Chapter 176: Scattering the Bait
Many many things being set up for the next arc this chapter! Seiko meets up with some colleagues to find something to turn Momo big again. The Uchide no Kozuchi is an item from Japanese folklore that can give you whatever you want with a strike, most commonly money and of course, turning someone small, big! It's traditionally in the possession of oni (ogres/monsters) but according to Kashimoto here, it's now possessed by Daikokuten, who is one of the "Seven Lucky Gods". I wonder if the gang will be meeting the other six gods out of these seven?
The new characters Payase and Kashimoto are real-life Youtubers Toshi Boys and they make videos about the occult. Their videos are all in Japanese so I wasn't able to understand them, but it's cool that Tatsu had them make a cameo in his manga like he did with Creepy Nuts!
Seiko also has the location of her quest, the Izumo Taisha Grand Shrine located in Izumo of Shimane Prefecture. Looking at Google Maps, it would be 7.5 hours by public transport or 9.5 hours by car if you're leaving from Tokyo. It's a long journey, maybe the gang will go on a road trip like they did when going to Jiji's cursed house, yet another callback to the beginning. But before we do that, they need to defeat the jiangshi attacking them!
