xxxHOLiC ep.16

August 28, 2006 | 27 Comments

I really like this episode from the story to the quality of the drawing, which is significantly better than usual. When I first saw it on Japanese TV a month ago, I thought it looks unusually good but it actually looks even better in Widescreen format. Because of this, I decide to include the larger screencaps in case anyone wants to see them. I'm also surprise to see an Angelic Layer reference included in the story. But I guess by now Piffle Princess brand can be seen in almost all of CLAMP's series. The story changes a little bit from the manga because the anime didn't have a Valentine episode. But I think it still is as good and actually gives Kuda-Kitsune more prominence in the story as well. I realised that another Tsubasa Chronicle reference is cut out of this story but I really don't mind at this point in the series.

Watanuki has been having problem with the Kuda-Kitsune because the creature has the tendency to glomp his back, even when he is in the middle of doing chores like washing clothes. Because of this, Watanuki asks Yuuko how much longer will the fox stay this big. Instead of answering the question, however, Yuuko tells Watanuki that the creature is cute for giving him a bear hug. Watanuki tells Yuuko that normally he doesn't mind a bear hug but in Kuda-Kitsune's case, it causes pain on his body and makes him unable to do the laundry. Watanuki then realises that someone has thrown small rocks to attract his attention. Because of this, he decides to investigate the source of the rocks and eventually stumbles upon a wrapped package on top of the well behind the house. Upon picking up the package, blue fireflies appear while Kuda-Kitsune suddenly becomes excited. Watanuki decides to unwrap the package and finds a bunch of Aburage (deep-fried tofu).

The fox immediately snatches the one on Watanuki's hand, gulps the food, before lying down on the ground in contentment. Watanuki, however, does not realise that one of the marks on Kuda-Kitsune's forehead disappears as soon as the creature consumes the Aburage. Later on, Watanuki, Doumeki, and Himawari are walking together along a shopping street. Himawari asks Watanuki if they should get something sweet so Watanuki suggests that maybe they should get Crepe. Watanuki's happiness, however, is interrupted by the realisation that Doumeki is hanging around him again as usual. All of a sudden, Himawari screams "Kawaii" after looking at a bunch of jewellery and tells Watanuki that she's going to take a look for a while. After Himawari enters the store, Watanuki wonders if girls like jewellery. In reply Doumeki asks him if Watanuki likes jewellery too. Not surprisingly, Watanuki tells him that of course he doesn't like it.

Himawari ends up buying a bracelet, so Watanuki gets an idea to get a Piffle Princess hairpin for Zashiki-Warashi. Doumeki, however, can't help but asking if Watanuki is going to wear them. That evening when Watanuki returns to Yuuko's house, Kuda-Kitsune immediately runs towards him and gives him a good glomp on the ground. Later on that night, Watanuki decides to make a Tonjiru (Pork soup) but because the Fox refuses to let him go, he decides to give it another Aburage. Once again Kuda-Kitsune lays on the ground in contentment. Watanuki think that the food can calm the fox down but Yuuko suddenly appears and tells him that he better thinks twice before overdoing it. She agrees that it is Kuda-Kitsune's favourite food but considering the effects that it can bring to the creature, she'd call it 'Junk Food'. Too much of it is bad for the pipe fox. She then examines Kuda-Kitsune's forehead and thinks that this is bad.

Yuuko points out that the marks on the creature's forehead are disappearing. When this happens, some spiritual power goes with the mark and eventually the fox won't be able to return to its normal form. Watanuki is horrified when Yuuko points out that this means he'd have to carry the creature on his back forever and begs Yuuko to tell him how to turn the creature back to its normal form. Because of this, Yuuko tells Watanuki that in order to return a pipe fox to its normal form, they'll need an extremely pure spirit. Watanuki immediately suggests that they bring the creature to Doumeki's place since Ame-Warashi once said that he has pure spirit. Yuuko agrees that Doumeki has pure spirit but if he tried to return the pipe fox back to its original form, he wouldn't just pass out this time around. Upon finding out about this, Watanuki immediately changes his mind since he doesn't want Doumeki to get another reason to gloat in front of him.

When Yuuko tries to think of another way to revert Kuda-Kitsune back to normal, Mokona tells her that it has an idea and latches onto a patterned vase. Yuuko immediately agrees that they could use the vase because with this they can get two birds with one stone. That night, Yuuko asks Moro and Maru to set up the vase on the backyard, in the middle of moonlight. Watanuki then appears bringing water from the well as Yuuko instructed. He, however, wonders about the function of the water so Yuuko tells him that they're going to use it. She also points out that she managed to borrow the vase from a friend's vast collection. However, when Watanuki finds out that it came from a display inside a Shinto shrine, he immediately assumes that Yuuko stole it. Yuuko claims that she paid for it and asks Watanuki to put the water into the vase before the moon moves away. After Watanuki pours the water, Yuuko drops a bunch of crystals into it as well to purify the water.

She then asks Watanuki and Kuda-Kitsune to stare into the water. Upon doing this, a bright light envelops both of them and they are transported into the inside of the vase. Watanuki tries to swim back up but he instead finds himself in an unknown location full of Daffodils. Watanuki believes that they are still inside the vase but strangely the air is fresh. All of a sudden, Kuda-Kitsune begins to glow and it eventually morphs back into its normal state. Watanuki finally understands that this place has lots of pure spirits. He, however, wonders how they could go back home now. In the middle of his confusion, Watanuki hears voices talking about him. He decides to poke one of the Daffodils to see if the voices actually come from it and much to his shock, the Daffodils yells at him. Watanuki claims that it'll take more than that to surprise him even though the Daffodils think that the fact he fell backwards after seeing them suggests that he's shocked.

Watanuki tells them the reason he's shocked is because they become big all of a sudden. He, however, is far more interested to find out where they are at the moment and how he can go back home. The Daffodils tell him that he'll come back once he finished his tasks. Watanuki is confused about this because Kuda-Kitsune already returns to its normal size but the flowers tell him that he still have something left so he better hurry up. They then turn big and yell at him to get going already, sending Watanuki sprinting away in fear. Watanuki eventually stops and finds himself at an unknown location. He then notices a blue firefly floating nearby and hears the sound of a flute. Watanuki thinks the sound is really good so he decides to investigate the source and finds Zashiki-Warashi sitting on top of a mini-cliff near a lake. Zashiki-Warashi is surprise to see Watanuki and falls into the lake. Thankfully it's a shallow lake so she's simply gets wet from it.

She, however, wonders why Watanuki is in this mountain. Watanuki is surprised to know that he's actually in a mountain. After the two talk, Zashiki-Warashi manages to guess that Watanuki comes from a Midhaven vase, a vase that contains a separate world full of spirits. She thinks the particular vase from which Watanuki came from is called the Narcissus Vase. It is a world for nymphs who form the essence of Daffodils. Watanuki wonders if that means they still in that vase. Zashiki-Warashi tells him that this place is actually the place where spirits like her live. It's a place called Reizan, which means Mountain of Spirits. Watanuki is confused to hear this because he never left the vase so Zashiki-Warashi explains that places that are full of spirits can lead a person along spirit paths. Because Daffodils bloom in this mountain, it's easy for the path to lead to this place. Watanuki realises that this is what Yuuko meant by 'two birds with one stone'.

Zashiki-Warashi then uses the opportunity to apologise to Watanuki for taking the Ohagi from Doumeki's body. She wonders if Doumeki is okay now so Watanuki assures her that Doumeki is fine. Zashiki-Warashi is relieved about this because Ame-Warashi scolded her after the incident. The two are actually good friends but Zashiki-Warashi feels that she always caused trouble for Ame-Warashi. She then asks Watanuki why he came all the way here because if he needs help, she can lead him. Much to her surprise, Watanuki decides to give her the hairpin that he bought from the store. He claims that it's a thank you prize for giving him the Aburage for Kuda-Kitsune. Zashiki-Warashi explains that she heard Aburage is pipe fox's favourite food and Watanuki always seemed to be troubled by it. Watanuki tells her that the gift helped a lot so he thinks he should give something back in return. Zashiki-Warashi immediately becomes embarrassed upon hearing this.

Watanuki tells her that the packaging is a bit wet but since the content is wrapped in vinyl, it should be okay. He also tells her that he was not sure what style he should get. And since he has no idea when he'd see her, he can't give her foods. Zashiki-Warashi opens the gift and tells Watanuki that she's happy with it. In her happiness, she cries a bit and looks at Watanuki with a grateful expression. Watanuki blushes as well to see her but their moment is interrupted by loud screams of the Karasu-Tengu. They are not happy that Watanuki has made Zashiki-Warashi cries again and tell him that he won't get away with it this time. Zashiki-Warashi tries to explain that Watanuki is just here to deliver the pin to her. However, since she knows they won't listen to her, she decides to grab Watanuki's hand and escapes to the forest with him. Unfortunately, Karasu-Tengu thinks that Watanuki kidnaps Zashiki-Warashi so they begin to chase him.

They eventually manage to corner Watanuki but before they can hit Watanuki with their paper fan, a voice orders them to stop. Ame-Warashi then appears on the area and scolds the little brats for not listening to Zashiki-Warashi's order. Upon seeing the hairpin, Ame-Warashi calls Watanuki a cheapskate but decides to place the angel wing pin on the other spirit. Zashiki-Warashi then tells Watanuki that he should be able to go back through the lake. Watanuki thanks her for everything and immediately jumps into the lake since Karasu-Tengu starts to go after him again. When Watanuki climbs up into the surface, he finds himself inside the well in Yuuko's backyard. Yuuko then comes over and tells Watanuki that his entrance is similar to Sadako (from Ringu series, warning: link contains many spoilers about the story). The episode ends with Watanuki about to enjoy a bowl of Tonjiru but Kuda-Kitsune swoops over and eats the Aburage he's about to have.

Impression:

It's probably because it's lunch time now but I am getting hungry after hearing all of the foods mentioned in this episode. It was interesting to know that you can actually put Aburage in Tonjiru. I thought Aburage is only used to make Inari-zushi. If I think about it, I actually like the majority of Japanese foods with the exception of Natto, which I won't touch with a ten foot pole. Some of my favourite includes: Sushi & Sashimi, Tonkatsu, Okonomiyaki, Takoyaki, Chawan-Mushi, Soba (either cold or as Yakisoba - I don't like the one cooked inside a hot broth). And that's just some that I remembered and I didn't include dessert like Dorayaki, Mochi, and Wagashi. Oh wait, I just did. I must be really hungry. This makes me wonder though if those who watch anime also end up liking Japanese food or at least become curious about them? I know that I ended up liking many Japanese foods mostly because I was interested to try the foods that either mentioned or shown in anime.

Anyway, this episode is also interesting because it promotes a favourite pairing of mine: Watanuki/Zashiki-Warashi. Despite Watanuki's obsession for Himawari, I have never seen her as a viable romantic interest for him. Probably because of the mystery that surrounds her but also because I don't think she has that much chemistry with Watanuki. It makes me want to know which pairing people actually like in this series? Watanuki/Himawari, Watanuki/Zashiki-Warashi? Yuuko/Watanuki? Doumeki/Watanuki? :P This is probably one of CLAMP series where the pairing is not as evident as in their other works. Possibly because there is more focus on the mythological aspect of the story than the relationship between the characters. As a last note, Kuda-Kitsune is unbelievably cute in this episode. I wish I have one so I can tickle its neck when it turns into its normal form. Interestingly enough, apparently there is a legend in Japan that Kitsune (Fox) does like Aburage.

© memento 2003