Dark Gathering

Episode 3

So it seems that Dark Gathering won't be quite as episodic as I had suspected, but few shows are these days. This third episode directly continues the ominous interaction between Yayoi and Keitaro that capped off last week's entry. It wasn't just a moody swerve for the show's aesthetics, as Keitaro catches on to just how not-nice Yayoi is in her supernatural setups, which ends up representing a potential turning point in the odd relationship he previously thought he might settle into. Helping quell dangerous spirits for a weird yet endearing little girl who also helped you out? Sure. Donating parts of your own body to what seems to be her personal, very creepy vendetta? That's a somewhat less appealing proposition.

Granted, I probably wouldn't have any qualms about letting Yayoi have some of my fingernails in this situation; I hate it when they get even a millimeter too long—just get 'em off. But given the creepy scene of what she was up to, which Keitaro just witnessed, and the horrors he's already endured with the supernatural side of things, it's perhaps understandable that he's standoffish in his uncertainty about what she plans to do with his cast-off keratin. Dark Gathering had already impressed upon us how singularly vengeful Yayoi's self-motivation was. How are we and Keitaro to suspect that she has anything but her interests in mind here?

It lets the anime upend its seemingly established formula just three episodes in, as Keitaro notably nopes out of this latest "Let's Ghost!" trip that Yayoi and Eiko try to rope him into. It also results in this episode being something of a companion to last week's, focusing on developing trust in the relationship between Yayoi and Keitaro. In this case, he has to save her after she gets in over her cute little purple head. Keitaro may be put off by Yayoi's methods and motivation at this point, but he's still selfless enough not to let someone he's acquainted with get taken out by ghosts because of that. There's also the question of how much Yayoi know about appealing to his nature when she set out on this venture. Ultimately, it supplements her overall agenda in the long run, even though she seemed to be doing something selfless at the outset.

Even with that broader question, this episode is about showing Yayoi as having the potential for a more empathetic, selfless side. Dark Gathering's theme of whether we do things for the good of others or ourselves is still palpably applicable here. Part of it seems to be fueled by a mildly amusing misunderstanding—the occult-obsessed Yayoi is not aware that Keitaro would have chosen to fully cure his curse had he known that was an option. Her recklessness in attacking the Kishimojin for what we learn was Keitaro's sake is supposed to indicate how far she would be willing to go for someone else like that. This is complemented by the later reveal that so many of her acquaintances are safely shielded from curses via her plushie-possession mechanics, like some sort of supernatural friends and family plan. It rounds out the story of the fingernail request alongside the deployment of the paper dolls earlier in this episode, in a satisfyingly revelatory way. Plus, it also finds more avenues for spooky imagery to impress upon Keitaro how, even when Yayoi is doing something out of care for others, she is still decidedly Not Nice about it.

However, it doesn't all come off quite as tight as the built-up in last week's episode. After the intriguing efforts at depicting Keitaro's curse as a chronic illness and the mechanics of living with it previously, it feels a bit too easy of a swerve into hard magical/supernatural storytelling to dangle a simple spiritual cure as a story-ending goal to motivate his cooperation with Yayoi moving forward. Granted, it could (and likely will) end up being more complex than that, but I hope we get just a bit more elucidation on the meetings between the mechanical and the mystical if we're going to continue focusing on the curse. I also appreciate the depiction of Keitaro's ongoing uncertainty about his association with Yayoi, but it could become repetitive if they keep treating it as a feature of every episode's arc. Maybe that's one aspect that would work better as smaller comedy beats moving forward, especially as this episode was lighter on that aspect than the previous ones had been (though I did enjoy the dry humor of Yayoi's little "Look at him go" exclamation as Keitaro came to her rescue).

I'll also give the show props for handily deciding not to draw out the supposed mystery of Eiko's status as Keitaro's past supernaturally afflicted friend. This episode ends with hard confirmation of that fact. It also hones in on her and her own cursed hands as something we might be following up on as early as next week's episode. So, combined with how things rounded back here, I can appreciate Dark Gathering working in just a bit more serial storytelling than I was expecting. It still has the ups and downs of episodic entries, with some odd plot progression points in this one that could come off as holes if I wasn't fully expecting them to be seeds for reveals coming up sooner rather than later. However, it's all in the name of developing these characters tightly alongside its central themes of the intertwining selflessness of agendas, which I appreciate.

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.