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Midnight Occult Civil Servants (TV)


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Nom De Plume De Fanboy
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Joined: 14 Jan 2011
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PostPosted: Mon May 06, 2019 12:53 am Reply with quote


Midnight Occult Civil Servants (TV) anime#21190

Genres: Supernatural, onmyōji bureaucrat/cop show
Themes:

Plot Summary:
Arata Miyako is a new government worker assigned to the Shinjuku Ward Office's "Nighttime Regional Relations" department. Each of Tokyo's 23 wards has one such department, which were established to solve paranormal and occult-related events. Arata can understand non-human speech that no one else understands, and he encounters a yōkai (supernatural entity) at Shinjuku Gyoen park that calls him Abe no Seimei — the name of a historical Japanese occultist and diviner. (from manga)
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Vintage: 2019-04-07

Other article:
The Spring 2019 Anime Preview Guide - Midnight Occult Civil Servants animenewsnetwork.com/preview-guide/2019/spring/midnight-occult-civil-servants/.145475

As of Spring 2019, simulcast streaming on CrunchyRoll and Funimation.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
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PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2019 8:46 pm Reply with quote
1-6

Well, I'm really enjoying this series a lot so far, and it keeps getting better as it goes on. I especially like Kohaku, who I think is just acting out to get Arata's attention, as trickster boys tend to be attention whores.

Lol, from the previews, apparently Hell is under Tokyo in the G-Cans flood control system, which ironically is where the villain in Trickster was hanging out. Laughing
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2019 10:13 pm Reply with quote
I like to spend my time in the series guessing what is happening, the myth geek I am. The reveal in last episode was kind of annoying, because how could he not get who a woman holding a box that released evil, was supposed to be.

In current episode I am going down theories of who the mysterious person could be. Stealing aspects of people made me think they could pull something stupid like Frankenstein's monster. The bat wings do give off a maybe vampire look. And spiriting ladies to the underworld makes me think of Hades/Pluto. Black sand though, called a demon, the wings, takes women to "Hell", steals things probably good about them. Maybe if something it is just obscure.
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Gina Szanboti



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PostPosted: Sun May 12, 2019 11:24 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, not knowing Pandora straightaway seemed kinda lame, but then again, we're talking about a Greek myth, and Arata doesn't even know who Abe no Seimei was, so he doesn't really seem to be up on even the Japanese side of this stuff. Very Happy
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Nom De Plume De Fanboy
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PostPosted: Tue May 21, 2019 4:19 pm Reply with quote
Some ramblings about the end of the missing girls arc.

This really is a cop show. Which I'm liking so far.

So our boys pull together, after some anger venting, and do their detective thing using a computer and knowledge of occult stuff. Black sand creates spoiler[ gravity fluctuations, ] which they have data on... from somewhere? Demons don't like to be nearspoiler[ angel hang-outs and churches. ] Good detective stuff. So they narrow down where to go next to look for Mr. Bad, or more simply, an entrance to Hell. When they get spoiler[ to the right all girls high school - it actually does make sense, and is not just an anime thing, ] Kohaku is impressed, warns and teases a bit, and spoiler[ lets them in. ]

Then we get some action, some help, and sort of a spoiler[ "frozen climax",] would be my term for it. Not typical for an action-adventure show, but it works. Ending outcome: spoiler[All the current kidnapped girls get released, and eventually get their abilities back. It will be interesting to see if their adjustment back to society is a future plot problem. Arata's girl friend was pointedly asking him "what was THAT?", for example. ] And in the epilogue, spoiler[ from the way Mr Bad was looking at yet another high school girl, he ain't quite done yet. ]

All in all, a good couple of episodes. The team should be a bit tighter now. And I'm looking forward to more.
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Gina Szanboti



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PostPosted: Tue May 21, 2019 9:23 pm Reply with quote
We never really found out who the vampire guy was though, or why the ram-horned guy (whoever he is) wants to punish him eternally (was it the sin of loving a human, or just wanting to win the argument as to if it was possible?).

But I'm enjoying this series as much as pretty much anything else this season. Really a shame this didn't get weekly reviews instead of Fairy gone.
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Merida



Joined: 21 Feb 2012
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PostPosted: Mon May 27, 2019 4:53 am Reply with quote
Gina Szanboti wrote:
We never really found out who the vampire guy was though, or why the ram-horned guy (whoever he is) wants to punish him eternally (was it the sin of loving a human, or just wanting to win the argument as to if it was possible?).


He's Azazael, it was mentioned last episode and again this week. No idea ide who the horned guy was supposed to be, but since it was hell, i guess punishing people (or Anothers) eternally is his job? Smile

This week was pretty fun. So Kohaku is like a celebrity and him casually strolling around town causes quite a steer in the Another community. While Arata is starting to gather a considerable harem of quirky followers now... Laughing
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Gina Szanboti



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PostPosted: Mon May 27, 2019 6:04 am Reply with quote
When I heard his name this week, I remembered that it wasn't the first time, but I guess I forgot last week because I don't associate Azazael (or Azazel) with vampires.

Yeah, this was a fun episode. I liked the bazillion kappa that popped up in the river. Can't quite decide yet how I feel about Kohaku, but he's still my favorite character.
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Alan45
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PostPosted: Mon May 27, 2019 7:44 am Reply with quote
Azazel is apparently a demon in Christian mythology. The name show up as one of the rulers of Hell in the first volume of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series. The horned guy is not named currently but is likely also a familiar name from the same mythology.

The idea of someone trying to revive a deceased lover is, of course, a common trope. Especially when it is an affair between a mortal and an immortal. I found her immediate rejection of the new body and his complete denial amusing.
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DuskyPredator



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PostPosted: Mon May 27, 2019 6:01 pm Reply with quote
As far as I am familiar, Azazel is associated as a fallen angel, but whether that is super special I look towards the first episode. First episode had a group of angels that were all female, and seemed to be on the same level as tengu, just bigger, and I don't understand what that means for the Azazel character.
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Gina Szanboti



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PostPosted: Tue May 28, 2019 12:57 am Reply with quote
Azazel was one of the "Grigori," the gigantic angels who married human women and whose offspring wreaked havoc on the world. So that part fits at least. He's also associated with the Yom Kippur scapegoat ritual, being the one to whom the scapegoat is sent to out in the desert. Maybe the writer got confused and thought he was the scapegoat, and that's why he's being eternally punished by the ram-horned demon.
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Spastic Minnow
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PostPosted: Wed May 29, 2019 2:15 pm Reply with quote
No fans of You're Being Summoned, Azazel?
Strange gross-out offensive humor. I'm a fan.

If we're going with that shows order, a horned demon would probably be Moloch.
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Gina Szanboti



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PostPosted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 12:54 am Reply with quote
9

Whoa, that teaser opening was actually scary! Nice sound design on the pounding on the door!

Looks like Kanoichi is going to be a recurring antagonist for Arata. That was a very sad outcome. Sad
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yuna49



Joined: 27 Aug 2008
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 2:18 pm Reply with quote
I watched some of the first episode, then dropped it. From the cast of characters posting here, I'm inspired to take a second look.

Spastic Minnow wrote:
No fans of You're Being Summoned, Azazel?
Strange gross-out offensive humor. I'm a fan.

If we're going with that shows order, a horned demon would probably be Moloch.


Moloch is perhaps my favorite character from that show. Here he is (on the left) with Azazel.

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Gina Szanboti



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PostPosted: Mon Jun 10, 2019 5:30 am Reply with quote
10

Grrr, cliffhanger. I was really caught up in it too. I like how absolutely nothing seems to faze Kohaku. He's either happy or disappointed; otherwise he just watches in neutral.

That flashback was really confusing. Was Another holding him hostage and his uncle turned his back, or was the Another possessing his uncle or what?

I was wondering where the cat got to until just as I was typing this post. Duh. Very Happy spoiler[To Izumo!]
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