08
While walking through the city with Nezumi-Otoko, Kitarō suddenly senses a yōkai presence. His Yōkai Antenna leads him to an old mirror in an antique shop. Nezumi-Otoko tries to warn the shop owner about the mirror but only ends up offending him with the very suggestion his product is cursed. Kitarō is worried the mirror might contain an evil force, so at Medama-Oyaji's suggestion he returns to the shop to investigate further. When he gets there, he discovers the mirror is already sold. After convincing the shop owner to tell him who he sold it to, Kitarō learns it was bought by a man named Ōyama. At the Ōyama house, the man gives the mirror to his daughter Kaori. However, during a blackout soon after, Kaori looks into the mirror, sees her face disappear, screams and faints. When her parents reach her room she is gone without a trace. Kitarō arrives at the house to investigate the mirror, but is denied due to the commotion so he tries to sneak in. He is arrested and brought to the station, but Nezumi-Otoko has already spoken to the police there so Kitarō is officially put on the case. When Kitarō asks to see the mirror, the Ōyama family maid reveals she was told to throw it away but ended up selling it to some strange old man who approached her while she was bringing it to the garbage. Kitarō believes the old man is a yōkai, so he asks to see the money he paid her, but all she has now are leaves. Medama-Oyaji recognizes the leaves as coming from Mt. Dekoboko, so they head there immediately. On their way to Mt. Dekoboko, Nezumi-Otoko becomes tired, so they stop at an abandoned house for the night. While looking for food outside, Nezumi-Otoko happens across the mirror from the antique shop. While distracted, the old man yōkai who tricked the maid kicks him into the mirror. Back at the house, Kitarō is suddenly attacked by an invisible entity. He restrains it with his blanket, but they hear a female voice say "I can't breath". Medama-Oyaji deduces that it is a young girl who has turned invisible somehow, but when asked why she is invisible she says that Kagami-Jijii kidnapped her stole her image. The girl turns out to be Oyama's missing daughter Kaori and she explains that she is trapped in Kagami-Jijii's mirror world. While searching for Kagami-Jijii the next day, Kitarō and Medama-Oyaji come across the invisible Nezumi-Otoko and promise to save his image as well. They find Kagami-Jijii in an old shack, leering at Kaori's image in his own mirror. He enters the mirror to pester her, so Kitarō knocks on the door, pretending to be an innocent traveler, and tries to take him by surprise. However, as Kagami-Jijii lives in the mirror world, he has no physical form, so Kitarō falls right through him. Kitarō uses strange abilities to dodge Kagami-Jijii's attacks as well and a brief battle ensues. In the end, however, Kagami-Jijii is able to throw him into the mirror, stealing his image, and the enters the mirror himself to finish him off. The invisible Kitarō in the real world informs Medama-Oyaji that he plans to break the mirror from the inside, which will destroy Kagami-Jijii but might also seal all of their images away forever. Before Kitarō can act, Kagami-Jijii comes out of the mirror and attacks Medama-Oyaji. The invisible Kitarō grabs onto Kagami-Jijii, which results in him forcing Kagami-Jijii's spirit out of his body, which then escapes to the mirror. Nezumi-Otoko then takes the opportunity to get a new body and enters Kagami-Jijii's physical form. Kitarō tells Nezumi-Otoko to let him use the body, but he refuses, so Kitarō smacks him around with Kagami-Jijii's cane. He gains control of the body and smashes the mirror, destroying Kagami-Jijii and returning everyone's image. On the walk to return Kaori to her parents, Nezumi-Otoko pesters her about a reward, much to Kitarō's chagrin. Kaori is willing to reward them, but Kitarō turns it down, saying he fights evil yōkai only to make the world a better place. (Source: GeGeGe no Kitarō Wiki)
2/21/1968
