The main portion of this episode centers around Tanigaki’s past. It is quite tragic since his fellow Matagi Kenkichi married his sister. Sadly news of his sister passing away spread, and he was led to believe that Kenkichi killed his sister. So Tanigaki led a path of revenge. That revenge is speculated to be what led to his mother’s death since losing two children essentially. The worst part is that Tanigaki learned the truth of what Kenkichi & Fumi did. So now we have Tanigaki who sought a revenge that he regrets taking. In which now he can’t go home because if he goes empty-handed, what can he say regarding his mother’s death?
It is clear Tanigaki went through a lot. Huci took care of him and showed him love. A man with nothing left to offer and she the threat of Huci losing her granddaughter. He owes it to Huci to give her that peace of mind regarding Asirpa.
It is great that this backstory was adapted. It does fit well here, but both manga and anime have good placements in this backstory. The only thing that was lost is the importance of Fumi & Kenkichi’s sacrifice because if the village knew that Fumi had smallpox, her family would have been outcasted. The skipped Sugimoto backstory showed how the illness resulted in his family being outcasted, leading to their deaths. Tanigaki’s backstory fully covers chapters 75 & 76. As well as the scenes with the Tanigaki group in chapters 102 & 108, since the contents of OVA 4 are skipped in season 2 of the anime. So there is an anime-original scene to bridge the gap.