Kekkaishi ep.07

November 28, 2006 | 7 Comments

This kind of episode is one of the few reasons as to why I like anime so much. Although this series appears episodic at a glance, the amount of character development and story included in here is phenomenal. It's the kind of story which makes me wish that I'm a writer who can write something equally as good. This is no small task since it requires the viewer to sympathise with a character of the week as opposed to a regular character that the viewers are familiar with. However, this episode manages this feat easily. In short amount of time, the story convinced me that the two brothers in this story really do care about each other. This is why I believe that a good story can usually be determined by the story's ability to move the viewer's heart and convince him/her that a fictional character's emotion is actually real.

This episode itself begins with Yoshimori completing a castle cake with the help of the Patisserie ghost. Although he's grateful for the help, he wonders if the guy is not ready to rest in peace yet. Because of this, Yoshimori wonders what is it that makes the ghost so attached to this world. The ghost thinks it's probably because his last word was Cabbage". He thinks it's pathetic that a Patissier died trying to reach a Cabbage. Besides, he enjoys his current condition since it allows him to go where ever he wants, like the Onsen. Yoshimori is horrified to hear this and assumes that the ghost has been peeping on people again. Because of this, he decides to visit the ghost counsellor, Hananokouji Yumeko, and ask her what the Patissier ghost said when he came to this place. Unfortunately, Yumeko informs him that the ghost didn't say much. Upon hearing this, Yoshimori tells her that he wants the ghost to rest in peace.

In order to obtain info about the ghost, the two visit a cake shop where the ghost used to work. By describing the ghost as "Kansai-ben" man, they find out from the main Patisserie chef that the person in question did work in the shop. He's apparently known as "Chikuwa-kun" (Fish-cake) XD. The Patisserie chef even has a picture showing the man in question. When a confused Yoshimori asks the old Patisserie why the dead man is called "Chikuwa", the guy tells him it's because the guy comes from the Tsukijigaoka family, who's known for producing Fish-cakes products. The guy then reveals that "Chikuwa-kun" real name is actually Tsukijigaoka Masahiko. Because Masahiko wanted to become Patisserie, the old Patisserie made Masahiko his student. The old guy also reveals that although the sibling's parents have passed away a long time ago, Masahiko's younger brother is still alive.

On their way out, they notice a new cake design called "Cabbage Field". The old Patisserie tells them that the cake is a brand new cake that Masahiko and him made together. After the two left the cake shop, Yumeko and Yoshimori agree that the reason Masahiko can't rest in peace is his little brother. In order to solve this problem, Yoshimori forces Masahiko to meet his little brother. When the ghost tries to resists, Yoshimori uses his 「念糸」- Nenshi (Kekkai string) to drag the ghost like a balloon. As Yoshimori goes through a park, Masahiko yells around, asking for help while telling Yoshimori that a student should go to school. Unfortunately for him, Yoshimori tells him that unfortunately today is Saturday so there is no school. The two eventually meet Yumeko who have arrived with a car. She informs Yoshimori that Masahiko's little brother is called Toshihiko and is also the President of Tsukijigaoka Food's Kantou branch.

They proceed to tail the younger brother as the guy visits various companies. However, because the guy is always surrounded by others, the group is reluctant to approach him. Eventually, however, Toshihiko decides to drive alone so Yumeko asks her driver to not lose sight of the car. While inside the car, Masahiko continues to ask them to let him. Yumeko, who's fed up with his whining, saying that as long as Masahiko won't face his brother, he won't be able to rest in peace. Masahiko admits that he can't see his brother because he thinks his brother hates him. He reveals that he was the one who's supposed to take over his family's business but because he wants to become Patissier, his brother ends up being the one who shouldered the responsibility. In the present time, the younger brother suddenly stops driving and goes out of his car. The others are confused but Masahiko knows that the location is the area where he had an accident.

Upon seeing this, Yoshimori assures Masahiko that his brother doesn't hate him. Otherwise, the brother wouldn't go out of his way to be here. Yumeko and Yoshimori approach the man and tell him that the ghost of his older brother can't rest in peace because the ghost is concerned about him. The brother, however, thinks that Yumeko and Yoshimori are just trying to take advantage of his brother's death. Masahiko tells Yoshimori that he knew this is impossible since Toshihiko doesn't believe in ghost. Yoshimori is annoyed upon hearing Masahiko's pessimism since the guy usually is an optimistic person. Because of this, he orders the guy to stop wasting his time at the Onsen and start facing his brother. Unfortunately Toshihiko starts to walk away from them so in a last ditch effort, Yumeko asks Toshihiko if he hates his brother. Much to Masahiko's shock, Toshihiko confirms this. He also wants to know if Yumeko tries to extort money from him.

Yumeko denies this and tells the guy that she just wants his brother to rest in peace. Upon hearing this, Toshihiko tells her that he'll come back here at 4PM tomorrow. He asks Yumeko to bring proof that she's with her brother. If she can do this, then he'll be willing to talk to her. That evening Yumeko, Yoshimori, and Masahiko are busy thinking what kind of proof they can show to Toshihiko. Masahiko thinks they should just give up since Toshihiko hates him anyway. Yumeko disagrees with this and Yoshimori backs her up, saying that he feels Masahiko has something that he wants to tell to his brother. Masahiko admits that he wants to be forgiven. Because of this, he comes up with the idea of making a similar cake to the one that he used to make for his brother. However, because Masahiko can't make it himself, Yoshimori agrees to lend a hand. However, since Yoshimori has a job at night, they decide to postpone this until tomorrow.

The next day, Yoshimori goes to Yumeko's house to make the cake and is surprised to know that the recipe is quite simple. Masahiko explains that the reason is because the cake was the first one he ever made. After a few cakes are baked, however, Masahiko thinks they still don't look the same as the one he made for Toshihiko. The problem is, they only have 2 more hours before they must see Toshihiko. Masahiko thinks it might be impossible for him to reproduce a cake which he made 18 years ago. Moreover, he was just trying to copy the cake that his mother used to make. Masahiko explains how his mother used to make cakes for them and after his parents passed away, Toshihiko became depressed and refused to leave the house. In order to cheer his brother up, Masahiko bought a present and made a cake for his brother when the later had his birthday. He, however, claimed that their parents in Heaven were the ones who sent the present/cake.

It was then that Toshihiko smiled and stopped crying. Masahiko felt so happy upon seeing Toshihiko's smile and it's because of this experience he wanted to make other people happy by making sweets. However, he ended up running away from home because of this and now his brother hates him. Upon hearing this, Yoshimori tells Masahiko that they're going to make another one before the time comes. One and a half hour later, Yumeko's car is seen speeding on the road while inside the car, Masahiko and Yoshimori are trying their best not to get thrown left and right. They manage to arrive in time to show the cake to Toshihiko but unfortunately the cake is now mushed up thanks to what happened in the car earlier. Yoshimori tries to ask Toshihiko to taste it but Toshihiko refuses it so Yoshimori and Yumeko apologise to Masahiko for the screw up. Much to their surprise, however, Toshihiko tells them that he understands even if he doesn't taste the cake.

Toshihiko laughs and tells Yoshimori and Yumeko that he believes them because the idea that a dead person can bake a cake is the sort of things that his brother would come up with. Upon hearing this, Yumeko asks Toshihiko if he knew back then that it wasn't his mother who made the cake. Toshihiko confirms that he knows his brother was the one who made it. And the truth is, the cake that Masahiko made back then was much more worse than this one. Yoshimori is puzzled by this and informs Toshihiko that Masahiko told him how Toshihiko was smiling when he ate the cake. Toshihiko smiles and tells him that was because he was so happy when his brother gave him the cake. He didn't believe that the cake was delivered by their death parents but he was touched because his brother really cared about him. Toshihiko also admits that he's not as strong as his brother because while he cried during their parents' funeral, Masahiko never shed a tear in his presence.

Yoshimori then gets straight to the point and tells Toshihiko that his brother wants to apologise to him for forcing Toshihiko to take over family business. Masahiko confirms this, apologising for being a selfish brother. Toshihiko, however, is confused why his brother would apologise for it. As it turns out, he only blames Masahiko for dying so soon. When Yoshimori tells him that Masahiko thinks he always looks bored, Toshihiko tells the group that there's another reason as to why he believes them and it's because yesterday he overheard Yoshimori's verbal fight with Masahiko about Onsen. Apparently when Toshihiko was at an Onsen, he 'dreamed' that his brother was trying to make him laugh. However, because he was tired, he didn't responded to it well and it seems that his brother believed that he was bored because of it. Upon hearing this, Yoshimori realised that Masahiko didn't go to Onsen with the intention to peep on someone.

Toshihiko then asks Yoshimori if he can keep the cake so Yoshimori gives it to the guy. He then walks towards Masahiko and tells his brother that his cake is the best and just thinking about it always makes him smile. Because of this, he believes it's a magical cake and as long as he has this, he'll be okay. He then asks his brother not to worry about him. All of a sudden, Masahiko starts to vapourise into thin air and thanks Yoshimori and Yumeko for everything. He is also glad that he's a ghost since he doesn't have to show tears in front of his brother. After Masahiko disappears, Toshihiko thanks Yoshimori and Yumeko as well and proceeds to leave. That day, Yoshimori, Yumeko, and her driver tried the cake that they made based on Masahiko's first recipe and it tastes....bad. However, Yoshimori tells himself that one day he'll make that cake. A cake that will make someone's heart happy. The best cake.

Impression:

I think this is one of the rare episodes where the focus of the episode is not Yoshimori or someone closely related to him but a client of the week. It's unfortunate that Masahiko has to be written off since I think his presence makes the series a lot more interesting. Thankfully there is a good pay-off at the end of this episode and his death actually feels powerful despite the short amount of screen time that the character received. In addition to this, the relationship between Tsukijigaoka brothers can be contrasted to the relationship between Yoshimori and his siblings later on in the story. I think the Tsukijigaoka siblings are meant to represent the ideal relationship between two siblings. Unfortunately, no one can choose the family that they're born into. In some cases, people don't get along with their siblings. The question is, why does a pair of siblings get along well with each other while another pair does not?

To take an example from this series, Yoshimori doesn't get along that well with his brother. This is kind of strange because Yoshimori tends to have a good relationship with most people. His own friendship with Masahiko is a good example of this. If I compare his relationship between Masahiko and his relationship with his brother, I think there is one major difference that sticks out the most: both Yoshimori and Masahiko cared about their friendship with one another. As seen in this episode, Masahiko went out of his way to teach Yoshimori how to make cake while Yoshimori spent his time helping Masahiko to create a proof for his brother. When one or more party no longer care about the other, a relationship is no longer possible, even if that relationship is between blood-related siblings. Anyway, I probably should stop here since the series has not gone that far into examining Yoshimori's relationship with his brothers.

© memento 2003