Mononoke The Movie: Chapter II – The Ashes of Rage Is A Fiery Indictment Of Past Wrongs

By Elijah Gonzalez | August 14, 2025 | 3:00am

Anime Reviews Mononoke

Mononoke The Movie: Chapter II – The Ashes of Rage Is A Fiery Indictment Of Past Wrongs

While many anime viewers, and sometimes even creatives, have justifiably criticized the glut of derivative shows that clog the airwaves, every once in a while, we get something that pushes the limits of the medium. Mononoke was one such example, a supernatural mystery series that utilized a combination of avant-garde, ukiyo-e-inspired animation and equally experimental storytelling to exhume the ghosts of the past. While it only ran for one 12-episode season in 2007, it left an impression.

And then, much like the supernatural subjects of its investigations, the series suddenly returned from the grave. Last year, we got Mononoke the Movie: Phantom in the Rain, a 90-minute stunner that, while admittedly disorienting, captured the TV show’s strengths via gorgeous animation and a mystery that exposed much more than just a paranormal disturbance.

It was the first in a trilogy that continues with the similarly eye-catching Mononoke The Movie: Chapter II – The Ashes of Rage. This direct follow-up benefits from its predecessors’ table setting, resulting in a much more readily parsable film that, while not quite as surprising as its predecessor, similarly explores a rich historical setting with an equally boundary-pushing visual presentation. Yes, you’ve got to do some homework first, but more than just appealing to anime fiends, this is one that fans of folklore, mystery tales, and animation writ large owe it to themselves to seek out.

For those unaware of the series’ basic premise, we follow an enigmatic figure called the medicine seller as he tracks down mononoke, spirits who bind to negative human emotions. To exorcise these dangerous yokai, the medicine seller must identify three things: their “form, as in the specific type of spirit they are, their “truth,” which is the tragedy they endured in life, and their “reason,” as in the reason they’ve returned to haunt a specific person or area.

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As for this film trilogy, we follow a different medicine seller (who is different than the one in the TV show) as he’s tasked with dispelling mononoke in the Ōoku, the inner palace where the Japanese emperor’s concubines and consorts reside. After freeing a wronged spirit and exposing the horrifying history of this place in the previous movie, the medicine seller finds that this isn’t the only vengeful spectre looking to right a past injustice.

One of the interesting elements of Mononoke is that the de facto protagonist, the medicine seller, is rarely the focal point of the narrative. Instead, each tale is much more focused on these spirits and those they haunt. To that effect, The Ashes of Rage builds on the elaborate political structures and long list of characters from its predecessor, placing us in the middle of a compelling power struggle that ties together this ghost story.

There’s Lady Fuki, a high-ranking concubine who has won the affections of the emperor despite her “lowborn” status compared to many of her aristocratic peers—she’s a shrewd operator determined to help her family, whose personal ambitions butt up against the cruel, conservative realities of this place. Then there’s Lady Botan, another high-ranking concubine who is initially a stickler for the rules, but who finds additional depth as events progress. Her sense of duty to the existing social order was drilled into her by her father, Councilor Ōtomo, a cruel man who pulls on the inner palace’s strings to ensure nothing fundamentally changes while holding court via games of shogi.

While Yasumi Atarashi’s script isn’t lacking cartoon villains like Ōtomo, who have a penchant for smirking wickedly as they weave their ploys, the political machinations of this place are delivered with nuance thanks to its complicated power structures and many unspoken rules. While one might assume that the emperor would wield absolute authority, we see instead a convoluted system where competing noble families vie for control while hiding their subterfuge under layers of false courtesies and decorum.

And beyond providing some captivating political theater, this backdrop makes room for the story’s larger thematic thrust, as it positively scorches the deep-seated cruelties and impossible decisions that the inner palace forces on its inhabitants. If the previous film was a well-considered critique of how the Ōoku’s patriarchal power structures rob these women of their individuality and personhood, this sequel is equally as enraged at the old guard and its enforcement of an unjust status quo, as they rationalize classist rhetoric with promises of “stability” and “peace.”

Even at a brief 76-minute runtime, the film manages to blaze through these ideas without undermining them, overcoming the breakneck pace of the medicine dealer’s investigation by making great use of the characters and social systems introduced in the previous film.

As the mystery strings us along, we cut between the present and the past in intentionally jarring sequences that create parallels between two wronged characters, revealing the central tragedy that led to this supernatural haunting with a brutal conciseness. As per usual, the medicine dealer being forced to find the “form,” “truth,” and “reason” of the mononoke offers a perfect excuse to dig into previous horrors, so much so that the spirits’ brutal immolation-themed murders are recontextualized as the acts of an avenging angel seeking justice.

It all leads to a deep sense of catharsis as Fuki, Botan, and the true nature of the mononoke intertwine, conveying a guilt that reaches across the grave as these central women grapple with unfathomably cruel choices.

And beyond delivering a compelling mystery and making the most of the Ōoku as a historical symbol of misogyny, what ties all of this together are the visuals, namely, Kenji Nakamura’s bold direction, as well as EOTA studio’s impressive art design and animation work. The team once again mixes bold character designs, an anachronistic color palette, and screen door interludes to create a stunning woodblock print in motion. Just like with the previous movie, I continue to be impressed with the level of creativity on display, something that is most apparent in an action-exorcism climax defined by smooth animation and hallucinatory religious imagery.

If the film has a drawback, it’s that because of its short runtime, it has to rapid-fire through some of its biggest emotional beats in a way that only works at all thanks to the slick visual presentation that captures the weight of this mononoke’s secret. While the previous film was admittedly more confusing, it also offered a bit more time with its central heroines, which made its ending a bit more powerful.

Still, even with its brevity, Mononoke The Movie: Chapter II – The Ashes of Rage lives up to this series’ considerable legacy, delivering a tightly constructed mystery tale that investigates its historical setting with empathy and style. Such an ornate story deserves an equally ornate presentation, and once again, EOTA more than delivers.

Mononoke The Movie: Chapter II – The Ashes of Rage is available on Netflix.

Elijah Gonzalez is an associate editor for Endless Mode. In addition to playing the latest, he also loves anime, movies, and dreaming of the day he finally gets through all the Like a Dragon games. You can follow him on Bluesky @elijahgonzalez.bsky.social.