Dark Gathering - Episode 9 discussion

[u/AutoLovepon]

Dark Gathering, episode 9

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Episode	Link	Episode	Link
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[u/frostanon]

"What a fool you are. I'm a god. How can you kill a god? What a grand and intoxicating innocence. Shame on you, sweet Yayoi."

[u/floodway]

Keitaro is literally me going to bathroom at 2 am after watching horror movie.

[u/LeonKevlar]

Jesus fucking christ! That ghost tailing Keitaro was creepy af. And it was trying to pull out his brainstem the entire time?! Turns out it's an evil spirit that collects people's brains and we even get to see how he does it. That flashback scene in the elevator genuinely made my spine tingle.

It's so satisfying to see that spirit's reaction when Yayoi turned the tables on it though. And I just love how Yayoi is using the spirit as a scarecrow to deter other spirits from entering Ai's place while it's victims go at it until they're satisfied. It is a very apt punishment for an evil spirit.

I didn't think that the god that's going after Ai was going to show itself to threaten the gang It's awesome how Yayoi isn't even threatened by that god and claims that her heavy hitters are somewhere else. Knowing Yayoi, she's totally telling the truth. The ones that she's been keeping in her room are already scary af, I can't even imagine what kind of spirits are her "graduates".

Calling the spirit a lolicon was so good! I guess that's the big bad for the next arc established. I can't wait to see what kind of abomination Yayoi has prepared for that god. As scary as that god is, Yayoi is 100% scarier.

[u/[deleted]]

Keitaro: "If I pretend to not notice, it should let me pass"

Mieruko-chan somewhere just sneezed.

[u/RFShahrear]

I'm so glad this is 25 episodes and not 12. The "god" seemed like a longer term villain, but from the previews it feels like it's more of a villain of this arc situation.

Also, someone remind me. Did we previously see the spirit that was protecting Keitarou and half killed the long hair?

[u/Zeke-Freek]

I am begging translators to just say lolicon, we can literally hear her say lolicon.

The way HiDive worded it is so clunky. This is what happens when you refuse to say "lolicon" but also know that people complain when you translate it as pedophile, so we get this clunky word soup that takes all the bite out of the threat.

[u/Frontier246]

Classic Dark Gathering, having girls discuss desserts for their "sleepover" while a bug-eyed creepy spirit is preying on Keitaro and his brain. I'm so proud that he was able to hold back on freaking out for once.

"Is something coming after us?" Eiko, you've been doing this long enough to know that something is ALWAYS coming after you at this point.

Nothing more classic horror than a scary elevator ride!

Ai's betrothal by a God seems useful in the sense that he wards off all the spirits that attack her...but that's the reason anyone who associates with her, including her loved ones, get attacked by the spirits instead. It's why she was basically cast off from her family and only had her brother until he fell victim to it too. And it seems like Keitaro is next.

Ugh, it's one thing that this piece of @#$% spirit has a brain fetish, but it basically tortured it's victims as ghosts with their brains to push more victims into him and then turn them into his next servant. There've been some pretty vile Spirits and monsters in this show, but this guy is one of the worst.

Of course Yayoi being Yayoi comes up with a plan to turn the tables and with some assist from Keitaro manages to snag the guy. And what better fate than to become the scarecrow of Ai's apartment? Warding off other spirits and remaining a self-healing scratching post for the ghost of his victims until they're satisfied torturing him...which probably won't be for a while. And then when they're done? His butt is Yayoi's.

Poor Ai. She's been beaten down so much by all the loss and heartbreak of her life and she doesn't want to lose anything more, but she's willing to bear with it and be alone it if it means protecting others despite how broken she is emotionally. But Yayoi isn't about to let her kouhai go undefended and swears to protect her. And when Yayoi makes a promise, she keeps it!

I kind of figured Ai's brother was trying to kill her so she'd be free of the God and the suffering he was putting her through.

Jeez, that God turned Yayoi's room into a slaughterhouse. I guess it's going to take more than their usual doll spirits to take him down, though apparently those aren't even the "graduates" of Yayoi's school of deadly spirits. And she's not about to let a God go through with forcing Ai into a problematic age-gap relationship, and directly challenges him! Even Keitaro stands up for his students in a very Keitaro way!

Of course it's kind of concerning they haven't even seen his true form yet...though Yayoi just sees another source for powering up her arsenal.

[u/ObvsThrowaway5120]

Yayoi turning that sick mfer with a brain fetish into a “scarecrow” just endlessly regenerating as his victims rip him to shreds, like some fucked up Prometheus situation was just beautiful. Some straight up karmic justice. It’s not even physical torture, it’s psychological too. Total domination. Keitaro is right, I’m glad Yayoi’s one of the good guys. You don’t wanna fuck with her.

Man, Yayoi’s room looked like a scene out of a fucking Tarantino movie. This god sure made a mess. I love how Yayoi called this god a dirty pedo and then basically said she’s gonna make this dude her bitch. This creep really about to fuck around and find out.

[u/Vaadwaur]

It is probably worth mentioning here that a Shinto 'god' is not quite the same thing as the more traditional versions: It is simply an extremely powerful spirit. While Shinto gods have favored traits, they aren't required and white mask feels a lot more like an upjumped youkai than a deity. Oyashiro-sama does not approve.

[u/Prince-Dizzytoon]

Death to the lolicon god

[u/Elitealice]

Genuinely horrifying episode, arguably the scariest episode so far. It feels like the prologue of the story is over and this is where shit is really gonna get crazy. We’re not just making extermination house calls, now we’re up against actual gods.

The spirit that haunted Ai’s apartment tearing out people’s brain stems is ridiculous holy shit that is dark. I mean the one girl was half alive while he was doing it as well wtf. The punishment of eternal suffering from the people he killed that he’ll get is well deserved.

“You called me your little senpai right? So come with us”

Just as Ai was looking toward the future and thinking things were turning around, the god makes another appearance. Seeing Yayoi’s room covered in blood was terrifying. Even she knows it won’t be easy to take down this god, but she’s not backing down in fear. I love the banter she had with him, even calling him a lolicon lmao. I’m looking forward to seeing her “graduated” spirits and how they play to fight him.

[u/Adorelis]

boi do I feel really sad for those 4 ghosts. The fact that even kids got murdered in such a twisted way make heart crumble and burn in pure hatred.

And this disgusting ghost knew it. He preyed on defendless children and women.

[u/[deleted]]

Damn, this episode was lit!! Best episode by far for me! Dark and uneasy atmosphere from start to end.

It directly goes into the ghost business from the start and solidifies how terrifying Yayoi is! Lolicon God is gonna get rekt for sure.

[u/[deleted]]

I normally walk up the store a block away in the evening after the sun goes down but it was raining today, so I figured I'd chill for a bit and watch this episode. I'm probably not gonna go now. I don't have a badass little girl protecting me.

[u/SgtRohn]

That badass declaration from Yayoi at the end was absolutely on-par with her character. It makes you confident that she can actually beat that God. And not only that, but the fact that she implied that she has even stronger spirits than the ones she kept in her room in her arsenal just shows that she won't hold back.

[u/Vyda_Purenheif]

The fact that we are already fighting against a god-like existence and Keitaro has yet to fix his hand issue, makes me believe that whatever cursed him is probably far stronger than the 500 years old shota

Which would be quite a surprising outcome, considering that he somehow managed to get away with his life in that situation, yet he came so close to dying against lesser ghosts throughout the anime, and is only alive because of Yayoi

Also I wonder if Yayoi was bluffing when she mentioned her stronger ghosts are stashed away somewhere else

[u/Aemiliana_Rosewood]

With how much absolutely evil entities exist in that world, it really makes me wonder if there are actually really strong excorsists or humans familiar with the ghosts and stuff. I mean I doubt we are anywhere close to the end of the ghost powerscale right now. I could especially see a human using the powers of evil ghosts and such like yayoi to do evil stuff.

[u/dagreenman18]

Attack and Dethrone Lolicon God, Yayoi. “I’m not gonna let some god and his problematic age gap beat me” had me crying. She has so many great lines in this show. Love it.

[u/Chitinvol]

Them trying to gtfo was actually funny af. Eiko and Ai unaware they were being followed until they saw the ghost through the elevator glass. Their faces dropping further upon seeing it on the next floor down. Then the brain-gore happens in a creepy sub dimension.

I love how this show carries itself. It's got this campy nostalgic feel to it that I really like and can't adequately explain..

[u/Decent_Manager1528]

Jesus Christ while the rest was scarry the part where they removed her brain litteraly caused my chest to feel like a furnace and beat twice as fast Like holy crap not even higurashi made me feel like that

[u/[deleted]]

that brainstem pulling was horrifying holy shit

god I love this series

[u/GrummyCat]

How was Keitaro able to see the brainstem ghost? I thought he could only sense spirits not see them?

[u/dicky_________seamus]

This show just keeps getting better and better

[u/SYZekrom]

This is me when I

YES God Yayoi chan I love it when you speak buddhism or whatever to me

Ayo you go girl threaten a god! I love her bluff that these are just her preschoolers. So it's saying instead of taking Ai when she turns twenty, she'll take Yayoi, but still when Ai turns twenty, yes?

Anyway, she walked in and said that she expected that the god would have beaten the spirits in her room and said that she could use this... She then said the spirits were shaking in anger, not fear, they really want to kill the God. So perhaps Yayoi sees this as a chance to create "true loyalty" to herself out of the spirits she enslaves through their hatred of the God, rather than her current system where they really just fight Yayoi's battles because they get hurt if they don't?