xxxHolic
Ep.6 "Indulgence"
This episode definitely stands out among most in the xxxHolic series as it introduces the two main characters from another great CLAMP manga series, Legal Drug in anime form for the very first time!
Many were worried that they would not be included in this anime due to copywrite reasons but here they are and while they add almost nothing to the storyline it's such a great bonus to see as the odds of Legal Drug getting it's own anime series are rather slim due to it only running for three volumes in the manga.
Who knows? Maybe we'll get a full Legal Drug anime series, OVA or movie, but until then we can at least be satisfied with this brief appearance.
Watanuki meets both Kazahaya and Rikou (from Legal Drug) when he visits the pharmacy they both work at in order to grab some ekiyabe which is basically a vitamin drink (similar to Barocca for us Aussies) that is strangely insanely popular in Japan and can be purchased at all convenience stores, supermarkets and even vending machines and is used to help cure hangovers. In this case, Yuko's.
The conversation he has with the Legal Drugers is completely customer/checkout related and way to short but the characters are presented exactly as I thought they would be in animated form.
Watanuki makes his purchase and heads to Yuko's shop.
As soon as he arrives, he's presented with the very hungover Yuko and Moro and Maru begging him to keep his voice down. He gives her the ekiyabe, M & M give her some water and she almost instantly revives!
while this is happening, Watanuki notices that Yuko has a laptop and asks her about it. Before he can get a detailed response though, he's talked into following Yuko on a bit of a shopping spree in Ginza.
They don't take the train or bus to Ginza though. Instead they use the Auroro Path which is a mystical path that seems to lead through a vortex to their destination. Yuko apparently created this path though not much else is told about it.
Watanuki's naturally freaked out by it and has to be dragged in by Yuko who can't wait to get going.
Through lots of screaming and a creepy encounter with a giant slug-like ghost, they quickly arrive at Ginza.
Yuko senses which direction they have to go in and they head off and make a quick stop outside a sake shop (Yuko wants "that" sake next time) and a sports shop to buy a red baseball bat. Watanuki's a bit confused as to why they came to Ginza to buy a bat, but Yuko starts walking again and they end up at a huge apartment building to visit a customer... only the customer doesn't know she's a customer yet!
The customer, a woman, is startled to see them but invites them in. It soon becomes apparent that Yuko and the woman know each other online. Yuko goes by, Kindo-chan and the woman by, Hanahana-san. Apparently they both met on a magical girls website and the woman had looked up to Yuko for a long time.
While chatting, the woman tells Yuko that she wants to quit her computer as she's spending too much time on it and neglecting the wifely duties such as raising her child (one in ten Japanese husbands don't help raise their children at all) and cleaning the house (twenty percent of Japanese husbands don't help out with the housework at all).
The woman gives Yuko lots of indirect and weak-arse reasons for wanting to quit (e.g. "My husband wants me to."). Yuko, having finally had enough says that if she wants to quit, she has to find out the reason why she she wants to quit. With that she and Watanuki leave the woman alone.
The woman begins to clean her apartment but suddenly she begins to think about all her online friends that she has to say goodbye to and all the downloads that she hasn't finished yet. One thing leads to another and soon she's completely hooked on the net again.
At that moment in a nearby cafe, Yuko and Watanuki notice that all the laptops being used by the strangers around them are acting funny and seem to have the same desktop as the woman's laptop. They both return to the woman's house and confront her about using the computer again.
The woman pleads with Yuko to help her by doing something. Yuko agrees but the cost of her help will be the woman's baby chair. The woman accepts this price and Yuko gets started... by writing "steel sword" on the red baseball bat, swinging it up, striking a pose and hitting the laptop! Miraculously, the laptop appears to have been cut as if by a sword, but the table's fine! Watanuki is shock, the woman is relieved and watches as Watanuki and Yuko both leave.
On their walk home Yuko explains that the woman can still buy another computer if she wants too and that there is very little they can really do for her. Watanuki feels a little embarrassed carrying a red bat and a baby chair and asks if they can use the Auroro Path again but Yuko says she feels like catching the train. Watanuki isn't happy.
Today's Crossovers
 Wow! Legal Drug's Kazahaya's first anime appearance! Doesn't really do much besides serve Watanuki. The voice is perfect, the character design is spot on and has a great chemistry with Rikou even if the only talk for a bit.
 Legal Drug's second character this week, Rikou! The masculine shop assistant just gives Kazahaya some help with serving Watanuki. A very short appearance. I do wonder if the xxxHolic anime will show these guys getting the vase for Yuko as they got the vase in an Legal Drug manga volume, but the vase is very important in a later xxxHolic story which allows Watanuki to visit a certain vestal spirit! ;) Here's hoping!
My Original Impression
Whoops! Must have been lazy/busy that week! I didn't write one! Doh!
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