Oh my, this has some excellent animation in it.
When Lum asks Onsen-Mark what a ghost story is he tells a tale of a cursed willow tree that claimed the life of a former student. Ataru doesn’t believe it and draws graffiti of the Mendou seal with “Jerk” under it on the tree.
This angers the spirit of the tree, and disguised as an old man gives Ataru, Lum and Megane a treasure map to teach them a lesson, telling them to come to the school at midnight. When Mendou spies the old man, with the rude mark on the back of his coat, he thinks he is insulting the Mendou family and chases after him. The old man then tells him to come to the school at midnight if he wants vengence for the insult.
Later we find Onsen-Mark, working as a night warden at the school, getting scared stupid by his own tales. He finally encounters a real spirit however when he bumps into Kotatsu Neko in the dark, then later on, the willow tree spirit.
However, none of them ever get to where the spirit awaits. When Mendou shows up looking for a duel, Onsen-Mark thinks Ataru has tricked them both and stops the berserk Mendou from going further. Then when the three treasure hunters show, they help him subdue Mendou by bopping him on the head with shovel. So rather than end up with the spirit, they find themselves stuck with Onsen-Mark for the night, getting drunk on his plum wine.
Angered that the youth of today can’t even keep appointments, the spirit dawbs the school in anti-Mendou graffiti while they sleep. And we end with Mendou trying to kill Ataru, thinking that he is behind it all.
I’m curious as to who animated the sequence of Onsen-Mark in the dark school, as it’s a real doozy. There’s some other fantastic work earlier when the spirit gives the gang the treasure map, lots of crazy angles and reactions. Another in a run of great episodes.
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Naoyuki Yoshinaga (Maison Ikkoku, Patlabor) shows up as director/storyboarder this episode.
Screenplay: Hiroyuki Hoshiyama
Storyboard: Naoyuki Yoshinaga
Director: Naoyuki Yoshinaga
Animation Director: Asami Endo