Midnight Occult Civil Servants

Shojo anime often do not receive the credit they deserve; they are often overlooked based on the assumption that the stories are exclusively for women. While the marketing is faithful, shojo anime have dynamic stories that are more drama than action. Sometimes viewers want to put the action aside and settle into a nice story. Am I right?

Midnight Occult Civil Servants, also known as Mayonaka no Occult Koumuin, is a manga illustrated and written by Yōko Tamotsu. The manga began its serialization in Kadokawa’s Monthly Asuka Magazine and on Kadokawa’s Newtype Comic website. The manga started on May 23, 2015, and at the time of writing, it has entered its 16th volume. The series is ongoing. In addition to the manga, a Novelization by Masumi Suzuki and an anime adaptation have been completed.

The anime adaptation of Mayonaka no Occult Koumuin was released in 2019 and is based on the manga by the same name. The anime consists of twelve episodes and adapts the first five volumes of the manga. Midnight Occult Civil Servants was created under the direction of Tetsuya Watanabe and written by Tatsuto Higuchi. Liden Films, best known for 2021’s chart-topping anime Tokyo Revengers handled the art and animation. Midnight Occult Civil Servants features the genres of fantasy, mystery, and supernatural and is rated PG-13.

Set in Shinjuku City, Japan, the story follows Arata Miyako. Arata has recently been assigned to the Nocturnal Community Relations Shinjuku Ward Office. Comprised of twenty-three branches for each of Japan’s wards, the Nocturnal Community Relations Division must investigate occult occurrences in and around Japan. In addition to their job as occult civil servants, they act as public relations agents for the city of Shinjuku, a thriving cosmopolitan city. These agents work to keep the peace between humans and the beings known as “Another.”

As its name suggests, the Nocturnal Community Relations agents work primarily at night as this is when most occult occurrences occur. These "Another," as they are called, come in many forms and are not limited to Angels, Demons, or Youkai. Another are most of the occult creatures we see in fiction.

Humans do not generally see these creatures unless that person is spiritually aware, which comes with training. In the case of the Civil Servants, a spray called Ibn Ghazi allows even the novice to see the unseen. Though the agents can see Another, they can not communicate with them; they can only observe and attempt to figure out the issue. Unfortunately, this tactic has varying success.

As much as it is a fantasy, mystery, and supernatural anime, ala Men in Black, Midnight Occult Civil Servants also leans toward the Slice of Life genre. The story is told through the lens of its primary cast of characters, its human actors, and the Another.

Based out of the Shinjuku Ward Office are Seo, Reiji, Kyouichi, and the newly hired Arata Miyako. Arata Miyako is gifted with “Ears of Sand,” a gift that allows him to hear and communicate with Another. Arata is a descendent of Abe no Seimei, a long-deceased relative. It is from this relative that he inherited this gift.

Arata is about age twenty-two; he's good-natured though naive to the ways of the world. He is another Ken Kaneki minus the abusive mother. He is said to resemble his deceased relative so much that the Another often calls him Seimei. This resemblance is depicted in the manga as a two-edged sword but in the anime adaptation resembling Seimei has the good fortune of working in his favor.

A trope common in anime is the child of deceased parents and the coming of age narrative. As Arata spent most of his time in the Japanese countryside with his grandfather, upon arriving in Shinjuku, the viewer quickly pieces together Arata's surrogate family of the Shinjuku Ward Office.

Theo Himezuka, or Seo as he prefers to be called, is the scientific mind of the SWO. Good-natured and even-keeled, Arata initially was confused concerning Seo's gender. A young man with fine feminine features, Seo was often pulled into coworker Kyouichi Sakaki's womanizing antics, a young man with delicate feminine features. Kyouichi is the section head under Reiji Senda, who is Chief Director.

The Shinjuku Ward Office is interwoven into the greater Nocturnal Community Relations Division Ward Offices throughout Japan, introducing us to additional personnel who act as supporting cast members either directly or indirectly, adding to the story. Their addition allows the viewer to understand the scale of Civil Servant operations and the influence of Another on the island of Japan. Interestingly, Another are not bound to Japan, and just as  Shinjuku is a cosmopolitan city for worldwide human travelers, it is the same for Another.

Before Duo Maxwell coined his Gundam, the god of death, there was the God of destruction. Originally a deity from South America, Huehuecoyotl made his way to Japan and came into the company of Seimei. He is depicted in the anime as a trickster, much like the DC Comics villain Mxyzptlk and he often creates havoc just for fun.

He can be ambivalent to the feelings of humanity; however, in the ongoing backstory, his relationship with Seimei is very intimate. Seimei gives Huehuecoyotl the name Kohaku, a name the chaotic deity would cherish. Kohaku displays great affection for Arata throughout the anime due to his resemblance to Seimei. He teaches Arata much about his past and is a vehicle aiding in Arata's growth. There's a bit of BL in this anime, and it was well done.

There are no protagonists in Midnight Occult Civil Servants, only the clashing of ideas. Arata's Ears of Sand allow him to see the Another through the lens of understanding. Other characters such as Kyouichi and Satoro Kanoichi of the Tokyo Ward office were one-sided in their beliefs and believed that Another were not to be understood but eliminated. This belief is mainly affected by past traumatic experiences with Another. While their minds do not entirely change, Satoro and Kyouichi do entertain the possibility of other points of view. It remains to be seen how this plays out past volume five of the manga.

The art and animation of Mayonaka no Occult Koumuin is well done. LidenFilms does a great job of blending mediums. The use of CG was not intrusive and added to the animation and world-building. While the animation is well done, there are moments when the backgrounds are hazy or too dark. This may not be an issue for most viewers though viewers with visual impairments may have problems.

Despite these issues, the art was enjoyable and paired with a limited budget; it is obvious where time and attention were spent. Kohaku is one of the better artistically created characters in the anime and one of my favorites. Kudos to Eriko Itou for his work on this series.

Something seemed off upon first viewing Midnight Occult Civil Servants, and that was the music. Its intro, the upbeat "dis communicate" by Jun Fukuyama, plays well with the artistry accompanying it, as does the outro "Yakusoku no Overture '' by Shunichi Toki. However, much of the music used in the anime is Jazzy, and in the early episodes, the music seemed to work against the anime's pacing.

Having since viewed this anime several times, the first impression was that the music was taken from other ideas and thrown together to make a soundtrack. At times that works, and others not so much. All is not lost, though; a good cast of voice actors makes this an enjoyable listen. Of course, anything with Tomoaki Maeno can't be a total drag.

Mayonaka no Occult Koumuin is an anime that doesn't break new ground. The viewer will notice similarities between it and other shojo and shonen offerings. This includes common moral and ethical themes that play out between conflicting ideologies and beliefs. This is not to suggest it's a bad anime, but it seems to be one that held itself back.

While its high water moment is episodes 6 and 7, which were a mixture of comedy and darker themes, the rest seem to tote the line between day-to-day work and comedy as not to push past its PG rating. At twelve episodes long, it's worth a watch, and the pacing improves as the story progresses. There are a few plot holes that the manga gives greater insight into. With 16 volumes, it remains to be seen if there will be a season two. Hopefully, there will be, as it is an anime that could have easily been an eight or a nine with a few tweaks.