This was the first episode of Gegege no Kitarou in many weeks that, for me, really had the same charm as most of the first two cours.  We’re a long way from Mana’s WW II episode, don’t get me wrong, but there was a great sense of fun here and more than any of the other Western Youkai arc, it blended Western magic and Japanese in an effective way.  Plus, Mana was totally adorable in her Neko-musume cosplay, and that certainly doesn’t hurt.

For a change Gegege no Kitarou brought in an actor who wasn’t part of earlier incarnations of the franchise for a major role, that of the vampire Carmilla – Izawa Shiori (most recently excellent as Ginko in Planet With).  She’s another one of Backbeard’s “big three” demons, but she seems to be in town largely traveling on pleasure this time.  She’s set up a free screening of a supposed vampire flick with free snacks after, and that’s enough to draw Mana (in aforementioned cosplay) in, which means Catchick is drawn in too.  But this is all an elaborate trap to add (all girls, apparently) to Carmilla’s vampire army.

That Neko-musume and Nezumi-otoko both are such Halloween skeptics is sort of interesting to me, because there’s definitely a segment of Japanese society that pushes back (fruitlessly to be sure) against the embrace of Western holidays.  I hear stuff like “It’s all commercial!” and “It’s just a cosplay festival!” about Halloween all the time, and in slightly altered form for Christmas and Valentine’s Day.  It’s an unwinnable fight, but I think many Japanese don’t understand the extent to which those things are true in the West as well.  Most holidays are just as commercial and corporate-driven in America as they are in Japan – there’s really not much difference with Japan in that sense.  This is all part of the paradox of Japan (a culture riddled with them), an extremely secular society where spiritualism is far more ingrained in daily life (and holidays) than in America and Europe.

As to Carmilla and her scam, it’s fairly rote but brought off entertainingly – and I quite enjoyed seeing Agnes and Kitarou work together to break through the barrier Adele’s gem had cast around the theatre (transported to a parallel dimension).  The idea that the shield was tuned to Agnes’ magical frequency and that she could break through by adding an element of Kitarou’s youkai power to her magic was quite clever.  Kitarou and Agnes are developing an interesting chemistry – something that, I suspect, Neko-musume is going to take notice off sooner rather than later…