Hak Foo finally manages to wear an Oni Mask, but is disappointed when the Shadowkhan he summons turn out small and seemingly harmless. But when one of them eats Tohru's shadow and grows bigger, also knocking him unconscious, Jackie and Jade must stop more of these Shadowkhan from consuming other people's shadows while Uncle tries to find the mask removal spell's key ingredient.
Tropes appearing in this episode:
- Abusive Parents: Uncle isn't the least bit concerned about Jackie trying to escape alligators while swimming in a Florida swamp, thinking he's looking for the Hanafuda card and then tells him to multitask in looking for the card and not becoming gator food.
- Adorable Evil Minions: The tiny Shadowkhan's size makes them look cute... until they start eating people's shadows.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The Shadowkhan Jade dubs "Tiny" eats a subway station's worth of shadows and ends up taller than the buildings in San Francisco.
- Bad Boss: Tarakudo demonstrates the Leech Shadowkhan's ability by using Chow.
- Beware the Silly Ones: To Hak Foo's lament, the Leech Shadowkhan are tiny and prompt onlookers to call them adorable. Any attempt at physical fighting is laughable, such as harmlessly bouncing off a training dummy. However, they possess the ability to eat shadows and render their victims unconscious. The more they eat, the bigger and nastier looking they get.
- Brick Joke: Ms. Kimber remarks that Uncle has a love for oil painting. At the end of the episode, Uncle has just finished an oil painting of a sleeping Tohru.
- Chekhov's Gun: Uncle's blowfish becomes incredibly useful when it's revealed that the key ingredient is Japanese fish and there's no time to find a fish shop open at the time.
- Cue the Sun: A negative example. Jade tries to run after a stray Shadowkhan and Jackie tells her to stay out of the light, which is difficult as the sun is rising, making their shadows vulnerable.
- Deadpan Snarker: Tarakudo knows the Leech Shadowkhan are more effective than given credit for, but he still makes light of Hak Foo telling them to show off their war faces.Tarakudo: If I had a spine, it'd be tingling.
- Drama-Preserving Handicap: Due to Jade accidentally dropping the Hana Fuda card mentioning the mask removal ingredient into a gator's mouth, the task of removing Hak Foo's mask is more difficult than it should be.
- Graceful in Their Element: The Leech Shadowkhan are tiny and thus lack the kind of brute force that Hak Foo wanted. However, they are excellent at eating shadows, which increases their size and physical capabilities. As Tarakudo says, all Shadowkhan are lethal; it's just a matter of playing to their strengths.
- Hidden Depths: Uncle's true passion is oil painting. This is what he does when opting to take time out for himself, having already whipped up a painting of Tohru before the latter even wakes up.
- Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Uncle when asking Ms. Kimber for help in finding the missing ingredient.
- Little "No": Jade when Hak Foo sends Jackie into alligator-infested water.
- Muggle/Un-Sorcerer: This episode reveal Jackie the only one unable to even use Uncle's blowfish to do a stun spell, resulting in Jade having to use it.
- My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: Without Tohru to do any Japanese translation, Uncle was forced to use a Japanese-to-Chinese translation book in order to find the key mask removal ingredient. Unfortunately, it doesn't turn out so well, particularly when one of his translations comes out as "Substitute mask removal ingredient is often shoelace of giraffe".Uncle: Aiyaa! Giraffes do not wear shoes!
- Not-So-Phony Psychic: Uncle accuses Ms. Kimber of fraud "and money grubber". Her powers are the real deal as Uncle can't figure out the removal spell's ingredient. She also knows of Uncle's secret passion of oil painting.
- Pride: Uncle swallows his when asking Ms. Kimber for help.
- Race Against the Clock: The Leech Shadowkhan can't eat a person's shadow if there's no light around. Jackie and Jade get to work scooping them up in the middle of the night, but that clock runs out when the sun rises.
- Underestimating Badassery: The Leech Shadowkhan from everyone at first, even their temporary human master. Averted with Uncle however, who warns Tohru not to be deceived by appearances, since they don't know yet what the captive Shadowkhan in their possession is capable of. The Leech quickly validates this concern by eating Tohru's shadow and growing bigger.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: After an entire season, Hak Foo finally gets to wear an oni mask. Unfortunately, the Shadowkhan he summons are small and harmless to the point Jade and Tohru think they're cute. Subverted when Tarakudo shows him they can eat living creatures' shadows to put them into a Deep Sleep and increase their own size and strength.
