Season
overview:
A new chief animation director joined the show with the third and final season - Yasuyuki Noda. We see the character designer from the Inuyasha films, Hideyuki Motohashi, continue to work on some episodes. New music continues to be added, however no soundtrack was ever released for the score of this season of the program.
Episode 51: ゴールドライセンス
Gourudo Raisensu (Gold License)
Rinne and Sabato battle in midair as son tells father that he is the "more worthy." Earlier, Rinne explains to Sakura that all one needs to become a Shingiami is a license, which is obtained in elementary school. Rinne and Rokumon go to the Lifespan Administration Bureau to get his license renewed. As Rinne enters the building the notices that things seem more formal than usual, he gets in line to renew his Silver license and is shocked to see that a group of elementary school students, including Shoma have Gold licenses, which are only given out if you have exorcised more than 2,000 spirits. As the children get to the front of the line, they find Kain waiting for them, upon inspection he finds that the licenses are fake and has his dog chew them up. Kain explains to Rinne that hundreds of fake Gold licenses are floating around the afterlife. Kain is determined to catch whoever is behind it and earn a promotion for his own license in the process. Kain despises Rinne so much that he decides not to tell him about the promotion opportunity. Ageha finds a vending machine giving out Gold licenses and takes one for herself before destroying. From the rubble a Damashigami agent emerges and Ageha gives chase. Kain is about to join in before Rinne reappears and bashes Kain for not telling him about the promotion chance for whoever captures the forger. The three give chance and follow the trail of fake licenses to Damashigami Headquarters where they confront Sabato and Ageha's sister. As Sabato escapes he drops his own, real, Gold Shinigami License but quickly reappears to get it. Everyone is shocked, but it turns out that Sabato is using his own license to make the fake, carboard copies. Rinne says that he cannot imagine his lazy father ever working hard enough to purify 2,000 spirits, and Sabato says that the reason Rinne thinks he never worked hard is because he got the license when he was still in high school, which stuns everyone even more. Sabato and the others go to see Tamako, just so that Sabato can have her prove the license is real. Kuroboshi and Tamako both confirm the Gold license is real, but that up until high school, Sabato still had a Bronze license. Sabato was about to have to repeat a year of school, when he came across a group of girls and helped them purify spirits while they got credit for the purification using his "Save a Blow" technique. His teacher, Ikuzo Raise, was so upset with Sabato's performance that he challenged him to a battle for his own Gold license. If Sabato won, he would earn the license himself. As the girls he helped cheer him on Sabato accidently beats his own teacher and earns the license. Tamako suggests Rinne now challenge his father for the license. Sabato finally brings his old high school scythe out of storage and agrees to fight Rinne, but with one blow, Sabato's scythe breaks. He rushes off to the realm of the living to borrow some tape to fix it from Sakura before running away again. As everyone pursues, Sabato is held up by dozens of spirits whom he instantly purifies in a single second, shocking everyone. Unfortunately when Rinne battles his father he loses due to a complete accident and Sabato nervously escapes with his license still intact.
Episode Staff:
Director: Hiroshi Ishiodori (石踊宏)
Animation Director: Kazuhiko Shibuya (渋谷一彦)
Script: Michiko Yokote (横手美智子)
Storyboards: Hiroshi Ishiodori (石踊宏)
Originally Aired:
April 8, 2017
5:35 pm - 6:00 pm on NHK E Television
The overhead writing on the walls when Rinne goes to get his shinigami license renewed says "silver" (シルバー) and "gold" (ゴールド).
The lanterns Kain carries is called a "chochin" (提灯). The message written on them says "patrol" (見廻/mimawari).
The writing on the gold license says "Shinigami License Certificate" (死神ライセンス認定証/Shinigami Raisensu Ninteishou).
Episode 52: 呪われたエース / 私を描いて
Norowareta eesu / Watashi wo Kaite (The Cursed Ace / Draw Me)
Track star Riku Hayata suffers an accident on as he races, but Sakura notices that a ghostly hand has emerged from the track, grabbing his ankle. Shu Kazami, the captain of the tracck team contacts Rinne and asks him to investigate. Captain Kazami has been mysteriously injured and Hayata blames himself for it. Rinne soon discovers that Hayata knows he's being grabbed by a spirit but has tried to keep it quiet. The spirit turns out to be none other than Kazami himself. Kazami's spirit holds a grudge over slipping on Hayata's discarded banana peel. Hayata asks Rinne if he can exorcise Kazami's spirit without Kazami himself knowing about it existing, in hopes of sparing his feelings.Rinne thinks that that is way too much work, but further questioning of Kazami's spirit leads to no clear answers over why it clings so strongly to Hayata. Eventually Rokumon brings in a Yorishiro Doll for the spirit to inhabit. Rinne uses the doll to allow Kazami and Hayata tp re-run their race. Unfortunately even after the race ends the spirit still clings to Hayata's ankle. The next day Rinne uses his Haori of the Underworld to secretly spy on Kazami. It turns out that Kazami is being haunted by Hayata's spirit and he did not want to tell Hayata that his spirit was haunting him, which caused his Kazami's own spirit filled with regret to start haunting Hayata. As they quickly apologize to one another Rinne is irritated by how much money he spent to solve such a minor inconvience. Later, after school one day, Rika enters the art room and as she and Miho and Sakura return to get it, they find a boy passed out on the floor with his face blacked out, and a painting of a girl with her own face marked over. Before leaving Sakura spies the spirit of a faceless woman standing in the room. When Sakura goes to tell Rinne about this, he confirms that he has gotten many letters informing him of similar incidents. It seems that the faceless spirit goes to to any boy at school who can draw, and requests that he draw her. Each boy attempts to give their drawing a face, but that makes the faceless spirit angry and she attacks them, defacing their drawing and smearing their faces with black paint. Sakura and Rinne head to the art room and find Tsubasa attempting to exorcise the spirit but failing. Rinne tackles the girl with his Haori of the Underworld but does not manage to capture her. Rinne postulates that she must be something other than a spirit, perhaps an obsession. The next day Rinne uses Obsession Powder to draw the spirit out. As Rinne and Tsubasa bicker about who will draw the spirit, Suguru Egawa, the leader of the art club arrives. He instantly sees the spirit and recognizes her as his senpai. As Egawa tells Tsubasa and Sakura that the spirit is the former president of the art club, Rinne tracks the trail of his Obsession Powder to the girl's house. In the girl's room Rinne finds an unfinished portrait of the former president, missing its face. He brings the drawing back to school the next day to show to Egawa. Egawa confirms it is a drawing he did that was stolen. Just then, the girl in question, Hitomi Egusa arrives. Egawa says he actually did draw a face in the picture, and says they can burn it or destroy it however they see fit before leaving the room in a depressed state. Egusa admits she erased the face before running off herself, while the spirit emerges from the drawing giving chase. It turns out that Egusa knew Egawa was drawing her, but was shocked that he drew her with glasses on, when she tried to erase the glasses, she ended up erasing the entire face and had to steal the drawing to keep him from finding out. As she admits what she did, the spirit attempts to attack Egusa, but Rinne saves the day. Egawa admits he did the drawing to give to her in hopes he would continue to see her after she left the club and Egusa immediately goes back to wearing glasses. Rinne once again finds himself broke due to buying the expensive Obsession Powder.
Episode Staff:
Director: Shinya Une (宇根信也)
Animation Director: Hikaru Suzuki (鈴木光)
Script: Katsuhiko Takayama (高山カツヒコ)
Storyboards: Takahiro Mizushima (大宙征基)
Originally Aired:
April 15, 2017
5:35 pm - 6:00 pm on NHK E Television
Riku Hayakata's last name (速田) is written with the kanji for "fast" which seems appropriate given his status a track star.
His upperclassman, Shu Kazami, has a similarly evocative name. The kanji in his last name (風見) has "wind" in it.
The term used to describe what Kazami's "ghost" is "生霊" (ikiryou). Literally the kanji are "living spirit" but it is often translated as "grudge" or "vengeful spirit". Sometimes it is even "doppleganger".
Yorishiro (依代) references an object that a spirit is drawn to dwell in.
Kazami's shirt says "Sankai", which is the neighborhood and school that the series takes place in. Sankai (三界) in Buddhist terms is "the three realms (of existence)", that being the past, the present and the future.
The living spirit of Hayakata is hiding in the closet saying しくしく/shikushiku. This is the onomatopoeia for "sobbing".
The spirit of faceless woman is a familiar ghost story in Japan. Traditionally these are call "Noppera-bo" (のっぺらぼう). Takahashi's previous series, Inuyasha had such a character, the Nothing Woman.
There is a fleeting glimpse of the drawing of the ghost's face that Tsubasa attempted and it looks like a heno heno moheji face.
Suguru Egawa's last name is written with the kanji "絵川". The first kanji is, appropriatley enough, "to draw".
Egawa's senior, Hitomi Egusa, also has the kanji for "to draw" in her last name as well.
When Sakura tries to imagine what Egawa's drawing of Egusa must have looked like the three faces she thinks of are all from famous (or infamous) works of art. The left most is the terrible retouching of Ecce Homo, the center is Edvard Munch's The Scream and the right image is evocative of any number of Pablo Picasso's Analytical Cubist portraits, with the orientation of the eyes similar to a figure from his iconic Guernica.
When Egusa erases Egawa's drawing the onomatopoeia is けし (keshi). This means "to erase". After that どきどき (dokidoki) appears which is the thudding of her heartbeat.
Episode 53: 輪廻の輪 一斉清掃 / 恨み無限大 / 雨の中の子犬
Rinne no Wa Issei Seisou / Urami Mugendai / Ame no Naka no Koinu (Wheel of Reincarnation Cleanup Day / Infinite Malice / A Puppy in the Rain)
Tamako oversees the Shinigami Youth Division's cleanup of the Wheel of Reincarnation. She warns everyone that the Wheel never stops turning and they have to be careful not to get sucked in, or else they will be reincarnated. Rinne is hopeful for a free meal even though the job pays nothing. Ageha and Matsugo quickly arrive to cause distractions with Oboro and Suzu in tow. Ageha and Matsugo end up brawling for Rinne's attention and almost get pulled into the Wheel of Reincarnation. Kain chastises the group for being so careless and meets Matsugo for the first time. He is stunned to see that he wears the elite uniform of First Shinigami High, where he had always hoped to attend before being forced to enter the workforce early as a Shirushigami. Renge and Sabato arrive to sabotage the clean up by stealing all the Shinigami's scythes from storage while they are busy cleaning the Wheel. All the groups converge and Sabato ends up using the stolen scythes to hold off the student Shinigami who clean the Wheel. When Rinne smashes him the scythes go flying and scratch up the Wheel that everyone had worked so hard to get looking nice. Tamako gets so fed up with her son causing problems that she kicks Sabato into the Wheel of Reincarnation, where he is almost sucked in and reincarnated, but pushed out at the last second by an elderly spirit. Tamako decides to have professionals clean the Wheel instead as everyone enjoys their feast. Later Refuto and Raito try to sell Rinne a new chainsaw scythe they have created. Rinne protests that he has no money or interest in it, but they say they need him to purify it. Raito explains that the chainsaw scythe is always quickly purchased but soon returned with the owner demanding a refund. Just then Ageha arrives, instantly sees the new scythe and purchases it. She walks next door and finds Renge polishing her own scythe, and immediately attacks her weapon with the new chainsaw scythe. Refuto explains that whoever purchases the scythe has the uncontrollable urge to attack other Shinigami with it. He says that he made it with cursed spirit iron. Renge instantly buys the scythe as it is the perfect weapon for her to do battle against Shinigami with. Ageha uses Separation Incense Spray on the scythe and evil spirits pour out of the weapon, eating through Ageha's own scythe. Just as Renge is about to use the chainsaw scythe to attack Rinne, Kain emerges from a portal and she hits his weapon instead. Renge immediately pretends to collapse and blames Refuto and Raito for selling her the weapon and letting it possess her. Kain confirms that he will confiscate the blade, and Ageha sprays more Separation Incense on it, forcing more evil spirits to flood the room and destroy everyone elses Shinigami Scythes. Refuto and Raito's shop has its business license suspended and so they refuse to repair anyones damaged scythes. Later, one rainy day, Sakura comes by Rinne's room with tools so that he can patch his leaking ceiling. A student named Ken Ameno arrives, having made an appointment to meet with Rinne for a consultation. It turns out that the boy is perpetually getting rained on, even when he is indoors. Ameno takes Rinne back to his house and has him meet his dog, Kotaro. Rinne says he thinks the spirit that is causing the rain is likely a dog's spirit. Ameno remembers as a boy he and two friends found a dog they named Bero. Because none of them could have pets at their housing complexes they all agreed to take turns feeding the dog in the park. However Ameno went with his family to an amusement park and missed a day of feeding Bero, who went missing. Sakura postulates that Bero's spirit may feel jealous of Ameno getting a new dog after not living up to his responsiblities with him all those years ago. Rinne uses expensive Spirit Soap Bubbles to add to the rainwater that pours down on Ameno to see the spirit that haunts him. It turns out that when Bero was not fed all those years ago, he was almost hit by a car, and ended up being adopted by a little girl who found him. Bero's spirit finally appears and it turns out he was only trying to let Ameno know he had been adopted and had a very happy, long life.
Episode Staff:
Director: Norihito Takahashi (高橋謙仁)
Animation Director: Hideyuki Motohashi (本橋秀之)
Script: Hiroshi Yamaguchi (山口宏)
Storyboards: Akira Nishimori (西森章)
Originally Aired:
April 22, 2017
5:35 pm - 6:00 pm on NHK E Television
Hideyuki Motohashi, the animation director for this episode, was the character designer and animation director on the first three Inuyasha films.
"After the cleaning, a gorgeous BBQ is served at Children's Limbo." - Children's Limbo (賽の河原/Sai no kawara) is a place located on the banks of the Sanzu River. According to Buddhist tradition children's souls spend time there stacking rocks into small towers only for those towers to be knocked over by oni (or wind and flames, the causes vary according to the source). It is Jizo (known as Kṣitigarbha in the original Sanskrit), the protector of children, that aids the souls of children and hides them inside his robes to protect them from the various trials that await them during their tasks.
Kain's armband says "watchman/lifeguard/supervisor" (監視員/kanshiin). These armbands are often seen in anime and manga and are called 腕章 (wanshou) or アームバンド (aamu bando).
In Japan after signing a contract or making a purchase there is a "cooling off" (クーリングオフ) period when that contract can be nullified. Eight days is the typical cooling off period, but you can read more details here on the Osaka City Hall website.
The Separation Spray can says "bunri" on its label. This is because "separation" in Japanese is 分離 (bunri).
When Rinne tries to blame Renge for damaging Kain's scythe she pretends to faint and audibly says "Gakuri" (ガクリ) which is the onomatopoeia for collapsing.
Rinne's client, Ken Ameno (雨野ケン), is cursed by the rain. Approprietly enough the first kanji of his last name is "rain".
Ken's pet dog, Kotaro (小太郎) does not have a particularly unusual or telling name.
Ken has photos of dogs on the walls of his room, one directly behind where he sits is a Tosa, a breed of dog that originated in Japan and is known as a sumo wrestling dog.
The pose Ameno twists into upon believing that Bero was hit by a car is meant to mimic Edvard Munch's painting The Scream.
Episode 54: ショッピングモールの姉
Shoppingu Mooru no Ane (Ane at the Shopping Mall)
During Golden Week, Miho tells Sakura about "Ane at the Shopping Mall" a fortune teller at the local mall who always gives extremely accurate predictions. When the girls visit the fortune teller, she is able to reveal the location of Miho's lost wallet, which piques Sakura's curiosity about her abilities. When Sakura tells Rinne about the woman, he becomes curious if the crystal ball she uses is actually a lost Shinigami item that he can return to the afterlife for a reward. When they arrive at the mall, Ane is gone, having forseen Rinne's arrival. But she just went shopping and managed to come back in time to run into Rinne and Sakura. She can even see Rinne while he wears his Haori of the Underworld. Ane reveals that the crystal ball has been passed down from generation to generation in her family, but Rokumon announces that the item is actually the Shinigami tool called the Peep Ball. Rinne attempts to take the ball by force but Ane is about to counter every move he makes by seeing into the future and preparing in advance. Finally she makes her escape by pretending to drop the ball into a nearby lake. The next day, upon returning to the shopping mall, only a note saying "I retired" is left behind. However after Golden Week, the students return to school and meet their new teacher, who just so happens to be Ane at the Shopping Mall. Her real name is Annette Hitomi Anematsuri, and she becomes the new assistant home room teacher to class 1-4, Rinne, Sakura and Tsubasa's class. She seems surprised to see Rinne and Sakura and reveals that her crystal ball isn't working well due to its age. After class Rinne and Sakura meet with Annette and she tells them that her grandmother is a French witch. Tsubasa arrives and explains the history of witches in Europe, while Annette goes on to explain that her ancestor made a pact not with the Devil, but with a Shinigami who gave her the Peep Ball. Hundreds of years later, it was passed to her grandmother, who met a Japanese man, married him and moved to Japan. Annette then reports that no matter what happens to the Peep Ball, it always returns to her. They crystal ball revealed Annette's dark future. She was unable to get a job, and so, after months of laying around her mother's house playing video games, was forced to get a part time job reading fortunes at the mall. Just before malfunctioning the crystal ball told Annette to apply for a teaching position which is how she has come to find herself at Sankai High. Rinne says that if the ball is no longer working, he'll return it to the afterlife, as soon as he comes into contact with the Peep Ball, Annette sees a future of him taking the ball and immediately hands it over to him with no fuss. Just before returning the ball, Rinne sees an image of him getting the ball repaired and returning it to Annette for 1,000, twice the amount the Shinigami Association are paying to have it returned. Rinne decides that since the ball showed him that future, he should go along with it. He pays 200 yen to repair the ball, and returns it to Annette, who does indeed give him 1000 yen...and then asks him for change. With her crystal ball repaired, Annette begins to read the fortunes of her students for free and becomes beloved at the school. One day, a girl named Manami Ubukata, a student from class 1-4, asks Annette about a problem. She and her boyfriend seem to be unable to go on dates, like there is a force stopping them. Annette sees a spirit following the girl and tells her she'll take care of it, and so she goes to Rinne, asking him to exorcise the evil spirit following his classmate. Rinne agrees to help, but not for free. Annette is shocked until Sakura explains that Rinne makes his living purifying spirits. Annette tries to reason with Rinne so she won't have to pay him, but he refuses. Meanwhile the spirit that is following Ubukata continues to wreck havoc in her relationship with her boyfriend. The girl blames Annette for not helping like she promised and Sakura suggests that Ubukata use the Weather Hutch instead. Annette is worried her reputation as a popular teacher will suffer if Rinne outdoes her, and so she tries to get Tsubasa to exorcise the spirit, however his ashes won't work. Using the crystal ball, Annette and Rinne realize that the spirit is Ubukata's father. Suddenly her father arrives, and everyone learns that the spirit is his living spirit, as he is so upset with his only daughter finally dating a boy that he wished endlessly for them to break up, manifesting the spirit into causing problems between his daughter and her new beau. When the father realizes what he's done, the spirit disappears. Annette continues to try to get Rinne to help her become popular with the students for free though.
Episode Staff:
Director: Yoshito Hata (秦義人)
Animation Director: So Kato (加藤壮)
Script: Yuko Kakihara (柿原優子)
Storyboards: Keiji Gotoh (後藤圭二)
Originally Aired:
April 30, 2017
5:35 pm - 6:00 pm on NHK E Television
Golden Week - Golden Week is a series of consecutive Japanese holidays lasting the week of April 29th. It is comprised of Showa Day (昭和の日), Constitution Memorial Day (憲法記念日), Greenery Day (みどりの日) and Children's Day (子供の日). Golden Week is often the longest vacation period for workers in Japan and along with New Year and Obon is one of the longer holiday breaks most workers receive.
Annette is being referred to as "ane" (姉). "Ane" means "older woman/lady". It is funny in this case because "ane" can also be short for "Annette".
Fotune telling is still popular in Japan and it is not uncommon to see someone set up at a booth in a mall or shopping arcade offering fortunes and advice. "Tengenjutsu" (天源術) is one method of Japanese fortune telling.
Annette's Peep Ball is from a long tradition of crystal balls. The earliest traditions state that they were first used during the Roman Empire where they were called "crystallum orbis". They were eventually seen as heretical when the Roman's transitioned into Christianity. They are primarily used for seeing the future and scrying.
"You know a lot, Jumonji." "It's sort of my specialty, you know." - Of course Tsubasa would know a good deal about witches, the Middle Ages and general medieval history given that he is a Christian exorcist.
Annette's name is interesting on a number of levels. Her middle name, Hitormi (瞳), means "pupil of the eye" which relates to the spirals that form in her eyes when she gazes into her Peep Ball. As mentioned before "ane" (姉) being in her name is also a pun.
Manami Ubukata's last name (初方) has the kanji for "naive" in it.
Rinne addresses Annette simply as "Anematsuri" when he should politely call her "sensei" (先生/teacher). This, understandably upsets Annette.
The term used to describe what Manami's father's "ghost" is "生霊" (ikiryou). Literally the kanji are "living spirit" but it is often translated as "grudge" or "vengeful spirit". Sometimes it is even "doppleganger".
"I was listening to some comic storytelling." - In the next episode preview the "comic storytelling" that Kuroboshi III is talking about is called rakugo (落語).
Episode 55: 黒星三世 / 開運の壺 / 虹色のタケノコ
Kuroboshi Sansei / Kaiun no Tsubo / Niji Iro no Takenoko (Kuroboshi Sansei / The Lucky Pot / Bamboo Sprout in Rainbow Color)
Tamako brings a little black cat by Rinne's house and explains that he is the grandson of Kuroboshi, her black cat who is now retiring, after previously being trapped in her closet for so long. Kuroboshi's grandson will take over his contract with Tamako, but both he and Tamako ask Rinne to train the young boy, Kuroboshi the Third. Kuroboshi meets Sakura and flirts with her shamelessly. Rinne takes Kuroboshi the Third to a haunted house and is surprised at his ability to sense spirits before even he and Sakura. Kuroboshi immediately admits he is frightened to death of ghosts and that is why he is able to sense them so strongly. Rinne douses the child with Spirit Attracting Incense and watches as he panics and rushes away from all the ghosts coming near him. Rinne reports that he will have to report this to his grandfather, but the boy attempts to bribe Rinne with 1,000 yen. Rinne accepts the money and agrees not to tell, but Tamako and Kuroboshi arrive and reveal that they have known the whole time. They hoped Rinne would be able to break him of his ghost phobia, sadly, Kuroboshi will not be able to retire anytime soon. Later, Sabato arrives at Sankai High to consult with Annette about some missing money. Annette uses her crystal ball and sees into the future that Rinne is holding Sabato's pot filled with money. Sabato explains that the pot is a Lucky Pot, a new product from the Damashigami Company. He put massive amounts of money in the pot in his office, but unfortunately, it gets taken away to a Damashigami store. Learning where it is through the crystal ball, he and Rinne rush to the store to get it. Sabato learns that the Lucky Pots are not selling so the pot with his money it is is likely still in the store. Sabato begins breaking the entire supply of pots just to find the money he hid. It turns out that only one pot was sold, and it was the one with the money inside. Fortunately the pot was sold to Ageha, who promptly returns it when she realizes it does not make her dreams come true as advertised. Ageha uses her bombs to blow up the shop and Rinne is able to get the pot filled with cash. Unfortunately as soon as he pulls out the money, the landlord of the building comes by and takes it all to make up for unpaid rent and damage to the property. Later, the tale of the rainbow colored bamboo shoot that appears once every seven years is told. If one hangs a wish from this bamboo tree, one wish is always guaranteed to come true. In the afterlife, Kain has organized volunteers from the Shinigami Youth Group to locate where the bamboo shoot is so it can be reported. While there is no monetary compensation for helping find the rainbow bamboo shoot, Shinigami who are assisting may take any normal bamboo shoots they find. Unfortunately, others have different ideas, as Renge finds the rainbow bamboo and decides to take it and grow it in secret so the Damashigami Company can make a wish on it. Suddenly, Kurosu attacks Renge and takes the bamboo for himself. He says it's worth 200,000 yen on the black market. Rinne decides that at that price, he may want to take the rainbow bamboo for himself after all. Strangely enough, the bamboo shoot has a will of its own and starts to escape from everyone. The bamboo lands in a boiling pot belonging to Ageha and is cooked. Kain finds it and blames Rinne, who tosses it away to hide the evidence. Kurosu catches it, peels it and finds that only the outer layer was cooked. An all out brawl ensues before Suzu captures the rainbow bamboo shoot and cooks it. As it's about to die it crawls out of the flame and writes a wish of its own, using its power to become a bamboo tree, making it entirely useless to anyone else. Kain covers up the result since it was Suzu's fault the rainbow bamboo's wish was wasted.
Kuroboshi III makes his debut in this episode. His name means "black star" (most of the black cats have "kuro/black" in their names, "star" is due to to the star mark on his forehead).
Rinne often refers to Kuroboshi III as "Sansei" (三世). This means "The Third", however it would sound awkward in translation if that was how he was addressed.
The Chainsaw Ghost is obviously a reference to Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies.
The Chainsaw Ghost is called a "black bass". A black bass is a highly prized fish known as a strong fighter with tasty meat.
The ghostly lights that Tamako releases from the bird cage are called 火の玉 (hi no tama/fireballs or will-o'-the-whisps).
The "lucky shop" in the afterlife is named Kaiun. "Kaiun" (開運) means "good luck". This is also what is written on all of the lucky pots.
The flag on the damashigami's cart says "shipment" (出荷/shukka).
Sabato pulls a rope and a ball opens dropping a bowling ball on Rinne's head. Normally this would have a congratulatory message inside. These are called "split balls" (割り玉/waritama).
The candle on the Kaiun shop sign also says "good luck" (開運).
The practice of hanging a wish on the end of a bamboo shoot is connected with the Tanabata (七夕) holiday. This holiday takes place on July 7th (the name means "evening of the 7th") and celebrates the stars Vega and Altair (which represent the celestial star-crossed lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi) during their annual reunion.
In the preview for the next episode they talk about Europeans have a concept of a "June Bride". The origin of this term is throught to originate from the fact that the name of the month of June is taken from the Roman goddess Juno who was the goddess of marriage.
Episode 56: 特別保護霊鳥 / ジューンブライド / 地獄の金庫
Tokubetsu Hogo Reichou / Jyuun Buraido / Jigoku no Kinko (Special Protected Sacred Bird / June Bride / The Safe in Hell)
Rinne and Rokumon have a rare chance at getting hot water, and so happily make ramen. As soon as the ramen finishes cooking, Shoma and Kurosu interrupt their meal. Shoma says he has a quick job for Rinne, and pulls a small Yatagarasu chick out of a box. It turns out that it is illegal to capture Yatagarsu in the afterlife, but Shoma wants to keep it long enough to show off to his friends at school tomorrow, and so decides to offer Rinne 5,000 yen to watch it for the night. Desperate for the money, Rinne accepts, and before he leaves Shoma leaves a massive bento set of expensive food for the bird. Rinne decides to feed the crow his ramen, so that he and Rokumon can eat the expensive food, however the bird attacks them, spills the ramen and begins to eat everything in sight. Suddenly, a weiner on a fishing line drops through a portal, and the Yatagarsu follows it, on the other end is Kurosu, who is determined to get a reward of 10,000 yen for returning the crow to its animal sanctuary. The bird escapes and finds Sakura who feeds it a sweet potato. It turns out that the more it eats, the faster it grows, and if it becomes an adult the Yatagarasu will return to its sanctuary on its own. The Yatagarsu finally eats enough, grows and leads Rinne back to his home. The man who works there happily reimburses each person for the exact amount of food the crow ate...and Rinne gets 140 yen for his ramen. Later, Sakura, Miho and Rika walk in the rain and learn of the story of the spirit of a bride who brings the rain each June. Just then the spirit appears to them and asks which way the chapel is. Sakura contacts Rinne and learns that there was once a church in the area, but it went out of business and became a coffee shop named June. Inside the shop, they find the bride waiting. Rinne and Sakura learn that the bride was hit by a car on her way to the wedding, and now she feels lost. On a shelf in the coffee shop is a photo of an unattractive man. As soon as the bride sees it, she rushes away in horror. The owner reveals that the man in the photo is her long deceased husband. Rokumon, Rinne and Sakura speculate that perhaps there was a love triangle between the three. As Rinne prepares a Phantom Night Lantern to recreate the chapel that once stood, the ghost bride shows Sakura that in her right hand she holds undeveloped film. As it turns out, the ghost bride is in fact the man in the photo crossdressing for a photo shoot. He and his wife, were the previous owners of the chapel, and were trying to drum up business on the June bride theme, but his wife was pregnant and could not fit into her old wedding dress so he did instead, but when they ran out of film, he rushed to a nearby store for more and was hit by a car. Rinne takes the photo to send the spirit to rest. Finally, Rinne wins tickets to the World Hell Fair, and attempts to resell them for a profit. As he's walking home, Rinne is hit on the head with a safe made of ice. The safe is clear and Rinne can see a 10,000 yen note inside it. It turns out that the safe is a trap set by Masato. The ice is made from Cocytus, the frozen river that runs through hell. Masato then gives Rinne various ways of getting into the unopenable safe, which invariable destroys his room and has no effect on te safe itself. After all the destruction, Renge finally comes over to complain. She notices the safe and points out that its a product from the Damashigami Company that they're selling at the World Hell Fair. It turns out that Masato robbed the store that Renge was working at and stole the safe. Renge gives Rinne the key, at which point he is hit in the face with a boxing glove and learns the 10,000 yen bill was a fake. Masato grins with pleasure, but Rinne forces him to repair his room, then sends him to hell.
Episode Staff:
Director: Fumio Maezono (前園文夫)
Animation Director: Shinichi Suzuki (鈴木信一)
Script: Katsuhiko Takayama (高山カツヒコ)
Storyboards: Hiroshi Ishiodori (石踊宏)
Originally Aired:
May 14, 2017
5:35 pm - 6:00 pm on NHK E Television
The bird Shoma brings Rinne is a Yatagarasu (八咫烏/eight-span crow). According to legend it was a yatagarasu that guided Emperor Jimmu (the likely legendary first emperor of Japan) to the Yamato province. The creature is also believed to be an incarnation of the sun due to its connection with the sun goddess Amaterasu.
The sign the yatagarasu is holding in its beak says "leading the way" (案内/annai).
The yatagarasu looks and sounds like the phoenix from Takahashi's earlier work, Ranma 1/2. The story of it growing larger as it eats also mimics the earlier phoenix story.
It may sound odd when Sakura says "the wedding chapel went out of business" but it is not a church, it is a for profit business. In the west weddings are typically held at churches, but in Japan western-style weddings are instead often held at wedding halls (結婚式場/kekkonshikijo) which are non-religious venues akin to a banquet hall. This is the type of location that the faceless bride is searching for.
The origin of the term "june bride" is throught to originate from the fact that the name of the month of June is taken from the Roman goddess Juno who was the goddess of marriage.
Yorishiro (依代) references an object that a spirit is drawn to dwell in.
"That safe is made from ice from Cocytus, the river that runs in the deepest part of hell." - There are five rivers in Hell- Cocytus, Lethe, Acheron, Phlegethon and Styx. It is a frozen lake in which sinners who committed fraud or were judged as traitors are trapped inside the ice. In Dante's Divine ComedySatan is also trapped in the ice and the more he flaps his wings the colder and more firmly frozen in place he becomes. Satan is shown with three faces which is also connected to his description in the Divine Comedy in which each of his mouths has a famous betrayer, Judas, Cassius and Brutus.
The currency Masato implies is inside the safe has a panda on it that resembles Genma Saotome from Ranma 1/2.
"It was very nice of you to put all the readings of the letters in the explanations." - Masato is referring to furigana (振り仮名). Furigana are small hiragana characters that appear over the kanji (complex Chinese characters) to aid in pronunciation. These are often used to help children learn kanji pronunciation or sometimes are used when when an uncommon kanji character appears in a text.
Episode 57: さまよえるパワーストーン / ポルターガイスト / 死神界のタブー
Samayoeru Pawaasutoon/ Porutaagaisuto/ Shinigami no Tabuu (Wandering Power Stone / Poltergeist / The Taboo in the Shinigami World)
Sakura, Miho and Rika are shopping at The House of Stones jewelry store and the store owner offers to give Sakura a bracelet that she can hear talking to her. Sakura refuses but the owner insists. Once she gets the bracelet home, a tiny spirit emerges from the stone and offers to grant Sakura any wish she wants. The spirit itself does not appear evil, but his wishes are more practical than magical. Sakura brings the bracelet to show Rinne. Rinne admits that power stones are not his specialty but Tsubasa wanders up and recognizes the spirit as that of the Wandering Power Stone. Tsubasa explains that the spirit will only grant one correct wish, and passes from owner to owner annoying them until the correct wish is made. When Tsubasa tries to get close enough to identify the exact type of power stone, the spirit blasts him into the sky, wanting to keep its identity, and its specific type of power, a secret. Tsubasa returns with a case and calls upon the spirits of the twelve power stones in his collection. The spirits make smirks and then suddenly disappear, but their expressions help Tsubasa reach a conclusion about the spirits identity. As it turns out, the stone is edible rock salt, which is rarely made into power stones. Once they melt the stone in water, everyone feels refreshed. Later, Yumi Kariya, a classmate of Sakura's explains that she and her family have moved into a new apartment. It turns out that the apartment is haunted and as plates start to fly, Rika and Miho run away. While Sakura initially suspects the spirit could be a poltergeist trying to frighten the family away, when Rinne arrives to help, they both see that the spirit is in fact a shirtless man, wearing a fake nose and glasses, with an oversized bowtie, and inflatable duck life preserver over a tutu who is balancing plates. He tells his story that he was trying out various funny gags for a welcoming party as his new job when he ended up working himself to death. He regrets not being able to perform the tricks and silly jokes he learned, but Rinne says its hard to take him seriously when he does not focus on one specific thing. Rinne decides to help the spirit hone his outfit by removing each item one by one until he has something more cohesive, but as soon as Rinne tries to act, the spirit erupts in anger and tries to attack. When that fails, Sakura hits the spirit with a Spirit Coloring Ball so that the Kariya family can see him. They put on a small comedy show in the living room of their new apartment, but when the family sees the spirit and how he's dressed, they don't laugh. After the spirit breaks more of his wife's precious dishes, Yumi's father is forced to act. He tells the ghost that if he is going to work for a company, he has to make sure people remember his face, and finally makes the spirit take off his face glasses and nose. Everyone is shocked to see that he is incredibly handsome, and with that, Mr. Kariya gives him some more helpful tips about how to be memorable at a company welcome party, showing that it takes a businessman to know a businessman. Later in the afterlife, Ageha wakes up and demands that Oboro find something for her, he goes under her bed and retrives something that looks like a roach motel, but is in fact a Wandering Spirit House, which serves the same purpose. The spirits captured in the little house must be turned in before the experation date so that the spirits can be reincarnated; failing to do this is a major taboo in the afterlife. Ageha tells Oboro to simply get rid of the expired house in her room, and he does so, hiding it in a bundle of houses that Rinne was collecting. Rinne and Rokumon are depressed to find a house they think they let expire. Rinne was hoping to collect enough points by turning in the Spirit Houses to get a ten percent discount on Shinigami tools, but if you let even one house expire, your point card is confiscated. Rinne is too desperate to let this happen and so he sneaks off and finds Suzu hauling in carts of Spirit Houses to the Wheel of Reincarnation and drops the expired house in with hers. Suzu rushes into the Lifespan Administration Bureau and falls again, dropping the expired house under a desk. Kain finds it and worries that he let it expire. As Rinne lines up to turn in his houses, he finds Kain waiting for him, ready to dump the expired house in with Rinne's set so he won't take the blame. Kain and Rinne square off to see who will get stuck with the expired house when a portal opens above them and Ageha and Oboro drop dozens and dozens of expired houses on the crowd below. Other Shinigami offer to help clean up the mess, but add their own expired houses to the pile as well. In the chaos no one is able to assess blame on any one person, except for Ageha.
Episode Staff:
Director: Shinya Une (宇根信也)
Animation Director: Kazuhiko Shibuya (渋谷一彦)
Script: Hiroshi Yamaguchi (山口宏)
Storyboards: Shinya Une (宇根信也)
Originally Aired:
May 21, 2017
5:35 pm - 6:00 pm on NHK E Television
"This condo is 5 minutes from the station, a 3LDK floor plan, yet it's only 20,000 yen per month?!" - 3LDK means the condo is 3 bedrooms, plus a livingroom, dining room and kitchen. For a place of that size with located at such a convenient distance from the train station at such a low price would be unheard of.
Yumi Kariya's name is written 仮家ゆみ. Her last name means "temporary housing".
In German, "poltergeist" means "loud ghost". They are known a ghosts that clatter, bang or smash objects.
The poltergeist has a face drawn on his stomach similar to the Mark of the Battling God that was drawn on Ryoga Hibiki in Ranma 1/2chapter 142.
"But eventually I worked myself to death." - Death from overwork is a real problem in Japan. It is known as "karoshi" (過労死). It can cause heart attacks, strokes and stress related deaths such as suicide.
"No! This is a must have item for a businessman's party!" - Wearing a necktie around ones head is a stereotypical drunken salary man trope. In America it would be similar to someone placing a lampshade on their head at a wild party.
The tutu with the swan head is from a famous comedy bit by Ken Shimura (志村けん) where he would sing "Higashimurayama Ondo" (東村山音頭).
The talent show sign Rinne posts says 爆笑オンエアバトル (Bakusho On Ea Batoru). "Bakusho" means a "roar of laughter" or "LOL".
When the poltergeist comes out and begins his act he says "I'm spinning more than usual!" (いつもより多めに回しております。) This is a famous punchline used by the brother comedy duo of Somenosuke and Sometaro Ebiichi (海老一 染之助・染太郎). They were known for spinning plates, balls, and rings on a turning umbrella, balancing and juggling.
"Yet you're hiding your true self. In other words, your performance is... lacking face!" - This is a complex pun. Mr. Kariya is talking about how the poltergeist hides himself behind his glasses and bald cap and obscures his identity before saying he is lacking face (in a literal sense). The term he uses "lacking face" (顔見世の場/kao mise no ba) is a phrase that also means "making ones debut".
The house for wandering spirits is made to resemble a roach motel.
"The scythe you dropped in the pond, was it the silver one, gold one, or regular one?" - In the next episode preview this statement is a reference to one of Aesop's Fables known as "The Honest Woodcutter". The story is about a woodcutter who drops his ax into a river and the god Hermes sees him lamenting the loss of it. Hermes dives in and brings back a golden ax and asks the woodcutter if it is his. The woodcutter says "no" and Hermes dives in again and returns with a silver ax. Once more the woodcutter says it is not his. When Hermes next returns it is with the regular ax that the woodcutter lost and the honest man claims it. Hermes awards him all three axes due to his honesty.
Episode 58: 七日たったら開けること/ 銀色のカマ / 死神王子
Nanoka Tatara Akeru Koto / Gin Iro no Kama / Shinigami Ouji (Open After Seven Days / Silver Scythe / Prince of Shinigami)
Ageha finds a box from elementary school that she had stored. She was supposed to open it after only seven days, but years have passed at this point. The box begins to grow before exploding. What emerges is a giant straw voodoo doll and it heads straight for Sankai High. Rinne recognizes it as a training tool from Shinigami Elementary School. The doll immediately starts to fight Renge in the classroom, and soon Ageha arrives. It turns out the doll was a counter curse training assignment that Renge and Ageha did when they were children, but Ageha never actually released the doll from its box after seven days as she was supposed to. Rinne helps to attack the straw doll in order to get a 1,000 yen reward, but the group quickly realizes that any damage the doll takes is mirrored on Renge. Renge steals a hair from Ageha and puts it in the doll as well, making it turn its attacks on her. Rinne finally comes back with a bag of counter curse dolls who reflect the giant's energy back at him, undoing the curse and earning Rinne his 1,000 yen. Later, the Mikazukido twins arrive to show Rinne a Silver Scythe they found in their store room. The twins say that it was forged by their master, but they have no idea what it does, and so they want Rinne to test it out for 500 yen. As Rinne uses the scythe, some of the silver comes off revealing numbers. The scythe is the legendary silver-peeling scythe, which reveals a cash prize the more it's used, like a scratch off game. Rinne gives back the 500 yen payment and insists on splitting whatever prize the scythe gives, hoping it could be worth one million yen. When Rinne finally reveals the amount under the surface, it's actually 100 million yen. When Rinne rushes to turn it in, it turns out that the scythe was just for practice. The previous owner who made the real silver-peeling scythes made a few defective ones because he constantly lost track of the zeroes he was putting on the blade. Later, Sakura sees the spirit of a girl standing in front of the local hospital. The girl tells her that she passed away a week ago and would like to see a Shinigami. When Sakura brings Rinne, the girl seems uninterested. She reveals that when she first died, she met another male Shinigami who disappeared on her after taking her as far as the Sanzu River in the afterlife. She wants to meet him again so that she can rest in peace. The man the spirit girl describes is Matsugo, which depresses Rinne. Rinne, Rokumon and Sakura take the girl to Matsugo's house. Kuromitsu and he explain that he did take the girl as far as the Sanzu River, but he left her there. The girl says that because she was so sickly she did not get to spend much time with boys, and so all she wants before she goes to the Wheel of Reincarnation is to spend time with a boy she likes...Matsugo. But Matsugo will only do his job if Rinne is there. After many mishaps, Kuromitsu finally convinces Matsugo to do a proper job with the girl, by thinking of the girl as Rinne, and to practice dating her in preparation for his future dates with Rinne. This works like a charm, but after Matsugo safely gets the girl to the Wheel, Rinne runs away so he won't have to date Matsugo.
The doll that appears at Sankai High School after escaping from Ageha's box is a "wara ningyo" (藁人形). These are used for cursing individuals much like a voodoo doll in the west. The nail it holds is commonly used for driving the doll into a tree. Frequently these dolls have a strand of hair stuffed inside. The strand of hair belongs to the pursing they are being used to curse. Ranma 1/2's Hikaru Gosunkugi is sometimes seen with such dolls.
When Ageha is laying on Renge's bed onomatopoeia appears around her that says ごろごろ (gorogoro). This is the "sound" of laziness.
Rinne swings his scythe at the straw doll who catches the blade between his hands. This is a play on 真剣白刃取り (shinken shirahadori) or "stopping a sword with your bare hands." This is often seen in manga, anime and films.
When knocked into the air by Renge, Rinne shouts "Gapyon!" Rinne's voice actor, Kaito Ishikawa explained that he was encouraged to use this nonsense word by Sabato's voice actor, Kappei Yamaguchi, who passed the word along to him. In another interview Yamaguchi said it was a word created by Kenichi Ogata (Genma Saotome) when the pair worked on Takahashi's Ranma 1/2 together. Consequently it has become a word used when launched into the air by three generations of Rumiko Takahashi voice actors.
After receiving his payment the onomatopoeia ほくほく (hokuhoku) appears around Rinne's head. This is "sound" of happiness or contentment.
The type of incense that Raito lights is cone incense. The lower the cone burns the more fragrant the scent.
We see another chainsaw wielding ghost harkening back to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This one has a mask on suggestive of Edvard Munch's painting The Scream.
The name of the store that Rinne takes the scythe to is 銀はがし (Gin hagashi). This is something like "Silver Scratch-Off".
The name of the third Mikazukisai's book is "我が反省/Wa ga Hansei", "My Life" or "My Recollections". However, because "Hansei" is written in English, it is a homophone and actually means "Hansei" as in "反省" (failures).
Episode 59: 仏間で謝れ/ 知恵の女神 / 宝の川
Butsuma de Ayamare / Chie no Megami / Takara no Kawa (Apologize in the Altar Room / Goddess of Wisdom / River of Treasure)
Sabato and his secretary visit his father's grave in the human world. Since his father was reincarnated as a mackerel there are all sorts of fish related items on the grave including a solid gold can of mackerel. Tamako calls Rinne because there are footprints all over her house indicating that someone has broken in. As Rinne, Rokumon and Sakura look around the house, Sabato emerges. As Rinne bashes his father everyone sees drawings of a mackerel on Sabato's face, which Tamako reveals is an indication that he has stolen from his father's grave. Tamako further reveals that Sabato has been cursed to turn into a mackerel. It turns out that the only way to remove the curse is to apologize in the alter room of her house, which is why Sabato broke into the house. However Tamako has created portals that will react to the mackerel curse and disallow Sabato from ever reaching the alter room. Kuroboshi and Kuroboshi the Third arrive and complain that they've been cleaning up after the burglar all night. Tamako reveals the correct path to the alter room, but its through a room filled with junk from her time living in the human world that still has not been cleaned up. Rinne and Sabato start to clean the room and find all sorts of interesting objects from Sabato's childhood, including a bank book with 500,000 yen in it. The pair get distracted trying to find the stamp so they can access the account, the pair end up fighting and causing enough of a fuss that eventually Sabato's father's living spirit arrives (as a mackerel) and sprays the pair, pushing them into the alter room so that Sabato can break his curse. Afterwards, the pair continue to search for the stamp for the bank account. Later, Tsubasa invites Sakura to his house to study for a test, hoping to spend some alone time with her, but she brings Rinne, Rika and Miho with her. As they study, Rika continually whines about how she doesn't understand the material. A deliveryman brings a package from Tsubasa's father. The jar inside is labeled "Minerva" which Tsubasa explains is the Goddess of Wisdom. Not listening any further, Rika opens the jar and something flies out. Tsubasa explains that she let the Goddess get away, and that by touching her, you can become smarter, which sends both Rika and Miho running after her. The Goddess dashes into the kitchen where Rinne is about to enjoy some tuna, ruining his meal, at which point he vows to destroy the spirit. The spirit rushes around the house, setting traps and generally causing trouble. Finally, Tsubasa reads the note his father sent with the package, and Rinne is able to use a Spirit Coloring Ball to see what the Goddess actually looks like. It turns out, not to be Minerva, the Goddess of Wisdom, but Minerva, the spirit of a foreign family's pet monkey who recently died. Later, Rinne and other Shinigami participate in cleaning up the Sanzu River. The river is where people leave their belongings as they prepare to be reincarnated. Whatever the Shinigami find in the river they can turn in for a monetary reward reflecting the item's value. The Black Cat's are even allowed to keep whatever items they find, which throws everything into disarray when Rokumon finds a solid gold bar and decides to turn it in on his own, without telling Rinne. However Rinne realizes he's up to something and tricks him by showing him a box of gold coins that he discovered. Rokumon feels so guilty he turns over the gold bar, only to find that the box itself was empty. Unfortunately, Shoma and Kurosu and even Kain and Suzu try to take the gold bar for themselves. Rinne and Rokumon finally work together, but even that, is not enough, as the bar is dropped into a deep part of the river and washed away as the day's cleaning comes to an end.
Episode Staff:
Director: Akira Mano (真野玲)
Animation Director: Hideyuki Motohashi (本橋秀之)
Script: Katsuhiko Takayama (高山カツヒコ)
Storyboards: Akira Mano (真野玲)
Originally Aired:
June 4, 2017
5:35 pm - 6:00 pm on NHK E Television
Hideyuki Motohashi, the animation director for this episode, was the character designer and animation director on the first three Inuyasha films.
The opening scene is of a cemetery. You can learn more about Japanese cemeteries and their appearance through various works of Rumiko Takahahsi via our video on the subject.
Sabato's father has a mackerel as his tombstone. Sabato (鯖人) is written with the kanji for "mackerel" and "man". This is because his father, a human, died and was eventually reincarnated as a mackerel.
The large, decorative calligraphy at Tamako's home says 鯖 (mackerel).
The onomatopoeia べたべた (betabeta) appears when Tamako describes the footsteps of a theif in her home. Betabeta is the "sound" of something clinging everywhere or something stamped everywhere.
"I remember she hates cleaning." - Sakura is refering to episode 30.
"We need the name stamp to withdraw the money!" - The stamp is an 印鑑 (inkan). A stamp used for bank withdrawals in particular is called a "ginko-in" (銀行印). In Japan these are used much like a signature would be in western countries.
The decorative calligraphy behind Tamako has the kanji 忘 (wasu/forget) on it.
Minerva is the goddess of wisdom in Roman mythology. Her Greek incarnation is Athena. The owl is often depicted with her and has given rise to the association with owls being particularly wise creatures.
The hiragana coming out of Tsubasa's mouth is "は" (ha), the sound of a sigh.
"There's DHA in tuna." - DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid) is an omega 3 fatty acid found in cold water fish such as tuna and salmon.
The sign at Kain's booth says "appraisal spot" (鑑定所/kanteisho).
In Rokumon's dream he and Rinne go to eat at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant. These are called 回転寿司 (kaitenzushi). You pay your bill by showing the number of plates you ate with the color of the plate indicating the price of each item.
Kurosu calls Shoma "bocchama" (ぼっちゃま) which means "little sir" or "little master". It is the way a servant would refer to their master's very young child as opposed to "wakasama" (若様) or "wakadanna" (若旦那).
Flower making - Rinne is frequently shown making silk flowers by the boxload. Historically this has been considered a job for the poorest of the poor, something they could do from home and then sell to a distributor. Here is a photograph from 1910 showing an impoverished family making silk flowers in England. You can read more about multiple generations of a single family and their home-based flower trade here.
Episode 60: 第一回組合大会 / いまわしき予言
Dai Ikkai Kumiai Daikai / Imawashiki Yogen (The First Association Meet / An Ominous Prophecy)
Sabato has dozen's of boxes of bombs delivered to Rinne's address hoping to get him to pay for them. He tells his son that an evil organization is trying to take over the Damashigami Company. It turns out that the workers have unionized and Renge is the one responsible. Sabato plans to use the bombs he ordered to blow up the unionization meeting and put an end to the worker's demands. However the entire time Sabato is in Rinne's house with the bombs he continually ignites flames, endagering everyone's lives by potentially setting off the bombs. Eventually, Rinne kicks Sabato out and members of the Damashigami Company appear and haul the bombs away. Fearing they are planning something nefarious, Rinne, Tsubasa, Sakura and Rokumon follow them. Meanwhile, Renge holds her first union meeting, and frets when no one shows up, but is relieved when they finally arrive late. On their way to the meeting, thinking Sabato will use the bombs, Rinne and the others come across a party in the Spirit Way. It turns out the Damashigami members that took the bombs, re-sold them, made a profit and spent it on the party, and even Sabato came to relax. Renge's plans of unionization fail. Later, Sabato plots with Renge to steal Annette's Peep Ball and sell it on the black market for a profit. Renge decides to go into business for herself, but of course, Annette can see the future and predicts every move she makes. The teacher confides in her student that she's worried that she has no friends in class and keeps to herself, which only irritates Renge further. Finally Annette uses her crystal ball to show a glimpse of the future in which Renge is being led away in handcuffs by Kain. Renge fears the future shown in the ball, especially after Kain arrives saying he's heard about the Peep Ball and come to bring it back to the afterlife where it belongs as a Shinigami tool. Renge begins to think that she can get in good with Kain by helping to get the Peep Ball to him. Sabato complicates matters by getting a fake Peep Ball from the afterlife and encouraging Renge to switch it with the real one. Annette shows Renge another future where she is still handcuffed, but is also attacking Kain with her scythe. Renge is shocked. Sabato appears and Kain gives chase. In the Spirit Way, Sabato manages to use duct tape to get a few strands of Kain's hair. Suddenly, Kain arrives with handcuffs to arrest Annette for having the Peep Ball, but she shoves Renge in the way and Kain slaps the cuffs on her. Rinne notices that Kain has a tube in his back and realizes he's an inflatable doll made to look like Kain using strands of his hair. Renge attacks the doll just as Annette forsaw in her ball. Sabato arrives and announces he was going to use the fake Kain to collect the ball for him. Sabato throws a smoke grenade and snatches the ball, Kain rushes off in pursuit, leaving Renge in handcuffs. Unfortunately for Sabato the ball he took was the fake one worth zero yen.
"Excuse me, but aren't those legitimate union activities?" - Although labor unions have existed in Japan since the 1890s the government largely kept them in check until the post-war occupation of Japan. In December 1945 the "Labor Union Law" was enacted in Japan that set up the first labor unions following World War II. By 1950 there was a split between more centrist and left-leaning labor groups which eventually lead to the creation of the General Council of Trade Unions (Sohyo/総評) in Japan which now serves as the umbrella organization for nearly half of all labor unions in Japan. Sohyo eventually merged with Rengo (連合) in 1987.
When Renge goes to her labor union meeteing she is wearing a vest that reads だまし神カンパニー 給料を上げる (Demashigami Kanpanii Kyuryo o ageru/Demashigami Company Raise Our Salary). The vest she wears is a common sight at labor protests and during union activities in Japan.
When Sabato glares through the magnifying glass he says "Jiiiii". "Jiiiii" is the onomatopoeia for "stare". Sakura does the same thing in the following part when she sees Rinne recover Annette's Peep Ball.
Annette's concern and consideration for Renge is played for laughs, but Japanese teachers will visit the home of a student to ensure their study space is adequate and perhaps even check up on them if they have stopped coming to school regularly. Here is a story about a Japanese teacher who physically kidnapped a student that was refusing to come to school and drove him to class (she was reprimanded).
The scapegoat inflatable doll that Sabato makes uses hair (or fingernails will work as well) to create a likeness of the victim. Similarly "wara ningyo" (藁人形) straw curse dolls operate in a similar manner.
In the next episode preview the fairies Abel and Achille introduce themselves before the third tries to introduce himself as Haruo Minami. Haruo Minami (三波春夫) was a Japanese enka singer who rose to popularity after World War II. However the actual joke parodies a frequent gag from the comedy trio "Let's Go Sanpiki" (レツゴー三匹). The three members of the group (Jun, Chosaku and Shoji) would introduce themselves "I'm Jun! And I'm Chosaku! And I'm Haruo Minami" just as the fairies do here.
Episode 61: 花畑の謎 / 右腕貸します / 黒い通知表
Hanabatake no Nazo / Migi Ude Kashimasu / Kuroi Tsuuchihyou (Mystery of the Flower Path / I'll Lend You My Right Arm / Black Report Card)
The Youth Shinigami Division are hired to invesigate why the flower field near the Sanzu River is dying. Additionally, Kain went to look around the field three days earlier and has not been seen since. As the group of young Shinigami rush through the fields they fall into a hole and discover and underground tunnel system. Rinne is pulled aside by Matsugo, who is then crushed under a falling Ageha. As Rinne tries to escape from both of them he comes across Renge, who he thinks is digging the holes. As it turns out she has found Kain and is digging him out. When Kain awakens he rushes off and mentions that he is trying to find the one who has been digging the tunnels that are ruining the flower field. The entire group is put at risk as Suzu uses hunting dogs to chase down Kain. The dogs end up helping when they attack Rinne, Kain and rush through them to attack the hole digger as well, who it turns out is the spirit of a mole. Later, Sakura, Miho and Rika complain about the end of term exams. Sakura also notes that Rinne has been so busy with Shinigami work that he hasn't been in class lately. Sakura worries that he won't do well on the tests. When test day arrives Sakura is stunned to see that Rinne's arm disappears into a portal and a set of different arms answer the questions on his test. Renge's test scores put her at the top of the class, but she and Sakura both noticed the strange phenomenon with Rinne's arm. Renge confronts him about it, calling him out for his cheating, when Tsubasa overhears he joins in as well. Sakura asks Rinne if he really was cheating and he doesn't deny it. Rinne shows the multiple arms extending from his own, and takes Renge, Sakura and Tsubasa to the afterlife to explain. As it turns out, the arms belong to former academics who did not get to use their talents in life before they died. Because each of the spirits were so smart in life, Rinne's grades went way up on his test. Even an English speaking spirit enlisted Rinne's aid. Sakura apologizes for doubting Rinne, but Renge still says it was cheating. Everyone apologizes when they learn that Rinne has to re-take his English test, as the foreigner was a recent exchange student who could not read the question in Japanese. As soon as Rinne leaves the school he rushes to the afterlife to try and find someone else to help him take the test. Later, as the semester ends, Annette asks Rinne to come to her house to hang out. She reveals that Suzuki asked her to work on the student's report cards so she took them home but lost them. As she kept getting distracted by watching television, Annette used faeries that she had seen her grandmother summon to help her with work. The three fairies she summoned are named Abel, Achille, and Adam. In order to get the faeries to grant her wish, she has to do something for them, and the three ask for a fancy French chocolate cake. Rather than work on the report cards herself, Annette stays up all nice making the cake, only for it to turn out horribly burned. The faeries take one bite and then disappear with the report cards. As they use Annette's crystal ball to look into the past and see exactly what happened, the report cards begin to rain down from the sky, covered in charcoal. Because Annette's cooking was burnt the faeries use this as payback. Suddenly, they begin to throw ink filled balloons at the group. Rinne begins to battle the faeries and Sakura and Tsubasa notice that more and more of the chocolate cake is disappearing; the faeries are actually using it to make a mess all over the house and ruin the report cards. Finally, once the burned cake is used up, the faeries disappear, but the house is a mess. Annette begs Rinne, Tsubasa and Sakura to help her clean up, but they refuse, and her mother and grandmother arrive home to see the mess. Annette stays up all night finishing the report cards, but the students aren't happy about how dirty they are when they get them.
Episode Staff:
Director: Yoshito Hata (秦義人)
Animation Director: So Kato (加藤壮)
Script: Hiroshi Yamaguchi (山口宏)
Storyboards: Hidetoshi Namura (名村英敏)
Originally Aired:
July 17, 2017
5:35 pm - 6:00 pm on NHK E Television
In the original manga chapter for this first story, this marks the first time that Matsugo transitions from calling Rinne "Rokudo-kun" to the more familiar "Rinne-kun".
Tsubasa says that the bathhouse in the afterlife is like a スーパー銭湯 (Suupaa Sento/Super Sento), a "super bathhouse" which is a term for a large, deluxe public bath. Hairdressers and massage chairs may be available at some venues. These large scale bathhouses began to appear in Japan around 1985.
The stamps on the spirits point cards all look like the Wheel of Reincarnation. The wheel itself is an important part of Buddhist iconography. In Sanskrit "wheel" is "chakra" and Shakyamuni (Buddha) is said to have "turned the wheel of law" for the first time when he gave his sermon in the Deer Park. Consequently the wheel represents Buddha's teachings.
"On an added notes, they can currently receive double points because now it's a pre-obon service!" - Obon is a Japanese Buddhist festival that honors the spirits of the departed.
The onomatopoeia that appears around the foreigner that thanks Rinne says "ペラペラ" (perapera). This is the "sound" of fluent speaking.
When Rinne has to go back to the bathhouse to ask for a Japanese person that speaks English well to take his test (because the previous ghost could not read the Japanese questions) one of the ghosts says (in English) he will wait for the "double point service" before helping.
In the original manga chapter Annette was watching an anime program instead of the comedians she is watching in the anime adaptation.
In the original manga chapter Annette calls Abel, Achille and Adam 小人 (kobato). Basically "little people". In the anime adaptation she specifically calls them 妖精 (yosei/fairies). In the original they are merely called "little people" perhaps intending them to be more akin to the small folk found in Mary Norton's 1952 novel The Borrowers. This is the likely influence given the alliterative names of the novels (The Borrowers Afield (1955), The Borrowers Afloat (1959), The Borrowers Aloft (1961), and The Borrowers Avenged (1982)), the triple A names of the characters in this story, and the fact that Studio Ghibli had released The Secret World of Arrietty which had been released in 2010 and was adapted from The Borrowers as well.
Gateau au chocolat is French for "chocolate cake".
Hitogata dolls (ひとがた人形) are pieces of paper infused with souls.
Episode 62: 別荘の悪霊 / ナスロマン / ワンコイン調査
Bessou no Akuryou / Nasu Roman / Wan Koin Chousa (Evil Spirit in the Summer House / Eggplant Romance / One Coin Investigation)
The Shinigami Youth Association is hired to investigate a haunted beach house. Rinne, Matsugo, Anju and Ageha investigate but Rinne asks Sakura to come, and Tsubasa tags along as well. Ageha and Matsugo try to win Rinne over all afternoon by feeding him. By the time night has fallen no one has done any work on purifying the house. Ageha and Matsugo put their black cat's to work cleaning the place up, as they intend to spend the night there. After cleaning up, Matsugo makes room assignments and attempts to sleep with Rinne. A rumbling in the house brings everyone back to the living room, where they find the central pillar of the house has moved. The pillar moves again, and Rinne learns that the pillar is Kodama, a 200 year old tree spirit. The tree lived on a mountain, and always dreamed of seeing the ocean. When it was finally cut down, it was used to build the beach house, thinking its dreams would now come true, the tree, now a pillar, was saddened when he was placed facing away from the ocean, and so he has tried to turn around to constantly see the water and cute, half naked girls. Rinne uses his spirit tools to allow the pillar to see the ocean, but Matsugo and Ageha as well as the black cats all celebrate and party so much that they damage the tools and the pillar turns around 180 degrees in frustration, destroying the beach house around everyone. Later, on the last day of Obon, Rinne guides spirits who have returned to Earth for the celebration back to the afterlife. The elderly spirits ride cucumber horses to return to Earth, and ride eggplant cows to slowly return to the spirit world. Rinne and Kain realize that one eggplant is left, which means someone hasn't returned to the afterlife. It just so happens that Sakura has come across the old woman who has come to her former house. The old woman is sad to see that her house has become so dilapidated in the year since she died. Her beautiful garden has become overgrown with weeds. When Rinne and Kain arrive with her eggplant cow, the old woman freaks out, screaming about eggplants. Everyone is mystified as to why she would be so upset. Rinne uses the Shinigami tool, Phantom Light Lantern for Memories, that will illuminate the past and show everyone scenes from a spirit's past. The lantern shows her garden as it once was. In the past, the old woman loved to grow eggplants, which confuses everyone further. The old woman also remembers a young neighbor who used to peek over her hedge to compliment her garden. The more they talked the more he reminded her of her late husband, and she got a crush on him. The old woman decided to give him some eggplants but when she did she realized that the man was literally shaped like an eggplant. She was so shocked at the sight of his full body and face that she died. As the others worry about how to make her overcome her fear of eggplants so she can ride the eggplant cow to the other world, her former neighbor arrives and leaves flowers for her since it's Obon. The old woman's spirit is so touched by this that she overcomes her fear and returns to the afterlife. Later, Rinne is asked to help catch a Damashigami who is working in the world of the living. Because he accepts the job he is given a rental yukata and 500 yen stipend to use at the festival where the Damashigami agent is working. It turns out that the Damashigami is actually Renge, who has set up a booth where visitors fish out balloons from a floating tank. When they catch a balloon their soul is immediately sucked inside it. Rinne plans to catch her without spending his 500 yen, so he can keep it for his own fun at the festival. Renge's plans are complicaetd when Suzu runs through followed by Kain, destroying her balloons and releasing all the souls she captured. Rinne promises Renge he won't reveal her secret to Kain, in hopes of being able to close the case without spending money. While Kain is distracted keeping Suzu out of trouble Renge switches her soul stealing balloons for real ones. Now that she has gone legitimate, Rinne can't invesigate and thinks its okay to spend his money on other booths. Unfortunately Renge resumes stealing souls as soon as Kain is forced to leave because of Suzu's antics. Rinne debates spending his 500 yen to catch her, but while he hesitates, Renge decides to close shop and leave, but finds that Suzu returned and popped all her balloons again. Rinne is forced to return the money.
Episode Staff:
Director: Fumio Maezono (前園文夫)
Animation Director: Shinichi Suzuki (鈴木信一)
Script: Hiroyuki Yoshino (吉野弘幸)
Storyboards: Akira Nishimori (西森章)
Originally Aired:
July 24, 2017
5:35 pm - 6:00 pm on NHK E Television
Sakura has cherries on her bikini. Sakura's name means "cherry".
The sign posted in front of the summer house says 売り家 (Uri ke). This means "house for sale".
A house that cannot be demolished due to the working being injured if they attempt it is a plot point that is also used in MAOchapter 128.
The seal placed on the cursed pillar includes a seal with a black, horned demon pictured on it. This creature is called Tsunodaishi (角大師) and according to legend he is actually the 10th century monk Ryogen (良源) the head abbott of the temple Enryakuji. It was said that Ryogen was able to turn into this creature, alternatively described as an oni or a yaksha in order to banish evil-doers. His demonic alias, Tsunodaishi, means "Great Horned Master" and appears on ofuda paper talismen. The Tendai sect still distribute ofuda featuring Tsunodaishi.
The Tsunodaishi previously appeared in chapter 76.
In German, "poltergeist" means "loud ghost". They are known a ghosts that clatter, bang or smash objects.
The spirit of the tree embedded in the pillar has a face that resembles a haniwa (埴輪), a terracotta soldier that were initially placed on top of tombs.
Obon is a festival when the spirits of the deceased return to the living world to visit their relatives.
The sign on the platform says "spirit horse rides" (精霊馬のりば/shoryo-uma noriba).
During Obon families set up impaled cucumbers and eggplants with toothpicks to symbolize horses and cows. The cucumber, the symbol of the spirit horse (精霊馬, shoryo-uma), is supposed to bring the soul of the deceased quickly into this world to his family. The spirit cow (精霊牛, shoryo-ushi), symbolized by the eggplant, slowly takes the soul back into the afterlife.
Tsubasa is wearing a yukata with crosses on it. This is because his last name, Jumonji (十文字) means "cross" or "crucifix".
Sakura's yukata has cherry blossoms like her bikini earlier in the episode which is connected to her name as well.
Renge is inviting people to play balloon fishing (風船釣り/fusen tsuri) at her stand. In this game the competitor is given a hook (usually made of a paper clip) and a line (made of paper) that they have to dip and hook a water balloon from a pool. The player has to be careful because if the paper line gets wet the weight of the water balloon will cause it to break easily.
Sakura's fan says "祭" (matsuri/festival).
Episode 63: 死神 乙女
Shinigami Otome (Otome the Shinigami)
At the same time as a new family moves into Sakura's neighborhood, Rinne visits a shop where the salesman tries to sell him the legendary shinigami Otome's scythe. Otome was also a platinum license holder and suddenly disappeared at the height of her fame ten years ago. When Rinne looks at the license he sees something shocking and pawns his own scythe to buy Otome's. He rushes to show the license to Tamako, who confirms that Otome is in fact, Rinne's long lost mother. Sabato immediately arrives asking about the scythe, and Rinne reveals that for as long as he can remember he never got to meet his mother, as she disappeared when he was very young, after that, Tamako and his grandfather and even Sabato all told him different things about where exactly his mother was. Now Tamako admits that they don't really know where Otome is, she simply left home one day and never came back. All her belongings and photos of her disappeared as well. Everyone says how well loved Otome was, so they were all surprised when she left. Sabato admits that she left the day he pawned her scythe. Tamako pays for Rinne to get his scythe back. The next day at school, Sakura tells Rinne about the new family who moved into the neighborhood. The couple have a small daughter, who Sakura overheard saying that she could see the ghost of a woman inside their new house. As Rinne, Rokumon and Sakura go to investigate they see the little girl standing outside her house, hesitant to go in. When she finally opens the door the ghost of a woman scares her, and Rinne rushes in to purify the spirit. As it turns out, the ghost is a living spirit of the home's previous occupant, who had to give up the house after her husband lost his job. The little girl curses out the now calm spirit and drives it away while talking to Rinne and Sakura. Everyone is amazed that she can see Rinne and talk to him. Rinne tells the girl to get her parents to pay him for the purification, and the little girl asks if he will hear her wish if she does pay him. The little girl, who's name is Ichigo, tells Rinne and Sakura that someone has been watching her. She gives over some of her allowance to hire Rinne to help find out who it is. Rinne immediately sees a spy camera from the other world, which makes him wonder why someone from the afterlife would be so curious about Ichigo. After heading home, he finds Sabato passed out in his room, and his mother's scythe is missing. Sabato says someone must have taken it. Sabato sprays Rinne with spirit attracting spray and knocks him into the sky. The incense spray attracts another Shinigami to purify the mass of gathering spirits, and it just so happens to be Otome, Rinne's mother. Sabato instantly lunges at her, telling her how much he's missed her, but she just bats him away. As she comes face to face with Rinne, she reveals that she has no idea who he is, but asks him continually to give his money for purifying spirits to her. Sabato comes back and says that Otome's memories of Rinne stopped when he was a child, then shoots an Evil Spirit Firework into the sky, spreading evil spirits all over town. Otome and Rinne rush to purify them and while they work, Ichigo sleeps soundly in her bed. The camera from the afterlife is outside her window once again, but suddenly she wakes up, finding her room filled with evil spirits. Above the town, Otome reveals to Rinne that the reason she keeps asking for his share of their purification fees is that she has a no good husband and a young son to feed at home, so she has to work hard and make a lot of money. As Rinne is about to tell Otome that he is in fact her grown son, Ichigo screams from below. She's rushing through the streets pursued by the spirits. Rinne rushes down to save her, and Ichigo sees Otome. Shocked, she says she knows Otome somehow. No one knows what to think, when suddenly, Otome begins to glow and crackle with electricity.
Episode Staff:
Director: Shinya Une (宇根信也)
Animation Director: Kazuhiko Shibuya (渋谷一彦)
Script: Michiko Yokote (横手美智子)
Storyboards: Hiroshi Ishiodori (石踊宏)
Originally Aired:
July 2, 2017
5:35 pm - 6:00 pm on NHK E Television
This is the first appearance of Rinne's mother, Ichigo/Otome. Her father and mother also make their first appearances.
"But over a decade ago, she retired at the height of her popularity, and she hasn't shown herself in public at all ever since then." "Like an idol." - The pawnbroker and Rokumon's comments reference popular idols who typically retire at a young age when they marry and go on to live normal lives outside of the entertainment business.
Sabato occasionally mixes a little English into his speaking for some reason, such as when wondering why Otome ran away after he pawned her scythe and license. He then states "Why?" in English.
The term used to describe the "ghost" haunting Ichigo's home is "ikiryou" (生霊). Literally the kanji are "living spirit" but it is often translated as "grudge" or "vengeful spirit". Sometimes it is even "doppleganger".
The living spirit says "shikushiku" (しくしく). This is the onomatopoeia of "sob sob", the sound of crying.
"At first my parents were going to name me Durian so I could become a woman of the world." "Good thing they named you Ichigo instead." - Durian (ドリアン) is a type of fruit native to Sumatra known for its strong odor. It is known as the "king of fruits" (果物の王様/kudamono no ou-sama). Ichigo was instead named after the strawberry which is a much more common Japanaese name.
When Rinne hits Sabato on the head with his scythe Sabato says "dosukoi" (どすこい). This is the sound a sumo wrestler supposedly makes when thrusting his hands at his opponent. In the manga chapter this is adapted from, Sabato says nothing but the sound effect of the impact is "dosu" (どす).
The cannon that Sabato uses to summon the evil spirits is actually used for firing off fireworks at summer festivals. These hand-held cannons are called 手筒花火 (tezutsu hanabi). They are made from a long piece of hollowed out bamboo that is then reinforced with tightly wrapped rope and stuffed with black powder.
The sign that flashing up when Otome is talking about Sabato says "guutara" (グーたら). This means "lazybones" or "good for nothing".
The design motif for the new ending song, Puzzle, uses the images that of Rokumon that appear on the back of each volume of the Kyokai no RINNE manga, along with anime interpretations of a number of color manga images from the series.
Episode 64: ウソと真実
Uso to Shinjitsu (Lies and Truth)
Rinne's mother suddenly turns into a Yorishiro Doll, basically an expensive copy. As the doll resumes its natural form, it drops its scythe, hitting Ichigo in the head. Sabato admits that he used the photo of Otome from her platinum license to make the doll look like her. Sabato says that he created the doll because he wanted to hear her explanation for walking out on their family so many years ago. After she left, Sabato used Obsession Powder to track exactly where Otome had gone, and the powder led him to the Wheel of Reincarnation. Sabato then thought she hated living with him and his mother so much that she left them and decided to reincarnate to get away from the life they had built. Suddenly, Otome's scythe comes crashing down on Sabato, knocking him unconscious and Ichigo is the one holding it. Ichigo finally remembers everything, and Rinne almost collapses as he realizes this little girl is the reincarnation of his mother. Ichigo explains that one the day baby Rinne began to walk, she found some books that Sabato had bought. Amongst the books was one that contained something horrible. She left home to get rid of the book, and threw it into the Sanzu River, but a heard of gnus stampeded and carried her to the Wheel of Reincarnation. She was reincarnated as a killfish, followed by a canary, then an ant-eater, until she finally became a human. Sabato curses himself for taking so long to find her. It turns out he used the data from her sandal that he found on the shore of Sanzu River, to send out the spy cameras all these years to track and find her. Sabato and Ichigo reminisce and tell Sakura, Rokumon and Rinne about when they first met at a Shinigami Youth Group matchmaking event. They fell in love at first sight and Sabato instantly proposed. Three days later, Otome brought the papers, and a week later they were married, after Sabato had dumped all his other girlfriends. Only after they were married did Sabato learn she was a super elite Shinigami, and she learned that he was a lazy good for nothing, but they both were happy and loved one another deeply. Ichigo explains that the book she found was her yearbook, and she wanted to get rid of it so that Sabato would not find out her true age. She told him she was two years older than him, when in fact she is two years younger than his mother. Sabato and Ichigo both admit they loved one another but cannot be in a relationship now because of their situations. Ichigo gives Rinne 500 yen from her allowance to make up for lost time.
Yorishiro (依代) references an object that a spirit is drawn to dwell in.
As a baby, Rinne had a baby chick on his bib like the one Kyoko Otonashi from Maison Ikkoku wears.
The decorative calligraphy behind Otome when Rinne takes his first steps has the kanji 忘 (wasu/forget) on it.
A gnu is another name for a wildebeest, a cattle-like animal that lives in southern Africa.
The mask Sabato wears is a stereotypical mask worn by Japanese burglars (Otome will wear this same sort of mask later in the episode). The bandana/mask is called a "hokkamuri" (頬っ被り). More can be read about it here.
Sabato and Otome had a traditional Japanese wedding. Otome wore a white bridal kimono called a 白無垢 (shiromuku). The 綿帽子 (wataboshi) is the hood that goes with the shiromuku. Alternatively some women choose to wear a tsunokakushi (角隠し) or bridal head-dress. Men dress in a coat called a haori (羽織) and baggy trousers called hakama (袴).
Ichigo calls her yearbook a "YB". This is because she abbreviates it in Japanese as "sotsu aru" (卒アル) which stands for "sotsugyo arubamu" (卒業アルバム).
In the next episode preview Ichigo says "I'll pour water from the bucket on you!" and Sabato responds "that reminds me of old times!" This is because Ichigo's voice actress (Megumi Hayashibara) and Sabato's voice actor (Kappei Yamaguchi) played female and male Ranma in Ranma 1/2. The character of Ranma Saotome would change gender when splashed with hot or cold water.
Episode 65: こっくりさん / 呪金箱 / 嫌われた三世
Kokkuri-san / Noroi Kane Bako / Kirawareta Sansei (Kokkuri-san / Cursed Piggy Bank / The Hated Sansei)
Ichigo's friends at school ask her to play the supernatural game Kokkuri-san, which is similar to a Ouija board. The Kokkuri game has a message for Otome, Ichigo's previous name when she was a Shinigami and Rinne's mother. In order to get to the bottom of the message she contacts Rinne. There seems to be a spirit that went un-exorcised by Otome in her previous life that still waits for her. When Rinne visits Ichigo's elementary school, he sees a bandaged, bloodied spirit manipulating the Kokkuri-san game. Tsubasa arrives as well, having been hired by the teachers to purify the spirit. Ichigo makes the spirit visible with a color spirit ball, hoping that if everyone sees Rinne purify it they will pay him instead of Tsubasa. It turns out that the spirit is not as malicious as he looks, as he was an ordinary man who worked at a haunted house and died on the job. When he went to the afterlife he slipped and fell into the Sanzu River as Otome was rushing to dispose of her yearbook. Unfortunately she was reincarnated and unable to meet with him, and so his spirit has been waiting all this time to be purified. Ichigo successfully helps Rinne get credit for the purification and he gets paid, but when she decides to contact more spirits using Kokkuri-san, the teachers ban the game at her school. Days later, a student at Sankai High School is pursued at night by a spirit with a man's shadow behind it demanding money. Rinne, Sakura and Tsubasa go to the park to investigate the spirit sightings. It turns out that the spirit is in fact Sabato holding onto a cursed piggy bank. Sabato explains that the cursed bank will explode unless it is filled up with money, and so he is forced to ask students for "donations" to fill up the bank. Rinne researches the bank and finds out that if he puts 10,000 yen of his own money in he can release the bank as well, but Sabato refuses that. The readout on the cursed bank says it still needs 5,000 yen to release its hold on Sabato, but Rinne finds out that he's been pocketing the money he's stolen from students rather than giving it to the bank. Rinne attacks Sabato sending the bank flying, Sabato rushes after it and gets caught up in the exposion, destroying the bank and the money. Later, in the afterlife, Tamako works with Kuroboshi the Third to clean up her storage space, however the room is filled with spirits which frightens the young cat. He ends up breaking many of Tamako's precious items and she ignores him for five days at which point he comes to Rinne asking for him to come with him to apologize. When Rinne, Sakura, Rokumon and Kuroboshi the Third all arrive at Tamako's house she greets everyone warmly but continues to ignore Kuroboshi. Everyone tries to understand why Tamako is behaving this way, and so they go to investigate the storage room. Seeing all the damage they ask Tamako if that's why she's upset but she says it isn't. When everyone pitches in to clean up the storage room, Tamako throws the broken items and Kuroboshi himself in the trash. Everyone is shocked by her behavior, especially Kuroboshi. It turns out though, that after he jumped around in the storage area, he secretly ate a steamed bun that rendered him invisible to Tamako and his grandfather. Unfortunately the effect will last a full week.
Episode Staff:
Director: Akira Mano (真野玲)
Animation Director: Hideyuki Motohashi (本橋秀之)
Script: Yuko Kakihara (柿原優子)
Storyboards: Akira Mano (真野玲)
Originally Aired:
July 16, 2017
5:35 pm - 6:00 pm on NHK E Television
Hideyuki Motohashi, the animation director for this episode, was the character designer and animation director on the first three Inuyasha films.
Kokkuri-san (コックリさん) is a Japanese styled version of the European/American concept of "table-turning" which eventually evolved into Ouija, a method of using an object that moves around a board to spell messages supposedly from the afterlife. The Japanese tradition was introduced via an American sailor in the 1880s and rather than a ghostly presence the Japanese believe it is the spirit of a fox (きつね/kitsune) that communicates with them players of the game. Jiro Tsunoda's 1973 manga Ushiro no Hyakutaro (うしろの百太郎) also popularized the game.
As mentioned in the previous episode, Ichigo calls her yearbook a "YB". This is because she abbreviates it in Japanese as "sotsu aru" (卒アル) which stands for "sotsugyo arubamu" (卒業アルバム).
Sakura asks what happened after the boy paid the ghost that was following him and Miho says "he paid the money and he was forgiven" while making a circle with her thumb and index finger with the rest of her fingers sticking out. This hand gesture means "money" (おかね/okane) in Japanese.
The beckoning cat (招き猫/maneki neko) is a sign of good fortune in Japan. These are believed to bring good luck to their owner and depict a cat with a koban coin in one paw. This particular beckoning cat has the kanji "呪" (curse) written on its bib. This is absent in the original manga version where the cat simply has its koban coin with the kanji 千万両 (sen man ryo) meaning "ten million ryo".
One of the cursed items in the Treasure House where Sabato steals the beckoning cat from is the faux mermaid. This is referenced in Takahashi's Mermaid Serieschapter 12. There are also a number of cursed dolls that resemble the curse doll from Ranma 1/2chapter 331.
Renge's work with the labor union was first mentioned in episode 60.
When Rinne shoves his father from behind the decoy has a "Heno Heno Moheji" face.
The dessert dish that Tamako serves everyone (except Kuroboshi III) looks to be imagawayaki (今川焼き), a stuffed bread or pancake like item typically filled with sweet anko bean paste. The other possible candidate is dorayaki (どら焼き) which is a similar pancake stuffed with anko.
The decorative calligraphy behind in Tamako's home has the kanji 忘 (wasu/forget) on it.
When Tamako goes into the storage building to clean a haniwa, a ceramic soldier, is inside.
The box that elder Kuroboshi found in the storage room says "respect for the elderly" (敬老/keiro). Respect for the Elderly Day (敬老の日/keiro no hi) is the third Monday of September. The food in the box is manju (饅頭) a flour, kudzu, rice powder and buckwheat exterior with a beanpaste interior.
Episode 66: 散財の呪い / 呪われたのぞき玉
Uso to Shinjitsu / Norowareta Nozoki Dama (Curse of Splurge / The Cursed Peep Ball)
A local cafe owner calls Rinne to investigate strange black marks that appear all over his restaurant. He confides that the marks appear when a beautiful young woman comes in, as Rinne listens to him, the woman arrives, and it is none other than Annette with Sakura and Tsubasa with her. Annette offers to buy everyone donuts and coffee and sits down to explain her dilemma to Rinne. She has been spending too much money lately. Usually careful with her money, Annette has been wasting money for the past few days and she does not understand why. Everyone notices a large snake spirit following her around, which seems to be the cause of the black marks that have been appearing all over the cafe as well. Annette explains that ten days ago she bought a pocketbook that was supposed to help her save money. Immediately after purchasing it, she went to the cafe and threw away a salmon skin wallet that came with it. This apparently was not salmon skin at all, but snake skin. Snakes are minions of Benten, the Goddess of money and fortune. Rinne uses a Tsukumokami seal once he locates the tossed away snake skin wallet, and Annette apologizes, which ends the snake curse and reunites the wallet with the pocketbook. However the wallet says it is so happy to be back where it belongs that it will sleep for 100 years, before helping Annette save money, which means Rinne will not get paid for 100 years. Later, Masato buys fireworks in the afterlife to taunt Rinne with, while Annette meets with Sakura and tells her she has been seeing mysterious stars in her Peep Ball. Sakura looks up and sees Masato falling from the sky, and when he collides with Annette they both see stars. Masato sees the Peep Ball for the first time and instantly desires it. Meanwhile, Rinne finds the flyer that Masato dropped from the sale where he purchased fireworks. Rinne realizes that he is missing 100 yen, and goes after Masato to get it back, while Masato has decided to curse Annette's Peep Ball and actually manages to do it. The ball shows an image of Rinne with a stack of money. Rinne goes to the afterlife to use his savings to buy some scythe wax, but is constantly tempted by the image he saw in the ball, and ends up spending his money on a lottery. Rinne loses his 2000 yen, but wins 1000 back. Rinne and Annette team up to try and uncurse the ball. Annette tells Rinne and Sakura of a key her grandmother gave to her to end curses by demon's against the Peep Ball, but her house is so messy no one can find it. The ball continues to show images that turn Annette against Rinne, but they finally find the key, only for Annette to say they need a small box of white magic to use the key on, which she also cannot find. Masato is sealed inside the house, and uses a magic circle to summon Cerberus, the three headed watch dog from Hell, to wreck havoc in the house. Annette and Masato battle one another, and Cerberus ruins her luggage, inadvertantly finding the small box of white magic. When the key is inserted, the box asks for 1,000 yen to open. Annette expects Rinne to pay but Masato and Cerberus eat his final 1,000 yen, leaving Annette to spend her own money. She opens the box, and uses a cloth to wipe the ball clean, ending the curse. However when her mother and grandmother arrive back home and see the mess, both Annette and Masato are beaten repeatedly.
Episode Staff:
Director: Norihito Takahashi (高橋謙仁)
Animation Director: Takuro Shinbo (しんぼたくろう)
Script: Katsuhiko Takayama (高山カツヒコ)
Storyboards: Norihito Takahashi (高橋謙仁)
Originally Aired:
July 23, 2017
5:35 pm - 6:00 pm on NHK E Television
Benzaiten (Benten) is often called the "White Snake Goddess" due to her association with the animal. She is one of the Seven Lucky Gods (七福神/shichi Fukuin) and is associated with abundance and good fortune. As the narrator explains, because of snakes shedding their skin they were seen as regenerators and a snakeskin wallet would therefore help regenerate money.
In Japanese culture a tsukumogami (付喪神) is an object that has existed long enough can gain a soul and become animated. Frequently it is said to take a century for the item to gain sentience.
The food Masato destroys before Rinne can enjoy it is "nikuman" (肉まん) a bun filled with steamed meat.
After wondering what to do with their 2,000 yen, Rinne and Rokumon make the sound "ki---ran" (きーらん). This sound is the onomatopoeia for "visual observation".
The small enclosure that Masato hides in is the under-floor storage (床下収納/yukashita shuno). Unlike homes with full basements, Japanese homes often have small cube-sized spaces to store small things beneath the floor.
In the anime adaptation we see Rinne taking money out of the same snake skin wallet from the previous story in this episode. In the manga however these are two different wallets as the earlier story took place four volumes later in the manga and Annette did not have her snake-skin wallet yet.
Sakura walks in on Rinne with the wallet in his hand and says "jiiiii". "Jiiiii" is the onomatopoeia for "stare".
The pattern Masato draws is a magic circle, these are used in various types of witchcraft and ritual magic.
Masato summons Cerberus, the three-headed hell hound who originated in Greek mythology. We see Cerberus vomit and urinate as well. According to Greek mythology when Heracles pulled Cerberus into the light of the living world after capturing the dog from the underworld the light made the dog vomit and everywhere he vomited grew a poisonous wolvesbane plant.
The kanji on Masato's fan, 悪 (aku), means "bad" or "false".
"Alright, then I'll start grilling it, datcha." - In the next episode preview Sakura is talking to her mother about grilling a fish. Her mother responds with a sentence that ends with "datcha". This particular suffix is how Lum from Urusei Yatsura ends all of her sentences. Fumi Hirano plays Sakura's mother and Lum.
Episode 67: 首男 / 月に願いを / 第一回サンマ祭り
Kubi Otoko / Tsuki ni Negai wo / Dai Ikkai Sanma Matsuri (Head Man / When You Wish Upon the Moon / The First Saury Festival)
Annette asks for Rinne's help with the spirit of a man's floating head that has been watching her inside her house. Rinne, Tsubasa and Sakura all stay at Annette's house waiting for the Head Man to appear. As Annette shows Sakura and Tsubasa glimpses of her selling some items at a flea market, the Head Man appears. Annette attacks him and drives him outside where Rinne spots him and realizes he's a human. As it turns out his name is Rei Kuroe, a student at Sankai High who has a crush on Annette and bought some clothes from her at the flea market. The clothes turned him into a spirit and made it so that he could not remove them. Once convinced that he wasn't trying to peek at her in the bath Annette asks Rinne to help, however Rinne knows nothing about magic, and so Tsubasa tries his hand at it, with no luck. Finally, Rinne notices a magical incantation stuffed into the band of the hat, but unfortunately its written in French. Only when Annette's grandmother arrives and says the magic words do the clothes fall off Rei. Later, the Mikazukido twins show up on the roof of Rinne's building, preparing a ceremonial welcome under the crescent moon to welcome the Guardian Spirit of the Moon. Refuto and Raito ask him to watch their offering of dango while they go to pick some silver grass for their altar. As soon as the twins leave, the dango at the altar begins to attract dozens of spirits. Rinne and Rokumon fend them off and realize that they're being used by Refuto and Raito. When they return Raito explains that the Guardian of the Moon is actually the God of Business Prosperity and they are hoping to win his favor with the dango dumplings. When the God finally descends, he is revealed to be a fat rabbit who refuses to eat the dango. Refuto and Raito man-handled him and force him to eat the dango. The God then reveals the secret to business success as being that the two should get a part time job instead of worrying about this offering every year. Later, during saury season, The Lifespan Administration Bureau hosts a Saury Festival. While Rinne and dozens of other young shinigami think that they will get to enjoy eating the delicious fish, they learn that they are there to exorcise the spirit of leftover, unwanted saury that were thrown away rather than eaten and appreciated in the living world. The Bureau plans to cook the overgrown saury spirit and offer it up to the hard working shinigami who help to tame it. Ageha attacks and Rinne realizes that her purification shrinks the saury, which he does not want, as the smaller it gets, the less food there will be for him. So he teams up with Suzu to get the scythe's of all the shinigami and uses them to create a gril to cook the saury spirit on. Unfortunately, just as Rinne is about to dig in and eat the fish, it is completely purified and vanishes.
Episode Staff:
Director: Yoshito Hata (秦義人)
Animation Director: So Kato (加藤壮)
Script: Hiroshi Yamaguchi (山口宏)
Storyboards: Tetsushi Takayanagi (高柳哲司)
Originally Aired:
July 30, 2017
5:35 pm - 6:00 pm on NHK E Television
Annette meets the Head Man (首男) floating around her home. The anime translates his name as "Head Man" while the manga translation uses "Neck Man". This is because in Japanese he is called "Kubi Otoko" and "kubi" can be translated as either "head" or "neck".
Head Man's real name is Rei Kuroi (黒井レイ). His last name means "black well" perhaps suggestive of the all-black outfit he buys from Annette's yard sale. The anime made the outfit much more colorful.
The French spell to remove the outfit is "costume, enlève-toi!" (suit, get off!).
The joke about a guardian deity on the moon that Raito and Refuto want to commune with is a joke based on the fact they are rabbits. According to Japanese mythology there the shadowy craters on the surface of the moon make the image of a rabbit, and so the rabbit has long been associated with the moon. Rumiko Takahashi's short series MOON the Great Pet King deals with a similar gag.
The food that Raito presents for the moon-viewer are Tsukimi Dango (月見団子). These are white rice dumplings that are arranged into a pyramid shape to offer to the moon and are commonly eaten during "Tsukimi" (月見) the moon-viewing festivals that take place 15th day of the eighth month (full moon) and 13th day of the ninth month (waxing moon) of the traditional Japanese calendar. That roughly places these festivals in September and October.
"We're going to pick some silver grass and decorate the altar." - During the moon-viewing festivals in addition to serving tsukimi dango susuki grass (Japanese pampas grass) is often used as a decoration.
The small altar that is shown where the rabbits hope to place their business blessing also features a shimenawa (標縄), "enclosing ropes". They are made to ward off evil spirits. They are typically placed around yorishiro (依り代) which are objects capable of attracting spirits such as trees. Hanging from the shimenawa are zig-zag pieces of paper called shide (紙垂). They are often hung from shimenawa or are attached to the wands of Shinto priests for purification ceremonies. The guardian spirit also has a shimenawa and shide around his neck.
Saury is a long, narrow fish sometimes known as a mackerel pike. It is a popular autumn dish in Japan.
Episode 68: 夢魔捕縛実習
Muma Hobaku Jisshuu (The Practical Training for Capturing a Dream Demon)
Rinne awakes in a fright when his dreams of Sakura feeding him turn to nightmares of Matsugo doing the same. Due to his lack of sleep, Rinne falls asleep in class, and Tsubasa and Sakura witness a pink creature pass inside his body. Rinne once again dreams of Sakura but she turns into Matsugo, frightening him awake. He tells Tsubasa, Sakura and Renge about his dreams, and they tell him about the pink creature they saw. Renge says it had the logo of First Shinigami High School on it, and calls it a Dream Demon. Tsubasa says it feeds on people's pleasurable dreams of the opposite sex. Rinne travels to the afterlife to investigate. When the group arrives at Matsugo's house, Kuromitsu greets them and takes them to Matsugo's room. They find him having a fitful sleep. He awakens and confesses that his dreams of Rinne turn to nightmares as Anju replaces Rinne. He also admits he is training to capture the Dream Demon, and that everyone in his class has linked their dreams using Dream Incense, some of which he hid in Rinne's room. Rinne now must join in the hunt for the Dream Demon in order to end Matsugo's invasion of his dreams. Rinne sleeps over at Matsugo's house and they share a dream of being alone in a snowy landscape. Matsugo refuses to leave the dream to go into someone else's dream to find the Dream Demon, and Rinne is only rescued by Anju's timely arrival. As Rinne escapes, in the waking world, Renge and Tsubasa get bored and fall asleep, but the Dream Incense links their dreams with the others, and so while Renge dreams of she and Kain getting into First Shinigami High School, and Tsbuasa dreams of married life with Sakura, Rinne runs through ruining things. In Tsubasa's dream, Sakura begins to insult Rinne, as she is a part of Tsubasa's dream and wants only him. Just as Rinne is about to give up, he spies the Dream Demon and pursues it. Rinne is ultimately betrayed by Renge and Tsubasa, who enjoy their dreams of Sakura and Kain respectively. Sakura herself finally falls asleep and enters the dream world, where she dreams of Rinne paying her back for all the money he's loaned her. This crushes Rinne, and in his depression he punches himself, smashing the dream demon who had landed on his cheek. Unfortunately, because Rinne isn't a student at First Shinigami High School, the teachers release the Dream Demon again, and Matsugo attempts to infiltrate Rinne's sleep once more.
Episode Staff:
Director: Akira Mano (真野玲)
Animation Director: Shinichi Suzuki (鈴木信一)
Script: Hiroyuki Yoshino (吉野弘幸)
Storyboards: Takahiro Mizushima (大宙征基)
Originally Aired:
August 6, 2017
5:35 pm - 6:00 pm on NHK E Television
The Dream Demon has the kanji "death" and "one" (死/shi & 一/ichi) on its stomach. This is the emblem of First Shinigami High due to it being of the foremost rank and "shi" being the first kanji in "Shinigami".
Tsubasa explains that the Dream Demon is from the west and it turns into the opposite sex to cause the victim to waste away in their dream. The creature's Japanese name (夢魔/muma) is typically translated as "succubi/succubus" in English.
The type of incense that Matsugo lights is cone incense. The lower the cone burns the more fragrant the scent.
"Like Buddha in Hell..." - In Japanese, saying something is "like meeting Buddha in Hell" (地獄で仏に会った/jigoku de hotoke ni atta yo) means it is a blessing in a difficult situation.
Anju is shown riding on the back of a white snake. The white snake is believed to be the messanger of Benzaiten/Benten, one of the gods of fortune.
The weapon Rinne wields in the dream says "attack" or "rush" (突撃/totsugeki).
"Rokudo, you bastard! How dare you step into my newlywed home with your dirty shoes on!" - Tsubasa does literally say this phrase. In Japanese 土足で (dosoku de) means "with shoes on" but it also means "thoughtlessly" or "without care".
When Sakura insults Rinne his reaction is to mimic Edvard Munch's The Scream.
When Renge is dreaming about Kain Mount Fuji, a hawk and an eggplant appear in the background. This is "hatsuyume" (初夢) the first dream of the new year. It is said that dreaming of any of these items will bring good luck. The reasons for this is that Mount Fuji is the tallest mountain in Japan, the hawk is a cunning bird and eggplant (茄子/nasu) sounds like "to achieve" (成す/nasu).
The beckoning cat (招き猫/maneki neko) is a sign of good fortune in Japan. These are believed to bring good luck to their owner and depict a cat with a koban coin in one paw. The koban coin has the kanji 千万両 (sen man ryo) meaning "ten million ryo".
Sakura is shown cleaning Tsubasa's ears. This is called "mimikake" (耳かき). It can be a relaxing activity with someone you love (and trust to do a careful job).
In the original manga chapter Policeman Rinne smashes Real Rinne with a handgun. In the anime it is with a siren.
Rinne's headband says "truth/honesty/sincerity" (誠/makoto). His flag says the same.
In the end Rinne is in Snow White's glass coffin with Matsugo acting as Prince Charming and Rokumon off to the side as the Seven Dwarves.
Episode 69: 中身がない / 腰砕け坂の怪 / 松茸の波紋
Nakami ga nai / Koshikudake zaga no kai / Matsutake no Hamon (Nothing Inside / Mystery of Koshikudake Hill / Effect of the Matsutake Mushroom)
As the school festival comes to a close, Sakura notices a sad boy wandering through the school, while Rinne opens a meatbun to find find it is totally devoid of meat. Ageha arrives and brings dozens of meatbuns for Rinne to eat, but as he opens each one he finds that they are all empty. Suddenly a floating meatbun spirit arrives and Rinne and Ageha attack, knowing it must be behind the missing meat. The spirit easily stops their attack and flies around the school, stealing the meat from all the meatbuns. Finally Rinne and Ageha catch the head, but it cannot be purified. Instead the boy Sakura saw rushes up to the head, calling it Nikutaro. It seems he created the head as part of a meatbun stand his class was going to have during the recent school festival, but his class decided to sell noodles instead, so the costume was tossed out without ever being used. Rinne realizes what Nikutaro needs, and slams the head down on the boy's body, which immediately purifies it. The boy apologizes by bringing Rinne some bean buns, but they too are empty because the boy made Anko-chan, a companion head for Nikutaro. Later, Sakura and her P.E. class train for a marathon by running around town. The hardest part of the route will be Koshikudake Hill, but when her class arrives at the hill, they find a group of students passed out in front of it. Sakura sees a magical barrier, and Tsubasa prepares to use sacred ash to bring it down, but the rest of the class stops him, as they hope for the marathon to be cancelled. Rinne arrives and explains that he placed the barrier there. Because the hill is so hard to climb during marathons, students have created angry spiritual energy that has gathered there, summoning an evil spirit. Rinne's barrier prevents people from running up the hill and adding their negative energy to the spirit. One of Tsubasa's sacred ash balls destroys the barrier which causes the negative energy to leak out, making all it comes into contact with turn into a lazy do-nothing. Rinne and Tsubasa lay down in the street with the rest of the class, while Rokumon and Sakura escape. Rokumon explains that he's got a bouncy ball that will embue the lazy demon with energy, making it become purified. Sakura comes up with the idea of rolling the ball down the hill, forcing it to collide with the demon. With the evil spirit gone the marathon can be held, but as the students climb the hill, they begin the process all over again, adding their negative energy to the area once more. Later, Rinne mistakenly receives some expensive matsutake mushrooms, when he had ordered a Shinigami tool that looked like regular shiitake mushrooms. Rinne fears being billed for the mistake, but Rokumon is so delighted to get to eat the more expensive mushroom that he steals them. He meets with Oboro and Suzu, and Oboro tells him the best way to eat them is by wrapping them in foil, and soaking them in soy sauce before cooking them. Rinne borrows foil and soy sauce from Sakura while avoiding Rinne. The two finally meet up as Rinne is determined to stop Rokumon before the mushrooms are cooked so he can return them. Unfortunately, Rokumon uses Tsukumogami Seals to make the mushrooms come to life and jump in the fire. Rinne forgives him as long as he shares, but instead Oboro and Suzu return and eat the mushrooms themselves. Fortunately, Tamako was the one who sent Rinne the mushrooms as a gift, even if he didn't get to enjoy them.
Episode Staff:
Director: Shinya Une (宇根信也)
Animation Director: Kazuhiko Shibuya (渋谷一彦)
Script: Hiroyuki Yoshino (吉野弘幸)
Storyboards: Shinya Une (宇根信也)
Originally Aired:
August 13, 2017
5:35 pm - 6:00 pm on NHK E Television
Japanese schools from kindergarten all the way up to university have "culture festival" (文化祭/bunkasai) celebrations where students hold dance and theatrical performances, open small restaurants and hold other activities. These are open to the public and often former students of the school will visit. Typically these are held around November 3rd which is a national holiday in Japan (Culture Day).
Rinne and Rokumon are preparing to eat "nikuman" (肉まん) which is a bun filled with steamed meat.
Ageha swings her scythe at Nikutaro who catches the blade between his hands. This is a play on 真剣白刃取り (shinken shirahadori) or "stopping a sword with your bare hands." This is often seen in manga, anime and films.
Hariko, the creator of the Nikutaro mask, has an interesting name. His name (張子) means "papier mâché" due to the fact that he crafted the Nikutaro mask out of that material.
When Rinne reveals Nikutaro's body the sign on his chest says "meat" (肉/niku).
Nikutaro's girlfriend is Anko (あん子). Anko sounds like a girl's name due to the "-ko" at the end, but it actually sweet bean paste that is used as a filling in certain steamed buns.
The name of the hill the students have to run up is Koshikudake (腰砕け). This is a term that means "faltering halfway through a task".
The shinigami tool that Rokumon uses to revive Rinne is called a "hazumidama capsule" (弾み玉カプセル). Hazumi can mean "bouncing" (as in bouncing ball which is what the item looks like) but it can also mean "to stimulate" or "to become lively" which is what the ball is meant to cause Rinne to do.
The mushrooms Rinne expected to arrive were supposed to resemble shiitake mushrooms rather than the very costly matsutake mushrooms he received.
"What Rinne Rokudo was thinking of, was the so-called "negative option billing"!" - This is referring to a scam (悪宅商法/akutokushouhou). The anime goes further than the manga and states that Rinne is aware of it potentially being a "negative option billing" (ネガティブ・オプション/negatebu opushon) scam. Japan had a law that said if you were sent something and do not refuse that item it is considered "sold" to you. Criminals would do this to victims who would then be charged exorbitant prices for an unwanted item they did not order. Victims would also have to keep the item for two weeks to see if the sender tried to reclaim it. In 2021 the law was changed to state the victim no longer had to keep the item and could simply throw it away. The law was updated due to the number of people that were at home during the Coronavirus pandemic and the uptick in this type of fraud.
In Japanese culture a tsukumogami (付喪神) is an object that has existed long enough can gain a soul and become animated. Frequently it is said to take a century for the item to gain sentience.
"Boy! I can't believe you, Darling!" - In the next episode preview Sakura's mother says she is cooking her husband's favorite meal for dinner. Sakura says that her father called and he is not coming home again to which her mother gets mad and says "I can't believe you, Darling!". This what Lum (played by Fumi Hirano who also voices Sakura's mother) would often say to Ataru Moroboshi in Urusei Yatsura.
Episode 70: 祝福の羽 / カバ吉くん / カセットテープの悲鳴
Shukufuku no Hane / Kabakichi-kun / Kasettoto teepu no himei (Wings of Celebration / Kabakichi-kun / Scream of a Cassette Tape)
Sakura witnesses Masato helping an old woman across the street before he tries to steal her bags. Unfortunately for him he gets hit by a car and manages to help the old woman despite himself. He then tries to push Sakura into traffic but saves her from a falling girder. As Rinne arrives to attempt to purify him, Masato sprouts angel wings. He explains he threw away some expired Angel Bean-jam Buns in a cursed swamp in Hell. The swamp is "cursed" by an angel, who, in exchange for the buns, gives Masato the Wings of Celebration, which forces Masato to do good things, until eventually he will become a full-fledged angel. Rinne is desperate for eradication points and so tries to torture Masato into doing wicked things, leading to a complete role reversal for the two young men. However, when Masato ultimately refuses to help Rinne earn his points he loses his angel wings. Unfortunately Rinne has lost a lot of money attempting to turn Masato back to evil. Later, Ichigo's class go to the zoo and learn that Kabakichi the hippopotamus has died. She sees Shoma trying to take the hippo's spirit to the afterlife and worries that a child Shinigami is too weak to handle a violent creature like a hippo. Kabakichi fights back and with Kurosu going home for the day, Ichigo is left to help Shoma control the animal. Rinne arrives but Ichigo tells him not to help, as she is determined to help Shoma with his school assignment because she was never able to help Rinne with his homework as a little boy. As the children battle against Kabakichi, Ichigo continues to give tools to Shoma while marking up the prices he pays for them so that she can pass on the profits to Rinne as his weekly allowance. With Ichigo's help, Shoma is finally able to send Kabakichi to the afterlife, and in the process develops a crush on Rinne's reincarnated mother. Later, the Broadcast Club at Sankai High School finds an old cassette tape in their club room. The tape is labled "Awa Awa Club Live" and when the members play it they hear a girl scream. The tape is broadcast to the whole school which starts a rumor of the girl on the tape having been murdered at school. As the club explains this to Rinne he sees the spirit of a boy hovering over the tape player. The spirit boy, Otobe, runs away soon after but begins to follow Rinne, who is now in possession of the tape. Otobe thinks that Sakura looks like the girl who's voice was recorded on the tape, Miya. He explains that they were in the Broadcast Club together, and she recorded a live concert by Awa Awa Club. Sadly, Otobe can hear Miya with another boy at the recording of the concert. He had developed a crush on her and is devastated. Not paying attention, he puts the tape into the recorded during lunch and is about to tape his announcement over it when Miya notices and screams at him, her voice being recorded instead. Otobe was even more upset that he taped over the beginning of the cassette and was determined to find another recording of the concert to give to Miya to make up for it. Sadly he transferred school's before he could. At his new school he found someone that had a copy of the concert, and on his way to give the tape to Miya and hopefully make her his girlfriend, he was killed. Rinne and Sakura find Miya, who turns out to be Sakura's mother, who's maiden name was Miyamae. Otobe gives her the tape and is able to rest in peace.
On the poster in the background as Masato offers to help the elderly woman cross the street we see a poster featuring the bowing ojigi bito (お辞儀人).
The angel is happy to recieve angel manju (天使饅頭/tenshi manju) from Masato. Manju is a flour bun filled with bean paste. The difference in manju and mochi is that the coating in mochi uses rice instead of flour.
Rokudo explains that whoever gives up first will lose, comparing it to a game of chicken. In Japanese he says チキンレース (chicken race), as the term has been appropriated from English.
The hippopotamus' name is Mr. Kabakichi (カバ吉). "Kaba" (カバ) means hippo.
Mr. Kabakichi has a shimenawa (標縄) and shide (紙垂) wrapped around him. Shimenawa means, "enclosing ropes". They are made to ward off evil spirits. Hanging from the shimenawa are zig-zag pieces of paper called "shide". They are often hung from shimenawa or are attached to the wands of Shinto priests for purification ceremonies. The guardian spirit also has a shimenawa and shide around his neck.
Ichigo's name means "strawberry" hence the image of the strawberry on her shirt.
Kurosu calls Shoma "bocchama" (ぼっちゃま) which means "little sir" or "little master". It is the way a servant would refer to their master's very young child as opposed to "wakasama" (若様) or "wakadanna" (若旦那).
Cassette tapes were the standard music format that preceded compact discs. They were first sold in 1963 and were developed by the Dutch company Phillips. By the 1980s CDs were becoming more commonplace and cassettes slowly began to be phased out by the 1990s. 2002/2003 are typically cited as the years that the cassette had come to the end of its lifespan.
The name of the band on the cassette is the "Awa Awa Club" (粟粟クラブ). The band writes their name with the kanji 粟 (which means "millet" a type of grain). The joke is that Awa Awa when written as "淡淡" actually means "uninteresting".
Otobe immitates Edvard Munch's The Scream when he becomes upset.
Otobe's name (音辺) is also humorous because the first kanji is "sound".
Yorishiro (依代) references an object that a spirit is drawn to dwell in.
We learn that Sakura's mother's maiden name was "Miyamae" (宮前). The joke here is that the second kanji means "before". So her name could be rendered as "Miya from before". The "miya" is the same as the "miya" in "Mamiya" (真宮).
In the next episode preview Rinne and Rokumon are discussing what the black object in the next episode might be and they suggest "nori" (のり). Nori is a dark green square of edible seeweed typically used as a wrapping for sushi.
Episode 71: 四角くて黒いやつ / 路地の近道
Shikaku kute kuroi yatsu / Roji no chikamichi (Square Black Thing / Shortcut in the Alley)
Rinne wins 3,000 yen from a local shop while at school a vending machine near the school store has begun to make any money inserted into it vanish without giving dispensing the purchased items. The students being to suspect someone is stealing the money, and when Rinne arrives with his winnings Annette thinks he could be the one behind the vending machine scheme. Annette tries to give the culprit the chance to come forward but when Rinne does not step forward, she uses her Peep Ball and sees Rinne using a portal to reach inside the vending machine. The entire class quickly turns on him and Rinne escapes. Rinne tries to investigate the machine, and finds a spirit path installed in it, when he reaches through the path he gets pulled onto the Spirit Way and sees a mysterious black, square object that immediately begins to suck all his money into it. Rinne fights back and gets ejected from the Spirit Way along with a pile of loose change. Everyone witnesses Rinne scooping up the money and further suspect him of stealing it from the machine. Rinne goes into hiding, but when he emerges Renge and Tsubasa attack him in an attempt to bring him to justice. Everytime Rinne hits the strange black object he makes more money, which only makes people suspect him more. Annette uses her Peep Ball again and sees a mysterious little old lady. Renge, Sakura, Tsubasa and Annette chase after Rinne and see the mysterious black object. Renge battles Rinne for it when she learns it dispenses money, while Annette meets the little old lady from her vision. It turns out she has a vending machine across from her candy store that no longer works. The old woman is closing her store, and it turns out that the vending machine's spirit wanted to be surrounded by children once more, so it possessed the vending machine at Sankai High school. Rinne's name is cleared, but he is forced to return all the money he made from the machine to the students. Later, Rinne begins receiving many letters asking him to investigate an alley near the school that sends people to random spots all over town when they try to pass through it on their way to school. At the elementary school, Ichigo receives a visit from Tamako. As Rinne, Sakura and Rokumon investigate the alley they learn that it passes through the garden of a old woman's spirit. The spirit tells them that when she was alive students used to rush through her garden as a shortcut to school and she loved how lively they were. When she died they stopped greeting her as they could no longer see her, and so her wish was to install a spirit way there. The spirit way however is flawed and sends people to random spots, Rinne asks if she is ready to rest in peace but the woman begins to act strangely and shoves Rinne into the portal. In the Spirit Way, Rinne meets Tamako who is closing the various, random portals the old woman's obessesion has created. Meanwhile, Ichigo finds Sakura in the old woman's yard and begins to chat with the woman, they learn that her husband was the former vice-principal of Sankai High, and students would pass through the yard because that was the way he went to school each day. For twenty years they used the yard as a shortcut, even after her husband died. And even though the woman says she did not mind, she seems to really be bothered by it. She eventally admits it did annoy her, and she set traps in her yard for students, but fell into her own trap and died. She placed the Spirit Path in her yard to protect students from falling into another trap, because she instantly regretted her irritation at the children. Tamako, Rinne, and Ichigo disarm the traps and the old woman can rest in peace.
Episode Staff:
Director: Akira Mano (真野玲)
Animation Director: Hideyuki Motohashi (本橋秀之)
Script: Yuko Kakihara (柿原優子)
Storyboards: Akira Nishimori (西森章)
Originally Aired:
August 27, 2017
5:35 pm - 6:00 pm on NHK E Television
Hideyuki Motohashi, the animation director for this episode, was the character designer and animation director on the first three Inuyasha films.
The pawn shop owners pull a string that opens a ball with a message inside. The ball is a "split ball" (割り玉/waritama). The sign says "congratulations 10,000" (祝 一万人/iwai ichiban nin).
The spirit of the vending machine is a good example of a true tsukumogami (付喪神) rather than the manufactured ones that the tsukumogami seals make throughout the series. A tsukumogami is any object that has reached 100 years in age and thus gains a soul. The vending machine is obviously not 100 years old, but the principal of it having desires and memories is related to the concept of tsukumogami.
In the manga when A-kun takes the shortcut he winds up in front of the Tokyo Dome. In the anime he winds up in front of the National Diet Building.
The signs at the vice-principal's funeral say "all relatives" (親戚一同/shinseki ichido) and "chief mourner" (喪主/moshu). For more on Japanese funerals please click here.
Episode 72: 指輪と印鑑 / 縁側のエサ / 黒猫こども会
Yubiwa to inkan / Engawa no esa / Kuroneko kodomo kai (A Ring and a Stamp / Food on the Porch / Black Cat Children's Association)
Ageha worries that her sister is about to marry Sabato, and so she, Rinne, Tsubasa and Sakura break up the meeting only to find out that Sabato has in fact bought a ring but is trying to trick Ageha's sister, Bijin, into paying for it herself. It turns out that Sabato is running a scam for profit and was willing to take advantage of his own secretary to make some money. Bijin is furious and tells Ageha her eyes have been opened. She rejoins her sister and swears to bring Sabato to justice. However when she catches up to him, he convinces her he's trying to sell 100 rings to get a free trip to a hotsprings for the two of them and Bijin quickly rejoins him. She sends a postcard to Ageha later, and it turns out the hotsprings retreat was for the entire Damashigami Company. Later, Rinne learns that Rokumon has a secret stash of food. Sakura watches him visit an old woman's house where a cat spirit appears and Rokumon walks over and eats its food. When Rinne confronts him, Rokumon says that the cat has asked him to eat the food left out for it for the past ten days. Rinne tries to use a two-tailed cat plug to allow the cat spirit to communicate with him, but it attacks him instead. It turns out that Tora-chan the cat feels bad for the old woman, and did not want her to know she was dead, but after investigating, Rinne learns that the old woman already knows the cat has passed away. Tora-chan admits that even though she hates being touched, she thought maybe it would be nice after so many years to let the old woman pet her. However the old woman refuses and says she's allergic to cats anyway. Tora-chan and the old woman say their goodbyes. Later, Rokumon is asked to take Kuroboshi the Third to his first Black Cat Children's Day. There they meet up with Oboro and Suzu. The event of the day has cats divided up into groups of four to collect stamps for 100 year's worth of cat food. Kurosu turns out to be the judge of the event. Kurosu promises to disqualify any group that has a member who quits. As soon as he senses spirits Kuroboshi the Third attempts to leave, but Oboro beats him unconscious and buries him in the ground, promising to retrive him later. When Suzu falls into a cat nap trap, the others are almost disqualified before Kuroboshi re-emerges and knocks Kurosu out. The group has two stamps before Rokumon and Oboro realize all the stamps look the same and use one stamp to make four marks, cheating to win. They head to the goal before they're distracted by a kotatsu. No one manages to finish the race.
Episode Staff:
Director: Norihito Takahashi (高橋謙仁)
Animation Director: Takuro Shinbo (しんぼたくろう)
Script: Hiroshi Yamaguchi (山口宏)
Storyboards: Takahiro Mizushima (大宙征基)
Originally Aired:
September 3, 2017
5:35 pm - 6:00 pm on NHK E Television
The fact that Sabato wants Bijin's stamp is concerning as this functions as a legal signature on documents. The stamp is called an 印鑑 (inkan).
Rinne swings his scythe at Sabato who catches the blade between his hands. This is a play on 真剣白刃取り (shinken shirahadori) or "stopping a sword with your bare hands." This is often seen in manga, anime and films.
Everyone is shocked that Ageha's sister's name is Bijin (美人), which means "beautiful woman," and has been how people have described her throughout the series. It is something of an eccentric name.
"Her sister's face is as blank as a Noh mask." - Noh (能) is the oldest theatrical style that is still in active use today. It was originated in the 8th century and makes use of a number of masks that the actors wear.
A nekomata (猫股) is a two-tailed cat that has magical powers. It is believed that housecats that grow old can become nekomata. Another type of cat demon is a bakeneko (化け猫), an example of which would be Byoki in Takahashi's MAO.
The bell that the old lady rings to pray for Tora is a Buddhist singing bowl (鈴/rin). These are commonly used when offering prayers alongside the burning of incense.
Rinne points out that the pictures of Tora that the old lady captured are "ghost photography" (心霊写真/shinrei shashin). All over the world photographic trickery has been used to create the impression of ghostly presences in photos all the way back to the 1800s. Odd lighting, double exposures and other tricky can be used to create ghostly images.
The event the black cats are asked to participate in is a "stamp rally" (スタンプラリー). This is a game where people travel around (sometimes from train station to train station or tourist destinations within a city) collecting stamps. The first person to fill their book and arrive at the finish line is declared the winner.
"I remember he was very tough at the black cat level up test." This was in episode 43 and 44.
The ghost that Suzu brings out to torment Kuroboshi III is Sadako Yamamura (山村貞子) from the Ring films. In the manga she comes out of a television set like in the films, in the anime she is shown coming out of a pipe.
After the cats abandon Kuroboshi III they run through a series of torii gates (鳥居). These are Shinto archeways typically painted a reddish-orange color. They mark the entrance to a sacred space.
The ghost that gives the cats their first stamp has on a "ghost hat". These have many names but you can learn more about them at our Rumic Mini video on the topic.
The onomatopoeia circling the cats after they fell in the ice water is ぶるぶる (Buruburu) which means "to shiver".
The table that the cats succumb to in the end is a kotatsu (こたつ). It has a heater beneath it so that the space under the blanket is very warm and comfortable.
Episode 73: 金運ワックス / マネ子とコト美 / 振り込みはまだか！
Kinun wakkusu / Maneko to Kotomi / Furikomi wa madaka! (Good Luck Wax / Maneko and Kotomi / Where's My Money?)
After Rinne leaves his scythe with Refuto and Raito to get repaired, Refuto puts their new product, "Good Luck Wax" on it, and it gets stolen. Rinne suspects his father is behind the theft. It turns out that money is attracted to the wax on the blade, and Sabato is using it to scoop up loose change from under vending machines when Rinne finds him. Sabato rushes off to a shrine for more money when Refuto and Raito arrive and use a new product to undo the Good Luck Wax that's attracting the money. Sabato rushes off before they can swipe more than a finger's worth on the blade. He runs into Renge and steals all her money as well. Rinne manages to get the scythe cleaned by putting the wax remover on his own hands, but that gives Sabato the idea to coat his body with it. Unfortunately when the yen coins are attracted to him, they hit him with such speed that he is knocked unconscious. Later, Rika, Miho and Sakura are all walking home from shopping and Rika brags about a cheap coat she got for 20 yen. Miho teases her that for such a coat to be that cheap it must be haunted. The girls laugh it off until suddenly a mannequin appears and starts to chase after Rika until she is saved by Tsubasa's sacred ashes. Rinne uses a Tsukumogami sticker to bring the coat to life and hear its story. The coat reveals that it's name is Kotomi and it was formerly friends with Maneko the mannequin. They encouraged one another everyday when they were at a poor little shop together. Now Kotomi thinks that Maneko is jealous of her being purchased and wants to ruin her happiness. Sakura wears Kotomi to lure Maneko out, and when Maneko arrives, Kotomi tries to attack her. Maneko reveals she only wanted to tell Kotomi she had a needle in her neck and it needed to be removed so it wouldn't stick someone. The two have a happy reunion and Maneko's spirit is able to ascend to the afterlife. Rika gets her coat back but doesn't pay Rinne for the purification. Later, Rinne goes to the Lifespan Administration Bureau to turn in his costs for Shinigami tools and get reimbursed. But the spirit of a goat has gotten loose in the building and is eating all the receipts for reimbursment. Rinne is forced to team up with Kain to stop the coat, but all of his attempts at using Shinigami tools fails until Rokumon arrives with an expensive anti-goat scythe. Rinne uses the scythe to batter the goat into submission. Kain promises to reimburse Rinne for all the tools, but he subtracts the damage Rinne caused to the offices while capturing the goat and so the net total comes out to zero.
Episode Staff:
Director: Yoshito Hata (秦義人)
Animation Director: So Kato (加藤壮)
Script: Hiroyuki Yoshino (吉野弘幸)
Storyboards: Akira Nishimori (西森章)
Originally Aired:
September 10, 2017
5:35 pm - 6:00 pm on NHK E Television
Saisen (賽銭) is money donated to a temple. This money is placed in a saisenbako (賽銭箱) offering box. The box has slats across the top to allow money to fall in but prevent people from fishing it out.
Sabato swings the scythe towards Rinne, but Rinne catches the blade between his hands. This is a play on 真剣白刃取り (shinken shirahadori) or "stopping a sword with your bare hands." This is often seen in manga, anime and films.
In Japanese culture a tsukumogami (付喪神) is an object that has existed long enough can gain a soul and become animated. Frequently it is said to take a century for the item to gain sentience. The tsukumogami seal essentially makes this process automatic.
Maneko and Kotomi sound like real Japanese girl names, but the pun is they are portmanteaus of "mannequin" and "coat".
On the poster in the background as Sakura walks down the street while wearing Kotomi we see a poster featuring the ojigi bito (お辞儀人).
Maneko starts to say "behind you" (うしろ/ushiro) but cuts herself off and says "cow" (うし/ushi) which causes some confusion.
Goats will eat lots of different things but there is a legend they will even eat tin cans. This is not true. Goats will appear to eat a tin can because they are trying to eat the label or lick the glue. Goats will eat paper however.
Episode 74: 猛犬捕獲補習 / 金霊（かねだま） / 悪霊遺産
Mouken hokaku hoshuu / Kanedama / Akuryou Isan (Supplemental Class for Fierce Dog Catching/ Money Spirit/ Evil Spirit's Legacy)
At Ageha' elite St. Bara Kammuri Girl's Shinigami Academy, her teacher chastises her for being absent the previous day. She tries to explain that a friend of hers (Rinne) was injured, and that's why she missed class. The teacher tells her that she will have to take a supplmental class to make up what she missed the previous day. It turns out that the lesson Ageha missed, was helping to catch the spirits of stray dogs that have not yet rested in peace and moved on to the afterlife. Ageha uses a collar to try to catch one dog, but ends up falling and hitting her head, as she passes Sakura. Sakura grabs the leash Ageha dropped and finds that it's attached to a Jinmenken, or human faced dog. Ageha develops amnesia from hitting her head and it's up to Rinne to try to help her remember what she was doing when she had her accident. Unfortunately the Jinmenken runs into traffic and is hit by a car, losing his memory as well, and so Sakura cannot figure out how to help him move on. Ageha quickly remembers but does not want her date with Rinne to end, but finally Sakura and Tsubasa find her and demand that she help out. Rinne reveals that the dog isn't a Jinmenken, but a human spirit that was captured by Ageha's dog catching collar, turning him into a dog. Once the collar is removed he turns back into a human. It turns out the boy is a punk rock singer, who was going to an audition but forgot his choker. He was hit by a car going back to his house to get it. Rinne takes him to the afterlife as Ageha resumes her dog catching lesson. Later, at a local street fair, Tsubasa, Rika and Miho pass through, while Sakura eats a snack with Ichigo. Sakura and Ichigo notice a strange spirit in the shape of money buying things from vendors without alarming anyone. Ichigo explains that this is an old, rare spirit called the Money Spirit, who arrives on Earth every few decades and brings momentary fortune before leaving and spreading misery when it leaves. Ichigo says it is best for them to avoid it altogether, but Tsubasa instantly attacks it when he sees it. The Money Spirit beats up Tsubasa and steals his money. Rinne and Ichigo hatch a plan to steal the Money Spirit's money, but are foiled when Tsubasa attacks again. Renge is also working at the fair, and steals from the Money Spirit herself by overcharging it for the food it orders. Rika and Miho ask the Money Spirit to buy them some food and it happily complies. Rinne quickly realizes that he has nothing to fear from the Money Spirit, because he has no money for it to steal. So he attacks head on. The Money Spirit flees in terror, but sadly, before he gets any of the Money Spirit's money, he's stuck with all his receipts. Later, Miho, Rika and Sakura eat at a haunted ramen shop. Renge tells Rinne that she needs to consult with him on a case. It turns out Renge is working part time at the haunted ramen shop, and she needs Rinne to purify it so she can get more hours. Rinne arrives at the shop and discovers that the spirit haunting the shop is the spirit of the previous owner. The previous owner says that he left 300 million yen lying around somewhere in hopes of reopening the shop himself but he died before he got to use it. Rinne is shocked that that money could be somewhere nearby. Meanwhile, the previous owner continues to drive off customers from the shop because it's under new ownership. Renge and Rinne learn where the previous owner hid his money, but when they race to his house to find it, they find the safe empty. It turns out that the man used his savings to buy lottery tickets, then got drunk and slept in the park, freezing to death. When Sakura checks his lotto tickets, she finds that none of them were winning tickets. Rinne forcibly purifies the spirit and enjoys one single bowl of ramen as payment, but he's too depressed over losing 300 million yen to enjoy it.
Episode Staff:
Director: Akira Mano (真野玲)
Animation Director: Shinichi Suzuki (鈴木信一)
Script: Katsuhiko Takayama (高山カツヒコ)
Storyboards: Akira Nishimori (西森章)
Originally Aired:
September 17, 2017
5:35 pm - 6:00 pm on NHK E Television
St. Bara Kanmuri (聖・薔薇冠/Sei Bara Kanmuri) translates as "St. Rose Crown". Tsubasa later says the school is "BaKa" for short (ばか/baka means "idiot").
A dog with a human face (人面犬/jinmenken) is a recurring supernatural creature in Japanese folklore and urban legends. According to the manga dogs with human faces have existed since the Edo period but became particularly popular in 1989. Popular Yokai Watch character Manjimutt is an example of such a creature (his name is simply "jinmenken" in Japanese).
The restaurant that Ageha takes Rinne to is unnamed in the anime, but called "Koko's" in the manga. It is likely supposed to be "Denny's" which is quite popular in Japan despite becoming more scarce in America where the restaurant originated.
The Gold Spirit (金霊) resembls a koban coin which has the kanji 千万両 (sen man ryo) meaning "ten million ryo". This is not a creature that is original to Rumiko Takahashi but is a historical yokai/spirit that is said to resemble a stream of golden coins flying through the sky. Early depictions date back to the 1800s. The kanedama has also been referenced in the works of mangaka Shigeru Mizuku best known for his work Gegege no Kitaro (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎).
The drawing at the end says "mommy" (お母さん/okaasan) "by Ichigo".
The name of the Ramen Shop is "Takara-ya" (宝や) which means "treasure". On the entry curtain (のれん/noren) it has the kanji for "noodles (麺/men).
The previous owner of the shop has a t-shirt that says "Raaaamen" (ら～めん) on it.
One of the signs on the back wall in the Takara-ya ramen shop says "true heart" (真心/magokoro).
The ghost manages to catch Rinne's scythe between his hands. This is a play on 真剣白刃取り (shinken shirahadori) or "stopping a sword with your bare hands."
Episode 75: 冥界の約束
Meikai no Yakusoku (A Promise in the Underworld)
Kuromitsu comes to visit Rinne and Rokumon and invite him to come to Matsugo's high school festival at First Shinigami High, the most elite school in the afterlife. Rinne thinks it is yet another trap for Matsugo to try and get close to him, but Kuromitsu insists that he can bring his friends with him. Rinne brings along Sakura, Rokumon, Tsubasa and Renge. The group checks out a few booths before Kuromitsu brings them to see Matsugo. Matsugo once again insists that he is too busy to hang out with the group, but invites them to take a map of the school and visit his classroom's event, a haunted house called "A Promise in the Underworld." As Tsubasa asks Sakura to go into the haunted house with him, Anju arrives to say that no romance will take place in there. Matsugo tells the group about the Orpheus rule. Based on the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus in which Orpheus went to the underworld to beg Hades for the life of his wife Eurydice. Hades tells Orpheus that he can have her as long as he leads her out of the underworld without looking back. Orpheus agrees, but as he is leading her close to the exit he begins to worry that she is not actually behind him and turns to check on her, dooming Eurydice to stay in the underworld forever. And so, the rule of the First Shinigami High haunted house is that boys must always walk in front of girls and never turn around to check on them. Anyone who makes it to the goal will win a ticket for a free helping of stir fried noodles. Poverty stricken Rinne and Renge instantly agree. As a snake prepares to attack the group Tsubasa throws a ball of sacred ashes at it, purifying it. He then turns around to brag to Sakura, and a chariot rushes in to haul him away through a portal. Rinne, Rokumon, Renge and Sakura move ahead, and when the exit becomes visible Renge rushes ahead of the group and is sucked into another portal, as she violates the Orpheus Rule by moving in front of Rinne. Rinne and Sakura move ahead carefully while Matsugo looks on, revealing that this whole haunted house is actually cursed and that anyone who enters it is automatically broken up from their partner. Matsugo sends ghosts to try to scare Sakura and get Rinne to turn around, but Sakura is so used to ghosts and spirits that she has no fear of them and continues to follow Rinne. The next trap finds Matsugo dropping food, and getting Rokumon to turn, which disqualifies him. Moving forward, Matsugo captures Sakura in a pitfall and she is separated from Rinne, and replaced with Matsugo, but Anju uses a mirror to reveal the truth. Sakura catches up and she and Rinne continue before she falls into another pitfall. Rinne turns to look for her, but Matsugo pretends to be asleep and does not disqualify him, secretly wanting he and Sakura to reach the exit and break up no matter what. Sakura continues to fall into holes, and Rinne finally turns around to look for her, stepping on her head and rushing past her in the process. All alone, Rinne begins to think that Sakura is mad at him for not turning around to check on her before, while Sakura climbs out of the hole and finds herself alone as well, thinking Rinne went ahead without her to get his noodles. As she gives up and begins to move to the exit Rinne rushes ahead to try and find her, and hears her calling him. She asks if he can help her out of the hole and Rinne turns to see her, pulling her out of the hole. They ask if each other is mad at the other, and both assure one another that they are not. Rinne is pulled away, as Matsugo disqualifies him for looking at Sakura and he does not get any noodles, but he and Sakura are still close to one another. Outside, Tsubasa and Renge pay for their own noodles and find that the cooking skills at First Shinigami High are truly awful. Rinne and Sakura meet for lunch back in the world of the living, and Rinne prepares to ask Sakura if he can call her simply by her first name when he is interrupted by everyone else. When asking why they all came, they respond that "this is the last episode!"
Episode Staff:
Director: Hiroshi Ishiodori (石踊宏)
Animation Director: Kazuhiko Tamura (たむらかずひこ)
Script: Michiko Yokote (横手美智子)
Storyboards: Hiroshi Ishiodori (石踊宏)
Originally Aired:
September 24, 2017
5:35 pm - 6:00 pm on NHK E Television
Rinne's recollections about Sankai High's school festival is from episode 69.
Japanese schools from kindergarten all the way up to university have "culture festival" (文化祭/bunkasai) celebrations where students hold dance and theatrical performances, open small restaurants and hold other activities. These are open to the public and often former students of the school will visit. Typically these are held around November 3rd which is a national holiday in Japan (Culture Day).
"Is that a Yorishiro Doll?" - Yorishiro (依代) references an object that a spirit is drawn to dwell in.
Takoyaki and Pork Buns - the octopus is cooking takoyaki (タコ焼き) which are octopus puffs. Meanwhile the pig is cooking butaman (豚まん), a steamed pork bun.
The porgy, a type of fish, did not want to become a meal, so instead it is fixing taiyaki (たい焼き), a fish-shaped pancake with bean jam filling.
Matsugo and Anju are dressed as kuroko (黒衣). These are black-clad stage hands from theatrical productions that move scenery and are meant to be understood to be invisible when they are on stage.
Tsubasa imagines Sakura clinging to him as they walk through the haunted house at the school festival. To the left of this image when the skeleton pops out are a series of wooden boards with writing on them. These are grave markers called "itatoba" (板塔婆) or occasionally "sotoba" (卒塔婆). We talk about this and other funerary aspects of Japanese culture shown in Takahashi's work in this video.
The Orpheus Rule - this is a reference to the story from Greek mythology. Orpheus' wife Eurydice was died on their wedding day. Overcome with grief Orpheus descended into the underworld and bargained with Hades and Persephone to win Eurydice back. His mournful lyre playing managed to touch Persephone who convinced Hades to allow Orpheus to take Eurydice back to the living world. However Hades made Orpheus agree that as he guided Eurydice out of the underworld he would not look at her until they were both in the land of the living. Orpheus agreed, however as soon as he set foot out of the cavern entrance he turned around, not realizing Eurydice was still a few steps behind him and technically still in the underworld. As soon as he looked at her she vanished back to the land of the dead and Orpheus failed in his rescue attempt.
The word きっぱり (kippari) appears next to Matsugo's face when he is trying to convince his classmates that they should do the haunted house event. This word means "determined".
The floating ghostly lights that loom around the characters in the cave are will-o'-the-wisps (火の玉/hi no tama).
One of the ghosts following Sakura that Matsugo unleashes resembles Edvard Munch's The Scream.
Konjac (こんにゃく/konyaku) is a plant-based jelly block often used for making candies.
The torii gate that Anju is on top of when she has the fishing rod with the mirror has a sign on it that says 正一位 (shouichii). This means "the highest rank given to a shrine".
Unfortunately this is the final episode of Kyokai no RINNE. Rumiko Takahashi provided a new drawing that is shown at the end after the credits as the characters say their goodbyes. This episode premiered September 24, 2017 and the manga was just a few months from ending, with it wrapping up December 13, 2017. Unfortunately there was never talk of an OVA or special to wrap up the story in anime form despite the series ending so soon after the anime.
