Dark Gathering

Episode 12

Keitaro and Yayoi might have initially underestimated this Rank S spirit, but I might have underestimated Yayoi. Her seemingly inevitable over-preparedness for any situation has been a storytelling device with ups and downs through Dark Gathering. Generally, the show can make it work so long as it convincingly acknowledges how close an encounter was, regardless of how ready Yayoi was for it. That is the case in this episode, as Yayoi does save herself from the attack by the ghost granny in what feels like record time at the beginning of this one but admits she got lucky with some outside factors. There's also plenty else going on in this episode that we can deal with it feeling anticlimactic, and follow along on the other factors that increase the overall tension.

Dark Gathering plays to its characters' strengths regarding how we expect them to handle the horrors. Yayoi can fend off the frights as expected, while Keitaro is predisposed to having a terrible time. So, of course, the situation he was left in last week gets even worse. It escalates what the apparition at Castle H is all about: it turns out it is not as benign or benevolent as previously speculated and is actively attempting to kill our main characters. It's a layered reveal of intent that gets further elaborated on later in the episode, but the main sting is that they thought the ghost didn't kill people because none of its victims ever escaped. It's one more of those things that effectively drives up the fearful threat level of this high-ranking haunting.

Expectedly, these escalations mean that Dark Gathering eventually has to transition from the increasing atmospheric dread of its pure horror into something a little more battle-action flavored, Yayoi coming in to rescue Keitaro as is custom. Still, the show tries to still have scary ideas at the core of what's happening here. The compelling power of the sutra spoken as a weapon by Yayoi's "graduate" not only demonstrates a one-up against the power of the Rank S spirit, but it fits with the ongoing theming of the series as well: The priest draws in other beings it subsumes into also speaking its sutra, powering itself up. As has been constantly demonstrated by the teamwork of Yayoi and Keitaro (and Eiko), there is power in groups. The exercise is another example of a "Dark Gathering" as Yayoi's creepy collection or the apparent collection of spirits brought together at this castle.

The confrontation with the sutra as its central mechanic is an esoteric battle of powers, but the show still communicates pretty well. And even after that, Dark Gathering has to keep piling on further complications, somewhat for thematic reasons and seemingly just because of the story's increasing addiction to technical, spiritual details. Keitaro has another major step in his growth in this arena, having to perform the sealing on the Graduate once they're done utilizing its power. The presentation comes off a little static and simple for what's supposed to be this majorly tense exercise, however.

And then the ride continues with Yayoi's uncovering a cursed old hand in a box that was the real reason for everything happening here. This is mostly an end explanation for the Rank S spirit not originally being malevolent, as well as revealing that it was not a gathering of spirits but one entity that had split itself into several small sub-ghosts. It feels like a very roundabout way of making Yayoi and Keitaro's newest catch of an ally somewhat more sympathetic (as well as foreshadowing that there's someone else out there manipulating the spirits of this world) but after so many switchovers crammed in at the end of this relatively short story, mostly just felt like it was begging me to accept it and move on.

Even as I thought it made the eventfulness of this episode feel overloaded, I ultimately came out liking that explanation for how it speaks to Dark Gathering's thematic elements I enjoyed so much. The Rank S spirit acknowledges Yayoi for what she did both to and for her, an admission of the odd symbiotic connection they've been brought together with: Yayoi wouldn't have pursued her had her cursed escalating powers not attracted her attention, winding up with her being freed from that curse but placed into new servitude under Yayoi. And Yayoi needs that power to further her own agenda and gear up to save Ai from the god. It is inevitably transactional, as so much bargaining with the spirit world must be. And it contrasts with the ever more explicitly personal benefits of the working relationship Yayoi and Keitaro continue to enjoy. They both acknowledge how specifically they saved each other in this by-the-skin-of-their-teeth encounter, with Yayoi even getting another adorable little "Thanks" out towards Keitaro.

It's been driven home several times now in this stretch of the show, but getting Keitaro and Yayoi to that place where they're working with each other out of mutual genuine caring has been an effective place to reach as Dark Gathering hits the end of its first cour here. And hey, they even acknowledge how they left Eiko out at the end and resolve to more integrally include her in their next adventure. I understand why that last story was the Keitaro/Yayoi show, but I already missed Eiko and her antics. There's still plenty of Dark Gathering left, and this one showed that even when it's slightly overstuffed, it still works at getting those horror fundamentals and conceptual communications right.

Rating:

Dark Gathering is currently streaming on HIDIVE.

Chris knows that summer is the perfect time for spooky stories, and hopefully, it's enough to distract him from this blistering Fresno heat wave. You can help distract him further by bothering him on his Twitter (for however much longer that lasts), or check out his less-scary musings over on his blog.