Subculture Anime Blog

I heard you like cat girls.

Summary:

Watanuki visits Doumeki late at night, finding that he is researching through many of his grandfather’s books. After presenting Doumeki with a lunch in a bit of annoyance, Watanuki learns that there are charms protecting the room they are in. Watanuki believes that there is still a strange feeling around the room, but his thoughts are interrupted by Doumeki’s usual complaints. After Doumeki finishes the food, Watanuki finally wonders if Doumeki is searching for a way to return his eye. Watanuki states that he is fine the way he is, but Doumeki has a problem with it. Watanuki decides to help search as well, but accidentally breaks a part of the room in the process. Doumeki looks to the book that has been revealed in the opening, and actually finds inside the way to return Watanuki’s eye. Doumeki begins to read the instructions, but Watanuki is alarmed when Himawari’s book begins to shake. Watanuki pushes Doumeki out of the way just in time, as a serpent like creature appears. It begins to eat the words out of the book Doumeki was reading, but Watanuki uses part of his lunch box to trap it. Doumeki realizes that what they are looking for will disappear if this continues, but Watanuki continues to insist that it is dangerous. Watanuki suggests that they get Yuuko’s help, when she appears at the entrance.

Yuuko gets permission from Doumeki to take the charms around the room, then using them to trap the monstrosity. Yuuko explains that the the creature was a hon no mushi, and that it trapped itself by eating all of the charm’s words. When Doumeki picks the book back up, he finds that all of the instructions have already disappeared. Yuuko wonders who the yellow book on the table belongs to, but she is not surprised when Watanuki describes it as Himawari’s. Watanuki is only able to panic when he sees that the words inside Himawari’s book have been scrambled, but Yuuko changes the subject by wishing to have food at Doumeki’s house. Doumeki agrees to this, forcing Watanuki to make croquettes for the two. The next day, Watanuki apologizes to Himawari while returning her book. She is not angry, however, as she gives Watanuki a usual positive response. Watanuki cannot help but remember Yuuko’s warnings about Himawari, but he easily forgets about this when Himawari regains his attention.

While Watanuki walks to Yuuko’s place that afternoon, he again begins to see things out of his right eye. He also sees a goldfish appear above him, which is quickly eaten by an energetic girl. The girl realizes that Watanuki is the person who has been talked about recently in her world, mentioning the value of his right eye. Watanuki wonders what this is about, but the girl leaves after another goldfish appears. Before leaving, the girl simply suggests that he ask a certain woman about his eye’s situation. When Watanuki tells Yuuko about this, she realizes that Watanuki met the Neko Musume. More importantly, Yuuko suggests that Watanuki’s eye may never return if they do not hurry. At school the next day, Doumeki overhears Watanuki worrying about his eye disappearing. The two are interrupted by Himawari, however, who wishes to walk home with the them. Doumeki unfortunately has practice to attend to, but Watanuki is overjoyed as usual. During the walk, Himawari mentions to Watanuki the program featuring a girl named Kohane-chan that has been airing recently.

After leaving Himawari, Watanuki again sees visions in his eye. He suddenly sees a traffic accident occur before him, but the Karasu Tengu appear to state that he has other places to be. When they reach Yuuko’s place, the Karasu Tengu reveal that the Zashiki Warashi has been captured. The Karasu Tengu were unable to help her because of a barrier, so they ask for Yuuko’s help by presenting her with the Tengu’s fan. As this item is worth too much for breaking the barrier, Yuuko sends Watanuki with the Karasu Tengu. They do not initially approve of this, in belief that it is Watanuki’s fault in the first place, but Yuuko is quick to remind them that they will not be able to save the Zashiki Warashi on their own. Watanuki firmly agrees to go, so Yuuko sends the Kuda Kitsune along with him. With one sweep of the Tengu fan, Yuuko successfully sends Watanuki and the others to Zashiki Warashi’s location. Mokona wonders if it is okay that he did not go too, but Yuuko expresses that there is something that Watanuki must find out for himself.

Preview: Half.

Impression:

Maybe you prefer Yuuko…I’m a Zashiki Warashi fan myself. This episode pretty much came straight out of the manga, right down to the lead in to the next major event. It’s funny that they left out all the stuff about Watanuki’s eye in the first season while jumping around, but this arc definitely makes for a great start for Kei. Something I’ve always loved about xxxHolic is the personalities the characters have and their chemistry. Watanuki and Doumeki both have a pretty hard time expressing themselves in different ways, and this is also touched a lot in the series. Besides that, watching Yuuko cause such a ruckus is always fun. The upcoming events present some of the strongest themes in xxxHolic, so I’m really pumped to see them.

I laughed a little during the small recap at the beginning of this episode, but I could totally see how it was necessary. So, no real complaints about that. The “hon no mushi” or “book worm” event still reminds me of one of my favorite Mushishi eps, but the theme was definitely solid on its own. The usual questions about Himawari were brought up again, revealing more obvious foreshadowing in the process. I actually stopped reading the manga before finding out about her back story, so I may or may not head to the bookstore to buy some volumes this weekend. Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but did I hear Chiba Saeko (Ayane in Nagasarete Airantou, Nadeshiko in Shugo Chara) as the Neko Musume (cat woman) in this episode?

On a kind of related note, I finally got around to watching the Tsubasa Chronicle Tyokyo Revelations OVAs yesterday. Wow, they were stunning. Those three eps alone made me feel like I should have just skipped out on the second season. Mokona and Makino Yui were probably the only two things that got me through that. (I personally still find white Mokona to be cuter than black Mokona by the way.) Anyways, I can’t wait to see Kei’s third episode next week. It looks like the preview did well to hide what is coming.