(Hi) Dark Gathering

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by grecefar

yeah, the warning was understandable. This was a pretty dark case for them, keitaro is lucky that eiko is a stalker too and yayoi is cool with it.

She seems pretty creeped out about it when it's just "normal" stalking. But stalking that involves the supernatural is totally ok by her .

[grecefar]

jesus christ, yayoi is too brutal. A little girl like her should be playing in a park or something, not this

[Alchemist007]

This ep felt a bit pretentious, just showing off her abilities. Hopefully the creep factor with the older sister comes to a head soon, assuming she's not just twisted at the core which could be the case.

[FlareKnight]

Eiko may be utterly nuts, but I can get behind Yayoi and Keitaro's goals. They are sticking themselves into it for their respective goals. Honestly I'd say both have a reasonable endgame in mind as well. Getting their situations resolved will let them look forward.

On the other hand...not sure what to say about Eiko. Honestly I don't think she has an endgame. Just diving further and further into horrors and driving Keitaro into terrifying situations is enough for her. Obviously if we want to take her seriously her research is a thing. But it's not like that has any particular end point.

I do honestly wonder if she is at the core of all this. The episodes play her yandere so severely that it's hard to completely ignore it. Did she get cursed on purpose to drive Keitaro into a corner? I can't imagine that she actually orchestrated the incident with Yayoi's family but...are we 100% sure she didn't? She cares about whether Keitaro dies or not, but not sure that extends to people in general.

Yayoi is pretty brutal, but it's almost necessary considering how brutal her opponents are. And that's to say nothing about the spirit she's gunning for in the end. If the other side is taking hostages and playing cruel games...then she'll do the exact same. Basically treating it like a war and the only thing that matters is winning.

[scififan]

Yayoi's goal is "as awlays", gotta catch them all

Spoiler:

[mangamuscle]

The only part that I disliked about this episode (and some earlier) is how loose they play with some stuff. This episode Keitaro did some bunge with some random rope, that should have broken him due to lack of elasticity. What is more, he definetively does not have the strenght to hold on to a grown woman the moment the rope ends its fall, best case scenario he could have lost both arms.

But Eiko being fucking crazy, I am ok with that, at the very least she does not try to bend backwards to find some justification for how she thinks and feels, she wants have her cake and then eat it, so lets enjoy the ride.

[grecefar]

New chapter, new ghost. This one liked keitarou more than the usual.

Eiko's way to make keitarou said that they were dating was hilarious. Next chapter we may get a new party member.

[FlareKnight]

Honestly I kind of thought there'd be a twist and this girl would be a human antagonist. But instead she's even more of a victim than Keitaro is. Poor girl is wrapped up in something she can't really detect. And talk about a messed up memory of having the spirit of her brother try to murder her...I guess it's nice that he was trying to save her from a horrific fate of what that "God" will do to her. But it's still messed up.

She really has lept up the priority list though. Considering she's on an active timeline of getting...taken by that thing. Sure she's got a few years, but it's still an active clock compared to some of the other issues. And it's something that they can't handle yet. That thing managed to get out of Yayoi's room despite all the spirits she's gathered. And she's a huge spiritual lure despite having no ability to detect them. A horrible combo.

At least they know the situation and can start looking into it.

[shmaster]

Just a warning: that god is the first major boss fight of the series, and the actual fight is just about to get started in the latest manga chapter. Everything until now are just prep to fight that god.
In other words, don't expect any conclusion of the story arc as there is no way the anime can catch up to the manga chapters.

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by shmaster

Just a warning: that god is the first major boss fight of the series, and the actual fight is just about to get started in the latest manga chapter. Everything until now are just prep to fight that god.
In other words, don't expect any conclusion of the story arc as there is no way the anime can catch up to the manga chapters.

Definitely seems like a good first boss for the cast to tackle. The most immediate threat. Though I guess you could say Yayoi's situation is also pressing considering what might be happening to her mother's spirit.

Not to say that this seems like a warm up boss. But it's a definite threat and one that's better to deal with sooner than later. Kind of too bad that the anime won't get to that battle. Although I guess there's always a possibility in another season in the future.

For now will enjoy seeing the cast interact. Plus they do need to build up to fighting a God. Yayoi's spiritual Pokemon team probably isn't at that level yet.

[grecefar]

yeah, I was thinking that finally we get the first major arc and boss of the series. Lots of twists in this chapter. I fell for everything.

[Frontier]

Classic Dark Gathering, having girls discuss desserts for their "sleepover" while a bug-eyed creepy spirit is preying on Keitaro and his brain. I'm so proud that he was able to hold back on freaking out for once .

"Is something coming after us?" Eiko, you've been doing this long enough to know that something is ALWAYS coming after you at this point .

Nothing more classic horror than a scary elevator ride !

Ai's betrothal by a God seems useful in the sense that he wards off all the spirits that attack her...but that's the reason anyone who associates with her, including her loved ones, get attacked by the spirits instead. It's why she was basically cast off from her family and only had her brother until he fell victim to it too. And it seems like Keitaro is next .

Ugh, it's one thing that this piece of @#$% spirit has a brain fetish, but it basically tortured it's victims as ghosts with their brains to push more victims into him and then turn them into his next servant. There've been some pretty vile Spirits and monsters in this show, but this guy is one of the worst .

Of course Yayoi being Yayoi comes up with a plan to turn the tables and with some assist from Keitaro manages to snag the guy. And what better fate than to become the scarecrow of Ai's apartment? Warding off other spirits and remaining a self-healing scratching post for the ghost of his victims until they're satisfied torturing him...which probably won't be for a while. And then when they're done? His butt is Yayoi's .

Poor Ai. She's been beaten down so much by all the loss and heartbreak of her life and she doesn't want to lose anything more, but she's willing to bear with it and be alone it if it means protecting others despite how broken she is emotionally. But Yayoi isn't about to let her kouhai go undefended and swears to protect her. And when Yayoi makes a promise, she keeps it !

I kind of figured Ai's brother was trying to kill her so she'd be free of the God and the suffering he was putting her through .

Jeez, that God turned Yayoi's room into a slaughterhouse. I guess it's going to take more than their usual doll spirits to take him down, though apparently those aren't even the "graduates" of Yayoi's school of deadly spirits. And she's not about to let a God go through with forcing Ai into a problematic age-gap relationship, and directly challenges him! Even Keitaro stands up for his students in a very Keitaro way !

Of course it's kind of concerning they haven't even seen his true form yet...though Yayoi just sees another source for powering up her arsenal .

[kuroyanagi]

Christ, this may have been the scariest, most disgusting episode yet. The idea of a ghost that fucks directly with your innards is just too creepy. And that's not even the scariest being that appears in this episode!

[grecefar]

yeah, this is one of the most horror anime I've ever seen and I'm loving it.

[FlareKnight]

You'd hope at this point Keitaro would have some sense of self-preservation. Yes, turning around probably would have alerted that thing to him knowing it was there. But I'm not sure his general plan was great. At best...it moves to attack the girls while he goes to the bathroom. At worst he's just beautifully isolated himself with no way to get help . He is a great target for horror scenes though with his decision making and his reactions.

Loved the ending. Really throwing down the declaration of war against this god after Ai . Gotta love it.

And really this is the perfect solution to one issue for the show. The thing that went after Yayoi's mother has to be insanely powerful and odds are decent that Keitaro's issue isn't simple either. So they needed to build things up. Ai's God seems like the most immediate threat and one that can help set them up to take on much more horrifying existences. Can focus on building up to a conflict against this guy and then move on from there. And this guy is a great opponent. One of the first threats able to communicate. Horrors you can't communicate with are terrifying. But an opponent you can just adds to the hype.

Keitaro did his best, but Yayoi was definitely slinging the best shots . Thank goodness this isn't her A team that he bust his way through. That or she's bluffing. But regardless it's good to get his focus on them. Either way they have to take him on before he goes after Ai. And while he may claim to be waiting for 20 there's always a chance he gets impatient. So planning ahead is a good move.

One heck of a terrifying way to make Ai's place safer . That works! And honestly that creepy ghost got exactly what he deserved. What he did to people is beyond horrible and what he did to them after death was even worse. Making them victimize others to ease the torment they were experiencing.

Glad for Ai that she's found this crazy group. They'll be in her corner and her life isn't remotely going to end at 20! Honestly I have to think her brother found out after death what kind of fate would await for Ai. It's probably less about the trauma she's building up while she's alive and more what kind of fate will result for her soul after the God comes for her. Have a feeling this God's idea of a good time will put the ghost that we saw today to shame...

[Frontier]

Yayoi challenging a lolicon God now planning to devour her with confidence! You love to see it! Heck, even Keitaro managed to squeak out how he'll protect his students! Although I didn't need to see that visual of the God on Ai's face .

So now that the power balance of Yayoi's room has been upset, it's time for a culling to create a new "graduate," and the graduate is so powerful they can't control it and it nearly kills them by making them pick up the phone...thankfully Yayoi got it under control in time before Eiko picked up, but that was a close one. And that seems to be the norm for Graduate spirits, which is why she doesn't keep them at home, but where DOES she keep them ?

Nice of them to fix up Ai's room so she won't have to worry about Spirits, especially with her handy-dandy new scarecrow that thankfully only Keitaro and Yayoi can see .

I thought Ai was going to join the team, but instead she's heading home to Kyoto for her brothers' memorial service. I wonder if this'll write her out for a while? Well, that and they don't really need to drag her on their quest until they have to deal with the God haunting her .

For all of Yayoi's bravery and confidence, even she realizes she picked a fight she might not be able to win...especially when her home spirit security system has been totally messed up by the God. Though she does just casually mention she's killed a God before, so this isn't new territory for her .

So the plan is get get six Graduates to capture, rather than kill, the God. Yayoi has four Graduates and a transcendant Jizo statue that's also part of her arsenal, so all she needs is a sixth. And the best way to get it is by going on a Japan World Tour collecting as many dangerous Spirits as they can. At least she's ranked them by threat level and Eiko is already down for driving them everywhere. Keitaro just can't help but go along with it at this point .

Also I just love how they're planning to do all this while they've still got schoolwork which completely deflates them. I mean, Eiko even remembers she has homework to do !

That was a surprisingly sweet scene of Keitaro and Yayoi biking together, and Yayoi opens up to Keitaro about how she's been fighting alone for so long that now she's grateful to have such a precious partner in Keitaro, and that's bolstered her confidence. She really values and appreciates having Keitaro around .

Of course Keitaro should've known better than to let Yayoi dictate where they should go and she immediately makes him peddle all the way to an S-Ranked spot. I guesss their world tour Supernatural Collection mission begins now. At least Keitaro was able to finish the "Let's Goooo....st!" line .

[stray]

Gotta catch em all...

[grecefar]

that's quite the ordeal they have now and to travel around all the country to gather an army to fight a god.

this has become a lot more interesting.

[FlareKnight]

I do appreciate that Yayoi has moments of reflection in this episode. True enough that they couldn't really avoid picking this fight. None of them would be fine with abandoning Ai to her fate. Though fair enough that if they handled things better they could have put off a conflict with the God for a while longer. The only regret is that if this God had a different temperament then they would have been screwed. Thankfully this one is arrogant and patient enough to let them prepare themselves and come at him with their full strength.

It's a brutal situation. But it does now force them to get moving in earnest. With the balance broken in Yayoi's room, a new graduate, and a pressing fight against a God on the horizon...it's time to move things along. Not a bad idea to go on a pretty intense horror tour in order to gain enough firepower.

Because there is more than just winning. There's no telling how powerful this God is in comparison to the one Yayoi fought. But they can't presume he's weaker and need to not only beat him, but capture him. While using the Graduates to defeat a God is cool, that doesn't connect to Yayoi's ultimate goal. She needs firepower to fight something truly horrifying and a God added in as her Ace Pokemon would be pretty useful.

This is all going to be rough. But it's what they need to do. There's no picking the gauntlet back up after they picked this fight and they wouldn't want to do so anyways.

[shmaster]

Looking back, Yayoi really made one wrong assessment here.
She might have easier time if she rearrange her priority.

Anyway, here finally comes lv.55 ghost + steel type pokemon.