Who was that large, bearded man who mysteriously appeared for an instant?  He even spoke!

• It really is almost as if Hoozuki no Reitetsu has an “A” cast and a “B” cast, and switched over to the latter midway through its final season.
• I confess I had never heard of the “hanging geezer” either – clearly he needs a better PR man.
• He turns out to be Keneou (Chiba Shigeru), a real figure in Buddhist mythography (as almost all of them in this series are).  While his wife Datsue-ba (more popularly known round these parts as the stripping hag) they handle the logistics of the Sanzu River crossing.
• Bless Deen for getting Chiba-san for this role – his performance is the best part of this episode.  Even among the lions of the seiyuu world in his generation, Chiba’s style is unique.
• Shiro telling the mermaid she looked tasty struck me as utterly hilarious for reasons I cannot fully explain.
• Yes, Hoozuki-sama trying to get the old geezer to do his damn job or retire was 100% social commentary on modern Japan.  Pretty blunt, too.
• Next up we had the return of Maki-Miki (Maki is the particular favorite of the otaku geezer too, as it happens).  I found this whole chapter to be very odd, to be honest.  More so than funny.
• I keep thinking of the idol pair in Osomatsu-san when I watch these two for some reason, though their relationship certainly doesn’t resemble theirs in any way.
• Who doesn’t have spare heads in their fridge, anyway?