xxxHOLiC Kei ep.08

May 23, 2008 | 13 Comments

Sorry for the lack of larger-size images. I got a crappy raw and besides, I intend on replacing most of the screenshots with the widescreen ones later on.

If you're wondering if this episode contains some kind of crossover to Tsubasa Chronicle, you're setting up yourself for a big disappointment. As I thought, several changes have been made to the storyline. To begin with, this story was meant as a follow up to Himawari's arc but since that arc has not happened yet, Watanuki ends up going to the cake shop only with Doumeki. In addition to this, the writers completely scraps the part of the story where Moro and Maru are essential to keep the store intact. In this episode, both spirits are perfectly fine, changing the storyline in a big way. This particular story made the manga slightly more tense but at the same time, it also made things feel all over the place. It was weird to read a story that is interconnected to Tsubasa Chronicle on several pages and then seeing the story back talking about case-of-the-week on other pages. It often makes me wonder if those two stories are connected but in most cases, the answer is no. As a result, it just creates confusion. But now that the writers scrapped Tsubasa-related plot out, I wonder if they'll ever explain the purpose behind Yuuko's store.

Episode 8

Doumeki walks along the street, when he spots a cake shop featuring some traditional Japanese sweets. As he drools over the display, two girls come out saying that the 「黒みつ寒天」 - Kuromitsu Kanten (agar-agar/gelatine made from seaweed served with black sugar syrup) from this shop is delicious. At home, Watanuki is grilling some 「アユの塩焼き」 - Ayu no Shioyaki (grilled and salted freshwater fish) while, Moro, Maru, and Yuuko are pestering him. Eventually Watanuki brings one of the fish for Yuuko, who is busy typing something on her laptop. Watanuki thinks she's net surfing but Yuuko denies this. As it turns out, she's just making ASCII art using her computer. When Watanuki wonders if his face really looks like that, Moro and Maru tell him that he has a "good-for-nothing" face. XD In the midst of the excitement, a girl comes to the backyard, surprising Watanuki who recognises her uniform as that of his school's. The girl apologizes for intruding but Watanuki assures her that it's not her mistake. Yuuko confirms this, saying that it's inevitable that she'd come here. Later on she explains that the girl entering the shop means that she has a wish since this is a shop that grants wishes.

The girl admits that her house is terrifying in that she can hear noises even though there's no one there except her. In addition to this, items that are unattended sometimes move around and she can also feel the presence of other people. She can feel this in all areas of her house and even when she's not thinking about it. Yuuko concludes that the girl wishes that it'd be nice if her house is not frightening. To grant her wish, Yuuko gives her some kind of some kind of a strap with a bell on its end. The next day, Watanuki explains the situation to Himawari, saying that Yuuko only told the girl to have the bell when she's at her house. Doumeki believes that wearing a bell-like instrument as a talisman is a practice common in several religion. It can even drive away bears!! Watanuki tries to invite Himawari for lunch but she claims that her friend has made some sandwich so she rejects him. All of a sudden, Watanuki's finger is in pain again so he drops the thermos that Doumeki gave him, spilling hot tea within. Thankfully for him, it only scolds part of his pants. Watanuki, however, remembers something about Himawari and observes his pinky finger with confusion.

On his way back to Yuuko's shop that day, Watanuki sees the same girl running past him, desperate to see someone at the shop. She explains that although she had the bell with her, the sounds just became worse. For example, the walking sounds become a lot closer, etc. To solve this issue, Yuuko gives her a strap but this time with two bells on it, asking her to have it with her all the time while in the house. The girl frowns upon hearing this, wondering if it won't just make the sound worse. Yuuko claims that since the girl wished for her house to not be frightening, then this should do the job. Watanuki being the gossip boy that he is, decides to pass on the information to Himawari the next day. He points out to her that although the girl doesn't seem to like the idea, she accepted the 2 bells strap from Yuuko. As they walk through the school corridor, Watanuki recognizes the girl sitting outside in PE uniform. The girl he refers to is the one with one side of her hair in ponytail. A first year student. Watanuki then suggests that he and Himawari make a stop at a cake shop on their way back home but Himawari apologizes, claiming that she has something else to do that day.

Watanuki is disappointed to hear this but then he hears Doumeki telling him that he'd be willing to accompany Watanuki if the later is going to the cake/sweets shop. Watanuki, of course, being tsun-tsun, asking who would want to go to a cake shop with Doumeki. When Watanuki comes home that day from his trip to the cake shop, he brings the Kuromitsu Kanten as Omiyage for Yuuko. He also admits that he went to the shop with Doumeki. LOL. And yeah, Moro and Maru are fully awake and still cheerful as usual in this version. Yuuko wants to drink more sake but she hears the girl coming to the store. The girl complains that the artefact is useless in that neither the sound nor the presence have disappeared. If anything, they just becomes even worse. She was just in her room when someone apparently touched her shoulder. When Yuuko comes out to see her, the girl lash out at Yuuko, saying that the bells are useless. In response, Yuuko gives her a strap with three bells in it, telling the girl to come again if it doesn't work. Of course it doesn't work so the girl comes back. Instead of offering new solution, Yuuko actually gives her a strap with more bells instead.

This continues day after day after day. Eventually the girl is angry, asking Yuuko if she's making fun of her. She wants to throw the bell away but Yuuko stops her, reminding the girl that she wants the house to stop being scary. Because of this, she suggests that she stays at the house with more bells. If she does that, maybe her wish will be granted. Later on, Watanuki asks Yuuko if there isn't other way, like coming to that girl's house, for example. Yuuko, however, thinks her method is the best, most appropriate treatment. However, she believes that today everything will end. That night, Watanuki was pondering about this when he gets a visitation from Doumeki's grandfather, Haruka. Since his last name is similar to Doumeki, Haruka wants Watanuki to be on first-name basis with him. After hearing the story of the girl from Doumeki, Haruka suggests that they go to the girl's house to figure out the problem. He then transports himself and Watanuki to the girl's house while pointing out that this is just a dream. Through Watanuki's dream, they can see the girl's. Their talk is interrupted when Watanuki then sees the girl waking up because she feels that she had a weird dream.

When she touches the bell, however, it drops to the floor. In her attempt to get the bell, the girl falls from her bed as well. As soon as this happens, Watanuki can hear footsteps coming from outside the door. All of a sudden, the door is opened and a guy comes in, remarking that the light can't be used. Haruka assures Watanuki that the guy can't see them since they are in a dream but what they see in front of them is reality. The guy then opens the curtains, scaring the girl in the process. It's obvious at this point that the girl can't see the man and can only hear the footsteps. In reverse, the guy can't see the girl but can hear the sound of the bell as the girl picks it up. From outside the door, a woman appear looking terrified because she too hears the sound of bell. At the same time, Yuuko murmurs to herself that in that house, there's something that shouldn't be there. Meanwhile the man tries to check the location of the noise by throwing a chair to the direction of the bell. This effectively hits the girl, causing her to drop the bell. Panic then ensues as both the girl and the woman think that there is a ghost in the place. Because of this, the woman asks the man to find an exorcist.

However, if they can't exorcised the place, the woman demands that they move out of the house. Watanuki is surprised to hear this but before he can see anything else, he finds himself waking up in his room. The next day, Watanuki tells Himawari about this and points at the same girl with one-sided ponytail. Himawari, however, can't see her amongst the crowd. She also says that the girl she saw the other day had short hair. Their conversation is interrupted when other students can be heard talking about how Kohane has been sent to exorcise a house and how on the net people are saying that Kohane is a fake. Later on Watanuki checks the net to confirm that people have been badmouthing Kohane on the net. Yuuko then comes and tells him that the girl won't be coming again because she'll be exorcised tonight. Watanuki wonders why Yuuko didn't just tell the girl earlier so Yuuko tells Watanuki it's because the girl's wish is for the place to not be scary anymore. If she's not in the house anymore, then it won't be scary anymore for her. Upon seeing Watanuki's look of concern, Yuuko comments how Watanuki has grown up lately. Watanuki then hears the sound of a bell so Yuuko remarks that the girl has gone away.

Impression

This episode really reminds me of a similarly-themed film called The Others. In that film, a woman tries to live with her two children (both of whom are sensitive to sunlights) after her husband went off to war. After the arrival of three servants, the woman and her children start to hear voices and naturally assume that they are haunted by ghosts. What follow is an amazing and rather complex plot but one which ends in a satisfying twist not too different from this episode of xxxHOLiC Kei. Although IIRC, the resolution is the reverse of this particular episode. If you want to talk about the film in the comment area, go right ahead but please use spoiler tag in case others have not see the movie themselves. At any rate, the idea of ghost in itself is pretty creepy but the possibility that they are dwelling in your own house makes it even scarier because you expect your own house to be safe from this kind of weirdness. The scary thing about this is the realization that before you even live in your house, someone else used to live there and his/her soul may still hang around even now. So even though you think that you're all alone in the house, you may in fact, have some company after all. >:)

Anyway, I think the anime did a better job of making Yuuko appeared less cruel than in the manga. That line from Watanuki where he asked Yuuko why she didn't tell the girl right away helped to clarify this matter. It seems the reason Yuuko didn't tell the girl that she's a ghost is because the girl had a wish. And since the wish is for her house to stop being terrifying, Yuuko gave her those bells. By doing this, Yuuko makes sure that the connection between the world of the living and the world of the dead are temporarily amplified that someone else will do something about the situation. This means separating the world of the living from the world of the dead for good by calling exorcist, in this case being Kohane. This is also a good way of tying the episode with Kohane's arc because in the manga, we have no idea if they use her or another exorcist. This episode also raises question about Yuuko herself. So far we know nothing about her apart from the fact that she's a witch. It's interesting to note that there are many butterflies motive and symbols scattered throughout the series. In both seasons, the opening theme has consistently use butterfly as its theme. And in this episode, the strap that Yuuko gave the girl has butterfly motive on it. I wonder if this has any relevance to Yuuko's real identity.

Preview

Next Week: More Kohane. *yawn*

© memento 2003