MUH HEART!  MUH FEEEEEELS!

We start episode 8 off with a plane being taken down by a flying youkai.

Through good old-fashioned 90’s contrivance, Ushio learns that the pilot of that flight had a daughter, Hiyama Yuu, who just happens to be on his flight.  She blames a man named Atsuzawa for killing her father when his jet flew by, but Atsuzawa claims it was a Youkai that did it.

Ushio tries to befriend Yuu, and maybe it goes over a little too well.

Naturally, the same youkai that killed Yuu’s father appears and attacks the plane.  This involves breaking the cockpit window and killing the pilots.  In a glorious “fuck you” to physics, all the air pressure from having the fucking cockpit window broken open results in little more than a stiff breeze, and people enter and exit the cockpit disgustingly casually.

The youkai is called a Fusuma, and its only weaknesses are ohaguro teeth and “lots of fire.”  The teeth is out of the question, so we gotta use fire.  And only a missile can create that much fire.  Aitsuzawa tries contacting the JSDF, but they can’t see the Fusuma on radar.  With Yuu’s “help,” Ushio uses the Beast Spear to pierce the Fusuma through the plane, breaking its barrier and making it show on radar.  Ushio then moves to the roof and, with Tora’s help, manages to separate the Fusuma from the plane, allowing the JSDF jet fighters a clear shot to blow it the fuck up.

And we finish the episode off with Tora doing all Superman, lifting the plane up from the bottom to soften its landing.  Ushio and Tora leave, and Yuu is left with a crush that isn’t likely to be reciprocated.

Next episode!

Ushio lost all his travel money.  He meets with two kamaitachi youkai, Raishin and Kagari, who ask him to kill their brother Juurou, who has started killing humans indiscriminately.

Kamaitachi generally defend their territory by scaring humans away in a three-step attack: one trips a human, one cuts a human, and the third applies medicine to heal the cut.  But after humans drove the kamaitachi away from their home time and time again, Juurou developed an intense hatred for them.

The final battle occurs at a nearby construction site, presumably for a new highway, and during the fight, Juurou cuts off part of a cliffside, which falls and traps Kagari and Raishin.  Ushio and Tora try to lift a fallen bus off of the siblings, and Ushio tries to explain that he understands a bit of how Juurou must feel and acknowledges that he must feel much worse than Ushio ever felt.  The mood is spoiled when some construction workers arrive and attack Juurou, but then they flee when they accidentally ignite a gas leak.  The workers return when Ushio calls for them to help free the trapped kamaitachis, and Juurou witnesses that there are humans who care.  Unfortunately, Juurou believes himself to be too far gone and attacks Ushio, resulting in Ushio defending himself with the Beast Spear and killing Juurou.  In his parting words, Juurou tells Raishin and Kagari to stay in their human forms and that there may not be a place for their kind anymore.

Really, really sad ending, though also pretty heavy on the cheese.

It’s been mostly setup recently and we still have more monster-of-the-day setup to go, but it’s all surprisingly necessary.  Even more surprising to me is that we skipped the Houriki Heretic story, which means we’re not getting Kyoura… which is fine.  Fuck Kyoura.  Meaningless waste of space.

Another thing we skipped that I failed to acknowledge is the writing on the Beast Spear.  That could mean we won’t be getting “Shanyue,” but if it also means we get rid of the stupid time travel aspect, I’m all for it.

Crunchyroll screwed up with the next episode translation, calling it “The House With a Kappa.”  That’s just outright wrong.  It should be “Child,” not “Kappa,” and it could also be read “Warashi,” as in “Zashiki-warashi,” the actual youkai in the next episode.

Since we skipped Houriki Heretic, it’s time to reorganize the episode list.
9. Kamaitachi
10. Saya
11. Toono Youkai
12. You’ll Be Dry There / Guardian God of the Lake (Mostly the latter)
13. The Mist Comes
14. The Chosen, Part 1
15. The Chosen, Part 2
16. Change of Face, Part 1
17. Change of Face, Part 2
18. The Creation of the Beast Spear
19. Speed Demon
20. Destroy the Beast Spear, Part 1
21. Destroy the Beast Spear, Part 2
22. Party
23. Bakemono War, Part 1
24. Bakemono War, Part 2
25. Kagari & Tora
26. Tatari Breaker, Part 1
27. Tatari Breaker, Part 2
28. Kirio Finds A Home
29. Gouki
30. Azafuse
31. Before The Wind Blows
32. Turning To Stone
33. Appearing and Disappearing in the Rain
34. Sea of Chaos
35. Tora
36. Stopping the Descent
37. Opening the Gate
38. Till Our Lives Reach the Sun
39. Finale

It’s still entirely possible that Toono Youkai can be made into a two-parter, but Change of Face could also be a one-parter.  With Houriki Heretic gone, there’s more of a chance for the travel partners to show up for an extra episode, but then again we could be getting that Mist episode later on…And as much as I love Hyou, fuck that vampire episode.  Cut it to thell.