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ファイト／ステイナイト 
I'd guess that the only way I can fully enjoy this episode is if I have a full understanding of the games' rules. Otherwise, it feels like I'm only watching half of the story since I have no idea why certain things seem funny to the characters. This also makes me realized that there are several Japanese cultures that I can't connect with on a personal basis. Mahjong is one of them and Shougi, which I mistook as mahjong last week, is another. I think the same thing can be said about Pachinko. I remember sleeping at a nearby chair while my friends were busy trying to get more money out of Pachinko machines at an arcade in Japan. I do wonder if it's wrong that I don't want to understand them a bit more. It's just not in my interest to do so even though in general, I do like Japanese cultures. I just think that just because you like a culture, it doesn't mean you have to pretend that you like every single facet of said culture.
If you're interested to see the difference between the pan/scan version and the widescreen, I've changed all of the screenshots from the first episodes into widescreen version. As you can see, it doesn't make much of a difference since washed out colors would stay washed out even in widescreen mode. The framing of the scenes are slightly better but it's nothing extraordinary. Maybe it'll be more apparent in episode 2, which has better, warmer color in comparison to episode 1. This episode itself is rather pedestrian in terms of animation. As I said before, the animation does make it harder to like this series. Sometimes I wish this series look more like Soul Eater (quality-wise) while still keeping the story similar. This episode itself is not too bad although it's certainly not a reference episode either. What stands out in this one, however, is the soundtrack, which is really good and in a way, is wasted on such poor animation/character design.
I thought the animation quality will take a nosedive here but thankfully that's not the case. I like that the animators tried to express the characters' emotion through different animation styles. It gives the otherwise boring and noodle-thin character design some variations. The music is pretty good as well. I don't usually pay much attention to the music used in this series apart from the OP and ED but I like the carnival-like BGM that was used during the introduction of the Yumekai. I also appreciate some of the cross-reference scenes included in the episode. For example, the shot of Himawari/Watanuki is done in an upside-down manner, similar to how CLAMP normally draws their X characters when they want to show characters with two conflicting interest. I don't think that's the case in here though. It's most likely just a symbolism for Himawari's incompatibility with Watanuki. If you're a manga reader, you'll also spot Young Jump reference here. In fact, the magazine is displayed so prominently that it's a bit annoying at times.
Sorry for the late review but it's been a rather busy week at work and this is such a dialogue-heavy episode. Overall, however, this is an excellent episode that is marred slightly by the inconsistent animation. I wish the animators can be a bit more consistent with the character animation. They have the tendency to draw Watanuki and otherworld creatures pretty well. However, when it comes to drawing Yuuko, Doumeki or Himawari, they sometimes slack off. This episode is a good example of the inconsistencies I am talking about. When Doumeki talks to Yuuko in front of her house, the long shot of him looks really bad. Jourougumo, however, looks fantastic no matter which angle you see her from. Not that I'm grateful for this because Jorougumo looks great (as long as you don't remember that her hand and legs probably transform into hairy spider legs at night) but I wish the animators would put the same attention when drawing other characters as well. Thankfully any deficiencies in the animation is offset by the fantastic story, which this episode delivers in spades.
Suga Shikao - NOBODY KNOWS (45.6MB, for PSP/Quicktime) | YouTube version
"Jam" was not exactly the first thing that I had in mind when it comes down to this song but thanks to this PV, it probably will from now on. I think what's unfortunate is that the song does not exactly remind me of xxxHOLiC Kei, the very show that it was meant to represent. Even while the OP is playing, it seems like the song is just there and does not sync well with the imageries from the OP title. Having said that, it is indeed a rather pleasant song. It may not be Suga Shikao's strongest title but it's pretty good. The PV itself is about Jam for some reason. Maybe it's meant to be a pun for Jamming session? Which is an informal, semi-improvised performance by a group of rock or jazz musicians. At any rate, Suga Shikao certainly makes sure that he is lathered in Jam as the song intensifies. In a way it reminds me of that Nodame Cantabile PV where the pianist let himself be splashed with black paint.
I'm a bit confused now. I had expected the 2nd episode to look worse than the 1st episode but that wasn't the case. This one actually looks a lot better than the first one. Maybe it's because the scenes take place mostly indoors and in areas that were not previously used. That means PIG has to draw some new settings and they look pretty good. The characters also look pretty good when they are chibi-fied. In other note, I just saw Library War as well and while the character design looks fantastic, the story makes me want to go back to sleep. Anyway, while the scene at Doumeki's library and Yuuko's porch looks nice, the high school scene looks as awful as usual. The story itself blitz through rather quickly. I remember this story being rather drawn-out in the manga but in this adaptation, things seem to be happening quickly one after the other. It makes me wonder if the animators are going to adapt other stories in between. There's one episodic story that I'd like to see and I'm not sure if it has been covered in the first season or not (the one about the moving portrait).
OP Theme: 「Nobody Knows」 by Shikao Suga - AVI version (29.5MB)
I didn't actually want to cover this or at least, I wanted to wait until the widescreen version is out so I don't have to endure the cropped screens. Unfortunately the widescreen version is not going to be available until 3 weeks later and I've always wanted to say a few things about this arc ever since I read the manga a few years ago. Anyway, the first episode is okay, I guess. I don't know why I expected marginal improvement. I just think PIG (Production I.G) can do better than this. I think the problem lies in the design conversion from manga to anime. xxxHOLiC is one of those manga that uses minimal shading for its character design. While it serves its purpose in making the manga looks stylistic and simple, it doesn't really work well in anime. Before I go further, I must apologize for the lack of summary on this entry. I'm really not in the mood to write one at the moment and just want to get my impression across. I'll try to add it in later on if I have the time.
