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Kimihiro Watanuki is the indentured servant of Yûko, the beautiful but completely unpredictable Space-Time Witch. He must work at her bizarre wish-granting shop until he can pay off his own wish: to be free of the spirits that haunt him. Yûko’s latest customer is a rain spirit who wants Kimihiro dispatched on a rescue mission. Little does Kimihiro know that this mission will take him to death’s door!

Kimihiro has another problem. A cute spirit has given him a Valentine’s Day present, which means he’s obligated by Japanese custom to return the favor. What do you get a girl who may not even exist in this world?

Includes chapters 29-34

182 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

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561 people want to read

About the author

Clamp

746 books3,139 followers
Ōkawa Nanase 大川七瀬
[born: 2 May 1967; Ōsaka, bloodtype: A]

Mokona Apapa もこなあぱぱ
[born: 16 Jun 1968, Kyōto; bloodtype: A]

Nekoi Mick 猫井みっく
[born: 21 Jan 1969, Kyōto; bloodtype: O]

Igarashi Satsuki 五十嵐さつき
[born: 8 Feb 1969, Kyōto; bloodtype: A]


CLAMP originally began in 1989 as a twelve-member dōjinshi circle, but by 1990, the circle had diminished from twelve to seven. Of the remaining seven, Tamayo Akiyama, Sei Nanao, and Leeza Sei left the group during the production of the RG Veda manga. Other former members of CLAMP also included Soushi Hishika, O-Kyon, Kazue Nakamori, Yuzuru Inoue and Shinya Ōmi. Currently, there are four members in the group.

In 2004, CLAMP's 15th anniversary as a mangaka group, the members changed their names from Nanase Ohkawa, Mokona Apapa, Mick Nekoi, and Satsuki Igarashi to Ageha Ohkawa, Mokona, Tsubaki Nekoi and Satsuki Igarashi (her name is pronounced the same, but written with different characters) respectively. The August 2004 issue of Newtype USA, a magazine specializing in events of the anime and manga subcultures, reported that the members of CLAMP simply wanted to try out new names. In a later interview with Ohkawa, it was revealed that initially Mokona wanted to drop her surname because it sounded too immature for her liking, while Nekoi disliked people commenting that her name was the same as Mick Jagger's. Ohkawa and Igarashi, wanting to go with the flow of Nekoi's and Mokona's name changes, changed their names as well.

In 2006, they made their first USA public debut at Anime Expo in Anaheim, California. They were well received at the convention, with 6,000 fans in attendance at their panel.

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5 stars
1,538 (49%)
4 stars
1,084 (34%)
3 stars
416 (13%)
2 stars
66 (2%)
1 star
21 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
Profile Image for Beth.
1,432 reviews198 followers
May 31, 2019
The series turned a corner right around here, from mild interest in continuing to eager anticipation. There's been a slight change from using one-off characters to recurring ones, which helps.

The pipe fox spirit adds a star all by itself. Whether in its adorable small form, or its powerful large one, it's awesome!
Profile Image for MaguiWorld.
1,134 reviews68 followers
May 14, 2021
"Los humanos no hacen nada por las cosas bellas del mundo. Entonces ¿Porque las cosas bellas deberían hacer algo por los humanos?". Aquí otra pequeña reflexión de cuánto daño de le estamos haciendo al planeta tierra y a las bellas cosas que en el viven, no creen?

Un tomo interesante, con un final más abierto que el de los tomos anteriores aunque no me gustó tanto como el tomo 4.
Profile Image for Gise.Wen.
528 reviews30 followers
December 28, 2019
Me siguen encantando las historias que nos cuenta el manga de las aventuras de Watanaki con los espíritus, las dos historias primero la de la Hortensia es realmente hermosa y me gusto mucho la opinión de la "La niña de la lluvia" y todo el trabajo y la dedicación no solo de watanaki sino también de Doumeki. Los adoro a los dos . También la historia de las alas me gusto mucho y sobretodo el humor que tiene los personajes. Me encanto ver el poder de Yuuko, claramente es una maga poderosa. Tengo muchas ganas de seguir leyendo esta asombrosa historia.
Super recomendada lectores.

WEN
Profile Image for Mely.
862 reviews26 followers
March 21, 2011
Reread 2011. This is where I fall in love with the series.

The zashiki-warashi (rain spirit) hires Watanuki and Dômeki to rescue a "pure spirit." The one where Watanuki almost dies because he can't abandon a lonely child, and Dômeki makes his first trade with Yuuko to save him and ends up standing out in the rain for ten hours, desperately holding onto the ribbon that is keeping Watanuki alive. The hydrangeas. The zashiki-warashi says, "Humans do nothing to helpthe precious things of this world. Why should the precious things help some human?"

Then there is a long story in which a girl with wings acts aggressively and the pipe fox demonstrates its love for Watanuki. The story is kind of dull, but I &heart; the pipe fox.

Watanuki gives the ame-warashi a White Day present.


This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Caroline.
1,201 reviews165 followers
July 28, 2008
This has more of the same types of mini-plotlines as the previous volumes. I'm liking the episodic nature of this series--it does build on itself, but it's one of those series I can easily pick up after a while and not be completely lost as to what's happening.

Like the first four in this series, I enjoyed the little subplots in this and was happy to see the Valentine's Day/White Day plot brought back and concluded.
Profile Image for Kurtis Burkhardt.
6,000 reviews51 followers
May 2, 2020
Pretty interesting and really good manga so far! Really love the art style and story! Really addicting manga😻👻👻😁❤️❤️
Profile Image for Kendra.
614 reviews33 followers
March 15, 2017
Would have been four stars for sadness but it's five stars for adorable pipe fox spirit and Domeki feels
Profile Image for Lynn.
1,670 reviews45 followers
May 4, 2015

Today's post is on XXXHolic volume 5 by CLAMP. As it is the fifth in the long series you need to have read the first one to understand the story. It is 176 pages long and is published by DEL REY. The cover is beautiful and has Yuko on it with Watanuki on the back. The intended reader is someone who likes mythology, ghosts, and other things that go bump in the night. There is no sex, some mild language, and no violence in this manga. The story is told from Watanuki's perspective only. There Be Spoilers Ahead

From the back of the book- Kimihiro Watanuki is the indentured servant of Yuko, the beautiful but completely unpredictable Space-Time Witch. He must work at her bizarre wish-granting shop until he can pay off his own wish: to be free of the spirits that haunt him. Yuko's latest customer is a rain spirit who wants Kimihiro dispatched on a rescue mission. Little does Kimihiro know that this mission will take him to death's door!
And that's not his only problem: A cute spirit has given him a Valentine's Day present, which means he's obligated by Japanese Culture to return the favor. What do you get a girl who may not even exist in this world?


Review- This volume is fun, in my opinion. Lots of mythology and Japanese culture going on. White Day is when boys return gifts for the chocolates that they got on Valentine's day. So Watanuki is getting pressure about that from Yuko and the spirits that come to see him. The first story could be seen as a little scary but once you discover what is really only on it is just sad. But the volume ends with a cliff hanger. Watanuki has been seeing strange wings on people and Yuko knows what those mean but she gets him out of the way. I cannot remember what is really going on with them so I'm looking forward to rereading it.



I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.
Profile Image for Mehsi.
15.1k reviews454 followers
July 17, 2019
The Ame-warashi pops by but not all is what it seems, that part under the flowers was pretty horrifying though, the poor girl. Then Watanuki remembers to bring a white day gift to a certain someone (dude, way too late). And he gains a pipe fox who I was delighted to see again, I always loved that critter, both in his tiny form and his bigger and badder form. Though I was sad when he broke up THAT moment. We meet a girl with wings and I just loved seeing serious Yuuko, I just love her more when she is like that (and there are more parts in which we saw some very serious Yuuko and got a better glimpse at her powers). :) The festival was fun and I was happy for Watanuki that was able to go, finally. And lastly some foreshadowing! Oh my!
Review stays the same.
Profile Image for Michelle Elizabeth.
773 reviews65 followers
April 24, 2017
Another intriguing volume. It seems like there may be some other great power than Yuko, but less benevolent. I hope that gets expanded on, but the story's episodic nature seems interesting enough either way.
Profile Image for Bibliothecat.
1,748 reviews77 followers
October 15, 2025


Review for complete series



xxxHolic is not the type of manga that I would usually pick up - somehow, stories about stores with special services have never really caught my interests. As it happens to be a CLAMP manga which is heavily interwoven with Tsubasa and also has ties to Blood C, I knew I'd at the very least have to give it a chance. The good thing is, apart from the ending, it's a pretty neat manga series.

Watanuki has always attracted ghosts and spirits and he wishes they would just go away. Fate leads him to Yuko's wish-granting shop, but wishes don't come for free. In order for Watanuki's wish to be granted, he must work in the store and becomes involved in all manners of the supernatural.

The art is easily recognisable as CLAMP's, yet it is different. Everything is in black and whites with no greyscales and the characters' eyes are rather empty looking, even the covers are anything but vibrant. But this is actually very well suited for the atmosphere of this series. I only wish that, similar to Tsubasa, the characters' limbs weren't so unnaturally long.

What I first thought to be a rather bland set of characters soon turned out to be a much deeper and very likeable bunch. It's odd, I was against every character from the start and I can't even put my finger on when it changed, but I ended up loving them all. I must confess, I preferred the first three-quarters of the story more - Watanuki becomes a more serious character after certain events and I just prefered him the way he was before. That being said, I can understand how and why he changed.

Although there is an underlying story that is interlaced with Tsubasa, the rest of the series is very much episodic. The different episodes all revolve around legends and myths and it's very interesting to read about them. Not only are the origins explained, but given the modern setting of this series, they are always shown with a contemporary sample. I am only guessing here, but I feel as though having visited Japan and recognising various elements increased my enjoyment of this series as it really is very heavy on Japanese-lore. This holds particularly true about the Jorougumo chapters - there's just something very unsettling about these joro spiders.

The story can be a little slow at times but it generally has good pacing. It's a nice balance between humour, horror and a bit of moral lecturing - in a good way. Unfortunately, as is often the case, the ending isn't exactly satisfying. In fact, it's not that much of an ending at all; would I not know that this series is complete with 19 volumes, I'd think there is more to come. Thanks to its episodic nature, this series can in a sense conclude at any time it wants to. Yet the underlying story is left hanging in the air and there's nothing in terms of closure. CLAMP has started a sequel (which is one of their many works on hiatus - surprise!) which may or may not remedy this issue at some point, but for that, one will need to wait for the sequel to conclude. Otherwise, there are a few glimpses of Watanuki in Blood C which I feel not that many people know of - have a look if you care to see more of what happened to Watanuki post xxxHolic!
Profile Image for K.S. Trenten.
Author 13 books52 followers
December 14, 2018
Watanuki’s education in the world of the unseen continues when an Ame-Warashi comes to him for help. Fortunately Yuuko is there to go about advising him how to do so. She gets Doumeki and Himawari involved as well, which is also fortunate because the job involves a lot more danger to Watanuki than he expected, taking him on a trip to the land of the dead, giving him a close encounter with one of its darker regions. This is followed by more peril when Watanuki attracts the angry eye of a girl with growing wings and finds himself caught in the dangerous fall out from soul collecting. Watanuki takes a far more pleasant journey via vase (which seems to be the same one retrieved in Drop Dead Drug) to offer up a White Day gift to an admirer not of this world. All the while Yuuko does a little hunting of her own…

This volume hearkens back to Tokyo Babylon and the statement, “People do evil because they’re lonely”. This could certainly be said of the murdered little girl Watanuki meets in the first story. We meet more denizens of the spirit world (including the adorable pipe fox), get to know a little better those we have already met (I am curious how Zashiki-Warashi first came to encounter and fall for Watanuki). Doumeki gets to be Watanuki’s knight in shining armour or would that be spirit energy? once more, stepping out to help the other boy out of peril or stand between him and it, when Watanuki is being way too kind. (Shades of Tokyo Babylon again, not that I mind. Not at all. :)) Himawari gets to help out as well in an unexpected way, not to mention eliciting a curious reaction from the Ame-Warashi. Two intriguing signs of potential cross over with Tsubasa appeared. One was the soul harvesting. This could be the work of Fei-Wang Reed. Second was the bat symbol on the object Doumeki gives Yuuko as payment. Fei-Wang Reed has used a bat as his personal insignia in various places. For developing this intriguing mystery involving three interconnected stories, engaging characters, and some of the most beautiful, otherworldly artwork we’ve seen yet in this manga, I give this four stars.


Profile Image for Domini  Phillips-Perkins.
283 reviews11 followers
August 1, 2018
For me Vol. 5 keeps up the steady, fast pace of xxxHolic. I enjoyed the introduction of the Ame-Warashi in its first story. The Ame-Warashi requests the help of both Watanuki and Domeki. She also requires something of Himawari. In this case something she holds close. The task is hidden within a large hydrangea bush. The spirit of the hydrangeas leaves Watanuki in danger and a dark discovery is found beneath. For his help the Ame-Warashi gifts Watanuki with a pipe fox spirit which will play a large part in later volumes.
We later see in this volume the Zashiki-Warashi who Watanuki pays a special visit to through an urn in Yuko's shop. Watanuki is finally able to gift the Zashiki-Warashi with her White Day gift. Of course the Karasu-Tengu find there way to break up their impromptu meeting when they find out that he has made her cry again.
I love this series. I can not stress to any one how good this series is. Clamps ability to incorporate new and old, myth and traditions is seamless in xxxHolic and their signature art design is showcased in the beautiful costumes and color artwork. Worth so much more than 5 stars!
Profile Image for Alexandra .
549 reviews119 followers
May 1, 2024
This time Yûko makes Watanuki and Dômeki help a rain spirit with a rescue mission. Is Watanuki happy about this? Take a wild guess ;) It turns out to be very creepy, very scary and sad, with a twist. Both Watanuki and Dômeki do pretty well.

But they are still at it some pages later, though - Dômeki:
“If anything happened to you… I wouldn’t be able to have as many opportunities to laugh at an idiot in action.” Ouch.

The story about the wings was horrific. I wonder if it will be a part of a bigger plot, somehow? It certainly seems to be. (The fox spirit was so cool!) Also, there were the butterflies again… I know it means... something :)

The volume ends with a very cute adventure involving a magic urn and daffodils.

I’m really loving the art, it’s such a pleasure to just look, look, look.

Taking a break from this series for now, but I’ll be back!
Profile Image for Harumichi Mizuki.
2,430 reviews72 followers
March 12, 2024
Ame-warashi atau roh hujan minta tolong Watanuki untuk menyingkirkan mayat dari bawah bunga ajisai. Katanya bunga ajisai itu spiritual flower yang penting untuk ritual pemanggilan hujan. Warnanya jadi merah dan dia tercemar karena mayat yang tadinya anak kecil itu. Doumeki sampai harus berdiri di bawah hujan selama 10 jam untuk menunggu Watanuki kembali dari dunia antara ke dunia manusia.

Siapa pencipta mushi wings yang bisa bikin orang lepas kontrol itu? Fei Wong Reed? Bakal diselesaikan, kan?

Oh dan aku seneng banget karena volume ini ternyata menyisipkan sedikit makanan Okinawa. Soki soba, sata andagi, dan bitter sweet melon tea. Kenapa dulu aku ga menyadari ini pas membacanya pertama kali, ya? Atau nggak diterjemahkan dengan konteks Okinawa? Lupaaa.
Profile Image for Mika.
792 reviews14 followers
January 10, 2021
(01/09/2021)
We have a few stories in this one, the first one about the little girl who is dead, I saw the twist coming but my heart still was still affected. We got introduced to an Ame Warashi, who I glad you adoring and I do like her. I like the continuity of Watanuki and the spirit world evolving.

The Wings story was uh. I mean, kinda just fucked. It seems like it has a mysterious origin at the end but...I don't know what Yuko meant so. Yeah.

Also loving the ominous clues about Watanuki changing.

The white day gift for the Zashiki Warashi was also adorable and I kinda ship it this read through. >///> I know it won't last but for now it is true.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Alex.
312 reviews4 followers
March 15, 2021
I really enjoyed this one! I loved the subplot of the vase and hydrangeas; I especially appreciated some of the artistic licenses they took during the hydrangea scenes. This is one of those series I really enjoy when I'm reading it, but I don't really end up taking a lot away from it or remembering it very well. I just simply like to enjoy it in the moment. I don't think this detracts anything from the series (at least for me personally). However, I tend to think this way about most of Clamp's work. I'll continue reading, but I'm also in no hurry for the next volume.
Profile Image for Josh 谢翊杰.
342 reviews1 follower
April 23, 2023
I love him much Japanese culture is sprinkled throughout this volume and series as a whole. It's refreshing reading material written by authors from other countries and cultures. I especially enjoy the explanations of each cultural reference at the end of each volume as well. I love the whole White Day idea in connection to Valentine's Day. I had never heard of it before but I would love to start participating in some of it's customs!

I also love how comically agro Watanuki gets when Dômeki gets on his nerves. Their rivalry/friendship is fun to read.
Profile Image for R J Royer.
506 reviews59 followers
April 8, 2019
The best yet by far in this wonderful series. I am amazed that there is so much that people can learn about the different cultures by reading books and this one shows us why that is so important. The stories here are more defined than in the other books and are a great read. They only issue I had was that I tend to get lost in the story itself so easily that I often wonder if I have spent any time reading at all. Overall just a great read with lessons about humanity and life as well.
Profile Image for Riley.
146 reviews1 follower
June 13, 2021
Loving all of Yuko's clothes, most would be a bit too risqué for me though. I was surprised at the teaser of a possible plot towards the very end, I hope it actually turns out to be something. Main protagonist had a few more moments of showing to be a decent human being and proactive protagonist, and had less moments of being a shallow whiny little b, which was greatly appreciated. I love how attached and affectionate the pipe fox spirit is towards MP.
Profile Image for Hannah Belyea.
2,771 reviews40 followers
September 29, 2023
Watanuki would like to give a White Day gift to the spirit girl that offered him chocolate, but finding her proves difficult - especially with his days full of blood red hydrangeas dragging him into deadly depths and strange angel wings appearing on the back of a once subdued student. CLAMP keeps the humourous yet melancholy atmosphere wonderfully balanced with another pleasantly spooky entry. Will Watanuki survive long enough to gift the spirit?!
Profile Image for Child960801.
2,811 reviews
June 2, 2019
In the first story, it's the rainy season, but a rain spirit it making it rain harder than normal. The next story introduces the fox pipe spirit who is adorable and helps in a case of someone acting strangely. In the story after that, Watanuki and the pipe spirit are transported to a different world where they meet an old friend while Yuko tries to hunt down a source of evil.
Profile Image for Kati.
2,343 reviews65 followers
July 28, 2023
I think the story that had the deepest impact on me in this volume was the one about the little girl and the hydrangeas, the moment when Watanuki came to, holding the skeleton hand in his with such a soft look in his eyes. Also, I'm in love with the pipe fox spirit, goodness gracious, it's so cute!
Profile Image for Seamaiden.
551 reviews24 followers
October 23, 2024
This volume was more confusing than the previous. The artwork is still pretty and I'm more into the characters now.

Yuuko is iconic. Black Modoki is so cute. I love how Domeki always helps Kimihiro even though supposedly they don't like each other. I found sweet the urn part and I'm curious about those flying wings/crows and who sent them though I wonder if it's the guy from Tsubasa Chronicles.
Profile Image for Ilma Nurika.
43 reviews8 followers
February 22, 2018
i love the wing curse story. it teaches us to always control ourself or else we might lose our soul. and the kitsune horse! how adorable! if that exist in real world, i would want to have that!! how lucky watanuki
Profile Image for Liny.
352 reviews2 followers
January 2, 2019
Je m’arrête ici pour cette série empruntée. ça va mais sans plus serait mon état d'esprit concernant cette dernière, j'ai essayé de continuer un peu, pour voir si ça décollait ou si ça m'intéresserait plus avec le temps mais non c'est pareil.
Profile Image for Kirsten Simkiss.
857 reviews4 followers
June 23, 2019
I feel like the series really picks up at about this point. In earlier volumes, it seems scattered with the crossover with Tsubasa. Fortunately, the main cast does eventually stand on it’s own without the alternate world cast.
Profile Image for Aurora.
105 reviews4 followers
June 13, 2021
vol.1-5
作为青年漫画舍弃了原本少女风格鲜花着锦的人物和背景描绘(我仍然记得小学看4拼1的圣传总是一摸一手黑!btw现在已经收齐全套正版clamp啦~),简练的12头身(?)线条和清爽的背景意外地契合日常灵异的主题。目前的故事发展还看不出什么花儿来,还是东京巴比伦已经玩透了的单元剧主题——不得不说CLAMP在拓展题材方面的创新确实有限——不过很期待后续的发展。百四的结局大概有所了解,所以现在真的是且看且珍惜……
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