The Problems Faced#

Let’s focus on the following two characters as the central heroes of this story. Their respective “External Problems” (= problems they are consciously tackling) and “Internal Problems” (= problems they end up having to tackle unconsciously) are as follows.

For details on Internal and External Problems (my current understanding), see On “Internal Problems” and “External Problems,” and a Quick Analysis of Kemono Friends Episode 3.

• Shamiko
  • External Problem: Repay her debt to Mikan
  • Internal Problem: Growth as a sole proprietor mazoku
• Mikan
  • External Problem: Breaking the curse
  • Internal Problem: Fitting in with the people around her

The Ordinary World#

Summer vacation ended, and Mikan Hinatsuki transferred into Sakuragaoka High School, where Shamiko and her friends go. At this high school, every student has to participate in some kind of committee. Accepting an invitation from Anri Sata, Mikan joins the sports festival committee.

Preparations for the sports festival are delayed across the board. Mikan helps out of her own free will, Momo is dragged in against hers, and Shamiko joins in simply because she’d be lonely all by herself.

All kinds of incidents happened over summer vacation. After all that, returning to school scenes feels genuinely refreshing. It reminds us that while they might be demons or magical girls, they also have an “Ordinary World” as ordinary high school girls enjoying their youth.

The Call to Adventure#

As work in the gymnasium stretches late into the night, an incident occurs. A student bumps into Mikan and the others while they are running simulations for the cavalry battle, and Mikan hits her head, momentarily knocked unconscious.

Mikan’s curse activates, but Momo instantly transforms into a magical girl and shields the nearby students, so nobody gets hurt. However, the shockwave triggered by the curse knocks over paint cans, ruining the slogan sign that was on the verge of completion.

Even though it was averted thanks to Momo’s quick response, Mikan came terrifyingly close to seriously injuring her classmates. She falls into deep despair over this.

This is where the central question of the story is revealed: namely, “How will Mikan face her own curse?”

Mikan has tried to overcome her curse in the past. She even went to see a horror movie with Shamiko as mental training to keep from getting flustered. However, those kinds of efforts are merely symptomatic treatments. If she loses consciousness like in this incident, there is no way she can control the curse.

Refusal of the Call#

Shamiko and Momo offer gentle words to comfort Mikan, but Mikan is in no state to accept them right now, asking to be left alone and heading home early.

Shamiko feels she must repay her debt to Mikan, who came all the way to this town to protect her. For Shamiko, Mikan asking her at the sukiyaki party [ch. 29] to “help me out when I’m in trouble” was her Call to Adventure.

Without even coordinating beforehand, Shamiko and Momo show up at Mikan’s apartment and declare that they will talk to the root of the curse and break it.

Although it is never stated outright, Mikan is in the middle of packing her bags, making it clear she intended to skip town in the dead of night. Running away instead of facing one’s own fate is a classic Refusal of the Call.

From Meeting with the Mentor to Approach to the Inmost Cave#

Mikan and Lilith put on the mask of the Mentor, giving Shami-Momo information about the familiar Ugallu, the true nature of the curse. This serves as Meeting with the Mentor, while also functioning as the Approach to the Inmost Cave stage where they make preparations for the Supreme Ordeal.

There are also Mentors who bestow magical items rather than information. Earlier that morning, Shion Ogura had given Momo a potion to stabilize her magical power. Momo drinks it in this stage. As I’ll explain later, this episode is packed with Mentors who provide magical tools.

Shami-Momo infiltrate Mikan’s deep subconscious (Crossing the First Threshold).

Shamiko transforms her Whatever Staff (the Whatchamacallit Wand) into Amenonuboko, churning the primordial chaos to materialize Ugallu. This, too, is the fruit of a magical tool gifted by the Mentors Joshua and Sakura, combined with knowledge granted by the Mentor Ryoko Yoshida.

On top of that, Shion Ogura later reveals that Sakura Chiyoda had actually hatched this exact plan in the past. According to her, Sakura’s plan fell through because she couldn’t find a way to give form to Ugallu.

In this detail, one can sense the motif of Atonement with the Father, in the sense of the child succeeding where the father could not.

The Supreme Ordeal, Reward, and The Road Back#

Shamiko attempts to communicate with Ugallu, who was materialized by stirring the chaos (The Supreme Ordeal). While Ugallu agrees to leave Mikan (Reward), doing so means Ugallu will lose a host body and cease to exist. Shamiko withdraws from Mikan’s deep subconscious (The Road Back) and ponders how to save Ugallu.

Notice how Shamiko is confronted here with the question that symbolizes The Road Back stage: “Is this really okay?” Regardless of what happens to Ugallu, dispelling Mikan’s curse is already guaranteed to succeed at this point. The External Problem she originally set out to solve is already taken care of, yet what Shamiko truly needed was something else entirely.

At this point, Shion Ogura appears and suggests creating a new yorishiro (physical vessel) to properly re-summon Ugallu into the physical world.

What is even more interesting is that a time limit—an event characteristic of The Road Back—arises here. Ugallu’s body is dissolving back into chaos, meaning they must wrap up the re-summoning into the physical world tonight.

While gathering the necessary ingredients seemed daunting at first, the Allies Shamiko had gathered over her adventures all transform at once into Mentors bestowing magical tools, making the ritual possible.

• Shion Ogura
  • Draws up the overall plan and explains it to Shamiko.
• Anri Sata
  • Provides high-quality meat.
• Lico
  • Cooks magical cuisine.
• Shirosawa
  • Provides butt hair from a mythical beast.
• Class C sports festival members
  • Help draw the magic circle.

Resurrection and Return with the Elixir#

Supported by numerous Mentors, Shamiko successfully summons Ugallu. For Ugallu, this is Resurrection; for Mikan and Shamiko, it is Return with the Elixir.

Although Ugallu still has some rough edges, she will surely shine as a new Ally aiding Shamiko and her friends in future adventures.

Archetypal Analysis of Ugallu#

Now, if we look at things from Ugallu’s perspective, there is an even more interesting analysis to be made. In this episode, Ugallu wears the masks of various archetypes to spur Shamiko and the others into action. Or rather, Ugallu seems to experience all eight archetypes pointed out by Vogler.

At first, Ugallu is the Shadow that triggers Mikan’s curse.

The archetype known as the Shadow represents the energy of the dark side, the unexpressed, unrealized, or rejected aspects of something. Often it’s the home of the suppressed monsters of our inner world. (p. 105) {: .prompt-quote}

Ugallu brings danger to Mikan’s classmates through the power of the Shadow, but this in turn serves as the Herald providing the driving force for this episode.

Ugallu acts as a Threshold Guardian trying to expel Shami-Momo after they intrude into Mikan’s deep subconscious. At this stage, Ugallu lacks a fixed form (Shapeshifter).

By giving her form with Amenonuboko and engaging in dialogue, Ugallu becomes an Ally. Far from just an ally, she expresses remorse for the trouble she has caused Mikan up until now, displaying a self-sacrificing Hero attitude: if her own fading away is what it takes to break the curse, then so be it.

Once she successfully achieves incarnation in the physical world, Ugallu begins operating as a Trickster providing comic relief.

Looking Back on the Journey#

As originally intended, the External Problem of lifting Mikan’s curse was successfully resolved.

What is especially significant in this episode is Shamiko’s Internal Problem: “her growth as a sole proprietor mazoku.”

Notice that unlike previous dives, this dive into the deep subconscious brought no direct benefit to Shamiko or Momo. And to reiterate, as Lilith pointed out, intruding into someone else’s dream is a hazardous act that could potentially be fatal.

According to Vogler:

The hero facing an Ordeal has moved her center from the ego to the Self, to the more godlike part of her. There may also be a movement from Self to group as a hero accepts more responsibility than just looking out for herself. A hero risks individual life for the sake of the larger collective life and wins the right to be called “hero.” (p. 260) {: .prompt-quote}

Shamiko fought not for herself, but for the group as a sole proprietor mazoku. That isn’t to say she was incapable of doing so before. In fact, what allowed Shamiko to resolve the External Problem so flawlessly was the power of the Allies she had gathered up to this point. And as a result, she became recognized—at least by Ugallu—as a “Boss.”

While easy to overlook amidst the gags, the contrast where Shamiko sought dialogue while Momo attempted persuasion through raw physical force is crucial. Between these two polarities, the story’s trajectory endorsed the solution of cooperating with allies and seeking dialogue.

(It is also fascinating that after Shamiko was knocked out, Momo was chosen as the negotiator. This might be an example of oscillating between polarities.)

Rather than merely preaching the importance of fighting for the group, this episode serves to validate that Shamiko’s way of doing things all along was the right one.

Just like the Scarecrow and his companions in The Wizard of Oz, what Shamiko was seeking was something she had possessed within herself from the start; all she needed was external validation.

And that validation is ultimately granted by Ugallu, newly born in Seiiki-Sakuragaoka thanks to the efforts of Shamiko and the others. What a romantic story this really is.

References#

The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers (Japanese edition: Sakkano Tabiji: Writer’s Journey - Shinwa no Hōsoku de Yomitoku Monogatari no Kōzō)

Christopher Vogler, trans. Yumie Fukawa

Film Art, Inc., 2022