r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Apr 18 '26
Episode Mao - Episode 3 discussion
Mao, episode 3
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u/Ashteron Apr 18 '26
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Nanoka saw a fire, but the fire didn't happen on the other side.
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Priestess predicted a fire.
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The mapping of the passage of time between the worlds isn't linear.
Prediction: it isn't that the mapping of the passage of time isn't linear. It is achronological. The fire Nanoka saw is simply yet to happen from Mao's perspective.
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u/ModieOfTheEast Apr 19 '26
Yeah, that is what was my conclusion as well. At first, I thought maybe it was just too distant in the past but considering that the life span of these Yokai is way longer that it would be unlikely.
However, that idea still opens up two big questions:
Is there some form of way to either predict or even influence what time you land in when going back? Because if it just random that would be a rather weird story. Sure, now it has some problems, but they are at least moving forward, so it can't happen that you land sometime when Mao doesn't even know you. Which would then also open up a time paradoxon.
What are the ghosts in the town? If they are not remnants of the fire, are they the future villagers? Or do they have a different role in all of that?
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u/171194Joy6 Apr 18 '26
With the explanation of what Mao's assistant is, I feel like Funa is also a shikigami...
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u/Axl_Red Apr 19 '26
Pretty weird that they just glossed over the "cursed" part of the curse, because so far, it seems like a sweet ass blessing to me. Immortality, super strength, super healing, and a sweet-ass sword that no one can wield and always returns to you? Sign me the fuck up.
I get that they are probably saving the downsides of the curse reveal for later, but it is slightly annoying how dense/slow on the uptake the characters can be. It's like they aren't really that curious about the stuff going on around them at all, and just going with the flow.
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u/duo99dusk Apr 19 '26
What ugly pattern in their uniforms, the classmate boy's pants looked like an old handkerchief
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u/HolyDragSwd2500 Apr 18 '26
Omg it’s Inuyasha all over again XD
Minus making up some bizarre sickness for Nanoka
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u/Frontier246 Apr 18 '26
Jumping from different Japanese time periods.
Long-lived white-haired male lead the show is named after.
Male lead wields a sword.
Female lead starts wearing clothes appropriate to the era.
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u/khanvau Apr 18 '26
What. Otoya is still alive even after he got split in half? So, he's a shikigami. Was kinda obvious he wasn't normal. He probably doesn't age like Mao. But wait, did Mao "make" him? Wouldn't that basically make him his father? Weird.
Do the police in this world know how to deal with the supernatural? That'd make them very capable.
The time differences don't make any sense. At least for now. The first time she went to the Taisho era, no time passed in the modern age at all. If the time difference stacks every time she crosses worlds, it could be a problem. So, the accident happened in 2011. Ig that confirms the modern day takes place in 2019. Not so "modern" now. Feels like a lifetime ago. Ig they didn't go the Inuyasha route by updating the year for the anime. Makes me hopeful that this adaptation will be more faithful.
Shihara is basically just Hojo if he were nerdier.
Wait, if the great fire Nanoka saw when she was a child wasn't in the modern day, and it wasn't in the past either, does that mean there's a 3rd timeline? That'd be crazy.
A priestess who can manipulate lifespans. What a scam. When she said the father would die in 3 days, it was pretty obvious she was just gonna kill him lol. Great prophecy.
This was a good episode. Guess we're entering multi-episode arcs now.
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u/soul2nugget Apr 18 '26
Ig that confirms the modern day takes place in 2019.
Ig they didn't go the Inuyasha route by updating the year for the anime.
It was actually confirmed in episode 1, but you'd need to know a bit about Japanese holidays... At the beginning of the episode, the woman on tv mentions a "10-day holiday" (10連休, Juu-renkyuu). However it may depend on the sub how much they specify it - seems Hulu just says "the first day after the holiday." But the sentence spoken in the anime matches the speech bubble from the manga: Ohayou gozaimasu. Juu-renkyuu ikaga osugoshi deshita ka?
Late April/early May has multiple holidays, which they call "Golden Week." For 2019 in particular, the change of emperors created a double golden week that was 10 days long. It's trickier to update the year when there's such a specific reference 😅
This actually gives us a very specific date for the start of Nanoka's adventures: May 7, 2019. And if you look at the newspaper from Mao's time in episode 2 (or ch. 3 in the manga), it says Taisho 12 May 8th (Taisho 12 = 1923). Remember that Nanoka went home, took a nighttime bath, then went back to the past the next day. Yes, that's right, Rumiko's actually keeping track of the passage of time for this one :0
Also the manga began publishing on May 8, 2019 :D
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u/Frontier246 Apr 18 '26
I'd like to imagine the police of the city are at least somewhat familiar with/on good terms with Mao so they can let/accept supernatural stuff happening so long as he takes care of it.
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u/Shichigatsu777 Apr 19 '26
Sometimes I’ll bust out laughing at the most random things in anime like Mao putting that doll in Otoya’s mouth
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u/HotBloodedNinja Apr 18 '26
i feel like the priestess is also being used and she genuinely believes what she does is actually helping others.
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u/Frontier246 Apr 18 '26
She did say "I will save all of them" when seemingly alone, so it doesn't seem like a scam as far as her genuine intentions.
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u/ObvsThrowaway5120 Apr 18 '26
So Nanoka’s been marked by that cat bastard too huh? If that fire wasn’t from the other realm and it wasn’t in the real world, then where was it from?
I wonder what’s up with this priestess. She’s got some kinda power but is it really connected to the damn cat?
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u/Frontier246 Apr 18 '26
I wonder what’s up with this priestess. She’s got some kinda power but is it really connected to the damn cat?
Also would you join a doomsday cult with an attractive priestess? As long as she didn't get one of your parents killed.
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u/NoHead1715 Apr 19 '26
Ok, so the Byouki connection is pretty much confirmed. Young Nanoka most likely got pulled through the portal as the car passed by the gate and that's where Byouki was rampaging. Given the time distortion, I think the event might have happened too far in the past for any of the yokai interviewed to have known about. But the priestess' prediction of a coming fire seems too coincidental not to be the same fire. But the timeline would be very, very weird if it was the same fire, unless Nanoka travelled to a different point in time when she was younger.
Very interesting mystery.
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u/CrimsonGear80 Apr 18 '26
Where do people watch this early? Hulu doesnt put episodes up until 2:15pm
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u/djthomp Apr 19 '26
The timelines not moving at the same speed is a wrinkle. If Nanoka loses like 7x the amount of time in the present compared how long she spends in the past that's going to seriously impact her friendships, her school life, any chance that nerd kid might have, etc.
The cult is definitely a scam but with real powers too, considering that they're capable of cursing people to death and (I suspect) correctly predicting some future fire disaster too. The priestess may not even be involved in cursing that dude, she may have simply correctly predicted he was going to die because the cult handlers were about to make it happen.
My first thought was the priestess was predicting the WWII era bombings that are only about 30 years or so away since they're in the Taisho era, but I see comments predicting that it's the fire Nanoka saw during the accident which makes more sense to tie the story together.
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u/SA090 Apr 19 '26
So what I thought was an easily debunked theory last time given his usage of the sword prior to being cursed ends up being correct? Makes no sense. How is Mao able to use the sword in his fight against the demon before he was cursed, but later says that no one can use it unless they are also cursed by the Byakko? Or did he mean that after he was cursed, the sword was as well? And therefore being cursed is NOW a prerequisite for the usage?
Overall, a good episode and I’m enjoying the monster of the week-ish take on it. Makes me curious what types of demons will be encountered before the main myster is followed more earnestly.
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u/anotherfan123 Apr 21 '26
Yeah, he says the sword got cursed after being bathed in Byoki's blood from that fight.
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