xxxHOLiC Kei ep.05

May 2, 2008 | 18 Comments

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.

Episode 5: Kohane

Watanuki tries to embarrass Doumeki using the knowledge that the later used to wear girl's kimono. Much to Watanuki's disappointment, Doumeki feels no shame whatsoever about it. During lunch, Himawari is impressed with the dream about Doumeki's grandfather. What does it say when your dream involves the grandfather of friend? Especially when said friend says that he looks a lot like his grandfather when the later was young. When a sakura petal falls on Himawari's bentou, for some reason an image of an older woman flashes in her mind. Watanuki, however, snaps her out of this by offering strawberry mousse. He, however, is reminded of the time when Yuuko asked her why he bought a nightmare. Back then Watanuki told her that he'd buy anything from Himawari, prompting Yuuko to ask him what is it that he likes so much about Himawari. Watanuki claimed that it's everything about her.

In the present, Himawari tells Watanuki and Doumeki that she saw a TV program about exorcism and a elementary school girl who can do it. Himawari thinks this one is real and the girl is supposed to do some kind of exorcism on a woman who's been haunting a sakura tree in the next episode. Although she's not afraid of ghosts, Himawari feels sorry for those who can see ghosts because they have to see it all the time. As if fated, when Watanuki and Himawari walk home together, they see a little girl standing underneath a sakura tree. Watanuki immediately recognizes her as the girl from the TV. However, before he can even say a word, the mother of the little girl tells him to stay away and not touch her daughter because her daughter might lose her power. As if proving her own words, she avoids contact when her daughter tries to touch her arm. Before they part ways, however, the girl tells Watanuki that he's not one of those people who don't understand.

Watanuki later on tells Yuuko that he feels similar to that girl. Yuuko explains that this is because he has formed a bond with that girl. After Watanuki left to get more tea, Mokona seems to be worried about this but Yuuko tells the creature that this is something that Watanuki has decided on his own. The next day, Watanuki ends up having lunch with Doumeki again so Doumeki uses the opportunity to tell Watanuki that yesterday, he saw a girl standing a sakura tree with his half eye. Watanuki is confused about this since Doumeki doesn't actually see everything with the eye, only some of the supernatural things. When Watanuki points out that Doumeki didn't see the small spirit he saw the other day, Doumeki suggests that maybe his ability to see depends on Watanuki's emotion. He believes he can see them when Watanuki feels strong emotion towards a particular subject.

Watanuki is annoyed with this analysis but figures it'd be better than Doumeki being able to see everything that he sees. As for the girl that he saw the other day, Watanuki is sure that she is human and the same girl that Himawari saw on TV. This, however, causes Doumeki to wonder if her power is real. That day when Watanuki is on his way back home, he notices the girl standing underneath the Sakura tree again. Since it's raining heavily, he tries to shield the girl with his umbrella. Much to his surprise, the girl tells her that she did get to meet him again after all. Watanuki wonders if she knew they'd meet again but she tells him that she just wished she'd see him again. Her mother once said that if you wish for something long enough, it'll definitely come true eventually. Because of this, she kept wishing that she'll see him. The girl feels that Watanuki is the same as her. For example, she knows that he can see the lady haunting this particular Sakura tree.

The girl explains that the woman doesn't actually mean any harm. She simply likes the tree and likes to stay there. The girl also believes that the lady will leave if people bothers her. This, however, will cause the tree to die since it's already near the end of its life and the only reason it blooms is because of the ghost lady. The girl feels that if she hadn't come here, the cherry tree would still bloom. Watanuki tells her that he felt that way at one time too but if one doesn't want things to turn badly, one must figure out a way to make things right. Because of this, Watanuki leads the girl and the ghost lady all the way to Doumeki's temple. He points out that the place is pure so while the tree may wither, at least the ghost lady will have a place to stay. Before he part ways with the little girl, Watanuki gives her the umbrella and asks for her name. In response, the girl tells him that her name is Tsuyuri Kohane. Her last name is written with the kanji for May the 7th.

After Kohane left, Doumeki notices that Watanuki is still standing in the rain so he comes over with an umbrella. He tells the guy that he's heard that idiot don't catch cold but maybe dumbass do. Later on, Watanuki goes to Doumeki's house to change his clothes and have tea with Doumeki. As for the ghost lady, Doumeki promises to read incantation later on although it may not do anything. Watanuki then asks Doumeki what he's usually called by family so Doumeki tells him that it's "Shizuka". Watanuki points out that his family used to call him "Kimihiro" when they're still alive but Kohane's parent doesn't use her first name that even though they're still alive. Speaking of Kohane, she's gone back to her house and is scolded by her mother because she's worried that Kohane will get sick and can't do her TV appearance tomorrow. Through a phone conversation with a TV producer, it becomes apparent that Kohane's mother only cares about the money that her daughter will receive from her TV apperance. Kohane, however, finds a solace in the umbrella that Watanuki gave her.

Impression

I'm probably one of the few who are not impressed with Kohane arc. While I like the changes that it brings to Watanuki and to his friendship with Doumeki, in general her story feels so predictable. CLAMP didn't even bother to give the story a twist so that it feels a bit different from other abused children stories. I'd have prefer it if CLAMP had used a different situation to facilitate Watanuki's development. One that doesn't feel like an after school special. Thankfully, the rest of the story are pretty good. Watanuki finding out that Doumeki has been able to see some of the supernatural events that he saw is an interesting idea. I think Doumeki was spot-on when he told his friend that whether he can see it or not depends on Watanuki's emotion. The stronger the emotion, the more Doumeki can see the subject that Watanuki sees. This is the reason why Doumeki can see Kohane as well even though she's just a human and not Ayakashi.

I am mostly amazed that Watanuki and Doumeki actually managed to talk to one another normally (without one screaming at the other and the other acts like he's not listening to it). Maybe the eye sharing situation is beneficial after all since Doumeki gets to see what terrorizes Watanuki and becomes more understanding of his world. Whereas by sharing half of Doumeki's eyes, Watanuki finally understands that Doumeki actually cares about him as a friend. I'd imagine it's hard to feel angry at someone who have helped you tremendously to the point that they sacrifice a part of their body. I also think that Kohane somehow softens Watanuki's personality and in the process, somehow eliminates the anger that he feels for Doumeki. This is why I think it would have been better if Kohane had been given an entirely different story instead of the stock standard abused child who is forced to be an exorcist by her gold-digging mother. At this point, the only person that benefits from Kohane's arc is Watanuki. Kohane herself is not interesting enough as far as original character goes.

Questionnaire: Watanuki is a popular guy in this universe for some reason. The female characters are either blushing while trying to catch a glimpse of him (Zashiki-Warashi) while others try to pair him with another guy (Yuuko, Himawari). If you have a choice, who would you pair him up with?

Preview

Next week's episode: Watanuki learns to play Shougi Mahjong. How excit...zZZzzz

© memento 2005