Things are definitely getting intense in Mao. Plot-wise I wouldn’t call it a slow build, but this series is definitely not in any hurry. Rumiko is still placing her cards before the karuta match actually begins, but I think we’re reaching the final stages of that prequel period. The Taizanfukun, and the pursuit of it, are clearly a main plot driver at least for now. Possibly the main plot driver, with the Byouki (though the two are obviously connected) being saved for the endgame much, much later.
Who is Mizuchi? Well, the name certainly gives away a lot. Whoever the water sorcerer is, they’re very keen to get their hands on Mao. All this stuff about saving dying people (via Mizuchi, their shikigami) is a means to drop the Goko name and lure him out. But it’s also caught Kamon’s attention, which I suspect was not part of the plan. Kamon’s role in all this is still largely an X-factor. Is he operating on his own volition, or working on someone else’s behalf? Whatever the answer is, I think it’s pretty clear Kamon is not working for or with Mizuchi’s master.
Mizuchi isn’t “saving” anybody, of course. Not the aristocrat’s daughter, nor Shigeru, the poor son of a poor mother living in a shack. Presumably the crudeness of their spellwork is a testament to the fact that they don’t know the Taizanfukun. Which is presumably why they’re after Mao. Mao treats humans as well as youkai, and all of them for free – that’s just the sort of guy he is. So when Shigeru’s mother shows up begging for help, he’s not going to say no. That’s all a trap of course, and going without his sword was an incautious move on his part. Fortunately Nanoka is on-hand, complete with swim goggles and work gloves.
Mizuchi carries a weapon called the Spear of Taima, which apparently wounded the Byouki on that fateful day 900 years earlier. That makes it a perfect tool to use against Mao, who’s no match for Mizuchi without his sword. He’s gravely wounded by it, though the plan is not to kill him but to fetch him back to Kyoto. Nanoka and Ootoya manage to free themselves from the spell Shigeru’s mother used to immobilize them and steal the kodoku pot. But it breaks during her clash with Mizuchi, leaving Mao seemingly on the brink of actual death this time. He orders Ootoya to hide his body where the Byouki can never find it, and that seems to be that.
The bond between Mao and Nanoka was already pretty strong. But having her blood enter his body and save his life is about as powerful a bond as you can imagine. The question is whether, with the kodoku pot seemingly destroyed (though Ootoya does bring it along) is Mao now “alive” only in the same sense as any other mortal? Or does the blood of the Byouki still have the power to make him effectively immortal, even without the pot?
Where the story goes from here is another question, but Kyoto would seem to be a pretty good guess. Mao can keep fending off attacks from whoever the water sorcerer is, but in the long run that seems like a losing game. Or he can go to Kyoto and face them head-on – and it seems as if that onmyouji is unable to leave Kyoto, for whatever reason. My guess would be if he does go, Mao will try and leave Nanoka behind for her own protection. But either because she refuses or because his life now depends on her proximity, it seems very likely she’ll be by his side.
