English Dub Review: Dark Gathering “Eiko Hozuki”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Keitaro had a bad feeling about the Urban Legends class at the university. His instincts were correct: the professor should never have played that cursed videotape.

Our Take:
There’s nothing like celebrating the last day of the year than with another spooky adventure with the spirit-hunting trio. With their objectives clear, Keitaro and Yayoi are now on the same page against their common enemies: the evil spirits that made their lives miserable. But beforehand, Keitaro and Eiko are heading back to college after being away for a while due to their unfortunate circumstances, if you know what I mean.
Unfortunately, their attempt at returning to normality was immediately put on hold when Keitaro, Yayoi, and Eiko decided to check out the campus’s Urban Legends class, where the professor showed the students a mysterious videotape showcasing someone committing suicide. What makes it creepy is that it can curse someone who watches it and kills them. Sadly, Keitaro happens to be one of the victims of the spirit’s deadly curse. In other words, the episode’s plot resembles the “Ring” movies, which also involved a cursed tape. However, instead of the victim waiting seven days to die after watching it, they burst into flames within minutes, but only their clothes. Talk about going out in a blaze of glory.
The episode is basically Yayoi and Eiko attempting to remove the curse from Keitaro, which isn’t without its amusing and disturbing moments to keep its familiar plot entertaining and creepy. However, it also focuses more on the friendship between Keitaro and Eiko, with the former striving to help her as she helped him after they’re both cursed. As for Eiko, she wanted to stay by his side after he protected her with his spiritual ability, resulting in her liking Keitaro, and by that, I mean “obsessed” with him. It could be the curse manipulating her twisted feelings toward Keitaro, but one thing is certain: Keitaro would probably need to be extra careful around this crazy chick. These scenes between Keitaro and Eiko expand their dynamic quite nicely and would likely play a role in the remaining episodes.