MAO

They do a good job depicting the eerie supernatural horror and threats our cast has to deal with on a daily basis. The story of Domon and Yae was a true tragedy. A loving couple where the wife worked to support Domon through medical school...before a violent stalker slit her neck. All Domon wanted to do was save his wife, and a mysterious stranger seemed to offer salvation and a means of keeping her alive...but his methods for maintaining that life has come at a cost to both his wife and the people he's practiced it on. And who saved Yae and taught Domon how to use Earth magic? Natsuno (Rie Kugimiya!) a stoic beauty who is yet another in the club of senior apprentices who are now long-lived, white-haired, wanderers Mao once knew. Did we mention she was in the Goshikido too? RIP Yae...even if you were dead long before this. But she persisted for her husbands' sake...even as he joins her in the Earth after turning a bunch of other people into nothing more than soil. Was all this worth it Natsuno, for taking pity on a desperate husband? Natsuno was an Earth Onmoji that Daigo respected and back in the day (and when she had black hair) she was much more warm and friendly, and cared a lot about Daigo. Enough to know something Mao and a select few others did: Daigo and Sana were in love with each other! It's easy to assume Mao was jealous, but ultimately two of his favorite people in the world found love and deep down he just wanted them both to be happy. Even when Mao was engaged to Sana, Daigo didn't resent bringing him into the Goko Clan for that...but for seemingly bringing him into the Goko Clan after discovering how twisted it truly was. And Daigo became a victim of the true dark nature of the clan, getting cursed to death. His corpse surrounded by everyone who was summoned to the Goshikido, heralding the start of the cursing that would kill numerous senior apprentices. His death leaving both Mao and Sana heartbroken. Count on Nanoka to still make this about whether Mao is still over Sana and what their current relationship status is. Even Otoya's realizing it faster than Mao is. Kamon is on the search for Shiranui! His shrine now under the sea, with black hair flowing out of it! Which isn't unsettling at all. Time for Kamon and Mao to revisit their roots of Onmyoji to summon the spirit of the hair, which turns out to be: Masago! Whose spirit IMMEDIATELY tries to throw her arms around Kamon! Unsurprisingly because they were, in fact, a couple back in the day. And may have ran away from the clan together if Masago had shown up at their meeting spot and not vanished the day all the big drama with Byoki happened. All Kamon wanted was for Masago to be safe and happy, and he's going to get answers to her final fate one way or another. Is that Masago...alive and buried in coral? What is Shiranui doing with her?

Man, this episode brought out the drama. That's some real telenovela stuff, but honestly Mao is such a sweetie pie about wanting Daigo and Sana to have been happy. Otoya's expression was fantastic, the way he just stared at Mao really not picking up what she was putting down, he's not so inquisitive in that department, Nanoka is right about Kamon, it's just so darling, but I expect next week to get more serious,

Forgot to say it last episode, but now I've added on to it, and realized a likely explanation: The Master wasn't just trying to create A Kodoku, he was going out of his way to make three kodoku. I only thought it was 2 until just now. Cat Kodoku(Byouki): The "Extra Cat Element" is a notable thing because it exists as a neutralizer, obviously an incredible weapon to have, Buut I will get more into it with the third one. Human Kodoku(Goko Clan): While I had thought from the start that this was allegorical to Kodoku to make a "proper apprentice", something occured to me now, that notice how the entire clan is dedicated to poison poison poison?? What exactly is Kodoku? it's Poison Magic made to Combine the poisons of everyone involved , and this one is quite special, because it combines Spirit Kodoku(The concept of instead of combining poisons, just combining spirits) with Curses and Poisons... And speaking of- Curse Kodoku (Sana): Literally if she absorbs every curse that is casted in retaliation, you are doing the spiritual equivelant to mixing every single poison in a pot, with a single living vessel concentrating it all as part of itself. But you know what gets Very interesting? The Curse Kodoku, is meant to Marry The Human Kodoku(which makes them easier to control and use together), whilst also being the Owner of the Cat that became Byouki. This means if he controls Sana, he controls all three of them. You wanna know what I think makes very interesting? Sana's heart was taken out, and everyone from the Human Kodoku is immortal(recovers from all injuries), with Byouki literally going rogue. If someone knew about Master's Plans And failed to stop Byouki from existing , what would their plan be? To make sure Sana can never be allowed to live again- and make everyone immortal. While coincidental that Byouki is rogue, it is also true that to make sure that Master never ever gains control, you make sure Master is dead.

It's heating up this week and we're getting a lot of classic RT love triangles, but surprisingly, all the characters in them are pretty chill compared to her other works. Mao accepted Daigo and Sana were a thing. Also possibly Natsuno - Daigo - Sana were in a love triangle as well? Nanoka is also pretty mature about Mao's feelings for Sana, mostly feeling him out. RT's known for pretty tempered, explosive characters so it's a nice change of pace to see her take on relaxed characters. It definitely adds to the mysterious theme this series is going for. And then we have Kamon and Masago despite Kamon coming off as a flirt...looks like it might not be a happy reunion if Masago's soul has passed on but her body remains. Also lol Otoya side-eyeing Mao. Mao is dense but his shikigami certainly isn't. We have a few episodes left and admittedly, we haven't seen Nanoka's ayakashi abilities (other than healing Mao) in a while. I'm hoping we'll get to see her get more involved in the action again instead of commentating/being on the sidelines.

A mix of things I think. No dub, not available on a major streaming service for anime, and it requires you to trust Takahashi..which some people found hard to do. Can't relate but whatever. I would like to see people actively promoting it more on social media tho. There's still almost nothing on tiktok or youtube other than those first impressions which were based on the plot being in a totally different place. I want to see people talking more about the creepy side of it, the horrifying angle of the Goko Clan, and the mysteries surrounding the characters -- less about "Inuyasha" vibes. Interestingly there's a decent amount of recognition from fans within Japan and Spanish-speaking countries. It's English-speaking countries where I'm seeing basically nothing.

I think the show isn't being marketed enough tbh. Maybe Sunrise thinks any RT show will do well enough with her name alone, but I haven't seen much promotional material for it in contrast to, let's say fellow RT title, Ranma 1/2, which Netflix has been pushing. Mao is apparently even getting a dub this month but no one's talking about it. It also wouldn't surprise me if a lot of ppl started it, thought it would be an Inuyasha repeat, and then dropped.

Natsuno is a real beauty. She was moved by the doctor's love for his woman and decided to save her but she didn't reply to Mao's question about her actions that have caused the death of many innocents. Daigo died the very next day after asking for forgiveness from Mao for bringing him into the hell that is Goko clan. So at that point Mao was already made the successor, right !? I wonder if Sana caused the fall of the clan after Daigo's death. So Kamon was in love with Masago. Shiranui has done something to Masago and what happened to Sana remains still a mystery. Too many unknowns and while some questions get answered newer ones arise as the story progresses.

I've said it before, but the music in Mao is sooo good! It makes scenes feel so much more eerie and tragic than even came across in the manga. I also love the way lighting is used. One of the main draws of Mao was said to be the old school animation, and that's definitely a thing, but more importantly I think it's been such a perfect execution to show the value of that old style with modern technology in conveying a lot of emotion and atmosphere with simplicity. That's something Takahashi has always been brilliant at. For me personally there's a lot of anime around today which maybe looks extremely impressive, but it doesn't make me feel anything. Mao really gets to my heart the way anime used to when I was a kid, and it's not only related to nostalgia.

Yae was already dead. And then the doctor soon joined her. That shit was kinda creepy. So far, Natsuno doesn't seem like a good character. Why would she do such a thing to a family like that doctor? Also, unlike the other characters, her hair is fully white. Wonder if that has anything to do with anything. The one Sana was in love with was Mao's older brother, Daigo? That's brutal. Tho Mao's not the type to be jealous. Even if he was, he wouldn't have much time to feel jealousy either, as he was killed soon after. Can't tell if Mao is just dense or doesn't care anymore. Nanoka's asking some very important questions... Wonder when she'll drop the bomb about Sana if she hasn't already. Imagine missing out on the burning down of your school and the murder of your master because you were meeting up with a girl and she didn't come anyway. Tho she probably had good reason to meet him. Seems like Masago is still alive in a way. Don't think she'll survive whatever Shiranui's putting her up to tho.

Natsuno seems like quite the amoral onmyoji with her helping out Dr Domon since she was moved by his love for his wife, but otherwise being unconcerned with the consequences and early demises that earth magic led too. I wasn't expecting Daigo to be the first victim of that mysterious chain of deaths. With Sana losing her lover and Mao losing his close friend, it seems like despair was ever present at the Goko Clan.