MAO

So, the water apprentice isn't someone good from the Goko Clan but a fraud? Interesting. Wonder what happened to Masago. Most likely, Shiranui took advantage of her and went to the meeting instead of her. Still wondering why they're all still alive and have white hair. I think it's already basically confirmed Byoki isn't the one who made them immortal, or at least not directly. He's a victim too. Nanoka and Mao both blowing the udon to make it cold was funny. These two are really alike. Byoki didn't seem to have any ill intentions in chasing Nanoka. Instead, he wanted to warn her for whatever reason. He just had to do it in the worst way possible. Dude was born to be a villain. Mao, Hyakka, and Kamon teaming up? Looks like the balls are starting to roll. New cour starts from next week with no OP or ED? Are we sure there's no break? I'm so glad it's a 2 back-to-back cour. Gonna miss the current OP and ED cause they're really catchy. Hope the new ones are good if they change.

New cour starts from next week with no OP or ED? New cour actually begins with episode 14 according to their post about the new OP which is Bokura ga Uwagaki-suru Sekai by 20th Century (the three members of this band were formerly part of V6 which was the band behind the first OP & last ED of the original Inuyasha anime) Are we sure there's no break? They've also posted a "promotion calendar" showing ep.13 airing next week and ep.14 the week after that, the calendar also teases more announcements for June 26th and 28th and July 5th (which I assume are for a new ED, new trailer, maybe new voice actors, but we'll see)

I'm so happy reading the comments wondering what will happen next. I'm completely up-to-date, but I'm really excited for y'all! I love Masago so much. She's such a beautiful character. Shiranui is also handsome, but I super hate the heck out of him. You'll find out why. For generalized opinions for the first cour, I've been very happy with the series so far! I'd been waiting for this anime adaption for years. The animation is fantastic, the music is very good (Inuyasha OST quality), and the cast is perfect. There's also a lot of little additions that have only added to the story. My only criticisms are minor. We don't need names on screen for already established characters. The calligrapher is incredibly skilled, but we know who Mao is at this point. The next OP will be done by 20th Century, a group formed with former members of V6! V6, if you're a fan of Inuyasha, did their first OP 26 years ago! I'm really excited to hear it!

Is that Reina Ueda as a Baddie!? Yes please! If you have a loved one who is near death or practically dead, with no simple medical solution to save them, you can bring your troubles to Shiranui (Kazuyuki Okitsu!) of the "Goko Clan" who will "save" them for you! Just be careful if you're a Shikigami, he'll probably bully you if you fail him. He's not the nicest boss. But back in the day, the best Water Sorcerer of the Goko Clan wasn't a man...it was a woman, Masago. She was a stoic beauty with strong talent for water spells, but she was not without kindness as she tried to warn Mao away from the Goko Clan knowing that it was far darker than it appeared on the surface. Or even ON the surface as we see the master beating up a young Shiranui. But could Masago have been in on the Goshikigi meeting? Was she tasked with killing Mao? Would someone who had kindness in her heart be chosen to kill? Well, who cares about that! We need to find Hyakka a new job! Though it's hard to taste test hot udon when you're dealing with half-cat taste testers who can't deal with hot food. Kamon also suspects Masago, but in fact he's the first one to find out it's actually Shiranui. Ironically Masago would bring Shiranui to Kamon to heal him, but that's how Kamon knows Shiranui is basically a hack trying to emulate Masago and not very well. Not that it's going to stop Shiranui from trying to kill him with every dangerous sea creature he can unleash. In this battle of plant/wood versus water, it ends in a tie but just Kamon getting away is probably a win, even if there's something strange about Shiranui's body...also, wet Kamon! Shiranui isn't working by just himself and Shikigami though, there's also Yurako, a serene and playful beauty voiced by Reina Ueda who appears to be his little sister and possible partner-in-crime...as she plots to go to the capital to not only continue their operations but to see Mao, who she seems to long for. Otoya has to basically speedrun a new Kodoku which isn't ideal but thankfully Nanoka's blood gave Mao a power boost! If only he knew how much she was thinking of excuses to stay with him. Dang it, the ONE time Nanoka doesn't wear her charm and we've got Ghost Byoki after her! Although when he finally has her frozen and seemingly at his mercy...he just appears to her as Haimaru to...warn her away from getting closer to Mao? Seemingly for her own safety? Huh? But still, nice save Uozumi! Hopefully Nanoka will complain less about the smoothies. So are Mao and Hyakka basically together as a duo now? Though if they want answers, Kamon shows up to crash at Mao's and also provide said answers! The boys are back together!

By the way the wooden attacks passed through the water dude without doing any apparent damage, my immediate guess was he's a fake and that lady in the hat is Masago who's the one truly running things. But they do seem a bit more hostile than her behavior way back when would suggest. Then again the fire dude was hostile initially too which did not last once they fought a bit and then started talking. I've been expecting the Byouki to end up non-hostile eventually too and it showing up to just talk to Nanoka may be the start of that.

It looks like that, but remember let’s say Byoki really did say Nanoka would die if she gave him too much life force as it is implied. He needs her because she is the present era host compatible to his body. Byoki wouldn’t care if Mao die as that is needed in order for him to transfer himself over to Nanoka. You cannot trust him and anything he says related to your well being. Now, let’s say he doesn’t care about that and was warning her of something else. It could be “You won’t be able to go back to your time if you continue to give your blood to Mao.” As right now, she is an entity who is able to travel freely between two worlds by the gate. By giving too much of her blood, it would be a pact in a way where you are unable to stay away from your paired partner hence the red string of fate and the ending song. In a way this makes sense more if that is what he was trying to tell her. This would most likely terrify her way more than anything else. Being stuck in the Taisho era with no way back to see your friends and grandfather.

Maybe it's just me, but I really struggle to watch this. It's hard for me to describe why, but sometimes it feels boring to watch as we're drip fed "answers" to these mysteries. Feel like we keep circling around the same questions or very little happens. Also, although I find the characters decent enough, Mao and Nanako aren't engaging enough to keep my attention and I'm not buying the MaoxNanako ship that's being pushed. Luckily things have picked up in the last few episodes as we're finally going somewhere in the plot. Hyakka and Kamon are a great addition to the cast. Totally thought Shiranui was a woman in the OP so hearing his deep voice totally caught me off guard 😂 Who's the girl calling Shiranui brother? It couldn't be Lady Sana as Mao would've said something when he and his master went to go see Masago. It could be Masago but why is she calling Shiranui her brother then? I thought this would be one cour but seems like it's set for a full 2 cours. Idk if I'll stick around until the end.

I wasn't expecting Kamon to be the first one to confront Shiranui. The past is really returning with a vengeance with him originally being a struggling apprentice under the Goko Clan. Well with him using the name of the clan in the current era, I guess the cruel clan that Masago warned Mao about lives on. The Byoki is starting to make me second guess his villainy. With him telling Mao that they were framed, and now attempting to warn Nanoka this episode, maybe he's truly just a victim of someone else's scheme.

i did on last weeks thread but here’s a copy of that part: in ep 5, after mao is attacked by the flea ayakashi, he drinks from the kodoku to help heal his wounds. otoya explains that even on days when he isn’t injured, mao drinks it to keep up his strength since his body is starting to fail him/takes longer to recover after 900 years. since byoki is the most powerful kodoku, the kodoku juice acts as a medicine. 😊