The Morose Mononokean II

Episode 8

The structure of Keshi's story is really strange. It's basically a single episode stretched across two of them, with what should feel like the heartwarming ending coming in the middle of episode 8 for a story that began in the second half of episode 7. Perhaps the second half of this week's episode, with an important but quick story that wouldn't work as its own installment, justifies that somewhat. But it just sticks out in a show whose weekly adventures, while including important continuity, have always excelled at telling relatively self-contained stories. The Morose Mononokean is essentially a Monster-of-the-Week show, just one where the main characters save and help the monsters rather than defeat them.

Keshi's story is a good lighthearted interlude in the middle of a darker and more imposing arc of this series. As we established last week, she's a cute childlike yokai who wants desperately to pass as a normal girl in order to dance with the villagers at the Bon Festival. She tried last year, but because none of them could see yokai, she just looked like a floating head of hair in a kimono—in other words, like a ghost. It's up to Abeno, Ashiya, and Zenko to give her a makeover in order to pass as a human. They make a pretty admirable effort, even if her eyes keep falling out, but unfortunately, Zenko's dad still can't see her face. They manage to fix this by giving her a mask to wear that she never takes off, and no one is the wiser. She and the rest of our group have a great time at the Bon Festival.

Most of this episode's portion of her arc is basically the "falling action" in Keshi's story, and that's what makes its inclusion at the beginning of this story feel so odd. These soft-hued montages of characters playing at the fair are usually something you see around the 18-minute mark, showing that this week's problem is solved and everyone is happy together. This week, we aren't even at 10 minutes before we get to that resolution, and it makes you wonder what will fill the rest of the episode. Luckily, The Morose Mononokean II has an answer for that, but it still makes me wish that Keshi's story had been integrated into the episodic format more elegantly.

At the end of the night, Abeno prepares a gateway to allow Keshi's passage back to the Underworld. It all goes as usual, which is to say very sweet and a bit sad; Zenko insists on letting Keshi keep her yukata, and Fuzzy gives her the most adorable little wave. (It's not nearly as weepy as when Yahiko lost his playmate a few episodes back.) But at the end, something strange happens: Abeno collapses. Ashiya is surprised, because Abeno only passes out after the gateway shuts, something that only happens when he has to close two gateways in one day. It's pretty easy to guess what's going on—Abeno is performing exorcisms without Ashiya's knowledge—but the show takes a while to explicitly confirm this, leaving viewers also wondering at other possibilities, like if something is wrong with Abeno's powers.

Before that, we get another brief yokai exorcism adventure. Oisuke is a clam-like yokai who has lost his shell-shaped "home," which is currently underneath a sheet where two boys are trying to crack a watermelon in a playground. Abeno and Ashiya have trouble explaining why the boys need to stop their game, muttering something about Ashiya needing to look for something he lost underneath it. They compromise and give the boys 60 seconds to break it, but when they still threaten Oisuke's home, Ashiya delivers one of his roundhouse kicks to get everyone out of the way. Oisuke and his home are safely delivered back to the Underworld, but it leaves Ashiya wondering what would have happened if Abeno had been alone. He could tell Abeno was about to do something drastic and dangerous to himself, and Ashiya had to protect him. But what if he hadn't been there? What if Abeno had not even told him about this mission, like that one the day before exorcising Keshi?

Luckily, Ashiya is nothing if not loud and straightforward, which makes him an ideal partner for the more taciturn and crafty Abeno. He brings it up with him directly, saying that he knows that Abeno is likely trying to protect him from the Executive, but that he doesn't need to do that. Ashiya is an employee of the Mononokean (and so is Fuzzy!) and knows the risks involved. As Ashiya says this, Abeno curiously flashes back to a moment when the Executive told him he shouldn't hesitate to use Ashiya on his missions. But when he ultimately concludes that Ashiya is in fact an asset to his team, he also says that the Executive's "plan failed."

I'm guessing the Executive likely used reverse-psychology to discourage Abeno's further association with Ashiya. Perhaps he took a bet to perform more exorcisms in the human world on his own, just like he's the only one allowed to perform them in the Underworld now. However, Abeno ended up proving that Ashiya truly is important to his cause. Abeno can get too driven and serious in a way that threatens his own welfare. He needs someone to look out for him, and the kind-hearted Ashiya is just the person for the job. (And Fuzzy, let's not forget Fuzzy.)

The theme for The Morose Mononokean II seems to be that Ashiya and Abeno make great partners despite all odds. While there was plenty last season to show how well they complement each other, with their very different personalities and approaches to dealing with yokai, season 2 is foregrounding that dynamic. It's much more obvious to me why fans ship them so hard, despite the fact that they're so different and often grumbling at each other (or sometimes because of it). They need each other, at least in the professional sense, and the yokai need them. It's only through the combination of Abeno's gruff dedication to his duty and Ashiya's creativity and kind heart that they can succeed, especially with some of the more childish yokai of recent episodes. For all The Morose Mononokean's colorful settings and fun cast of episodic characters, the partnership between its two main characters is the beating heart of this story.

Rating: B+

The Morose Mononokean II is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Rose is a Ph.D. student in musicology, who recently released a book about the music of Cowboy Bebop. You can also follow her on Twitter.