The Mad Fox

During the Heian period, the fortune-teller Kamo no Yasunori reads his oracle scroll, The Golden Crow, which predicts that he should adopt a particular girl. His disciples, Yasuna and Doman, search separately for the girl, and Yasuna finds twin girls born to Lord Shoji of Izumi, bringing back the older one, Sakaki.

Ten years pass and Yasunori receives ominous warnings from The Golden Crow, indicating that the crown prince is cursed and the country is headed for turmoil. A second prediction is made but Yasunori keeps this secret, only sharing it with his successor.

Doman arrives late to warn the court, which is seen as disrespectful, leading Yasunori to publicly denounce him and declare that Doman will not succeed him. Yasunori begins a journey to the Imperial Court, leaving Sakaki unaware of the future events.

Yasunori’s wife lusts after Doman and secretly kills her husband on the road, blaming the murder on bandits. Meanwhile, Sakaki realizes that the court intends to appoint Doman as successor, creating a dangerous political tension.

Without a formal succession document, Sakaki disguises herself as her adopted father and appears at court, causing a casting of lots to determine the successor. When the Golden Crow scroll is found missing from the locked box, suspicion falls on everyone.

Doman imprisons Yasuna and tortures Sakaki to extract information, leading to her death. Yasunori's widow confesses to stealing the scroll and starts an affair with Doman. Yasuna escapes during the commotion, overwhelmed with madness after overhearing the conspiracy.

Yasuna, now wandering mad, arrives in Izumi and is taken in by Lord Shoji. He mistakenly believes Kuzunoha, Sakaki’s twin sister, to be Sakaki herself. Yasuna’s mental state remains fragile as he contemplates his love and confusion.

Doman reveals that the Golden Crow predicts the crown prince’s curse can only be lifted through incestuous union in a blood-stained room, prompting a hunt for a white vixen. Yasuna and Kuzunoha encounter a wounded old woman who is secretly a kitsune, who orders her granddaughter Kon to look after Yasuna.

Kon’s family, revealed to be kitsune, fights off a hunting party attacking Yasuna and Kuzunoha and successfully steals back The Golden Crow scroll. Kon shapeshifts into Kuzunoha’s form, forming a secret bond with Yasuna as they live in solitude and have a child together.

Kon, in love with Yasuna, refuses to relinquish her human form and plans to leave after giving Yasuna their child and the scroll. She departs as a white vixen, leaving Yasuna in confusion and heartbreak as their hut disappears, leaving the question of reality unresolved.

Yasuna picks up his child and finds the Golden Crow scroll. The scene abruptly shifts to him alone, wandering madly in sorrow after Sakaki’s murder, lying on the ground in a fetal position wearing her kimono, symbolizing his descent into madness.

The narrative ends with a scene of a Sessho-seki resembling a human-like figure in a fetal posture, surrounded by flames, symbolizing cursed love and the tragic ending. A narrator warns the audience about the emptiness of love, emphasizing the tragic moral of the story.