Haha! This was yet another great example of a good xxxHolic episode. The theme of the episode once again was fascinating, the Vestal Sprite was very cute once more, but especially Watanuki was very interesting again. And funny. ^_^

This episode is about the Demon Parade, or the Hyakkiyakou. It’s a gathering of spirits, which happens once a year. This episode, xxxHolic gives its own version of the Hyakkiyakou. Yuuko seems to be a frequent visitor of this event, though now she lets Watanuki go instead. During the parade, each of the guests present has to carry a Demon Lantern, otherwise known as some flower from some tree which looks suspiciously like a paper lantern. The parade then goes to a huge, talking tree, which will provide nectar to every lantern. It seems that Yuuko loves this nectar. ^^

When Watanuki and Domeki arrive at the parade, it seems that none of the spirits has any bad intentions, as Watanuki doesn’t feel sick or nauseous. Only when Watanuki accidentally lets go of the lantern, the demons immediately notice him. It seems that humans in the spirit world are a big taboo, and the demons get extremely worried. They then decide to eat him.

I liked how this episode enjoyed to toy with predictability. The vestal sprites helped Watanuki escape by offering one of their flying boards, so the Vestal Sprite herself had to be near. When Watanuki falls from the sky, it’s indeed obvious that she’d save him, like she did before. She indeed wants to help Watanuki and Domeki escape, though when she grabs his hand, she gets scared, causing Watanuki to fall. After all, she’s extremely shy, and she’s in love with Watanuki. When he touches her hand like that, she’s bound to have such a reaction.

In any case, Keith and his gang get to be the ones to break Watanuki’s and Domeki (who fell along with him)’s fall, though in a very unorthodox way. The other spirits, however, still are after Watanuki. You’d expect that the Vestal Sprite would talk them out of it. She tries, indeed, though she’s way too shy to make any impression. The saviour also doesn’t get to be the Rain Sprite. It’s the child fox from episode four. He shows the monster the Haja arrow. This only shows how important such an item must be.

When they return, Yuuko seems to have waited for them. She then reveals that she loves drinking that nectar. She also tells Watanuki that there isn’t any alcohol, though I doubt that that’s true, as Watanuki seems to be getting drunk after he drinks it. It also seems that he’s very easy to get drunk, and he quickly sleeps in. Then, Domeki brings up something he’s been wondering: why did Yuuko meet up with the two of them once they returned? After all, Watanuki and Domeki’d just go to the shop and deliver the nectar to Yuuko. It seems that Domeki doesn’t need to enter the shop. Only people who have a need to enter the shop may enter it, and Domeki would disrupt this balance. Still, this is weird. I could have sworn that I saw Domeki at the shop numerous of times. At the end of the movie, for example.

On a side-note… am I the only one who noticed the magic rod from Sakura, from Card Captor Sakura between Yuuko’s stuff? It makes you wonder why Sakura needed to pay her a visit. In any case, it was very funny to see Akari and Yuuko have a pleasant conversation, right on top of Watanuki. He had more of these funny moments like this in the episode. ^_^

I also think that I’m beginning to understand how Yuuko’s planning to cure Watanuki: by making him well-known in the spirit-world. Akari already said that many spirits have heard of him. This episode only made him more famous. I think something’s bound to happen when enough spirits know/acknowledge him. I’m also getting more and more interested about Maru and Moro. They’re bodies without souls, though they still helped Mokona write the letter.

Wolf’s Rain is quite an interesting anime. It’s an action-adventure series, with an overall dark and grey mood. Some parts of the story are very creative and original. A world in which wolves are thought to have been extinct for 200 years. The wolves still being alive because they can take the appearance of a human. A religion which believe that humans have evolved from wolves. A quest for the wolves to paradise. Quite interesting, isn’t it? The anime also features some interesting-sounding side-stories, which seem really good on paper. However.

This could have become a good show, weren’t for the fact that the plot was so badly written, to the point it actually becomes laughable. The largest problem was that it seemed that the creators were trying to test the boundaries of coincidences. People conveniently run into each other for no reason at all, at exactly the right time. Twenty times. Per episode. It really becomes funny if this happens so many times in one anime.

That, however, isn’t the only thing wrong with the plot of this show. The creators seemed to have thrown in certain events which don’t make any friggin’ sense at all. For example, wolves who travel for about a month through harsh, snowy terrain, making several pitstops at towns as well make as much progress as a hypermodern spacecraft. piloted by the bad guy. People also get hit by gunshots, and just keep walking around like nothing happened and it’s also nowhere explained why the wolves are so incredibly strong other than give the main characters an excuse to stand out.

And I haven’t even started to talk about the predictability of some of the scenes yet. It was quite funny to see the show take a predictable turn each and every time. The creators’ attempts at romance also totally backfired, as these were the most predictable and hilarious of the entire show. Especially when two lovers were portrayed happily dancing and running in a field full of flowers, and were actually serious about it.

The main characters also were a collection of clichés: tough, impulsive silent guy, annoying brat, carefree dude and hardened streetpunk. Especially the main character likes to go into fights without a reason at all. And these characters are also stupid enough to take a flower girl who needs only sunlight and water to survive into a forest so thick that sunlight and water don’t come through. Still, I have to admit. The side-characters definitely were interesting, when they weren’t entangled by the show’s predictability.

This show really surpasses every other show at episode 15, when it comes with not one, not two, but actually four friggin’ recap episodes. All these episodes do is tell the exact same thing, compressed in four episodes. It was really annoying, trying to get through these episodes. Then the show continues again, with it’s mildly interesting pacing, like nothing ever happened.

Then, at episode 26, this anime actually takes a turn for the better, and the final five episodes actually were surprisingly good and well-written. That is, until you realize the kind of ending the creators were going for, after which the thing turns predictable again. Still, I have to admit. Especially the first half of these final five episodes was worth seeing. But perhaps that was because they focused more at the side-characters than the main characters… hmmm…. In any case, the ending itself was rather dull. Still, the final bad guy was quite interesting to see.

And yes, I have to admit. This show’s got a big budget, which means pretty graphics and music. There’s nothing wrong with the art, and especially near the end, the music really contributes to the series. The art, animation and sounds are one thing not messed up in this anime.

Overall, I still enjoyed watching this anime. This really is a good example of an anime which is so bad, that it actually becomes good. If you really like to mock anime, I definitely recommend this anime, as it’s got so many flaws up to the point that it becomes laughable. Still, if you combine this with the good points, the result ends up being quite entertaining.