Description
Episode Title:
The Shibaemon Raccoon Dog.Episode Description:
Momosuke and the Ongyou encounter a traveling performance troupe which includes a man who claims to be a Tanuki, a Raccoon Dog that assumes human form. Momosuke speaks with the man and learns that he was originally intended to be the stand in for the shōgun in the event of his death due to his perpetually poor health and lack of heir. However, this plan abruptly collapsed when a son was born to the Shogunate who could serve as a rightful heir. Thus to save her own life, the mother tried to poison Shibaemon. However, the boy switched out the drinks and the mother consumed the poison, cursing her son, which caused him to snap and kill his mother. When he joined the troupe, the troupe leader knew of his past deeds but kept him anyway out of sense of sympathy, unaware that Shibaemon killed his granddaughter some time after, as the samurai was driven mad to the point of attacking anything that he sees as a threat to him. During a performance, Momosuke and the Ongyo force Shibaemon to come to terms with his past as he dies upon being mauled by dogs unleashed by Momosuke, becoming the very animal he pretended to be. Momosuke finishes his tale in memory of the Tanuki as Mataichi commits Tanuki's soul to the next world.
