The word that keeps popping into my head where Mononogatari is concerned is “competent”.  That may be damning with faint praise, but it fits.  There was nothing exceptional to the premiere of this supernatural thriller – nothing stood out much, either in a good or bad way.  The visuals were workmanlike, and the plot put one foot in front of the other in somewhat plodding fashion and got where it needed to go.

Mononogatari (this series is a seinen manga adaptation and unconnected with the Nisio Isin franchise – the extra “no” is for my reaction to having to type his name) tells the story of a young Saenome – an “enforcer” whose job it is to deal with tsukumogami when they cross over into this world – named Hyouma.  Having lost his older brother and sister to a rogue tsukumogami when he was a middle schooler, Hyouma takes a “seal first, ask questions later” approach.  This nettles his grandfather, whose philosophy is to avoid conflict wherever possibly and peacefully persuade the spirits to let him send them home (where most of them want to go, anyway).

That’s sort of an interesting take on the tsukumogami myth, which at least gives “Malevolent Spirits” something to build on.  Desperate to shift his grandson off a course he’s convinced will lead to his destruction, grandpa decides to send Hyouma to a mansion where a family of tsukumogami live as servants to a human master – a girl named Nagatsuki Botan.  We don’t see much of her in the first episode, but the most hotheaded amongst the spirits does get into a tussle with Hyouma, giving an indication as to what life at the mansion might be like for Hyouma.  In this case at least, he had that butt-kicking coming.

There’s enough here in terms of the premise to merit further attention, but that pedestrian quality does worry me quite a bit.  Hyouma doesn’t offer a lot to grasp onto yet in terms of being an engaging protagonist, and we haven’t seen enough of anyone else to make a determination.  Characters don’t have to hatch fully formed in first episodes, and there are ample paths provided for Hyouma to grow.  The big questions, I suppose, are whether the story will pursue them and if so, if it has the chops to do so in interesting fashion.