Wagaya no Oinari-sama. – 15

「お稲荷さま。教会へ行く」 (Oinari-sama. Kyoukai he Iku)
“Oinari-sama. Goes to Church”

Episode at a Glance:
Reminded of how he once took care of Tooru when he wet his bed, Noboru wakes up in a locked up room, and thinks of how he was once similarly taken care of, and of how Tooru is taking care of Shiro-chan now. Back at home, Kuugen steps out and tells Kou to look after Tooru. At Ebisu’s temple, Kuugen is looking for the local god, but finds out from his guaridan lion-dogs that he’s not around because of a kannadzuki (神無月), 10th month of the lunar calendar, gathering for the gods. He then explains that Noboru’s been captured and that he’s going to make an exchange, so he asks that they help look after Tooru.

At the church where a charity bazaar is going on, Kuugen runs into Naguma and Shimenogi, two of Enju’s subordinates, who he asks where Noboru is. However, they ask where “Byakki” is first, which confuses Kuugen, so he takes them over to a shed with a small furball trap that knocks them out. Seeing their horns and realizing that they’re demons, Kuugen then decides to find a phone to call Noboru’s cellphone. In the church itself, Enju (disguised as a nun) allows him to use the phone, only to find the cellphone in her pocket ringing. Surprised that Kuugen is disguised as a man, she then escapes, but not before Kuugen places a tracking string on her. Meanwhile, Noboru manages to escape from his room during his food delivery.

Back at the Takagami house, Tooru finds out that Shiro doesn’t know where she came from, nor has any ties with family, so he invites her to join his, thinking it’s like a proposal. Unbeknownst to them, Ebisu’s lion-dogs are watching over him, and from a park elsewhere, Tsukuyomi is observing everything. Tsukuyomi thought that observing a god’s lion-dogs would give him some hints, but it turns out it did not. In the church, Kuugen follows his string to a room, only to find himself trapped inside and all the walls enchanted with a magic reflecting spell. Meanwhile, Enju finds out that Noboru has escaped his room, but doesn’t worry about it because of the human trapping wallpaper, “Ningen Hoi Hoi” (人間ホイホイ), she purchased off the Internet black market.

Realizing that he has Noboru’s cellphone, Kuugen decides to call Mubyou, who wonders why his voice isn’t so feminine anymore (lol). After explaining his situation, he asks her to use a kotodama (言霊), a power word/phrase, over the phone to help him unlock the door. Willing to give it a try, Mubyou is able to unlock the door, and Kuugen soon hangs up on her. As for Noboru, he manages to make his way to the church hall after wandering endlessly through the building, but Enju appears to stop him. Kuugen then shows up, claiming that she’s also a powerless demon, but Enju uses a scroll she bought off the Internet to summon a flaming golem. With Kuugen distracted, Enju escapes in a car along with Noboru, during which she explains that they’re just trying to get Byakki back. Noboru says that the box had Takagami Tooru written on it though, but Enju feels that it was just one of Kuugen’s tricks, and questions him if he even knows why he was sealed away.

Kuugen then appears in front of their car, so Enju takes Noboru hostage and asks for Byakki in return. With Kuugen still not knowing who or what Byakki is, Noboru says that it’s Shiro-chan, while Enju explains that she’s a unique, white demon with no horns, and there are no words to describe her awakened form. She admits that they’ve been stealing from the town, but that they’ve lived for this purpose, so Kuugen agrees to return Shiro-chan to them. Returning home, Enju recognizes Tooru, then reveals her horns and tells Byakki that she’s come to get her. Before they leave though, Enju explains to everyone that they’ll probably never see one another again, and apologizes for their actions, hoping they understand their struggles as a dying race. Seeing Shiro-chan taken away, Tooru tries to convince himself that this is for the best, but runs back into the house in tears.

Back in the park, Berika asks her leader Tsukuyomi if it’s alright not to capture Byakki now that they’ve finally found her, but he says that those demons won’t be able to awaken her powers, and that the real culprits are the ones who sent the package to Tooru. Meanwhile, Kuugen is thinking that something is up as well. In bed that night, Tooru hears the voice of Byakki calling him and imagines her over his bed.

 

Next Episode:
「お稲荷さま。辛抱する」 (Oinari-sama. Shinbou Suru)
“Oinari-sama. Being Patient.”

Impressions:
Ah, I really missed hearing Mizuhashi Kaori‘s voice in this series, as I love how she plays Mubyou. The scene where Kuugen called her up and asked her to use her kotodama (a power word/phrase) over the phone, lead to a very disinterested and skeptical Mubyou, which for some reason or another, was amusing for me to watch. I think the best comparison here would be Kaori’s role as Oguie Chika in Genshiken, so those of you who have seen that should have an idea of the personality I’m referring to.

As for Shiro-chan (a.k.a. Byakki), I didn’t quite expect her to be some fearsome demon that Enju and the other powerless demons were after, and had purchased from the Internet black market no less, but I guess that explains why the deliver person last episode was a big black cat. I have to say though, if this series has taught us anything, it’s that you can order just about anything off the Internet nowadays. This includes your human trapping wallpaper, a flaming golem scroll, and even a real live demon. (All I need to figure out now is how to get a Kou or Mubyou in the mail….) Seeing as Gyokuyou originally brought this demon activity to our attention, I’m starting to wonder if he’ll play more of a role than that (e.g. make an appearance next episode). I’m assuming Enju and her demon followers spent most of their horded money on Byakki though, so perhaps not, but there’s still Tomine, who definitely looks like he’s scheming something. As for Tsukuyomi and Bekira, they seem to monitoring Shiro and the demons’ movements for now, but I’m curious as to what they plan to do with Byakki if they capture her. Hopefully we’ll find out soon enough though.

Next time, it looks like Shiro awakens into her demon form, and Kuugen enlarges into a gigantic nine-tailed fox to battle her (Naruto Kyuubi references are inevitable here I think.) Undoubtedly, Tooru will play a key role in stopping Shiro though, seeing as the two of them have grown so close to one another, but I’m still interested to see how everything plays out.

 

Cast:
– Tenko Kuugen (天狐 空幻) / Nakamura Yuuichi (中村 悠一)
– Kou (コウ) / Hayami Saori (早見 沙織)
– Takagami Noboru (高上 昇) / Mizushima Takahiro (水島 大宙)
– Takagami Tooru (高上 透) / Shimura Yuu (嶋村 侑)
– Mubyou (六瓢) / Mizuhashi Kaori (水橋 かおり)
– Enju (槐) / Asakawa Yuu (浅川 悠)
– Tsukuyomi (月読) / Kugimiya Rie (釘宮 理恵)
– Bekira (汨羅) / Asano Masumi (浅野 真澄)
– Gyokuyou (玉耀) / Hatano Wataru (羽多野 渉)
– Kouga (光牙) / Kushida Yasumichi (櫛田 泰道)
– Eiga (影牙) / Anzai Ryuuta (安斎 龍太)
– Tomine (トミネ) / Okiayu Ryoutarou (置鮎 龍太郎)
– Miyabe (ミヤベ) / Nakano Kouki (中野 光貴)
– Shimenogi (シメノギ) / Nakayama Masahiro (山中 真尋)
– Naguma (ナグマ) / Furusawa Tooru (古澤 徹)
– Girl (女性) / Ishikawa Ayano (石川 綾乃)
– Girl (女性) / Honda Mariko (本多 真梨子)
– Doll (人形) / Takeda Hana (武田 華)