English Dub Review: Dark Gathering “The Old I Watergate: Resplendence”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

She was beautiful once, but scorn burned her soul until nothing but spiteful ashes remained. Now, her wrathful fury is the only thing that can defeat a child’s rageful grudge.

Our Take:

Things are not getting better for Keitaro and the others, as they’re now facing the wrath of a scorned boy bent on revenge. If there’s one thing that’s worse than an adult spirit, it’s the ghost of a child whose life suddenly ended by their stepmother. While I was a bit doubtful about how this saga would match the previous S-rank adventures regarding its scares, I was hoping that the battle against the Old I Watergate curse would start to pick up, especially since this S-rank saga appears to last for three episodes instead of two. Based on the Boy’s deadly motive and strength, I can understand why.

The episode showcased that the Boy’s power came from his scrapbook and the meatballs made out of the victims he killed. He curses his victims by writing them on his scrapbook and erases them to murder them. He then eats the meatballs to gain his full power, meaning Yayoi and the others must destroy the Boy’s scrapbook to break the spell. But, of course, that’s only the first step in subduing this powerful spirit, as his rock-hard armor proved to be much more challenging for the trio to overcome.

This resulted in Yayoi summoning another terrifying ghost capable of withstanding the Boy’s immense strength. The ghost I’m referring to is Otogiri Oiron, the soul-sucking spirit obsessed with beauty with a tragic history. Through her flashbacks and stages, Otogiri’s beauty was taken from her when her apprentice framed her for poisoning her fiancee. Cursed with her ugliness and thrown into the streets, Otogiri got her revenge by burning her apprentice and herself alive. This inspired Otogiri’s third and final stage of her curse, hopefully matching the Boy’s own rage.

Overall, the second part of the Old I Watergate saga can feel like it’s been drawn out due to the expositions and Otogiri’s flashback. But its moments of tension-filled sequences and grim presentation keep its fury in check. It also features another satisfying yet unexpected highlight of Dark Gathering: Yayoi cussing out the Boy spirit. I can’t say what she called him, however. It’s something you have to experience for yourself. With the two raging spirits at full power, I can tell that next week’s conclusion is going to be fire.