English Dub Review: Dark Gathering “Emancipate”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

The tunnel is dangerous, and they must keep the High Priest in check. It is for that reason that the trio need reinforcements; they need another Graduate.

Our Take: 

The second half of Dark Gathering begins with, you guessed it, another trip to a haunted S-rank area. Oh, joy. With their first S-rank exploration almost ending with their demise, Yayoi and the others must stay one step ahead to avoid facing a similar fate, especially since the High Priest is up and about. Based on their experience with the castle ruins, things can only get more challenging before they get any better. The reason is that their next destination is another haunted tunnel.

You would think they’d learned from their previous adventure with the cursed S Tunnel, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. Yayoi and the others’ quest to collect more dangerous ghosts sees them heading to another S-rank area: the F Tunnel. It’s like the S Tunnel but with an F, which fittingly stands for “freaking terrifying”. So, what’s terrifying about the abandoned tunnel? Well, it houses the ghost of a woman in a kimono dress, which would make for another addition to Yayoi’s new spiritual army. But before they head to the tunnel, Yayoi and the others have to take a slight detour to find another Graduate to protect them from the High Priest.

Fortunately, the Graduate Yayoi seeks isn’t like the other nefarious ghosts, but that doesn’t make it less dangerous. The Graduate is the spirit of a soldier who died fighting in a war, along with the enemy soldiers who perished of thirst. So, not only are the ghostly soldiers guarding the seal containing the Graduate, but they’re also willing to quench their thirst by any means necessary, even if it means biting off people’s skins. Of course, by “people”, I mean Keitaro. Yayoi and the others eventually succeed, but that is only half the battle as to what they’re encountering next.

As usual, this little detour plays off similarly to the previous episodes. However, it still packs enough thrills in our encounter with the phantom soldiers to make the ghost-hunting trip all the more frightening. It also hints at what we should expect from the series’s second half, including the mysterious man with a wheelchair and his assistant searching for the talisman Yayoi brought home. But, of course, we can’t forget about Eiko’s strangely creepy behavior when she believes Keitaro is embracing his fear of ghosts. Something tells me their S-rank adventure won’t be the only thing getting more horrifying from here on out.