Toei’s Mononoke the Movie: Phantom in the Rain from director Kenji Nakamura is one of this year’s most visually stunning anime films, and it’s making its way to Netflix in just a few weeks.
Like the Mononoke series, Phantom in the Rain tells the tale of an unnamed merchant (Hiroshi Kamiya) who, in addition to selling medicines, specializes in exorcizing “mononoke” — malevolent spirits who terrorize the living. When the Medicine Seller arrives at the imperial palace, his senses tell him that a mononoke is lurking somewhere deep within the building’s innermost chambers.
As a man, the Medicine Seller is forbidden from stepping foot inside of the imperial harem of women like Asa (Tomoyo Kurosawa) and Kame (Aoi Yūki), who have gathered in hopes of becoming mothers to the next royal heir. But with the mononoke’s presence posing a threat to the entire palace, the Medicine Seller has to break its rules, and Netflix’s new trailer for the film gives you a sense of the dazzling chaos that ensues.
As gorgeous as the movie is, you’d think Netflix would have been making more noise about it well in advance of its November 28th streaming premiere. But at the very least, we won’t have to wait long to see it.
Original author: Charles Pulliam-Moore