Kekkaishi ep.09

January 14, 2007 | 6 Comments

Well, the new episode will come out this week so I better write something about this episode since I never got the chance to do it back during its original air time. Unfortunately upon rewatch, I remember why I wasn't excited about the episode. It feels a bit boring in comparison to the other episodes in the series (the patisserie chef episode, for example). It doesn't help that the animation is a bit sub-par this time around and the comedy is barely around. There's not much they can do with the comedy but I hope the lack of decent animation is because the animators are saving the budget for the Shishio Gen arc. Although we won't see it for a while, that arc has some of the most interesting Ayakashi and complex fights.

The episode begins by showing a new English teacher called Minou Tatsumi reciting some Engrish to his students. It quickly becomes apparent that for Tokine's classmate, Shinohara Mao, the teacher's English-speaking ability (or lack thereof) is not a major priority for her since she spends the entire lesson admiring his looks. After the class is over, Mao asks Tatsumi if she can ask him a question. In response, the guy invites her to come to his place during lunch break so he can explain it to her. Meanwhile, Yuri's friends are confused to know that Yuri's interest in Yoshimori. They wonder which part of him that she likes. Yuri immediately denies that she likes Yoshimori, he's just on her mind a bit. Oops, wrong choice of words. Later on that day, Yuri notices Tatsumi unleashing some kind of power while a girl whom she thought to be Yoshimori's sister (Tokine) is nearby. At the same time, Yoshimori suddenly becomes alert because he also senses the power.

Outside the building, Tatsumi comments about how this human (Mao) is not good either while 4 green eyes are starring at her unconscious body from the bushes. Because she's suspicious of Tatsumi, Yuri decides to tell Yoshimori about it so Yoshimori decides to take her to the rooftop. Yuri's friends, however, thinks that Yuri is confessing to Yoshimori. After hearing Yuri's story about Tatsumi and Tokine, the two notice that there is a girl laying unconscious in the school's park. A worried Yoshimori immediately runs down to check on her but Yuri's friends think that he runs away from Yuri's confession. When Yoshimori reaches the area, however, Mao already regains her consciousness. She, however, doesn't remember as to why she's in this are. When Yoshimori asks her if she's seen a strange man, she tells him that he's the only strange man she's seen so far. Yoshimori decides to go back to the rooftop and tells Yuri that everything is fine.

Nevertheless, Yoshimori is concerned with the fact that an Ayakashi appears in the middle of the day and decides to investigate it. In the process, he sees Tokine walking together with Tatsumi. A jealous Yoshimori tries to trip Tatsumi using his kekkai but much to his surprise, his kekkai is instantly destroyed by something. Because of this, he goes to one of his friends and asks him about a weird male teacher. Yoshi quickly finds out that the usual English teacher is away on maternity leave so a new teacher has been hired as her replacement. Tatsumi himself is now confronted by a group of juvenile students because he made a pass at the thug's grilfriend. Tatsumi, however, calmly tells the guy that he's not sure which girl the juvenile is talking about since he makes a pass at many girls. Besides, the girls are only happy to follow him. Before the thug can attack Tatsumi, Tatsumi eyes turn green and black shadows appear around his body.

As Yoshimori senses evil presence inside the class, Tatsumi can be seen checking on the unconscious body of the juvenile students, commenting about how he can't use eat them. As a result, he has to wait until night to get his meal. After school, Yuri and her two friends walk together when they tell her about how 6 students have been found unconscious. Yuri, however, isn't concerned since Yoshimori told her not to worry about it. Her obvious happiness is detected by her friends who confront her about the confession. Unfortunately for them, Yuri has no idea what they're talking about. Back home, Yoshimori tries to decide whether or not he should tell Tokine about Tatsumi but when he imagines himself telling Tokine about it, Tokine in his imagination claims that she has no time for anything that he wants to say. And when he imagined himself telling her that Tatsumi is dangerous, Tokine in his imagination claims that she loves dangerous men.

That night, Yoshimori senses evil presence near the Karasumori site so he heads off there as usual. Along the way he meets Tokine and tries to tell her about Tatsumi. Upon hearing this, Tokine tells him that it seems he realises as well. The truth is, she has had her eyes on Tatsumi for quite some time. Of course Yoshimori mistook this to Tokine being interested in Tatsumi and imagines her saying that she loves dangerous men. Eventually they come inside the school and meet Tatsumi who has come accompanied by 4 snakes around his body. Tokine then tells Tatsumi that she has had her eyes on him because she knows he's not a normal human. She knows Tatsumi was the one who's been attacking students during daytime and wants to know his intention. Tatsumi admits that this is the truth and tells her that he just wants to use them as his nourishment but it appears humans are not good enough for him. However, Tokine and the others are slightly different.

Tatsumi immediately sends one of his snakes (the pink one) to attack the group. Tokine manages to protect herself and Hakubi with a Kekkai. Because of this the snake targets Madarao but before it can eat the dog, Yoshimori manages to create a Kekkai to protect Madarao. Yoshimori tries to use another Kekkai to enclose Tatsumi but unfortunately the blue snake around him cancel the attempt. Because of this Yoshimori uses a vertical Kekkai to block the pink snake while encloses the snake's tail with a small one. After exploding the snake's tail, it becomes apparent that the damage on the snake hurts Tatsumi as well. Unfortunately, Tatsumi manages to revive the pink snake and makes it bigger. Because of this Tokine asks Hakubi if the snakes are Ayakashi but Hakubi doesn't think so since it smells like the human. Having said that their scent is mixed with the scent of an Ayakashi. Upon hearing this Tokine asks Hakubi which part smells like Ayakashi.

Hakubi points at the head of the pink snake, which on close up reveals an Ayakashi called Kugutsuchu, an insect which is capable of controlling its host. Because of this, she asks Yoshimori to stop the snake's movement for a few seconds. After Yoshimori did this, she creates a Kekkai around Kugutsuchi and terminates it. In the aftermath, Tatsumi is horrified when he finds out that he's been attacking his students with the snakes. Yoshimori realises that Tatsumi is just an Inousha and the snake is a part of his power but the guy is completely harmless. While this happens, Yuri is having a quiet night making a charm to ward off evil spirits. At school, Tokine asks Tatsumi not to tell others about them but Tatsumi is far more worried that they'd tell others about him. He then thanks Tokine for saving him and asks her to watch over him. He also declares Tokine as his Goddess, pissing off Yoshimori and Hakubi in the process.

Impression:

The Yurina part of the story feels really tacked-on and out of sync with the rest of the story even though they try to tie it to the main story. I supposed it can't be helped since this is originally meant to go together with the pattiserie ghost story so the fact that this was turned into a separate storyline means that they need to add a few fillers along the way. I also realise that the anime has been focusing on Yurina more than the manga, which I think it's useless considering Yoshimori's obsession with Tokine in the earlier part of the story and his obsession with something else later on in the story. Despite this, this episode is still quite funny. I like the look on Yoshimori's face when he imagines Tokine telling him that she loves dangerous men. It's amusing because it's all in his imagination but he becomes upset because of it. I also like that the Ayakashi can control other creature, making the story a bit more surprising than usual.

© memento 2003