the knocked-out Mizuki, she remembers her grandfather’s advice on how to remain unharmed by the mikoshi‘s presence. Instead of looking at the spirit from below, as one would to something superior, she glares down at the spirit as if it is subservient to her. This action proves effective, and the mikoshi shrinks in size and scatters away.
Mizuki escapes a second possible engagement with death, and the two girls spot the ominaeshi they were looking for – later that night, the girls and their grandparents had a memorable nanakusa under the shimmering light of the full moon. 🙂
ED Sequence
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ED: 「パノラマ」 (Panorama) by 橋本まい (Hashimoto Mai)
Watch the ED!: Mirror 1, Mirror 2
The OP and the ED are both decent pieces, although if I would have to pick one, I would say I prefer the OP by Hashimoto Mai just a bit more.
The first episode of Mokke started out a tad slow, but the threat posed by the youkai mikoshi did help things move forward – overall, a solid episode to start the series off. The animation quality is definitely not eye-poppingly brilliant like some anime in recent times, although the background fits with the overall mood of this episode. Madhouse also placed a great deal of emphasis on wildlife, particularly flowers, as one can tell with the screenies; the character designs, however, is definitely *different* and the palette for the characters occasionally looked rather bland. Here is me hoping that Mokke will not be facing severe budget issues and constraints… While it may not have the mass appeal that past shows like CG and GL may have had, select individuals with a taste for myth and nature can appreciate what Mokke brings to the table, so don’t forget to stick around for an episode or two. ^^
Preview:
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Next Time: A sketch of a cute, furry creature pops up, Mizuki gets trapped in a whirlwind of autumn leaves, and the presence of a *friendly* youkai temporarily brings the show towards the direction of My Neighbor Totoro. Mmm.
Well, that concludes my first blog entry on RC, instead of on the usual comment box. lol. Time for a short introduction, I believe. Hi there~ I’m mewmew, and I have been floating around on RC for a while, although my more meaningful contributions began quite recently with Lucky Star, where I helped Jaalin navigate through some of the more difficult conversations and confusing cultural references it was filled to the brim with. I’ll be around to help blog some additional shows, including Ghost Hound (which I *think* interested quite a few of you out there) and hopefully I can continue blogging on RC for some time. Aside from that, I’ll probably be drifting about in the Asian mmorpg scene or on niconico douga, if my college classes will spare me the time (not very likely). x,x I just so happen to be part Japanese and lived in Tokyo for 12 years too, so cultural questions are always welcomed! 😀 In any case, yoroshiku!
Ooh, you’re that awesome Lucky Star cultural translator person. Looking forward to your posts in the future.
Happy to see you as RC Blogger. Congrats. (BTW, do you mention Ghost Hunt? isn’t it concluded half year ago? don’t tell me is 2nd season, cos it’ll makes me very very happy ^_^
@Davwon:
Thanks~! And it isn’t Ghost Hunt, it’s Ghost Hound (fixed: thanks for pointing it out ^^;). Absent-mindedness can be a dangerous thing no? x,x
Hmmm… the still screencaps make the art look quite good. I guess I’ll have to watch it to see its animation quality.
Hey mewmew what other show you would blog instead of Ghost Hound and Mokke?
@Setsuke:
I will also be blogging Moyashimon and the new You’re Under Arrest series (Taiho Shichauzo Full Throttle). Both air on Thursday (Thursday is a really big day for this fall season it looks like – Shana II, Clannad, and Ghost Hound all air on Thursday ^^).
Welcome(ish I suppose hehe) mewmew, nice post ^^
Am also looking forward to both Mokke and Ghost Hound, so nice to see you’ll blog those.
Was wondering, did Kotono Mitsuishi pop up yet? I adore her, so my primary, biased, reason to follow this was because of her (and Nana Mizuki and Ayako Kawasumi were just icing on the cake).
All this is, is just Spirited away meets Ghost Whisperer. I don’t recommend you continue this at all.
nice review mewmew ..
hopre you can review more anime after this ..
omni cant do it alone lol ..
ganbate, RC!!
so where is my Higurashi this week?
While I think that spirited away sucks (I know, I know, and my family still hates me for it), I DID enjoy reading Horse Whisperer’s novel by that Nicholas guy. 😀
As for Mokke’s first episode… seems to be giving off the same vibes that Kaibutsu Ojou does, which is NOT a good thing. Maybe it’s cause it’s got Ayako Kawasumi in it, though I suspect it’s due to the dull background and cheap special effects and a bunch of corner cuts.
However, I’ve seen the manga, and I liked it. Hopefully the series will pull through. Wonder if they’ll ever animate the first chapter. That one gave me shivers.
Thanks for blogging!
Nice to see you blogging here! It’s a really good post.
Thanks a lot for having decided to blog Ghost Hound. I was fearing this season would be overloaded with moe-themed shows (not that I dislike them, it’s just there’s too many of them). And I’m glad you’re blogging Mokke as well. Two thumbs up for you!
@quina: I think jaalin stop blogging the series unless he lazy.
In the meantime, everyone just ignore Hudson like always.
First episode was pretty boring… But I’ll keep watching this for all the Japanese folklore yokais making an appearance each episode.
They’re really going for the ghibli feel with this. Makkuro-kurosuke and grandma’s face really reminded me of Totoro.
So Nana Mizuki is becoming like Tony Danza then eh….
This definitely sounds interesting. Hopefully the subs won’t take long.
great post, mewmew – good to have you here!
This looks cute. I might watch this!
solid review man!! and “good looking out” on the offer to answer cultural questions
For some reason it reminds me a little of Totoro. I will defiantly watch it!
Congrats on your first episode summary, mewmew! I’m glad you had positive things to say about Mokke 01. Other blogs said the first episode was boring and the series wasn’t worth watching which disappointed me because Mokke was something I was really looking forward to. Now I can go back to waiting to watch the first episode with anticipation. ^^ I hope you can keep up with this series.
Mozna sciagnac tutaj:
http://theanimeblizzard.com/japanimation/mokke/
Just finished watching, and this was a great show after it all came together in the end. Got some pretty nice slice-of-life moments.