xxxHOLiC ep.4

April 28, 2006 | 14 Comments

I don't get this series sometimes. From time to time, there are scenes that look really good but then they zoom out of that scene and we get the usual mediocre animation quality. It gives me the impression that the budget for this series must be rather limited. I find this to be rather unfortunate since the majority of the story in this series are quite interesting. Story-wise, this one also gets a little bit of modification here and there. Oh well, at least Yuuko actually looks a bit better this time around and in general, the animation is a lot more consistent. I just wish the animators can put a bit more colour and make the character design look better.

The episode begins with Watanuki having lunch together with Himawari. Himawari praises Watanuki's cooking skill and points out that the tamagoyaki (sweet egg roll) that he's made tastes delicious. Watanuki tries to praise Himawari as well by pointing out that the meatballs that she made tastes delicious too. Himawari, however, tells him that she actually bought that one. Watanuki becomes embarrassed upon hearing this and even more so when he hears Doumeki calling him 'idiot'. As it turns out, Doumeki is actually having lunch with them as well. Himawari giggles and tells Watanuki that it seems he and Doumeki are good friends. As it turns out, after last week's incident, Doumeki's hand is injured so Watanuki promised to make the other guy Bento. Watanuki, however, becomes happy again when Himawari asks him about his birthday. Upon finding out that Watanuki's birthday is April the 1st, she tells the guy that it's nice that it's similar to his name.

Himawari then proceeds to ask for Doumeki's birth date and the other guy tells her it's March the 3rd. Watanuki is depressed to see Himawari interested in Doumeki's date of birth. He, however, perks up again when girl tells him that her date of birth is November the 27th, which makes her Sagitarius. Since Watanuki is an Aries, she thinks they are compatible. That afternoon, Watanuki goes to Yuuko's house looking happy much to Yuuko's surprise. The guy is so happy to the point that he ends up making Yuuko several types of foods since his boss hasn't had anything to eat. Yuuko eventually finds out the reason of Watanuki's happiness and because of this, she tells him that in order to find out about compatibility, he needs an entire horoscope. Watanuki doesn't seem to understand what Yuuko meat by this so she asks the boy if he likes fortune telling. When she finds out that the boy doesn't like any of it, Yuuko decides to take Watanuki to a fortune teller.

On their way to the fortune teller, Watanuki tries to tell Yuuko again that he has no interest in fortune telling. Yuuko, however, tells him that girls love fortune telling and adds that he can talk about it with Himawari. Upon hearing this, Watanuki becomes excited at the idea but is surprised to know that they are going to a fortune teller who is Yuuko's friend. When Watanuki wonders why Yuuko doesn't just do it herself, she tells him that a fortune teller telling her own future is taboo. She claims that if it's just a vision, it can't be helped but fortune telling is an entirely different thing. By the time they get to their destination, however, Yuuko is shocked and tells Watanuki that the place is correct but this is not where her friend lived. Nevertheless, Yuuko is curious as to what kind of fortune teller now resides in this place. Once they're inside, Yuuko points out that the piece of paper in front of Watanuki is the information that fortune teller needs.

The fortune teller then comes out and makes a remark that Mokona is a cute stuffed animal, suggesting that she doesn't know the creature real identity. The woman tells Watanuki not to be nervous, prompting the boy to think that she's nice and the opposite of Yuuko. He, however, becomes embarrassed when Yuuko tells him that she can hear him. It seems his thought somehow ends up becoming spoken words. The fortune telling then begins her job by asking Watanuki if his father is around? Watanuki foolishly tells the woman that his father has indeed passed away since he was a kid. He even offers more information by telling her that her mother has also passed away and that he has no siblings. The fortune teller tells him that life must have been hard for him ever since he was a kid. She then guesses that he lives alone and works hard. She also tells Watanuki not to worry about relationship as long as he's sincere about it.

The fortune teller then ends her session by telling Watanuki to keep an optimistic outlook in life because even though what he's facing right now is bad, nothing will change unless he becomes brave and face the problem. Yuuko is clearly not pleased with this reading and before Watanuki can thank the fortune teller, Yuuko suddenly asks her what the weather will be like tonight. The woman, however, simply tells her that the weather report says that it'll continue to be clear as it is now. When the woman asks Yuuko if she'll like to extend her time, Yuuko curtly tells her that she's heard enough. Later on in the park, Watanuki gushes about how awesome the experience was. But Yuuko asks him which part of the experience was awesome. She points out that the part where the fortune teller asked him about his father could be interpreted in two ways. It could mean either she's asking if his father is still alive or if his father is involved in his life.

The only person who assumed that the fortune teller was asking about his dead father was Watanuki. Watanuki tries to point out that the woman told him that he had a hard life as a child. Yuuko, however, reminds him that all kids without parents will have a difficult time when they were kids. Yuuko then points out the same thing can be said about the woman's word about relationship. She thinks that they're just basic knowledge about interpersonal relationship. Yuuko also knows that when Watanuki told the fortune teller that he had other problem, he was referring to the spirits. However, the solution that the woman gave him was to change his attitude. Yuuko thinks if that had been the case, surely Watanuki wouldn't be able to see the spirits by now. Yuuko believes that the woman thought that Watanuki's problem is not supernatural in nature. On top of this, the fortune teller failed to recognise Mokona, suggesting that she has no connection to the spirit world.

Because of this, Yuuko decides to look for the real fortune teller so she can show Watanuki how the real article works. She pulls out a yellow handkerchief and ask Watanuki to fold it. Yuuko then utters some incantation on the handkerchief and upon doing this, the handkerchief turns into a butterfly shape. Yuuko is relieved to see the form since it means the person they're looking for is nearby. She tells Watanuki that if it has to go further, it'd have turned into a bird. The handkerchief eventually stops at a normal looking house and upon entering the place, an old woman comes out to greet them. She seems able to recognise Mokona right away and knows that Watanuki is living alone. Watanuki is surprised to hear this and assumes that Yuuko has told her about him. However, Yuuko reminds the boy that she didn't have the chance to do that.

The old woman asks Watanuki for his name, prompting Watanuki to think that she needs it to tell his future. The woman, however, tells him that she just needs it so she can call him easily. He, however, is surprised when the old woman tells him that it was his mother that gave him that name. She then begins telling Watanuki's fortune by bringing out a strange-looking device. Watanuki wonders if the woman wants to know about his problem but Yuuko tells him that a true fortune teller would know right away what it is that his/her client would like to know. True enough, the old woman tells Watanuki not to worry because his parents are happy in the afterlife to know that he has grown into a good person. She also tells Watanuki that she knows he likes a girl but she believes he wouldn't want to know the future on this matter so she won't tell him. She, however, tells him that he and Doumeki will spend more time together much to his dismay.

This is, however, as much fortune the old woman can tell because if she tells more, Watanuki wouldn't be able to pay for it. Watanuki becomes worried to hear this but the woman tells him that all she wants is for him to cook her some food in exchange for the fortune telling. Watanuki wonders if that will be enough payment but the woman assures him that if he puts all of his efforts, it'll be good enough for her. While Watanuki prepares some food in the kitchen, the old woman talks to Yuuko about how butterfly has always been Yuuko's trademark symbol. She knows that it was Yuuko that started Watanuki's change. Yuuko then asks the woman what's the weather will be like tonight. The woman assures Yuuko that the rain will clear up when she's about to go home. The episode then ends with Yuuko saying that even though it's hard to confirm the result of fortune telling, it's rude for someone to pretend that they can do it. This is because true fortune tellers often risk their own life with each fortune told.

Impression:

Apart from Doumeki's inclusion and the old woman's prediction that the rain will clear up by the time Yuuko is about to go home, this is pretty much similar to the manga version. Having said that, seeing Doumeki during lunch time turns out to be quite amusing because he does look like a third wheel who's not welcomed by Watanuki. The interesting part about the series, however, is the idea of fortune telling and to a certain extent, horoscope. It really makes one wonders if everything is so pre-determined then why bother trying? Wouldn't the result be the same? If the result is different depending on the different course of action that one takes, then I don't think that qualifies as 'fate' or 'pre-determined path'. Such scenario implies that you have a choice and can take a path that you want to take in life. I was also interested in the difference between vision and fortune telling. I supposed one of them is simply the act of receiving information while the other is intentionally done.

In other words, in the case of vision, the receiver has no choice but to accept it. On the other hand, fortune telling means that the individual goes out of his/her way to find out more about the future. This brings me back to Himawari, who seems to be rather curious about Watanuki's and Doumeki's date of birth. For some reason, I don't think she asked that question because she's a girl who's interested in horoscope. Because if what Yuuko said is correct, then Watanuki's meeting with both her, Himawari, and Doumeki have meaning or purpose behind it. Moving on to another matter, Mokona sounds a lot like Arika (of Mai Otome) this time around. I know that Kikuchi Mika voices both roles but Mokona usually sounds different from Arika. Last but not least, I thought this screenshot looks quite amusing. It looks like Production IG animators are either a lecherous bunch or they simply don't care about the quality of this series. Isn't that grandma a bit too old for breast grabbing? :P

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