xxxHolic
Ep.12 "Summer Shadow"
Similar to Episode 9, Episode 12 is a combination of a small story from the manga (in this case Himawari's story that she told at the 100 Ghost Stories Night in the manga but not the anime) and a completely new event to use that small story (here the gang goes on holiday and stays in a summer house on the beach).
The usual antics occur, i.e. Domeki calling Watanuki an idiot, Watanuki overreacting but calming down once he sees Himawari, Yuko getting Watanuki to carry all the bags and Mokona of course siding with Yuko.
Ah, but first we see some mysterious writing being written on a dark wall and a woman's voice yearning for "him" to come. Very spooky.
Then the gang arrives! Yuko suggests that Watanuki ask Domeki to help him carry all the bags. He naturally refuses to.
They all enter the house they've travelled to and are amazed at how clean and well maintained it is.
Himawari and Mokona check out the upstairs and Watanuki checks out the kitchen. He's surprised though to find a blue flower in a vase on the counter. He doesn't ponder on this for long though as he has to start cooking but when he goes to turn on the tap... he can't. It's rusted shut. Domeki comes in though and has no problem whatsoever. Haha.
Elsewhere the mysterious voice and the writing ponders if "he" liked the flower she gave him.
Later as Watanuki is checking out his room's balcony he begins to feel uneasy about going to the beach as apparently that's where spirits and ghosts like to gather. Suddenly he senses that something feels a little... off. Domeki, who is checking out his own balcony asks him what the matter is, but Watanuki simply yells at him for taking the room next to him when he wanted to be next to Himawari.
The voice talks again about longing for this day and "him".
Time goes by. They eat dinner, desert and watch the sun set. Before they head off to bed though, Domeki tells Watanuki to ask him for help. He again yells at him though instead of taking his advice.
Aaaannnddd.... once again the voice talks about "him" and "waiting" and blah, blah, blah... as the gang sleeps (except for Domeki). Interesting to note that we see Yuko sleeping! I don't think we've seen that before.
Later that night, Watanuki hears a scratching for the room next to him.... but not Domeki's room! There's a hidden room on the other side! Watanuki finds it and begins to search around in the dark for what's making the noise. Suddenly he notices the writing on the wall. Creepy. And then he notices the blue dress and wig and hands coming alive and creeping towards him! Scary as heck.... and suddenly Domeki appears behind him and he still won't ask him for help! The lights turn on and we see Yuko and Himawari in the doorway. And much to Watanuki's surprise, Mokona jumps out of the dress. It was him all a long!
The next day at the beach (they waited all night to have this conversation???) Yuko explains that the whole prank was Himawari's idea as she made a deal with Yuko that if Watanuki would ask Domeki for help, Yuko would keep the spirits away from Watanuki for one day. But Watanuki couldn't ask for help against the "ghost" or even the bags when they first arrived.
One thing doesn't make sense though, the blue flower. Watanuki asks if that was also them, but Mokona says they had nothing to do with that.
As Watanuki begins to walk back towards the house he notices that this end of the house now has windows where the woman's room would be. He looks closer and sees the woman peak out at him from behind the curtains and we hear her say "At last... I'm free" as Watanuki is about to scream.
Today's Crossovers
None today!
My Original Impression
Saturday, July 01, 2006
I was really underwhelmed with this episode. Normally I like anime-only storylines but this one just seemed a bit too.... dull and really had nothing at all going on except for the woman's ghost storyline.
I will admit that when Watanuki actually sees the woman, it's the creepiest scene so far in this series... period. Well done there. I just wish more was done with it and I couldn't help but wonder where the fox spirit is. Strange.
Next week finally has the introduction of the wing-soul-eating-demons! Wooo!!! It may also feature the new ending song which I wasn't expecting for a while, but Mokona had a goodbye message at the end of the credits this week. Guess he won't be around next week!
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