xxxHOLiC Kei 12

xxxHOLiC◆継 Episode 12
xxxHOLiC Kei 12

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

xxxHOLiC Kei 12Himawari-chan tells the injured Watanuki her story of the misfortune she causes others (though she is human and not Ayakashi). She points out all of the misfortunes she’s caused Watanuki and had long wondered when he’d notice she was the cause of it all. She thanks him for his kindness to her and the bentos he’s made her and she bids him a final farewell. Watanuki calls out to her from his bed and tells her that she has made him happy by simply calling his name or giving him a sweet. He confesses that he really likes her and would do nothing to make her cry. Further, he wants to make something for her to eat. She concedes and requests a Strawberry Chiffon cake with pink cream. He agrees.

xxxHOLiC Kei 12Himawari-chan leaves Watanuki’s room, this time with a promise to see him again. Outside the room, a bloodied Doumeki sits (having paid a price in blood to save Watanuki), clearly weakened and unable to move. She tells him that the cake is a secret between herself and Watanuki and that he may not partake in it. He agrees, but says he’ll have to partake in the bento though. She agrees to this. As she leaves, she begins to cry because of Watanuki’s words to her, telling her he was glad to have met her (something she’s never heard before). As such, she’s also glad to have met Watanuki and glad to have taken the scars of his injuries on her back as payment for saving his life.

xxxHOLiC Kei 12Inside Watanuki’s room, Yuuko-san pays Watanuki a visit. She explains to Watanuki that Himawari-chan’s curse cannot be lifted without her sacrificing all of her happiness. He falls asleep and six days later, he and Yuuko-san continue their conversation on Himawari-chan. Before Watanuki falls back asleep, Yuuko-san gives Watanuki an egg as payment. As Watanuki sleeps, the egg communicates with Watanuki and detecting his kind heart and desire to make Himawari-chan happy, it hatches into a bird that will not be affected by Himawari’s bad luck curse.

xxxHOLiC Kei 12Once Watanuki is able to return to school, he is feeling very good. He encounters Himawari-chan and Doumeki. He gives Himawari-chan the bird, telling her that the bird will not be affected by her cursed state. She’s very happy with the gift and ends up asking Watanuki to name the bird. The bird looks at Watanuki expectantly, so he comes up with the name Tanpopo (“Dandelion”) because the bird is yellow. The name please both the bird and Himawari-chan, who notes that the bird’s name is that of a flower as is her own name (sun flower).

Thoughts/Review:

I’m sad to see that the visit from Zashiki-Warashi and Ame-Warashi was cut from the anime adaptation of the story-arc. Sadly, it doesn’t appear she’ll be in the final episode either.

xxxHOLiC Kei 12As to the story, I remember how great it was learning about Himawari-chan when I read it in the manga. I figure those who are only watching the anime will have a similar sense of enjoyment. Of course, the manga story had the egg as another linker to the Tsubasa story, which of course does not exist in the anime version (which has always been a shame).

Thus far, I think that xxxHOLiC Kei is a better adaptation than the xxxHOLiC anime was. I doubt that the final episode will change that feeling, but I can’t really say that this will be a series I’ll want to come back and re-watch.

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4 Responses to “xxxHOLiC Kei 12”

  1. ryoten says:

    Epic….cuteness! This was probably one of the most anticipated episodes of Kei for me, and it didn’t disappoint at all. Even having already read the manga, Himawari’s finally revealing her secrets to Watanuki was just as impacting as ever. I was actually re-watching some of the first season yesterday, and Himawari’s bad luck was hinted as far back as episode two! That said, I think the decision to make this the last “official” final episode of Kei was a great choice. Though I do believe the early scenes could have done without the stylized bleeding, I thought the quick shots of flashback really added to Himawari’s speech in ways the manga didn’t. Himawari’s evil grin also seemed a lot more threatening after watching it annimated. The revealing of the prices paid was as amazing as ever too, especially Himawari’s scars.

    This episode only continued to build on the strong themes that xxxHolic has been using for the longest time. Those would be of sacrifice, love, and friendship. In today’s world, there would be far too few who would have taken the same actions as Watanuki in his situation. This goes for Doumeki and Himawari as well. The episode also built on the development Watanuki had earlier in the season, as he finally realized how much those around him cared about his condition. Although simple storytelling, it’s things like this that make me rate this series so highly. The introduction of Tanpopo (dandelion) also played on one of Clamp’s common themes – the importance of a name. As this was the first thing that was played on in xxxHolic, I’m sure everyone by now knows how impacting it is. Anyways, the last episode is finally upon us next week. It’s the introduction of the thunder beast Raiju, just as planned.

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  2. AstroNerdBoy says:

    Well, I’ll be interested in your thoughts on episode 13 when that gets published (it is already written, just sitting in backlog). ^_^

  3. Thank you very much for posting this.
    ^_^
    I really appreciate it!
    I’ve been looking for xxxholic: kei episode 12’s English subbed version everywhere and have been down founded to find there was actually none. 🙁
    I also got a little lost in the manga since I’m still far away from this chapter. XD
    Anyway, thanks once again.
    At least, now I understand the story after watching the unsubbed version and you’re synopsis.

  4. AstroNerdBoy says:

    You are welcome. I have to say, the summaries are something I like doing, but are the most time-consuming aspect of these blog entries. However, it it helps someone like yourself, then it is worth the effort. ^_^

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