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ファイト／ステイナイト 
Wow, finding a good raw for this episode was harder than usual. I only had the 105 and 121MB as options. Oh well, I suppose I'll just upgrade the screenshots to a Widescreen version later. Anyway, if you're looking for references to other series, you'll be glad to know that the reference to Doraemon remains intact. But as expected, there's no place for Tsubasa reference in this series. I also don't understand why the animators decide to put this episode first before the Zashiki-Warashi story. Despite this, they actually included one reference to her character at the end of the episode. As a side note, Ageha Ohkawa actually wrote the script for this episode. This suggests that she is actually aware of the changes and possibly even approved them herself. On a more positive note, the animation quality of the animation in this episode seems to be better than last week's although I realise that's not saying much.
The episode begins with Watanuki walking in the middle of the rain, hoping that it will end soon. All of a sudden, however, he gets whacked with an umbrella by a girl. The girl then pouts and tells him that without rain, there would be no water for rice fields. She then greets Watanuki and much to his surprise, the girl actually knows his name. A few minutes later, the girl is seen sitting in Yuuko's living room while Yuuko makes fun of Watanuki by comparing him to Nobita from Doraemon. Yuuko then informs Watanuki that the girl is an Ame-Warashi, a rain maker. It appears that she has come to the shop to ask for Yuuko's help. Yuuko agrees to help but as usual there's a price for it. Ame-Warashi agrees to the specified term so Yuuko agrees to lend her Watanuki. Watanuki is livid about this and even more so when they have to go and get Doumeki as well. For some unknown reason, however, Ame-Warashi seems to like whatever refreshing scent Doumeki seems to be emitting.
After this, Watanuki and Doumeki goes to Himawari's house to ask for something that belongs to her. Since Watanuki is too embarassed to ask from Himawari, Doumeki decides to be the one who does it. Watanuki, however, becomes horrified when he sees that there is some kind of romantic vibes between Doumeki and Himawari while the later gives out her hair ribbon to Doumeki. A few minutes later, Watanuki is walking along with Doumeki telling him that Himawari is just nice to everyone so her kindness wasn't anything special for Doumeki. In return, Doumeki tells him that it means Watanuki is not special either. Much to their surprise, they then find Ame-Warashi hiding behind a telephone pole. It seems she's afraid of Himawari or rather, her name. Anyway, now that she has Watanuki, Doumeki, and Himawari's ribbon, she thinks the two boys can go on a rescue mission for her. The mission sends the two boys to a park containing Ajisai (Hydrangeas).
This Ajisai, however, is unusually humongous and moreover, their colours are pink to red-ish while normal Ajisai has purple colour. While examining the flowers and have little argument with Doumeki, however, a part of Watanuki's pant got stuck into one of the Ajisai flowers. Before he can seperate himself, however, a mass of black fogs suddenly come out of the Ajisai and envelopes Watanuki. When Watanuki opens his eyes, he finds himself inside a vacuum, grey space. He also can smell something bad and as he walks further, he finds himself face to face with a crying little girl. She claims that she wants to go somewhere but she can't. Because of this, she asks Watanuki if he can come with her. Watanuki agrees to accompany her but when he finds out where she is heading, he has the feeling that he shouldn't go there. True enough, a group of bright lights suddenly appear and tell him that he musn't go there. The girl, however, starts to cry and asks him to come with her.
The girl then continues to drag Watanuki towards her destination. She also screams that she doesn't want to be alone in this place anymore. Watanuki then realises that the same foul scent that he smelled earlier also comes from the girl's body. Eventually Watanuki understands the situation of the girl and all of a sudden, droplets of rain starts to come into the realm. Along with the rain, Watanuki can now see the ribbon that Himawari gave to him and Doumeki. Because of this Watanuki takes out his own part of the ribbon and upon doing this, the ribbon starts pointing upwards towards the other ribbon in the sky. Watanuki tells the girl that they must go up above but the girl refuses because she feels that she's dirty and not like she used to be. She's afraid that everyone are going to be sick of her. Watanuki, however, assures her that even if that is the case, he won't ever say that kind of things to her.
Eventually the girl agrees to come with Watanuki so Watanuki points his ribbon to the other ribbon. The two ribbon then connect with each other and take Watanuki and the girl out of the vacuum space. Upon getting out of the space, it is revealed that the girl has actually been dead and all that is left of her was her skeleton. Watanuki is more surprised to know that the person who's holding the other side of the ribbon is Doumeki. In addition to this, day has now turn into night. Doumeki then collapsed into the ground, claiming that he's exhausted. Watanuki doesn't understand why Doumeki is like this so Yuuko appears and tells him that anyone who's been standing under pouring rain for 10 hours will be tired. Later on, Yuuko explains that the girl actually came from the place where the dead lays. The place the girl was trying to go to is actually a place where evil spirits gather. These spirits tend to make people suffer before leading them to their death.
Watanuki is surprised to hear this and wonders why the little girl tried to lead him to such place. Yuuko explains that this is simply because the girl was lonely. Because of this, she wanted to lead Watanuki to the world of the dead too so he can be with her. Yuuko thinks that the girl may not have been aware of her action but that's what she was trying to do. This is exactly why the Ajisai tried to stop Watanuki from going there. The bright light that shined in the darkness was actually the voice of the Ajisai. Anyway, Yuuko points out that Watanuki needs to thank Doumeki for holding Himawari's ribbon for 10 hours. It was this ribbon that allows Watanuki to escape from the world of the dead. Yuuko also tells Watanuki that when she went to check on the two, she found Doumeki in the middle of digging the ground in the hope of finding Watanuki. Because of this, she told him that he won't find Watanuki that way and proceeded to show Doumeki what to do.
Yuuko basically told Doumeki to get his ribbon and pointed out that if Watanuki has the other ribbon, he will be able to notice Doumeki's. However, until that time, Doumeki had to continue holding the ribbon. The conversation between Watanuki and Yuuko, however, got interrupted when Doumeki comes into the room. He informs them that the police had told him that the clothes on the girl matched the clothes of the girl who went missing last year. He then proceeds to give Yuuko something that belongs to his grandfather as a payment for giving him information about the ribbon. Because of this, Yuuko urges Watanuki to said "Thank You" to Doumeki. Watanuki tries his best to say the word but ends up screaming the word instead. Ame-Warashi then appears to thank both guys but much to the guys' surprise, she didn't thank them for saving the girl but for saving the Ajisai. The truth is, she doesn't care so much about humans. Before she left, Ame-Warashi also wonders what that 'kid' saw in Watanuki. This makes Watanuki curious and begs Yuuko to tell him more about it.
Impression:
It's probably because I haven't paid enough attention to the series but when did Doumeki start having the ability to see spirits? The last time I remember, Doumeki can't even see those ordinary spirits that often haunt Watanuki. If Ame-Warashi is considered higher in rank than an average spirit, then shouldn't technically Doumeki have even more difficulty in seeing her? I wonder if CLAMP purposedly changed Doumeki's ability because if he can't see the spirit, the chances that he can fight effectively will be diminished greatly. Plot-wise, I think this is one of the darker stories from the series. When the skeleton hand of the girl was revealed, it's hard to ignore the implication of the scene. Even though there wasn't anything else shown apart from the hand, it was more than enough to imply that something brutal had happened to the girl. The possibility that girl didn't die a natural death became immediately apparent.
In addition to this, it was shocking to hear that the Ame-Warashi could not care less about the girl's death. This seems to be a repeat of the theme that was featured heavily in X. Humans often destroyed other living being without giving much thoughts to them. So should the situation is reversed, why should other creatures care about humans and their problems? Case in point: although humans often consider themselves as the most important creature in the world, natural incidents often prove that in the greater scheme of things, humans are as expendable as any other creatures. Anyway, I also like the fact that this episode shows character development for Doumeki. This episode shows that he actually cares a lot about Watanuki. No one will bother to dig a hole with his/her bare hand to look for someone if that person is not in some ways have affection for the other person. In addition to this, he ended up giving Yuuko something important that belongs to him in order to save Watanuki.
I'm not positive, but from what I've read of the manga, there appears to be different sorts of spirits. There are the kind that only Watanuki can see, and the more traditional sort that lots of people can see. Besides the Ame-Warashi, Domeki is also able to see the Zashiki-Warashi and Yuko's pipe fox spirit with no problem. Or maybe these spirits take a physical form and that's why people can see them, unlike the more ghost-like spirits Watanuki can see.
Anyway, I'm really excited about this episode, it's one of my favorite in the manga so far! Kind of weird that's it's before the story with the Zashiki-Warashi/Valentine's Day, but I know she's going to be in the series because she's in the opening credits (the very last shot). I think they are going to put it all in one episode, with the Valentine's storyline during the first half, and the White Day storyline that concludes it in the second.
Annalisa, about Doumeki being able to see spirits with a physical form, I think it's a little more complex than that. He wasn't able to see the wings that numbed the suppression mentality of a girl and that definitely wasn't some ghostly fog or anything like that. But then Yuuko did say that it wasn't a spirit, but a bug or virus. There are either glaring plot holes or very complex rules regarding what Doumeki does and does not see.
hmm but isn't the rain spirt like more important thus has a physical form
Seriously though...I haven't seen this episode yet but I have kept up with the manga...doesn't Ame sparkle and disappear at the end? This would suggest some sort of deliberate manifestation power being used and may be why Domeki could see her. In the manga it seemed that it was her plan to use both Watanuki and Domeki in her Hydranea rescue scheme. If she needed the help of a spirit-blind person it would make things easier to coordinate if she makes herself visible you know?
In any case those two face shots of Ame are just weird looking. She's supposed to be this outspoken, expressive, and sarcastic brat of a rain spirit you know. I really liked her character and her story in the manga. But those screens make it look like she's either drugged up the wazoo or is a humanoid interface created by data entity sent to Earth to observe the aftermath of a mysterious data explosion from 3 years ago.
Just to add to what everyone else was saying about Ame-Warashi...
In the manga she shouts out "don't compare me with spirits!" at Doumeki when he asks if she's another spirit (and then proceeds to whack him with her umbrella...and Watanuki too :p)
So perhaps she's not a spirit at all?
Well, from what I recall, Doumeki could also see the spirits in the Hyaki-Yakko ceremony in Volume 6, as well as the spirit/ghost lady in that same volume... on top of the Zashiki-Warashi and Ame-Warashi in Volumes 4 and 5. Plus, from what I recall, he also saw the shadows the ghosts cast back in Volume 2... so he has some ability to see spirits, even if it's not the same 'spirit-vision' that Watanuki has; or at least, he can see them if he's in the same realm as they are.
Given that the Ame-Warashi had manifested enough that she could whack Doumeki with her parasol, I suspect that she'd physically manifested.. which meant, of course, that Doumeki would have no problems seeing her, since she was physically in that plane, rather than just hovering in the spirit realm just outside of normal reality, but touching something in the material world. This would also apply to the Zashiki-Warashi, since she too had physically manifested, from what I could tell.
Doumeki probably just can't see 'across' the barrier, as it were, which seperates the spirit world from the physical... while Doumeki and Yuuko can. Otherwise, he has no problems interacting with it, due to the talents that come with his own bloodline.
Another thing to note - the Zashiki-Warashi is a type of spirit which manifests in the 'real world', in order to bring good luck to people who need it. That's also probably why she started chasing after Watanuki in the first place, as well. :D
Domeki could see the spirits in the Hyaki-Yakko ceremony because he was a participant in it. He could see the shadow ghosts during the 100 Ghost Stories ceremony because he was a participant in that as well. I have already established my opinion that he could see Ame-Warashi because she physically manifested herself. Also remember that when he and Watanuki went to the school to investigate Angel-san he was able to feel the power of the giant guardian snake thing when it attacked them. It may be that Domeki has to be facilitated to sense spirits either by the spirit’s own powers or by an incident ritual. The ghost woman could also have been physically manifested (it does seem she had been around for a while and it is conceivable that she developed that power) or…get this…Domeki really didn’t see her but is instead reacting to Watanuki’s actions. Didn’t he say in effect when the two of them went to confront Angel-san that he trusts in Watanuki’s power, that if Watanuki can see spirits then they must exist? The same could be said about the Zashiki-Warashi. Domeki didn’t really do anything interactive with her. He only reacted to Watanuki’s outburst and to the girl using her power on him. This interpretation does put the cooperative bond between Domeki and Watanuki in a higher level, which is what Yuuko told Watanuki he should do right?
The Del Rey translation has Doumeki telling Watanuki that the woman's half-transparent and that he can see through her - he's not just reacting to Watanuki there, unless he's lying... and Doumeki doesn't appear to be the type to lie. He couldn't see the ghosts in the Angel-san incident because they were in a different 'realm' than he was in, but could see the spirits in the Hyakki-Yakko ceremony because they were both in the same plane of existence.
He knows spirits exist - his grandfather was an exorcist, after all, and taught Doumeki quite a bit about them... enough to let Doumeki recognize things like the Pipe Fox spirit without needing a lot of prodding ("My grandfather used to talk about those.") or explanation. I don't see any conflict between the idea of physically manifesting on the material plane and being 'in the same plane' as something, myself - if the spirit does that, then Doumeki can see it. If not, he can't see it... but can sense it, via the sense of pressure that he's mentioned on previous occasions.
Oops...forgot about the transparent comment Domeki makes but that still go in line with my idea. Okay I'm not trying to establish canon or insisting that I know what the writter wish to say about it. I play alot of the white-wolf nWOD roleplay game and I simply used the rules for spirits and ghosts from that game in my interprutation of the spirits in this show and surprisingly its a near perfect fit. That's where the difference between physical manifestation and planar cohabitation for me comes from.
This is hardly any deep exposition on the plot... but am I the only one who expected the Ame-warashi to be a blonde?
Perhaps I'm just looking too hard for characters from other series, and imagined a resemblance to Ringo Seto (from CLAMP's Angelic Layer)?
Actually, the only color picture of Ame Warashi that I've seen by CLAMP shows her with very pale blue hair, nearly a silver color. It's the front piece of one of the recent manga volumes.
“….I wonder if CLAMP purposedly changed Doumeki's ability because if he can't see the spirit….” Does this mean Garten-san that the anime has now somehow greatly diverted from the manga? Is Doumeki just an ordinary human being in the said manga, and that he doesn’t have any metaphysical powers whatsoever….?
If that is so, I guess CLAMP must have wanted to make him more of an actual and true major character in the anime then.
“Anyway, if you're looking for references to other series, you'll be glad to know that the reference to Doraemon remains intact.” Boy!!! Am I surprised!!?? I never knew that Doraemon was done by CLAMP. I always thought that it was just a KIDDIE anime as it was once aired in my country during weekday mornings. Never knew CLAMP did that one too. Pardon my ignorance please…..
“Anyway, I also like the fact that this episode shows character development for Doumeki. This episode shows that he actually cares a lot about Watanuki….” Yes, I agree. Doumeki must really think of them as good friends. (I hope this is not another Shounen-ai pair from CLAMP. I’d hate it….) Anyway, Doumeki quite reminds me of Kurogane who acts as if he doesn’t care – but actually does…. Connectively, why is it that Watanuki is not being kind to him at all? Just a simple “Thank You” --- he can’t even blurt it out properly. Is he like that in the manga too? He’s insecure of him in many ways, I think.
Lastly…. “It seems to be the trend with the recent anime series…“ (took this one from your episode 6 synopsis) I can’t understand this trend at all. Does this mean that the Animation-Production Studios nowadays are being so strictly and unbecomingly thrifty to the point of sacrificing an anime series? What would the anime world be then 5 years from now, if they’re being like that?!
Sorry for the number of inquiries there. More than that, I’d like to commend you again for this great summative-analytical work. Oh man, I had quite some goosebumps (w/out even watching the anime just yet, and simply reading this one..) upon reading your “IMPRESSION” lines about that girl’s brutal death. Somehow, it subconsciously reminds me of some scary stuff (I don’t know what…). And it’s really dawn time here….added external factor, I guess….
God bless you, Garten-san…..
... ^^ That's a lot of discussion on Doumeki, wow. I agree most with the different planes of existence idea, in any case.
I just wanted to say that the little girl was so sad. I felt really bad for her and her obviously violent and terrible death :( and that she didn't want to go back up because everyone would be disgusted by her. aww.. I just had this image of this psychopathic murderer who buried her under the hydrangea. Her poor family.
Yeah, I realize she's not real. But it's one of the little sidestories I liked a lot; a lot of these side-people in XXXHolic, by the nature of the story, are so stupid that I want to kick them.
I agree to that. Very well said. In my own imagination about what happened to her, I think I could picture her out as someone who must have been made ready for "White Slavery" Trading and who tried to resist and was brutally raped then killed (brutally too) and buried there; or she might just have been abducted by some pychopathic pedophile rapist and was then brutally killed after the sex crime was done to her and was buried there, of course. Either ways, she's stll the pitiful one. Poor girl......This sidestory is so real (happens most of the time in this world...), don't you think?
"....Because of this, she wanted to lead Doumeki to the world of the dead too...."
Garten-san, please pardon me for this inquiry. I'm not trying to correct you about errors or something like that. As I've said before, I don't mind them at all as long as you continue doing all of your great summative analyses. I just want to clarify whether the above line I've quoted from this Ep. 7 summary of xxxHOLiC is already rightfully exact or not. I just thought....wasn't it supposed to be Watanuki whom she wanted to lead to that place?
If this line is right however, then "Gomenasai" for the unnecessary inquiry. God bless you.... :) :) :)
one of their darker stories you said... that reminds me of Clamp's Tokyo Babylon. it was the first Clamp book i read, and lots of the stories in that series were quite "dark"... so was the ending. sigh...
i enjoyed your detailed summary =)
I just want to clarify whether the above line I've quoted from this Ep. 7 summary of xxxHOLiC is already rightfully exact or not.
Sorry, it's actually a typo. It's meant to be Watanuki. I often mix character names like that but it's been fixed now.
Thanks, Garten-san. Anyway, I'm sorry for the fuss that the above inquiry had put you thru. On the other hand, I'd like to state a side-note that's not at all related to this episode. I hope you don't mind..... I'm sorry for this, but I just want to inform you that your Memento Archives and all of your works (Summative Analyses, Explanations and the like) are very famous. I go to this site you know, and people every now and then mention somehow about your site being a great guide for a certain anime/manga. Congratulations. God bless you....and More power!!!!!!!!
This episode is BEYOND amazing, perfect script (Ageha-Sama), awsome animation, it's dark, it's incredibly magical, Ame-Warashi rulessssss!!!! *____*
do you mind if I use some of your comments on the pictures on some icons? I will credit, of course. please reply to email if you have time.
Jenny, go right ahead. Thank you for asking and sorry that I couldn't reply earlier.
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