Reviews for The Morose Mononokean II

Attention: Spoilers ahead. My review is more or less a comparison of the anime and manga and describes why I'm not happy with what they did with this adaptation. I'm not sure how to rate this season. I'm stuck somewhere between 6 (fair) and 8 (very good) because I guess that without the manga comparison, it might be better. I'm also reading the manga and I felt a bit shortchanged at some points throughout the season. They left out some manga chapters entirely, took away from scenes that were very emotional in the manga but were only so-so/had less impact in the anime. I guess that wasmeant to help keep the episode length but I feel like they should have rather lengthened those 1-2 scenes and shortened other scenes that showed scenery etc.

Example: [spoiler]When Ashiya had been attacked by the Executive and then remained alone in the room while waiting for Abeno to return, Fuzzy runs to him and tries to cuddle.. In the manga Ahiya is still very traumatized and is shaking..He reaches out to Fuzzy but at the last second hesitates and drops his hand again,fearful to touch the yokai. While the scene did exist in the anime, it felt rushed. 1-2 seconds more showing Ashiya's anguish and fear would have been welcome here. The same goes for the scene at the riverbank where he has a breakdown. They left out the whole kappa part -which would have been okay if they needed to shorten the episodes- but again... the breakdown was very emotional in the manga. He's never really cried earnestly in the manga before, so that scene was very important for his character development in my opinion.In the manga he starts crying without even really noticing at first and then breaks down entirely apparently (actual crying spree not shown in the manga either, but the beginning and end was shown so that you knew what happened). In the anime, you can barely guess he's been crying, so it feels pretty flat. Therefore the scene did not develop the same "soul cleansing" effect for Hanae that it had in the manga.[/spoiler]

But now to the thing that had me confused/angry/disappointed: The complete deviation from the plot at the end of this season when compared to the manga. I'm still not really sure about how to feel about this:

[spoiler]They changed the entire Sasa incident. In the manga, Sasa does posess Ashiya and orders him to kill Abeno. Ashiya tries to follow suit but regains consciousness for a moment where he realizes that he's strangeling Abeno and stops. He withdraws within the deepest part of his soul thinking that he's killed Abeno. He's really desperate there and you're hurting with him. In that moment Sakae makes his appearance and takes over Hanae's body and consciousness to protect him from self-destructing inside and being killed by Sasa. Sakae then releases and kills Sasa (who is not in the least repenting and who would have killed Abeno and Ahiya and whoever else he got his hands on). Abeno cannot stop Sakae but witnesses a memory of Sakae sealing that demon years before. He thanks Sakae for protecting Hanae before Sakae's consciousness disappears and Ashiya faints again. In the anime Sakae is way more hateful. He takes over when Hanae is possessed but before the whole strangeling incident. It doesn't feel like he's taking over to protect Hanae - more like he's doing it out of a selfish desire to act upon his hatred for yokai and kill one. While he starts trying to kill Sasa, Abeno interferes, so Sakae *then* ends up strangling Abeno because he's interfering. In the end, Sakae's consciousness vanishes because he's passed the time-limit apparently. Sasa's still very much alive and suddenly a good yokai who's overcoming his hatred for humans because Fuzzy tells him (or rather her in the anime) how Hanae was so nice him etc. Bonta and Sasa are sent to the Underworld together.

I guess for someone who hadn't read the manga, this might all be nice and dandy but for me... I feel let down.

To me, Sakae has always seemed like he did indeed hate yokai before but probably learned to be less aggressive and accept most of them through Aoi. He also seemed very introverted but still loving in his own way in the manga. As if he was really concerned about Hanae and loved him. He didn't seem like a truly evil/bad person. Just really complex. The way Hanae's mother is reminiscing about him, also suggests that he's actually kind. The strange thing here is that they didn't change *that* in the anime. So it's even more confusing.

Also, by not having Sakae kill Sasa while acting in Hanae's stead, they're taking away other important facts that shape Hanae's character in the manga (as he comes to learn of "his" deed later on and is trying to make up for it with other actions that will become important in the subsequent manga chapters).[/spoiler]

They pretty much destroyed the chances for a season 3 pick-up if they don't plan to go 70% original story-line with that one... which I just don't think they will do. They more or less pulled a Blue Exorcist S1 2nd half on this... Since I really love the series, this breaks my heart a little.

Up to the sorta half way point and I'll continue watching it why? cause I enjoy it. Edit: I finished it. Still overall the same thoughts. I won't get into too much since its season 2 and most the details are similar to season 1. Story: Things have certainly gotten better, we finally getting some more variety in the story. The darker tone along with mysteries popping up or resurfacing mysteries gives more reason to keep your interests into the anime without you getting bored with just yokai stories every episode. Show is doing a great job at wanting me to think and theorize before the next episode. Art: Theart-style is different, it seems more crisper while season 1 had more brighter shades and looking soft.

Sound: Some the tracks sound really good as expected. Looking forward to see new tracks hopefully. They did a good job with characters voices to fit the scenes.

Characters: Not much to write about here, basically like season 1; good characters for the same reason I written in my season 1 review.

Enjoyment: Not sure if its more enjoyable because of the mix between the fun jokes and dark moments or the jokes just gotten better. I found myself really enjoying the change of pace and the new tones.

Overall: I feel Tsuzuki is on the right path, Season 1 mistake in my opinion was they never touched on the powers Abeno and Ashiya used which left me and watchers hanging and I feel Tsuzuki is starting to finally get close to explaining things. The change from just comedy to focusing more on the drama with darker tones was a refreshing feeling to the palate.

I have high hopes for this season. Don't let me down.

I honestly never never give such a low rating for anything, but, now... as a fan of the manga, I brought all of their volumes, following through the series and I really loved them, every characters and the plot development... So I will just say, it was a letdown. When most people enjoyed this anime, from the first season and the second season, I couldn't find myself 'enjoying' through the adaptation, even though I really enjoyed reading the manga. I don't know if it because of the animation or the pace, it just didn't feel that appealing to me. I tried so hard to bringing myself towatch this because this is my favorite manga. So here I am, watching through the finale. Honestly, I don't mind a slight changes, I won't even mind if they skipped a things or two, but changing their characteristics? Changing such a crucial plot? I was just cannot with this, I had to write review out of it. Yup, that's why I'm here.

So yeah, the last episode was a huge letdown, a huge disappointment, and that was the last line I had and that was it.

From now on I'm just going to stay with the manga, even they made the third season out of it, I'm sure I won't touch it.

Disappointed but not surprised.