Mochizuki Family

"Today is the Harvest Moon, but let's look on the bright side! Once midnight passes tonight... Your treatment will go well, and you'll recover and be healthy again in no time... After all, the Mochizuki family cannot die on any other day."

- Noboru Mochizuki to Haruko Mochizuki

The Mochizuki Family (望月家) is a family featured in Episode 4 of Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan, The Harvest Moon. The family serves as the central group of characters in the one-shot, as they attempt to ward off the curse that threatens their lives one night of each year—the night of the harvest moon. Their real family name is unknown, as the false name "Mochizuki" is used to protect their identities.

Summary
The Mochizuki family currently consists of five family members and their pet dog. The complete family genealogy goes back sixteen generations, with the family being around as far back as during the time of the. The current family resides in Morioh, as Rohan Kishibe states they live in his neighborhood. Every direct descendant of the family shares the exact date of death of September 8th, the date of the Harvest Moon, which ties to a curse that has been dealt with for every generation.

Family Curse
"Time is ever flowing... Generations will come and go... And those in that family... They'll get careless and forget the reason why they have to watch the Harvest Moon... That's when I'll return..."

- The Moon Rabbit

Every year during the Harvest Moon, they must view the moon all together until midnight. If they follow this rule, they will live long lives, as shown by Seizo Mochizuki and his wife Sae, both living to 100+ in good health. However, if a family member doesn't follow the rule, they will be killed by unfortunate events. These unfortunate events can be seen with Noboru's brother Mamoru who died by drowning at 17 while trying to help a neighbor's kid from drowning, and his father Sakuzo, who died of an allergic reaction to a sting at 46. Unbeknownst to them, the family is stalked by a spirit known as the Moon Rabbit, who is the one that brings misfortune to anyone in the family who doesn't follow the rule. The origin and reason why this curse has befallen this family for past, present, and future generations to come are unknown.

One way to avoid this misfortune is if a family member accepts someone's hand in marriage. This condition is met when Aki is narrowly spared of misfortune by hornets by accepting her boyfriend's proposal, thus causing the spirit to proclaim she is no longer part of the family in mind or body. Instead, the misfortune was redirected to a motorcyclist driving by that caused them to crash and be killed to even the balance.

Family Tree
The number of relatives some members may have is unknown because the family tree is only partially shown within the one-shot. Some names are also obscured, as seen with Kentaro, where the first kanji in his name is partially shown. Another example is the partial names for two siblings of "-zo" and "-mon".