xxxHolic – 18 – Spirits Have Interesting Rituals

Haha! This was yet another great example of a good xxxHolic episode. The theme of the episode once again was fascinating, the Vestal Sprite was very cute once more, but especially Watanuki was very interesting again. And funny. ^_^

This episode is about the Demon Parade, or the Hyakkiyakou. It’s a gathering of spirits, which happens once a year. This episode, xxxHolic gives its own version of the Hyakkiyakou. Yuuko seems to be a frequent visitor of this event, though now she lets Watanuki go instead. During the parade, each of the guests present has to carry a Demon Lantern, otherwise known as some flower from some tree which looks suspiciously like a paper lantern. The parade then goes to a huge, talking tree, which will provide nectar to every lantern. It seems that Yuuko loves this nectar. ^^

When Watanuki and Domeki arrive at the parade, it seems that none of the spirits has any bad intentions, as Watanuki doesn’t feel sick or nauseous. Only when Watanuki accidentally lets go of the lantern, the demons immediately notice him. It seems that humans in the spirit world are a big taboo, and the demons get extremely worried. They then decide to eat him.

I liked how this episode enjoyed to toy with predictability. The vestal sprites helped Watanuki escape by offering one of their flying boards, so the Vestal Sprite herself had to be near. When Watanuki falls from the sky, it’s indeed obvious that she’d save him, like she did before. She indeed wants to help Watanuki and Domeki escape, though when she grabs his hand, she gets scared, causing Watanuki to fall. After all, she’s extremely shy, and she’s in love with Watanuki. When he touches her hand like that, she’s bound to have such a reaction.

In any case, Keith and his gang get to be the ones to break Watanuki’s and Domeki (who fell along with him)’s fall, though in a very unorthodox way. The other spirits, however, still are after Watanuki. You’d expect that the Vestal Sprite would talk them out of it. She tries, indeed, though she’s way too shy to make any impression. The saviour also doesn’t get to be the Rain Sprite. It’s the child fox from episode four. He shows the monster the Haja arrow. This only shows how important such an item must be.

When they return, Yuuko seems to have waited for them. She then reveals that she loves drinking that nectar. She also tells Watanuki that there isn’t any alcohol, though I doubt that that’s true, as Watanuki seems to be getting drunk after he drinks it. It also seems that he’s very easy to get drunk, and he quickly sleeps in. Then, Domeki brings up something he’s been wondering: why did Yuuko meet up with the two of them once they returned? After all, Watanuki and Domeki’d just go to the shop and deliver the nectar to Yuuko. It seems that Domeki doesn’t need to enter the shop. Only people who have a need to enter the shop may enter it, and Domeki would disrupt this balance. Still, this is weird. I could have sworn that I saw Domeki at the shop numerous of times. At the end of the movie, for example.

On a side-note… am I the only one who noticed the magic rod from Sakura, from Card Captor Sakura between Yuuko’s stuff? It makes you wonder why Sakura needed to pay her a visit. In any case, it was very funny to see Akari and Yuuko have a pleasant conversation, right on top of Watanuki. He had more of these funny moments like this in the episode. ^_^

I also think that I’m beginning to understand how Yuuko’s planning to cure Watanuki: by making him well-known in the spirit-world. Akari already said that many spirits have heard of him. This episode only made him more famous. I think something’s bound to happen when enough spirits know/acknowledge him. I’m also getting more and more interested about Maru and Moro. They’re bodies without souls, though they still helped Mokona write the letter.