Kekkaishi ep.06

November 20, 2006 | 7 Comments

The design quality takes a rather big hit this time around. Some of the character designs look horribly unproportional. Take a look at this scene, for example. I've never seen a character's head looking so inflated before. It's like someone has stuck a huge balloon on top of a body. The strange thing is that the drawing is actually neat and tidy so it's obviously not a mistake because the animator was in a hurry. The story is also a bit uninspiring this time around with more focus on action and less on character development. It actually doesn't matter much when I was watching it but I find it hard to talk about when I have to provide some kind of impression about the episode. I really can't wait until Shishio Gen, the guy that you see fighting in the OP theme, joins the team. I think that's when the story starts to take off in a big way.

This episode itself opens with Yoshimori's grandpa receiving a water spray from Tokine's grandma. It doesn't take long before the two of them start fighting like two little kids. Inside the house, Yoshimori's father asks Toshimori to wake up his older brother but Toshi refuses since Yoshimori usually has Kekkai around him. His father explains that Kekkai is only pitched for grandfather but Toshi decides to feed Madarao instead. Because of this, Yoshi's father wakes his son up so his son won't be late to go to school. When Yoshimori gets out of the house, he finds his little brother putting some dog food into Madarao's plate. He tells his brother that he should stop doing that since Ayakashi dogs don't eat dog foods. The annoying little brat refuses to believe this and instead tells Yoshimori that Ayakashi feeds on people's care. As Yoshimori heads to school he realises that he doesn't know much about Madarao even though he knows the dog for a long time.

On a hindsight, what he doesn't know the most is actually Karasumori site. Because of this, when Tokine passes by him, he decides to ask her about Karasumori site. He knows that it can transform Ayakashi but he feels there's more to it. Tokine thinks there's nothing interesting about that scary place. Yoshimori is surprised to hear this since thus far he never considers the place as scary. Meanwhile, Yoshimori's classmate Kanda Yurina, is waiting for the traffic light to give her the green light to cross the street when she notices a strange girl smiling at her across the street. Because she's puzzled at the girl, Kanda doesn't pay attention to her surrounding and almost get hit by a car if her friend, Kyoko, didn't pull her into pedestrian area quickly. When Kanda and Kyoko arrive at school, their other friend, Ayano, tells them that the strange cherry blossom tree blooms again even though it's near winter.

Because of this, Kanda's friends decide to buy juice and sit underneath the tree for some Hanami (flower watching). As Kanda looks down into the tree, she realises that the girl that she saw in the intersection is now standing underneath the tree. Kanda's friend, however, only see Yoshimori running towards the tree and looking as if he's talking on his own. Kanda is shocked to hear her friends' assessment because it means they can't see the girl while she can clearly see Yoshimori taking the girl away from the Sakura tree. Inside the class, Kanda realises that the girl is actually a ghost. She suddenly realises that back then Yoshimori was speaking to the ghost. When she tries to look at him, she gets a shock treatment since she can see the ghost standing on his left hand side. During lunch break, Yoshimori struggles to take the ghost up into the rooftop since the ghost is latching onto him. Eventually, however, he manages to drag her to the rooftop.

Once the two on the rooftop, Yoshimori orders the ghost to leave the school but the ghost claims that there is something she'd like to talk about. Yoshimori tells her that this is why he told her about the person who can help her with this. The girl explains that she wants to talk to him but Yoshi thinks there's not much that he can do to help her. The girl becomes angry because of this and swears to curse everyone in this school. Yoshimori, however, calmly chokes the ghost with one hand, threatening to kill her if she doesn't leave the school. Kanda who sees the entire scene becomes afraid of Yoshimori but unknown to her, Yoshimori's threat managed to subdue the ghost's anger. Inside the class, Kanda decides that Yoshimori is a dangerous person because his face is demon-like. She starts to wonder if he's not a human. Unfortunately when she turns around, Yoshi is in one of his scary, obsessive face because he just completed his castle cake drawing.

During lunchtime, Yoshi's friend give him his favourite coffee-flavoured milk if he'd answer his question about Tokine. He wants to know what is Tokine's hobby and the guy that she likes the most. Yoshi knows that Tokine's hobby is study but he doesn't know the other. Unhappy with the answer, his friend takes back the coffee-flavoured milk and drinks it himself. Inside Karasumori High School, Tokine's classmate asks her if she'd like to have lunch together while watching the Cherry Blossom but since Tokine refuses, she has no choice but to go and have lunch on her own. At the same time, Kanda and her friends are disappointed to see the Cherry Blossom area already occupied by high school students. Because of this they're planning to have a picnic when everyone else is not around. Kanda is horrified when she finds out that the plan is to go here at 12 at night. Yoshimori who overhears this is equally horrified and orders the girls not to come.

That night, Yoshimori wonders why Sakura is blooming over and over again so Madarao explains it's because Lord Tokimori loves Sakura. Upon hearing this, Yoshimori remembers how it's been said that Sakura that blooms out of season can make people crazy. Madarao agrees with it and remembers how Lord Tokimori once said that Sakura makes those who view them feels festive. After the talk, Yoshimori begins his work by casting a Kekkai on the school's gate so no one can get in. Unknown to him, Kanda has arrived at school and is now seeing a hand beckoning her to come closer. When she comes closer, however, she finds out that the hand is an Ayakashi. Thankfully for her, Yoshimori arrives in time to destroy the creature. Yoshimori tries to convince Kanda that she should go back now but it's too late because the swarm of Ayakashi has arrived to feast on the Sakura flowers. Because of this, he has no choice but to ask Kanda to stay put and pitch a Kekkai around her.

Tokine disagrees with this but Yoshimori thinks it's going to be okay since he thinks Kanda is not going to see anything. He then prepares to fight as the swarm of Ayakashi is getting closer to the Sakura tree. Yoshimori immediately pitched one large Kekkai to enclose every single Ayakashi in the area. Tokine thinks it's a foolish thing to do since a few Ayakashi manage to escape the Kekkai. Yoshimori, however, doesn't care because he thinks his method is far more effective than pitching Kekkai for every single Ayakashi that swarm its way towards the tree. While this happens, Kanda is freaked out because a lone Ayakashi manages to spot her. Before anything can happen, however, Madarao has made a grab for the Ayakashi with his mouth. Yoshimori is annoyed to see this because instead of helping him, Madarao ends up eating some of the small Ayakashi. To make matters worse, the Ayakashi keep coming over and over again no matter how often Yoshimori destroys them.

Yoshimori is eventually fed up with the entire thing and asks Tokine to take care the small fries. He then pitches a large Kekkai to surround the entire Sakura tree, leaving only the top of the tree free for the Ayakashi. Tokine is annoyed to see this and reminds him that he once fainted after he overused his power but the boy claims that he doesn't remember it. Once there are enough Ayakashi on top of the tree, Yoshimori creates another Kekkai to enclose them. He and Tokine then destroy the creatures and send them through the portal. In the aftermath, Yoshimori tries to undo the Kekkai that he placed around Kanda but Kanda thinks that he is going to kill her instead. Yoshimori panics when Kanda starts to cry while Tokine takes the opportunity to make fun of the fact that he just made a girl cry. Madarao decides to sniff Kanda and tells the others that this girl can actually see everything. Yoshimori is shocked to know this and apologises to Kanda.

Kanda wonders if Yoshimori is okay to have strange powers like this. Yoshimori is surprised by the question because by now he's already used to his power. Kanda explains that due to her strange power, she can see scary things but can't tell others about it. Because of this, she thinks she'll be better off without this power. Yoshimori doesn't understand this and points out that the Sakura tree is weird and yet people come to see it. This simple analogy eventually calms Kanda down. Before she goes home, Yoshimori asks her not to tell anyone about this and Kanda agrees since no one is going to believe her anyway. Upon seeing Kanda looking sad, Yoshimori tells the girl that she can inform him if she sees weird things next time. Since he can't take Kanda home he produces a Shikigami to accompany Kanda. The next day, Kanda finds out that the Sakura flowers have disappeared from the tree, which now looks more like a tree in the middle of winter.

Impression:

Yoshimori and Madarao's discussion about Sakura/Cherry Blossom sure brings back memory. I think Sakura is one of the most beautiful things I've head the pleasure to see. There is nothing like the feel of being surrounded by falling Cherry Blossom while the wind breezes around you. After I experienced that, I understood why anime often shows a character being surrounded by falling Cherry Blossoms while talking to someone. It's definitely a unique experience that I think everyone should try at least once. I know I'm glad that my first visit to Japan happened around Spring instead of hot Summer. I think Spring is the best time to visit Japan since every single scenery ends up being twice as beautiful thanks to the Sakura flowers. If you have visit Kongetsu, I'm sure you've seen some of the shots that I've taken while I was there. If you haven't, I've included some of the shots that I took while it was Cherry Blossom time in Japan.

Overall, this episode is pretty much another example why Yoshimori is an awesome protagonist and was selected to become the Hoin successor. Unlike other Kekkaishi, Yoshimori is generally compassionate towards other living creatures, including humans. Instead of dismissing Kanda, he actually went out of his way to tell her that she can tell him if she sees another weird thing at school. Anyway, judging from the amount of screen time that Kanda gets, I assume the writers are developing her as another potential love interest for Yoshimori. I am not sure why they bother though since it'll take something drastic to change Yoshimori's interest from Tokine to another girl. I am actually looking forward to the next episode a bit more since it features one of the few endings in the series. Having said that, it's strange that they didn't just feature that story in this episode considering it involves the same Patisseries chef from episode 05.

Cherry Blossom Time in Japan

Note: Shots are taken in Tokyo and Okazaki city. For more info, see Kongetsu

© memento 2003