I always appreciate it when a series is able to navigate a wide variety of tonal changes.  And Mayonaka no Occult Koumuin definitely has that club in its bag – we’ve already seen quite a few faces within these 8 episodes.  The last two weeks have been pretty emotionally heavy, so it was nice to get back to something lighter and more whimsical this time out.  The writing remains crisp and intelligent, and the continuity is unbroken, but the mood was dramatically different.

That very much applies to Huehuecóyotl who was certainly at the heart of this episode.  A major theme here is that Anothers are not like us – inscrutable, driven by motivations unfathomable to humans, living in a timeline far removed from out own.  Huehuecóyotl is the poster boy for that, certainly – a God of catastrophe who’s caused havoc for untold thousands of years, the very epitome of the inscrutable and capricious alien existence.  During the Azazel arc we definitely saw the dark side of Kohaku, but there are many layers to him and this ep was quite the change (though not a total reversal – his nature is what it is.)

As Kyouichi wrestles with the practicalities of reintroducing his sister to society (a fascinating dilemma in itself – do they have her reappear as a much older woman in a 17 year-old body, or give her a new identity?), Arata receives the news that he is in fact a direct descendant of Abeno Seimei (probably).  This was pretty much a foregone conclusion to us, but I imagine it would still be rather a shock to the system to have it confirmed.  That places him in a zone that’s unique in this mythology as far as we’ve seen – precariously wedged between the human and another worlds, in the manner of Ginko or Natsume.

The fact is, if you stipulate to the ground rules of Shinto and fantasy, Seimei was an extraordinarily powerful man – literally a once-in-a-millennia specimen.  That not only explains why his descendant has such a singular ability, but why Coyote is so fascinated with him.  And not just fascinated, but genuinely affectionate – Huehuecóyotl likes Seimei (and Arata), of that there can be no doubt.  This episode is about that side of their relationship, the one born out of that affection – still dangerous and inconvenient for Arata, but one which makes him feel a certain responsibility towards Kohaku.

The merry adventure across northern Tokyo which Kohaku leads Arata on is quite charming.  The local anothers (tanuki, the Raijin of Asakusa’s – in its third anime appearance of the week – Kaminarimon, et al) are quite agitated by the presence of the disaster God in their midst.  But Coyote has a plan for Arata – he wants to show him “Seimei’s Garden“, which seems to have moved in the thousand years or so since he’s visited it.  Eventually after a scouting mission up Skytree leads to a meeting with Kuro (Chou), a divine messenger crow who fancies himself Seimei’s guide (he acts more like a concierge), they’re taken to the garden.  Just what it is exactly I’m not sure, though it does seem to exist in a parallel dimension of some sort.

The whole relationship between Huehuecóyotl and Seimei/Arata is complicated to say the least.  I don’t think the God is being literal when he says he hasn’t existed for the past 1000 years without anyone to call him by is name, but the imagery is still powerful – I suspect it reflects how alone Coyote felt in the universe with Seimei to banter with.  It’s an awesome and obviously dangerous situation for Arata, to have a powerful and ruthless immortal feel so connected to him, but unlike his fellows at the office, I can see certain advantages in it for Arata (even above and beyond nighttime sightseeing trips).