What Is the Yamanba Arc? Synopsis and Key Scenes | When & Which Manga Volume [Chiikawa]

In the night field, Ano-ko is surrounded by small black creatures, swinging a long tail to fend off anyone who approaches. Picking up scattered food from the ground and bringing it to their mouth, they watch the movements around them against a dark backdrop. It is never revealed who these black figures are or why they have gathered.

While placing fallen items into a basket in the forest, Chiikawa and friends discover a large body hanging upside down from a tree by a rope. Yamanba laughs and tells the three worried friends that there is no pain, then invites them to her home and offers them food cooked in a pot and dishes containing red pickled ginger. The three, who stay overnight, offer to help make breakfast and join in preparing dishes using dried bonito flakes and transporting vegetables.

In another scene, Ano-ko swings a foreleg down at a small gray figure and chases it as it scurries away. After finishing playing and advancing through the forest, Ano-ko appears above a bush, and Dekatsuyo lets out a frightened voice from the shade of a tree. Ano-ko then hops around holding something like a nut, fails to land near Dekatsuyo, and comes to a halt.