MAO

Mao sure hails from a complicated backstory. The Imperial Tower has seen better days! Not the most sightseeing spot Mao has taken Nanoka! And that's before the flaming heads turn up to try and attack them! But they only herald the arrival of Hyakka (Hiro Shimono!) Mao's senior apprentice and another long-lived spell user! Who comes claiming Mao betrayed them! Though for all of Hyakka's bluster and mastery of flame...he can't wield Hagunsei. Well, RIP Hyakka! We hardly got to know you! You may have hated Mao, but he can only remember fond memories of the two of you together as apprentices where Hyakka was a well-meaning, if mischeivous, Senpai to Mao...by 10 days. Except Hyakka lives! Mao is not the only seemingly immortal person who has cheated death on multiple occasions. Mao was the apprentice personally chosen by their leader to wield Hagunsei, personally chosen as his heir, and as such had a connection (both in the personal and duty sense) towards his masters' daughter...Lady Sana (Risa Shimizu). Also that cat in her arms looks VERY familiar. Although despite appearances of being the masters' favorite...why would he choose someone to inherit the sacred art of curses when he had no fondness or love of cursing and didn't even train that much in them? Because Mao was ultimately just a patsy. The master gathered five senior apprentices in a secret location, their identities hidden from each other, but all collectively brought together with one purpose in mind: to curse and kill Mao to decide who would truly inherit the cursed arts. And their master? Had cursed himself so much he'd become half-monster without his mask. Hyakka was one of the senior apprentices tasked with killing Mao, but he didn't care about that or that Mao may have unleashed Byoki...all he cares about is that he believes Mao killed Sana. And did Mao? He genuinely doesn't seem sure. But were he and Byoki framed for? And what happened to the other Senior Apprentices? Congratulations Shiraha! You've gotten an invite back to Nanoka's room! If only so you can give her deets on Jugondo! But still, a win is a win! I love how Nanoka hears about all of this dark and mysterious backstory regarding Mao...and all she cares about is whether he and Sana were a couple. Priorities! Though while they were intended to be betrothed per Sana's father (or at least as far as they knew), did Sana care for Mao beyond a sense of duty? What about Mao himself? And what of Haimaru, her cat, who was only fond of Sana AND Mao with a particularly familiar grey fur? Tenhiko is a real piece of work, a serial killer who gets off on murdering women and having his aide Kuchinawa (Toshiyuki Toyonaga!) bury his victims for him. Kuchinawa doesn't seem happy about it, but he goes along with it anyways. And now poor Tenko seems like their next victim! TENKO NO!!! Next week: Mao, Nanoka, and Hyakka vs Frogs!

More mysteries were revealed. Confirmation that people other than Mao also survived for over 900 years. Mao being the successor isn't that surprising. But he was actually the worst apprentice? And he was basically used as a sacrificial pawn?! Damn. This guy's life sucks. And he didn't even know about it until now, nor did he know anyone else survived. If Hyakka "died" from that sword, that means their immortality probably has nothing to do with Byouki. What's worse is that Mao is accused of killing Sana, whom he might have had feelings for. I'm guessing he more or less lost control after fusing with Byouki and killed her by accident. Sad. But that cat of hers looked suspiciously like Byouki. No way that's unrelated. Maybe Byouki was masquerading as a cat, or it somehow turned evil after getting cursed or something. So there's a new serial killer in town. One of his lackeys is one of Mao's old senpais. He might be the first proper villain of the show after Byouki. Shows how probably all of the apprentices were evil, except maybe Mao and Hyakka.

Mao being the successor isn't that surprising. But he was actually the worst apprentice? And he was basically used as a sacrificial pawn?! Damn. This guy's life sucks. And he didn't even know about it until now, nor did he know anyone else survived. If Hyakka "died" from that sword, that means their immortality probably has nothing to do with Byouki. Just imagine Mao was just trying to mind his own business living in a clan that practices curses without even actually enjoying the curse aspects, gets decided to be the heir out of seemingly nowhere, and then the whole Byoki fiasco happens and he loses his humanity and chance at living a normal life. And that's before he finds out that the master, who he thought cared about him and saw something in him, actively orchestrated a competition based around killing him. Nanoka is probably the nicest thing that's happened to him in centuries. What's worse is that Mao is accused of killing Sana, whom he might have had feelings for. I'm guessing he more or less lost control after fusing with Byouki and killed her by accident. Sad. But that cat of hers looked suspiciously like Byouki. No way that's unrelated. Maybe Byouki was masquerading as a cat, or it somehow turned evil after getting cursed or something. Kind of ironic that Mao's nemesis might in fact be a cat that actually liked him and Sana...and Byoki might not even be at fault for the things Mao thinks he is. Maybe everyone is misunderstanding everybody.

Huh. Wasn't expecting the Byouki demon to have been just an ordinary house cat at one point. That Sano priestess and Nanoka looked pretty similar. And Sano mentioned no one else was able to touch "Haimaru / Byouki" until Mao rescued him from the tree. Doesn't seem like another coincidence that both Nanoka and Mao have the Byouki cursed blood in them. Wonder if like Sano and Nanoka have similar "souls" or something along those lines like Kagome and Kikyou did in Inuyasha? Maybe that's why the Byouki sought Nanoka out? Or why they got connected thru the timeline?

Regardless of what happened to Lady Sana that entire clan seemed like bad news and Japan was probably better off with them wiped out. The fellow apprentice on the other hand is mostly just a clown and I could see him being a reluctant ally eventually. This show's Koga, perhaps. Lady Sana's cat looked suspiciously like the Byouki, zero chance that's an accident. I loved that short bit today where the friendly yokai were helping fix up the clinic.

So the master of this "Goko" Clan had some sort of curse in replacement of his right eye. And so far three of his disciples that we've seen all too have some sort of scar near their eyes. Mao, Hyakka and that Kamon guy briefly shown. Doesn't seem like a mere coincidence. Wonder what the connection is? Maybe something like the more they see the "truth" or something along those lines, correlates to the size of the scar / disfigurement maybe?

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