To what I'm sure is everyone's everlasting shock, surprise, incredulity, etc. this was great.

This is the flashback story of Ryo's mother and father getting together, and it's very interesting. It was a second marriage for his father after becoming a widower, and a first for his (much younger) mother. I really liked seeing Marag's point of view as she carefully considered everything, and Sinowa's as he crashed through every problem like an extremely confident wrecking ball. He was known by everyone as That Guy With The Unmitigated Gall. Marag was like, Hm. Don't know if this is wise. Compels me though. And you know what? I respect that.

The central problems of the plot were 1) mysterious curse possessing people and 2) tribe with weak morals badly managing their youth. This latter issue is a classic of the genre, and called back (forward?) to Ryo's adopting Tano. The former issue is one we haven't seen before, and I still don't really know what was happening, though it lent a nice spooky atmosphere of suspense to the story. And an author's note in the back hints that the angry spirit will be explained eventually, so that's something to look forward to.