Series 6 Episode 17

Kani-Bōzu and the Ancient Mystery is the 17th episode of the 2018 GeGeGe no Kitarō anime.
==Cast==
;Main
*Miyuki Sawashiro as GeGeGe no Kitarō
*Masako Nozawa as Medama-Oyaji
*Toshio Furukawa as Nezumi-Otoko
*Umeka Shōji as Neko-Musume
*Yukiyo Fujii as Mana Inuyama
*Mayumi Tanaka as Sunakake-Babaa
*Bin Shimada as Konaki-Jijii & Nurikabe*
*Kappei Yamaguchi as Ittan-Momen
:*Shimada was credited for both Konaki-Jijii and Nurikabe.
;Guest
*Hideyuki Tanaka as Kani-Bōzu
*Ken Uo as Shōji
*Fukushi Ochiai as Kinopi
*Hiroshi Naka as Elder Karasu-Tengu
*Daisuke Sakaguchi as Kojirō
*Momoko Soyama as Princess
*Kōichi Gomi as Pursuer
==Synopsis==
In the town of Sakaiminato, a suspicious monk appears at night. He comes with a riddle and those who cannot answer him correctly are turned to bronze. Unsure of the answer, Ittan-Momen, Nezumi-Otoko, Konaki-Jijii, Nurikabe, and Neko-Musume are turned to bronze one after the other. Eventually, Kitarō is turned to bronze as well. When it seemed as though Sunakake-Babaa would be attacked next, the monk's pauses as he calls out to her by the title, "princess." Sunakake-Babaa escapes with Medama-Oyaji and meets up with Mana. Soon, they head into the mountains to seek help from the Karasu-Tengu!
==Plot==
In the middle of a war, a group of soldiers guard a princess, when a group of pursuers appear. One of the soldiers decides to fight them by himself, allowing the others to escape. The pursuers charge at him, when he spits foam at them that turns them into statues. Someone from atop a tree asks what a yōkai is aiding humans, which the soldier asks if he is a yōkai as well, before telling him to begone and leaves, transforming into a crab as he disappears into the woods.
At night in an empty street of Sakaiminato, Kinopi walks by himself in a drunken state, when he hears a bell and meets the soldier yōkai, who asks him a riddle. Eight legs all together. "Moving sideways. My eyes look to the heavens." Because of his drunkenness he is unable to answer, causing the yōkai to spit foam at him, causing him to scream. Earlier that day, and the Kitarō Family are relaxing by the beach, when Nezumi-Otoko arrives with a basket full of crabs from last night. They eat the crabs by a shrine, Neko-Musume notices that Ittan-Momen is missing, which Konaki-Jijii explains that he went to find scallops for her to wear as a swimsuit, angering her. They hear a scream, finding that Ittan-Momen has turned into a bronze statue. The next morning, Kitarō and the others find Mana and the townsfolk surrounding the transformed Kinopi, which Kitarō senses slight yōkai activity. The town finds more and more people turned into statues, with rumors of how this happens from it being infectious from touch or an airborne disease called "bronzitis". Nezumi-Otoko overhears this and formulates a plan to sell fake medicine, when he hears a bell and finds the yōkai.
Meanwhile, Kitarō, Neko-Musume and Konaki-Jijii return to the shrine where Nurikabe is guarding Ittan-Momen. They ask where Sunakake-Babaa is, which Nurikabe replies that she went to buy sweet potato shochu, Ittan-Momen's favorite sake, Konaki-Jijii notices that Nezumi-Otoko is gone, causing Neko-Musume to become suspicious of what he is planning. The yōkai arrives from behind them, asking the same riddle, Konaki-Jijii answers octopus causing him to be transformed into bronze. Kitarō shoots his hair needles at the yōkai, but he easily deflects them and demands them to answer his riddle, Nurikabe answers centipede causing the yōkai to spit foam at him as well. Kitarō uses his hair spear, but it does not work either, the yōkai asks his riddle once more, Neko-Musume prepares to answer, but Kitarō and Medama-Oyaji try to stop her as if she answers wrong, she will also become a bronze statue. She still decides to do it, answering crab, but the yōkai spits foam at her as well. Sunakake-Babaa arrives, but finds Kitarō battling the yōkai, who proceeds to turn him into bronze. She goes to Kitarō and the yōkai believes her to be his princess, which she denies being. She and Medama-Oyaji quickly escape by riding on Shōji's truck. The yōkai chases after them, managing to partially turn the truck into bronze, as they get away, he stops and ponders about his princess.
At Shōji's house, they wonder who this princess is, as Sunakake-Babaa confirms to that she has never met him. Mana and Shōji recount the people turned into bronze, including Kitarō and the others. Medama-Oyaji then thinks the Karasu-Tengu of Daisen might know something about this, which Shōji decides to drive them there. However they hear a bell, realizing that the yōkai is there. They go through the back door of the house, but the yōkai finds and approaches them asking his riddle once more, Shōji tries to attack him, but is easily dispatched. They go through the house and out from the front door, where a flock of Bake-Garasu arrives and carries them to Daisen. The group scale the mountain as Medama-Oyaji calls out to the Karasu-Tengu tribe, Mana slips and falls. Luckily a young Karasu-Tengu named Kojirō saves her and brings them to the tribe to explain their situation. The guesses that it must be Kani-Bōzu, a yōkai who served humans during a war. He was ordered to safely guard the princess who had lost, because enemies could come at any moment, he would ask a riddle to determine if they are friend or foe. Allies knew who he was, so those who answered incorrectly were enemies, one after the other, he turned them into bronze statues. However their enemies hired a priest to seal him in the form of a stone, sending him into the sea, as the princess was killed. After he was freed, he tried to find her, unaware of how much time has passed. Mana assumes that the princess must have looked like Sunakake-Babaa as the Elder explains that's he tried to warn him as many times as he could and tells them to go home, as they do not involved themselves in a silly conflict. Medama-Oyaji asks how to restore those turned into statues, but they leave immediately.
The group walks down the mountain, wondering what to do, when Kojirō suggests that the sacred waters of Daisen might work. They ask why he would help them as he would scolded by the elder, but he does not care about it and shows them a spring of Daisen. They fly to Shōji's house, Mana thanking him, as the elder watches leave. They arrive and Kojirō pours some water on Shōji, restoring him to normal. Knowing that it works, they plan to bring more water for the townsfolk, asking Shōji if he and the others would help them, which he agrees. Suddenly, Kani-Bōzu returns greeting his princess, Sunakake-Babaa proclaims that she is not his princess, telling him that he has been asleep for centuries, the world has changed since then and that his princess is has died already. He does not believe it, but Sunakake-Babaa realizes that he must have known already, but does not want to accept it as he keeps telling himself that it is a lie. He demands her to answer the riddle, to see if what she is saying is the truth. She answers correctly, making him flinch and cry, transforming into a giant crab, refusing to believe her. Kojirō tells Mana and Shōji to stay there as he and Sunakake-Babaa attempt to stop him. He rampages as the Elder watches, deciding to help them, using his fan to send the sacred waters to rain on the town, restoring those turned into statues. Just as Kani-Bōzu is about to attack Sunakake-Babaa, Kitarō arrives and uses his internal electricity to stop him. Kani-Bōzu shrinks, asking Sunakake-Babaa to hear his last wish as he foams himself, wanting to rest in the town his princess now rests in.
Medama-Oyaji theorizes that he went berserk on purpose so someone would stop him. Later, the townsfolk put Kani-Bōzu by a statue of his princess, where they also placed statues of other yōkai, including the Kitarō Family, so he would not be lonely. Mana narrates about how she loves Sakaiminato to herself, as she waves to Kojirō. Who was watching from afar, when the Elder warns him not to get too involved with humans, lest he be like Kani-Bōzu. At the GeGeGe House, they think about how unfortunate Kani-Bōzu was and how Sunakake-Babaa resembles a princess, something which Konaki-Jijii and Ittan-Momen cannot believe, making her jokingly asks if they want a kiss, much to their disgust. Kitarō wonders where Nezumi-Otoko is, which Neko-Musume assumes something. At Sakaiminato, a statue of Nezumi-Otoko is focused, presumably that he was not restored normal.
==Characters in order of appearance==
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Category:2018 Episodes