Dark Gathering

Episode 4

Dark Gathering has done well in letting us know Keitaro and Yayoi over its first few episodes, but the remaining member of its main cast, Eiko, was still something of a question mark. However, the show's pacing has always been perceptively sharp, so it knows that now is the right time to revisit Keitaro's childhood friend and delve into what her deal is, for the sake of our curiosity. Whether the revelations they deliver work or not, they will undoubtedly create a new set of questions, and the answers will likely vary from viewer to viewer.

The idea that Eiko could even be considered "mysterious" presents an odd contradiction against her presented personality that the series is aware of and utilizes. Despite being an extrovert, she throws herself into situations and makes new friends easily, all without immediately revealing much about herself. Before this episode, we had no idea that she skillfully specialized in informatics and technology. Seeing the clamoring crowd of college fans attracted by her famed abilities makes it feel like Eiko has always been a properly three-dimensional character; we just hadn't had the chance to see it until this episode.

It's a setup that also builds on Dark Gathering's multi-layered focus on character connections and interactions. As we find out about Eiko's skills and specialties, she also elaborates on her known interest in the occult. Her accepted understanding of science is why she's so compelled by the inexplicability of the spiritual world, which intersects with her relationship with Keitaro. He feels like he has to force himself to face his fears of the occult to go along with the friend he feels indebted to for saving him from isolation, as well as the guilt over getting her into some spiritual trouble previously. Keitaro also notes how he feels he might not be worthy of Eiko's companionship given her outsized popularity, but it's clear from the way the story is framed that much of it is simply him not being able to get out of his head.

Because this episode confirms, extremely quickly and early, that Eiko does indeed have a cursed hand, just like Keitaro, as a result of the aforementioned ghostly incident. They were counting on the audience to have pretty much figured that out by this point, but cementing it like this allows them to directly follow up on it as context for Keitaro and Eiko's foibles. It marks a major choice for Keitaro: Helping Yayoi with her agenda isn't just a way for him to lift his curse; it's also something he can do for his childhood friend, and we know how much more predisposed Keitaro is to doing things to help others versus himself. However, the linked situation also slowly raises some curious questions about Keitaro and Eiko's disparate reactions to their affliction. Is Eiko simply doing her best to smile through the struggles of the curse for Keitaro's sake, or is her extroverted personality just naturally better at letting her deal with the issue?

The episode flirts with a few interpretations in the time it has now given itself to explore Eiko. It's cool to see her motivated when a new ghostly problem rears its head that directly threatens Keitaro. It forces him to let himself ask for help and ostensibly allows Eiko to return the favor of protecting him in their shared backstory. It also fuels the question, for both us and Keitaro himself, of whether he's been overprotective of Eiko following their hand-cursing experience. As this episode wholly shows, Eiko is a grown-up with her skills and ability to take care of herself and others when needed. Keitaro's efforts to insulate her from what he feels is fearful could, ironically, be seen as a more selfish act on his part.

Of course, the ultimate last-minute twist reveal winds up making it all messier. The idea that all of Eiko's efforts of engagement with Keitaro and the associated occult elements are borne out of a yandere-esque obsession with him tilts things in a way that interacts oddly with Dark Gathering's ongoing ruminations on selfishness versus selflessness. It's not necessarily entirely out of left field, as elements of Eiko's personality and actions throughout the show up to this point have made abundantly clear what an Extremely Normal girl she was. And it fits with the series' overall tenor, like those points where Keitaro thought he understood Yayoi's motivations, only to come upon some new, twisted angle to her behavior. I don't know if this revelation about Eiko especially lands as a punch-line, but I can at least appreciate it marking her as a different character than the simply sweet companion to Keitaro the episode had otherwise worked to frame her as. We'll see how the show handles this moving forward.

Other than all that exploration of Eiko, the rest of this episode serviced Dark Gathering's usual approach satisfactorily. However, there's a detectable drop-off in terms of production values after the third episode, which affects the atmosphere of the horror it's still going for (and might even be to blame for the off vibes of that ultimate Eiko revelation). Everything feels just a little flatter and stiffer, especially as all the "action" in this episode amounts to a spirit being confined to a closed cardboard box, and our heroes just driving a car real fast for a bit. Yes, there's an inherent amount of amusement in them doing Speed but with Keitaro's arm catching fire instead of a bomb going off. And I got a chuckle out of the gag of him being naked in the backseat as part of their hasty plan (complete with Yayoi's skull-eye logo as a censorship icon). However, it couldn't match the more engaging direct combat we've seen Yayoi get up to in previous episodes.

I guess this makes this episode of Dark Gathering one that I liked more in theory than execution. I was hoping for more insight into Eiko, and we sure as hell got it. I'm sure some viewers will dig what was delivered, and I can see the show going to some interesting places with her moving forward. As I said, it does interact interestingly with the show's primary themes. However, it also, on some level, feels like a gut-punch for gut-punches sake, one more piece on the pile of screwing with Keitaro's hope that anything in his life could be nice and normal. Not that he's aware of Eiko's ill infatuation with him at this point, but then does that also make it a bit more mean-spirited? It's hard to say because this episode, much like Eiko herself, doesn't come off as bad, simply odd.

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.