I rather have a Lin x Naru thing going on then Masako, but that’s aside the point.

Actually.. that was the point. Huh, I have nothing else to say.

I can’t believe its over, boo. Oh well at least I still have the manga to look forward to.

I so didn’t want to be right about Naru and his power, dammit.

Or another more plausible way to see this was that the Ebisu have a great potential power that could become either a curse or a blessing (it could be a very strong spirit/energy magnet). The monks did a “test” on it, found this out, and realised that leaving it here without professional supervision would bring on a lot of trouble (eventually). Which led to their decision of placing it in a major temple, where it could recieve the proper conditioning (to make it into a holy object). Their deaths might have tainted the Ebisu and and the subsequent tragedies (the betrayal of the uprising’s ringleaders and the lovers’ death) added onto the distortion.

I personally like the second theory as it fits to many stories of how sacred places have became holy or cursed grounds due to the efforts and events of those around it. Sacred places by themselves are neither negative or positive, they are just nexus of great natural power. By building a holy sanctuary or commiting terrible deeds, one can make this nexus into a “+” or a “-” IIRC.

Everybody who thought Ayako was useless is going to have to eat their words…

Bousan is pretty yummy when he takes charge (It may also be because hubby now sports Bousan’s hairstyle before he got it cut, rawr)

I think overall this arc seems like it was rushed, or maybe more that they tried to squeeze too much in and maybe should have spread it out a bit more. But as I said earlier it really cannot be beat for action.

My guess is Mai had a premonition of the past. I seriously think she is becoming more of an empath what with all the advancements her psychic powers have made.

I agree, the Okubu-sama’s curse may be the main problem.

Then again, one thing is bothering me. The possessed people and now the zombies are all trying to free whatever it is that resides in Naru. Is it possible that the main culprit is not one from the three monks, nor the five masterminds?

What about the two lover story? Even though it seems to be set aside at the moment, if Mai dreamed about it, it has to be important. Would it be possible that the spirit trapped inside of Naru is, in fact, the spirit of the nobleman’s son - the one the fisherman killed?

Also, when realization about how exactly Nao had died dawned upon Mai, what exactly happened to her? Was she momentarily possessed by Nao’s spirit, was that clairvoyance or maybe something else?

I feel as if they’re all caught up in a bigger force that we haven’t quite seen the full aspect of. I don’t want to use the word “mastermind” because I think that has a sense of intentional control that I’m not sure is valid. I keep thinking back to what Masako said about the spirit posessing Naru and the little girl with the bruising — that spirit is hollow, neither good nor bad. To me that sounds as if Masako is seeing a non-human force of nature. I think the human spirits that have visited the land through the ages (the monks, the rebels, the current innkeepers) are caught up in the power of this non-human force. The shrine and the driftwood in the shrine (the eibusu (sp?)) are the nexus of the problem, I think.