Tanuki and human worlds collide as both the Nise-emon ceremony and Friday Fellow year-end bash descend into chaos. By New Year's everything settles down and Yasaburo and co. are able to calmly consider their hopes for the future.
Yajiro tells Yasaburo and Yaichiro his account of the night their father was eaten. Later Yasaburo hears a continuation of the story Yajiro doesn't know - Soichiro bumped into Prof. Akadama on his way to the afterlife.
During the traditional Daimonji leisure cruise, the Ebisugawas come to pick on the Shimogamo family. Yasaburo fights bravely, but loses the Fujin Raijin folding fan. Fearing Benten's wrath, he goes into hiding after the inner parlor crashes.
The meaning of Kaisei's mysterious apology becomes clear as the Ebisugawa plot to boil Yaichiro in a hot pot is revealed on the day of the Nise-emon election. The day is also the anniversary of Soichiro's death.
Yasaburo visits Yajiro, who lives in the bottom of a well as a frog and forgot how to transform back into himself. When a storm comes, the three non-frog Shimogamo brothers race to help their mother, who is terrified of thunder.
Benten and Yasaburo look at some autumn foliage with Professor Yodogawa. Yodogawa has plenty to say about philosophy of eating and tells the story of Benten and Yodogawa's first hot pot victim.
Yasaburo, Yashiro, and Yaichiro convince Prof. Akadama to take a much-needed bath, when they run into the Ebisugawa twins. It is revealed that Yajiro was partly responsible for Soichiro's death.