LR: ch. 50
So. According to Hanae’s mother, Abeno looks like Ashiya Sakae. But Sakae is now dead, for reasons yet unknown. And it seems he died before Hanae was born (16 years ago), meaning he never saw Hanae and vice versa. But Hanae has memories of when he met “Sakae” when he was 3; this man said he was Hanae’s father (if I remember correctly; I’ll have to check the previous chapters). So it’s either that Sakae died after meeting 3-year-yold Hanae or a man pretending to be Sakae approached the Ashiyas. If the latter, who is he and for what reason did he come? And how come Hanae’s mother didn’t notice at all he’s not the real one? The flahsback drawings are really of no help to his appearance because of that fur coat; it’s hard to tell if he has black or blond hair. Also, it is something to note that Hanae’s sister had black hair when she was young, but currently has blond (or at least light colored) hair.
I keep having this feeling that Abeno may be Hanae’s half brother or something, if he looks so much like Sakae. Though, from the comments, I hear them speculating Abeno to be Hanae’s father, or a reincarnation of him (which makes much more senes to me).
For now, Abeno believes Sakae died 16 years ago, and that he may have worked for the Mononokean with Aoi (the previous master). We’ll have to wait until Yahiko is satisfied enough to answer Abeno.
On a side note, Hanae talking about the time travel thing really cracked me up. And child-Hanae is extremely adorable. Can I have one for myself please?
Fukigen Na Mononokean