In terms of pure horror, the direction in these last two arcs was the best. It is interesting to learn that it was all an illusion. As the apothecary was alone and those men were already dead. Though we learned the acts that they committed were real. The men were tempted by the Todaiji and the scents in the game led them to madness. The Mononoke tempted and trapped all these men into believing the Todaiji was of value and drove him to madness with the scents if they sought to have it. Thus we see the countless graveyards.
In a more specific sense, each of the 3 men’s greed led them to madness. Muromachi killed Jissonji out of pure greed. He needed to have the Todaiji. The curious part for Nakarai is that he killed Princess Ruri. I think it is clear that he loved Princess Ruri, but she never loved him. Basically blaming her for not loving him. While for Oosawa the scent he smelled was Oleander (Nerium oleander), a highly toxic evergreen shrub or small tree belonging to the dogbane family (Apocynaceae), widely cultivated for its vibrant, fragrant flowers in shades of white, pink, red, and yellow. While. Oosawa’s greed is less notable than the other 2 he should have trusted his instincts to leave when he had the chance instead of being poisoned and dying.
