Damn, this is getting interesting. Mao isn’t Inuyasha, but the pedigree is unmistakable. Heroine flitting back and forth isekai-style and dealing with the mundanities of modern life and absence from it. Not-quite human male lead, cute chibi sidekick, youkai big bad pulling the strings. Mao seems pitched more evenly to me – less broad comedy and big tragedy – and it’s more focused on actual Japanese history and folklore. But the string connecting the two series is easy to see. This series is a Rumiko archetype if ever one existed.
It’s clear Nanoka is a lot more capable than she thinks. It’s also clear Mao realizes this. That’s why he leaves her to deal with the frog shikigami while he chases down what was inside them. There is a plan here – he’s trying to make her stronger because he knows he might not be there to protect her when the Byouki makes his move. But of course he doesn’t communicate this, and she sees it through her teenage girl (and a crushing one at that) lens.
When Mao sees the command driving the defeated Frog and Toad – to capture him alive – he realizes that the goal here is probably the Byouki. Specifically, a spell scroll it devoured. This is the first time we’ve heard “Taizanfukun” in Mao, but certainly not in animanga. There’s a reason Taizanfukun is prominent in fiction – he was at the heart of onmyoudou. Taizan Fukun was the Taoist deity in charge of human lifespans, and it was widely believed that the Abe clan had knowledge of how to summon him. Indeed, Abe no Seimei was reputed to have done so numerous times (including to resurrect his father).
The question for Mao is, who is the one pulling the shikigamis’ strings – who is after the spell of Taizanfukun? He and Hyakka lay a trap for whoever it is, using a new command to lure them to the pit where the Byouki was hiding before the great earthquake (Nanoka has been sent home for a break on the assumption it would take a few days for them to arrive in Edo). The one controlling the amphibians is Mokuzu, a former servant at the compound who constantly begged to be taught onmyoudou spells. But it’s obvious that someone is in turn controlling him, though as yet it’s not clear who that is.
There’s certainly plenty to unpack here. Haimaru (Lady Sana’s cat) is indeed the Byouki, as always seemed likely. He became such after Mokuzu (on orders from someone) tossed him into a giant kodoku pit and he survived (he should theoretically have never allowed Mozuku to handle him, of course). Hyakka has now died twice and come back, so seems to be basically unkillable at this point. And Nanoka has no qualms about twisting Shiraha around her little finger to get what she wants (though she surely doesn’t see it that way). Also notable is that Kamon is now in Kyoto – and it seems that the Maogumi is inevitably going to be drawn there as well.
We shouldn’t gloss over the high point of the episode – Ootoya’s baseball moment. As always, the (rare) humor in Mao centers around him. It seems like that story Shiraha told Nanoka (based on the actual legend of Chikou and Shoukuu at Mii-dera) is crucial to the mystery – the spell of Taizanfukun is clearly substituting one life for another, but how is it that the monk who offered his own to save his head priest wound up living a long and healthy life? Abe no Seimei was the best at his job, but I don’t think even he could have pulled that off – something deeper and darker was behind that, and whatever it was is highly relevant to the main plot.
