xxxHOLiC, Vol. 6

xxxHOLiC [xxx ホリック] #6

by Clamp, William Flanagan (Translator)

Kimihiro Watanuki takes a welcome break from his grueling service to the time-space witch, Yûko Ishihara, only to find himself mixed up in the strangest parade of the Japanese magical world. But a slipup reveals that Kimihiro is a powerless human! How can he survive the festival without being eaten by its dangerous participants?

Then Kimihiro meets a woman who grieves for her lost son. Since Kimihiro is an orphan, the two form an immediate bond. But what will Kimihiro do when he realizes that his wonderful new friendship may very well kill him?

xxxHOLiC crosses over with Tsubasa, also by CLAMP. Don’t miss it!

Includes chapters 35-42

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Supernatural, Seinen, Comics, Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Al Capwned · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was a very interesting and also quite sad volume. This specific manga is extremely...Japanese, so I'm glad there are some notes to explain stuff in the end of each book.

[MaguiWorld · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me gustó. Me alegro ver qué la historia crecía. Me refiero a los lazos entre los personajes, que si bien en otros tomos se puede apreciar un poco de cómo se van conformando sus lazos, generalmente es muy leve.

De todas formas, la historia sigue avanzando lentamente sin mucho que decir pero con mucho aprendido a la vez.

[Gise.Wen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me sigue enamorando este manga, este tomo me gusto mucho mas por que la relación que tiene Watanaki con su compañero de clases Doumeki se estrecha cada vez mas, por mas que Watanaki no lo quiere justo a el el siempre esta para ayudarlo, con su aura pura y su buena voluntad. En este tomo se ve mucho mas claro que se importan aun y que cada uno lo demuestra a su forma. Me encanto.

WEN

[Bexx · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Nidhi Srivastava · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good character development and plot progression. Absolutely in love with Yuuko-san by now.

[Kendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I super love foxes and moon birds. I super do NOT LIKE ALL THESE FEELINGS

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Today's post is on XXXHolic volume 6 by CLAMP. It is the sixth in the series, so you need to have read the first five to understand the story. It is 174 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 takes a welcome break from his grueling service to the time-space witch, Yuko Ishihara, only to find himself mixed up in the strangest parade of the Japanese magical world. But a slipup reveals that Kimihiro is a powerless human! How can he survive the festival without being eaten by its dangerous participants?
Then Kimihiro meets a woman grieving for her lost son. Since Kimihiro is an orphan, the two form an immediate bond. But what will Kimihiro do when he realizes that his wonderful new friendship may very well kill him?


Review- This volume is really good but really sad. The first story is about the spirit world and Domeki gets to see what Watanuki sees. It is really fun. They are on an unknowing mission from Yuko but get to see some beautiful things. Also some development between Yuko and Domeki. He guesses that she does not want him to come into her shop and what that could mean. In the second story Watanuki makes friends with something, we never discover what she was, and it is really sad. Domeki has to make a choice and that hurts Watanuki but saves his life. It was really sad, seeing Watanuki meet someone who understands how lonely he really is. She does not want to kill him but she cannot help it. It was touching to watch them interact and to see Watanuki stop fighting with Domeki.



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 many years ago.

[Bibliothecat · Rating 4 out of 5]

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!

[K.S. Trenten · Rating 4 out of 5]

We begin with a mysterious visitor to Yuko’s shop which sends Watanuki and Doumeki taking part in a ritual, becoming part of a magical, mythical, and perilous experience, depicted in exquisite detail and ending with a twist which turns out to be another many layered scheme by Yuko. She departs from the story on a journey for most of the book with Mokona, leaving Watanuki alone and more than ready to get into trouble. It’s hard for someone as soft-hearted as our protagonist to leave a lonely woman who’s lost her child alone, especially when she reminds Watanuki of his own lost parents. It doesn’t matter what she is or the peril being in her presence might bring him. Doumeki, however, isn’t about to stand around and let Watanuki sacrifice himself, even if Watanuki is willing to do it.

This volume developed the relationship between Watanuki and Doumeki further, from their journey at the beginning to a conflict of interests which plays out through several chapters. Watanuki matures a bit, accepting the consequences of his actions and accepting Doumeki as a vital part of his life, even if he still snaps at him. Doumeki reveals just how far he’ll go to protect Watanuki. Yuko plays a distant, yet distinct role in all this, offering guidance and support at crucial moments without interfering with the two boys’s choices.

Certain panels took my breath away, especially in the first story. I enjoyed watching the development of Watanuki, seeing him grow a little, his bond with Doumeki deepen. Yuko is always fascinating, enigmatic, strong, yet doesn’t overpower the other characters in their choices while remaining the vital heart of the series. I think I fell into a bit of a cultural gap with the last story and the shiratori game, but it was still fun to watch. All together, this book was a magical chapter in this on-going tale, skillfully alternating between the otherworldly and matters of the human heart. This is the sort of story I’m striving to tell in my own way in prose form. For all these qualities, I give this four stars.

[Domini Phillips-Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume 6 is by far one of my favorite volumes. The first story in the series involves a mysterious cat picture, a very large 'ground cherry' and hand holding. In it Yuko tasks Watanuki and Domeki to walk the pandemonium parade. Yuko has given them very specific instructions concerning how they are to proceed in the parade. They must hold the ground cherry together "in much the same way a newlywed couple would hold the knife to cut the wedding cake". OF course the parade could not go smoothly and they are exposes to the demons and yokai. Luck for them someone saves them and they are able to complete their task.
Clamp again touches on the cultural traditions. This time they include some of the foods common in Japan and other parts of Asia like roasted sweet potatoes which are roasted on hot rocks for an hour and can be bought from street vendors. Also they made reference to canned coffee, inari sushi and sanshoku onigiri.
Love this series and 5 stars in never enough for xxxHolic.

[Mika · Rating 4 out of 5]

(01/09/2021)<
This volume has three shorter stories and one big, long one. I like the short tiny ones because they just are kinda delightful. Like, we have a spirit march, which though brief was very sweet, and effective at tying all the little arcs together, like bringing back the fox kid. The clipping nails story is just creepy and the full moon delivery is just cute and Mokona gets to shine, the saucy bun! <3

The big story in this volume is a spirit who's like a mom to Watanuki and boy is it sad. Like, Domeki kills her, straight up and I was just SO sad. I don't have much to say on it, I do think it was told well, but it's just sad.

I'm loving the vibe in the series, I really am.

[Seamaiden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume had another sad story. The poor woman/spirit that was hurting our main guy without wanting was actually really nice. This particular story showed how much Watanuki misses his family and how lonely he feels. He was ready to die just to be close to a woman who showed him maternal love.
I'm glad he forgave Domeki who only did what he did to save him.

I laughed at the story with the spirit parade in which Watanuki and Domeki had to hold the flower lantern like a couple xD the manga is really focused on the Japanese culture and customs so it's really helpful that there are some pages explaining things. I'd be completely lost without them.

[Rebo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story with the woman Watanuki visits with us one of my faves of the entire series. It’s really a shame it was relegated to the second season of the anime (which wasn’t released in the west). I feel like it really shows us a side of Watanuki we haven’t seen before this point—how lonely he really is and how much he misses not having a mother. I Hc that woman’s spirit may even have been his actual mother, but even if she wasn’t, it’s still such a sad and beautiful moment, and some of the best story telling of the series to this point...

[Josh 谢翊杰 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume made me really crack up! And surprisingly made me tear up a bit.

I found hilarious that Watanuki gets put into a situation where he is forced to got on an errand with Dômeki and has to hold a lantern together like a couple would. Watanuki's outrage is the best. But later Dômeki saves him from dying by shooting an arrow at the woman Watanuki had been meeting with. Yûko explained that Dômeki made that choice because he didn't want Watanuki to disappear for good. It was a heart-warming and pivotal moment for their friendship.

[Hannah Belyea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Offered a Hôzuki by Yuko, Watanuki finds himself - and Domeki - attending a spirit parade, where one wrong move could mean immediate devouring; and when the Space Witch leaves for a far off job, Watanuki befriends a lonely woman whose presence may be having ill effects upon him...CLAMP will keep readers hooked with an emotional mystery in this wonderfully melancholic entry. Where has this stranger come from...?

[Daniel Ruiz padilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doumeki es uno de mis personajes favoritos dentro de esta historia, su relación con Watanuki es completamente adorable, hay misterio y comedia, en este volumen las historias fueron relativamente calmadas y ligeras comparando con otros volúmenes, aun así es muy disfrutable y resalto la relación de los personajes como lo más memorable.

[The_noxbook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este tomo ha sido genial. Me ha encantado la subtrama que ha dejado desarrollar más la relación entre Doumeki y Watanuki.
Amo la forma en que los personajes se demuestran amor. Nunca lo hacen abiertamente y aún así irradian cariño.
Doumeki me está encantando. Siempre está cuando se le necesita, ayudando y apoyando a Watanuki aunque él no se lo devuelva aún.

[Harumichi Mizuki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Watanuki bertemu seorang wanita yang bilang bahwa Watanuki mengingatkannya pada anaknya yang sudah meninggal. Watanuki sering menemui wanita itu untuk bercakap-cakap bahkan sampai membuatkan bento. Tapi semakin lama Watanuki melemah bahkan hingga muntah darah. Siapa wanita itu sebenarnya? Hubungan Doumeki dan Watanuki semakin menguat karena kejadian ini.

[Ilma Nurika · Rating 4 out of 5]

so the major story is about the woman watanuki meets after school. somehow after their frequent meeting, watanuki gets sicker along the time. idk who's this woman, i suppose it is related to some mystic legend in japan.

[R J Royer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another amazing book in an incredible series so far. Learning the stuff in these books is an incredible experience and I wish I had discovered them earlier. Now if I can just keep the stories in mind in my everyday life as I live it.

[Child960801 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first story in this one has Watanuki is part of a strange parade. Then he finds out there is truth to an old saying. Finally, he meets a new friend while Yuko is busy out of town, but the relationship isn't healthy for him.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

its still more of same - intensely elongated everything, much details in Yuuko's clothes and backgrounds, horror-tinted encounters and like 2 drops of actual chara relationships development mixed in there somewhere

[Kati · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent as always. The story about the woman who took a liking to Watanuki as if he were her own son was really touching. And sad. I was glad that Watanuki wasn't mad at Doumeki for what Doumeki had to do, that he understood, even though it brought him grief.

[Leebutcool (ᵖᵉᵃᵉᵐᵉʳ'ˢ) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pipe fox pipe fox pipe fox
No but fr, as always pretty good, the only thing i dont like is that some storys are really short, like the death parade or the girl under the flower. Sometimes i wish it would go a little deeper :)

[Bee (BacchusVines) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the case with the Ghost Mother. <3

[Kelsey Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartwrenching

[Kurtis Burkhardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty interesting and really good manga so far! Really love the art style and story! Really addicting manga😻👻👻😁❤️❤️

[新新 Xin-Xin · Rating 5 out of 5]

我覺得我是從這邊開始有點吃這對（？）

[Jesus Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesante lo del festival-desfile
Y luego una tragica historia de Watanuki y la señora

[A. Schostok · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost made me cry