As hard as it is to believe, it’s almost over – only one episode of Gegege no Kitarou 2018 remains.  If it follows historical precedent the franchise will return in 2029 or so, but – not to be dramatic – who knows what anime, never mind the world, will be like by then?  Best-case scenario that’s still a long time away, and I’m really going to miss Sunday nights with the GeGeGang.  Maybe if we’re lucky we’ll get a movie or two to tide us over in the meantime, and there’s always a visit to Chofu…

It was certainly eminently predictable that Nurarihyon would betray Backbeard, the only question was when and how.  I was a little let down by how easy it was in the end – a spiked bottle of wine (or blood – I’m not sure) which contained the blood of Rex Nemorensis.  It was a given that Backbeard would prove to be an easy mark for Nurarihyon but that was too easy.  Still – even the all-seeing master manipulator seems to have been caught out by what happened next, leaving Backbeard with a role to play in the finale after all.

As for Kitarou, it turns out he’s not in the underworld after all – which makes the plan to go fetch him Neko-musume style unworkable.  It seems he’s actually in “The Land of Unbeing“, something like Limbo, sent there because of his despair at the time of his demise.  I can certainly see that given that what was playing out was a repudiation of everything his existence stood for, and it would have been far too convenient to have him fetched back the way Catchick was (which was probably too convenient to begin with).

Meanwhile Nurarihyon tries to convince Nezumi-otoko that it’s Mana who’s behind Kitarou’s death, and that he needs to kill her.  I knew he’d never go through with it, but I nevertheless thoroughly approve of the way Mana has proved integral to the denouement of the series.  She’s no accessory but a genuinely crucial addition to the cast, and while Nurarihyon is a conniving bastard he’s not wrong about her in a couple of very important ways.  Knowing her certainly has changed Kitarou’s perspective – maybe it has caused him to fall from his perch balanced between the two world.  And that she possesses some “mysterious power” cannot be denied – we’ve seen more than ample evidence of that.

Nurarihyon got what he wanted with all-out war between youkai and humans, but Backbeard turning into a giant bomb in the stratosphere thanks to the holy blood seems to have been an unforeseen development.  It’s all hands on deck at this point, with Agnes and Adele alerted to Backbeard’s revival and Isurugi Rei showing up too.  That means Ibukimaru too (Furuya Toru- what a voice…), and with him a potential path to the Land of Unbeing.  But it requires a sacrifice, the life force of a youkai, and there’s never any doubt as to who’s going to volunteer for that service.

If I’d quibble with this finale, it would be that it’s a bit too by the numbers thus far.  But as I said, I think the fact that it’s going to center around Kitarou and Mana is exactly right, and I have confidence that the finale will leave the series in a good place.  Even the title of the final episode suggests that – Gegege no Kitarou will always be, in the end, an exploration of Kitarou’s way of being and how it reflects on the real world that we live in.  I’ve never needed it in my life more than I do right now, but this is the hand we’ve been dealt – I just want it to go out in style.