Wow, so it sounds like powerful ghosts come from terminal affliction of anime. Ryou is going to end up becoming one herself at this rate because she doesn't use her words.

IT'S FINALLY BACK

I went to check and the scary evil ghost lady appears ever since chapter 1 and i did not notice until chapter 4

Y’all, now that I think of it… Isn’t >Oiwa< supposed to he the woman with a disfigured face? I was reading the Yotsuya Kaidan after I searched for “Japanese ghost story of a woman with swollen eyes”.

My reasoning: Chapter 8 is out on MDex earlier and Okiku is telling the story of a woman revealing her swollen face to her lover (?) and it turning out to be the face of a certain dead woman. I couldn’t find the names mentioned by Okiku, so I decided to just search for japanese ghosts and disfigured faces. It seems like Oiwa’s the only story with such characteristics. When Okiku mentioned swollen face, I thought of the mysterious ghost showing up (“it’s her story, then! it’s not otsuyu!”). However, by the looks of it all, the author doesn’t seem to be following all the details of the ghost stories — the manga’s Oiwa does show up with a symbol in one of her eyes tho and her right side is usually covered, but the fact that there is another ghost with a f*cked up face and the description is that of a ghost most would assume it’s Oiwa, I am just… confused. Maybe the third ghost will be a completely invented story

last edited at Apr 11, 2023 8:13PM

Y’all, now that I think of it… Isn’t >Oiwa< supposed to he the woman with a disfigured face? I was reading the Yotsuya Kaidan after I searched for “Japanese ghost story of a woman with swollen eyes”.

The Oiwa Inari shrine in Shinjuku claims that the Yotsuya Kaidan story just used Oiwa's name while the events were either taken from what happened to someone else or completely made up. I wrote last year already that Yuino could have turned the ghost story Oiwa and the enshrined Oiwa into two separate characters and the divine spirit Oiwa feels compelled to help one of Japan's three great ghosts because of their folklore connection and not because it's Otsuyu. Otsuyu shouldn't have a disfigured face like that and nothing about Oiwa's ghost story should give her the power of creation.

By the way, these kaidan stories also exist in-universe and yet they haven't once connected the name Otsuyu to this mysterious missing ghost. Really makes you think.

While I was expecting this plot twist because of her previous "dark episodes", it makes the whole plot more interesting. What is her childhood friend place in the story? Who is the other ghost that keeps making guest appereances? Who is the third great ghost? And just what is going on with Okiku, her dark regrets and backstory? AND WHY IS THE ART SO GODDAMM EXCELENT?!?!?!?!

that was painful to read
christ, ryou

Creepy ghost appearance of the day, btw

My guess for events in the vision: childhood friend reconnects with Ryou. Ryou gets flashes of old memories but remains loyal to Okiku but still values friend. Okiku finds out about friend and gets ghost jealous. Okiku attempts to murder friend Ryou attempts rescue like in old chapter. Dies.

Oh no poor Okiku ):
That puppet looks so much like the 3rd ghost.

Do you think it’s important that Okiku’s nipples are mismatched? Her right is normal, while her left is inverted.

what the flip this witawy sucks

Do you think it’s important that Okiku’s nipples are mismatched? Her right is normal, while her left is inverted.

I know it's kinda stupid but I totally thought the same thing lmao, maybe the one boob with the inverted nipple is representative of the other personality hidden beneath the surface or something.... (god i cant believe I just wrote that)

"You're having jelly for breakfast?"

Of course she is. You made her jelly after all..

That puppet looks so much like the 3rd ghost.

I thought so too

See, that's the problem with taking prophesy too seriously: you misinterpret it to the point of making it self-fulfilling when the whole point of divination is so you can change things anyway. (⁠┛⁠◉⁠Д⁠◉⁠)⁠┛⁠彡⁠┻⁠━⁠┻

Do you think it’s important that Okiku’s nipples are mismatched? Her right is normal, while her left is inverted.

I know it's kinda stupid but I totally thought the same thing lmao, maybe the one boob with the inverted nipple is representative of the other personality hidden beneath the surface or something.... (god i cant believe I just wrote that)

(◑́_◑᷅ ) y’all… what the heck

i had to search, and it is possible to have only one inverted nipple. i got curious.

Do you think it’s important that Okiku’s nipples are mismatched? Her right is normal, while her left is inverted.

I know it's kinda stupid but I totally thought the same thing lmao, maybe the one boob with the inverted nipple is representative of the other personality hidden beneath the surface or something.... (god i cant believe I just wrote that)

(◑́_◑᷅ ) y’all… what the heck

i had to search, and it is possible to have only one inverted nipple. i got curious.

Maybe we are all witnessing the birth of nipple symbolism in storytelling.

Admittedly, she did not actually see Okiku killing her, so it's more than likely she just misinterpreted the vision.

the fact that the shadow ghost is always around Meguru too, this should means something too. I dont think it's simply about them reconnect, and Okiku get jealous. Seriously this manga is really good. While I hope it will stay around for long time , but I do also hope the mystery will get solved soon. Damn.

My reasoning: Chapter 8 is out on MDex earlier and Okiku is telling the story of a woman revealing her swollen face to her lover (?) and it turning out to be the face of a certain dead woman. I couldn’t find the names mentioned by Okiku

What I could find was those names are from an old movie called "The Ghost of Kasane", that is based on a ghost story. I went and watched it.

To make it real short: Toyoshiga's dad is a debt collector, Shinkichi's dad kills him because he did not want to pay the debt and dumps his body in the swamp. He was killed with a huge slash on the face. Toyoshiga's dad then places a curse. Years pass, Shinkichi falls in love with Ohisa, but she is set to marry someone else. Toyoshiga is interested in Shinkichi, after Shinkichi gives up on Ohisa, they start a romance, without knowing anything from the past.
Toyoshiga gets a cut on her face, it gets infected, she gets sick. While she is sick, Shinkichi starts an affair with Ohisa. Toyoshiga gets jealous and tries to kill Ohisa, during their fight, Toyo falls down the stairs and gets even worse. Shinkichi decides to run away with Ohisa. Toyoshiga places a curse on them and dies. While running away, they have to cross the swamp. Ohisa gets hurt and has to rest. The curse makes Shinkichi see Toyoshiga's disfigured face on Ohisa, he kills her, thinking it was his dead wife. Everyone dies.

So thats how it is on the movie, but we know those folk stories have a bunch of versions, so we don't know what version is used on the manga. But the disfigured woman is this Toyoshiga.

last edited at Apr 12, 2023 10:23AM

^
I tried looking for mote info on the movie and apparently it’s based on a story by a late Edo period performed. Its name is Shinkei Kasanegafuchi.

My sources are pretty limited since I can only look for answers in english speaking sites, but I ended up finding this page about Kasane on Yokai.com.

It says that ”she is often held up with Oiwa and Okiku as a prime example of the grudge-bearing Japanese woman ghost”. So maybe instead of Otsuyu being the third ghost, it’s Kasane.

And the description of this ghost matches the one that has been lurking around.

Now, while I could draw a parallel between Otsuyu’s story and Ryouyo’s current situation, I have no idea how this ghost could be related to her and for what reason she’s around her all the time.

I thought that maybe Otsuyu would be jealous that someone would possibly have a mutual love with a ghost, something that was denied from her (ghost) in her story. This wouldn’t explain why she’s been there since Ryou was a teen (and maybe earlier), but oh well.
The only reason I can think of for the ghost to be “haunting” the MC is the fact that Ryou is most likely the reincarnation of a woman from the Edo (probably the one related to Okiku’s tale).

Lastly, the bridge Oiwa saw Ryou dead and the one we see during the flashback where Okiku is meeting the Ryou-looking faceless girl could be the same (????).

WHat happened to my cute classic ghost x exorcist yuri?!

WHat happened to my cute classic ghost x exorcist yuri?!

Someone spilled plot all over it. What a mess! >:(

Thanks @lesbmuffin and @wlftchtr82 for such detailed analysis! Now we know the identity of the last ghost. However, this makes me very curious as to why the author chose this ghost instead of Otsuyu? Is it because the story of Otsuyu was published in 1886, which is a bit out of the Edo period?

Anw, I'm assuming that the vision Oiwa saw isn't Okiku herself, but rather the 3rd ghost taking over Okiku, since the last ghost is super powerful.