Mononoke Chapter II: The Ashes of Rage had me sad and angry

Hello everyone, how are you doing? I hope something good happened to you today. I'm doing pretty good. Mononoke Chapter 2 Ashes of Rage just recently came out on Netflix, so I'm not going to give major spoilers in the first half of this video if you haven't watched it just yet. But if you've watched the first movie, you know that there is a Mononoke a fire one this time. I really adore Crispin Freeman in this role. The performance is excellent and just so cool. He has such a soothing but powerful quality to his voice. He should narrate bedtime stories. I kind of have a crush on the medicine man now, and his performance might have something to do with it. Natalie Van Sistine as Botan Otomo was also excellent. She's also the voice of your forger. Love me some spy family. As I said in my video that covered the first movie in the Mononoke series, I love the art and design of this world. I adore the colour palettes and the intricacy of the backgrounds and how everything looks like a paper painting. It's wonderful to see such artistry. The beginning of the movie moved a little fast for me and I had to rewind and start again. Probably I should have just been paying closer attention because it begins right away, with the very first conversation and interaction being important. Councilman Otomo, whose daughter is a consort of the Emperor and is important in the running of Ryoku, assumes the responsibility of guiding the royal bloodline. This includes deciding which noble family will become the caretakers of the Emperor's daughter and who should have his son. Because remember, he does have numerous consorts and technically could bed any of the women in Ryoku. On the off chance he never has a son, whoever has care of his daughter would be in position of choosing the next Emperor who would be her husband, so it is an extremely valuable role. It is also very sad that her mother does not get to take care of her. For most of the movie, when we see the councilman he is playing Shogi, moving his pieces above the board, I think I sense a metaphor here. He repeatedly plays with Tokita, who is the father of the Emperor's favourite consort, Yuki. And the father is a little oblivious. Very clearly doesn't come from the same world as these other nobles. His position in society was elevated once his daughter started doing night service. And this is essentially why people keep sending their pretty daughters to Ryoku, right? Maybe she'll catch the Emperor's eye and now your whole family is good. And this potential becomes a bargaining chip for people like the councilman. Maybe if you do him a favour, or sway your fealty, he can get your daughter into Ryoku. And then who knows what can happen, as long as your common blood daughter doesn't have the Emperor's heir. And this is where the tension of this movie comes from. Where we find the struggle that caused enough pain to generate Family standing means nothing after you've given birth. The mother of the successor is the mother of the successor. It doesn't matter if she was once the daughter of a merchant or a farmer, if she bears the successor, she wins! I suppose I should advise my daughter to do her absolute best as well. In the first movie, we explored how the women of Ryoku aren't perceived as individuals, often even to themselves, but as components of the Yoku. In this movie, we look at the ways these components are perceived and used. And the effect this has on the women themselves. For those who discover that their well-being and that of their potential children are unimportant. They sacrifice everything for this system and this system does not care about them. And for those who didn't push back like Yuki does. For those who give into obligation and duty and the supposed greater good. In this movie, your grief and anger turns you into a mouse mononoke that burns people to ash. We explored jealousy in the previous movie and we see it again at the beginning of this one. We take a closer look at Yuki, the Emperor's current favourite. She was an ordinary maid until man spotted her looking gorgeous while doing chores just a couple of months prior. She attained the impossible dream. The woman who joined her at the same time despises her, envy burning her up on the inside. Why her and not me? Why her with her common blood? It's not fair. I'm a maid, I have to bow to her. And she's exalted. She's the first one to get burned up. Okay, so now I'm going into spoilers. The crux of the story is Yuki's pregnancy. Councilman Otomo does not want the child to be born. First he has his daughter, who becomes the change the Emperor's night time schedule so he can hopefully make a baby with one of the high born consorts and the Emperor. The main guy says nothing during all of this. People are discussing his sex life and his children and he doesn't say a single word. No actor cast for this role. It's as if the discussion of his own life, his own personal matters are below him. Okay, so in editing I think perhaps I have been uncharitable in my interpretation of the Emperor's actions and silence. Looking at the clips I think he looks a little sad when they say he can't just be with Yuki only. He must like her and maybe it's not just for her looks or night time skills. He is a victim of this system too. Not to the level of the others but perhaps he wants to speak up in this meeting but he just can't because that's not the procedure. And his wife is right there. Or maybe showing too much favoritism towards Yuki is actually dangerous for her and she was upset she couldn't be with him all the time even though she was already pregnant and she knew she was. So she doesn't have to keep spending time with him in order to get pregnant. So perhaps they do have a genuine connection. But he does not speak up on behalf of his wife so she can raise their daughter herself and that is messed up. A weak powerful man or a powerful weak man. Whichever one you choose. Even Yuki stands up on behalf of Lady Yukiko saying that she must want to raise her own child. And the most powerful of these noblemen agree that Yuki shouldn't because of her bloodline. And yet none of them say to him, to the emperor, my guy maybe don't make your first born son with this particular woman. I mean he knows how this works and he's only boning her so what does he think is going to happen? So Bolton as the new administrator makes a rule that he has to spend the night with each of them. It's wild and they're not allowed to talk to him during night service. Which is also wild. They don't get to be people and they don't even get to raise their own children. Which could be a genuinely fulfilling experience for them. And a child would love them without all of this regulation. We recommend that the Katsunuma family's Lady Matsu take on the role of the princess's guardian. And Lady Yukiko's wishes were ignored? Seems like it. That's simply how tradition is. I was thinking about what Lady Yukiko must wish for her daughter. This is her first child after all. I imagine she must have wanted to raise the princess herself. Why can't they keep their own children? It makes me so sad. Is it because as the emperor's women they must be devoted to the emperor? The councilmen and some of the others go on to attempt to poison her in order to ensure their own positions and to make sure Yuki does not have the emperor's heir. Luckily these attempts are not successful. Lady Suzu is the Mononoke and 20 years before the events of this story, she was forced to terminate her pregnancy because of her background. Her father called her to a beautiful room and asked her to do it. And you best believe some councilmen asked him to do it. Probably Councilman Utamon. Her father hands her a vial of poison and she drinks it. To preserve her family's status. To do what is best for the emperor. To do her duty. So all I have to do is drink this and the Saijo family can proudly say that it sacrificed everything it could to repay Councillor Otomo's kindness with our loyalty? Suzu, do you understand? I will protect the Saijo family. Otomo is playing shogi with Yuki's father because the councilman wants him to do the same thing. And he does. But Yuki refuses. And this is why the Mononoke begins to manifest with Yuki's pregnancy and discussions around who should have the emperor's child. She is semi-possessed by the spirit of Suzu seeing her memories and experiencing her grief. Yuki refuses to take the poison and is determined to have her child. She yells at the councilman condemning him for the actions that he has taken over decades. Unforgivable is the word that is repeated again and again. The medicine man believes that this sentiment is targeted to the councilman and the others. But it is not. She drank the poison. And her grief at her loss and her rage at what she was even asked to do is so great that she sets fire to the room where she made this decision while she was still in it. And as this is revealed, I felt my eyes grow damp. My heart hurts because you know this happened to real women. Probably still happens to real women. And the song that plays is so hauntingly, heartbreakingly beautiful. And with the truth revealed, the medicine man can transform into his sexy warrior priest form to slay the Mononoke. Because remember, he requires form, truth and reason before the sword can be drawn. And he is clearly affected by the weight of what he has uncovered. I shall purify you Mononoke so that you may finally find rest. Forgive me. We learn more about the medicine man in this movie and I enjoyed that. There is a scene where Botan is trying to kick him out of Ryoku and he explains that only a sword like his is capable of killing the Mononoke. And she responds that they will borrow it then. So he hands it over to the guard who clearly can't hold it up. So it must be very heavy or one of those only the worthy can wield this weapon kind of thing. And the sword doesn't really have a blade. So that's very interesting. I hope we learn more about its origins in chapter 3. Botan annoyed me at first because she kept trying to ban the medicine man from Ryoku and it's like, why would you do that? There was quite literally a Mononoke in here last month and he was the only one who could sort it out. So screw the rules, men may not be allowed in Ryoku, but there are plenty of men in Ryoku. Slaying the demon, turning people into ash is a valid reason to go inside. But when confronted with the truth that her father and others control who has the Emperor's children by any means necessary, she pushes back. She doesn't allow them to frame Yuki as breaking the rules so she can be kicked out. And she warned Yuki that someone was trying to poison her, even though she doesn't like her and probably wants to be the one who has the Emperor's son. When you reach the climax of the story, with the Mononoke fully manifested and the medicine man transformed, the demon kills the councilman and has already killed his conspirators. And this whole experience is quite eye-opening for everyone involved, and it's decided that perhaps we shouldn't force women to enter their pregnancies, especially since the Emperor chose them. Surely that's enough, all of his divine wisdom and whatnot. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie just as much as the first one. I think I liked Asa as a lead in the previous one a little more than the leads in this one, but the story of Ashes of Rage really hit me in the heart, and I liked spending more time with the medicine man and the guard. The stories of these women who are expected to be beautiful, obedient, quiet, and dedicate their entire existence to serving others until their rage and frustration bubbles up into monsters and supernatural events really hits close to home. And I am very much looking forward to Chapter 3. I'm hoping that we learn more about this blonde-haired water priest guy. They keep showing him, but he doesn't really do anything in the stories, so I'm thinking he will play a bigger part later. I kinda hope he does. For obvious reasons. Before I end this video, I have to do a bit of a plug. I recently published a book, it's called The Smoke That Thunders, by Michaela Wilke, that's me. I'll leave the link in the description. It's a magical realism story that follows Ada and Doomie as they meet on holiday and encounter something supernatural that alters the nature of their existence. Sometimes, fate directly intervenes in the lives of mortals. The story follows them through decades of their lives and explores love in its highest and lowest forms. After all, love is inspiration for great acts of beauty, sacrifice, and destruction. It's available as paperback and e-book on Amazon, and though it's technically a romance, it doesn't really follow the traditional romance structure, and it's not a very spicy or erotic novel if that's what you're looking for. So, that's it for me. I hope that you enjoyed this video, and if you did, please like and subscribe, leave a comment if you'd like to say hi. Have a great day, have a great week. See you in the next one. I'm Kayla. Bye!