Dekin no Mogura: The Earthbound Mole – Episode 1

What’s it about? Magi Kuriaki and Kirihara Yaeko are university students in the literature department who are stuck working with classmates they don’t get along with for a research project.  While on their way home a Koujien dictionary falls on the head of a stranger named Mogura Momoyuki, and he ends up bleeding on the sidewalk.  Turns out he’s a spirit that can’t move on to the afterlife, so he spends his days trying to make a living and absorbs spirits in order to create a ghost light that’ll help him cross over. 

This premiere had A LOT of exposition.  I found myself being confused alongside Kuriaki and Yaeko as to why Momoyuki was rambling on about his personal circumstances.  There’s no doubt that he’s a strange dude and comes off as extremely shady, but to his credit, he’s very self aware and promptly declares to Kuriaki and Yaeko that they shouldn’t trust strangers.  Despite his warnings, Momoyuki is clearly a decent fellow who’s struggling to survive on the limited resources available to him.  He doesn’t even want them to call an ambulance nor call a doctor to treat his head wound because he doesn’t have identity papers and money to cover his care.  Momoyuki’s situation reminds me of the realities that most undocumented people have to deal with in terms of having to live “under the radar” and navigate their lives with significant limitations. 

He doesn’t have access to healthcare and social services that could provide him with a safety net to rely on.  If the moral of the story is that “not even in death can you find peace,” then I think this series succeeded in conveying that message.  Momoyuki’s life sounds like an eternal punishment since he basically has to live out his ghostly existence deciding between buying groceries or going to a bath house.  I’m not sure if Kuriaki and Yaeko are ghost enthusiasts, but it must be disappointing for them to hear that the scariest thing Momoyuki has seen is the introduction of both consumption and property taxes — to be fair, it’s truly the thing of nightmares.  

It also sounds like that Momoyuki will never cross over to the afterlife since he has to fluctuate between using the spirits he absorbs on himself and finish creating his ghost light.  It’s a never-ending cycle, which makes me wonder why Momoyuki lost the right to his ghost light in the first place? Did he commit a crime or does he have some unfinished business? Normally, I’m a huge fan of stories about Japanese folklore and spirituality, but something about this one just didn’t click for me. Perhaps it was the delivery of the material or the fact that none of the characters are memorable.  There’s also obvious jokes about Japanese literature that completely went over my head and I suspect those of us that aren’t familiar with it won’t find the humor in the series funny at all.  

I appreciate that something different is airing this season and while I won’t be tuning in after this premiere, I hope it finds its niche audience.