Kekkaishi ep.05

November 13, 2006 | 9 Comments

The quality of the character design has gone down a notch in this episode, which is a bit disappointing. There are times when Yoshimori actually looks like an entirely different character. In general, however, I still enjoy the episode quite a lot mostly because it reminds me a little bit of Yakitate!! Japan. I'm also starting to like the ED song even though the singer's unusual voice took a bit time to get used to. The best thing about the series, however, is the delightful voice that each VA brings to the character that he/she plays. I'm especially amused with Hakubi's VA because there is a sarcastic tone in every line that he delivers to Yoshimori. The fact that his character is a dog makes the whole thing even more hilarious. The way he says "Yoshi" never fails to make me smile because the tone is so delightfully condascending.

Continuing from the previous' episode, Yoshimori's grandfather explains that Urakai is an organisation which was founded in the olden days when strange phenomenon occurred more frequently and is comprised of people who have special abilities. Urakai gives these people an outlet to channel their talents. Having said that, he thinks Urakai is none of Yoshimori's business since it's basically composed of people who can't become the head of the family and Yoshimori happens to be one. The next day, Yoshimori is busy making a meringue and looking like a lost cast members from Yakitate!! Japan. He, however, becomes alert as soon as he hears his grandfather's footsteps heading towards the kitchen. True enough, his grandfather is not happy to see that he's in the middle of making cake. Before Yoshimori can do anything, however, his grandpa has pitched a Kekkai around him. Yoshimori tries to break out of the Kekkai but quickly finds out that it's quite durable.

The evil grandpa then proceeds to rip apart Yoshimori's blueprint for his castle cake before eating part of the castle cake that is half-completed. Yoshimori immediately goes from horrified to anger and manages to destroy the Kekkai using his own power. While he chases his grandpa around the house, his father is busy making a handkerchief featuring Tanabe Yellow, the author of this series. That night during patrol, Yoshimori finds it hard to concentrate due to the cake incident. Despite his effort, he can't seem to pitch a Kekkai to surround a small Ayakashi. In his frustration, Yoshimori eventually pitched a big Kekkai so that he can capture the Ayakashi easily. Tokine thinks that Yoshimori is wasting power creating a Kekkai that big for a small Ayakashi. Yoshimori, however, ignores him and busy thinking about making a cake until Tokine confronts him about this. Yoshimori tries to deny this but it's too late for him since Tokine has labelled him "Cake Otaku".

When Yoshimori arrives at school the next day, he realises that a ghost has been standing in front of his school, trying to talk to the student. Yoshimori decides to tell the ghost that he's actually already dead but the ghost thinks Yoshimori is joking. Because of this, Yoshimori decides to direct the guy to someone else and proceeds to push the guy out of the school. Later on after school, Yoshimori visits a cake shop and is aghast when he realises that the ghost is still around. As it turns out the guy did go to the place that Yoshimori specified but when he gets there, the woman simply tells him over and over again that he's already dead. Having said that, he understands very well that he's already dead. A flashback then reveals that he was riding a motorbike after buying cabbages when a black cat appeared out of nowhere and shocked him. He promptly crashed into the pole and in his dying breath he was saying "Cabbage".

This frustrates the guy since he thinks it's tragic that he was calling out for a "Cabbage" in his dying breath even though he's a Patissier. Yoshimori suddenly becomes excited upon knowing this. Because of this, the Patissier decides to lend Yoshimori his castle cake notes. Despite this, he's surprised that Yoshimori is into making cakes. Yoshimori claims that it's because there is someone who likes to eat them but the Patissier can guess right away that there is someone that Yoshimori likes. Yoshimori's face suddenly turns red like beetroot and he nods his head while hiding his face behind the book. The Patissier agrees with Yoshimori and tells him that he thinks sweet things can make people happy. And when he sees other people smiling because of this, it gives his heart a warm sensation. Their conversation, however, comes to a halt when Tokine comes by and scolds Yoshimori for conversing with a human ghost, which she thinks is a problem to deal with.

Yoshimori tries to explain to Tokine that this is the reason why he tries to keep the guy away from school. The Patisserie is surprised to know that Tokine can see her as well but Yoshimori quickly warns him that although she's a Kekkaishi as well, she's different from him, likening Tokine to an Ogre. Yoshimori immediately receives a painful punch on his head from Tokine for saying this. She then turns around and tells the ghost that he'd better off leaving this world as soon as possible because even his thoughts have distorting effect on the world. In other words, she thinks he's dangerous and a monster. Yoshimori thinks Tokine is being harsh to the ghost but she immediately pulls his ear away and drags him away from the area. That night, Yoshimori feels that something has breached the school ground and wonders if the Patisserie ghost has transformed. Inside the school, an entity with scissors-like hand can be seen lurking inside the hallway.

Meanwhile, Madarao is surprised to know that Yoshimori looks unusually enthusiastic tonight. Yoshimori, however, is not paying attention because he's worried about the Patisserie ghost. He thinks the guy was in shocked after Tokine called him a 'Monster'. The minute Yoshimori jumps over the fence, however, he realises how wrong he was because although the Patisserie ghost is there, he's still as kind and silly as he was before. Yoshimori is annoyed about this because he clearly told the ghost not to set foot in this school. The guy, however, argues that telling someone not to do will simply make the person wanting to do it. It's human nature. He then tells Yoshimori that he's been thinking about the life of a 'Monster' and he thinks it's not so bad. Because no one sees him, peeping on humans are easy (side warning: peeping is a crime.....at least that's what the show said). Yoshimori is shocked by this statement and ends up assuming the "orz" position.

Tokine arrives at the site and is not impressed to know that the ghost still around. However, she ignores him since he doesn't have a malicious vibe. Hakubi confirms that their real target is inside the school. Once Tokine left, Yoshimori has no choice but to take the ghost with him since strange Ayakashi’ll eat him if he hangs around alone. Inside the school, Tokine and Hakubi enter a classroom and are confronted by a ghost with scissors-like hand. The ghost claims that he's been waiting for them so he can try out his scissors on a living body. When Yoshimori arrives in the class, he tells Tokine that he'll handle this one. The ghost reveals that he has worked loyally in a company for 25 years and never caused any problems and yet they fired him. Because of this, he decides that this time around he'll be the one doing the 'cutting'. Before the ghost can do anything, however, Yoshimori already envelops the ghost's hand in a Kekkai and destroys it.

Yoshimori then jumps on top of a table and threatens the ghost, asking him if he'd like to disappear. The ghost tries to regrow his arm but Yoshimori acts faster and destroys the guys' legs and arms one by one. The Patisserie ghost is shocked to know that Yoshimori seems to be more dangerous than the creepy ghost in front of them. Tokine thinks that it's impossible to convince the ghost. Yoshimori, however, ignores her and asks the ghost once again if he still won't leave this area. A few minutes later, the ghost is out of the school/Karasumori site, complaining about his rotten life. Yoshimori decides to ask him if there isn't one good thing that has happened to him in his life. When he said that there is no such thing, Yoshimori decides to ask him if there is something that made him happy in his life. After thinking about it, the guy admits that he was truly happy when his daughter was born. Upon hearing this, Yoshimori asks him about his daughter's whereabouts.

The guy is not sure because he suddenly found himself in this place after his death. Because of this, Yoshimori tells him to go to the same place where the Patisserie ghost went to and to tell the woman that he wants to see his daughter. Yoshimori also orders the ghost never to come to this place again or he'll banish the ghost to a place that lacks even the smallest light. After the ghost left, Yoshimori tells the Patisserie ghost that he should go as well and the Patisserie ghost agrees with him. Before he left, however, he manages to tease Yoshimori by telling Tokine that she'll be the happy receiver of delicious cake from Yoshimori. XD The next day, Yoshimori manages to finish his castle cake when the Patisserie ghost appears again, claiming that dying is hard. Their conversation, however, comes to an abrupt halt when Yoshimori's grandpa arrives in the kitchen looking angry because Yoshimori has been making a cake and talking to a ghost.

Impression:

I didn't know there is a "Cake Otaku". XD Poor Yoshimori. Tokine can be kind of cruel at times. Having said that, his cakes sure look mouth-watering. I got hungry looking at some of the cakes that he made in this episode. Speaking of cake, the Patisserie chef in this episode reminds me so much of Kawachi from Yakitate!! Japan probably because he has the same spiky hair and speaks in Osaka-ben. Comedy-wise, I love the 'cabbage' joke and the part where he calls Tokine "Ogre" and gets whacked by her. The 'peeping' joke was also good especially when the episode warns you that "Peeping is a crime". Considering the number of perverts that lives in Japan, I guess they do need that warning so that kids don't get the wrong impression. Anyway, I like how the writers show Yoshimori as a kind but stern individual if he wants to. He will try his best to save the misguided spirits but if they insist on harming humans, then he'll not hesitate to terminate them.

It's strange that they don't feature this episode first before the Yomi storyline but I guess they want to mention Urakai as soon as possible before Shishio Gen, the other guy that you see in the opening, makes his first appearance. I really can't wait since his character is one of the few side characters in Shounen anime that I like. I find it strange that they feature him in the OP already though considering his storyline but I guess the anime producers like to ensure the manga readers that their favourite characters will appear in the series. Speaking of appearance, did anyone else notice Tanabe Yellow's avatar (the black penguin) in the handkerchief? If you never read the manga before, Tanabe Yellow is basically the author of the manga. I thought that was a nice and appropriate extra for the manga fans who always read Tanabe's funny and entertaining column. I like how he describes the struggle of a manga artist in the column and hope that these columns will be animated as DVD extras.

Preview

On next week's episode: Kanda's little night adventure under the cherry blossom.

© memento 2003