 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「ありか」 (Arika)
“Hiding Place”
Ichitarou finally has his day. The course of events has essentially forced everyone around him to acknowledge that Bocchan is a man, and to step back and let him take charge. A role which the lad is more than ready for, planning out and preparing the whole operation. Starting with ordering special, extra powerful talismans (you get what you pay for, and fortunately Mom supplied the funds, no questions asked). It doesn’t take long to verify the efficacy when all the yokai except for the two guards (who are on a “whole other level”) have an almost allergic reaction to it.
Ichitaro also comes up with the clever idea of creating fake incense to lure the failed tsukumogami in. To complete the ruse, the trio use the original wrapping, which Mom gave as an offering to the local guardian deity. Intriguingly, when Ichitaro smells it, he goes into a faint. What was up with that? Could it be he has a sensitivity due to his poor health/having already been brought into the world by its use? Or something to do with him being a quarter yokai? At any rate- the calm intelligence with which he goes about this whole plan speaks volumes to the good head he has on his shoulders and what a crying shame it is that everyone has stifled him so. Unfortunately, Nikichi and Sasuke are not self-reflective of the larger problem of how they were treating him. For them, the only thing to be repentant of was that he could have died if things kept going as they were. Now, given that those two are under Grandma’s command, I wonder how much of their over-protectiveness could have been fueled by her.
Speaking of Grandma, we got to see how she tied in with Sasuke’s story. I was disappointed that Sasuke was not given the same amount of time for a backstory that Nikichi was. I wonder if it goes into more detail in the novels, but that had to get cut due to time constraints. It makes sense why Nikichi’s history took center stage more, given his close ties to Lady Ogin (who, they confirmed in oh-so novel adaptation style was indeed Nikichi’s unrequited love). But rushing through Sasuke’s side of things brought up so many questions. Who was this “companion”- just a master? A human he fell in love with? Something else? Speeding past all that, the flashback shows Sasuke assisting Ogin and an injured Nikichi, in return for which Ogin promises to grant his heart’s desire.
She makes good on that promise, calling Sasuke much later. I was surprised to see how Ogin had aged– usually yokai don’t age like humans. Either she’s been around long enough to finally show yokai age, or maybe she has some kind of ability to change her appearance to fit a human timeline. Her “reward” is not what Sasuke expected (indeed, it seems like a rather selfish gift, in a way)- asking him to look after her grandson. She explains that there’ll be plenty of benefit to it for Sasuke, but on the surface, it just looks like disguising work as a reward. Given his fondness for Ichitaro, I do think there was at least some genuine benefit to it, or at least a benefit he grew to accept over time.
Things don’t stay in behind the scenes mode for long- the failed tsukumogami goes after the Azuma business where Matsunosuke was working, and goes on the attack, setting a fire. Fortunately, it seems Matsunosuke was away on leave, so he was not there at the time of the fire. However, that poses the deeper question- where the heck is he?
The story has been running on two tracks- the one with Matsunosuke and his complicated relations with his blood family and the Azuma household. The other track with Ichitaro, his yokai roots, and the killer yokai on the loose. It’s about time for the two to intersect, and I certainly am interested to see how it will do so.
