xxxHOLiC Kei ep.03

April 18, 2008 | 15 Comments

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.

Previously on xxxHOLiC Kei: Karasu-Tengu asks Yuuko to help them save Zashiki-Warashi but she tells them that the only one who can do that is Watanuki. Because of this, she sends Watanuki, Kuda-Kitsune, and Karasu-Tengu to save Zashiki-Warashi. They immediately find themselves in front of a deserted old mansion. Karasu Tengu warns him that the one who captured Zashiki-Warashi is not the kind that Watanuki stands a chance against. Watanuki understands this but he also understands that Yuuko sends him here so he believes there is something that he can do. Upon approaching the mansion, Watanuki realizes that there's a barrier surrounding the place. All of a sudden, Kuda-Kitsune transforms into its real size and destroys the barrier using a fireball. Once he gets inside, Watanuki realizes that the place is colder than outside. This simply gets worse as he descends the stairs and at one point, he finds himself almost falling unconscious. In order to prevent this, he grabs a piece of broken glass and injures his own hand. He promises himself that he won't get out until he takes Zashiki-Warashi with him.

Meanwhile, Yuuko is just about to leave her house to go shopping when she finds Doumeki waiting for her outside the house. She guesses that there's something that Doumeki wants from her since he's waiting for her in a deserted place like this. A pan back towards Yuuko's house now reveals that the area where the house usually is located is just an empty field with wild vegetations. When Doumeki admits that he can't see the shop, Yuuko explains that because Doumeki has no need for it, there's no need for him to see it. Having said that, she wants to know what Doumeki wants to talk about so Doumeki asks her right away if Watanuki won't ever get his eyes back.　Watanuki himself manages to reach the bottom level of the mansion and finds Zashiki Warashi trapped in a large spider web. He, however, is startled when a voice exclaims that the idol has finally arrived.

When he looks ahead, a scantily-clad blonde woman with long red nails sits opposite him. Watanuki asks for the woman's name but the woman tells him that there's a part of him that knows her. She then makes unveils something, causes Watanuki's supposedly missing right eye to see himself looking at the woman. She then unveils his right eye in her hand. The woman tells Watanuki that his eyes have been fought over by many because it has the ability to multiply one's power several dozen times. It's in her possession because the spider who had a grudge on Watanuki is one of her kin. That means, she's the one who lord over spiders. Once upon a time there was a human who called her 「女郎蜘蛛」- Jorougumo. All of a sudden, Kuda-Kitsune growls upon hearing her name so Jorougumo tells the fox that it must be angry. She heard that it's been passed over by Ame-Warashi but it seems to like Watanuki.

Even Zashiki-Warashi is also fond of him. When she heard that his eyes fell into her hands, she came to get it back. Even though she's unconscious, Zashiki-Warashi still begs Jourougumo to return Watanuki's eyes. Watanuki tries to run towards the spider web but Jourougumo sends many spider webs his way. This pisses off Kuda-Kitsune, who easily blasted the spider webs using its fire energy. Because of this, Jourougumo orders Watanuki to stop Kuda-Kitsune or she'll cut Zashiki-Warashi's throat using her nail. Meanwhile, Ame-Warashi has come to visit Yuuko only to find that everyone is busy making model toys. She wonders if Yuuko is not busy so Yuuko tells her that one can say that but she's also busy. Seeing that Yuuko is unable to do anything either, Ame-Warashi has no choice but to wait so she asks them if they have Tachikoma (Ghost in the Shell's robot).

Back inside the mansion, Watanuki asks Kuda-Kitsune to stop firing and apologizes for it. This allows Jourougumo to take Watanuki up using her spider web. Once he's suspended in the air, Watanuki asks her to return Zashiki-Warashi. Jourougumo is surprised because she thought he's going to ask for his eyes back but Watanuki tells her that his eyes was the price for incurring a grudge so it's up to her what she wants to do with his eyes. However, he asks her to set Zashiki-Warashi free. Jourougumo simply smirks and tells Watanuki that Zashiki-Warashi is also a treasure in this world. It is said that eating the heart of Zashiki-Warashi will extend one's lifespan by a hundred years. Upon hearing this, Watanuki asks Jorougumo if his other body parts worth anything so the spider tells him that she admits that it'd be even greater to own both of his eyes at the same time.

Upon hearing this, Watanuki offers his left eye, causing Jourougumo to wonder if Zashiki-Warashi means that much to him. Watanuki admits that he's only spoken to her briefly but he thinks she's a good girl. Moreover, Karasu-Tengu and everyone else treasures her so he asks Jourougumo to let her go. He also suggests that she takes his other body parts if his eyes are not enough. Upon hearing this, Jorougumo tells Watanuki that she hates that. What she means by this is that Watanuki is throwing himself away so carelessly and thinks that he can exchange it for something that she considers precious. She points out that Zashiki-Warashi tried so hard to get his eyes back and yet he would throw it away so easily. It makes her wonder if Watanuki thinks Zashiki is a fool for trying to take back what he threw away so easily like trash. Watanuki denies this but Jorougumo thinks she got it right and points out that even Kuda-Kitsune is worried for him.

She believes that there are others who are worried for him as well. People who considers him important. She thinks he doesn't understand this and doesn't take good care of himself. He hates to see others getting hurt but has no problem letting himself get hurt. He doesn't understand how much he hurt those who care about him when they see him being hurt. Because of this Jorougumo denies his request. Watanuki cries upon hearing this so Jorougumo gets closer to take a look at his face. However, Watanuki sets himself free using the broken glass he obtained earlier and points it at Jorougumo. Upon seeing this Jorougumo smiles and tells him that she likes this attitude. As soon as she says this, Watanuki orders Kuda-Kitsune to fire at Jorougumo, allowing Watanuki to make a grab for Zashiki-Warashi. Jorougumo praises Watanuki's valiant effort but despite this, she'd still eat his eye. She then opens her mouth and devours the eyeball.

Kuda-Kitsune is pissed off to see this so the creature starts firing enormous-sized fireballs towards the spider but she manages to evade it and disappears from the mansion. By the time Karasu-Tengu gather their spine and enter the mansion, they only find an unconscious Watanuki and Zashiki-Warashi guarded by Kuda-Kitsune. Back at Yuuko's place, she tells a worried Ame-Warashi that those two should come back soon. Upon hearing this, Ame-Warashi sits down again, telling Yuuko that because Zashiki-Warashi told her that she'd do this on her own and because Ame-Warashi herself promised that she won't help, she has no choice but to wait until it ends. Yuuko tells her that because Zashiki didn't want to bother her, she went on her own. If Ame-Warashi understands that feeling, she should bear it and wait patiently. She, however, understands that this hurts them both. Everything is always half and half.

It's impossible for one person to pull everything on his/her own otherwise the world will incline in one direction (unbalanced) and breaks apart. Meanwhile, Watanuki finally regains his consciousness in Zashiki-Warashi's world. Zashiki-Warashi cries upon seeing this, telling him that she thought he'd never open his eyes again. Karasu-Tengu explains that Watanuki passed out due to Jorougumo's evil aura and this mountain's pure water cleansed it off. Zashiki-Warashi continues to cry because she couldn't do anything to regain his eyes. Watanuki, however, tells her that's not true so he also apologizes on her behalf. A few seconds later, Watanuki finds himself back in Yuuko's bath because the bath uses the water from the well so it connects to Zashiki-Warashi's mountain. Later on, Yuuko tells Watanuki that his right eye is gone for good and wonders if Watanuki is okay with this. Watanuki tells her that he's not happy but he's learned something important in return.

Upon hearing this Yuuko extends her hand, offering Watanuki an orange-colored sphere. She explains that this is half of Doumeki's right eye. She's the one who took it and of course, she received a compensation for it. Doumeki told her that if Watanuki can't get his right eye back, then he'd like Watanuki to have this. Watanuki decides to have it so Yuuko asks him to drink it. In the aftermath, Watanuki has a two different colored eyes. One is green and another is his original eye color: blue. After Watanuki falls asleep, Yuuko parts her wisdom, telling Watanuki that he doesn't just belong to himself but also to other people. Everyone relates to others and shares something with them. That's why there's no complete freedom but this is why we also feel joy, sadness, and love. The next day, Watanuki comes to Doumeki's house bringing a lunch box for him. Doumeki asks him what it is but Watanuki continues to say that it's a lunch that he made himself. So he asks Doumeki to carry it. Doumeki picks up the bentou and tells Watanuki that they halved it together. But Watanuki rants on and on about how he should thank Watanuki-sama, prompting Doumeki to call him an idiot.

Impression:

I really like Jourougumo despite the fact that she's a villain. She was a necessary presence to remind Watanuki that sometimes he doesn't value himself. Because of this, how can he value others who care about him? If he throws away his body parts like garbage, how does those who received favor from that body parts feel? It's bad enough that they feel indebted towards Watanuki but to know that Watanuki himself doesn't mind losing the body part would make the receiver feels like they are nobody to him. In that case, why did Watanuki want to part ways with his eyes? If he doesn't care about those that he tries to save, the meaning behind his action is lost. To say that he wants to give his left eye to save Zashiki-Warashi because he thinks she's a good girl sounds like an insult to me. At the very least he could say that it's because Zashiki-Warashi tried to save him so he wants to return the favor to her. That will show that he actually appreciates her gestures that he's willing to return the favor.

This is why Doumeki's gesture towards him at the end of the episode feels a lot more touching to me than Watanuki's attempt to save Zashiki-Warashi. It's true that Watanuki showed courage in attempting to save her but as a whole, the entire thing felt like a responsibility for him. This is why Zashiki-Warashi cried towards the end because she felt that her attempt to save him just caused him even more anguish. Thankfully Watanuki finally realizes that his action also affects Zashiki-Warashi so he apologized accordingly for almost adding extra burden to her guilt if he had given his other eyes to Jorougumo. As for Doumeki, his gesture feels like a big sacrifice to me. Doumeki understands that the entire spider incident was both his and Watanuki's fault. By offering half of his right eyes' visibility, Doumeki offers to take half of the burden from his friend. Whatever mistake they made back then, they will now hold the responsibility together. That to me shows that Doumeki appreciates Watanuki as a friend and considers him as his equal.

I know I've been harsh on Watanuki but that's because he really still has a lot of ways to go before he becomes what Yuuko think he's capable of. For example, his way of dealing with Doumeki's sacrifice is still via the usual food plus temper tantrums. It's like these two become safe escape from him so that he doesn't have to say that simple but important words: "Thank you". And yet, he expects Doumeki to say "Thank You" for making the boxed lunch. Anyway, overall this is a fantastic episode that is marred slightly by the inconsistent animation. I even like Fukuyama Jun's voice even though I'm starting to get bored of his Lelouch voice. Thankfully his role as Watanuki requires him to sound slightly younger than Lelouch (and a lot more shrilly too). I just hope that he's not tempted to bring that Lelouch voice to this show as well. Anyway, for Ghost in the Shell fan, for some reason PIG animators decide to show a Tachikoma model here. Maybe there's a meaning behind this but maybe it's just a cheeky in-promotion for that other show.

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