Kekkaishi ep.14

March 3, 2007 | 10 Comments

One impressive thing about this series is the fact that Sunrise somehow manages to keep a rather consistent quality in most episodes. Most shounen series tend to go down in both the character design and animation after a couple of episodes. With this series, however, there have only been one or two episodes where the character design or animation were downgraded. The burning scene in this episode is a good example of how good-looking this series can be. The fire that the animators drawn in this episode is unusually high in quality. Another thing that impresses me is the quality of the voice-acting. Without the right VA, I doubt that the series would have been this entertaining. This is especially true in Yoshimori, Madarao, and Hakubi, each of whom has a unique way of tonal range and line delivery.

The episode begins with Yurina feeling weird because Yoshimori is actually awake during lesson. She wonders if this means there are ghosts nearby. Because of this, she decides to aproach the guy during a break, prompting her girlfriends to think that her love can't be stopped. Yoshimori himself is grumpy because his friends keep talking about how his cool older brother has come back. When Yurina asks him what kind of brother Yoshimori has, Yoshimori snaps and tells the poor girl to shut up. He then tells his friends that his brother is anything but cool. Inside the house, Masamori pulls out a jar containing a green creature while saying that Yoshimori's being alive or death will depend on Yoshimori himself. When Yoshimori comes home, Masamori invites his brother to have a tea. He then tells his brother that he's heard from their grandfather about the mischief that Yoshi made and asks if Yoshimori released Madarao's seal.

Yoshimori who's not keen on pleasantries asks his brother to cut it short since he'd like to get an afternoon nap. Masamori decides to ignore this and tells him that Tokine sure has grown pretty. He remembers how Yoshi always played with Tokine....well, not really. The flashback shows that Tokine usually ignored Yoshimori and prefered to talk to Masamori instead. LOL at Yoshimori crying. He then goes to the point and asks Yoshimori if he still loves Tokine. Poor Yoshimori immediately spews his tea on a vertical angle, wetting himself in the process. An amused Masamori hands out some tissues to Yoshimori and tells his brother that it seems he's still devoted to Tokine. Masamori then goes to his point, saying that Yoshi tends to just lash out his strength in a fight. He advises Yoshimori to use his skill intelligently and asks the boy if he knows about the advantage that an Ayakashi which enters a Karasumori site possess.

Yoshimori nods and tells Masamori that the Ayakashi can use Karasumori's energy to power themselves up. Upon hearing this Masamori tells Yoshimori that there is one more advantage: they have no idea about the Ayakashi in advance. He points out that the Ayakashi's appearances and abilities are unknown to them and yet the Ayakashi knows all about them. Because of this Masamori wants Yoshi to know that he's too weak. If Masamori wants to attack Karasumori site, he can destroy it in one night. He also thinks Yoshimori hasn't mastered the Kekkai technique and gives a demonstration of a method which Yoshimori never tries before. Masamori basically covers a tea mug in Kekkai and then drop the mug only, leaving the tea still contained within the Kekkai. Masamori points out that Yoshimori is far behind Tokine in attitude and technique. Much to his shock, Yoshimori claims that he doesn't care if he actually lose from Tokine.

He claims that he doesn't understand anything complex and is just happy as long as he can keep people from getting hurt. Masamori thinks that Yoshi is kind but he's also naive. He believes Yoshi is going to encounter increasingly difficult situations in the future. Moreover, Yoshi is responsible not only for the site but also the entire town. Masamori ends his speech by saying that Yoshi is the legitimate heir and no matter what he says, he can't run away from his responsibility. Yoshimori is pissed off after hearing this and runs back to his room. After he calms down, however, he looks at the hoin in his hand and ponders about his role as the legitimate heir. That night, everyone is surprised when they find out that Shouji has cooked a lot of food. Shouji claims that he's excited with Masamori's surprised visit that he ends up cooking too much. Masamori is equally surprised to hear this since he already sent an email to his father.

Shouji apologises and admits that he hasn't used his computer for a while. Upon hearing this Masamori suggests that he gets a cellphone. All of the discussion about technology pissed off old fart, who wants his grandson to use Shikigami since he's supposed to be a magic practicioner. In response Masamori tells his grandfather that cellphone is a lot faster. Yoshimori, on the other hand, can't care less since he's a lot more concerned with the fact that his eating space becomes smaller when his brother is around. Because of this he asks if he can sit on the other side but his request is rejected by his grandfather immediately. That night Yoshimori feels sleepy since he ended up talking to his brother instead of getting afternoon nap. He also doesn't understand what's so great about the mark on his hand. Later on during patrol, Yoshimori is annoyed again when Tokine asks him if Masamori is not going to come and join them in the hunt.

Much to his surprise, however, Madarao tells him that he doesn't like Masamori either. At any rate, they arrive at the school but strangely there's no Ayakashi around. All of a sudden, however, large trees sprout out of the ground and before Yoshimori realises it, he finds himself inside a large forest. Unknown to Yoshimori, his brother has been observing from on top of the school ground, wanting to see Yoshimori's power. At the same time, Yoshimori asks Madarao if these trees are Ayakashi. Madarao confirms this by telling Yoshimori that it's a botanical Ayakashi. However, Madarao knows well that botanical Ayakashi don't have willpower of their own. Therefore, they must have been brought in by someone. Yoshimori tries to destroy a tree with his Kekkai and is successful. A few seconds later, however, the tree has been replaced by another tree. Before Yoshimori can try it again, Tokine appears and asks him not to waste his energy.

Yoshimori argues that if they don't sort this out soon, there will be more trees. In response Tokine points out that if Yoshimori just strike out blindly, he won't be able to destroy the trees as fast as they can reproduce. Meanwhile, Masamori thinks that since Yoshi can't enclose large target such as this one, he hopes that this will force Yoshi to think a bit more. Back inside the forest, Tokine tries to chop off the middle of a tree to see if the rest will grow again. Upon doing so, she points out to Hakubi that although the part remaining on the ground regenerate, the one that's been cut off is dead. Hakubi realises that this means they must concentrate on destroying the roots. Unfortunately, Tokine is not sure how deep the root goes. However, according to her grandma, there is a powerful Kekkai create around the Shrine of Karasumori. As a result, Ayakashi can't penetrate more than one meter into the ground.

Hakubi understands that's what Tokine's grandmother said but the truth is Ayakashi don't avoid the shrine because of the Kekkai's existence but rather because they will be devoured by the Karasumori site if they get too close. Tokine is surprised to hear this but before she can contemplate the issue, Yoshimori already appears on the scene telling her that he's found something. Meanwhile, Masamori reveals that the way to destroy the forest is to strike its center. Although the place looks like a forest now, there is actually only a single tree. Inside the forest, Yoshimori and the others find a tree with a strange fruit. Madarao thinks it's a dangerous and poisonous fruit but before Yoshimori can destroy it, it already spits a lot of seeds. Yoshimori manages to protect them with his Kekkai but after the attack is over, a thorn-filled tentacles appears out of each seed. Tokine suggests they ask help from Masamori but Yoshimori refuses.

Instead, Yoshimori intends on enclosing the entire forest with his Kekkai. Tokine is outraged upon hearing this, pointing out that he'll need a lot of power to destroy it. Yoshimori admits that he may not have the power to destroy it but he's sure he can enclose it. His plan is then to burn the trees after he encloses it. Outside the forest, Masamori is surprised when he sees a large Kekkai enclosing the entire forest. However, because it looks wobbly, he doesn't think Yoshimori can destroy it. Yoshimori himself remembers that Tokine told him to just maintain the Kekkai because she'll do the rest. Masamori can see fire appearing inside the forest. However, he's not worried since the trees can grow fast. Much to his surprise, Tokine creates a small Kekkai on top of the large Kekkai. She then uses her Kekkai to create a small ventillation on the top part of Yoshimori's Kekkai so that wind can get into the forest area.

This in effect causes the fire to intensify and creates explosion. Although there is a larger Kekkai that ensures no one outside the school can hear what happens, Masamori thinks this is a reckless attempt. True enough, Yoshimori can hardly control his Kekkai and soon enough, it starts to wobble uncontrollably. Because of this, Tokine and Yoshimori use their staff to send the fire to the portal. Although they manage to do this successfully, the damage that has been done to the school is quite devastating. Tokine decides to call in for help to clean up the area by sending a Shiki in the form of a bird. She admits that she couldn't say no to Yoshimori's plan but she never expected that he will be able to do it. In the aftermath Yoshimori is scolded by his grandfather and Masamori asks him until when he can do this. Masamori, however, admits that Yoshimori has a lot of power and wishes his brother can control it better.

Impression:

I usually am a fan of Yoshimori's plan but I have to admit that this time around his tactic is not only reckless but inefficient. Masamori pointed out that all Yoshimori has to do is to find the tree in the middle. Instead, Yoshimori chose to go overboard and used his Kekkai to enclose the entire forest. If there was another Ayakashi around who attacks him, his plan would have backfired badly. I think the fact that Yoshimori has a big power is one of his biggest liability. He tends to rely too much on his power to the inclusion of efficient thinking. Thankfully Tokine is always around to watch over his back otherwise he'll pull disaster after disaster. On a less serious note, I like that Masamori is willing to help his little brother to be a better Kekkaishi. I also like the way he made fun of Yoshimori's feeling for Tokine. It looks like ickle Yoshimori got easily upset when he saw Tokine liking his brother a lot more than she likes him.

The next episode: the main arc is coming!!

© memento 2003