Ah, thankfully this episode managed to restore my faith in this series. The Kohane-arc just disappointed, but this episode was a terrific foreshadowing of the final two episodes of xxxHolic Kei.
The creators really know the key of good horror: build-up. During this build-up, the attention of the viewer is grabbed as much as possible, after which the major revelations and plot twists get unleashed. xxxHolic has also had the advantage of having spent many episodes already on fleshing out and developing its different characters, and the result worked perfectly.
The end of this episode also goes back to the major climax of the first season, where Watanuki met the woman. The guy is just so damn stubborn around the ones he loves, that he forgets all about himself.
I’m wondering: are there enough stories without Tsubasa Chronicle left in the manga for a third season, or does the manga basically become the back-up manga for TRS after this arc?
The Kohane arc is actually the most recent arc (it’s been on hiatus for about a month) and the himiwari part was before it, after this I’m not sure which way it will head but tsubasa is definitely building towards the end.
The problem is that almost all the content that doesn’t involve Sakura is somewhat tiresome and mostly Kohane related. The series finished off her arc when it was actually covered a bit at a time. Watanuki’s story would also be difficult to include, so there wouldn’t be much point.
Oh yeah, according to recent events, it looks more like Tsubasa is back-up for xxxHolic.
I don’t think xxxHolic will necessarily become “backup” for TRC since Watanuki still has a lot more of his own past to be found out about. But it’s still too interwoven with TRC from here on in the story.
I’d rather see xxxHolic and Tsubasa remade a couple years down the road as a joint show.