Anime Review: Shonen Onmyouji, Volume One

Divination is nothing new. The hippies reading palms at music festivals today are only the latest manifestation of a practice that’s been around as long as man’s insecurities have been keeping him awake at night: Will I marry a hot chick and inherit her daddy’s 500 acres? Will I end up on the pointy end of a sword? Will I be killed by my son who will inadvertently marry his mother, thus having a mental complex named after him which will in turn negatively impact modern psychiatric diagnosis? How to live with such burning questions? Get a soothsayer!

Every society has had their own soothsayers and magic makers: the Celts had Druids, the Greeks had oracles and the Japanese had onmyouji.

Onmyouji came into power in Japan around the 5th century as a direct influence of Chinese occultism. OnmyÅdÅ took it’s inspiration from such Chinese arts as feng shui and Taoism and incorporated them into what would become one of Japan’s most influential art forms of the time.

The onmyouji held tremendous sway over the imperial courts and could make or break a noble if they were so inclined. Their divinations were used to foretell lucky days, directions, names and to drive out evil and vengeful spirits. They were arguably as powerful as most of the nobles in the court, if not more so.

Whole families dedicated themselves to learning the art of onmyÅdÅ. One of the most famous onmyouji families was the Abe family. As in Abe no Seimei; the most famous onmyouji who ever lived. Shonen Onmyouji is a fictitious anime that chronicles the life of Abe no Seimei’s youngest grandson and his journey in becoming an onmyouji.

The anime is based on the bestselling light novels of the same name by Mitsuru Yuki.

Plot summary

Abe no Masahiro is the youngest grandson of the great onmyouji, Abe no Semei. Unlike his famous and powerful grandfather, however, Masahiro not only can’t perform any divinations, he can’t even see the spirit world! Since his childhood hopes of being a match for his grandfather in onmyodo are crushed, he tries his hand in other trades.

Unfortunately, Masahiro isn’t adept at any of the other trades acceptable for someone of his rank. Sitting dejectedly underneath a tree after being rejected yet again at yet another profession, he’s startled out of his pity party for one by a mononoke almost falling into his lap.

A mononoke is one of the many spirits that wanders the earth and Masahiro is shocked he can even see this one at all, let alone hear it talk to him about his ineptitude. The furry mononoke resembles a cross between cat/ bunny/ monkey and apparently knows who Masahiro is.

The two become uneasy companions as the mononoke, dubbed Mokkun, follows Masahiro around everywhere he goes. Mokkun, however, doesn’t stop the stream of snide comments and observations about Masahiro’s repeated failures in contrast to the great Abe no Seimei.

But, Mokkun comes to Masahiro’s aid one day, as an evil spirit hunts the boy down to devour his spiritual energy. Mokkun is more than he appears to be and helps Masahiro realize his true potential behind his inept facade.

The two become partners in onmyÅdÅ as Masahiro once again puts his feet on the path to becoming a powerful and respected onmyouji; one far greater than his grandfather whose shadow he’s constantly cast in.

Review

Shonen Onmyouji, Volume One was good. The subject matter was what made me pick up the series in the first place, but the story was what kept me watching past the 10 minute mark.

The whole concept of onmyouji dueling evil demons is a fascinating one, but still not one that would make a great series in and of itself if there wasn’t a decent plot behind it. So far, SO has been laying the groundwork for a fairly solid series. The first episode introduced us to the hardworking, but unlucky, Masahiro. We get a sense that while he’s really trying, he doesn’t have that great of an attention span and just can’t seem to catch a break.

It’s one thing that he doesn’t succeed in any of his endeavors, but it’s another to be constantly reminded that he should be as good as his granddaddy. Poor kid doesn’t even get called his own name. Instead, Masahiro is referred to as, “Semei’s grandson”. That can’t be good for the ‘ol self-esteem.

Mokkun is a spirited, literally, little guy who shoots off criticisms as easily as praise for Masahiro. Perched on the young onmyouji’s shoulder, Mokkun acts as friend, mentor, and guardian to the beleaguered boy.

We see the two play off each other, give each strength, and care for one another. Mokkun is more than his tiny furry body fronts, but the playful furball personality translates into his other persona as well.

This sets up the series in the sense that we’re getting to see character development (gasp!) happen early on. I like to have early character development since it usually heralds a story that’s something more than animation deep. So far, Shonen Onmyouji is more than I initially thought, which was: â€œOh crap, this is shonen-ai, isn’t it?!!â€

I had doubts that any affection between Masahiro and his other bishi guardians, Guren and Touda, would be anything other than shonen-ai fluff. The first five episodes have given no hint, thankfully, that any affection between them is anything other than what happens between two normal brothers (sorry, no shonen-ai incest here fangirls).

The magic and battles in the first five episodes are inventive and fun. They draw you into the series and get you involved with Masahiro’s plights and victories and help you relate to what he’s going through.

I especially like Mokkun. He’s a feisty, irreverent little jerk with a big heart and a world full of pain for anyone who messes with Masahiro. I thought that he might have been a cheap gimmick at first to distract from a crappy series, but, I really like Mokkun!

The animation, done by Studio Deen, is average. Nothing stands out and says SUPER or FANTASTIC but nor does it say SUCKKKKKKK. There are scenes which stand out more than others in terms of superior quality, but on average, the animation is just that; average. Masahiro and company are designed appropriately for the Heian period. The hairstyles are the way they were worn, and the goofy hats are apropos as well. Thankfully, the studio didn’t adhere 100% to the Heian ideal and eschewed the teeth-blackening, eyebrow-relocation look favored by women at the time. I also liked how they made the shikigami resemble Chinese bodhisattva. Extra points for incorporating artistic historical elements!

I disliked the OP, Egao no Wake (The Meaning of Your Smile), done by Kaori Hikita. It didn’t appeal to me at all and was a poor match for the series. Nor did I like the ED, Yakusoku (Promise), performed by Saori Kiuji. Just wasn’t doing it for me. The music throughout the series was, like the animation, average.

The English voice cast was not so good and was switched to the much, much, better Japanese voice cast in less than two minutes of being assaulted by it. I especially liked the seiyÅ« who performed Mokkun, Junko Noda. She gave the little guy an edge.

So far, I’m enjoying Shomen Onmyouji, against my better judgment. Maybe Shonen Onmyouji has something more to it than just a cute kid and his mononoke…

OneKasugai Zero Kasugai out of a possible four gummies!