English Dub Review: Dekin no Mogura: The Earthbound Mole “At a Certain Location in Tokyo”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Magi and Yaeko, two liberal arts students, have a fateful encounter with the strange Mogura.

Our Take:

The supernatural comedy anime introduces viewers to the protagonists, Magi Kuriaki and Yaeko Kirihara, who are college students with seemingly teenage appearances.  Following their rant about Fujimara, the students encountered a peculiar hermit named Mogura Momoyuki, who got hit in the head by a falling book.  Their chance encounter resulted in Magi and Yaeko experiencing numerous strange supernatural occurrences as they learn more about the hermit.  As it turns out, Mogura isn’t just a regular old hermit striving to earn money for a living.  He’s also a spirit who’s banned from the afterlife due to an unknown reason, leaving him to fend for his life with his soul trapped in the lantern.  Mogura is also collecting the spirits’ demon fire to fuel his lantern while he’s trapped in a spiritual prison in Drawer Street.

To the show’s credit, the animation style from Brain’s Base looked pretty neat, particularly in Mogura’s Drawer Street realm.  The bluish-purple palettes and sketch backgrounds were quite impressive in distinguishing the prison’s spiritual essence from Magi and Yaeko’s real world.  Along with its traditional anime-influenced, comic book-like effects, Dekin no Mogura seemed to possess a style that combines elements from old-school anime with those of today.  Unfortunately, that was the only aspect that held my attention in this seemingly drawn-out and overly complex exposition-based episode.  

Perhaps I was accustomed to anime involving the supernatural beginning with an exciting first encounter, accompanied by a few world-building monologues here and there.  However, it seemed that the series is going for a more comedic tone amidst its supernatural creepiness and Mogura’s unconventional spirit hunter persona.  Despite having a few amusing moments involving Magi’s reactions, the humor didn’t feel as spiritual as it needed to be.  It has potential in its graphic novel-like animation style.  Now it just needs to pick up the pace in its concept.