Offer a Brief synopsis

When we last left off, the silk-worm goddess had enclosed Kanoichi and the members of his unit in cocoons in retaliation for them burning the silk-spinning children yokai. After getting permission to take over the case, Senda gives the go ahead for Arata to enter the scene. He does so just in time to stop Kanoichi from literally killing a god. The angry goddess, Manari, at first says she will curse Japan and kill as many humans as yokai children burned. But after Arata negogiates with her, she agrees to wait until dawn for the humans to spin all the silk into bundles of threads. This is necessary because if Manari goes to the festival of kami without the threads for kami clothes, the gods will be angered.

With help from various humans, the Angels, and the Tengu, Arata and company finally manage to spin all the thread from the remaining cocoons. Manari departs at dawn along with the surviving yokai children. Kanoichi is still sour and skeptical about the way Arata did things, and Sakaki somewhat agrees, saying there’s no telling what will happen in this job if you lose your fear of Anothers. It’s still a big win for Arata, though, and Tokyo has been saved.

Story thoughts?

From a storytelling perspective, this was a beautiful episode. Everything done so far in series contributed to what we saw here. In particular, I mean the way Arata was able to convince Anothers to help him out of what could have been a country-wide crisis. In such a laidback show, it’s surprising the climax was as powerful as it was— not quite “epic,” but powerful. After this, I can’t helping wondering what the last episode will be about.

Notes on Characters?

It was nice to Kanoichi get his just deserts, so to speak. He got his big mission taken from him and stolen by a lower leg of the department. He was wrong about the Ears of Sand being useless. Still, Kanoich continues to be a nasty person. As Arata pointed out, Kanoichi only wants to kill yokai. It’s because of personal hatred and a grudge. Sakaki agrees with his method of eliminating Anothers that are pests, but that’s because he’s trying to protect human lives, whereas Kanoichi just wants to kill Anothers.

Arata’s judgment and confidence have improved immensely. He was able to see what a huge deal this was, and face Manari with confidence. He knew it was time to ask other Another for help, too. Remember how he fainted back in episode one just because an old Tengu called him Abe Seimei? The Arata Miyako from back then is gone. That’s good character growth.

Senda was all about getting what we wanted, and it was pretty great. This episode, he got permission from the governor of Tokyo himself to take over the cocoon case. Senda is a snarky, shrewd character, but he works to do what’s best for his branch of the Nocturnal Relations Department, and he cares for the others on his team.

Anything Noticed for Art or Music?

I like all the music in this anime: the opening, the ending, and the instrumental OST scores. There’s jazzy one that plays near the beginning, the frightening yet desperate-sounding one starting around 08:45, the orchestral one around at 11:00, and more. I can’t wait to find a release of the OST. None of the voice-acting was particularly great, but it’s good like usual, and I enjoy hearing so many familiar voices.

As for the visuals, they were rather subpar, but still decent enough to keep me focused. It’s interesting to me that the art designers chose to make Oshira/Manari a humanoid creature with elements of silkworm and moth. I guess it wouldn’t be as appealing to have a branch-like or raddish-like design (these forms are also associated with Oshira-sama).

What About the Another This Week?

I had no clue what goddess this was, or even if she was from Japanese myth or not, so I did some research to find out. The main article that helped me was here at this interesting blog. The Kaikogami are gods of silk in Japanese mythology. One of them is Oshira-sama, a god whose form is not clear, but who is often represented by a pair of mulberry branches or bamboo sticks. Since Oshira-sama is also associated with agriculture, some media versions of this god resemble roots or radishes, like in Spirited Away.

I couldn’t find a Kaikogami named Manari, but there is a silk-worm goddess who rides a horse, sometimes called Oshira, Menari Myojin, or other names. Just like in Midnight Occult, Oshira-sama of legend curses those who do not offer proper worship and sacrifice.

What Did You Enjoy Most?

Honestly, I’m just glad Arata saved the goddess’ life, and then saved Tokyo from her rage by proposing the silk-spinning deal. I don’t think this show could have pulled off a dark ending where Japan is cursed by the gods and thousands of people die. As things are, the show did a great job fixing the problem in a believable way.

This has been Anime Rants covering episode 10 of Midnight Occult Civil Servants. Thank you so much for reading! Arigatou Gozaimasu!