That was the spiciest ep of Shabake so far, no question. The level of violence may not have reached the level of murder of people this time, but it was more viscerally foul. There’s a distinct darkness to this series that always set it apart from the typical “that niche” youkai series it sometimes resembles. And as intimidating as Nikichi and Sousuke are, this is definitely one of those Shinto fantasy shows where the really scary ones are the humans.
Matsunosuke was the star of this episode. We never saw Ichitarou (apart from a couple of soundless third-party sightings) after the cold open, in fact. Matsunosuke has been screwed by life, no question about it. There are people a lot worse off in this time and place, no question – he has a job and a roof over his head, and is learning a trade. But he didn’t ask to be born into the situation he was, and the reality of his parentage no doubt buys him worse treatment at the hands of his masters at Azumaya. Who in general are pretty awful people, it must be said.
Cat-killing is seriously ugly and twisted, and it gives this whole episode a creepy and depressing air. That it’s all being done for the sake of machinations is even more bleak. The cooperage’s daughter, Omichi, initially comes off as a sweet girl who’s interested in Matsunosuke. The mother is a total shrew, the father a dithering weakling, and the son a petulant and spoiled brat. As it turns out though Omichi is the worst of the lot. She was the one who started the whole cat-killing thing as a means of entrapping the bantou (head clerk). The long game there was to ingratiate herself to Matsunosuke by defending the bantou, and use him as a means to connect to Ichitarou (who’s her real target).
The politics of merchant families in Edo-period Japan were indeed seriously complicated. If Omichi were actually interested in Matsunosuke that would make him a dire threat to the son, Youkichi, and to an extent the bantou as well. If she marries Matsunosuke it becomes possible for the pair of them to inherit the business and not Youkichi, who everyone knows is an incompetent prick (including himself). But he’s too stupid to do much to Matsunosuke except annoy him. The head clerk has been driven to some seriously bad shit, and it’s Matsunosuke who winds up catching him.
I have to say for the record that this whole sequence didn’t sit well with me. I know social mores – and laws – change over time, but what the bantou did was sick and to simply look the other way and “life goes on” disgusts me. Goaded or not he should have faced consequences. Fortunately for Matsunosuke he happens to overhear Omichi bragging to her mother about setting the whole thing up, giving him a chance to avoid being a puppet in her schemes. The reality of just how powerless he is hits home, and Matsinosuke himself goes to a very dark place. He almost does a terrible thing, but the whistle falls out of his pocket and breaks him out of his evil reverie.
There’s a nice – if not exactly subtle – bit of filmmaking here as we see the shadow of the moonlight reflect Matsunosuke’s flirtation with darkness. The implication here is that the danger of that has passed, and his upcoming trip to Nagasakiya suggests that he and Ichitarou are finally going to meet face to face (and we’re going to learn the truth of the whistle’s significance). The two of them are fundamentally decent lads, I think that’s clear – Matsunosuke has been shaped in part by the harshness of his life. And Ichitarou is extremely clever, perhaps enough so to conceive a way for the pair of them to emerge from the harsh reality than entangles them both.
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