Oooooh this episode was so good! It’s been a while since I enjoyed a mystery coming together like this one! There was a lot of information shared with us together, I didn’t feel overwhelmed at all. In the matter of fact, I was feeling quite giddy because everything was so exciting to me, I was completely engrossed with how all the incidents were coming together. I really love the amount of time spent on each portion of the episode, how they trickled out the details involving the cases. There were three important points which focused on each aspect of the new details being shared with us.
The first was providing us more backstory and knowledge about why Arata is able to understand Anothers. It isn’t because he has “ears of sand” as his colleague initially believed, but because of he is a descendent of Abe no Seimei: a powerful Onmyoji from the Hein Period. His grandfather was the one who told him about it, but Arata was just a kid back then, and to make matters worse, nobody believed him. However what makes the flashbacks of when he was younger especially interesting is how while he have (unconsciously) been able to see Anothers’ (such as Yuki) at the time, he might have not been able to hear them as he does now. Unfortunately because Arata didn’t care about learning about Seimei fro his grandfather, he doesn’t know much about him.
So because of that, Arata decides it’s probably best to look into his grandfather’s stuff for more information. This is when we are introduced to the nekomatta Yuki, who has been entrusted the responsibility to protect the contents within the family’s storehouse by the Miyako Clan’s ancestors hundreds of years ago.
AND OH MY GOD, YUKI IS SO CUTE! I burst into laughter when he grew into a giant cat (I actually screamed: OH MY GOD HE GREW!) and threw himself into Arata’s arms! It was so precious how happy he was to see Arata again since he is the only one who can see him. It didn’t take me long to cry because poor Yuki been lonely protecting the storehouse all this time. So I was really happy that Arata decided to have him stay by his side!
Then comes the second part of the episode, when shit starts getting real! After the comedic premiere, the story takes a dark turn when a series of mysterious incidents correlating with the sightings of a monstrous Kisha, and an unidentified person riding on top of it. It starts off with Arata overhearing how the fairies’ couldn’t fly because their powder has been stolen from them by a an terrifying individual, who cannot be distinguish whether they a male or female. Then tracing back to the Izuna Incident that happened back in Feburary, whose tails’ are known as “living iron”. Following that, Arata learns Suzuka’s (Zashi Warashi) hair had been stolen, which was supposed to serve as an crucial piece paired with a dagger made with Kanoichi’s arts to act as part of a barrier to seal away something beneath the shrine. She was the who warns him of “an oni is coming”. After that, it’s a robbery of mermaid scales from Koseidou, an imported goods that carries magical materials, and the most recent incident, multiple reports on strange fires atop Mt. Hakoneyama.
And that leads us to third part of the episode, when we get the grand reveal– well, almost since they left us on a cliffhanger! Seo only had been able to confirm his own fears after Arata had carelessly let his curiosity get the better of him by putting his hand into a mysterious glowing seal/entrance they had been inspecting at the park. Since Sakaki tried to stop him, he ended up being warped along with him into the underground hospitality facility. Unfortunately for them, it seems they walked right into a trap of a sorts, because it appears the ‘oni’ Suzuka had warned him about, had been waiting for him with a present for him: Kyoushi, walking corpses. When that happened, I pretty much was like: NOPE NOPE NOPE!!!!! I am relieved they aren’t super creepy looking though, because while I love supernatural shows, I can’t handle zombies or creepy creatures at all!
It seems this dude has history with Seimei, considering the kind of gift he has prepared for him. Arata is probably going to find himself wishing he had paid attention to his grandfather’s stories about Seimei, because perhaps he would have provided him a clue on exactly what kind of relationship Seimei and this Another had.
Although this is only the second episode, Mayonaka no Occult Koumuin and I’m already hooked! It has a great balance of thrill with the mysteries and charms thanks to Arata’s hysterical and endearing interactions with various Anothers, so I’m really excited to see how the story will unfold!
