天下制覇

Ugh, what have I been reduced to?

Truly we used to live in an enlightened time… where the raws were fast to appear and those of us that just happen to live in the wrong country could quickly keep up on currently airing shows. Hell, I covered Nanoha StrikerS streamrips. Nothing like a 240×180 flv to make you appreciate getting to watch the ‘terrible’ quality you get at 640×480. Then again, those shows didn’t have giant terrible closed captioning hardcoded onto the video, covering roughly a third of the screen. I don’t even like watching shows with subtitles anymore if I can help it. And now I’m watching with giant Japanese captioning emblazoned right on there. This is just… ugh… UGH. Alright… I can get through this. Why would someone even share this cap instead of a clean version? I waited and waited for a clean version to show up through the usual channels, but… bleh. I need sleep soon. Dammit, Japan.

Impressions:

Well, aside from being forced to watch it with ginormous ugly subtitles, this wasn’t one of my favorite xxxHOLiC stories anyway… or in the upper half. It’s just basically a bait and switch setting up the audience to think it’s a manikin and then droping in a corpse, but without any particularly interesting twists above or beyond that. There were quite a few minor changes from the manga. They added the drowned cat to tie in the Catgirl and give a reason for the water (it’s being sent to the TRC universe in the manga), as well as gave the Catgirl an egg to give to Yuuko (the egg comes from Sakura… likewise TRC), and added Yuuko to the big reveal instead of just letting Doumeki explain everything. 

I don’t know what else to say really. More hints about Himawari being a spiritual Typhoid Mary, and not too much interesting happening otherwise. Unfortunately, next week is probably the story I like the absolute least from the manga because, to be frank, it’s really predictable and Yuuko strikes me as just being a vindictive bitch in it more than anything else. It also happens quite a bit after the Himawari arc if I remember correctly, so I’m a little disappointed to see it so early. Oh well, at least we can put the lame parts behind us.

Yuuko soaks… but Watanuki’s the one doing all the pumping. He starts tiring, so Mokona soaks him with a waterpistol. He falls backwards, crushing the Catgirl. The girls pump water to wake them  up, but… you know.. cats don’t like water.

Yuuko gets out of the kid’s water pool to greet her guest. The Catgirl has a request. She’s paying an egg. In return, she wants the water from a well. Now it’s up to Watanuki!

The Catgirl leads Watanuki there. He whines all the while. She points out a house behind a huge wall. Watanuki complains that it’d be breaking and entering, but hops on over anyway and goes in. The Catgirl leads him to a well outside the house. Watanuki looks up and sees someone watching at the window, but they don’t move at all. The woman must not have seen them. Looking at her, Watanuki still feels creeped out though, so he gets the water and hurries back.

At the store, Yuuko checks it out while Watanuki keeps complaining. This is only the first, he’s got more water to haul. No matter how he complains, Yuuko says it’s up to him. He brings up the woman he saw, and says how he thought it was creepy, but it was really nothing.

Watanuki asks if there’s anything he can do to lessen the work, so Yuuko gives him two water globes so he’ll only have to make half the trips… but… he can’t carry that much water. Mokona says that she’ll help, but Watanuki rejects that. He can’t ask Himawari either, which leaves nobody… except of course…

Doumeki is walking to haul the water with Watanuki the next day while the Catgirl follows along. Watanuki keeps complaining all the while. They hop the wall and see the woman in the same place as before. Same clothes, same everything, but since Doumeki can see it, even with his normal eye, Watanuki concludes that it’s not supernatural. He still feels something strange about it, but shakes it off and they haul up the water.

Watanuki is still creeped out by the area, and the well, but tells Doumeki that it’s nothing.

At school, Watanuki tells Himawari about things. Himawari asks what Doumeki thinks, but he says there’s definitely something. Watanuki’s a bit surprised that Doumeki’s taking it seriously for once. Even Himawari admits that it’s strange for Doumeki to say mysterious things like that.

Another two water jugs later, Yuuko and Watanuki talk about it. He admits to her than the ‘girl’ in the window creeps him out, but since Doumeki can see it and she’s always in the same clothes, it’s got to just be a doll. He shakes it off and wanders off to make food.

At school, Himawari invites Watanuki out, but he’s got to cart water around still. Himawari asks if she can go along and help, but he doesn’t want to worry her. Doumeki’s got club activities too, so Watanuki’s stuck waiting for a bit. Himawari makes him promise to not overdue it and holds out her pinky. They touch, and a dark energy passes between them. Watanuki is stunned for a second. She waves goodbye and wanders off.

At night, Watanuki and the other two go to the well again. Watanuki is lamenting his lost chance with Himawari. The Catgirl says this is the last time.

They finish hauling up the water. Watanuki’s thrilled to be done with it. He reaches for the cloth to cover the jug, but his pinky pulses with the dark energy and the wind blows it away and into the house. He looks at his hand, wondering what happened.

Doumeki asks if it’s important. Watanuki doesn’t know, but he thinks it had to have some purpose since Yuuko gave it to them.

They try ringing the bell, but there’s no answer. Doumeki says they should just go in. He says Watanuki can wait, but that just gets Watanuki all bitey, so they try the door. It’s unlocked, so they walk in. The Catgirl leaps off and looks down into the well.

Watanuki and Doumeki walk through the abandoned house. A painting falls as they pass by.

Doumeki goes to a door and opens it. They walk in, and Watanuki trips. He loses sight of Doumeki. He tries to call out, but there’s no answer.

Watanuki keeps running through the house and comes to a door. He opens it up… and looks around. A hand grabs him… it’s Doumeki. Doumeki points out the stairs ahead. They climb up them and enter the room with the woman. The cloth is on the floor next to her.

Watanuki goes up to it and realizes that the woman is just a manikin as it falls lifelessly out of the chair. Yuuko appears behind them and wonders aloud if he’s right. She says that Doumeki should recognize this. He does. It’s a corpse. Watanuki can’t believe it, things like that don’t happen. Doumeki says that he’s been around corpses before from his family’s shrine job. He recognizes the signs, the smell, and with all the preservatives people absorb into their bodies these days through their food, it’s natural for a body to be preserved for days or weeks.

Yuuko brings Watanuki over to the window where they look at the Catgirl holding a drowned kitten.

Later, Watanuki wraps it up in a burial shroud and thinks about all the death in this area.

Back at the shop, Yuuko drinks outside. Watanuki is really unsettled by everything. Even though there weren’t any evil spirits nearby, it was still really traumatic for him to have seen death so close.

Yuuko’s a bit surprised that Watanuki is so affected by this. Everything happens for a reason, she reminds him. Watanuki still feels sorry for the cat and wonders why it all happened.

Yuuko asks why he went into the house. He says it’s because the wind blew it in there… but was that really it? Watanuki remembers that his pinky ached. Yuuko wonders aloud why that might be. watanuki admits that it’s the same finger he used to promise Himawari and tells her that, but it couldn’t be Himawari’s fault, she was just worried about him. It was just a coincidence. As he says that, he stops and tails off as he takes in his own words.

Mokona glomps Watanuki’s face and defuses the serious situation with demands for food and drink. The two leave together to quench the gluttony.

Yuuko pours herself another drink. The Catgirl hops down and thanks Yuuko for helping her with that cat. Yuuko thinks about the egg again, but Mokona’s argument with Watanuki is echoing through the house. Unnoticed to him, his hand is covered with the dark energy. The Catgirl asks Yuuko what it is.

Preview:

The story of a house haunted by a poltergeist.