Episode 9 – ‘Rumours’

Ok first off, I’m putting episode 9’s review first because I find it to be probably the best episode yet, and I have a lot to say about it.

xxxHolic’s plot structure is special because of the way it drops hints within episodes and revisits them later, alluding and intricately intertwining them together to create that sense of fate. To weigh down significance on every subtlety within each episode; which in turn should make you pay your attention and acknowledgement to them–leaving your expectations wide and open minded. You should begin to wonder if the item; facial expression; word spoken; sound or any other subtlety would play a role in future episodes. There are subtle hints, and there are obvious ones. Watanuki’s little finger for example, is an obvious hint; those little doodles on Kohane’s photo’s are subtle ones however, because unlike Watanuki’s little finger, a big deal isn’t made out of it…yet this episode the ‘deal’ is a lot bigger than what was hinted.

xxxHolic’s plot structure is special because of the way it drops hints within episodes and revisits them later, alluding and intricately intertwining them together to create that sense of fate. To weigh down significance on every subtlety within each episode; which in turn should make you pay your attention and acknowledgement to them–leaving your expectations wide and open minded. You should begin to wonder if the item; facial expression; word spoken; sound or any other subtlety would play a role in future episodes. There are subtle hints, and there are obvious ones. Watanuki’s little finger for example, is an obvious hint; those little doodles on Kohane’s photo’s are subtle ones however, because unlike Watanuki’s little finger, a big deal isn’t made out of it…yet this episode the ‘deal’ is a lot bigger than what was hinted.

Watanuki; obviously horrified at the animosity. Yuuko; obviously, calm. It’s an indication to great characters when each of them react as they should and would; none of this unrealistic 10 second face widening you see in most anime—each character throwing their persona out the window for that little moment just to emphasis the shock to the audience.

Anyway, Yuuko once again brings that psychological goodness, explaining why Kohane is being treated the way she is.

“People’s minds can be easily infected”

This may seem obvious, but the scale and affect never is. The first thing that you’re probably thinking of right now is the media, right? But it’s more than just that.

Drama, arguments, fights, accidents, blame, doubt, thrills, scares…what do they all have in common? Yuuko sums up perfectly that the bad is always more exciting than the good, so is this true? Think about it, why do people watch dramas? Why would people rather argue than resolve things right away? Why do people find it hard to look away from fights and/or accidents? Why do people blame others? Why do people doubt others, instead of trust them? Why do people enjoy thrills/thrillers or horrors? Why do people like gossip and rumours? Something to ask yourselves, I won’t answer these for you because it’d take up way too much of this review space and this is a xxxHolic review, so I may only briefly touch upon the subjects xxxHolic introduces rather than right essays on them.

Anyway, we move on and find that Kohane’s house has been horribly vandalised.

People are being dangerously direct…even to the point where they hurt Kohane herself. And even when inside, it continues.

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. Kohane is an amazing character. She’s not the anti-social kid you may have believed her to be, and neither is she the dense or stubborn kid her appearance further gives her off to be. She is surprisingly mature and strong hearted; a strong difference that separates her from most anime characters. Think about it, this isn’t the first time you’ve seen a similarly pitying situation such as this. See what your ‘typical’ Kohane would do, is act like the bullying isn’t affecting her, and then drop off obvious (heh, even if they’re not obvious) hints that are blatantly begging for your sympathy and pity. And the result is a really cheesy character and situation that doesn’t really fool you into empathy if it isn’t the first time in your life you’ve seen it. So Kohane isn’t like that. She actually doesn’t care. She is actually enduring it. And she does not ask for sympathy…thus her sympathy is deserved. It’s like praising someone; they don’t deserve the praise if they beg for it, as much as if they just kept quiet. She’s not saying “Hey look I’m a little kid who hasn’t had much of a chance of life yet I’m being bullied like this *sob sob* please pity me *sob sob*”. We can empathise with her situation a lot more naturally this way. It makes her character a lot more realistic and respectable.

Here we can see some noteworthy character development. Yes, the lesson Watanuki learnt at episode 2 hasn’t magically left him. Kohane acts similarly to how he used to by saying that she doesn’t mind the abuse she’s been getting, but Watanuki tells her that while she doesn’t…he does. The lesson that even if you don’t care what happens to you or if you get hurt, someone else will, and you must consider those feelings greatly or it is deemed selfish. So Watanuki tells Kohane that he feels pain in seeing her hurt…and without anyone telling her to Kohane flips the situation around and learns the lesson; saying that if it would’ve been Watanuki who was hurt then se would’ve been in pain too…amazing character development once again.

And once again, xxxHolic Kei’s characters deserve even more praise. See, as I’ve said before (if you read my reviews heh), xxxHolic Kei’s characters are believable because they actually have a functioning brain. When Kohane was imagining Watabuki being in her situation, she put her head down in thought; however we never really knew what she was thinking about or what she was going to say, or how she was taking Watanuki’s words. This is exemplar to the character’s realism. We don’t get any exaggerated shots of her thinking pose/expression, and we aren’t given any random flashbacks or anything of the sort…it isn’t given so much focus to try and patronise us with an emphasis on what she may be thinking. You know, most anime do this…and if you ask me, you may as well stick up a sign telling us instead of spending so much effort trying to make it obvious.

Now enough Kohane praise, on to Watanuki; I’ve already spoken about his character development, however I really liked Watanuki’s kindness this episode. We all know Watanuki is a kind character, but this example with Kohane really shines in my opinion. His love and kindness towards Kohane is really moving and comforting, thus we get to like Watanuki even more. He may not be as talented as Doumeki or a genius like Yuuko, and it he may be on the bad side of luck quite a lot…but it’s his pure heart that serves as his main weapon. He has luck on his side when the time matters and he seems to attract the affection and friendship of many of those around him. The way he’s constructed in xxxHolic, has not just us liking him, but the world of xxxHolic itself liking him. He isn’t a super character that keeps getting up no matter what; he’s not the wimp that discovers an amazing power within him when his life is threatened…he’s none of that. He is simply protected…for his good deeds and for his brave soul.

Thus when Kohane’s mum enters and throws boiling tea on his face:

Kohane doesn’t take it sitting down:

Well ok, she is technically sitting down, but you get my point (and hopefully my dry humour)

Now what I’m sure most of you liked was when Kohane stood up to her mum for what she did to Wakanuki. She made her mum look like a right fool; making her the kid and Kohane the adult. She simply talked in a mature and calm manner…her mother still in that psychotic state. What juxtaposition eh?

Ok ok guys, I’m almost onto the last bit, but just one little thing I wanna comment on:

Yes…Yuuko’s face. Well not really her face, but her change of expressions and their duration. No, this is not me being a crazed Yuuko fanboy, but instead it’s me pointing out something worthy of note. Now in this very review, I’ve talked about subtle hints and criticised the lingering expressions in anime; this is another good example of why xxxHolic stands out. You see, Yuuko changes her expression and then reverts it back again very quickly. The timing is a small may seem like a trifle thing, but it makes a big difference. First of all, it drops a hint that is neither forced/obvious, nor unnoticeable. Her manner of expression was shuddering, hinting at something deeply ominous. My next point is similar to Kohane’s earlier example. Her quick change of expression expresses her realism as a character. We’re not given sudden sound accompanied by a dramatic background all the while lingering on the characters expression so long that people are screaming “We get it already!” It’s just not realistic, and it flattens the mood. Now now, I know it’s routine for almost any anime to dramatically show you each character’s (e.g. shocked) expression; but it’s about time it was done so in a more affective manner rather than an over-the-top melodramatic one.

Ok ok onto the last part of this episode (and this review), and also one of my favourite scenes within this episode:

So, Kohane has finally gotten a new job for TV. She is teamed up with 4 other adult psychics in an attempt to see and describe the ghost in question. Now I love this part because everyone thinks that Kohane is a faker, and these adults need to be shown whose boss.

So the adult psychics reveal the ghost to be a man, a young American in a military uniform. Okay, now it’s Kohane’s turn, and she is asked what she sees:

This causes quite a stir. Kohane sees another person…a female. The adult psychics accuse her of lying; assuring her that there is only one man. However Kohane keeps her straight face and repeats herself…and eerie atmosphere surrounds Kohane; but we know she is a good girl. And in terms of ability in seeing ghosts, we know she is the real deal. Her unflinching expression and unwavering assurance stirs up even more of a commotion within the crowd. The atmosphere here is a mix of thriller and horror, and it’s superbly done. This episode was a real treat, and as I said, I think it’s the best episode yet.

Rating – 5/5

Episode 10 – ‘Discovery’

This episode mainly serves as a resolution to the last episode and the whole Kohane business.

The remains of the dead women Kohane was describing the previous episode was actually found, and so the media switch sides like nothing happened. Reporters bombard Kohane’s home regarding the news that she was actually correct about the two ghosts and whatnot, meanwhile Watanuki and Doumeki try and squeeze passed to meet Kohane.

They find Kohane and her mum in the bath; with Kohane’s mum pouring ice cold water over her as means of ‘purification’ (horrible isn’t it?). Watanuki and Doumeki obviously stand up for Kohane and help her out of the situation. What I liked about this scene is that when the mother tried her usual screaming protests, Doumeki pointed out that a reporter was outside the bathroom window looking in (most likely either filming or taking pictures), and it shut her up good. There was that feeling of a horror in mentioning that reporter; just the way Kohane’s mother never noticed him, nor do you see an actual shot of him…kinda creepy.

Anyway, Watanuki decides to take Kohane back with him to Yuuko’s house. Her mother disagree’s, but Kohane insists on going, leaving her mother in shock (well she always seems that way anyway, what a worrisome mother). Thus Kohane spends her time at Yuuko’s, greatly enjoying herself, and it’s a real treat to watch.

Heh, not gonna bother explaining/commenting on those lines. It’ll be abit too controversial and there’s abit too much to say. I’ll leave you guys to draw your own understandings. But as usual, I end up agreeing with xxxHolic.

So after one day, Kohane decides to go home. Watanuki gets quite a surprise from this, thinking that she would’ve wanted to say a lot longer. However in my opinion, Kohane makes the right choice; she is worried about her mother, worried even after everything her mothers put her through, but she also knows her mother is worried about her too…she just can’t show it too well. So Kohane says her farewells, promising to see them again sometime (I hope she does, you know anime characters have a habit of saying that, but they never do actually see the person/people ever again XD).

So Watanuki walks her to her house, and gives her a little (well, a great) gift:

One of the balloons he had gotten from the previous episodes. Nice to know he still has them and that they actually bare significance, and now we can wonder how this will change Kohane’s life. Anyway, Kohane explains to Watanuki that her dream already came true though:

Watanuki tells her that she must have another dream though; Kohane gives it a little thought and agrees, walking off home. Her dream? To finally cure her mother of all her current worries so that they both may lead a happy and normal life; your mother is still your mother after all, and you should always care for her no matter the circumstance.

So next day Watanuki meets her at the tree the ghost (last featured during the mah-jong episode) used to reside in.

She seems much happier and luminous now. So she says good bye to Watanuki and walks off with her now caring mother.

Alls well that ends well…nice to see this type of happy ending. The balloon granted her a happy life, a complete flip to what her life used to be like not too long ago. Another great episode, it lets us breathe that sigh of relief.

Rating – 4.5/5

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