Well, this is another one of those cases of expecting everything to be wrapped up and being surprised when the credits start rolling. It’s my own fault for not double-checking but 13-episode anime runs are so rare these days that it never occurs to me they’ll happen. It’s nice to have another week of Shabake to look forward to of course, and it does explain why so much was left to do going into this episode. Of course we’re not getting anything like a complete adaptation of the novels in one cour anyway, but you still have to give the audience an ending (or at least you should).
Last week I asked regarding the ink line targeting Matsunosuke “is his scent similar to Ichi’s, or is it a matter of calculation?”. We have our answer, and it’s the latter. Ichitarou is good at figuring things out, and he deduces that – having stolen his note to Matsunosuke – the failed tsukumogami is using the fire to lure him out. Which is certainly the right strategy on its part, as it allows it to get the jump on the enemy trying to do the same. The creature may not have fully understood the reasons why Ichi would be compelled to respond, but it was correct in assuming he would.
In a sense all this is a boon for Ichitarou. It’s taken murders and a massive fire to force Nikichi and Sasuke to let him out of his protective cocoon. And even then only because the Mikoshi-nyuudou made it clear that Ichitarou would be yanked from the human world for its own protection if this situation wasn’t resolved. But of course Ichi is a fundamentally decent boy and while none of this is his fault, he feels a tremendous sense of guilt that people – now seemingly a lot of them – have died because of him. Maybe including his brother, who Ichi already felt guilt over thanks to his sorry lot in life.
Sasuke and Nikichi are perfectly content to kill whatever vessel the ink line has commandeered to get rid of it, but Ichitarou has to strictly forbid it (he would have anyway, but I can’t imagine Miyoshi-nyuudou would have been happy about that). Ichitarou still has some talismans and his sword, and the three of them set out for Kashu to settle things once and for all. It’s a harrowing scene – fires were the scourge of Japanese towns for most of its all-wooden construction history, and a great many lives have been impacted or lost because of this one. Seeing all this just adds to the load Ichitarou carries on his shoulders, but his resolve is firm and he keeps his head.
As the fire rages, things are made worse by the Mune-itachi, weasel-like youkai that feast on the souls of those killed in a fire (and historically were often blamed for starting them). Matsunosuke has raced back to Azuma-ya on news of the fire – proving that decency truly runs in the family. He tries to drag the head clerk to safety, but he seems intent on getting himself killed. Then Yokichi shows up, now possessed by the ink line. It’s not clear where this ends – the failed tsukumogami later tells Ichitarou that Matsunosuke is dead, but I’m inclined to believe otherwise even as dark as Shabake tends to get.
As terrible as the things the ink line has done are, it’s not surprising that Ichi feels empathy for it. Empathy is his natural state first of all, but the idea of clinging to existence against fate obviously resonates with him. What the ink line is doing stems from that most human of terrors, the fear of oblivion. But relatable or not, it can’t be allowed to continue on after what its done. And the itachi seem to be coordinating with it, which causes Sasuke and Nikichi to seemingly sacrifice themselves to save Ichitarou (again, I’m doubtful). Snuffing out the creature’s existence will no doubt add to Ichitarou’s sense of self-recrimination, but he had no choice but to do what he did.
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