With this, the “Western Youkai” arc of Gegege no Kitarou comes to a close.  And in more satisfying fashion than I was worried it would a few weeks ago, that’s for sure.  Even so this was clearly a way station, a preamble to the real climactic arc of this revival. And by all accounts it looks like it’s going to be a big one, and dark too.  It’s ironic that the two characters at the center of it are new to this version – and that they’re two of the best characters of the season.

For me Backbeard (who is of course an original Mizuki character) has always been a bit of a paper tiger.  Powerful and evil, certainly, but evil guys who feel the need to remind you how evil they are as often as he did and clearly overcompensating.    Mana has survived her fall, thanks to Kitarou’s vest apparently (that vest will prove important later too), and Adele gives her a stone which she says will restore Kitarou’s youkai powers.  The only problem is that Mana will have to cross about a hundred meters of exposed territory to get it to him.

Mana has plenty of guts, there’s no question about that.  And luck, too (though I’m not convinced Nanashi isn’t messing with Backbeard’s aim or something).  She does manage to get the stone into Kitarou’s general vicinity, and he does manage to break free of his restraints.  And in engaging Backbeard, he frees up Adele to make a bid to save Agnes, which she needs Mana’s help for as she’s too weak to walk on her own.  Her aim here is obvious – keep the see-saw of self-sacrifice going and take Agnes’ fate back on herself.

What struck me in the Kitarou-Backbeard fight is that Kitarou used a power we’ve never seen him use in this version (I don’t think) – “Inner Electricity”.  And he actually manages to force Backbeard to take a corporeal form, which he seems to rather enjoy.  Kitarou’s power if fueled by the hatred flowing into his vest, Adele manages to slip the ring off Agnes’ finger, and slowly the tide of battle turns in the good guys’ favor.  None of this is surprising at all – obviously Backbeard isn’t going to win.  But with all his minions escaping, perhaps Backbeard’s seeming demise doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of the Western youkai.

All seems in happy ending mode, with Adele and Agnes reconciled and heading off to see the world and Mana (perhaps due to her time wearing the vest) now able to enter Gegege Forest.  But we know better – the real villain is still out there, and he has big plans for Mana.  Once more he marks her with a rune of some sort, and declares that with only two more “Hell will be unleashed” on the Earth.  That sounds bad for everybody, but especially Mana.  There’s still so much we don’t know here – why is she the “empty vessel” Nanashi needs to unleash his hell, and does he have some deeper motive for doing so than simple evilness?  We’re going to get a little break from those questions, it seems, but they’re certainly going to demand answers before this series is done.