I have such a weakness for Supernatural Anime. There are only a few of them out there, and Mononoke's art just reminded me of Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, the anime I watched during my younger days.
Mononoke are termed as vengeful spirits or onryō, dead or live spirits, ayakashi that were causing problems like possession, suffering, or causing disease. They linger in the human world by attaching to negative human emotions.
The story of the Mononoke anime revolves around the life of a medicine seller named Kusuriuri. He fends off these ayakashi or negative spirits using his own supernatural abilities.
In the Philippines, we actually have our version of him, and they are often sought for supernatural cures and consultations.
Kusuriuri's supernatural challenges were so cool and they fit perfectly with the ukiyo-e style of art, which is a breathe of fresh air from the usual anime art styles out there.
Anyway, the medicine seller uses a sword to exorcise the demons in what he calls "form, truth, and reason," or in Japanese, "katachi, makoto, kotowari."
Honestly, I never really thought I'd be so invested in this anime. We were scrolling through the short list of supernatural animes and grew tired of rewatching our favorites. Sometimes, I feel like we should have watched this earlier, but being able to watch it continuously is such a blessing! I didn't get cliffhanged by any episode.
You can click the pictures to get a bigger view. Securing this spot was the first thing we did; we knew this area is very suited for him, plus it comes with a cemented chair and table. It's just comfortable!
I can imagine Kusuriuri Here just smoking his pipe in a beautiful Asian-inspired garden.
The views are astounding! This spot is usually the most favorite spot for weddings. There are so many levels in this castle by the way and the stairs are very steep, as you can see I am wearing a Geta and it's sooo difficult for me to move up or down the stairs especially when it did rain it's slippery!
Kusuriuri probably is knocking on this door or maybe even inspecting if there's any presence of Ayakashi here.
Kusuriuri trying to hear what's on the other side?
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| Kusuriuri: "I can definitely feel somethings staring at me here." |
We do take breaks during the shoot mainly because the rain started pouring, the location is in Laguna - Kastilo de Bucal, you can look it up on google maps. Not sponsored but I just found out about it on the internet. Apparently they host more on weddings or debuts but thank God they also cater for Cosplays!
I'm not sure if Kusuriuri here is sun bathing, chanting or trying to detect if there's Ayakashi.
"I'll give you this medicine", I can imagine Kusuriuri saying that in this photo. OMG the presence of buddha, the intricate designs of the vases and the tables. This really suits him!
Kusuriuri voodoos this area.... hehehe
Is he saying to come over here? No wait needed!
Google photos did this it's cute bulletin board. He's not wanted, is he?
And so, the story of this cosplay photoshoot is actually funny. I found a post from someone looking for joiners in this location.
At first, we thought it would be tough to find a suitable anime for this type of setting. Weeks turned into months, and suddenly we came to a conclusion, yeah, you guessed it — Mononoke. It was like a calling that this kind of background screams him.
It was our first time joining other cosplayers for this type of shoot. They arranged a van pickup, and we met at KFC in the south. They didn't seem to recognize this cosplay though; someone asked but didn't guess it right.
Kusuriuri's guardian deities?
The topmost part of this kastilyo features breath-taking views with the castle like walls. The sky really isnt so dramatic like this but I did edit it and this was a good result.
Kusuriuri's golden pony - probably payment from his exorcisms?
I apologize the pictures are hazy, apparently when we sent the camera for maintenance they turned the lens upside down and we could not do anything about it.I also will modify this costume as there are a few mistakes made during the final sewing.
Now that a new Mononoke Movie is coming out also called Gekijōban Mononoke: Karakasa (movie) I am hella excited finally after so many years it has a new animation!! We waited soooo long and I don't even know if my lifetime's enough for this wait.Anyway, even the bathroom was whimsical! I rounded the bathroom. That's the bathroom it's rounded shape and made out of somewhat Frosted square glass.
My cosplay by the way is the series version of Mononoke, it's different with the Mononoke Movie.Hmmm... sheesh! He's concentrating
Definitely feel at home, Kusuriuri!
Okay, there we go. We're all charged up and call KUSURIURI or MEDICINE SELLER if you need medicine and something that can't be fixed with just medicine... you know, if spirits bother you? Who you're gonna call? MONONOKE, of course!
Please let me know if you want more content like this, a bit of your comment will at least let me know you are interested in these kinds of topics... because if in the future I don't find any of these kinds of content in anyone's interest I will leave only topics that you are interested in.
Really, I will do that. So, please let me know if you want more of these types of posts.
