Anime Review: MONONOKE THE MOVIE: CHAPTER TWO - "THE ASHES OF RAGE"

“Mononoke The Movie: Chapter 2 - The Ashes of Rage” is a beautiful, enchanting, psychedelic fable that continues the adventures of the enigmatic Medicine Seller as he returns to the Ooku, the sequestered residence of the Japanese emperor’s harem, this time to rescue the emperor’s favorite concubine from the fiery clutches of a vengeful Mononoke. Or so he thinks. As with Netflix’s first movie-length adaptation of the 2007 anime series, there’s more to this haunting than meets the eye, and sometimes the most terrifying monsters aren’t monsters at all, but our fellow men (and women). While neither this film nor its predecessor was as good as the original series (which is one my all-time favorites, if only for its visual style alone), it’s still a lush, vivid spectacle of storytelling worth the watch.