xxxホリック ◆ 戻 chapter 08

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Watanuki and Doumeki walk passed Watanuki’s apartment before heading upstairs to the apartment above Watanuki’s. Entering the apartment, they find it empty save for a wide screen TV. Since Watanuki doesn’t own a TV, Doumeki asks if he’ll take this one. Watanuki has no such intentions, pointing out that despite taking the TV being wrong, anything to do with Yuuko-san could mean any number of bad things could be associated with this TV.

After some time of nothing happening, Doumeki decides to turn on the TV so that they can watch the show Himawari-chan has talked about.

Sometime later, Watanuki reports what happened to Yuuko-san, including a bit where at the end of the show, Watanuki heard a voice that didn’t come from the TV show, but did come from the TV. Since no one else lives in any of the surrounding apartments, Watanuki can’t fathom were the voice came from other than the TV and his not paying attention.

Watanuki walks away as Yuuko-san gives him a serious stare.

Thoughts/Review:

You know, I found it kind of odd that Watanuki would be carrying his school briefcase, but not want to drop it off in his apartment when he walks right passed the door.  OK, it is very odd.  I kept thinking, “Were this me, I’d drop off my stuff, grab a drink, possibly go to the bathroom, THEN head to the apartment above mine.”  Maybe the Japanese are weird this way, or maybe this is another clue as to what is really going on in Rei.

There’s likely something wrong with the fact that Watanuki’s apartment complex is empty. If this is a dream world, it may be that the only real people living in it are Watanuki, Yuuko-san, Doumeki, and maybe Himawari-chan. The two female customers may just be creations so that Watanuki can be back where he longs to be — with Yuuko-san as she gets these supernatural requests.

As to this chapter, if this is a dream world, I wonder if the TV voice could be someone from reality attempting to save Watanuki. We’ve seen something similar before in xxxHOLiC where Watanuki went to the spirit realms to save that young girl and was kept from going to hell by the voices.

Still, Yuuko-san’s gaze at Watanuki wasn’t what I expected. It may be my own prejudices, but it is almost like the look of someone who has passed on, then been brought back to life against their will and are now wondering how long they’ll have to deal with this.

Anyway, an odd chapter here, but still interesting.