Subculture Anime Blog

GuGoot.

Summary:

When Watanuki meets Haruka again in his dreams, they discuss the sakura trees outside the shrine. The conversation leads from the spirit who had hovered over the trees to Kohane, making Watanuki express that she is the same as her. Haruka tells Watanuki that there are no two identical people, however, before Watanuki wakes in the morning. At school, Himawari reveals that Kohane has not been making appearances on TV lately. Slightly worried, Watanuki agrees to go with Doumeki to check on her the next day. After being interrupted while making a lunch for Kohane that night, Watanuki accompanies Yuuko to find websites about Kohane on her laptop. To Watanuki’s shock, some of the sites are more cruel than the ones he had seen previously.

Even while walking with Doumeki to Kohane’s house the next day, Watanuki overhears girls talking critically about Kohane. Upon reaching Kohane’s house, Watanuki is shocked at its disarray. The bell does not seem to work when Watanuki tries it, but Kohane appears to answer anyways. Seeing Kohane now covered in bandages from injury, Watanuki clutches to her while apologizing for not coming earlier. Inside the unkept house, Kohane confirms that only she and her mother live there. Further answering Watanuki’s questions, she states that they have not even visited a hospital to check on her injuries. The answering machine then picks up a call, coming from an individual who only tells Kohane to die repeatedly. Kohane states that she is fine, but Watanuki contradicts her. He states that he is not fine, because he likes Kohane and it pains him to see her hurt. Thinking that she would be hurt if the things happening to her happened to Watanuki, Kohane wonders if this is because she likes him. Watanuki only states that he would be happy if this was the case, holding on to Kohane’s hands afterwards.

While preparing his food for Kohane later, Watanuki gets in his usual argument with Doumeki. Watanuki denies that they get along, but Kohane notices that they do because they speak with each other. She and her mother, on the other hand, only sit together. Kohane pours some tea for Doumeki when he requests it, and he pats her on the head while thanking her in response. With this, Kohane finally smiles. Kohane’s angry mother enters soon after, however, becoming enraged when she sees Watanuki and the others. When she splashes hot tea on Watanuki, Kohane quickly shows him and Doumeki to the bathroom. Kohane then states that although it does not matter how her mother treats her, it is unforgivable to treat her friends in cruel ways. That night, Yuuko and the others at the shop continue to help Watanuki recover. Watanuki takes the chance to tell Yuuko that Kohane’s mother would not once call Kohane by her name, but Yuuko simply tells Watanuki to rest.

Kohane’s mother later expresses her excitement for finding another job later, but she becomes angry when her daughter does not answer her properly. At school, Himawari alerts Watanuki of the program Kohane will be appearing on that night. At the set of the show, two actors express their annoyance with appearing along side of Kohane. After being assured that they are the real main attractions, however, they agree to work with her. On the television program, the various actors insist that they see a single male spirit when they are shown an abandoned home on screen. Kohane contradicts all of them, however, by saying that there is a male and female. Kohane is not taken seriously at first, but the audience is shocked when she states that there was a murder. Watching with Yuuko at home, Watanuki worries for Kohane.

Preview: More Kohane!

Impression:

I really love seeing all the different versions of Google animators can come up with in each show I watch. I really do. But anyways, this episode focused on more Kohane. Watanuki’s visit to her house came straight out of the manga, but it seems like they added a lot more to the episode to fill up space. All were very minor things though, and I enjoyed this episode thoroughly. Kohane’s story touches on a lot of powerful themes, such as the relationship a parent can have with a child and how children are treated by adults. I’ve always hated the way Kohane’s mother acts, but this isn’t that uncommon in real life situations. Clamp’s revealing of that disconnection is really powerful, and the way they can do so just makes me respect them even more. I was entertained by the actors on the set in this episode as well, since they paralleled all of the other fakes xxxHolic has represented in the past. The way Kohane is treated even though she is the one that can really see things just makes me mad. I wonder if is strange to feel so attached to these characters sometimes, but I suppose it only proves how well developed and represented they are.

There was also the continuing of Watanuki’s development in this episode, as he expressed the care he had for Kohane. Obviously, this came from the lessons he learned earlier this season. This is a theme I love a lot, since it is something that some people never truly learn in their life. It probably took long enough for Watanuki to get to this point, but it’s a really important development throughout xxxHolic. The rest of the things I noticed in this episode were pretty random though. For one, I loved Mokona’s statement that Watanuki was saved by wearing glasses. The next time some crazy whore throws hot tea on me, I guess I’m good! I was also reminded of Jigoku Shoujo and Ghost Hunt during this episode. Needless to say, I enjoyed one of those shows a lot more than the other (How did I even get all the way through Futakomori?). Next week looks like the continuation of Kohane’s story through anime original material. We’ll just have to see what happens with that.