This episode was a special one. It was specifically aimed at the relationship between Watanuki’s relationship with Hinata and Domeki. To top everything, the creators tried to implement some really scary scenes, combined with some awesome comedy. Guess what? It actually worked. This episode was probably one of the best yet.
We start with Yuuko, Watanuki, Domeki and Himawari arriving at a beach house. Meanwhile, Watanuki continues rambling to Domeki, and a ghost keeps writing blue letters on a wall. One thing I really can appreciate in anime is when all kinds of things happen in the background. It shows that the creators really have been planning. Watanuki was just too great. He really hates Domeki with passion.
They enter the house, and a creepy tune keeps playing. Watanuki checks out the kitchen, and notices a strange vase with a blue flower. Lots of Watanukis getting giddly over Himawari and bickering towards Domeki later (too funny, by the way), evening falls and all of the characters go to sleep. Watanuki then wakes up, in the middle of the night because he hears some scratching on the walls, coming from the room next to him. The only problem is, the corridor shows no sign of a room being there. He checks out more carefully, and then notices that the wall on the corridor was a fake one. He then sees a door, and walks into the room. What then follows is a great attempt at a scary scene. It had great backgrounds, and Watanuki really made me believe that something really scary was going on.
This episode also had just a perfect build-up. Even though the ghost appeared to be just Mokona, the preparation was just perfect. During the entire episode, letters kept appearing on the wall, a very creepy tune played, and Watanuki’s ramblings were enough to make the viewer not notice about the small details which might have given this away (for example, the cardboard wall). The blue vase at the end, of course, was a standard thing with ghost stories. People are pulling a prank about some kind of ghost, they make the main character believe that there really is one by dropping lots of clues. But one of these clues doesn’t belong to them, and actually is a real ghost. Still, this episode had something which most of the other shows who attempt this don’t have: the fact that ghosts are common. Watanuki sees them everyday. Most other shows just use ghosts once, without a real explanation. Another thing is Watanuki’s reaction to this. He became scared at the moment when he saw the real ghost. Really scared. This was an aweosme sight.
These things may have been awesome. The ghost story was probably one of the best in xxxHolic yet, and Watanuki and Domeki were just too funny at times (you’d think that jokes like these would bore after a while, but surprisingly, they don’t. Seeing Domeki making use of Watanuki’s imaginary merry-go-round was just hilarous), the truly awesome part lies in Himawari, and Watanuki’s reluctance to call to Domeki for help. Himawari actually felt sorry for Watanuki, as he wasn’t able to swim because the sea seemed like a very popular place for spirits. So she thought she’d do something for him, which involved getting Watanuki to call Domeki for help. If he managed to do that, Yuuko would lift Watanuki’s curse for one full day, so that he could go swimming with Himawari. (Watanuki’s right about one thing: Himawari’s just too cute)
Watanuki, however, was not able to call for help. He still hates Domeki for the things he did, and he doesn’t realize that he actually likes being with him (just refer to any episode at which the two of them were together and had to solve a mystery. Watanuki’s mind was just too occupied with the thing which were happening, that he took Domeki’s existance for granted). Though when it comes to calling for help, Watanuki’s mind interferes too much for him to be able to say it. Despite the fact that Domeki’s saved his life many times before (heck, he even stood in the rain for ten hours in order to save him).
Overall, I loved this episode. Himawari was just too cute, not per se because of her looks, but because of the plan she had.The ghost story really made a good attempt at being scary. This really was xxxHolic at its best.
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