Dans ce volume, Watanuki rencontrera plusieurs de ses vieilles connaissances. Il croisera à nouveau la route de sa chère Zashiki Warashi, du petit renardeau cuisinier mais aussi de la jeune exorciste, exploité par une mère plus intéressée par l'argent que par le bonheur de sa fille.
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.
Watanuki can cook any Japanese dish in existence, and in this volume he makes mittens or gloves for all of his friends. What is he, some kind of domestic superhero? Despite how shout-y he gets around Domeki, he really does come across as a warm-hearted person. He thanks every single person he gives the gloves to. Such a gentleman.
This volume features the oden stall fox's child, Himawari's little bird, and the pipe fox spirit. Cuteness overload!
Domeki's gaining the power to see spirits, which to Yuko indicates that her shop's existence on their earth might not last for much longer. She gives him an egg, much like she did for Watanuki, and tells him to keep it close, even though it won't hatch like Watanuki's did. Watanuki has a troubling vision toward the end of the book which show his existence having been erased. The suspense is building!
I'd half-forgotten a number of the secondary characters like Kohane and the spirits who show up at the very beginning of this book. I'm reading something like twenty-five manga series in tandem, so it isn't too surprising that details like this are slipping through the cracks. It argues for reading the series all at once, which I'll do next time around.
Some of the scenes in these last couple of xxxHolic volumes have made it tempting to read Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, but since I offloaded that whole series to the used bookstore a year or two ago, I'm not likely to pick it back up again. Maybe I'll watch the anime instead.
Today's post is on XXXHolic volume 11 by CLAMP. It is the tenth in the series, so you need to have read the first ten to understand the story. It is 178 pages long and is published by DEL REY. The cover has Yuko on it looking very pretty and wrapping around to Watanuki on the back. The intended reader is someone who likes Japanese mythology, ghost stories, and very pretty pictures. The story is told from Watanuki's perspective. There Be Spoilers Ahead.
From the back of the book- Kimihiro Watanuki has been saved from death by the sacrifices of his friends but his recovery time is cut short. His special connection with the spirit world is needed to investigate a terrifying haunted house, placate annoyed Warashi spirits, and face the growing threat of a shadowy figure called Fei-Wong Reed.
Review- Lots of plot happen in this volume. Watanuki is still very weak from almost dying in the last volume but he does not just stop his life. The haunted house really has nothing to do with him other than that he can see the ghost. He and Domeki have to deal with it but nothing that they cannot handle. But whatever is going on in the Tsubasa story line is affecting in one too. In addition to lots of plot there is lots of foreshadowing going on too. Whatever is around Watanuki is getting worse. As I have never gotten this far into the series before, all this is new to me and I am enjoying it. But this manga is only 19 volumes long so I am over half-way done with it. That makes me sad but it is so good.
I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get thing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.
Volume 11 of xxxHolic by CLAMP was the point where I realized I could no longer ignore Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, the crossover manga series. So much of Watanuki's life depends on decisions made by Syaoran, Sakura and the others. Their actions are even starting to affect Yuko and her shop.
Things are also fundamentally changed with Dômeki and Himawari. Watanuki has always suspected they are opposing forces in his life but he had their effects on him reversed.
Volume 11 has two dominant themes: generation loss, in the sense of details being lost every time a copy is made, and dreams versus reality. Both of these themes are playing in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle as well.
Although there are some huge plot twists, Volume 11 keeps with the short story format. Amongst all of this heart stopping drama, there is a typical early series ghost story. A young client comes in worried about strange voices in her home. She's given some bells to wear. She insists that they don't work. Back and forth she goes until a great Twilight Zone style reveal.
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!
Watanuki diberi telur ajaib oleh Yuuko. Itu adalah telur yang diambil Sakura dari Tokyo. Telur itu kemudian menetas menjadi seekor burung yang kebal dengan aura kesialan Himawari. Watanuki menamai burung itu Tanpopo.
Yuuko lalu kedatangan seorang gadis yang mengeluh rumahnya akhir-akhir ini jadi seram. Untuk membuat rumah itu tak lagi seram, Yuuko memberinya bel. Tapi menurut anak itu, rumahnya malah jadi makin seram. Yuuko malah memberikan semakin banyak bel.
Watanuki yang kepikiran lalu menceritakan hal itu pada Haruka-san di dunia mimpi. Haruka lalu mengajak Watanuki melihat rumah gadis itu. Akhirnya tahulah Watanuki bahwa rumah itu sebenarnya....
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Watanuki diberi oden oleh anak rubah yang diberinya balon. Sebagai balasan, Watanuki pun membuatkannya sarung tangan. Ia pun membuat sarung tangan untuk Yuuko, Himawari, Maru, Moro, Kohane, bahkan Doumeki. Tapi dia gak mau ngaku kalau dia sengaja membuatkan sarung tangan untuk Doumeki. Bilangnya itu benang sisa. 🤣
Namun, sesuatu terjadi pada toko Yuuko. Yuuko mengatakan bahwa akhir dari segalanya akan segera datang. Apakah toko itu akan menghilang?
(01/13/2021) We begin by chilling, recovering from the last volume. (Domeki expecting Watanuki to scream, and he just says thanks all shy...) which is honestly a relief.
The bells story, is interesting. I liked the twist, I didn't remember it. Well told.
The baby fox gets mittens, which was SO. CUTE.
Kohane is briefly back, but, well, it's mostly the same for her. :/
We do however get hints of the plot. Like, Domeki giving his blood is not...a metaphor. Watanuki literally has his blood. Like...Watanuki having changes seems VERY literal, it's creepy. Maru and Moro are doing something to keep the shop up... I have no clue. Domeki gets weird egg. I dunno I'm not the kind of reader who tries to guess twists so. I'm just intrigued.
(Oof I bet the Tsubasa characters are suffering. Interesting that we have no villain in xxxholic but their villain is affecting this world too..)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This volume felt so long. I don't know what's about it but I really enjoyed it. The constant need to know what happens next and how everything is connected makes you turn the pages. I found really cute the moments the mystical creatures were seen. The little fox, the little bird, and of course the fox spirit that looks like a snake and love Watanuki so much.
The final moment is approaching and all the worlds need to prepare for it one way or another. Mokona worries, and the twins are asleep. Things look quite ominous, and I curse the fact I have to wake up early once again and can't stay all night to read.
As winter arrives, Watanuki recovers from his accident, reuniting with some familiar faces as he sets out to provide some comfortable gifts to his loved ones - if he has any time between figuring out what is haunting a fellow student's home and worrying over Kohane-Chan...CLAMP will keep fans pleased with plenty of cute moments and delicious twists in this tantalizing entry. As Watanuki grows in his power, so too does the one known as Fei Reed...
Watanuki is recovered and all kinds of people are showing up to wish him well. A customer comes in who wants help with her haunted house. Watanuki makes all his friends gloves as presents.
In this volume, the cross over story is becoming more pronounced, with several sections where it is mentioned thought about.
So I guess the confusing other-worlder stuff has a bigger significance than I has thought... I guess someone is going to try to kill Watanuki or something..? Bring him/send him to another world...?? Guess we’ll find out... though I do find the fact that Doumeki and Watanuki are “becoming one” to really tingle my shipping bone. Sooo much queer baiting between them.... sigh
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I love the shout-outs to Cardcaptors Sakura in this volume. Can feel the final arc for this series and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles approaching. I feel that even though you don't need to read xxxHolic to read Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, and vise versa, it is still exciting to see the crossovers.
I'm curious as to why Dômeki and Watanuki are fusing in some ways. What fate is coming their way?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Tomo más bien triste Lo de la niña vidente, me da cosa que va a resultar siendo una historia triste. Como lo de la chica de los cascabeles, si ocurre lo que ella queria, pero es cruel, aunque pues considerando el otro lado, pues creo que era lo mejor.
(Aviso: lectura hecha en ejemplar en español, publicado en México. La presente nota se modificará cuando se dé de alta en GR la edición correspondiente).
Las cosas están tomando un rumbo específico, cosas nuevas mezcladas con personajes de capítulos anteriores yendo hacia un “final” con el que ya se están preparando.
Un tomo pasadito, aún contiene bastantes cosas del anime entonces no te llega a impactar del todo si ya lo has visto, eso sí, algo que se refleja mejor es toda la conexión que existe con el viaje que se realiza en Tsubasa Chronicles. Esperemos Wata y el grupo que esta formando mejoren:)
Tsubasa se empieza a relacionar mucho con Holic en este tomo, empezando por el huevo que se convierte en el pajarito que Watanuki le regala a Himawari. Pero al parecer habrá un trasfondo misterioso, algo más aparte que tendrá una influencia en el futuro y que dependerá de cierta persona. Lo cual como es de esperarse me ha emocionado mucho, porque si hay algo que abunda en este tomo es que cuando están apunto de explicarte más a fondo algo siempre sucede que se interrumpe el momento, provocándote a la par que frustración una gran emoción al saber que hay que prestar especial atención a esos detalles. Los cuales abundan mucho. A la par de que vamos viendo como las dos historias se van entrelazando, también Holic tiene historias que se desarrollan aparte, las cuales nos van mostrando los cambios que surgieron como consecuencia de lo que ha estado viviendo así cómo algunas influirán en las situaciones que vivirán. Nos vamos dando cuenta de que la relación entre Watanuki y Domeki ha mejorado mucho y esta amistad será de suma importancia para los eventos futuros. En realidad al parecer todos los personajes son sumamente importantes, sólo que poco a poco iremos descubriendo que papel juegan y lo poco que hemos podido averiguar en este tomo ha resultado muy interesante. El final sin duda te deja lleno de preguntas, aunque siendo sinceros hay muchas cuestiones que surgen en este tomo y que son el preámbulo de lo que se desarrollara más adelante en la historia, lo cual me ha dejado con muchas ganas de seguir leyendo.