Kyoto doesn't change, but the people in it do, and this season watches what happens when someone from a century ago tries to fit back into a world that's already moved on without him. The comedy lands because the show trusts you to hold two things at once: a tanuki turning into a pot is hilarious, and the father-son wound that started it all still bleeds. Every conversation between humans, tengu, and tanuki feels like eavesdropping on a city with its own rules, spoken in a language only Kyoto understands.

A century of absence ends when the Junior, estranged son of the tengu Professor Akadama, suddenly resurfaces in Kyoto as a refined English gentleman. Word of his return spreads fast and shakes both the tengu and tanuki communities. Meanwhile the four Shimogamo brothers, having learned the truth about their father's death, are each trying to live up to his legacy in their own way. Yaichirou wants to lead tanuki society, Yajirou hopes to recover his shapeshifting, Yashirou keeps working at the family factory, and Yasaburou simply chases fun, including a hunt for the elusive tsuchinoko. The Junior holds a grudge against his father and against Benten, the professor's apprentice, and Yasaburou soon finds his loyalties questioned. He has to rely on his wits to keep every side satisfied before the fragile balance between humans, tengu and tanuki collapses. The season blends comedy, drama and fantasy.