The Nocturnal Community Relations Division is a team of officials who specialize in solving cases involving occult creatures of the night unseen by ordinary humans. Arata Miyako is a new government worker who has been newly assigned to the Shinjuku Ward Office of the department, where he meets his fellow members Theo Himezuka and Kyouichi Sakaki. Each of Tokyo's 23 wards has one such department, which were established to solve paranormal and occult-related events. Arata is unsuspecting that he's walking into a highly specialized team that secretly deals with the paranormal.
On his first night, Arata discovers to his surprise that not only does every night creature he once thought to be fictional actually exist, but also that he can understand their non-human speech. The team will later learn that Arata has inherited the Ears of Sand. This is revealed when Arata meets a legendary creature (yokai) called a Tengu that refers to him as the famous Heian-era exorcist and diviner, Abe no Seimei. Nonetheless, Arata pays no attention to this reference and continues to utilize his unique ability to assist the team in solving cases.
Many occult creatures refer to Arata as Abe no Seimei because of his special ability during his work. Eventually, Arata becomes curious of his origins and invests himself more into solving cases regarding occult creatures he encounters once he learns of a certain connection between himself and the exorcist.
Midnight Occult Civil Servants was an interesting series. It covered a wide range of supernatural activities in Japanese mythology and Western culture. Arata is the only human, given his lineage, to be able to communicate clearly with the occult creatures. In the series, the audience becomes sympathetic with the occult creatures -- they have everyday emotions like romance, grief, and loneliness like ordinary humans. Since Arata can understand them through his Ears of Sands, he is able to tell his team how to delicately handle the cases. The OVAs go into the background of the team members, and how they got involved in the Nocturnal Community Relations Division. The show is worth binge-watching on a rainy day, but the plot overall is forgettable. I recommend the series.
Opening Theme: "dis-communicate" by Jun Fukuyama
Ending Theme: "Yakusoku no Overture" by Shunichi Toki
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