There are no mysterious things in the world.
— Chuuzenji-sensei
Chuuzenji-sensei's catchphrase reminds you of Detective Conan's catchphrase: 'There is only one truth.' 'The Mononoke Lecture Logs of Chūzenji-sensei: He Just Solves All the Mysteries' is a mystery show (and sometimes a detective show). It is set in post-war Japan, and it shows how certain mysteries are not mysteries at all.
The titular character is Chuuzenji Akihiko, and he has the brain to solve each mystery. But in this anime, he is not the face of solving mysteries. It's the high school student, Kusakabe Kanna, who got involved in Chuuzenji-sensei's affairs. In order to protect Chuuzenji-sensei's secret library, Kanna had to live by the rumour that was spread that she exorcised the ghosts in the school library, earning her the reputation of being a paranormal detective.
§ Let's start with the negatives
Its animation is constrained by financial limitations, leading to limited production values. It has that one instance where blood was spilt, and it made you think of a PowerPoint animation. That instance is rare. Other than that, it is mostly acceptable. This anime doesn't really require high-quality animation. (But if it did have good animation, I would have rated this as equal to the mystery with great visuals called Shoushimin: How to Become Ordinary.)
It is episodic. As such, you don't have the urge to binge the anime. It works well for a weekly watch when it was airing, and it can work as something you can watch for 12 separate days, or if you want to be faster, 3 different seatings — watch one episode in one sitting, then watch another anime.
§ Things I am neutral about
The character design is not pretty, but it's good. One would not watch this anime to find a waifu, and in my opinion, it's not a bad thing.
Brown is this anime's dominant colour motif, and this signals an æsthetics of something vintage, old, or nostalgic. This makes sense as the anime takes place a few years after the end of World War II.
'The Mononoke Lecture Logs of Chūzenji-sensei' is part of Kyōgoku Natsuhiko's mystery story. In fact, I read that it's the prequel to the series, Kyōgokudō (京極堂) Series. Some would even claim that this is weak in relation to his other novels involving Chuuzenji-sensei. I don't know if it's that true, as I have to read or watch them. Regardless, I like this anime by itself, and anyone who does might consider related media — manga and novels.
A quick look at Wikipedia tells us that the first entry of the Kyōgokudō (京極堂) Series has a live action adaptation called Ubume no Natsu (姑獲鳥の夏) aka Summer of the Ubume. If this is chronologically next to 'The Mononoke Lecture Logs of Chūzenji-sensei,' it may make sense that people who liked this anime watch this next.
The second entry of Kyōgokudō (京極堂) Series is Mōryō no Hako (魍魎の匣; "Box of Spirits and Goblins"). It has both live-action and anime adaptations. The anime adaptation was made by Madhouse and directed by Nakamura Ryōsuke. There's not much from him as the main director, but he is involved in great anime as staff, great anime such as Death Note, Your Lie in April, Made in Abyss, Monster, and Hajime no Ippo.
§ What I like most
§§ The western cartoon Scooby-Doo, which was targeted to 6–12 years olds, seems to be doing the same thing as this anime, that the ghosts in question are not really ghosts. Add to that is the wacky humour.
In contrast, this anime has some level of seriousness. Despite being published as shounen in Shōnen Magazine Edge and later in Comic Days, its tone makes one think that it is actually seinen.
§§ I love Chuuzenji Akihiko the most, even if he is quite unlikable. He sees things rationally. Even if many people think that the mysteries have supernatural causes, he dismisses them as nothing mysterious, hence his catchphrase, 'There are no mysterious things in the world.'
This catchphrase echoes one of the key teachings in Lucretius as he expounds on Epicurean philosophy: that the weather and other atmospheric phenomena, which to primitive men were regarded as signs of the anger of the gods and should be feared, actually have natural causes.
For, just as children tremble and fear everything in blinding darkness, so we even in daylight sometimes dread things that are no more terrible than the imaginary dangers that cause children to quake in the dark. This terrifying darkness that enshrouds the mind must be dispelled not by the sun's rays and the dazzling darts of day, but by study of the superficial aspect and underlying principle of nature.
— Lucretius, Book II of 'On the Nature of Things' translated by Martin Ferguson Smith
I believe that Chuuzenji-sensei has done a great job akin to that of Epicurus, who had done away with superstition that leads to the fear of death, and in turn leads to having an unhappy life instead of living life to the fullest. Chuuzenji-sensei is actually battling against the tendency of the Japanese to be superstitious.
"Belief in ghosts, demons and spirits has been deep-rooted in Japanese folklore throughout history. It is entwined with mythology and superstition derived from Japanese Shinto, as well as Buddhism and Taoism brought to Japan from China and India."
— Norman A. Rubin in the article "Ghosts, Demons and Spirits in Japanese Lore"
Link to this articleEven a cursory perusal of articles such as Rubin's as well as 'Ghosts from the Past: The Fortune of Hyaku Monogatari in Post-Meiji Japan' and 'Traversing the Natural, Supernatural, and Paranormal: Yōkai in Postwar Japan' would leave you with the impression that such superstition is ingrained in the Japanese psyche despite all the technological advancements.
§§ Kanna and Chuuzenji-sensei have a similar dynamic to that of Houshou Reiko and her butler, Kageyama, who is the titular Dinner Table Detective. But the dynamic is better here because of the absence of the insufferable Kazamatsuri Kyouichirou.
Even though Kanna did not like being placed in the role of a paranormal detective, and she often suffers from Chuuzenji-sensei's scolding, I can see something beneficial from such an arrangement. It's akin to mentorship and enculturation to a tradition, which in this case is rationality. Just as the goddess Athena in the form of Mentor, for which the word mentor came to be, has called Odysseus's son Telemachus to man up and find the whereabouts of his father, Chuuzenji-sensei is somehow, perhaps unconscious on his part, inculcating in Kanna the values of rationality and other related virtues.
§ Conclusion
Even though it's not a pretty anime visually, this underrated anime pleases the Epicurean part of me. If not for its bland visuals, I would have rated this as equal to Shoushimin.
NOTA BENE: A grade of 7 out of 10 [or 70 out of 100 in anilist] means that I find this anime is very good and two notches above average. I enjoyed watching it.
It is a high score because it is two notches above average. It's not mid or average unlike the misconception of so many people in this site.
My enjoyment spectrum lies from 4 to 10. If I have scored an anime below 4, I actively dislike it.
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